BANYAN

Great to hear from you Michael, and many thanks for your kind thoughts. Like you, I am returning to a long suffering project which I hope to (re)start in earnest tomorrow with a good dust and clean up. We had our coldest Christmas in 20 odd years yesterday at 15degC so looking forward to some warmth soon Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and my best wishes for a great 2026. Looking forward to some updates on that beautiful model of yours. BTW, those third hands you produced are one of the most used in my workshop; still much appreciated. cheers Pat

Merry Christmas to you also Bob, I hope it is a safe and joyous day. cheers Pat

Merry Christmas Keith, I hope Santa's helpers surprise you with some modelling goodies cheers Pat

A unique model of a quirky PS Keith, looks great! Considering the limited source/reference material you had this has really turned out well. Merry Christmas mate. cheers Pat

Glad you did Steven, quite an amount of small incidental and/or supplemental detail about the vessel is dispersed throughout the state, records offices and personal collections. IK am sure I have missed, or I am not aware of many others, so I very much appreciate pointers such as yours. Have a safe and happy Christmas and the best of modelling wishes for 2026. cheers Pat

Thanks Eberhard, best wishes for the season to you and your family also. cheers Pat

Hey congratulations on your 50th Keith and Ann, that is truly a wonderful milestone to achieve. cheers Pat

Excellent workmanship (as is usual) Keith, that panelling looks great. You don't want to pop on over this side of the equator and do some 'life size panels' do you cheers Pat

Wow, nice catch. cheers Pat

Thanks everyone for the very kind sentiments and encouragement. @Louie da fly thanks, yep aware of that item, but I really think they have that placarded/identified wrongly. I think it is much too large to have been used onboard. More likely is that it was a swivel link used on the permanent mooring buoy allocated to her in Hobson's Bay. Appreciate the pointer. cheers Pat

Great to see you back online here Michael, have been missing your updates. Hope all goes well with your vision and you can find some time to complete the interior of your build. cheers Pat

Very many thanks to all for your very kind messages. The medical team was great, I was up and about that evening (after a four hour procedure), eating normally and getting about the next day, and released from hospital the next. It never ceases to amaze me what these health 'magicians' can do these days. The intention is to now prove my rigging plan by trying it on the model. This should help to resolve some of the remaining issues I have and establish whether some of the leads etc I have used were/are practical. This is not to say the plan is the 'actual' configuration used in the ship itself, but this process should lead to a reasonable 'representative' rigging and belaying plan. Once I start, I encourage you all, especially the more experienced modellers and mariners, to challenge my assumptions. In the interim I am preparing myself for the onslaught of Christmas, especially with my three gorgeous granddaughters (or should I call them 'organised chaos' ' cheers Pat

What a great result Richard, can't wait to see the completed product. Nice work. cheers Pat

Hello all, unfortunately, after my re-start back in June, my modelling ground to a halt yet again with some medical issue I needed to attend to. I have had a bit of a 'C' scare but all is clear now having undergone some colorectal surgery. The doc has given me the all clear (completely clear) so, after some recouperation during the Christmas break, I will be back to the work bench . One positive from this was that, between the various procedures etc, I was able to find some time to complete the first draft of Volume 5 (Rigging and Belaying Plan) of my Book about Victoria. I now have a working basis from which to test rig the model and iron out any issues I encounter, and then update the book. Unfortunately, everything else ground to a halt, including redrawing the revised sheer drawing (to remove a major distortion in the original drawing). Unfortunately, this has identified an error in the model's hull ()depth of hold) which (at scale) is about a centimetre or slightly more too shallow, but only the 'rivet counters' will notice. In the meantime I am preparing some CAD files to experiment having the upper masts and yards CNC turned. If this works, which I am pretty sure it will, I can start assembling the spars and get on with the rigging. Many thanks to @JohnOz for his kind offer to do this. BTW, John should be encourage to show some of his fine engineering and 'smithing' work, especially his cannons, they are a true work of art. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas/festive break. cheers Pat

Ver 6.0 looks pretty good to me Keith, I think the scale (including scaling the tones etc of the paint) look about right, certainly it is very acceptable. cheers Pat

ditto John

Thanks for sharing these links Mika, these videos could be very useful, especially for those still learning their way around the nomenclature used with the various timbers that made-up a vessel. cheers Pat

Wow Keith , despite becoming accustomed to your excellent engineering/metal-smithing skills and results, you continue to amaze. What a great result with those portholes, and that cabin (close-up photos) is so life-like. That is something very difficult to achieve so I 'doff' my hat in salute mate. cheers Pat

Nice find/observation Eberhard, any other puzzles to resolve? cheers Pat

Nicely engineered Richard cheers Pat

Well you certainly know how to make a 're'entry Keith, stunning work as usual. cheers Pat

That pump looks great Eberhard, although translucent there is enough detail visible to show the craftsmanship that went into making it. cheers Pat

Great to see you back Keith, I have been missing your build. Sorry to hear of the trials and tribulations with your renovation mate; seems insurance appointed builder same the same world wide - the cheapest builder they can find who then tries to 'screw us out of every dollar they can'. Mine had the hide to inform me that he had bought a large fishing boat from his profits and then had buy a large 'white rock'; for the missus to compensate. cheers Pat

Great result Eberhard, this build is certainly introducing us to some new, and dare say unique, construction methods/techniques. cheers Pat

And... we're off and running. Looking forward to your log as you progress this unusuall PS Keith cheers Pat