lmagna

Not what one would normally think of as a smuggler, but then fishing boats have probably been used often for that purpose just for that reason.

Another advantage of the small vessel was the lack of draft. They could sail in waters where the larger heavier ship would not dare to try and follow.

Same here. The Galaxy was the family car. I was never really into NASCAR except when they raced on the local road racing tracks, but the sound of the engines and on some tracks the speed was much the same as in CanAm racing. Looking for a spare beam to set up on. I'll try not to drool down onto your work space.

It probably would not have mattered that much anyway as at least in European and American waters, most ships carried white sails, well at least gray or tan over time. I have always wondered about that as there are a number of accounts of ships slipping past a blockade at night while under sail. The only way I thought this would be possible would be if there was bad weather or no moon at all. Or possibly both. I know that at sea, light upper works over a dark hull is considered a form of camouflage, but if the hiding ship is close up against the shoreline trying to avoid detection by ships further out at sea,. would all that white upper works still be the best way to go?

I have no idea. Medieval times is not a knowledgeable era for me. Probably everything I know about the period came from Hollywood movies, and we all know how historically accurate they are. That was why I asked.

So why not black? I think it was a pretty common practice with merchant ships for quite some time. It was an inexpensive and readily available treatment for the raw lumber used in construction to preserve it from the elements and prolong the life of the ship, just as the various lighter colored coatings did or tried to do for the below the waterlines areas. I agree that for modeling purposes black may not be all that inviting, but in real life period ships I think it was pretty common.

So true. There was a guy in France who had almost everything imaginable from the 60s and 70s laying around and turning to dirt. He refused to sell them while he was alive. I think he died last year and somehow someone was able to put a number of them on auction and get them into the hands of someone who might be able to do something with them, One can hope at least.

Fantastic village Ekis. I love it when you post those "eye level" shots looking down the street so to speak. It make it very easy to feel that one is actually walking the village streets in a time far past. Would a village of this time period have had any kind of street lighting at night? Torches or something? Or would there just be the light from windows and such up and down the street.

I gave your post a thumbs up Chris, not because of your issues but because of your effort at dealing with them. But I agree with the feeling that at some point the actual model prevents the accomplishment of the dream that was in your head when you started. I hope that is not the case here but I think we have all been there at some time or another possibly more often than we wish or would like to admit.

We are MUCH to high for your puny AA guns to reach! Maybe I am just not able to zoom in far enough to see what you are talking about but your hand brushed camo looks OK from here.

I agree to a certain degree. I have seen pictures of models done in this way and when you add the tan of the unpainted decks and the almost white colored lower hull they are not too bad. The lighter colored running rigging, masts and bowsprit also helps. By the same token I have also seen these same kinds of models where they painted the hull black and then scraped it down along the bulwarks until it was an almost dark wood color. I would think that almost anything would work so long as it was not light and bright. Think of a small ship running close to shore at night with no lights and the land behind it when viewed from the sea where most of the patrolling ships would be. Also I stated that the Katy/Providence was reported as being black. Other ships in the same reports were noted as being a number of different colors. If the reports were correct, and there is no reason to believe they are not, then it is clear that there was no homogenous color scheme to similar ships of the time like in almost all of the more formal navies of the world. I was also referring mostly to the American Colonies of pre and early Revolutionary War. Smugglers in the UK and France or other countries could have been done in a much different manner. I kind of doubt it personally, but it is possible. The very question of what would a smuggler look like is almost a oxymoron. No smuggler would want to draw attention to itself by "Looking like a smuggler." It was more of a practice, where the ship would make land outside of normal locations and unload it's cargo in secret, or hide additional cargo amongst more common items. The hole idea was to sneak it through the tax process, or prohibitions imposed by the Government in power. Still an interesting topic in my opinion though.

I knew there was a reason to be up here other than the added warmth! Count me in, it's raid time!

That is going to be an impressive looking car! Nice work Craig

Grandpa Phil and the others have already kind of said pretty much the same thing, all of these ships would have looked much the same no matter who their master was. The needs off service pretty much dictated the design an looks anyway. One who chased smugglers had pretty much the same needs as the smuggler themselves. While it is true that many small ships would carry their guns disassembled in the hold or even as ballast this was not easy on the iron guns and in many cases the cargo area was really needed more than the guns. In the case of the Sloop Union, John Boit, her 20 year old captain, placed her cannon in the hold for most of her trip from New England to the west coast of the American continent. This was his second voyage to the Pacific Northwest and he knew he would need the guns when he reached the Colombia River and Puget Sound, but not in the trip getting there. He ended up sailing around the world before getting back home to Boston two years later. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0875950892/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 On the other hand, if we look at the Providence/Katy, roughly of the same time period, she was originally set up to carry possibly six or more 4 pound cannon as I said before with the possible intent of using her as a privateer. But at some point in time she off loaded these cannon and they were placed into the fort that was at the time located on Goat island in Rhode Island. In 1774 it is pretty certain that Captain Whipple snuck in during the dead of night and stole these cannon back. Captain Wallace of the HMS Rose was quite upset and suspected that Captain Whipple, a long time adversary, of the theft. As the Katy had originally been designed to carry these guns it is almost certain that she had also been pierced with gun ports to use them. But in her years of merchant work, whaling ship, and possible smuggling/slavery work there would have been little or no need for these gun ports so it is almost certain that they were boarded over for better sea keeping. It was probably not a major alteration as it did not take long for the guns to be reinstalled and put to use. Other aspects of a smuggler were also exhibited by reports of the Katy/Providence, but also served her well as a warship. There appear to be two reports by the British that say she was all black and had no figurehead. After being purchased from Rhode Island/ John Brown by the Continental Congress, she was up graded to 12 cannon but it appears that she was little modified other than that, including her color. So your smuggler would be mostly that same kind of vessel most commonly used at the time and location by both the Government and merchants. It may be armed but only enough to protect itself from other civilian raiders of the time, not as a rule against even a smaller military vessel. It would possibly be painted in subdued colors or even black as in the case of the Katy to blend into the darkness. Remember, in many cases the smuggling ship was known by the authorities. Captain Wallace had no doubt in his mind of what John Brown and Captain Whipple were up to. But he was never able to prove it in a court or catch them in the act. The same held true for another ship/owner on the list I made up in my last post. John Carter, The King Of Prussia, and his brothers were well known by the authorities. Enough to be given the title but knowing and proving are two different things even in the late 1700s. Some proof of this lay in an earlier letter from Captain Wallace to Captain Whipple, not long after the theft of the cannon from Fort George in 1775. " You, Abraham Whipple, on the 10th of June, 1772, burned His Majesty’s vessel, the Gaspee, and I will hang you at the yard-arm." --James Wallace To which Whipple replied; " Always catch a man before you hang him." --Abraham Whipple Whipple and Wallace came into contact several times in the course of the Revolutionary War but he was never able to make good his threat. He came close with John Brown though. But that is yet another story as they say.

I guess I made a mistake Mark. I was talking about the 1960s reproductions not the 2016 Ford. While the present car is certainly more powerful and better in probably all ways it just doesn't say Ford GT40 to me. The GT40 will always be the 60 series of cars and the present day recreations. Just old fashioned I suppose. Or is that just old? Even though I have no interest in owning one, even if I could afford it, this is kind of a sad story as well; https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1102322_abandoned-ferrari-enzo-still-abandoned-in-dubai

I think I would have cried all of the way home. To have been THAT close! You don't have to be a millionaire to own one but if I was to buy a replica version today, that would be the only thing I owned. Now the Ferrari Craig just built, the real one, is millionaire stuff only. The smog in southern California has been there so long that the locals think it is the natural color of the sky! Really, I went hiking/camping down there for a few days some years ago with some local friends and none of them thought the yellow cast of the sky and stars was out of order!

Did she reply with something like, "Are you sure about the not single part?" It may take you years of honey do's to gather enough points for a car like that.

Looked like you were going for the Green Hornet Black Beauty look for a while there. Interesting choice of colors.

Don't narrow your search too far Sean. Like has already been said, almost any ship being built from row boats to large cargo ships have been used as "Smugglers" by one party or another at almost any point in time you might want to choose. You can add to that in that in some cases the ship used could wear many "hats" throughout it's carrier. As an example, one of the first vessels purchased by the American Colonial Government in the Revolutionary War was the Providence, or ex-Katy owned by John Brown of Rhode Island. As the Katy it is clear that at one point or another she served her owner as a merchant ship and whaling ship. If even a slight thought was given to the matter, it can almost be certain that she also did her fair share of smuggling as well. It is pretty clear that John Brown tried to avoid British taxes whenever possible in the years before the actual outbreak of war. Also as John Brown was an active slave trader there could be some assumption that she could have been used in that trade as well. Then of course there is the definition of "Smuggler" One person's smuggler is another's Patriot. Ask any Star Wars fan! So having said all that, in as much of a condensed and general form as possible, it could be said that most smugglers would have been smaller, possibly lightly armed, fast ships that could get into and out of small ports or unattended coves where they do their work and escape without attention. Speed would also be an asset as the smuggler almost never wants to confront the authorities usually preferring throwing the cargo overboard than armed conflict. Taking that thought in mind here are a few of my suggestions for types of ships that may fit your criteria. First off the Armed Virginia Sloop you have already built fills the profile almost to a "T" as does the Alert that Glenn has pointed out. Some other kits out there that I consider to fit the profile of "Smuggler" include the following: Corel King of Prussia https://modelexpo-online.com/Corel-SM62-King-of-Prussia--Wooden-Ship-Model-Kit--Plank-on-Bulkhead-_p_2025.html Mamoli Hunter https://modelexpo-online.com/Mamoli-MV35-Hunter--Wood-Plank-On-Frame-Ship-Model-Kit--Scale-172--Length-440-mm-18_p_3104.html Mamoli Portsmouth https://modelexpo-online.com/Mamoli-MV45-Portsmouth--Wood-Plank-On-Frame-Ship-Model-Kit--Length-685-mm-27-Height-550-mm-22_p_3232.html Mamoli Black Prince https://modelexpo-online.com/Mamoli-MV46--Black-Prince--Wood-Plank-On-Frame-Model-Ship-Kit--Scale-157--Length-520-mm-21_p_3107.html Corel Scotland https://modelexpo-online.com/COREL-SCOTLAND164-SCALE_p_965.html Corel Shendoah https://modelexpo-online.com/COREL-SHENANDOAH-CONFEDERATE-SMUGGLER_p_977.html Corel Resolution https://modelexpo-online.com/COREL-RESOLUTION150-SCALE_p_976.html (Nice kit at a little larger scale) Master Korabel Avos https://modelexpo-online.com/Master-Korabel-MK0303P-Tender-AVOS-1806-and-Dinghy-Wooden-Kit-172-Scale_p_3525.html This is by no means what could be considered a comprehensive list of possible "Smugglers." You could pick almost any Schooner, Brig, Brigantine, Sloop/Cutter, or Yawl rigged ship or any of a number of other rigs like Chinese and Middle East, they have all been used at one point or another. Good luck on you build no matter what you pick. Please let us know and start a log so we can follow along.

Why not? Isn't California just Western Florida? Far west!

Same on both counts. They always wanted to be the good guys so that left me as the other side. Goblins of any kind were just fodder to be trampled over by anyone passing through, but sometimes I would make them bleed a little if they got careless.😈

I would say something but it would just be redundant to what has already been said!

Welcome to the rafters Edward. I do have a spare hammock that is a perfect fit to stretch between two rafters. Quite comfy really. I'm in as always.

It is hard to believe that those planes are 1/350th, not 1/48th or bigger! Can't wait to see what you do to the overall model!

Based on the population of the American Bison back then they probably did not have to wander far. Try $10 a pint for some of the Seattle Zoo ZooDoo.