coxswain

Eating armadillas?? When I was in the Florida Panhandle at Eglin, they were like possums wandering across roads. Think I'd rather eat boiled peanuts. 😝

Every time I think about this it makes me laugh...
My brother and I were visiting our nephew at the water plant where he worked one night when we observed a bunch of armadillos foraging on the plant grounds. My brother said he heard they were good to eat and suggested we catch some, take them home and cook them up. After chasing them around for a half hour or so, we finally managed to catch a couple of them. They appear to be slow moving, but if you try to catch one, they can run like rabbits. We bagged them in a croker sack, took them home and started to clean them. These darn things are so well armored, and their claws so sharp, we couldn't find a way to kill/clean them that seemed worth the effort. So we gave up and released them unharmed. It was comical as heck.
 

Here we go on another weird food train! Cow tongue is pretty common here in the PNW and as far as I know I have seen it on meat shelves all of my life. Also heart is readily available in the common market. I have eaten heart and found it pleasant but very lean with almost no fat, so hard to cook without making it tough. Tongue on the other hand is supposed to have a lot of fat but because of the look many people just cut it up into small pieces because of the look. I like Liver as well if it is not over cooked.

I worked on a store where we sold beef tongue in the US. Some folks liked the stuff. Had a beef flavor as I remember.
 
Me, I was more a corned beef or pastrami fan working in that section(Kosher deli) of the store. Much preferred the Italian deli section of that store. More goodies I knew of, out side of head cheese. That was bits of meat(?) in a clear meat jelly.

In this part of the world (Belgium) it is normal to eat horse meat and cow tongues (no donkeys )
I think that this has something to do with the past 2 world wars that we have experienced (and all  the other wars before these 2 )
Then you eat what is available, or you eat nothing.

Flemish saying:
"Honger maakt rauwe bonen zoet."    Hunger makes even raw beans taste sweet 

I'm with you, Lou. Except I flew my last mission with another short timer about 3 days before we went home. Big to do for us, much imbibing of adult beverages and munching Thai "spring rolls". Got a Thai version of a lei, too (I think. It got pretty blurry there at the end).

Never heard of OMGIF. Had to look it up. But a few guys got a FIGMO attitude, not very many. The last thing you wanted was getting your tour extended for some unknown reason.  We did have an expression even when we first cam in country. "What are they going to do? Send me to Vietnam?" it was only half a joke.
 
I never made a countdown calendar, but the last week or so it was not easy not to brag that you were single digit, (Number of days) and a wakeup. By that time you were normally taken off of known combat flight status anyway and assigned to milk runs. Too many things happened to people when they got real short and it was considered bad luck to push it if you didn't have to. If nothing else, the people on the flight line were pretty superstitious.

Haha! I'm not building it in a pub! 🤣

That's The Olde Ship, at Seahouses, Northumberland, UK.

I like that you are working at a pub.  Or is that your living room......

Ok, some news.
 
The laser and photo-etch parts are now being produced. As around 7yrs had elapsed since Chris completed this, the laser cutting company had made changes to its equipment, meaning the sheets had to be a different size. Some work was done to move all the parts around to fit the new sizes. There were a few questions about certain aspects of the design, but we are now there.
 
Amati hope to have the parts (both laser and PE) with them in around 10 days, so if that goes to plan, I should have everything in 2-3 weeks, and I can start a build log here as I create the work needed for the instruction manuals. There will be at least two shiny, perfect-bound books for this....possibly three. Having spent 7 months pouring over Chris's original manual, I think there will be around 1500+ images needed, perhaps more. That will be interlaced with some extracts from the drawings too. 
 
I know many folk are wanting this kit, so I promise to work as quickly as I can to complete everything up to where masting is needed. Masting and rig will be done via the plan sheets, as is traditional. 
 

Thank you very much Denis,
 
after adding the steam whisle today, the restoration is now complete, and I shall add the Hjejlen to the Gallery.
 
Nils
 

Progress status....
 
after achieving a tall and narrow  white book shelf yesterday on Ebay, I removed the books from the lower portion on of the  "Eagle of Algier`s" sideboard.
The "Hjejlen" now fits into the free space compartment with it`s glass case, as if it were made for this.
 
I have now 7 glass cased models in my working office, the 8th one "Gorch Fock" 3 mast barque and in lack of space, had to move upstairs to it`s new mooring place for display....
 
Nils
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

restoration progress....
 
Ships boat under davits, with oars and grapnel anchor...
 
Nils
 

 
 

2 oars and grapnel
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Yeah Yves,
The bench-legs  should have been shortened, now its too late, would be a too great surgery. Earlier one of the benches came loose and dropped onto the carpet, no problem with that, but I did`nt pick it up immediately, and you can guess what hapened, I forgot that it was still laying on the carpet and under a nasty cracking noise, that was it....... It took me some hours to mend that bench, so I`ll leave my fingers off it in the future.  
 
The ships boat is in a scale that suits the figures in a better way.  It takes some painting and rigging under the davits by means of double sheave block tackles. Together with the 2 liferafts the capacity will be adequate
 
Nils
 

this is the 14 mm dowel I made the connection pedestal / baseplate from, it works well
 

 
 

the ships boat is a 123 mm long Kutter from Aeronaut in scale 1:50 together with 2 oars
 

Hi Yves,
thanks for your comment, I´ve been expecting a comment on the seated people zise. Usualy Preiser is my first choise, here unfortunately neigther 1:48 nor 1:50 scaled seated figures were not offered or not on stock. I can live with the substituted figures  I finaly chose in scale 1:43 resp. 1:45, and was after receipt disappointed that even these were a bit too small in comparism to 1:50 regular Preiser ones. (if they had been available )
 
Nils

Progress on Restoration report :
 
- all passengers seated, crew on their positions
- Bulleyes sdewise in front section
- roof in front well area has additional stabilizing posts
- Bulleyes at sides of boiler room
- Rigging of stern white-light lantern
- Base-plate, steam ironed- down the self adhesive veneer, in order to flatten out the gentle bulbs that came there over the years
_ fitted the removeable pedestals with dowels to the baseplate ( the model can be taken off the baseplate easily)
- alternative figurehead
 
still missing:
steam horn, 1 larger lifeboat, 2 life-raft containers to go next to the lifeboat on port side
 
Nils

stern lantern
 

 
 

note: passengers sitting back to back on the long benches
 

additional bulleyes in the boiler room sides
 
 

bulleyes in the front side portions
 

passengers sitting in the beroofed front well area, additional posts for the roof stability
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

alternatve figurehead for the bowpost (Golden Plover, instead of lost Hjejlen figure )
 

 
 
 
 
 

After paint job, now passengers and 6 head-crew boarded, ready for river- and lake cruise at Silkeborg
 
Nils
 

 
 

on port side the paddle scoops were mounted, facing to the wrong side. I dd`nt want to disassemble  the paddle wheel, as the failure is not so obvious to be seen anyhow
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi Druxey,
thank you for your word
jes, thats true and whenever I saw an old unbuilt  kit of this one being offered (very rarely) the prices were so extraordinary high, but my mind still went pregnant with this thought  (someday the time may come ! )
 
Cheers, Nils
 

wish my hand would be more steady for the paint job on appr. 50 passengers...., but the hairstyles, shoes and other details will get touch-ups
 
 

Welcome to this topic Mark and Lars/Peter, and B.E.
and many thanks for your kind comments.
Also thanks to the "likes"
For this kit I`m missing the 2 bullseyes for sidewise in the front section of the hull, and the golden plover figurehead for the upper bow post. Alternative parts are now ordered. The stand looks quite flimsy, so I decided to make pedestals from brass / wooden candle holders with a shaped outcuts for the keel to fit into. Small M3 screws hold these pedestals  firmly to the keel. they will fit directly to the baseplate of the glass casing.
The two ( meanwhile come loose) paddle wheels were glued to the hull. Now both paddle wheels have become an brass axis between outside spashguards segments and the hull. I am intending to place crew and passengers on board, like I did wth the Bohuslän steamer. Its not easy to find the right scale figures, and there are so many non occupied benches. I placed the benches on the upper aft deck, turned around, now back to back 180°, so that the passengers will face the water side of the rivers and lakes for a better view. The roof of the front well also requires some additional holding posts, as the current ones are quite flimsy, and therefore the roof quite instable
Also the ships boat is not in correct scale, so there will be an alternative boat fitted under the davits....
 
Nils
 

this is the "old" stand
 

the wood / brass new pedestals
 

New pedestals fitted to the keel (they had to be low in hight, due to the limited glass case hight )
 

the new brass axis for the paddle wheels, also to make them turnable
 

crew and passenger figures, prior to painting job
 

Hi there,
all you steam-paddle-boat lovers
since I was a teen I had an eye on this lovely boat.  It is the long time already out of production vintage Billing Boats kit named "HJEJLEN" Golden Plover, German : Goldregenpfeifer.
A few days ago I could hardly believe my luck in finding this offered complete kit-built boat, on Ebay, a bit damaged, together with a suit-taylored glass case, so I invested a drive to the seller in the region of Bremen area, and picked it up.
 
After thorough inspection back home I determined the minimum of parts and components required to restore and overhaul the charming old lady. I shall show the sequences of recovery and restoration in the next weeks to come, here in this tread.
As this will be no complete new build, but certainly worth an shorter thread on this forum, as I`m sure that there is interest for this model by the one or other fellow member.
Credit goes to the late father of the seller who built this steamer many years ago. It is known to be the oldest live steam, still cruising boat with passengers in the waters of Silkeborg in Denmark
 
Nils
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 

name giver birdie, Hjejlen, Golden plover, Goldregenpfeifer
 
 

Finally I finished version 2 of the scaffolding. Actually version 3, because v2 were made from 5mm steel but the stupid guys didn't took into account metal dilatation and were cut curved. 
The 10mm ones I use to hold the keel are not straight, they are curved too, but it doesn't affect their functions.
The others are graded. The frame is perfectly aligned horizontally and vertically and hold between inside lateral ones.
 
Everything can be adjusted both horizontally and vertically!

Two jib sails  (inner jib and fore mast staysail) in position. The wind blowing I think isnt bad, but the main or standing jib, is still not going to be used.
 
Forecourse  sail is also in place (not fully secured) but the yard is fastened through the parrel and its trucks on the mast.
 
 
 

Yards have been formed and then prepared with a  pass of cellulose sealer and then had a fine sanding with a 240 and 320 sandpaper. After that two passes of black acrylic vallejo paint did the miracle.
 
After drying the yards were equipped with their fine quality  double and triple blocks from Syren Model ship Co.
 
 

Standing rigging almost finished. Some shoe paint was used in order to clean the glue stains from the ropes.  The ''binding thread'' (auxiliary thread used to bind standing rigging ropes in position) was waxed for better adhesion. All the standing rigging  ropes (from Modellbau Tagelgarn), were excellent quality and I have not treated them in any way. Mizzen mast backstays still to go.