catopower

Hi Will, Looks like you are doing an excellent job with this model. I personally really like this line of Constructo kits, as I think they are enough of a challenge for first time builders, yet provide a taste of most of the tasks that will be faced with bigger kits. Also, it gives you a good platform to modify and upgrade to make it as complicated or as simple as you want. Regarding the rigging instructions, to be fair, I think rigging is really hard to explain, and most of it is better left to diagrams to show you where things go. If you looked at written instructions on rigging, you might be tempted to put the kit back up in your closet for being too much to deal with. Anyway, there's plenty of help here on MSW if you need it.

Well, I couldn't help it... I was at Ages of Sail, picking up items to take to tomorrow's IPMS show in San Jose (I'm manning the Ages of Sail table at this event), and they had the HMS Terror kits there – the shipment just came in. Not that I need another project to start, but I also want some experience with OcCre kits for my own blogging purposes. At least, that's my excuse for spending more money on yet another kit. Anyway, it's a great looking kit, and the Building Terror Blog is great material and inspiration for making an even better model. Looking forward to the build.

That's a really nice looking kit and I've been eying for some time, as Ages of Sail has been carrying this and many other Disar Model kits since... mid-2017. The Atrevida is one of the better selling kits. So much so, that it's out of stock. I'm waiting to hear when the next shipment is expected to be, but there are many other Disar Model kits you can find there.

Hello Christos, Wow, you've done a really wonderful job with your Sir Winston Churchill build! I'm very impressed with your work and the results. As you know, I have the kit, but have been trying to get some other work done in order before I can get to it. You're definitely inspiring to press onward. Truly a lovely build. Clare

I can vouch for the plane from Lee Valley Hardware that Jack posted. I LOVE this thing. Been using it for just under a year now.

Hi Keith, That's a great project for some restoration practice, and an a classic Artesania Latina kit. The Swift is what actually lured me into wooden ship modeling – there was a nicely done model in a glass case in a hobby shop that was across the street from where I used to work. I'd find reasons to visit the shop, just so I could look at the model. It was around 1990 that it hooked me. Have fun with the model, and please bring her back to her glorious potential! Clare

There are no Barbary Pirate kits per se. But, what you're probably looking for is a Xebec model kit. Amati and Occre both make kits in 1:60-scale, though I thought the Occre kit was a bigger scale. Anyway, these are about as close as you're going to get. The Amati kit is a little shorter than your Enterprise model and the Occre kit is a bit longer. You can find them online, but Ages of Sail has them both. Here are links to them: https://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/amati-xebec-am1427.html https://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/cazador.html I've seen beautiful builds of them both.

Thank you all for the kind words! Druxey, your comment about someone damaging two of your models on the same night is making me cringe! Perhaps I'll have to hear the story over a drink... or two! Also appreciate the support on the decision to end the project. I've decided to try building a very unusual subject based on Douglas Brooks's work: A Taraibune, or a Tub Boat of Sado Island. This is such a simple boat that I don't think there's much material for a build log. I've already pieced together the wood for the bottom and cut staves. The hardest part is probably going to be making braided hoops to fit around the "hull". What I probably WILL create a build log for is a small Gozabune, which is a type of highly ornate official yacht used by daimyo and their officials. There are two that appear in Souvenirs de Marine by Paris. I've already got a big start on it, so I'll be back filling the details of the build to this point.

I'm no fan of Las Vegas but the conference itself seemed really good. Unfortunately, I was working the Ages of Sail table the whole time, so I didn't get to attend any of the events. But, I was at the member meeting and the dinner. Plus, I got to see a lot of great models and I spent a lot of time talking with Pam from Sherline and Nic and Al from Bluejacket since they were sitting in the vendor room with me. I managed to take photos, but somehow never manage to get photos of the Ages of Sail table(!). Always happens. I even brought some big kits, including Amati's Vanguard and Orient Express kits, Caldercraft's Diana, and others. Somehow, I also seemed to miss Bluejacket's table too. They had a new re-release of the brig USS Perry.

Hello Wefalck, Yes, damage to models is a great deterrent to club meetings. Much safer to blog about them. But, I'm trying to help keep the local clubs going, so I try to take things if I can. Still, I do have models that I simply won't bring to certain meetings due to their locations, distance from parking spot, complexity of model, etc. Thanks for the link. I'm actually in regular contact with two members of The Rope Tokyo that went to Rochefort. One of them has been helping me obtain information from Japan and to make contacts. I did some online research once and found an obscure Excel spreadsheet, in Japanese. I recognized some of the information on it and translated enough of it to discover that it was an old list of museum model dispositions. I found several models listed in a regional city museum and asked my Rope contact about it. Next thing I knew, he had contacted the museum, found that the models were in storage, and he and two other members arranged to take photos of the models. I felt pretty good in being able to help them dig up some things they weren't aware of. He has since helped me many more times, visiting museum models that I've discovered, and sending me information, photos, and help me establish contacts. VERY helpful. I hope I can visit one of their annual model exhibits, which usually take place in the Spring. It's yet one of many things on my list of visits to Japan!

Well, tragedy struck when I took my model to one of the local club meetings. I don't know how it happened, but I had the model in a travel box to help keep it from getting damaged. It made it just fine through a 114 mile round trip to one meeting. The next meeting, more like 30 miles one-way, I'm pretty sure it survived just fine. It wasn't until it was sitting in the box in our model shop (I tried to keep it out of harm's way), that it looks to me like someone leaned on the box and broke up the aft structure. It's not the first time that taking a model to a meeting, particularly one stored in a box to protect it, appears to have been damaged in this way. I have one model that I just never got around to repairing. Fortunately, when I got it home, I found that most of the damage was done to various glue joints. No wood was actually broken. So, I had a small stack of puzzle pieces to fit back together. But, all in all, I was able to make the repairs pretty quickly, and with visible signs of the damage. However, this did keep me from finishing the oars before I had to leave for the NRG Conference. So, I simply took it with me, along with some tools, glue, etc. Since I was driving there anyway, taking the extra things was no problem. I got to the location in the evening and took the model up to my room, added the remaining oars, and it was on display the next morning! Here was the model the night before the accident, displayed at the meeting of the South Bay Model Shipwrights at the Los Altos Public Library. It is shown here next to a model of a club model of a Viking ship in the same scale. The model was one of three scratch built Japanese "wasen" models that I brought to the NRG Conference. That's the Japanese Wooden Boatbuilding book by Douglas Brooks, which I used for the Urayasu Bekabune model in the center. On the left is my Hozu river boat. And, finally, the completed Kamakura period Sea Boat... 鎌倉時代の海船 After seeing the model on display at the conference, I decided to officially call this project complete. Being that this is part of an ongoing research project, I'll always be adding some small details to it. I could either leave it as permanently incomplete, or simply call it "done" and sneak little additions to it over time. So, I'm opting for the latter option. I did feel that the model was a bit small for this display. At 1/50-scale, it's 21-1/2" long. If I make another, which is very likely, I think I'll opt for something like 1/30-scale, making it up to 35" long. Of course, the larger the scale, the more details I'll need to add, and the better job I'll have to do. In any case, this has been a test bed for reconstructing this type of boat. I think my next step is to get a first-hand look at a couple of the Japanese museum models built of this type of boat. That's going to take some savings and fundraising again to make the next trip to Japan!