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Jim Lad

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Everything posted by Jim Lad

  1. And although not painted in detail, that appears to be a Spanish ensign that she's flying. John
  2. Thanks for the input, Dafi and Veszett. The 'Duchess' has an extremely long poop stretching to between the fore and main masts. There's no clutter around there at all. Good thought on cargo derrick crutches, but the 'Duchess' didn't sport such fittings. The search continues! John
  3. Hello, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'. John
  4. Thanks for that, Rob. Every time I find something else to be done on the model I feel like Doctor Watson being chided by Sherlock Holmes - "You look, but you don't see". John
  5. Thanks very much for that, Wefalck. I've also approached my contact at Mariehamn and he's also having a look for me. I could just make a pair of fairleads and fit them "because they're there", but I'd really like to know their purpose. John
  6. A good thought, Wefalck. What puzzles me a little is that the fore end of the poop was severely damaged in the donkey boiler explosion in 1935, so these fairleads must have been replaced after that; which means that they must have had an important role in the working of the ship. I will be fitting them, as the photos of the wreck show them still in place, but I'd just love to know exactly what their purpose was. John John
  7. Looking very workmanlike, Colin. John
  8. hello Graham, and a warm welcome to mSW from 'Down Under'. John
  9. Hello Joe, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'. John
  10. A good thought, Andy, but she carried bagged grain, and these fairleads were fitted back when she was built as a cadet ship. John
  11. Eberhard, you're displaying the true craftsman's attitude. The old story is that when you ask a craftsman what his best work is, he says, "The next one." John
  12. Pat, the trick on the 'Duchess' is that she had such a long poop and the lead forward was obstructed by the boat skids and boats. She had a large capstan on the forecastle ( mainly for anchor work) and smaller capstans on the well deck and poop. If you were leading lines from the stern it's such a a long way forward to those fairleads with basically nothing forward of them, and if you're leading lines from the bow you have the 'brick wall' of the skids and boats. John
  13. Ian - no brace winches or other labour saving devices. As originally built she carried 100 cadets, so they weren't needed, but she must have been a heavy ship to work with the small crews that manned her in the wheat trade, especially as her yards were all steel! Keith - I can get you an overhead view of the boiler house when I'm in next Monday, but there's no boiler in there! John
  14. Great photo, Keith! Yes, I was thinking it could be useful if running a long length of rope to another part of the ship to avoid it getting caught on extraneous fitting around the break of the poop, but ship owners didn't usually go to the expense of adding fittings 'just in case they were needed'. John
  15. Does anyone know the specific purpose of the deck fitting (arrowed) at the fore end of the poop on 'Herzogin Cecilie' (built 1902)? There are identical fittings port and starboard and were still there when the ship was wrecked in 1936. They are obviously fairleads of some sort, but I can't think of what their specific purpose would be. Thier position gives a clear run right along the poop deck, but the run forward is interrupted by the well deck boat skids, which can be seen at lower right. This section of the ship was severely damaged by a donkey boiler explosion in 1935, but they were important enough to be re-fitted, as is evident by their being on the ship the following year when she met her end. I'll fit them on the model as they were obviously there, but I'm intrigued by their possible use. John
  16. The 'Duchess' continues to move ahead, although it's difficult to see just what has been done as I'm completing deck details and correcting small items along the decks at the moment. In the first image below you can see that the ladders from the poop have had their handrails corrected and they have been moved outboard to their correct positions, the fittings on the top of the donkey boiler house and the water tanks have been corrected and the gangway door has been cut. There is now a water pipe running along the port side and down the front of the poop bulkhead and the first section of the new wooden cap railing has been fitted. It the wider view, the loosely coiled lines hanging over the side are the whips for two of the hoisting yard halliards, the winch drum ends have been painted and cargo runners fitted and, almost impossible to see, the winches have been turned around so that they are now facing in the correct direction. There is a lot more small detail like this still to do. Once the new poop railing is installed I will need to fix the donkey boiler house and water tanks and finally work out the run of pipes between them and then get on with the cap railing. John
  17. Don't worry about that - it's a common feeling no matter how many builds you've completed! John
  18. Hello Mark, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'. John
  19. Just catching up on your model, Valeriy. Absolutely beautiful work. John
  20. Keith, I think I'd be "relatively satisfied" with that effort, too!! 😀 John
  21. I somehow missed that photo you posted on Friday, Mark. What a great shot of a small yacht powering along! John
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