This very first newsletter would not be possible without you, fellow freinds and modelers. I appreciate the great response I have had from all over the world. I must confess that there is so much about ships and ship modeling that I have a great lack of knowledge. I pay my respects to those that have many more years experience than I do. I can see that it takes a great deal of effort to learn all the nautical terms. Not only that, it takes a great deal of patience to become a craftsman and a shipwright. I encourage you to learn those terms and become intimately familiar with your ship. I do believe that in the long run, it will make you a better modeler, as myself too, I am learning as well. If you would like to have your ship featured on the next newsletter, then by all means, send me the picture and a brief write up. I am also looking for anyone that is willing to share their tips and tricks. Have you read any good books lately, then share them with us !

"The HMS Pegasus from Amati is my 6th ship since I started building model about 7 years ago.
After completely a very different type of build with the Fair American admiralty styled kit and having really enjoyed the complexity of the Caldercraft HM Granado I was looking for a three masted ship without the physical size of some of the larger models. I'd heard a lot of good things about the HMS Fly and had collected the David Anstcherl books on the HMS Swan class.

I received one of the first kits following the launch of Chris Watton's Pegasus. As a Swan glass ship and essentially an updated version of the Fly, it is a great kit and was perfect for what I was looking for. Chris and his wife's http://www.onlinehobbysite.com was the perfect place to acquire the kit. The kit contains the most complete set of detailed brass etchings I've seen, it is well put together. Before I had started my Model Ship World build log I also posted a separate kit review.

While I wanted to be historically accurate as possible, I also wanted to stamp it as my own. I elected to obtain cherry stock from http://www.hobbymillusa.com and cut my own planks for the upper hull. The kit supplies nice ornamental decoration for the hull, I elected to use only part of it and chose French Blue to compliment the cherry hull. I also elected to paint the lower hull white rather than using the copper plating supplied with the kit. Selfishly I liked the job I'd done on the hull and didn't want to cover it with the copper. Fortunately the swan class was of an transitional era where both "white stuff" and copper were used on the actual hulls. I added a few things here and there like the forward bulkhead I constructed from balsa following examples from Antscherl's books. I found a few flaws and omissions in the plans, but nothing of consequence and nothing not easily rectified.

While I'm a big fan of Amati, I would have to say the instructions for my Caldercraft Granado are more detailed and complete. I'm glad I had built it first, it made it easier for some of the more complex tasks to have already done it before. The rigging took by far the most advance planning, starting with the construction of the masts. As I noted in my build log, I attach all the blocks on the masts and yards as I build them as well as attaching the running rigging. I also pre-drill the holes in the hull and attach as many of the blocks and eyelets there early in the construction. I'm not sure how I would have install all the lines with everything already mounted on the ship.

I tried to put as much detail as I could in the build log. It is based on my experience with 6 models, but also the many lessons I learned from the many master builders on the Model Ship World Forums. MSW is a great place for not only sharing your work but both learning new things and passing on your lessons learned to others. I'm also grateful for Ships of Scale's website in providing a nice "home" for the gallery of photos of completed models.

Glenn"

You can see all of Glenns work here.

www.shipsofscale.com
send questions, comments to donnie@shipsofscale.com