May 19th was a "banner day" for the model men!

Don has surpassed himself, again (if that's possible). We have another addition to the fleet of table top subs, this time, complete with the appropriate bergy stuff. Certainly a "silent hunter" and an interesting choice of background. Can't wait to see what the Commodore's next challenge will be but you can be sure that maestro Don will be the diorama champion to beat!

O.K., great work, but wait, there's more. Just look at the detailed work that he's now doing on the Rodney. It is truly amazing. I'm not sure what to admire most, being able to join all the little tidily-fiddly bits together or to paint them! Here's a few images of his latest "madness"! Look at the gantry that fits inside the funnel, think of fitting together the incredible number of parts that form massive deck mounted pom-pom battery (complete with fore and back sites, elevation wheels, trigger handles and goodness knows what else), some of the lighter armaments or even just the external stairways.

The Commodore brought us up to date on the construction of his sampan ........... an equally challenging scratch build using styrene sheet. Getting the construction work to look like the real thing has been a continuing struggle and it's going to be even more interesting to see how he builds the long shaft o.b. drive ............ the model is intended to be in workable form ......... not just part of a diorama.

Stan has been busy with his model of the C. S. L. City of Kingston, the first ship that he sailed on; a freighter working the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence trade routes. It's getting closer to completion and he's now into the fun parts .......just look at the inside of the wheelhouse. Do you recognize the chart? I have a feeling that there's a lot of love going into this model which is based on some old photos and a very sharp memory. The next step is to fit the model with appropriate navigation lights. Great work Stan.

There was lots of other work up for show and tell but there's nothing like admitting to a right royal "screw-up"! Peter built the hull of his Bantam Tug according to plan but with little thought about constraints that it's displacement would entail! To get the model hull down to the design water line would require a lot of ballast, in fact it would likely be more than could be accommodated without removing most of the electronics, motor and battery!!!!! Even if that might be possible the power plant would not be capable of adequate performance. Not a very good situation! It was decision time; chop up the model and write it off as a really bad idea or fix it! The boxy shape of the hull had to be changed.

A "lobotomy" had to be performed, the slab-sides and flat bottom were cut open, the frames were exposed and cut to form a triangular rather than near-square cross-section, and new hull sides were patterned, cut and rejoined.

The model should come down to its marks with much less ballast, the motor should provide reasonable performance, and the (above water) appearance of model should remain unchanged ............. at least that's the hope!