Jerry

Hello Dave.. Thank you very much for visiting my log. I took a good look see at your build log of Bluenose and I am very impressed. You are doing one hell of a meticulous job. I'm coming along but I am very concerned about these plywood bulkheads and I should have trimmed them for stanchions before I glued them to the keel. I will be careful, of course, but who knows what will happen? I appreciate your nice comments about my other builds with which I enjoyed every minute of their construction. I'm still waiting for the display case for Bounty and hope that'll be ready soon as the dust is beginning to become more threatening. Please come back again, Best, Jerry

Hey Lawrence. I guess the American Postal System really sucks...or maybe it's the Canadian system that's holding up delivery of the "package." Please let em know when you get it. I did take my time and managed to get the bulkheads removed from their respective billets and they are now safely glued onto the keel. Fairing is next. And now I'm a bit concerned about cutting the bulkhead extensions above the deck into stanchions as Dave (Above) has pointed out. These bulkheads are made out of plywood and they will have a tendency to shatter, I think. I'll be careful. LOL... Best regards to Bernie, please, Jerry

Hello Dave, I'm so glad that you visited my log because I was then able to find your site very easily. And I'm happy I did. You offer some very valuable information that I'll be happy to have and your build is coming along very nicely. I have not proceeded with the abundance of caution that you have and maybe I'll be sorry for that one of these days. Who knows? But my past experience has allowed me to end up with decent builds without too much emphasis on strength. This model is a single planked ship which is a first for me also. All my previous builds have been double planked and although tempted to double plank Bluenose, I'll only consider it if I do a terrible job on the first layer. Thanks so much for your log; I know it'll prove very helpful to me and others who may attempt this project. Wit regards to Bob Hunt, I too have his practicum and so far I have followed his instructions and not the kit's. I hope I'm doing the right thing. Good job, keep it up as I look forward to sitting in from time to time if it's okay with you. Best regards, Jerry

Hello Joshua... and many thanks for stopping by at my new Bluenose log. I very much appreciate your kind comments as they encourage me to do as you said, " press on." I have a second wind since my medical situation has improved and there's no need to sit around all day and mope. There's a very small bit of wood at the aft end of the keel and the least carelessness on one's part will easily cause the aft end to break off. I was careless and it broke off! So I have stopped my progress to wait for the glue to dry and then I'll need to figure out how to reinforce the repair. I believe the kit is poorly designed at this point but as I said if one is careless trouble will be found; and I was careless. Have a great day Joshua and come back and visit again Best, Jerry (I must be crazy!)

Thank you, Chris...My exuberance got the best of me. Jerry

Thank you, Lawrence..You are always avaiable if someone needs help and I for one sure appreciate it. It's good to be back in business again. By the way here are a couple of pictures of the very poor laser cuts this kit jas provided. It will take a lot longer than necessary to remove the bulkheads from the billets as they are not cut cleanly through the entire thickness of the plywood. I hope you have a wonderful day. Jerry

Good morning everyone: I'm back in business!! It just didn't feel right to begin a build and not share my progress with the many friends my admiral and I have made since becoming a member of NRG's Model Ship World. I'm just plain happy that I feel well enough to work on another model and after some persuasion from a couple of fellow modelers I have decided to share my ups and downs on this site once again. I must admit, the "downs" are going to be mentioned first: This model from Model Shipways has been a challenge right from the beginning. I had no trouble combining the three keel sections into one but boy did I run into trouble carving the the bearding line. A bearding line, believe it or not, is a new phenomenon for me. I suppose I should have cut one in the keel of all the other models I have built but I'm making a confession here... I never did one before. But since this ship model is designed for a single planking (something I'm not sure I'll stick with) I decided to do what is expected and carve a bearding line and rabbet. This keel is basswood, about 3/16 of an inch thick and the instructions call for a 1/16 bevel on each side of the keel for the bearding line. So, yep, you guessed it, I ended up with a new piece of keel from the bearding line down. Even though I was warned, I scored the initial cut too deep. But all is not lost as I was able to reattach the severed piece and hopefully, as the hull progresses, it will get stronger. So that's where I am at this time. I intend to remove the bulkheads from their respective billets today and glue them to the keel shortly thereafter. The ugliness of my bearing and rabbet sculpture can be seen on the attached pictures. I wish you all a good day, Jerry

Hello Lawrence, As usual, you are super nice. You are also very persuasive so I'll give additional thought to creating a log for Bluenose. I have begun to build it and have pieced the the three sections of keel into one. Talk to you later, Jerry

Hi Popeye. Not much more to say except that I have begun to build the Bluenose. Charlene is undecided about having a build log for her Nina. I'll ry and talk her into it but I think it'll be a tough battle. I believe she has gone shy on me. We haven't received the display case for Bounty yet but when we do we'll hapily post a picture of it in its new environment. Best, Jerry

Hello Grant. Thank you very much for your visit and kind words, I don't believe that sitting around and doing nothing is a way to go. Have a great weekend. Best, Jerry

Hello again Popeye... You are too nice and I just want you to know that I appreciate all of your kind and comforting remarks. I'm happy to have met you and that is what's so good about MSW. Whenever I did any work on the Bounty and whenever I do anything with the Bluenose, which is by Model Shipways . (Model expo ) it' was and will always be a bit difficult. Since I have no eyesight left in my left eye i have no decent depth perception which makes it challenging but not impossible to work on these models. I even laugh at myself as I feel my way down to the tip of a toothpick in order to put some glue on it using it as a glue stick. I often miss the tip if I head straight for it so I start at one end and feel my way down to the end. There have been many glue spots on Bounty which shouldn't be there but luckily, Charlene has been able to clean most of them up. Look, it's clumsy but not impossible and it's not the end of the world. I'm not going to give up and that's why I decided to build another model. I started the keel this morning and I now plan to cut in a bearding line so that the planking will blend in. This hull is single planked which I'm not sure I like. I've been lucky with my past builds because the second planking has always covered up all the errors I carelessly made in the first planking. For example, I'd hate to peel off the second planking of the HMS Victory because the first planking is really terrible. Luckily, no one gets to see it.. I'll certainly keep you posted as to any "incidents" I run into with this build. I hope your day is going well.. Best, Jerry

Hey Popeye.. All is well...The surgery was a success and I'm back in business again. I still will be administering medication for a few months but I I did get the okay to start building again. Sorry about usurping the admiral's site but let's face it, I'm too lazy to open my own. Today's doctor visit proved happy as I was given the green light to do light work. I will have to have a couple of more surgeries in the future but now that I have experienced one I'm pleased to say that it is a very tolerable procedure. No pain, no strain...just a lot of eye drops several times a day. I have the Bluenose on my desk and hope to start building the keel today. I also bought a new floor lamp with 2 different magnifications and it really should be helpful. It has five legs on wheels and really stretches far in every direction. I absolutely believe it'll be very helpful for me. I'm not keen on starting a build log for this one so I may just take some photos for my own use. The wood is not the best to look at but none of it will ever be seen. Charlene ordered her kit (La Nina by Artesenia Latina) last night so I guess she's really serious. And she better be because now that she spent a good deal of time on the Bounty she should have enough experience to handle her new build. However, I'll always be around for questions and problems. The Nina replica was in Naples a few weeks ago, along with La Pinta and we were able to board them both. Small vessels and very interestingly rigged. Short masts and only two of them. As far as "worst" kits...I'm beginning to think that most of them are very cheaply produced. Thanks forputting up with my rambling and have a wonderful day my friend Best, Jerry

Hello Lawrence.. I have hijacked Charlene's site to thank you so much for your most complimentary post regarding our build, the HMS Bounty. As you mentioned, the display case (acrylic) has been ordered and in about three weeks we will launch our model into its case and hope the dust mites will stay away forever. I have also ordered the Bluenose kit from Model Shipways, (Model Expo) and if all goes well my next endeavor will be it. I am scheduled for eye surgery next Thursday so I imagine it will be several weeks before any construction can begin. I'm actually feeling more upbeat these days as the doctor told me that I would not have to have surgery on my right eye for quite some time, perhaps enough time to finish the Bluenose. The admiral is pondering as to what she will do next but I think she's going to settle in on "La Nina." But...who knows? My best to you and to Bernadette, Jerry

Hello Heinz.. Your model is coming along magnificently. The ropework around the cannons is perfect and the deck looks terrific. I wonder if you have had a chance to look at our HMS Bounty site as you mentioned that you would like to see "your" copperplates on the hull of our model. Here is a link to our dite if you are interested: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/10200-hms-bounty-by-jerrys-admiral-amati-scale-160/?hl=%20hms%20%20bounty%20%20jerry#39;sadmiral Keep up the great work; you have a beautiful ship model to be proud of. Best regards, Jerry

Thank you from both of us Nils. Much obliged for your visit. Best, Jerry (and Charlene)

Hello Everyone.. I though I'd take a few minutes to bring our log up to date as Charlene is at school today and I've been able to do a little more work on our Bounty. First of all I'd like to thank Johann for his perpetual applause which we will all have to see forever. I'm not sure how genuine the gesture is meant to be but in the spirit of fellow ship modellers, I'll take it that it's menat to be a good thing. For some reason when I first saw the severed hands I developed a guilty feeling as perhaps our log is a bad act or something but Charlene took the brighter side and felt that Johann liked our build. I hope so. We are moving along. Most of the running rigging for the Mizzen and Main lower yards is completed. Where the lines are tied to a rack of some sort we'll add the coils as in past builds. For some reason I have always liked to do the coils later on as a mass procuction process. So here are a few more pictures for all to see as I head back to the shipyard and begin construcyion of the lower foremast yard. Best, Jerry (and Charlene)

Hello Popeye...and many thanks for your positive remarks. I'll certainly pass your feelings along to Charlene; she'll be happy to know that you expressed your feelings. Take care, Jerry

Hello .. A little more progress on the Bounty. It looks like all the lower stays are now rigged so I think I'll proceed with the top masts so the rest of the stays can be rigged. The rat lines still need to be finished but they'll have to wait until the upper shrouds are rigged. Things seem to be going well even though we're missing parts needed when we get to attaching the yards. More about that later. Here are a few more pictures. Best regards, Jerry

To Grant, Brian and Michael.. I have forwarded on to Charlene your thoughts regarding her decision to postpone her model building "career." She was touched by your response and asked me to please convey that. She has discussed retirement and we thought that would occur at the end of this school year. But,Charlene is now a bit hesitant about that and thinks one additonal year may be necessary to assure our finances will be sufficient to support the decision to leave her job. So, I'll carry on with Bounty and look forward to Charlene's trying again in a year or so. Many thanks again for your kind words. Best, Jerry.

Good afternoon everyone... Well, to tell the truth, today was a bitter-sweet day. Charlene decided that she could no longer work on Bounty since she felt stressed trying to build the Bounty and cope with her job. I tried to tell her that there are no time restraints and she can go as slowly as she likes but she felt it would be better to let this project go and maybe do something in the future. It has always amazed me how much work is piled on to teachers without ever compensating them for the addiotnal time. It seems that there is always something additional to do because the school board has seen fit to reduce the staff but increase the work load. It's bitter to see her stop building because I was happy to know that i could share my hobby with my wife and have a building buddy so nearby. I'm sure you know that I have been doing work on the Bounty and it seems like it was more and more each day. I finally discussed the situation with Charlene and we both decided that her livlihood was more important. The sweet part is that I can go forward now and not worry that I am taking away anything from Charlene's enjoyment and that after she retires she tries once again to build another ship model. So here's the progress to date: I am presently working on the stays. So far the mizzen and main stays are complete including the crow's feet which were not too difficult once I figured out a method to make them. I have decided to do the rigging from the bottom up and so I will continue with the stays and add the top masts when necessary . When the stays are completed i intend to construct the rat lines and then will come the yards and running rigging. it is my intention to continue this log under the title of Jerry's Admiral. Here are some photos as to where we are. Best regards, Jerry

Hello Everybody.. This is Jerry tuning in for Charlene who has been overwhelmed with school work and thus unable to do much on Bounty. So, after, being cajoled, I did some of the building in order to keep the project going but most importantly to keep peace in the family.. After Charlene completed the deadeye work for the lower shrouds she asked me if I would begin making the stays. I had a feeling she was a bit timid with respect to the anchoring tackle of the lower mizzen stay so i agreed to do that one but only if she would learn from it. So, last night, when she returned from work I explained the process that I planned to do today and will go over the final results when I see her later. It was necessary to remove one of the pumps next to the main mast in order to get access to the deck where the anchor eyelet had to be inserted. This was no problem and that deck piece is now back in its correct place. The stay was seized at the top and the mouse wound over the seizing and it all worked well. Here are some pictures as to where we are at. I hope everyone has a great evening. Best, Jerry

Hello Everybody... A little more progress on Charlene's Bounty. For the past couple of days we have been preparing 2mm blocks and eye-rings in order to mount the cannons and to rig them to the deck of the ship. Charlene is learning how to handle blocks of this size and seems to grasp the way to thread them in order to attach them to various parts of the rigging. In this case, as mentioned above, the rigging of the cannons. I believe this will be the hardest part of the building of this model since everything is extra tiny and the areas to work in is very congested. The results of our first three or four days follows in pictures. The deck has become quite messy as you can see but we will clean this up in the future. We hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday and will enjoy a healthy and prosperous New year. Jerry and (charlene)

Hi Everyone.. Well I had a few hours today and managed to get some work done. Jerry did a lot before me the past several days and so all i could manage was beginning the bow railings and knees. I'm not happy with the blue stripe paint job and will attempt to make it much better a litle later on. Jerry asked me to mention that there was a lit kit bashing done when it came to some of the metal parts sincce the originals didn;t fit well. He made some wooden substitutes using the scroll saw and all came out pretty well. Here are some pictures that will bring our mutual project up to date. Charlene

Hello Dimitris... Nice to hear f rom you. Thanks for the visit and nice words. Hope you are well and things are going OK for you. Best, Jerry

Hello everyone.. Charlene is away at school earning money so she can support me in the way that i'm acustomed. So, being home alone I decided to a little more work on the Bounty whose progress is pictured here with a few more photos. We made the midship and bow bits and belaying pin racks and also finished installing the bowsprit bits. Charlene gets the next crack at the model over the weekend and hopefully will get a little more completed. So there are pics showing where we are at.present. Jerry