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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Stuart,

This is more of a test to see if Flickr still works like it used to here (on another forum, Flickr image URL's currently produce images with the album scroll controls included, so posting one gives access to all, without even visiting the Flickr account).

 

The last piece I glued to the roof of the starboard quarter gallery stayed with the sheet styrene bulwark when the aft end of that let go, so another toothpick clamp helped hold the break together from there, while a toothpick & rubber band through the last gun port added more downward pressure...

Surprise_506

 

Evidence of considerable force was visible in several places. I don't recall what was under this to make that gouge under the gun port, or to bash those wire belaying pins. Paint chipped away around several small cracks:

Surprise_508

 

Fixing the beak should be the easiest repair. You can just see another crack here between the 2 forward gun ports, where the round bow was added, already re-glued & ready to be smoothed out again. Then I can get the deck assembly sorted again....

Surprise_511

 

Not what I'd call "progress" yet, but steps leading toward progress, anyway.

Cheers, -Lars

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Thanks All,

Terry, flat toothpicks, round toothpicks & rubber bands have been part of my modeling tool kit for decades, but it was only the delicacy of that head rail assembly that demanded the clamp combination, invented last year here. Like the wheel, it may have been invented more than once & resembles much bigger long-reaching clamps used in wood work.

Cheers, -Lars

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  • 1 year later...

Hi Knb.1451 & All,

 

It's been another busy summer in Alaska...& I've been obligated to spend some of it sailing a 1:1 scale Hunter 22 on Big lake, in between everything else. If that sounds odd, you don't know my wife!

 

"Model work" has the emphasis on "work", as my time in the shop is taken filling orders this year. Pandemics lead to people staying in a lot & some of them build more models that way; who knew?

 

This morning, we learned that my brother's boat was found empty, afloat in Prince William Sound, & that a body has been found, expected to be identified as Eric. He had been fishing alone out of Valdez, so was at least doing something he loved. I still need to put up some more firewood this fall & will be throwing a little extra angst & energy into that task this afternoon.....

 

Just got the ID confirmation call from my sister Tania; the sea claims another, a lot closer to home than usual. Rest in Peace, Brother.

 

My Best to All, -Lars

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I'm sorry for your loss my friend, I hope you and yours are doing well, losing family is never easy. I'm glad you're still employed through all of this, it's a hectic time for sure. Take care.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 9/13/2020 at 8:57 PM, lars_opland said:

Hi Knb.1451 & All,

 

It's been another busy summer in Alaska...& I've been obligated to spend some of it sailing a 1:1 scale Hunter 22 on Big lake, in between everything else. If that sounds odd, you don't know my wife!

 

"Model work" has the emphasis on "work", as my time in the shop is taken filling orders this year. Pandemics lead to people staying in a lot & some of them build more models that way; who knew?

 

This morning, we learned that my brother's boat was found empty, afloat in Prince William Sound, & that a body has been found, expected to be identified as Eric. He had been fishing alone out of Valdez, so was at least doing something he loved. I still need to put up some more firewood this fall & will be throwing a little extra angst & energy into that task this afternoon.....

 

Just got the ID confirmation call from my sister Tania; the sea claims another, a lot closer to home than usual. Rest in Peace, Brother.

 

My Best to All, -Lars

 

Sorry to hear of your loss, Lars. When we lost a very close friend who we never found, the experience was most abstract.  I spent a while doing nothing much at all apart from the daily grind, but when I re-discovered modelling it genuinely did ground me, and gave me the space to contemplate about a whole lot of things. And that, for me, is why playing around with plastic models is a beautiful hobby. 

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Thank You, Killingholm,

 

To correct one error, Eric was fishing near Whittier, not Valdez.

 

Yes, modeling is often an effective form of meditation practiced by people who haven't gone out of their way to learn TM. I wouldn't have thought of it this way, except for that Buddist monk who interviewed me for about 10 minutes, many years ago, & then said I didn't need TM...& he was the salesman!

 

Cheers, -Lars

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  • 1 month later...

Stunning work. Just seen your build of a great ship. I started mine years ago and haven't finished it yet. The rigging plans I have are rubbish so at some point I will get round to it. I will use the HMS Diana book and various other books to get it right. 

Here is a link to it so far. 

 

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  • 2 years later...

Hey Lars, I've been listening to the Master and Commander books as of late and have fallen deeply head over heels for the dear old Surprise. Practically broke my heart when  Jack had to sell her out of the service. Cheers my friend and may no new thing arise! 

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15 hours ago, Knb.1451 said:

Hey Lars, I've been listening to the Master and Commander books as of late and have fallen deeply head over heels for the dear old Surprise. Practically broke my heart when  Jack had to sell her out of the service. Cheers my friend and may no new thing arise! 

Hi Knb451, Read the series 20 years ago & was more saddened that O'Brian had passed on before he could wrap it up. IIRC, they were going to get involved in suppressing the slave trade off Africa again, & we had already met the man Jack Aubry had fathered with that escaped slave girl he had smuggled aboard as a midshipman in the Caribbean, grown to become a Catholic priest & not yet re-surfaced in the series. It should have been interesting.....

 

Speaking of new things, I would like to be able to report more progress on the model, but nothing yet.

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1 hour ago, Kevin Aris said:

a new surprise is going to be developed this year in 1/64

by Vanguard Models - Chris Watton

 Patrick O’Brian vessel from the Aubrey & Maturin series, 

Hi Kevin,

 

That link is to "HMS Enterprise" of about 1770, a very nice model, so I went to the Vanguard Models site & found no "Surprise" or any mention of future kits at all?

 

Definitely not entry-level pricing for good wooden kits...& "affordable" wooden kits tend to resemble generic "ship models" of the interior decorating variety, not meant to portray anything specific or to be examined closely at all. Even when the wooden parts are usable, the detail castings tend toward the grotesque & absurd. Sadly, this is often true of seriously expensive wooden kits as well.

 

L'Unite'/Surprise & her class were designed by Pierre Alexandre-Laurent Forfait in 1793, eventually adopted by Patrick O'Brian as the stage for some of his most memorable tales. I'm not sure why O'Brian chose this one out of all the Admiralty Draughts available for his literary purpose, but she was an adequate size for maritime adventure. Not reported to be a brilliant sailor, but good captains would experiment with stowage, hull & sail trim to get the best out of whatever they had.

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10 hours ago, lars_opland said:

Hi Kevin,

 

That link is to "HMS Enterprise" of about 1770, a very nice model, so I went to the Vanguard Models site & found no "Surprise" or any mention of future kits at all?

 

Definitely not entry-level pricing for good wooden kits...& "affordable" wooden kits tend to resemble generic "ship models" of the interior decorating variety, not meant to portray anything specific or to be examined closely at all. Even when the wooden parts are usable, the detail castings tend toward the grotesque & absurd. Sadly, this is often true of seriously expensive wooden kits as well.

 

L'Unite'/Surprise & her class were designed by Pierre Alexandre-Laurent Forfait in 1793, eventually adopted by Patrick O'Brian as the stage for some of his most memorable tales. I'm not sure why O'Brian chose this one out of all the Admiralty Draughts available for his literary purpose, but she was an adequate size for maritime adventure. Not reported to be a brilliant sailor, but good captains would experiment with stowage, hull & sail trim to get the best out of whatever they had.

it is hoped to release by the end of 23, the latest release will be the HMS indefatigable preorders are being taken now with a release date by end of feb

Surprise is still to be built up, just thought someone might be interested 

the details are on the Forum Model Ship World

 

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2 minutes ago, lars_opland said:

Thanks Kevin,

 

I was much impressed by the Indefatigable kit after scrolling through the slide show; that Chris Watten is really serious about this stuff!

 

Cheers, -Lars

that will be my 2023 build, as i have ordered it, i have the Lady Eleanor by VM to finish first, and if possible to get some more of the Britannic done

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