hamilton

Thanks all for the comments - and thanks especially to you Dan - your build was an inspiration...maybe you should add some photos to the gallery here so we can revisit your Glad Tidings. I've decided against sails for this one....though as I recall your sails were superb. I've made sails for the last several models I've built and while 2 of them (the Mamoli Gretel and the MS 1:100 Bluenose) worked out alright, I thought that my relatively low level skills tarnished a couple of otherwise decent builds - the San Francisco and the Toulonnaise....They don't look BAD, they just don't look GREAT. Yours DID look great! Anyway, since this one is for friends, I didn't want to overstep my limitations.... Since I'm not adding sails, this will mean a slightly simplified rig. I'll be omitting the jib club as well as its attendant sheet, and I'll be rigging the jib club topping lift as an anchor tackle (hooked to an anchor slung through the sheave on the bowsprit). At this point I've started the standing rigging, after having made the chainplates, bowsprit plates, and gammoning iron. Photos later. I've also decided to use these aeronaut metal blocks with brass sheaves for MOST (though not all) of the rigging. I will use the kit supplied walnut blocks for the throat halliards (1/4"), boom sheets (3/16") and mainsail clew outhaul tackle (1/8"). The peaks, topping lifts, anchor tackle, and jib halliard will use the metal blocks. This might be too much of a wild contrast, but I like the look of the blocks - again, photos later. I also sourced some replacements for the Brittania anchor pulleys and main boom topping lift pulley, which MS suggests making out of bras strip. Also from Aeronaut, these are roughly the same size as the Brittania parts (for the bowsprit pulleys) and slightly larger than model scale for the topping lift pulley...I guess I'm kind of going nuts with this and creating a kind of Frankenstein's scale monster here....I'm trying not to punish myself too much for it, and I promise that I'll try to be more of a purist on my next build! No improvisation, I swear! I'll make a proper update in a bit once I pull my photos off my phone. hamilton

I've been curious about this kit....what's your estimation of the quality? hamilton

A very cool looking model - well done! hamilton

Nice work so far - I love the detail on the head rails - well done! hamilton

Great rattling job! I personally don't mind doing these...I did almost 1000 clove hitches on the San Francisco a while ago - the most I've ever done...Throw on a movie or a couple of good podcasts and the time will fly! Anyway, she's really coming to life..... hamilton

Hi "Prophotog" (sorry - but I didn't get your name!!) I built the Sultana a few years back. Station 4 appears on both the FWD and AFT templates (I think) because these marks are supposed to meet - at least that's how I remember interpreting it - it was a while back and a lot of builds have happened between.... I can see you have quite a bit of extra space at the stern (judging by how your deck plans fit atop the hull) - so removing that amount of wood across the entire stern (all the way down to the keel) will help get those lines to meet up. But given the distance I see in one of your photos between the marks for station 4 on the FWD and AFT templates, I don't think removing all that material all along the aft end of the hull will make the lines meet.... It is common for slight inaccuracies or discrepancies to creep into kits. If the station lines on the profile templates don't exactly meet up this will not affect the overall model too much - as long as the overall hull shape is correct - this you can determine by using the profile templates individually and the station templates, and the deck drawings you have pasted to the top of the pre-formed hull.... hamilton

Beautiful work, Geoff - glad to see your log back up and running! hamilton

Amazing! I remember your build from the old MSW - a real inspiration. hamilton

Hi Jim: I am seriously considering the Echo cross-section as an entry into scratch building - followed by the Hannah from the Lumberyard....I wish I could head down to Baltimore, but alas, it's way too far away! Maybe if I was living back on the east coast it wouldn't be so bad...I'm sure you're going to learn a lot! Looking forward to following your progress here hamilton

Well I've made two attempts now at the mast coats and the second, while a bit out of scale, seems to have turned out ok...here's the story. I had read on Dan B's Glad Tidings log on the old MSW about how he had constructed the mast coats. He provided a very detailed and helpful description of the process - I had planned on consulting it during the construction of these little features....alas! Anyway, my first attempt (pictured below) was the result of me trying to construct from memory what Dan had done...you can see how that turned out! Sheesh!! I'm almost too embarrassed to share this... Anyway, I thought I'd just live with this, but this idea came to be too deeply dissatisfying, so I decided to have another go, this time following the kit instructions and carving them from wood.... I found some 1/4" and 3/8" thick basswood and drilled some 3/8" holes in it. I quickly decided that the 1/4" was the better choice for scale... I then sawed the 1/4" strip into small squares and trimmed them into circles... I then bevelled the ring with a small sanding block as steeply as a dared... Much better - though as I said probably not in scale....I suppose I could have spent a bit more time getting it down to a more reasonable size, but I had to run out for pizza! And then I guess I was just so happy that they didn't look like my first attempt that I put it out of my mind. Anyway, here's a couple of shots of the build to this point - now I have to add fittings to the main mast and prep both masts for the standing rigging.... Bye for now! hamilton

Can I just say - THANK YOU!! This clarifies a lot about spiling - the detail you put into logging the construction details on this build will undoubtedly prove to be of great benefit to many in the future hamilton

Great work on the Syren Augie! She looks beautiful. hamilton

This is exciting! I haven't seen a Corel Bellona on MSW before and I have one under the workbench as we speak...it will be nice to have a good cheat sheet to work from!! Looking forward to following this! hamilton

Thanks for the compliment, Augie. At first I thought that serving these little parts would be a pain, but it ended up being a pretty quick job and immediately improved the look of the eyebolts. The photo doesn't show this, but I touched up the eyes with a very thin coat of black paint to get rid of the flecks of brass showing through here and there... Anyway, I'm taking the night off modelling to read up through the forum...also I'm facing a bit of a re-do of one of the trickier features on the Pinky - the mast coats. Dan B, in his excellent build log on the old forum, posted his technique for making these in response to a request of mine, but alas it's now gone, and he doesn't seem to have rejoined the forum (or maybe he has under a different handle...). Anyway, I have to try to figure out some way of doing it, but tonight is not the night.....Dan B if you're out there, please enlighten me once again on the mast hoops! Even a rough approximation would be great... And if anyone else has ideas, let me describe what they're supposed to be like - a short (roughly 1/4") conical shape, attached at the mast and deck with an iron hoop. The mast coats flare out from the mast by about 1/8" all around. Can you picture it? Sorry I don't have a photo from the plans - I'll try to post one tomorrow if anyone has any ideas....Thanks in advance! hamilton

Hi Ron: Believe me, the list is more impressive than the models! I hope someday to achieve your level of craftmanship. Someday when I have more space and more time, I'll set up a workshop for a Lumberyard kit - I had thought of the Hannah....but that's for the future.... hamilton

Beautiful work! Looking forward to following this here as on the old site... hamilton

Hi Chris: Great work! I think your rendition looks nicer than the Mamoli display version! hamilton

The bulwark planking looks great - how did you get that colour? hamilton

Hello: We spent the last week in Mexico, so not a huge amount of progress on the Glad Tidings - though lots of progress on laying around, eating tacos, and getting sunburned...I look in the mirror and understand why the Canadian flag is white and red! Anyway, since coming back, I've installed the rudder and tiller, fabricated the bowsprit and foremast and started making chainplates and other "iron" fittings. The photos show the rudder in process, the bowsprit and a detail of the stern featuring the tiller... I have to say my brass working skills a pretty rudimentary...the chainplates have turned good (photos another time), but I could not wrap my head around how to make the bowsprit irons using the kit supplied brass strip and without using solder and I thought that gluing some small pieces of brass strip to act as the belaying points would not be secure....so I took a page out of Chuck Passaro's book and used black pinstripe tape (3/64" wide). Once wrapped around the bowsprit shoulders, I punctured the tape with an awl and then drilled a little deeper to insert a few eyebolts. I also went one step further and served the eyebolts with black sewing thread. I thought that this would achieve a better look than the thin eyebolts. I'm not displeased with the results, but if anyone can think of a better method I'm open to suggestions!! Next steps: outfit the foremast; shape & outfit the main mast, add bobstay stem plates chainplates & deadeyes, install the bowsprit and add the gammoning iron Until next time, hamilton

Hi Alistair: Good to see you here! Thanks for the compliment. The Glad Tidings is actually a very fine kit. It has been a lot of fun to build and the kit contents are of very high quality I'd say - much higher than I remember from the AVS! I'm still waiting to see your Pegasus log start up here....what's keeping you? hamilton

Wow!! This is your first build? I can't believe how well you've handled the 2mm mahogany hull planks - it looks great! A painstaking process, but it clearly paid off - it's hard to argue against the method if it produces such great results! I'm on my 11th mode ship kit and I don't think I could plank a double-planked hull that well. Very impressive work - I'll follow this log with great interest hamilton

Hello Robbyn: Good to hear that AL are listening. I wanted to make the SF, but the more I read about the SF2, the less I wanted to build it! I took a good long while to find the original double-planked version of the kit, so as to avoid single planking in mahogany... In any case, I'll continue to follow your build! Great work so far hamilton

Thanks for the quick reply, Augie - I had to say I laughed when you said that that colour designation was "Wood" - of course!! I'll check out my local hobby shop to see if they carry this brand - I'm also not ready for carving - I might take a crack at a simplified quarterbadge, but I doubt this will come to much....anyway, keep up the great work here and thanks again! hamilton

Hi there - should I call you "River Rat"? Anyway - I love the details you've added here - great work - can't wait to see more hamilton

Hello all Here are a few more photos - the Glad Tidings so far. Bye for now hamilton