New Title in MMM Bookstore- “Model Building with Brass”

Model Building with Brass

This book knocked my socks off! I’ve always been afraid of real model building with metal… I can drill a hole, turn a diameter on my lathe… but to craft an engine, or entire model from brass? No way! Ken Foran shows how it’s done… or more importantly, that it CAN be done. The book is finely printed with gorgeous color photos. Even if you never plan to lift a jeweler’s saw in earnest, you should have this book for inspiration!

And yes it’s completely applicable to ship modeling… I’ve seen some great models with exposed engines, working cranes, fire monitors… all subjects that benefit from brass construction.

Newly listed in the Matthews Model Marine bookstore:

http://astore.amazon.com/modelmarine-20/detail/0764340042

Sovereign of the Seas Update 02 April 2013

Another set of parts from DeAgostini! About 20% of the way into the installments, with enough planking now to finish the first layer:

http://yankeesots.wordpress.com/

Sovereign of the Seas Update

Slow going on the DeAgostini SotS, but the latest can be found on its dedicated blog:

http://yankeesots.wordpress.com/

Amati’s 1:20 Grand Banks 46

Amati’s Grand Banks 46

I picked up an Amati Grand Banks 46 while visiting Germany a couple years ago, when I stopped by the headquarters of Krick, a bit south of Frankfurt. I had been lusting after the kit for some time… it had been imported to the USA by Model Slipways, but that arrangement ended. No matter, I got a better deal by hauling it back home from Europe myself.

I just recently started the kit in earnest… follow along with my build thread at RC Groups: Amati Grand Banks 46 Trawler Yacht

Another Road / Display Case!

Here is another combo road case/display case… one box to travel with, one box to display the model and keep the dust off, all lumped together. Hardware is from Reliable Hardware, and includes all the aluminum extrusions, corners, latches, and handles. Panels are 1/8″ dry-erase marker board… basically, pressboard with a shiny white coating on one side, which makes for a bright interior. The outer sides are covered in mahogany veneer, complementing the model. 0.080″ clear acrylic on both sides makes for a nice see-through effect.

The model’s table-top cradle has a home on the case’s floor, while the case’s own cradles are screwed to the case. Padding is 1/4″ mouse pad. This material can be easily cut, the rubber is easily glued to the wood cradle, and the fabric covering is a friendly surface for the boat’s delicate bottom. Padded elastic straps are secured with Velcro.

DeAgostini “Sovereign of the Seas” Progress

Up to Installment 11 of the build

I’ve posted build progress through Installment 11 at the build blog, “A Yankee Builds DeAgostini’s “Sovereign of the Seas“.

 

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Ships’ Plans from HAMMS, the Historic American Merchant Marine Survey

An example HAMMS drawing

I’ve previously written about the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), which seeks to document all kinds of historic engineering objects– but especially structures and ships. A forerunner of HAER is HAMMS, theHistoric American Merchant Marine Survey. HAMMS was a New Deal project intended to employ marine architects and surveyors. Much has been written elsewhere of HAMMS, and one of its biggest champions, Howard I. Chapelle, so I’ll only mention that it lasted about 18 months, 1936-1937, and yielded drawing sets for over 400 vessels, large and small.

The HAMMS collection is a wonderful resource for historians and ship modelers, but there’s a problem. Unlike the HAER works, which are indexed online and are freely available for download from the Library of Congress, the HAMMS material is held tightly by the Smithsonian and is by no means free.

I’ve posted some examples of HAMMS plans to give you an idea of what’s available… follow the link to the article:

http://matthewsmodelmarine.wordpress.com/writings/ships-plans-from-the-historic-american-merchant-marine-survey-hamms/

 

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