Meteor by Jim Lad - Scale 1:96 - Immigrant Ship Of 1851

[Jim Lad]

"Meteor' continues to creep slowly ahead. I haven't had much actual building time as the museum has been pretty busy and I've been spending a lot of time talking ti visitors.  I've also been spending time in discussions regarding the new project I mentioned. There have been a few hiccoughs along the way but the 'powers that be' at the museum are now keen to see the project go ahead.  There is a (hopefully) final meeting planned for January 19th to finalise matters for all stakeholders. The meeting could have been much sooner, but during the holiday period its difficult to get everybody together at the same time.

 

Here's a photo of the 'Meteor' showing the current state with capping rails rough fitted.

 

John

 

 

 

[Louie da fly]

Beautiful work, John. I bet a lot of your talking to the public is because they ask questions about the model. She's a real attention-getter. I find that a ship at the framing stage seems to get more attention than one that's been planked. People get fascinated by the sheer number of timbers needed beneath that outer skin.

 

Steven

[Rick310]

beautiful work!!

Rick

[BANYAN]

Very tidy work John, she's looking great.  Great to hear the proposed new project will probably go ahead.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[KeithAug]

She is looking very neat John. I bet the museum visitors are well impressed.

[Jim Lad]

Thanks, Keith.

 

John

[Wintergreen]

Had peace of mind to browse through some build logs here and re-discover your Meteor build. I'm glad to see that you're finally allowed back to a "normal" state.

It strikes me that the Meteor hull without bowsprit and what not is very similar to Endeavour (or any East India man for that matter) although almost a century younger.

Ship design did not evovle quickly back then. Mostly because lack of science I guess and that the marine environment (socially) were reluctant to changes.

 

Anyho, glad to read an update here John!

[Jim Lad]

Thanks, Håkan. Being built in 1851 she was just a few years before the huge explosion in design advances in both hulls and rigging - built for capacity, not speed. It's amazing how many visitors to the museum who are otherwise completely ignorant of maritime matters comment on the bow shape. People may be more observant than we immagine.

 

John

[wefalck]

It was a typical shape of a commercial ship of the middle of the 19th century. I have lots of examples from Germany that shows that form until around 1860.

 

Around 1846, I believe, a new bow form, the Aberdeen-bow was developed by Alexander Hall in Aberdeen, which became the forunner of the 'clipper-bow'. 

[Jim Lad]

I've been very slack with posting progress on the 'Meteor' of late. On the other hand, there's actually been very little progress as it's Christmas school holidays here in Oz and the museum has been seething with families keeping the kids amused. I've done an awful lot of talking and showing people the models, but very little work on my model!

 

However, the capping rail is now complete, and I've been working on the very simple stern decoration (this is a merchant ship, not a prestigious ship of war), so something is happening, at least.

 

Here are a couple of phots of the model as she is now.

 

John

 

[Mark Pearse]

That's worth a post. It's a striking looking model already.

[Chuck]

Wonderful model.  

[Jim Lad]

Thanks, Mark and Chuck. Unfortunately, it seems to be taking forever to build at the moment.

 

John

[Louie da fly]

She's beautiful, John. And though progress may be slow, you're doing a good service in keeping the kids - and their parents - not only amused but also informed. And who knows, you may have sparked some interest in ships, ship modelling and etc - possibly even created a few future ship modellers!

 

Steven

[Rick310]

Very nice!!

Rick

[BANYAN]

Might be slow progress John, but the result is great; looks very good mate.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Jim Lad]

Thanks for the encouraging comments.

 

Mark, On Monday I had two parents asking about simple kits to get their children started on model making - with the parents promising to help their kids with the model!

 

John

[KeithAug]

On 1/23/2024 at 12:04 AM, Jim Lad said:

but very little work on my model!

I find the older I get, the slower I work. I sometimes worry that if I slow down much more one day everything will just stop. Meteor is turning out real handsome John.

[Jim Lad]

Thanks Keith. Sometimes in the museum it's simply a matter of too many visitors to have time on the model.

 

John

[Jim Lad]

Another small update. Here's the 'Meteor' with the first deck beam temporarily in place - no, I'm not planning to deck the upper decks before the lower decks, but a beam placed there helps to stop the hull from being forced inwards at the shoulders by the severely curved bow planking!

 

John

 

[FriedClams]

Looking very nice, John!

 

Gary

[BANYAN]

Nice shots John, really shows off the fine work you have done in the framing.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Rick310]

Beautiful!!

Rick

[Jim Lad]

Thanks for your comments gentlemen!

 

John

[Louie da fly]

That's just exquisite work!

 

Steven

[Bedford]

Yes, I've seen and held Johns previous model and it's just beautiful. The man does excellent work!

[Boccherini]

That's looking good John.

What is the overall length at present?

 

Regards,

Grant.

[Jim Lad]

I've been away photographing birds for a few days. Thank you for the additional embarrassing comments.

 

Grant - the hull is 46cm (18.1in) long.

 

John 

[Jim Lad]

I've been fiddling with making 'raw' deck beams for the past couple of visits to the museum. The model will need to come home shortly to have some finish applied to the inside of the hull, but in the meantime, I can make the beams ready to start chopping some of them up where deck structures will intrude so that things can progress after the model comes home.

 

This is how she looks at the moment with the beams so far made temporarily fitted in place.

 

John

 

[Niklas]

Very nice. 😀