February 2025 Volume 15 number 2

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this past Sunday, so we have 6 more weeks of winter. However, his predictions are only good 40% of the time.

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

We finally found someone for the wood room/laser. His name is Al Farias and he has CNC machining experience. Now Al Ross can get back to his workshop after training new Al !

Josh

Notice the slight change of dates. The class will run Sunday thru Thursday. If you are staying at the Fireside, mention BlueJacket and get a 15% reduction in the room rate.

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.

Sunday 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 BlueJacket corporate rate. There is a pool,sauna and Jacuzzi, plus 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.

Bermuda (also Bermudian) - One name for the sails and rig most commonly seen on sailing yachts today. The sail shape is triangular, as were the sails fo most sialing craft in Bermuda's waters; hence the name.

Channel Fever - is and was like spring fever, although probably more sanguine. Now a general term, it was the word for the euphoria felt by English seamen upon entering the English Channel from the sea, on the last stretch for home.

Ladder - On shipboard, not only a ladder per se, but all stairs too, except perhaps on passenger ships. They were always called that probably because they usually were steep and narrow, and nearly always removable, as they are now.The origin of the word is Anglo-Saxon blaeder, of the same meaning.

Selvagee - Small stuff or yarn, served or marled to make a strop. The term came via Middle English, from Middle Dutch, selfegge, self-edged.

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

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

From Alan D. of OH...

"Nic, here are pictures of my latest models. This is the Carl D. Bradley that was built in Lorain OH around 1927. She mainly hauled lime stone from Roger City, Mi to the steel mills around the Great Lakes. On November 18,1958 she left Gary IN headed back to her home port of Roger’s City for winter lay up. A once in a lifetime storm developed as she ran up the western shore of Lake Michigan, 26-30 foot seas and 65-70 mph winds. Near the top of Lake Michigan she headed east towards the Mackinaw Bridge. After that course change and large waves she broke in half and sunk. Of the 35 crew members, only two survived." 

From Carl H. of CA

:

"Nic, I am working on a scratch built 1/8” scale model of the West Coast steam schooner Wapama (Tongass) built by St. Helens Shipbuilding Company at Saumie Island, St. Helens, Oregon in 1915. It is based on plans from the San Francisco Maritime Museum. The Wapama was the last of 225 steam schooners plying the lumber and passenger trade on the Pacific Coast. She was built entirely of Douglas Fir, and some iron wood at chafing points. In service to1947 she was laid up, was restored and became a floating museum ship until placed on a barge due to major leakage in 1977. Named a National Historic Landmark in 1985, she was dismantled in 2013. Some of the interior woodwork and other fittings are in the San Francisco Maritime Museum. A full description of the Wapama is in the Addendum to Historic American Engineering Record, HAER CA-67, and Wikipedia."

Carl

.

Hull partially planked, clamped in an old ski vise.

Nic's bench - Small Friendship sloop is now finished! Starting back up on the Spray.

Al's bench - Almost ready to get back to it! (see General Manager's notes above)

1 . Law of Mechanical Repair   

-   After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee.

2. Law of Gravity

- Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible place in the universe.

3.  Law of Probability

- The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.

4.  Law of Random Numbers

- If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal; someone always answers.

5.  Variation Law

- If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now.

 6.  Law of the Bath  

- When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone will ring. 

7. Law of Close Encounters

- The probability of meeting someone you know INCREASES dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

8.  Law of the Result

- When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, IT WILL!!! AND Visa versa!

9. Law of Biomechanics  

- The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

10 . Law of the Theater & Hockey Arena

- At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle always arrive last. They are the ones who will leave their seats several times to go for food, beer, or the toilet and who leave early before the end of the performance, or the game is over. The folks in the aisle seats come early, never move once, have long gangly legs or big bellies and stay to the bitter end of the performance. The aisle people also are very surly folk.

11. The Coffee Law

- As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.

 12.  Murphy's Law of Lockers

- If there are only 2 people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.

13.  Law of Physical Surfaces 

- The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich landing face down on a floor are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet or rug.

 14. Law of Logical Argument

- Anything is possible IF you don't know what you are talking about.

15.    Law of Physical Appearance

- If the clothes fit, they're ugly.

16.  Law of Public Speaking

-- A CLOSED MOUTH GATHERS NO FEET!

17.  Law of Commercial Marketing Strategy   

-   As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop making it or possibly it will be replaced by the “NEW & IMPROVED”, if the store continues to sell it!

18.  Doctors' Law

- If you don't feel well, make an appointment to go to the doctor, by the time you get there, you'll feel better. But don't make an appointment and you'll stay sick.

The Law of Television Entertainment

As soon as you find a television program that you really like, it will be cancelled.  

Bob J. sent me this photo of his Smuggler, 1/4" scale. He used model RR figures "O" gage

If you have a model in 1/8" scale, then HO figures work pretty well on larger models(1:87)

People have also used figures from Revell's USS Constitution, which is 1/8" scale.

You can also find many sizes of figures from www.shapeways.com - I got some 1:192 (1/16" scale) from them.

eBay search for scale model figures yields many sources as well.

Six more weeks of winter - I hope he was wrong this time!