Hello from the high desert...

[jdowney]

I've been a member here for several years but never posted.  Finally getting around to finishing a small schooner I started 25 years ago - been sitting on a shelf with no rigging for a looooong time!  It was one of the last kits I bought when I worked for a hobby store through college, just a little solid hull thing that Midwest or some similar outfit put out.

 

I've been a modeler and woodworker since childhood, so wood ship models always seemed like a natural fit.  Too many hobbies over the years though, just never seemed to get around to such involved projects.  Last summer I was doing some fiber optic work at my job and realized that I could still do the fussy, tiny work for model building, which made me think I ought to finish rigging the schooner

 

Though I've since separated from that job, I'm not retired yet (and may still do some contract work for their fiber needs).... probably one more stint of day jobs before I truly retire.  Got a line on one that would lend itself well to model making in the slack time, we'll see if that pans out!

[JeffT]

Hello and welcome to MSW 

[ccoyle]

Welcome! So when you say "high desert," I assume you're talking about Lancaster, Apple Valley, Victorville, Boron -- somewhere in that vicinity?

[jdowney]

Higher - 6000' and above in New Mexico.  I split my time between a tiny town in the middle of the state and a bigger town in the mountains outside Alamogordo (9000' there).  Though the temperatures are moderate, it is still dry around here, though probably not as dry as Victorville.  I did some summer work in college working out of Lone Pine, that seemed a bit drier

[mtaylor]

[Jim Lad]

Hello, and a warm welcome to MSW from down under.

 

Is 'high' desert used in the same sense as high tea - thus indicating a very formal desert? 

 

John

[druxey]

No, Jim, you are thinking of formal dessert!

 

Welcome to the silliness that is MSW, jdowney.

[Chuck Seiler]

4 hours ago, jdowney said:

Higher - 6000' and above in New Mexico. 

Lincoln County=Billy the Kid country.

[jdowney]

1 hour ago, Chuck Seiler said:

Lincoln County=Billy the Kid country.

That it is.  There is a monument outside of town mentioning his stopping around here once.  I bet every town in this county and all the others over to the border with Texas have something similar.  There was also an old stream mill of some kind up in Ruidoso that had a lot of Billy the Kid claims associated with it, but it burned down (again) a couple years ago.  They will without a doubt rebuild it (again) and keep the tourist thing going

 

3 hours ago, Jim Lad said:

Hello, and a warm welcome to MSW from down under.

 

Is 'high' desert used in the same sense as high tea - thus indicating a very formal desert? 

 

John

Nothing formal about this area, or even the whole state!  I'm sure there is a joke to be made since the next state north has legal pot.... but I'm not on top of things tonight

[Chuck Seiler]

Which town?  A few years back I drove around that area, hitting Lincoln, Roswell, Fort Sumner and (I think) Tularosa.

[jdowney]

Corona.  Its about 200 people and a gas station.  At the moment there's another 200 or so in RV's working on windmill construction.  Half the locals have built RV parks since the project is supposed to go on 2-3 years.

[JeffT]

I lived in Clovis, NM for about 3 years. Not by choice though. 😀

[Louie da fly]

Welcome to MSW - or at least to the "talk-talk" section - I see you've actually been a member for a good while but hiding your light under a bushel.

 

Any chance of seeing some photos of your schooner? And do you have another one in the pipeline? If so, make sure you do a build log for it - a great way to get help, advice and encouragement.

 

17 hours ago, jdowney said:

Corona.  Its about 200 people and a gas station.

 

And till last year a name that wouldn't have caused much comment . . .

 

Anyway, good to hear from you. 

 

Steven

[jdowney]

Thanks for the welcome everyone.

 

14 hours ago, Louie da fly said:

Welcome to MSW - or at least to the "talk-talk" section - I see you've actually been a member for a good while but hiding your light under a bushel.

 

Any chance of seeing some photos of your schooner? And do you have another one in the pipeline? If so, make sure you do a build log for it - a great way to get help, advice and encouragement.

 

 

And till last year a name that wouldn't have caused much comment . . .

 

Anyway, good to hear from you. 

 

Steven

 

I'll take a couple pics when I get home in a day or two.  First point of order will probably be how to clean it - kinda dusty around here!

 

Then undo the early attempt at rigging (finding the kit instructions lacking, the attempt amounted to look at the picture on the box and wing it!) and add some neglected details (the tiller for example )

 

I don't have another build in mind quite yet.  I've been tempted by some kits, but scratchbuilding is also very appealing.  I just bought copies of Phillip Reed's books, and I'm very much amazed by the small scale at which he works.

[jdowney]

It wasn't a midwest kit - it was Authentic Models Holland.  Kit is the opium smuggler - as soon as I remembered the manufacturer I remembered the kit name too.

 

I almost don't want to post the pic - soooooo dusty!  Probably try to vacuum and dust with a little fan brush first, maybe then compressed air?  Dial it down to 30 psi or so and it shouldn't hurt anything.  Bowsprit and one mast are loose, but those are easy to fix.  What little rigging I did on the bowsprit was a flight of fancy, got to redo that

 

I hope I don't need to touch up any paint - that was PollyS as I recall, and any I might still have is sure to be dried up after so many years.

 

[Louie da fly]

Nice model, mate. A soft brush to start with. Not sure compressed air is a good idea.

 

Surprisingly enough, the ideal thing to clean an old ship model seems to be human saliva on a cotton bud/Q-tip. Ship restorers in museums use it, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London uses it to clean ancient artefacts. I've had great success with it in cleaning my 50-year old model of the Henry Grace a Dieu.

 

The only thing I'd recommend is that rather than refreshing the saliva by putting the Q-tip in your mouth after cleaning (as I did), you put some spit into a little bowl or something of the sort and dip the Q-tip in.

 

Once she's all clean, you can get started on rigging etc. The paint work looks good, and with a bit of luck won't need repair. And in my view a little patina of age enhances the look of the model - shows its history, as you might say.

 

And start a build log - it's the best way to get help and advice - and we get to see your progress photos. The instructions are here (as yours is effectively a scratch build, not a kit) 

 

 

Steven  

Edited January 18, 2021 by Louie da fly

[jdowney]

Funny, I knew that trick already and it never even occurred to me to use it

 

My sister is a former art conservator and in grad school they referred to it as using a "mild enzymatic solution".... I think that was a professor's running gag, making fun of a professional reluctance to say "use some spit"....

 

Once I get the bulk of the dust off with a brush and vacuum, I will use that for the last going over - thanks for the reminder! 

[Louie da fly]

Happy to help. Here's an example of the results on my Henry Grace a Dieu (Great Harry) restoration. Just a patch on the forecastle cleaned, the rest as it was when I started to restore her. So it does work. "Mild enzymatic solution", eh? I might use that in future . . .