Elia

Ed, Excellent presenation on preparing the keel for the cant frame internfaces. Thank you for these - they are very much appreciated. When you developed the width of the scores did you take into account the width of the cant frame foot (?) overlaying keel surface and the inset surface? More specifically - since the cant frame is angled relative to the keel, did you compensate along the forward edge of the scores, adding a little extra width? Cheers, Elia

Bruce, I've been quietly watching your Lightning build progress and am now piping up to say what a beautifully executed model you've built. The detail at that scale is impressive (humbling). I first started taking note of clippers with Jim Hatch's Flying Cloud. Then Ed, and Rob, and now your too sweet Lightning. I had taken note of Lightning in Chapelle's Search for Speed Under Sail but hadn't seen any models of her and had wondered about the deck arrangement and those gangways. I may be getting hooked..... Very very nice. Cheers, Elia

Clare, What a smart little ship's boat you've made! Really attractive - another little gem in your collection. Will you be picking back up on your steamer and yacht America? Cheers, Elia

Very very nice Tim. With just the coarse removal of lifts that fine hull form emerges.

Ron, The finished deadeyes look great, and now you are well towards your bulwarks pinrails - very very nice. Once I get my model shipyard back up and running I look forward to working on my deadeyes. Cheers, Elia

Michael, Catching up here after some time. I have to say the block hardware and assemblies are quite impressive. Well done. The big little boat looks tremendous. Cheers, Elia

Ed, Love it. Beautiful work. I particularly like photo YA016 04 showing the emergence of the outer mold line bevel. And in your intro/history paragraph - that is a great story. Yes, where is Hollywood? That sounds like a great period piece with action, drama, and adventure. Cheers, Elia

Rob, Another piece of your artwork. Love the detail, love the presentation. Brilliant. Elia

Allan, That looks tremendous - the stanchions, the deck planking, that hull and framing, everything. I can not wait to see the bulwarks go up. Cheers, Elia

Ron, Very nice deadeyes! The jig looks like it worked like a charm. I'm in-process on my deadeyes. Mine are 4mm in diameter. I've made a similar jig for locating the holes, though I may have make another with altered hole locations. Your deadeye strop recess, the hole location and spacing, the easing of the holes- very very nice sir. Cheers, Elia

Popjack, There are modelers here who've done amazing profiles cut into strip stock with scrapers here on MSW. I am definitely not one of them. I had a dreadful experience with trying to make the cove on my schooner with a scraper made from a single edge razor blade. My cove wandered a bit, which in natural wood didn't look too bad. But putting some thin width masking tape into the wandering cove resulted in very wandering cove stripe. I ended up cutting the offending strip of wood off and replaced it with a solid piece, and solely used the masking tape to created the yellow cove stripe. It is now clearly better - but not perfect. I used 1/64" wide tape and found it was very difficult to control how it layed down onto the waist planking. Elia

PopJack, I've followed along in silence and have been enjoying watching your build progress. You're doing an outstanding job on Blue. Regarding the scuppers there are several approaches to incorporating them. As you mentioned you could glue smaller square cross section strips onto the lower edge of a waist plank in order to form them. You could cut the scuppers into the lower waist plank. You could form them by using or fabricating a chisel-like device to cut them into a waist plank already glued onto the hull. Or you could indent the scupper with a tool of the correct length and width, without fully cutting the material away. In the Smuggler instruction manual they show this as an option. If I recall correctly on my Arethusa hull the waist was made up of 2 x 3/32" wide planks. Whether the scuppers are on the main deck or the fore deck dictated which of the two waist planks the scuppers were cut in. I found it pretty easy to cut them out using the following technique. My stanchions were already installed when I formed the scuppers so I had to mark where the stanchion edges were in order to cut the scuppers in the right stops and not have a scupper blocked by a stanchion. I used a number 11 blade and knife to cut a small notch in the lower edge of the plank, with the blade edge facing upward, right next to the stanchion. I then removed the plank, marked the length of the scupper, and cut another notch at the scupper's second end. I then used the same blade to gently carve the scupper out of the plank. I had to be consistent with re-placing the waist plank a lot of times but it worked out reasonably. I have also used a fine square cross section file to file the scupper shape into the plank; the only down side of this is the fuzzies which result. When cutting the scuppers with the no. 11 blade you won't get any fuzzies. Hope this helps and stirs some thought on an approach. All the best, Elia

Bob, Very nice sail pattern! And a rather large main sail. The CAD capability I would think will be a big help with the remainder of your sails. I've seen Libre CAD on-line but hadn't known of anyone who used it. What was your general impression of it? Worth using for more work beyond sails? I really look forward to seeing your Bluenose with sails. Cheers, Elia

Rob, Bummer. I hope you'll pick up the build again once you've worked through one of the other builds. I very much like what you've done on Glory of the Seas and would like to watch it to its completion. All the best, Elia

Dave, Your Bluenose build progress looks great. It is good to see the deadeyes, the shrouds, and the rat lines going up - all vey very nice. I also like those sails very much. These schooners just look grand with a nice set of sails. Cheers, Elia

Outstanding, John. What a gem. Cheers, Elia

Jack, Boy that looks great with sails (or at least sail templates). Elia

Rob, I've just stumbled across your log, here. Outstanding modeling and a fascinating approach to creating Glory of the Seas. I look forward to your next update. Cheers, Elia

Ger, I'll follow along with great interest in your build. While there have been a number of builds of the MS Connie, yours is the first Blue Jacket build log on the web that I know of. I do recall seeing in their catalog that the copper plates were extra, and as their copper plates are etched brass they are rather expensive. You will be able to find other suitable copper tape from Model Expo or stain glass supply companies. Cheers, Elia

Oh I've been away from here too long. Anja and Stelios - thank for the birthday wishes. It was a fun day! John - Thank you. I've got the yellow stripe repainted and am working on a bunch of little details from the hull - deadeyes, chainplates, ring bolts, cleats, cat heads, and other small things before the hull gets finished. Cheers, Elia

Jack, I've just found, and have begun following, your Bluensoe build here. I am very impressed with your work on it. It is all very clean and crisp. The phull shape, the planking, painting, everything. I am impressed with how clean you've kept all of the small details. I'm working on a schooner at more than twice the scale of your model and you've made it look easy. Very very nice work. Cheers, Elia

Len, Beautiful work there, sir. Absolutely first rate. Cheers, Elia

Lou, I'm just coming aboard to see you very smart looking Harvey. The wood choices are excellent. I really like the way adjacent wood tones compliment each other. I'm a fan of bubinga and have rarely seen it on a model. It compliments the red heart well. Your windlass, bits, skylights and structures look very crisp. Cheers, Elia

Old boy, There is a PDF file, which is downloadable, in the MSW Articles and Downloads section: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Rigging_and_Sails/ScaleSails.pdf I used this as a guide when making furled sails for my Oneida model, which can be found in the completed model gallery. http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/gallery/album/94-us-brig-oneida/ Regarding sail 'cloth' materials silkspan is, as far as I'm aware, still manufactured and available. That is what I used on my Oneida sails. It is available in three different weights. I used the lightest weight version as it is thinnest, and thus rolls into the tightest furled sail. I happen to really like furled sails on a model as a way to present the model as a 'sailing ship' without obscuring too much of the rigging details. All the best, Elia

John, So true. Excellent detailing and explanation, Ed. Elia