el cid

Two small paintings this afternoon. Postcard size 5.75” X 3.75”
I04 HMCS Annapolis and K113 HMCS Arvida , most enjoyable at this size, watch out for more.

Craig, looks like a good base, a suggestion?
 
Add some blue washes to it, starting with a lighter blue over most of it and deepening to a very dark blue in the deep crevices, this will give the effect of deep water and the high point crinkles in blue green would give the idea of storm tossed water.... you can then top the crests with white to give greater attention to the wind driven nature of a chaotic seaway....
 
Wartime subs always seem to be surfacing in chaotic seas for some reason.....
 
Just my opinion but it looks way too green for deep seas.....

The only gun drill on film I know that is quite true is on Master and Commander , especially on the bonus disc. All other ones are not very trustable, the idle members just standing around "bored", also having all the space in the world, as the neighbor crews are missing ...
 
I tried some time ago to give a better impressen onto this topic here:
 
XXXDAn

Unfortunately, the gun drill, as performed by the USS Constitution crew, is not very accurately portrayed.
 
Regards,

Schooner iced up. A particular danger in sailing vessels, not just extra top hamper, but running rigging tends to seize up so sails become unmanageable. W/C 16.5” X 11.75”

Thanks very much, folks. My FIL and I were not only close, but ludicrously similar (both Northerners who ended up as freelance editors on rural Southern homesteads with large gardens, both deeply interested in the full spread of natural science and human history, both married to strong, intelligent women who love the outdoors, etc.). We even shared some of the same faults, which he certainly had but which I won't go into here (nor the differences). But it was enough for a strong affinity, especially as I lost my own father in high school.
 
Brian, right now I like the hull as it is, but may reconsider a bit more weathering when I'm done with the internal details. I might want to blend the visual style together more when I see what I've done to the interior.

I think I've finished upgrading my hull. Both sides now have drilled and sanded oar ports:

 
There was more tearout than I expected when drilling, even using a backing plank, but it's mostly cosmetic and I don't think it will be visible when painted.
 
I didn't like the abrupt way the upper strake terminated against the stem and stern, so added something to blend them together. This matches the reconstruction, though for the life of me I can't find the photo I used for reference.
 

 

 
These give the hull's lines a more pleasing flow in my opinion. I made them from very thin stock, which I held against the hull to trace an outline, then carefully cut out with a sharp knife. Took a couple tries as they broke easily, but when the end result was glued in I carved and sanded them to blend into the existing wood. If you can't tell from the photo, the added pieces stop right at the V-shaped frames within the hull.
 
So here are a few more photos showing the hull at this stage. The raw wood helps you see what I've added. Next step is to paint these to blend them into the rest of the hull.
 

 

 

 
On a more personal note, a very difficult stretch of life has just concluded. My father-in-law passed away in mid-November. I was very close to him and his loss is felt keenly by all of us. Without going into unnecessary details, the past 9 months or so have been particularly difficult as we attempted to move him and my mother-in-law closer to us to help with care as he declined, and to help both of them manage, all with the pandemic making things far more difficult and risky. I wrote a remembrance for him that I hope you'll consider reading; he was a very diverse and interesting person (including an academic background in Old English) and I believe that one way we stay with our loved ones is to be known and remembered.
 
Thanksgiving occurring not long after his passing was especially difficult, but also especially meaningful, as we were able to host my mother-in-law at our farm for the first time in several years (they were very reluctant to leave home as his health worsened). We enjoyed a sunny, warm day taking walks in the woods, working in the garden, watching birds, and making good food, all things the four of us valued and we could do while remembering him. 
 
We fired up our wood oven and baked sourdough rolls and apple-cranberry bread, then grilled beef & onion kebabs over the coals. Mashed potatoes, cabbage & carrot slaw, apple-cranberry crisp, and homemade blackberry wine rounded out the meal. All the produce and some of the fruit came from our farm, the meat and most of the rest from nearby farms of friends.
 


 
My father-in-law's interest in the Anglo-Saxon period makes the current project all the more meaningful to me now. I think I've gotten past the worst of the kit and now have a fairly clear way forward toward what should be at least a reasonably attractive final model that will always connect me with his memory.
 

There’s a new Flower on the market. I haven’t seen the kit yet, but other products and kits from this manufacturer get rave reviews...
 
https://blackcatmodels.eu/en/royal-navy/223-flower-class-corvette-short-forecastle.html

There’s a new Flower on the market. I haven’t seen the kit yet, but other products and kits from this manufacturer get rave reviews...
 
https://blackcatmodels.eu/en/royal-navy/223-flower-class-corvette-short-forecastle.html

There’s a new Flower on the market. I haven’t seen the kit yet, but other products and kits from this manufacturer get rave reviews...
 
https://blackcatmodels.eu/en/royal-navy/223-flower-class-corvette-short-forecastle.html

Balloon Man 2 Convoy assembly area off Southend. Balloons being delivered to ships W/C 16,5” X 10.75”

IoW Brig, Schooner & Cutter off the Needles. Out looking for trouble  16.5” X 10.75”

Today I've been having a go at making the sidesteps from scratch, just for the fun of it. It would almost certainly be cheaper to buy some from Daniel but I want to see how much I can do myself first, fat fingers and all. So I spent a pleasant morning in a model shop and came home with more Plastruct sizes than I'll ever need and, of course, some additional tools, equally un-needed! After quite a lot of experimentation trying to build the profile from flat shapes, I've settled on 3.2mm x 0.8mm for the top plank and 1.2mm angle for underneath. I've made a simple jig to set the offset depth at 0.8mm, which looked about right, plus I now have plenty of 0.8mm thick with which to set a depth in the jig....
 
This is my prototype; not too bad, but I think I need another 0.5mm depth for the bulge, put a more round edge on the flat and experiment with using milliput, which I've never used, to create a radius inside the angle.
 
Along the way I had another look through my photoset from a visit to Portsmouth back in 2013 and realised the ports in the model must be wrongly aligned, as here the lower deck is offset from the top deck by maybe 12 inches. Not that I plan to do anything about that.
 

It was a lot of fun, but it's time to call this 1970 Camaro finished. 
 

Another vote for Lego blocks.

Lego works well as well.
 
John

East Coast Convoy assembling off Southend Pier
16”.5  X 10.75”

'Hants & Dorset' rescue launch doing a pick up. w/c 16” 11”

Stage 3 almost finished, just need to trim the dowels.
A clever design I thought but you need to take care to follow the instructions so that you add in the various pieces and glue as set out or you could get in trouble. Also make sure the small parts are round the right way before gluing - nearly messed that up.
Next stage is on to the first section of planking down by the keel.

Slip and Proceed 
 Fairmile Long Range Rescue Launch 
W/C 14” X10”

Jim,
 
That sounds like a very interesting and enjoyable visit.
 
I've never been to Russia but have had a very liquid 'lunch ' with some Russian pilots and engineers at the Farnborough Airshow...they were great guys and had some some amazing stories to tell - nothing sensitive, just Vodka talk.
 
I've found that almost all nationalities get on with each other...it's just respective Governments that muddy the waters.
 
I wonder what fishing boats were historically used in Arkhangelsk? OK, off on another Google search....;-)
 
Regards,
 
Richard
 
Edit: Those cod fishing boats look quite spectacular...https://www.romanovempire.org/media/cod-fish-fishing-boats-port-of-arkhangelsk-archangel-on-white-sea-northern-9ef98b
 
 
 
 

The Skipper somewhere on the Thames late 19th Century 16.5” X 11.75”

My baby girl is here visiting us from New Hampshire.