yvesvidal

Folks, there are currently on the French Market some graphic novels depicting the kind of ships the members of this forum enjoy to build. These novels are extremely well drawn and the attention to details is outstanding. The stories are quite often riveting and the reader has a hard time waiting for the next installment of the series. I believe that some of these series have been translated in German but I am not sure about the English language. Even though you may not read French, the drawings themselves are a treat and would justify the purchase of one or many albums. I wanted to introduce you to two artists: 1) Jean-Yves Delitte who is the official artist for the French National Marine Museum and Collections. Jean-Yves produced three series Belem, U-Boat and Black Crow and I have uploaded the front covers of the albums: as well as some pictures to show his talents: Jean-Yves also authored two books about some famous ships: 2) the second artist is Marc Bourgne who has produced a very large quantities of graphic novels and seems recently to dedicate his time and talents to the series Pirates of Baratavia: Here again, the drawings are extremely beautiful and the plots riveting: I encourage you to procure one or a few of these albums and enjoy the adventures of Corsairs, Pirates, British, American and French naval forces as well as romances and intrigues. Yves

San Martin, your model is fabulous. Bravo. Yves

Bob, that little yawl is gorgeous and so precious. It is a marvel and you can be proud of you. I have to admit that I enjoy watching you build this beauty: it is such a refreshing change from all these admiralty and armed (to the teeth) ships of the 18th century. Finally, a nice boat designed for the sole pleasure of sailing and traveling in style to remote destinations. I simply love it. Yves

Absolutely superb!! Yves

Sam, It looks like it was not so poorly done, to start with. I can see the Model Expo projects taking a toll on their expected delivery dates.... LOL!! That should be fun. There is always pleasure in renovating and restoring old stuffs. Yves

It is good to see some progress. I was despairing to ever see a complete Bismark on this forum. Yours looks fantastic. Yves

Very nice Build Jean-Pierre. I like the rudder mechanism and the fact that you planned ahead for it. Could you describe in more details how this bar will control the rudder? Could such a large ship be equipped with a simple tiller? I truly love the curves of the hull. They make this model very unique. Yves

Bonjour Jean-Pierre, Although I abhor all the ships and weapons that are used to kill whales, I will be following your Build Log with a lot of interests. It is indeed a nice ship with some beautiful curves that you got.... Yves

Superb. I wish you had started a separate Build Log for your Cross section, though. Thanks for the pictorial description. Yves

Perfection...Perfection Jack. Great work. Yves

Amazing work Dan. Beautiful. Yves

Henry, I have looked myself into this model and it is very appealing. Besides the scale of 1/50 makes it more manageable than the other planked kit at 1/35 scale. These kinds of boats do not appeal at all to the crowd of this forum and you will not find anything related to the famous J boats. The former incarnation of MSW had a build log from a gentleman who built the Amati 1/35 planked hull. It was fantastic to read and turned out into a beautiful machine but extremely big and tall (the builder needed a ladder to reach the top of the mast). I have looked into the Dorade kit made by Amati (plastic hull pre-formed) as well as I love these racing boats in general. The kit by Amati of the J boat at 1/50th scale comes with a pre-finished hull, carved in wood. The deck is finished but you may want to re-plank it for better accuracy and realism. Amati also offers a line of J-Boats at the scale of 1/80, but these would be too small to be interesting, in my opinion. The claim of Amati about Best-seller is actually for Europe where these boats are much more popular than they are here. Keep in mind that the market for this kind of kits and boats (J Boats) is very limited and cannot compare to the typical historical ships abundantly described and pictured on MSW. I am always in awe when looking at the sheer power and majesty of these boats: If you ever decide to get the kit, do not forget to offer us a Kit review and a Build Log. Thanks Yves

The same is true with model railroading. The success of Lionel and MTH is clearly indicative that the most important is not the accuracy or prototypical appearance, but the fun you can derive out of it. In O scale (1/48), they even invented a third rail in the middle and guess what: 85% of the market in that scale is 3 rails. Only a minority of anal retentive people are searching for the absolute perfection and accuracy. Yves

Ok, time for a kit review.....

Jeremy, There are a few information on the WEB about this beautiful model: http://thunderboats.ning.com/forum/topics/construction-methods-and?commentId=6315479%3AComment%3A26214 as well as numerous pictures. The picture below shows some of the external rivets/nails. I am not sure that is what you are looking for. Have you tried contacting AMATI for help? Good luck. Yves

Hopeful, What is going on with the Sultana? We have not seen any updates in a while. I am "hopeful" that you can resume it soon... Yves

Dirk, Thanks for your kindness. I really appreciate your Syren and will use your Build Log when I start the kit which is sitting in my closet. Yves

Happy Birthday Jack!! And no, you are not old at 64. You are simply more mature and wiser than a lot of us. Your passions and hobbies are keeping you alive, alert, healthy and motivated. This is really what is important. A human being without goals and passions looses enthusiasm for life even if he is young. This is not your case and I am looking forward to many years of Parts Work and assembly of rare and very interesting models coming from your side. Besides, you live in a beautiful part of Italy, with lots of Olive trees and olive oil which is excellent for your health and the heart. So, Happy Birthday Jack and many more to come! Yves

Despite many other projects going on, I could not help but work a little bit on the model. Not much progress done, but I almost completed the bowsprit: Twelve gaskets were installed to help fold the genoa (or gib): The bowsprit bands are made with the supplied brass strips, soldered and carefully drilled with a 0.5 mm drill. All painting is done with acrylic paint, diluted and brushed in many coats. The black is Black Gesso which is used to prime canvas with a black background and which presents the fantastic property to be very easy to brush and to have a perfect finish. in my opinion, it is the perfect way to finish whales and other black surfaces on a model ship. Yves

Jack, Nice work on that stern. It is not obvious from the pictures, but I suppose you painted the backdrops in black, behind the windows. Did you use a transparent film to simulate the glass of the windows? Sometimes, it can provide some reflections that help make it more realistic. Yves

It is all in the strategy, Jack. Looking forward to seeing your progress. Yves

Folks, While surfing the Web, I stumbled against a project which is dear to my heart: a fully rigged Confederacy! Apparently, a very skilled modeler from North Carolina, Dave, has built the model as an Admiralty Model and added a full rigging with all masts and yards. I have looked at all the models built by Dave and am truly impressed and in awe with the quality of his models and the number of ships that he built. I invite you to look at more of his work under http://www.davesconfederacy.blogspot.com/ A few full shots of the Confederacy in all its glory: Fantastic work. Congratulations Dave. Yves PS: By the way, if anybody can give me more information about Dave and where he lives, I'd love to meet him. His Blog does not provide any clues.

This is a "brilliant" idea. I like mingling modern technology lighting with these old ships. It will make your beautiful work stand out, when people look at your cross-section. Yves

Jack, It must be hard to wait for all these parts to show up. I understand the need to run multiple kits at the same time. Yves

Jack, Very smart thing to turn these flat decks into something more realistic. I have never seen a flat outside deck on a ship. Yves