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September 2015
Vol 5, Issue 9

ShipShape

News,Tips and Happenings


Dear Shipmate:

This past month we had some really sticky weather for a couple of weeks. We have lost 2 1/2 hours of daylight since the Summer Solstice, but it still doesn't get dark until after dinnertime.  The leaves are just beginning to change, especially on the Maple trees.

Behind the gas station across the street, they have stockpiled a mountain of road salt - What do they know that we don't?




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

Coir - Cordage made of coconut fiber, which floats (for a time), is light, and has great stretch.  It is not known when coir was first used, but it appears to be a long time ago.  The word comes from Malay, kayen, rope.

Handy Billy - (1) Any assisting device.  It usually refers to a light tackle for a variety of uses. (Also called a watch tackle.) A composite word, handy goes back to Anglo-Saxon, gehende, near at hand. Billy is an old Scottish word, still heard, for an assisting tool. (2) A small gasoline-powered portable pump for damage control and firefighting purposes, the name of which was borrowed from the old use.

Periplus - An old term for sailing directions, the first of which were written in Greece (ca. 350 B.C.) for the Medilterranean.  The word comes virtually intact from Greek, of the same meaning.

Tern Schooner - A three-masted schooner built in New England or Nova Scotia. Tern in this sense is a set of three, and comes via Middle English and early French from the latin terni, of this same meaning.


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 -  Kronprinzessin Cecilie
These model images were sent to me from Ered. I can actually say the photos took my breath away. Here's his story:

I thought these images of one of my recent projects might be of interest due to the ship's Bar Harbor connection. This is a 1:100 scale model of Kronprinzessin Cecilie that was built by the German toy-making firm of Gebr. Fleischmann circa 1907. The model (a travel agency display) was abandoned in a damp Chicago basement for 80+ years and came to me as dumpster material: two missing funnels, no masts, no boats, davits, most of her paint gone, etc. A year's work has brought her back to her former glory. She is 7' in length. I went to great lengths to preserve the "whimsical" elements of her decoration as originally applied by her toy-maker builders. She is one of only 5 examples known world-wide. I am presently working on a documentary detailing her history and restoration. Cheers, Ered

AS FOUND:


AND AFTER COUNTLESS HOURS OF RESTORATION:










Wow, just plain wow! Thank you, Ered for sharing.

What's on the workbench?

Nic's bench: Al has handed the Kearsarge over to me for rigging.  All the standing rigging is done, and I'm starting the running rigging.


 

Al's bench: Taking a breather between the Kearsarge and the Charles Morgan, Al is working on a new Ensign series model of a 31-ton Revenue Cutter from Chappelle's book. We will be offering it two ways, as a full Ensign kit with glue, paint, tools, etc. and as a standard kit for existing modelers. If that's successful, we will do that with all the Ensign series kits.



We have spent a lot of time to draw all the deck details so the new modeler will be proud of his creation.  Proper nibbing, treenails, deck furniture frames etc. are all lasered into the deck.



 
Something fun

Tip of the Month  -  Signing your models

Last month I asked you to send in your model signatures, and I was surprised to only get one response.

Russ came back and told me:

"Attached is an image of my Nantucket Lightship model with flags spelling out my last name. I didn't really consider it a 'signature' but now you've got me thinking I might do this with all my ships!





Blatant Publicity

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.