PaavoOso

I love the Talley Ho. Your work appears impeccable all the way up to the Sampson Boat Co. Leo would be obsessively proud, I am certain. Great to witness this vessel being created. Thank you for sharing. John (PaavoOso).

Thanks very kindly Steven. I am attempting this to relax. I hope it works. Creativity is a wonderful thing, boats, yachts and ship modeling the same. Thank you for your advice, Steven. John

Thank you Mark. The era of "Nam" I sense was as no other. I volunteered in '71 with the USMC. Times were bad and I lost at least one friend from his own hand. Broke my darn heart. He was such a good man. PTSD runs deep. Take good care of yourself. You are admiralty here at MSW. Best always ! John

Hi Bradley, Let's see if it works well enough. I have seen one and it was remarkable. Clay just needs to be at room temperature. Just needs to be moistened with a damp cloth till faired correctly and smooth. You can paint it too. Strength is an added feature. If this turns out well I'll create more and this will be my signature style. Clay requires as much dedication to accuracy as wood. I am moving slowly but keep upp with me Bradley and we will learn together. John

Hi Bradley. Thank you friend for your warm welcome. Thank you also for your valued service to our country and three deployments. Wood working is therapeutic. I have lost a good portion of PTSD nightmares since working in wood. I am happy to hear of your success. Once clay dries it becomes lighter. Thin applications help. Keeping her moist throughout the process helps her shape and once dry she is not as heavy as one may think. But this is my first attempt so I guess we shall all find out. Kind of like ferro-cement was in the late sixties, early seventies with yachts made of iron rods and mesh and ferro-cement. I looked over the starboard profile again this early morning and realized the openings for oars and oarsman seating will be difficult. Lots to consider and lots to work. Stay safe and healthy Bradley. Enjoy your day. John

Thank you so very much Alan!!! You have been a tremendous support. I am grateful. John

Thanks very much Allan! I am wishing to make new friends. You are very kind. How do I begin a build log? Thank you for your benevolently kind comment. John

Hi JJT. Thank you very much. I am discovering there is much to consider with this hobby but I am learning little by little.

Hi Mike! Thank you for the warm greeting. I appreciate you.

Hi Charlie! It is very nice to meet you. I am afraid my PTSD does not allow me to leave the house. PM me and I will share my number with you, and if you like I can give you my address. I am already praying for your health to get better, friend. Let me know. Thank you.

Thanks very kindly Edward.

Hello to both of my new friends. Thank you so very much for keeping this post positive. I am trying to experiment as a first model in so very many years. I tend to enjoy ingenuity regarding ideas for Marine Design: Art. Design. Engineering. Craftsmanship. Thank you so very much. JIm.

As a pre-teen I began building all types of plastic and wooden boat, yacht, and ship models. I loved my passion for boats. I also drew lines of smaller classifications of canoes, sloops, and kayaks aspiring to solve that ominous mystery how to create simultaneous points that meant something and fit well together. Why after 50 years of sitting in the PTSD doldrums, did I begin to make this hobby of my youth come alive again? Also, suffering a concussion, spinal cord injury, and permanent nerve damage to spinal cord, I am hopeful to bring this dream back to me. I feel it to be a worthy goal. PTSD is a difficult battle. Suicidal ideation is worse. I had to do something, or I could die! One day I picked up a National Geographic magazine featuring the White Mist as she sailed the northern-most portion of the United States and Canada. Very slowly I became enthralled by what used to be an imperative to my livelihood as a teenager. I wondered if I would ever come alive, again? To learn hull lines drawing I succeeded at completing two years of formal training at a vocational school in the USA. Learning was difficult in the beginning, but I soon discovered an instructor or two who taught rather well. I began to learn. One day I hoped to apply this knowledge to building scale models of my designs and models of some of the great Naval Architects around the world. A favorite NA of mine was K. Aage Nielsen from Denmark. What aspired me to follow Nielsen was his motto, “Good enough is not a worthy goal.” I felt the same way upon completing a drafting & design class upon leaving the military and having been in the private sector feeling defeated for some time. Education stimulates me. This was in 1975. But I heard of Aage Nielsen in 2017 upon receiving a Certificate of Completion for a Boat & Yacht Design Program. By now I should be ready to apply everything I had learned in both programs to building models, again. I sure have been hoping so. So, for all who do not know, I will be attempting the Continental Galley Washington 1776, NRG 0138. But I shall perhaps construct the hull as an experimental modeling technique. I will be utilizing bulkheads instead of frames, sculpting wire through the dimensionless fair points of tangency throughout each bulkhead bore. Prayerfully, this will allow me the opportunity to pack in self-hardening clay to fair out graceful lines for my hull. This will require time and patience and technique an imperative. Keeping the hull moist will help create a fair hull. All other features will stand as is. I have only witnessed one model approximately 18” long created in this manner and it was a beauty. Presently, I have my building board complete, the keel has been laid with no recesses, only holding pins, stern and bow in place requiring much sanding, aft LWL square almost complete, and next to begin cutting out the perimeter of aft & forward frames for bulkheads that will fit into keel at bearding line and rabbet line. I will attempt to leave most of the keel, false keel, stern, and stem as it should be visible to the observer. Then onto the superstructure, rigging, deadeyes, blocks, guns, deck, masts raked properly, metals (I am aspiring to figure how to implant or affix to hull such as chain plates. I am certain, with adequate time, this hopefully will be a successful endeavor. I am posting pictures so you can see for yourself, the slow advances I have made. I am clumsy, but passionate. I am slow but determined. See for yourself . Of course I have not adhered to the keel recesses, there is much fill in the stern, and I am not completed with phase 1, but give me time. I am by no means professional, just passionate. Thanks friends.