Charles W Morgan by texxn5 - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:64

[thomaslambo]

Hi John,

 

 

I'm another late arrival to the party.  The build is looking excellent and thanks for all the great info on your website.

 

 

I'm a longtime fan of Proxxon tools/products and have many of the power tools you list on the web site.  I also just ordered one of the serving tools from Vitaliy thanks to you.

 

 

I just signed up on MSW, you can check out my intro if you like in the “new to the hobby” section.

 

 

Now that I have the time I’m finely getting into model ship building (always knew I would, it was just a matter of time).

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to maintain the build thread and the website. To guys like me (new to the hobby) these build threads are simply priceless. 

 

 

Boyd

 

 

[wq3296]

Greetings John,

 

Nice work on Morgan. I saw her last year in Boston after the recent renovation. I built her several years back and found the kit to be accurately detailed down to the shin cracker wheel. I have always been curious as to why the anchor stocks are round in cross section. Do you know if this is a unique detail to Morgan, or to whalers in general?

 

wq3296

[texxn5]

Today I have finished the 5 pair of Shrouds for the Mainmast, and rigged the Mainstay which was installed over a year ago under the Anchor Deck. It was good to get it out of the way as well as finishing something that was done way back in the build. As usual now once again I am waiting for Model Shipways to send me the 6 Deadeyes that were missing from the kit. It has taken over 2 weeks to resolve this and I don't know yet if I accomplished it. It took 5 days to get a response which challenged me as to them missing. I emailed and answered again, and it took 2 more days before anyone answered, still challenging me. I explained it again, and did not hear back. I then 2 days later asked if we had resolved this issue, and never got an answer. So hopefully, I'll get them sometime soon and be able to finish the Mizzen. I guess I'll move on to the Fore Topmast next. I know most of you have had excellent service from Model Shipways, but this is about the 3rd or 4th time I have had customer service issues and a lot of trouble. This will probably be my last MS kit. I wanted to do the Niagra next, but might rethink that.

[texxn5]

A few more

[Piet]

Sorry to hear about your problem with MS, hope it gets straightened out, soon.  Rigging looks really nice John.

 

Cheers,

[texxn5]

Thanks for the likes and all the great comments....thank you very much. Hello Boyd and wq3296. Welcome aboard and glad to see you guys expoloring the site as well as my websites. Alexey will appreciate the business and you won't be disappointed. As for round anchor stocks, I think it depended on a couple of factors. One was size of the anchor and two was the period the ship was built. The English used square ones, and had heavy anchors early in their reign. The Morgan, I'm not sure about but I'll find out. The only pictures I've seen that were early always show a round stock.

Thanks again for joining this crazy group.

John

Edited February 12, 2015 by texxn5

[GuntherMT]

Looking great!

 

Sorry to hear about your CS issues with MS.  I'm one of those guys who has had nothing but excellent support from them, so no idea what the problem is in your case.  It's a bummer though.

[GLakie]

Nice work on the shrouds John! She's looking better all the time.

 

Cheers 

[texxn5]

Hello Brian and George. Thanks for stopping by, and glad all meets approval. This has been fun so far and I actually enjoy serving....go figure. Anyway, yeah, Model Shipways has not been very cooperative in my experience and I'm sorry to say that. Last issue I had was right before the owner took it back over and the person I had been dealing with was fired. The owner is still trying to sell it so I'm not sure what will happen either now or in the future. Hopefully someone will continue to improve it but right now I'm really dissapointed. I asked the owner if he would like to be interviewed for my blog to be able to feature Model Shipways for advertisement, etc. and he refused saying he wasn't interested in advertising, but only to sell out, so I don't know what's going on. I don't know, I'm just the messenger.

[monkeyman]

Looks very nice! Totaly loved the grinder. Why do they need the grinder on the boat???

 

By the way, how do you blacken the rigging? I'd love to make my ropes black as well.

[Blue Ensign]

Neat work on the standing rigging John, love that last but one 3/4 bow shot of her - impressive.

 

B.E.

[wq3296]

Greetings John,

 

Relative to anchor stocks, thanks for looking into the reason for cylindrical stocks. As to the grind stone question, it was used to sharpen harpoons, cutting tools for whale processing, etc. Good description of cutting up a whale in Moby Dick.

 

wq3296 

[wq3296]

Greetings John,

 

The whale boats are fun to build and really finish up nicely. As you know, they are of the so called "bread and butter" construction and are easy to put together so long as the lifts are in the right order. I used a Dremel type tool and sandpaper to shape them. I made the rudders and other small components out of scrap wood and cardboard.

 

wq3296

[texxn5]

Hello Monkeyman, sorry I missed answering your question yesterday. Yes, the grinder was used to sharpen anything that needed sharpening, harpoons, knives, etc. Welcome aboard, and glad you've enjoyed seeing her.

[texxn5]

Hello BE, thank you for enjoying the pictures. She's shaping up into a ship finally.

[texxn5]

wq1396, yes, the whaleboats will be fun though very repitious. I'll probably work on them during my RV travels this year. Something small that I can take with me and work on while on the road.

[mobbsie]

Hi John,

 

She's looking real sweet mate, well done.

 

If it's of any help mate could I send you some of my spare deadeyes, you don't say what size they are but I have the following spare 3.5, 5 and 7mm, if I can help just say the word and PM your postal address.

 

Be Good

 

mobbsie

[lambsbk]

They look really nice John. Nice attention to detail.

[texxn5]

Hi Tony, thanks for the offer, I really appreciate this. If I don't have something from Model Shipways in the next few days, I might take you up on it. The kit says they're 3/16", they measure out slightly over 5mm, actually around 5.2mm as they seem to be inconsistant. I should have bought some from Chuck, but these seemed ok, bottom line is they say they offered 45, yet it takes 52. The plans show 3/16" for the shrouds on all 3 masts, yet Model Shipways is trying to tell me they are 1/8", and I don't want to have to tear off the chains and deadeyes that I've already installed with CA glue over 6 deadeyes they seem to refuse to send me. They are also made from Walnut. It's just a real pain, and it has held up continuing on to the Mizzen. An issue I had previously also involved trying to buy 6 extra Brittania buckets from them. I wanted a couple of more to match the ones I had to use on the ship for details. After 3 weeks with no answer I gave up. About a month after that I contacted them again with no luck, so I got the name of the owner and contacted him and told him my story. He answered and said he would check into the problem. After another week I was contacted by the parts manager who told me they did not sell parts and refused to sell me what I needed. This is one of 4 problems I've had that are unresolved to this day. So in my opinion their Customer Service is unsatisfactory.

[texxn5]

Hi Dave, thanks for stopping by. She's shaping up.

[mobbsie]

Hi John,

 

I have not had the pleasure of dealing with Modelshipways as yet and if your experience is anything to go by I don't think I ever will.

 

I deal mainly with Caldercraft and find them 1st class, they have never let me down yet as far as kit shortages are concerned, they are however quite expensive for spares or extra's, for these I generally go to Cornwall Model Boats, you can get most parts from them.

 

Good luck mate and the offer stands.

 

mobbsie

Edited February 13, 2015 by mobbsie

[texxn5]

Thanks for the response Tony. It's a real shame I've had these types of experiences with them. They make a decent product and most people I've heard from brag on how good their service is, it has just been my experience that is negative for some reason. I appreciate the offer, and I'll give them a couple of days and if I don't recieve them I'll take you up on it. Thanks my friend it certainly helps to have an alternative.

John

[Guest Tim I.]

John,

 

I have been looking forward to seeing your Morgan take shape. I hope to start mine here in early May once my Prince de Neufchatel is complete.

 

- Tim

[texxn5]

Hi Tim, thanks for stopping by. It will be nice to have someone else in the Morgan Club, it's a very enjoyable build, especially if you've ever been aboard her. I've been aboard her 4 times now, and look forward to seeing her restored. I saw her last at the time she was re-launched but not rigged yet.

[texxn5]

Well, surprise.....today I recieved a package of Deadeyes from Model Shipways, other than a little bit light in color, they got here. So, needless to say, I finished the Shrouds for the Mizzen, and the Mizzen Stay. Progressing again.

Thanks for the likes from all of you.

[texxn5]

So all lower shrouds and Stays are done.

[lb0190]

She looks good John. I really like the overhead view, it gives you a completely different perspective.

[GLakie]

She's coming together great John!

 

Cheers

[texxn5]

Thanks Larry and George, glad you approve. Moving along now. I like that top view too, it shows her off a bit....lol

[texxn5]

Hi Tony, thanks so much for the offer man, but I got the deadeyes today from Model Shipways, so, crisis is over for now. I even have one extra now..just in case.

Thanks again my friend,

John