JKC27

LOL - apologies on the blurry pics....apparently I am still getting used to the camera on my phone....... sorry about the rotated and blurry images.

Here are some pics and a short video I got just before sunset. There were a few people there taking pics as well. Got to love apps like marinetraffic. 20230426_193310.mp4 20230426_193625.mp4

From what I have read on this ship, it is possibly the last remaining Edwardian era passenger steamer left in the world?

Some Great Lakes related news that might be of interest to everyone on here...... SS Keewatin is a passenger steamer that used to haul people and cargo across Lake Superior from Fort William (current day Thunder Bay) and a small port town in Georgian Bay on Lake Huron, called Port McNicoll. This route lasted until the mid 1960s once the Trans Canada Highway was completed, essentially eliminating the need for this service, and also basically killing the town as most ship jobs left, as well as not needing the rail jobs that at one time terminated here to be transferred to ship. Built by Fairfield Shipbuilding in Govan, Scotland - launched July 6, 1907 - maiden voyage Sept 14, 1907 - in service Oct 7, 1908 until Nov 29, 1965 Original owner - Canadian Pacific Steamship Company Port of Registry - Montreal Length: 336'7" (102.6m) Beam: 43'8" (13.3m) Draught: 23'7" (7.2m) Tonnage: 3856 GRT Installed power: 3000 hp Propulsion: Quadruple expansion steam engine - 4 coil fired boilers - single screw prop - max speed 16 knots Capacity: 288 passengers Crew: 86 Keewatin ran until 1965 and then bounced around different owners serving as a museum on Lake Michigan, and then finally going back to it's home port of Port McNicoll in 2012. It was to be used as a museum and even centre. In it's time back at Port McNicoll it was even used as a set for maritime related movies, documentaries including Titanic, and Lusitania and others. Late 2020 saw plans for the owners to donate SS Keewatin to the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston, ON, and this was made official this winter (2022-23). The tow to Kingston started this week, and sailed by not for from my house yesterday afternoon. Here is a link to the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes page on SS Keewatin: https://marmuseum.ca/ss-keewatin Pics I got yesterday to come....the park I took these from is 3 blocks from my house, so as you can gather from my interest area and other posts, the ships that ply the Great Lakes (from all over the world) as been a part of my life.

As a great lakes boatnerd, this has to be one of the finest Fitzgerald models out there. Fantastic! Especially with everything being handmade.......just wow!!!!!!!

Here are the latest pics from the group build. I was unable to attend the last club meeting, but was able to have one of the members send me these so I can post them here. There are just miscellaneous parts that are all being worked on individually by the club members, as well as some of the masks that are being used. The last pic, as well as 3rd last, really show how big this model is going to be.

I wish I didn't get frustrated with painting the containers, as I see in these pics a little carelessness, but I suppose I can still touch these areas up. I like the options though of being able to display this ship without or with as many stacks of containers as you wish.

Well..after the tedious task of painting the containers I have taken the next steps of putting decals on the containers. I used some from the kits and others are aftermarket. It appears that a section of containers has gone missing on me...I'll blame rough seas. I also experimented with Tamiya panel liner to help accentuate the different containers....you can tell how thick the paint went on by using this. Overall I enjoyed building this kit aside from painting the containers. At such a small scale it made some areas challenging but I'd do it again. On to the next one...what shall it be.

I just realized how much the camera on my phone picked up what looks like a bunch of speckles, etc on the hull! WOW!!!! I really doesn't look that bad when I look at it or took these pics last night.

Getting down to the fine details like decals..touching up containers....

Not to hijack this thread, but I recently visited a fellow Great Lakes freighter model builder here, and in showing me his paper model collection, he also showed me his brass locomotive collection........they are very impressive - he has them in a display case and it was really beautiful to look at.

Love the work on this Roger!

Welcome to Model Ship World Andrew!

This plane is called "Bad Penny". This Lancaster was ABC equipped (Airborne Cigar radio jamming). Here is a snippet from our club newsletter: While transmissions from A.B.C. (Airborne Cigar radio jamming) equipped Lancasters like the Bad Penny protected the rest of the planes in the bomber stream, it simultaneously made 101 Squadron’s Lancasters highly vulnerable to attack. A German night fighter could home in on an A.B.C. transmission and track it back to its source. The enemy could also visually identify A.B.C. equipped Lancasters. Their three, very distinctive seven foot tall transmission masts made them easily recognizable, and after realizing their significance, Luffwaffe pilots began targeting these 101 bombers first. Flying a mission in an A.B.C. equipped Lancaster quickly became one of the most dangerous things an airman could do. Flying a mission in an A.B.C. equipped Lancaster quickly became one of the most dangerous things an airman could do. Squadron’s tactical significance to prosecuting Bomber Command’s air-war, was one of the reasons why 101’s Lancasters would be some of the first bombers fitted with duck .50 caliber machine guns in their rear turrets’ this upgrade would replace the standard four 303 caliber machine guns in most Lancasters at the time. The kit came with brass barrels to replace the poorly detailed plastic barrels of the model’s eight 303s. Unfortunately these brass barrels came incomplete, without their cooling jackets. To remedy this, the Scale Model Club purchased new, highly detailed 303 and .50 caliber barrels for the build. Work has now begun on the Bad Penny model’s three Fraser Nash turrets. One of our builders is working on the bomber’s mid-upper turret. It was an FN50 with two 303 machine guns. Up front, the bomber’s nose turret was an FN5A, and was also equipped with two 303 machine guns. The rear turret the kit came with is an FN120, with four 303 machine guns. This turret will be modified and converted into an FN82, which was equipped with two .50 caliber machine guns. 7hmjrvch.bmp 2fjbkvp4.bmp h89dps35.bmp le80trn6.bmp

Did I mention how tedious the containers are.... They're coming along very slowly. I have installed the anchors and rudde and prop as well as touched up the paint on the hull.

Did I mention how tedious it is painting the containers........this is going to take long to do than the entire ship and building of the containers

So...painting the containers is a tedious process to say the least...

This is exactly what is happening. It will be impressive once complete!

The following pics show the first two buld meetings as well as the first cutting of the parts off the sprue. Getting organized and laying everything out. We have ordered extra PE parts and decals that will make this buld the only of its kind. The first thing I noticed when we opened the kit at the one club meeting aside from the size of the box was the detail on same of the parts like the wings and fuselage. You can see the details of all the ribs, etc. under the skin....amazing. This will be painted to represent the one at the museum.

Just started a thread on the Lanc - will post some pics tonight or in the next day or so. Here's hoping someone (likely Kinetic) comes out with a qualify Avro Arrow kit - they just released the Tutor trainer (Snowbirds) kit.

This model is being built, not by me, but as a group build by the scale model club I belong too, which is part of the Canadian Aviation Museum here in Windsor, Ontario. The museum is also restoring a Lancaster bomber that was on display at a city park here, and it should be complete in time for the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force in 2024. The kit we are doing is a 1/32 scale kit from Border Model, but we will be modifying it to coincide with the real plane at the hanger. One of our members knows someone who is donating their basement space for us to work on it, as well as members taking certain parts home to work on them at their convenience as well. I will be posting updates with pictures as the build progresses, as well as any information that may be interesting in regards to the build. Here is a short new article talking about the actual plane.... Lancaster bomber restoration nearing completion in Windsor, Ont. I will do my best to answer any questions anyone may have. First set of pics to follow soon!

Gotta love these difficult decisions! Personal preference for me is the left side........the right seems almost too blue. That being said, will be following this build for sure. I've gone down a rabbit hole of model plane kits while I decide what freighter to do next (although I did get slightly started on the Robert S Pierson and Tim S Dool - Andy will know these). I'm starting to wonder if maybe my impression that there is not a lot of WWII Canadian aircraft models is false....not a lot of RCAF markings are offered, yet our pilots mostly flew under RAF colours, if I a not mistaken, as I am certainly not up my Canadian military history. I will get a thread started on our club Lanc build in the next day or so.

Well, sure enough, it appears that my barely used Amazon special has broken. I cleaned it up good each time with airbrush cleaner, and made sure to take care of it. I went to use it the other day, and when I attempted to spray my parts I was painting it kept wanting to back up out of the tiny hole in the tap of the cap for the paint reservoir (I guess you can call it), or try to push the cap off and paint sprayed everywhere but out the tip of the nozzle. After cleaning up my mess and taking the airbrush apart, it looks like the threads on the small part that tip of the needle goes into where the paint comes out are stripped, and the nip of the needle would push this out essentially blocking the nozzle. This is my best guess as far as diagnosing the problem goes. I can screw the tip back in, but it just pulls out, so I think it is done. Goes to show you.....if the price looks too good to be true, it almost certainly is. Some things it's worth spending the little bit extra on. Good thing it's my 50th birthday coming up!

Looks like the airbrush is all good. Painted the deck and quickly the bottom of the hull. This paint is Tamiyas hull red but it is quite brown...but close enough. Slowly putting the container stacks together as well as the pilot house and decks.

I built this kit a couple years back. The guy who makes these has them pretty detailed. I don't think they are to a specific scale, but they do have a decent offering of Great Lakes freighters. I might check out some of their other models one day. Too bad they don't have any Canadian fleet boats. Have fun with this though....looks like you are making good progress!