Snug Harbor Johnny
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Status Replies posted by Snug Harbor Johnny
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'Ever complete the Grand Prix car? I have the kit and intend to have a go at it eventually. I did build the Hurdy Gurdy and to make it work half good, there had to be MAJOR modifications, Wood-on-wood 'moving' faces were sealed with model airplane dope and sanded smooth with super-fine sandpaper. Then there could be a little PTFE model train lube added to reduce friction and noise.
Some of the journals had mini ball bearings installed (these were large enough to do that, but the car project is too small). I thinned the soundboard on places, enlarged the sound chamber and installed spring returns for the keys. With real instrument strings used its not half bad but ... I had fun doing it, staining the outside and varnishing. Looks wonderful.
So when I do the car its going to have to be done with enough care to make it operable (some builders have had troubles). Johnny
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Admirals ... gotta love 'em ! Fair sailing, mate. Johnny
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Great photos of the 'Big T'. I have a Revell 1:96 kit from 1959 (a lucky find), and my plan is to consider very well what modifications (busts?) can be done to make it much closer to the original. There are a couple of logs for the Reveal Cutty Sark 'bashed', and the many great ideas are applicable for Thermopylae. Wood planking the deck is on-tap; as is reshaping the bow to conform to the Aberdeen profile, angling the stern better (a real challenge), using wire for railings - whiskers and 'dolphin striker', and remaking some of the spars and mast parts in wood. Of course, real deadeyes properly mounted are a must. Nut I must finish my Wasa - a project shelved for decades, yet now I have the information and initiative to re-work the outdated Billings kit so that it is 'good enough'. I've started a log, and you might want to peek into it from time to time - but the going will be slow ... as usual.
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Outstanding ... thanks. 'Not much can be done to change the Revell Leonides. Somewhere (can't recall0 was an account that the sword was detachable from the hand, and was slid into a sheath on the figure (opposite side for a right hander?) when the ship was in port. I tend to doubt this, as it would be fussy and the sword could be lost in rough seas if it were removable. Another option would be to build an accurate wood hull and use what Revell parts would be convenient, like the pump, winch, figurehead, lower masts, tops and crosstrees. Once again, it will be well into the future pending completion of my present project - the Wasa, adapted as best as practical from the ca. 1970 Billings Kit 1:105.
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I'd be game for the Thermopylae kit, and think that twice the postage would help compensate for the trouble of shipping. I'm located between Philadelphia and Reading PA, and USPS would be fine. You can e-mail me: johnsymborski@aol.com with instructions to buy the kit 'as is'. Of course there will be TLC needed to build her.
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Thanks for checking out the Wasa log. I just repaired an internal gun mount for one of the brass half-cannons that removing the forecastle deck made accessible (no post on this latest repair). I'm optimistic that I'll be able to do the original Wasa justice in a 'reasonably' done version ... no museum piece, to be sure - but enough to satisfy myself. Thermopylae will take more thought before doing anything. Perhaps building the 1:150 Academy plastic model of Cutty Sark (I got one this past Christmas) may give me more insights. I saw a build log for it on this forum, and was taken by the fact that this version is molded with the studding sail booms out. The somewhat reduced scale of 1:150 (17" hull) on the kit means that I could make cloth sails using the thin plastic ones as 'molds' to drape fine cloth treated with dilute white glue, then set them all on a model where the width of all sails set wouldn't be TOO wide, as they might well for a 1"96 scale model. Odd thing is, that the builder who did the log detached the studding sail booms and moved them inward to glue in the retracted mode. He could have more easily built the 1:130 version available that has the booms in as molded. At 1:150, I plan to use seed beads as blocks (1mm ?) and 2mm beads as deadeyes. Fair sailing, mate ! Johnny
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I'd be game for the Thermopylae kit, and think that twice the postage would help compensate for the trouble of shipping. I'm located between Philadelphia and Reading PA, and USPS would be fine. You can e-mail me: johnsymborski@aol.com with instructions to buy the kit 'as is'. Of course there will be TLC needed to build her.
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I intend to do a log, and there are a few ideas cooking already. For one thing, most recognize that the Revell Thermopylae in many aspects is made from the Cutty Sark molds. There should have been an 'Aberdeen bow' (as opposed to the relative sharp angle of the Cutty), and the angle of the stern went way out further (opposed to the Cutty's sharp change of angle). I could go on, and the kind of modifications to make the plastic hull of conform to known pictures and models of Thermopylae are complicated. The other course would be to so a scratch wooden hull, install the plastic deck as a 'false' deck (so the masts, and pother gear can cement properly) then planking over the plastic deck with thin veneer strips. It would be a shame to loose all the great detail in the copper (or Munsey metal) sheathing - so a 'hybrid' approach is possible ... The lower part of the plastic hull could be used (with the bow attached and fitted with an internal wood skeleton that would be planked down to the sheathing. The plastic false decks could still be used (with modifications) and still be covered in thin wood veneer planking. Many of the fittings are usable from the kit, but some of the spars and upper masts could be re-done in wood - like some of the nicer kit busts. I have a lot to sort out, and also a wood kit to finish. Johnny
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I'd be game for the Thermopylae kit, and think that twice the postage would help compensate for the trouble of shipping. I'm located between Philadelphia and Reading PA, and USPS would be fine. You can e-mail me: johnsymborski@aol.com with instructions to buy the kit 'as is'. Of course there will be TLC needed to build her.
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Ahoy Jeff ! The package came today intact ... thanks. It looks like virtually everything is there, and I'm not going to start it until my present Wasa wood build is done. I've seen a couple logs showing what can be done with the Revell Cutty Sark kit - in terms of augmenting the detail and improving (busting?) the model to a much higher level. Wooden deadeyes and blocks being just two examples. Something similar is doable with the Thermopylae 'sister' kit. Meanwhile, I'll gather more info on the 'Big T'. Johnny
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I'd be game for the Thermopylae kit, and think that twice the postage would help compensate for the trouble of shipping. I'm located between Philadelphia and Reading PA, and USPS would be fine. You can e-mail me: johnsymborski@aol.com with instructions to buy the kit 'as is'. Of course there will be TLC needed to build her.
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I'd be game for the Thermopylae kit, and think that twice the postage would help compensate for the trouble of shipping. I'm located between Philadelphia and Reading PA, and USPS would be fine. You can e-mail me: johnsymborski@aol.com with instructions to buy the kit 'as is'. Of course there will be TLC needed to build her.
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Ahoy Jeff,
Yeah, 'forgot about the Holiday. I moved to Phila. in 1976 as a new grad (U. of Maryland) to gain employment in industry (which was plentiful then). 'Transitioned to pharmacy work at a hospital 16 years ago (lots of industry has vanished) after moving further west where life is a little less hectic.
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I'd be game for the Thermopylae kit, and think that twice the postage would help compensate for the trouble of shipping. I'm located between Philadelphia and Reading PA, and USPS would be fine. You can e-mail me: johnsymborski@aol.com with instructions to buy the kit 'as is'. Of course there will be TLC needed to build her.
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I'd be game for the Thermopylae kit, and think that twice the postage would help compensate for the trouble of shipping. I'm located between Philadelphia and Reading PA, and USPS would be fine. You can e-mail me: johnsymborski@aol.com with instructions to buy the kit 'as is'. Of course there will be TLC needed to build her.
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I'd be game for the Thermopylae kit, and think that twice the postage would help compensate for the trouble of shipping. I'm located between Philadelphia and Reading PA, and USPS would be fine. You can e-mail me: johnsymborski@aol.com with instructions to buy the kit 'as is'. Of course there will be TLC needed to build her.
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I'd be game for the Thermopylae kit, and think that twice the postage would help compensate for the trouble of shipping. I'm located between Philadelphia and Reading PA, and USPS would be fine. You can e-mail me: johnsymborski@aol.com with instructions to buy the kit 'as is'. Of course there will be TLC needed to build her.
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