Greetings to MSW/NRG Members and All Ships at Sea

[Michael Scarborough]

My name is Michael Scarborough. I started building models with my dad in the late 50s and am still a passionate builder in a wide range of media and subjects. At present, my main area of concentration is 1/32 scale WWI aircraft models, as well as box dioramas, many of which are inspired by Japanese block prints. 

 

In terms of my life's work, I spent 25 years singing Opera internationally. I have always enjoyed working with my hands and, in 2000, having had enough of German food, living out of suitcases and dealing with pushy sopranos, I moved from the performing arts into the decorative arts. I began working in antique furniture conservation but that quickly lead to the realization that I wanted to design and create furniture for clients. Eventually, I added Japanese style lacquerware to the mix and have spent the past 10 years making pieces for collectors and galleries. Looking back as I write this, it all sounds rather easy, but, trust me, every facet of the past 25 years required a helluva lot of work and unwavering support from the world's greatest wife. That said, I have been very, very blessed to have had two successful careers in the the art world.

 

I retired from all work for clients in August, sold off most of my machinery, but kept and improved my model building area. I've also recently completed two years of intense training and am a docent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art here in NYC.  I now spilt my time between the Met and working on models, and writing about them, and making sure dinner is ready from Mrs. S. when she gets home from work. 

 

My dad was a career Naval officer and one major benefit of that was our living on the coast of rural Japan in the late 1950s and early 60s having spent 16 days on the Pacific getting there.  We had a beautiful, 24 ft. wooden sloop built and spent many amazing weekends sailing the Inland Sea. By the time I was 7 years old, I could tell you the difference between a backstay, a halyard and a sheet, and I could tie a bowline with my eyes closed. I then spent my high school summers working at a marina on the North Shore of Long Island. But, somehow, between all that time spent around salt water, and 60 years of building models, I have yet to make a serious build of a sailing ship, something I consider to be the highest form of fine model building. That important part of my model building oeuvre is about to end and, taking a long look at some of the truly amazing models on this website, it is clear I am in the right place and among the right artisans. 

 

Cheers from NYC,

Michael

 

[mtaylor]

Welcome to MSW, Michael.  Beautiful work you've posted and quite a career also.   I'm looking forward to whatever your next build is and you decide to share.  Feel free to open a build log for us to follow along.

[Dave_E]

Welcome to the forum Michael. Like to see that airplane turn into a ship! 😄

 

[hollowneck]

You're in the right spot (and the best) for the right reasons, Michael.

You'll find lots of support and genuine appreciation here for your upcoming creative work. It will be interesting to see what you choose to build and I hope that you seriously consider creating a Build Log for that ship model.

 

A Warm Welcome,

Ron

Edited December 28, 2021 by hollowneck

[ccoyle]

Amazing craftsmanship, Michael! Love the Pup -- I have one in my stash.

[JeffT]

Welcome to MSW Michael. Very nice work.

[markjay]

Wow and welcome.

[Nirvana]

Michael, .... humph and cough.... 😄 darn, you are good! And your eye for crafting is amazing!
A warm welcome to MSW from PNW.
I am one waiting for something incredible to come out from you, feel no pressure......😃

Again, warm welcome and Happy Ending to this year and Happy New "ship modeling "Year!

[allanyed]

First, welcome!!  Second, WOW on the models and such!!!   Third, SUPER WOW on singing opera!!!!   Tenor?   If you have video of any of your own performances please do post.   I had to go watch one of my favorite arias once you posted as it has been a while.

La Boheme BEST ARIAS - Montserrat Caballe and Jose Carreras in Barcelona 1980 - Bing video

 

Allan

Edited December 28, 2021 by allanyed

[Keith Black]

 Michael, welcome to MSW. 

[Kevin]

welcome to MSW 

[Ryland Craze]

Welcome to Model Ship World Michael.  Your work is absolutely beautiful and you are an artist of the highest degree.  I look forward to seeing more of your work.

[Michael Scarborough]

Wow! Many thanks for the warm welcome, gents. I very much appreciate the kind words and feel very welcome! Allan, I have a couple of videos of some Kurt Weill performances but will wait to post them once I get to know you boys a bit better. I don't want to get sent to the principal's office on the first day of school. LOL.

 

I have Chuck's Medway Longboat which I plan to start on Saturday, January 1st! And I will indeed keep a log. I'm reading through all the build logs and getting a lot of info. Very excited!

 

Cheers from NYC,

Michael

[allanyed]

Michael,

 

I look forward to your videos and of course y our build log!    I will do some researching on Weill's music in the meantime.  Hope it is not as heavy as Wagner!!!

 

Allan

[Baker]

Beautiful work.

[Kevin]

lol i had heard of you

 

Woodturning_Michael_Scarborough_in_Profile.pdf (michaelscarboroughdesign.com)

[Keith Black]

   "I always assume these people are re-incarnated termites"........LOL 🤣

[Jim Lad]

Hello Michael, and a warm welcome to the forum from 'Down Under'.

 

john

[Michael Scarborough]

4 hours ago, allanyed said:

Michael,

 

I look forward to your videos and of course y our build log!    I will do some researching on Weill's music in the meantime.  Hope it is not as heavy as Wagner!!!

 

Allan

No! Not like Wagner, although he was sure an influence on Weill in his early days. Weill came here to avoid the Nazis and wrote super Broadway shows in the 40s. Operatic in scope but pure Broadway in style. It was a blast to sing. 

[Michael Scarborough]

2 hours ago, Keith Black said:

   "I always assume these people are re-incarnated termites"........LOL 🤣

And you'd assume correctly! LOL!

[Michael Scarborough]

3 hours ago, Kevin said:

lol i had heard of you

 

Woodturning_Michael_Scarborough_in_Profile.pdf (michaelscarboroughdesign.com)

LOL, indeed! I'd forgotten all about that! Man, next you'll be diggin up some of my old WANTED posters. I can't hide anywhere!

[Michael Scarborough]

Here you go, Allan. This was Berlin, 1995. Street Scene by Kurt Weill. There're two of us in this scene...I'm the pretty one. 

 

[allanyed]

I am EXTREMELY happy that you posted this and VERY impressed.   One of our illustrious members and well-known ship modeler and author was a set designer and will enjoy seeing this.   It is amazing how diversified the backgrounds are for our membership here at MSW.

 

THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Alsln

[Jaager]

Welcome aboard.

With some new mwmber introductions,  I become inspired to put myself at your place and fantasize about what I would consider in your place, but reflecting on the possibilities I have observed.    You have a unique and extensive skill set and this offers you a shot at a golden ring level of work, once you have become grounded in the specialized knowledge necessary in understanding what wooden sailing ships were all about.

 

22 hours ago, Michael Scarborough said:

a sailing ship, something I consider to be the highest form of fine model building.

We of identical minds about the possible artistry in all of this.
I consider the ultimate examples to be the models from the last 1/3 rd of the 17th century.  

The following books offer examples:

 

Historic Ship Models of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries in the Kriegstein Collection
Arnold Kriegstein, Henry Kriegstein    
Seaforth Publishing

 

NAVY BOARD  SHIP MODELS 1650-1750                                
FRANKLIN,JOHN                                                    
US NAVAL INSTITUTE PRESS                     
ANNAPOLIS, MD            
1989

 

A full 1:48 scale model of these gilded palaces is a major time sink and produces an object that is a Baby Huey when it comes to displaying it.

A more miniature scale would remove some of the problems with a larger scale model.
The following books show the work of some true artists at miniatures.
Most of their work is at 1:192 scale  - size that is a world unto itself.
I would go a bit larger  1:120.  Small enough to display a fleet, but large enough to not drive you crazy with the details.
The 1:192 scale appears at first to be 1/4 the size of the original models.  but it is actually  1.5%  of 1:48 in volume.
The 1:120 scale appears to be 40% of 1:48   but a finished model is 6.4% of 1:48 in volume.  Not a jewel, but no furniture has to be moved either.

SHIPBUILDING IN MINIATURE  2ND ED                                
MCNARRY,DONALD                                                   
ARCO PUBL INC                                
NEW YORK                 
1982

SHIPS IN MINIATURE                                               
MCCAFFERY,LLOYD                                                  
PHOENIX PUBL                                                          
1988

Building a Moniature Navy Board Model
Reed, Phillip
Seaforth
2009

Now,  about your prior job,  I have a question that I involves it.   My favorite opera is Khovanshchina - Moussorgsky -Shostakovich completed version.  In the 5th act there is a tune sung by Andrei Khovansky.  It is only 8 lines, but it is at least as compelling as any in Opera, and I have never it it sung in any recital or male singer's show off set and I am puzzled as to why not?    The Blues guys can make a whole thing from working with just 8 lines, why not Opera?

[druxey]

A friend just alerted me to this thread. Michael: your range of talents is sooo impressive! I love your Eastern aesthetic of your woodwork. I note that your mantra about really sharp tool edges is absolutely right! Welcome to MSW.

[Michael Scarborough]

Well, I certainly have made landfall among a welcoming bunch of shipmates. My sincere thanks, gentlemen.

 

1 hour ago, allanyed said:

I am EXTREMELY happy that you posted this and VERY impressed. 

Allan, you're very welcome. I usually sang Mozart or Rossini, which I loved!, but this was just pure fun. It was a wonderful contract and a great opportunity to work in Berlin just after the Wall had come down. I was certainly well treated. And let me add this about Kurt Weill. He was a highly trained and well respected Classical composer in the 20s and 30s in Germany. He brought that training with him to America and the depth of his musical knowledge shows even in his Broadway shows. I listened to that show every night for 45 performances and I heard something new in the score every night. While I lobe Rodgers and Hammerstein and Lerner and Loewe, and thin they wrote beautiful melodies, musically speaking, they can't hold a candle to Weill. That's my humble opinion, FWIW.

 

1 hour ago, Jaager said:

Welcome aboard.

                                             

Jaager, I really appreciate this list of books and will visit Amazon forthwith. Thank you for taking an interest in my education! I tend to be quite sponge like and, as you can imagine, the past 27 months of training at the Met Museum have been some of the richest of my life. Now, as far as Khovanshchina goes, I will not pretend that I know the section to which you refer. I'm afraid that falls outside the repertoire I sang and time was always short for listening to works I wasn't working on. One of the many blessings of now being retired is that I can listen to the MANY works that I missed. I know portions of that Opera and you can be sure I will very quickly be familiar with the rest. Then I can answer your question.

 

46 minutes ago, druxey said:

I love your Eastern aesthetic of your woodwork. I note that your mantra about really sharp tool edges is absolutely right! Welcome to MSW.

Druxey, yes, my love of the Japanese aesthetic was instilled in me at a young age and it has never left. In fact, one long term idea I have is a model of the Shogun's or Emperor's barge or a Samurai type ship. And, amen, all one can do with dull tools is get frustrated and waste time.

 

 

[mtaylor]

Michael,

Look up Catopower here on MSW.  He does a lot of Japanese ships.   I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

[Old Collingwood]

Welcome to the family Michael,   so many of us here in the family of the site  are so skilled  and artistic  and have some  vastly varied  other abilities,   I too love music  but from the technical aspect of creating it  with keyboards (mainly digital now).

 

You will have a lot of fun here  - lots and lots of really nice  people in our little family here.

 

OC.

[Ryland Craze]

11 hours ago, Michael Scarborough said:

I have Chuck's Medway Longboat which I plan to start on Saturday, January 1st! And I will indeed keep a log. I'm reading through all the build logs and getting a lot of info. Very excited!

☺️ Excellent kit!

[Louie da fly]

Welcome to MSW, mate!

 

Love Kurt Weil - "Mack the Knife", "Surabaya Johnny" . . .

 

Though I have to say my great love is classical (currently sitting with the earphones on, listening to Butterfly's aria - sublime!)

 

Looking forward to your first ship model.

 

Steven