November 2023 Volume 13 number 11

It's done ! BlueJacket is now a sister company with Ages of Sail. Look for more products to be offered in the near future. However, I will still be around, answering the help line, doing repairs, working part-time, and teaching the annual rigging class.



It just wouldn't be Halloween unless Al dressed up. This year he is Dorothy.

I like that the hair matches his beard

NRG'S MODEL SHIP WORLD

Model Ship World is an on-line forum of over 40,000 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! And yes, BlueJacket is one of the sponsors.

www.modelshipworld.com

Bore - Sudden strong tide wave or surge, most often occurring on the northeastern shores of the North Atlantic. The word came, via Middle English, either from old Norse or Icelandic, possibly both. The old word in both languages was bara, of the same meaning.

Cranky (also Crank) - An adjective for any craft of low or poor stability. The word comes from Old English, cringan, one meaning of which was to become weak or delicate.

Freshen - (1) To freshen the nip, or the hawse, is to render, or haul in a line to change its position in a block, fairlead or hawsehole, to protect it against chafe. (2) To freshen ballast is to alter its location for better trim. The derivation in these senses is not known. The word itself comes from old French.

Nibbling (also Nibbing) - Refers to the pointed shapes of the ends of certain deck planks, to fit either the kingplank or the covering boards. the word comes from the Anglo-Saxon nebb, beak.

Information is from the book "Origins of Sea Terms" by John G. Rogers

copyright 1985 Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc. and available from BlueJacket. 

Our rigging class is a popular event. We run it from 9 to 3 for 5 days (although some people leave early on Friday.) IT IS A CLASS FOR NOVICES. We don't assume you know anything about rigging a ship model. All tools and materials are provided with the class fee of $500. You get a hull to work on, all the sticks and dowels, glue, blocks, deadeyes, threads, wire, beeswax, sandpaper and the following tools:

Excel hobby knife and blades

2 Pin Vises

Assortment of drill bits

Tweezers

needle nose pliers

flush cutters

clamps

cuticle scissors (best for clipping rigging)

and probably some other things I forgot

If you use magnifiers for your modeling work, you should bring them. By the end of the class you will have learned how to use the tools, tie a multitude of various knots, and will have completed what you see in the picture above.  You can see shrouds, backstays, bobstays, gammoning, vangs, topping lift, ratlines, hearts, throat halyard, peak halyard, sheet tackle on a traveler, lifts, braces, forestays, etc.

Obviously, we don't waste a lot of time to make the model look pretty! We want to concentrate on the rigging. At the end of the class, BlueJacket will ship your model and materials to your home, again all part of the tuition cost.

Monday will include a pizza party for lunch and a behind the scenes tour of the BlueJacket facility. In addition, all students will receive a 10% discount on anything they buy during that week. Kits, tools, books, gift items, you name it!

The hours of 9-3 are flexible, we have the hotel conference room available 24 hours a day for the week. If you bring a family member, the 3:00 PM cutoff lets you do some sightseeing around the area. But if you need to catch up a bit, the room is yours!

Classes will be at the Fireside Inn in Belfast, 4 miles from BlueJacket on Route 1, tel# 207-338-2090. You can ask for the promotional code BEL if you choose to stay there. They are holding rooms at $160.49 for us. There is a pool and Jacuzzi, and all rooms have an excellent view of Penobscot Bay. If you are the camping type, Searsport Shores is nearby.

Class is limited to 12 people with payment in advance. Full refund up to 2 weeks before, 50% refund up to 1 week before. Unfortunately, cancellation less than a week in advance cannot be refunded except by extreme circumstances, which we reserve the right to determine.

Another good customer, Guy B of ME sent this in:

"Hi Nic,

I finally finished the case and it’s ready to present to my Granddaughter. It started out with your Blue Jacket lobster boat (K207)and I modified it into the tourist lobster boat based in Camden, ME. I couldn’t duplicate it exactly but I made most of the modifications with scraps of wood, metal and plastic. I will include a picture of the actual boat and the ones of the finished boat.

Regards,

Guy "

I like that Guy even duplicated the bilge pump exit stream

From Tim K. of MD

"Hi Nic!

Thought I’d send in a picture of my closet workspace where I’m finishing up my version of The Pride of Baltimore II. It’s been about a two and a half year build and has been a definite challenge for me to build. 

Tim"

Nic's bench - The Newsboy is finished. I am now doing a plastic Santa Maria for a change.

I am also building an R/C airplane for next year's flying season. For those who are interested, I have a build thread here: https://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/classic-rc-pattern-flying-379/11709128-peppermint-pattie-60-electric-conversion-build-thread.html

Al's bench - Al is going great guns on the Harriet Lane for a client, then he will get back to the 82' point class CG boat,.

"Nic,

To add to Sandy's tip last month, especially useful for curved surfaces, put your dry transfers on plain decal paper and spray with after coat of matte lacquer. (See photo.) Then spray with gloss coat after applying.

Regards, 

Denis M of MD"

Now that BlueJacket has a new owner, it is time to reflect on what we have been doing for the last 10 years:

We came out with 14 new kits, and brought back or improved 7 other kits. The building has a new metal roof, we got a new laser machine, upgraded our Point of Sale software, got 5 new computers and a new server. We have also repaired or made 234 models for our customers.

I am pleased with what we have accomplished.