hamilton

Hello there - if anyone's still there! I see that it's been 2 years since I started this log - lots has happened since then - my youngest has started school; I've stepped down (gratefully and after 8 years of service) as the chair of my department at the university; I've still only got about 45-50% use of my left index finger, though it's manageable as injuries go; I've built a small cabin; published a book and spent some time asleep. And yes, there has been progress on the BN. I think my finger injury last summer, combined with an incredibly difficult year at work, took the wind out of my modelling sails - I've still only dabbled at the Syren since July 2017 and it sits now with the bulwarks partially planked. In the last couple of days, though, I've returned to the BN, finished the lower hull planking and mapped out the next phases of the build. Part of the malaise has been being stuck at points of the build that can be quite tedious - the hull planking. In the case of the BN, I have also been quite slapdash about the planking, particularly below the waterline, since the hull will be finished. The thing had been sitting in a closet with only a few stealers to complete before it was done, but somehow, after putting my boys to bed each night, I found that I didn't have the energy, patience or alertness that is necessary for good results. But now I hope I can gather some momentum since I'll now be moving onto what I find to be more satisfying parts of the build. I have no photos to post at the moment, but will do later this evening - in any event, I've slathered the hull in modelling paste and am waiting for it to dry so I can sand it smooth. More later hamilton

I built this same 1:100 Amati one several years ago and gave it to a close family friend as a birthday gift - she still has it displayed in her living room and it's nice to see it when we go visiting. Small but nice looking! hamilton

Really wonderful looking model! hamilton

Looking good Ferit - I've made that exact same mistake cutting the shrouds!! Probably two or three times! I feel your pain....but keep it up - she's looking gorgeous hamilton

Tim! Sorry for the very late response....the holidays have been and gone and I'm just getting back to looking in on MSW in a serious way. Still no work on the Blunenose since last official update....It's sitting in the closet covered in an old shirt, and now that a new semester has begun it's hard to say when I'll get back to her. I'm hoping to be able to eke out some time at the "bench" this winter, but it's hard to say.....Most nights I am just too knackered to commit to it and since I don't have an ongoing modelling set up half the hurdle is pulling stuff out and setting stuff up....so we'll see if I can recoup the energy required to do a half-decent job. As for finger push-ups.....not in my future....the finger is not really improving too much, unfortunately, except for wagging at people every once in a while. I has not interrupted my modelling so far, but when I come to rigging, I'm fearful that the fine motor skills of my middle finger (which I'm now using as a surrogate index) will not be up to snuff....we'll have to see..... bye for now hamilton

One little clove hitch at a time.....and another....and another....keep going! hamilton

Well well well! It's nice to see you at this beautiful build again. Ferit! Hoping there's much more to come hamilton

Great metal work Tim! hamilton

Thanks again Greg! hamilton

That's great - thank you Greg! hamilton

Just as a follow up question - might it be possible to get a wood list for a Swan framing package - just for future reference? I've ordered the plans, but I'm not sure if they come with a wood list or not and this would be very useful to have when I come to this project some time in the far future..... hamilton

Thanks OC - things have been so busy at work that I've not had a chance to get back to the BN or my other build (the Model Shipways Syren) for quite some time....I'm hoping that over the holidays I'll be able to dedicate some time to modelling, but at that time there are, of course, so many other obligations....I'm missing the work a lot these days and will hopefully get back to it soon....... hamilton

Nice to see you picking this up again Collingwood! She's looking very fine indeed hamilton

Whoa! This is sad news....I bought (and have yet to start on) the Echo cross section, and am right now about to head over hoping that Swan plans are still available for a future build.....a great service to the community and it will certainly leave a gap that no amount of wood filler can correct..... hamilton

Your work is always so neat and precise! She's looking great Bob hamilton

The deck house looks great Tim - are the side panels resin cast? Do they come as a single strip that you install behind the wooden framework? Or are they individual panels? hamilton

This is great! Just to note - my Yacht America build is finished. Thanks for putting this list together - it is very helpful! hamilton

Wow! I wish I had room to build a model of this size....though technically I do have the Constitution which is about this size, so..... This will be a very fun project to follow along with - and I'll be taking some crib notes for my future Flying Fish build! Have fun with this one Tim hamilton

Great choice with the black hatch coamings - I love the contrast with the deck and bulwarks. Beautiful work! hamilton

Just catching up here Bob - truly wonderful work as usual. The Halifax looks like a really fun project - and I'm also glad to hear you made it through the weather ok! hamilton

Beautiful work Jason! hamilton

Hi Ron: I've been test driving TurboCAD over the weekend and there is, indeed, a learning curve. I've been using Sketchup and so I'm having to both learn and unlearn at the same time! As an experiment I've started with a relatively simple example - the Monk "Curlew" centreboard sloop. I'm trying to model it in 1:12 scale and initially just determining how to set the scale was a challenge. Now I've reproduced (in 2D) the line drawings as well as a corrected transom and sketched the shape and taper of mast and boom. I have not made any attempts yet to experiment in 3D, but will work my way up there once I feel comfortable with 2D drawing - I'll read through the tutorial you link to above! hamilton

Thanks Ron - just looked into DesignCAD and was pretty amazed by the price....significantly cheaper than most CAD software and figured for a newbie it was worth a try.....we'll see how it goes.......thanks again hamilton

It seems like Sketchup is really for square things, or at least really regular things. The number of CAD options out there - not to mention price issues and complexity - make selection a difficult task for the novice....I may try out Onshape as Don recommends - free is always welcome! I'm definitely not in a position to drop a lot of money on this sort of thing....thanks all for the contributions to the post so far! hamilton

Hi Per: Thanks for the tip - I followed up on it and have ow generated some 1:12 scale line drawings of the Edwin Monk Curlew just to get a feel for the software. Not sure how successful I've been.....I'll need to print the plans to find out.....thanks again! hamilton