BlueJacket blue sailor logo

May 2015
Vol 5, Issue 5

ShipShape

News,Tips and Happenings


Dear Shipmate:

May and warmer weather has finally come to the Maine coast. Everyone's mood seems a little brighter, we've gained 5 1/2 hours of daylight since the Winter Solstice, and we are definitely seeing more traffic come through our Gallery.

With the loss of Floquil Paints, getting a correct hull red color has been a problem.  The Model Master "Hull Red" is not like the Red Oxide, it is much more purplish, and was a correct color only for a few certain German ships in WWII. We have been recommending Burnt Sienna, which is a little on the brown side, but acceptable, and also recommending to mix the Hull Red with Insignia Red, but that's messy.

Continuing to look around, we have found a really good darkish red to use for the hull bottoms.  It is Model Master's "British Crimson" PND2009 $3.75 for 1/2 ounce, and it is on our website. We will be updating our paint kits to reflect this better match.


BlueJacket is a proud sponsor of:

NRG'S MODEL SHIP WORLD
Model Ship World is an on-line forum of ship modelers. Topics range from kits to scratch builds, in-process continuing stories, tips, manufacturer information, technical topics.  Too many to list here. Go take a look!
In This Issue
Nautical Terms
Model of the month
Something Fun
Tip of the Month
final message
Quick Links
Nautical terms and origins

Asdic - The early name for underwater search and detection for submarines, by echo ranging.  It is an acronym for Anti-Submarine Detection Investigation Committee, a joint British and French project started at the end of World War II. (See Sonar)

Graving Dock - A fixed shoreside drydock. One version of the origin is early modern English, "that which is dug out," but it more likely has to do with the dock's function, a means of cleaning, i.e., greaving, a vessel's sides and bottom.

Sonar - The acronym for underwater echo-ranging equipment, originally for detecting submarines by small warships. ( SOund NAvigation Ranging).  The British earlier called it ASDIC.

Wheft - A flag or pennant, sometimes tied or stopped in the center of the fly; a signal of various meanings, one of which is believed to have been distress.  The origin is obscure; it is probably Anglo-Saxon.

Information is from the book "Origins of Sea Terms" by John G. Rogers
copyright 1985 Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc. and available from BlueJacket. 
Model of the Month - Godspeed
We received this interesting email from Ron N. of CT

" Dear BlueJacketeers:

I recently completed my model of the "HMS Godspeed" (aka: Bluejacket's Charles P. Notman downeast schooner kit) and showed it at the recent Northeast Annual Ship Modeler's Show & Conference in New London, CT. I thought I would send its maker(s) a note of thanks and to commend your win. My Bluejacket kit model was fully-rigged with all 16 sails and won a third Place Award at the Conference in the "Sail" category.

The New York church for whom I built this 42" nave model will dedicate and display their new ship in the church's sanctuary this coming May. I chose this ship model kit specifically for this church commission and also named it "Godspeed." It took me five (fun-filled!) months to complete.

My OOB ("out-of-the-box") experience was good and I encountered nothing in the build I couldn't satisfactorily resolve. The instructions were quite thorough. I did do some upgrading with rigging, but otherwise I used practically all of the kit's supplied materials. Advanced modeler's who may be interested in this kit should note that although Bluejacket
supplies various weights of rigging thread, the sail materials (and instructions) are NOT included.

In the hands of an experienced builder with even modest skills, this kit is capable of being quite an impressive looking one when completed. When Bluejacket is ready to release it's six-masted "Wyoming" in a couple years, I might just tackle another monster schooner (for another church)! By my count, with two more masts there'll be a total of 22 sails to make. Yeow.

I just decided: I can't wait two years. Hurry up Mr. BlueJacket! "

Thank you, Ron, for the nice review.  We'll see if we can get the Wyoming done earlier.
What's on the workbench?

Nic's bench: I'm back to plodding along on the Portland. Having finished the Salon deck, I'm working on the Hurricane deck now. The deck is in two pieces, and you can see the seam ahead of the walking beam.  It has a first coat of filler and paint.  With a little more of the same, it will be invisible.  Also note the Salon deck railings are done and in place.


Al's bench: Al has finished the drawings for the Kearsarge, and is starting to assemble the prototype subassemblies from production parts.  We do this for every kit, to insure the fit is correct.  Also in parallel, he is carving a hull master for a new "Ensign Series" kit. We will be offering this as complete with paint, glue and tools, and also as a "regular" kit at a lower price. Stay tuned for the grand unveiling soon!


Something fun


Tip of the Month  -  Painting long strips of wood

A simple tip this month, but a real time-saver. I was brush painting the half-round rub rails for the Portland, and could get about 2 inches of rail done with each brushful. It wasn't worth getting out the airbrush because of the clean-up. I wasn't looking forward to this painting job at all.

What I needed was something that could hold more paint but still act like a brush. What I ended up doing was dipping the end of a Q-tip in the paint.  It worked beautifully, I could get the entire strip painted with just one dip into the paint. Best of all, no cleanup, just throw out the Q-tip when I'm done!



Thanks for your support

 

My final message in this newsletter will always be the same because it is what BlueJacket has done for 110 years, and we're not about to stop.

 

We appreciate our customers, we exist for our customers, and we listen to our customers. What we do is fun, just as I will try to make this newsletter. If you have any suggestions or comments, still, as always, please just give us a shout!

 

There's nothing I'd rather do than work on, or talk about model boats. Have fun!  

   

Sincerely,

   

Nic Damuck

BlueJacket Shipcrafters, Inc.