Getting back to ship modeling after Thanksgiving holiday

[catopower]

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving.

I've been off of the forums for a bit. I've still been ship modeling, but haven't really been online all that much. Partly, I've had a pinched nerve that had been keeping me up at night, so I haven't had much energy during the day to do too much. It's much better now and just down to a little shoulder pain, but that's manageable and I'm feeling a lot more productive now.

Well, I did manage to get the 18th Century English Longboat done, so that's something off of my plate. Now, I'm looking forward to getting back to a few other projects. I still have a couple in-progress projects that I'd sort of put aside. One is the Yacht America and the other is the USS Saginaw.

A couple recent discussions on the Saginaw has me looking at the project again, so I'm starting to put some energy back into this project again. That model is supposed to be a 1/8" scale prototype to answer questions on the ship the creation of a larger model that I'd like to display at the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum to replace the model they have that is definitely NOT the Saginaw. I'm actually ready to start dealing with metal etching again and I'll see if I can recreate some of the early success I had with that. So, for anyone wondering what's going on there, it's coming!

Does anyone do much ship modeling over the holidays? Personally, I can't stay away from it, so even though I go back to hang out at my old hometown, I take an easily manageable project with me to tinker with when I get bored. Last year, I had the English Longboat, which worked out very well. This year, I think it's going to be the Woody Joe Higaki Kaisen kit. I'll write more about that later. I'm not going to start yet another build log on it, at least not now. I have enough incomplete build logs as it is!

But, I'll b getting back on the Saginaw build log shortly and will update the Colonial Schooner. Yacht America is sitting on the ways for now, though I may tinker with some assembly shortly.

What's everyone else doing that's not in the build logs?

Clare

 

[GaryM]

I am trying to get 12 to 15 hours a week because I want to get onto the Sovereign of the Seas. My model was made in 1974 and they have updated most of the wood parts since then. Ages of Sail has ordered all the parts for me and they have just arrived. Mantua is such a small company that it takes forever for them to get the parts to you. Most of the time you have to wait for them to do a run for that model before they will ship them. Thus, I ordered the parts at the end of August expecting it to take 4 to 6 months. Since this is one of their best selling models, I am able to get the parts faster than expected.

 

[catopower]

Hi Gary,

Glad to see you back onto the ship model work again! I'm still working on things, but haven't been doing much posting. With this neck/shoulder issue, I'm just not focussed enough to sit down and write up the small tasks I've been doing. I'll drop by your build log to see how things are coming along.

How was Thanksgiving with your Admiral? Are you gearing up for Christmas? Don't want to put a tree where it blocks your ginormous TV!


Brian,

Sorry to hear that you're losing your Guy Fawkes day to Trick or Treating. Funny thing is that given the way our government here has been working (or not working), a Guy Fawkes day in the U.S. would probably have a very different meaning!

Anyway, I don't think you have to worry too much about Thanksgiving being another import, it's all Pilgrims and Indians. Not much of that in Wales.

Thanks for your sympathies on the pain. It's MUCH better now, but still annoying enough to lose focus. Worst thing is when my body doesn't like the position I'm sleeping in and wakes me up to let me know about it. Much better now, just a bit of tossing and turning occasionally, but not enough to keep me from getting some sleep.

You know what is really getting to me though is the shortness of the days. I don't recall it bothering me so much in the past, but maybe that's because I didn't have this annoying neck/shoulder issue. I'm starting to get tired of the sky getting dark a little after 4pm and the garage being so cold. , I know I'm spoiled living in California while the rest of the country gets hit by snow and ice.

I think your Anastasia is like the longboat was for me. Gotta get it done and out of the way so you can concentrate on your next project.


Clare

 

[GaryM]

Hello Clare:
Had an OK Thanksgiving but Christmas should be great. Without kids, we do only light decorating for Christmas so no big tree.
I am sure this cold spell is not helping with the soreness. The lack of sleep and getting woke up would drive me crazy. Hope your find soon so as not to spoil Christmas. Any thoughts on when and where we will meet in January?

 

[catopower]

Hi Gary,

Thanks, the neck and shoulder aren't so bad. Not really sore, per se, but something is still out-of-whack and it's annoying. But, it's either getting better or I'm adjusting to it. Anyway, regarding the meeting, what do you think? I haven't sent out an email, but I haven't heard much from anyone. Hopefully, everyone is well and up for the get together. Jim Kern offered to have us back if we want to meet in the same place, or we can see what others want to do. It depends in some part on the sports season

So, I'm thinking last week of January, first week of February, but let's see who all is interested. I'll send out a note.

Clare