Jim Lad

Potholes are never finished Keith - they just get deeper! (sorry) Looking good, Nils. John

An excellent first model, Chris! John

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

That looks a good, sturdy boat. It will be interesting to watch her grow. John

Thanks, Nils. I think she'll certainly use up all my patience! Phil, the ship was 102 meters long and the model is at a scale of 1:100, so the hull of the model is 1.062 meters. The double spanker rig was quite common on German ships of the period. I think it looks good and adds extra interest on an otherwise fairly bare jigger mast. John

Looks great, Greg. John

Work has finally started on cleaning, restoring and completing our model of the 'Duchess'. Unfortunately, the cleaning process has revealed some damage on the model - it looks like an object has been dropped across the well deck, with the gangway and the boat skids damaged (both removed at the moment) and damage to the topgallant railing on both sides - a bit of extra work I don't really need! Cleaning has also revealed some unfinished areas on the deck - holes where fittings have been removed and the holes left unplugged. I'll simply fill those as I work my way along the model completing it. She also has all four lower masts fixed. I would have preferred them loose, as the lower fore stays of the after three masts secure to the deck right bedside the masts ahead of them, so it will be pretty tight getting the stays secured when i get that far. The images below show the model as she is now, except that by the time I left this afternoon more cleaning had been done. I hope to complete the cleaning next time i'm at the museum and acrually start some work on her. John The model on her work table secured inside her display case - sorry about all the reflections, but there are large picture windows to the right. The 'Duchess' out of her case and ready to work on. Looking down on the decks. At this stage I'd finished cleaning the forecastle; down all but one cleaning run on the well deck and swept the dust off the poop.

A very handsome looking craft, Colin! John

Lovely work with your wood bending, Mark! John

You've done a great job on that lettering, Nils. Is there any 'wiggle room' with that adhesive lettering when you put it on, or does it have to be precise first time? John

Nice to see that planking started, Keith! John

Love that detail work, mate. If no one else sees it, we know it's there. John

That's scrubbed up really well, Chris! John

Beautiful work in the hold, Gary. John

Very nice looking sails, Steven. As for the historical accuracy of the model - "based of the best available information at the time of building." John

Nice to see her progressing, Mark. John

Your giant jigsaw puzzle is looking superb! John

Fascinating experiments, Nils. John

Amazing work! John

Just catching up with your log, Chris. You're making a very nice job of that dory! John

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

A tricky job, Nils. I'm sure you're up to it. John

A great diorama to show off the kind of ridiculously narrow waterways plied by the ship. John

'Just like a bought one', as the saying goes! John

What a great colour, Nils! I'm sure you'll find a solution for your little problem on the starboard side. John