Russ MIlland

Yes, I have spent the las few hours posting a couple of book reviews and information about two museums as well as exploring the forum and its seemingly endless amount of interesting and useful information. I did not mention in my introduction that I first have to finish downsizing a large storage unit of stuff after we essentially downsized to a smaller abode when I became disabled. Once that is done, I hope to set myself up for some modelling projects. Russ Milland

1. The title of the book.: Hamilton and Scourge: Historical Treasures from the War of 1812 2. The author's name: Emily Cain 3. The publishing data - 1984 - Fountain Press Limited 4. Pertinent specs - Hardcover with jacket, 150 pages, 11 x 8.5 ins. ISBN 0-86343-090-2 indexed 5. Modelers are especially keen to know if the book has plans, drawings, color plates, or any other such informative goodies. What kind and how many? Good quality or bad? Anything particularly noteworthy? - Well written book with some colour images; no plans; drawings of ships on inner covers 6. Summarize the contents of the book: The story of two schooners converted into warships in the War of 1812 which fought on Lake Ontario but sank in a storm. They were discovered in 1975 in perfect condition in the depths of Lake Ontario. They are now "managed" by the City of Hamilton (Ontario) Museum System and are protected by underwater system against intruders. 7. And finally, give your subjective opinion of the book. - A good story including the history of these types of schooners. Beautiful plank-on-frame models have been built of both schooners and are in the Hamilton Museum system collection. I do not believe they are on display to the public at the present time. The book is not in print but available online as a used book. Look for it on www.bookfinder.com. More information can be found at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton–Scourge_survey_expedition Russ Milland

1. The title of the book.: Ship Models - The Thompson Collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario 2. The author's name: Simon Stephens, Curator - Ship Models and Boat Collections, The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, U.K. 3. The publishing data - Skylet Publishing/Art Gallery of Ontario - 2009 4. Pertinent specs - Softcover with jacket, 184 pages, 100 colour illustrations, 11 x 9.5 ins. 5. Modelers are especially keen to know if the book has plans, drawings, color plates, or any other such informative goodies. What kind and how many? Good quality or bad? Anything particularly noteworthy? - Very high quality colour images and scripts for each image 6. Summarize the contents of the book: Full colour images of 69 models in the collection with one or paragraphs describing each mode and its history 7. And finally, give your subjective opinion of the book. Did you enjoy it? Why or why not? Are there highlights or shortcomings that you think potential readers would appreciate knowing about? Let them know! - An excellent book and a joy to peruse. I only wish that they could have included more of the collection. The author, Simon Stephens is mentioned in many different posts in our forums. WARNING: They keep mentioning that this was published as a five volume boxed set but my copy is a single paperback book and that seems to be what they offer online. There are four other books on the other collections donated by Lord Thomson mentionedon the back cover of the above book accounting likely for the five volume set. The book is available from the Art Gallery of Ontario at an amazingly low price of about $15.00 in Canadian Finds. I purchased my used copy online through Abebooks.com. https://shop.ago.ca/7546/thomson-collection-at-the-ago-ship-models/ Russ Milland

I have recently returned to the hobby of model shipbuilding. I once belonged to the Metro Marine Modellers (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) decades ago when I was young. I am now retired and moving back into this hobby and now belong to NRG , The Marine Shipwrights of Niagara (Ontario, Canada) and the Confederation Marine Modellers of Hamilton,Ontario, Canada Year Ago, I did build the Graupner Elke kit and still have that model. I still have numerous ship kits and books which I am now sorting through to decide on which to build and which to pass on to others. I do have the hull completed for the Billing Boat's Zwarte Zee. I have also acquired (not built by me) a wonderful plank on frame model of a three masted 24 gun warship which I will shortly share on this forum to help determine what the prototype was. I am very impressed with the wealth of "Build" information here on this website. Russ Milland