grendel

at least it wasnt 3 seashells (demolition man).

this mornings progress - I could get used to these long weekends - but I only have these until Christmas, holiday had to be used up

Yes this first hull should be off the building board by Christmas, then the second hull (the good one) can be started, the bonus will be that I can then do work on the uppers of the first model.

yes, actually on the last plank I shaped and steamed it is already there, but the next one on the side in the last batch of photos will reach there too.

Today was planking, 2 planks shaped and steamed, 2 fixed in place, we are now working our way up the sides.

you could look at lubuntu (linux operating system). this is specifically designed for older machines, add a solid state hard drive and they are blisteringly fast (mine boots up in less than 30 seconds). it comes pre loaded with all the basics, its free and the hackers rarely bother to write viruses for it. I have put it onto machines that run xp slowly, and its been fast. google lubuntu, download the software and burn it to a cd, then you will have a live cd you can try - you boot from the cd and it runs linux, if you like it you can load it to the machine (you can even load it alongside xp, and run one or the other. just about every program has a free linux equivalent.

heres what it looks like next to the model.

just for fun and to get back into practice I had a go at the lettering this evening, I need to get the newness out of the brushes as they just are not flowing right just yet for lettering, plus its been a while so my hand is not quite as steady as it could be, but here is my first practice attempt at the font and lettering, on a piece of lime blind slat coloured white. this is at 12mm as I have specified above to Griff, and fits across the stern of the model about the same as seen in some of the photos I have, I think 10mm would have just been too small.

so back to planking, back to wide planks on the sides, the first has been shaped and steamed, and the last narrow corner plank glued in place.

just to prove that the smallest of details is being attended to, my stainless steel pins arrived, now to transform the heads into slightly larger than scale screw heads, tapping a blade with a hammer across the head didnt work, but a quick pass wth a miniature triangular file did. the head of the pin is about 1mm across (1/25" in old money), also shown is a zoomed out picture - the marks on the wood - from the knife blade and file, that wood is only 15mm wide.

have a good time at the concert Griff, I have just finished my breakfast, (only just beating the corporate Managing Director to breakfast, but beating those who were partying until 5.30am - I was heading for bed at midnight). Just tidying my bits up and will be hitting the road soon headed for home - maybe a 3 hour drive depending upon traffic as I am just outside Daventry. Fantastic hotel, great party, but now time to get home and get on with the weekend and do some work on the model.

yes that is correct 3 sets x2 at 12mm. (just back to my room after the party)

thats 1/2 " high and takes up about 8" width

I forgot to add the picture

Well at the moment I am thinking the original letters are about 6" high, or maybe 5" looking at the width of the whole across the stern, so 10mm would be about right for 5",12mm for 6", the red shadow I can line in by hand. actually I have just pulled up a photo for the stern and the whole appears to take up about 7 foot to 8 foot width, so 6" (12mm) seems a better height.

yes, ensconsed in hotel now on free wifi, the spacing was just a first guess, this will be redone for better spacing, that was the first iteration to make sure I had the letters the right shape

a bit more work this lunch time has produced the following, now to reduce it to half that size - a nice job for later while waiting in my hotel room to get ready for the company christmas do - see even when I am not at home there are little tasks that can be done to progress the build. once I have a fair copy it can be positioned next to where it will sit and be copied onto the hull, but first of course a series of practice pieces, one in this size might make a good nameplate for the models stand, so practice pieces will not necessarily go to waste.

So as well as the above, I have also shaped and steamed another plank and fixed yesterdays plank in place.

lunch time today was spent working on the font, apart from the spacing I think I am getting near, now to see if I can translate that into gold leaf and paint. a few more letters to work on too.

I presume that a glass of red then

Are you a vampire? My daughter worked for BT, and left because at every call they got they were supposed to sell an additional service or feature, they were given bonuses if they sold more than usual, but also had targets and quotas of sales to meet, imagine little old granny phones in with a query, and leaves wondering why she has signed up to internet and tv, when she only has a phone and no computer, my daughter could not stand working there, she now works for the emergency 111 phone line and is much happier helping people.

Methusula?

Tonight I have a treat, another Video for you to make up for no progress to watch last night.

So my apologies for lack of progress last night, but after 3 hours to do a journey that can normally be done on a bad day in just over an hour, I was shattered. Traffic permitting, I should be back up and running again this evening, strangely even though I was shattered, I really missed doing a little work on the model, its become a daily routine that I really look forward to, and like all routines, when it doesnt happen it feels like there is something missing in the day. Friday will be similar as I will be driving a little way North from the office in the afternoon to attend my company Christmas bash, this year themed as a Masque Ball (now before anyone starts up with me not needing a mask at the Ball, we dont have to provide them, they will be provided for us, or I would have printed Timbo's photo and used it as a mask to go as an archaologist (Timbo Jones and the temple of doom).

I still remember the time our paraffin heater tipped over and caught fire, then my dad picking it up and throwing it out of the back door. and the glass bottles you topped the heater from, and the metal 5 gallon drum in the shed you filled the glass bottles from, that got filled up when the parrafin man came round.