Statenjacht by Michiel - Billing Boats - 1:50 - RESTORATION - 1970 model

[Michiel]

I recently came in possession of two models in certain states of, well, being. 

 

one is just in a early state of building, and has been in this state since as long as I can remember. 

At some point I'll start an other log when I come to finish this one.

 

the other is also older then I am and used to hang in my parents home... until it came down.

 

After the unfortunate event she ended up in the attic. After another unfortunate event about a month ago she is now in my workshop, and I hope to restore her to the state I remember. The original build took place around 1973 on board the ship my father was serving his apprenticeship on. With the two models also a pile of picture albums came in which found these two.

 

[Michiel]

As you can imaging the chaos is complete. The following pictures are not for the faint hearted, but I promise it will become better from now on:

[yvesvidal]

Yes, it will not be an easy task. But the sentimental value will give you dedication and fuel to restore these models.

 

Yves

Edited April 24, 2023 by yvesvidal

[Michiel]

so I carefully removed all the rigging, all the parts that came loses, and some very ugly previous repairs. Come to think of it those may have been done my an about 30 years less experienced me. After that I started cleaning. This really took several hours. The cotton swipes kept turning black. It sort of gave that feeling of those movies of professionals cleaning a discolored layer of varnish of an old painting. In the end, I think she is more or less clean and ready for the repair. 

 

fortunately it seems there is no structural damage. about 7 compound parts have come loose form the deck and sides. There are two part of the masts broken, and the anchors are broken and the broken of parts are missing. Also the decorative piece on port starboard side next to the stern is gone. The square pannel you can see in the picture below on the port side. I'll have to recarve that. I usually carve in a bit more detail so maybe the main challenge will be to stay in the style of this model.  

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by Michiel

[ccoyle]

Very impressive cleaning work!

[Michiel]

Cleaning done repairs started... 

put the window frames back in

and the broken of deck parts, also the broken piece of deck is back in place

next step is repairing broken masts:

Edited May 3, 2023 by Michiel

[Louie da fly]

That's coming together well. What are your plans for repairing the masts?

 

Steven