Jim Lad

Very nice, John. She's looking very riverboatish! John

A nice solution to complex shaping, Phil. John

She's coming along beautifully. John

Warmest congratulations Keith and Ann! John

Hello, and a warm welcome to MSW from 'Down Under'. John

hello Ellie, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'. John

Nothing much more to add. Just beautiful. John

Hello Andy, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'. John

Keith, I'm actually a little anxious about her at the moment. Our Head of Knowledge (wonderous title that earned him many rude questions) who was the 'Duchess's' champion, has resigned for a post at the State Library, so I'm not quite sure where I stand right now. Hopefully it will all turn out O.K. in the end. John

Looking good - vert good. Two questions, mate. Was it usual for the hurricane deck to curve upward like that at the bow; and do you know why it was called a hurricane deck in the first place? John

Very helpful to have coloured plans. Makes life so much easier. John

Looks very nice indeed, Mark. John

What a great image, Keith! John

Hope she's home with you again soon, George. John

Nothing like a bit of hands-on training, mate (I am a worm sir, a wiggly wiggly worm sir)! 😉 John

A cunning solution with the rudder! John

Keith, she's an impressive model. 106.2 centimeters (41.8 inches) plus the bowsprit, and most museum visitors walk right past the spot where I work, so it's no wonder that people stop to talk. Paul, I love talking with the kids about model making. Some of them are really keen to have a go, so that leads to another conversation with their parents about what might be possible and what tools would be safe in little hands. The best one I had was a kid about 8 years old who just wouldn't stop asking questions. Eventually his dad said, "If I get wooden boat kit, would you like to build it with me?" The way the kid's face lit up was just brilliant. The worst one was another kid about the same age whose father said to him, "Come on, you're not interested in that stuff and there's lots to see." Mark, Although the end result is the same on a small scale, the rigging order is somewhat different on a model, especially in smaller scales. The problem with a model is the lack of space to get to things, meaning that some careful planning is needed to make sure you can actually get to things as the rigging goes ahead. A case in point is that spanker sheet. the lower block is tucked away near the poop rail and the cleat it's made fast to is also down there behind everything (it must have been a bit of a bugger to adjust the spanker) and I realised that the newly made steering box gratings will have to be fitted after the spanker sheet is secured or I won't be able to get in there. As for 'learning the ropes', as a Master Mariner I probably have a head start on most of our members even though I wasn't trained in sail. A very real interest in how a sailing ship is sailed also helped, plus many hours poring over Underhill's books and reading the books in my collection on first voyages in sail. I had to do a bit more research for the 'Duchess' as she has a few quirks in her rigging, but that was helped by the fact that I already knew what lines would usually be where and it was pretty straightforward to understand the differences. The plethora of gigging images for this ship also helped. Bedford, most of the kids at the museum just want to look and don't even have to be asked not to tough (that's mainly a problem with adults) but every now and then a wide-eyed child asks if they can play with it! 😀 John

Not a lot of progress on the 'Duchess' of late. The last couple of times I've been at the museum I've spent most of the day talking to interested visitors rather than working on the model - but that's a good thing - I continue to wonder at the number of kids and teens who say things like, "That's so cool" when looking at the model and asking detailed questions about the building process. The mizzen topgallant and royal braces have now been run, but not rigged to the yards, so that's now the total rigging on the square sails until I get the ratlines on and can finish off the braces. I've also started getting the lead blocks on the jigger, as can be vaguely seen on the image below. Ther's still a bit of fiddling about on deck needed before I actually rig the spanker boom, as the spanker sheet is tucked in behind the steering box and gratings. John

Very nice figures. Is Ensign Fuzz also known as Phil? John

Coming along beautifully, Paul. John

That just looks magnificent, Mark! John

A great example of perseverance to achieve the desired result. Good on you, Keith! John

Keith, occasional photos show her with load lines - she must have had them when she was up for survey - but none of the later photos of her in South Australia show them. I think it was easier to just paint straight over them when touching up the hull. As we're showing the ship as close as we can to what she looked like when she sailed from Port Lincoln on her last voyage, I'm leaving the load lines off (and Bureau Veritas be damned)! John

Great to hear from you, Michael. Let's hope those eyes settle quickly for you. John

Always good to get the planking started - even better when both sides match! 😀 John