Sirius Blog Photo Update 3

 

 Hi All, the next photo update of the Sirius Project are available for you viewing. Simply click on the link here: Photo Album

Provided in this album is the third update. This update covers the copper plating of the model along with some decorative work. Overall 20 photographs show the progress of the model.

Modeller of the Month - Febuary 2010

The Modeller of the Month for February 2010 is Bob Wood

What is an excellent hobby when you have drawing skills or wood working skills, skills in maths or metal work, skills in engineering or architecture? And you think literally or laterally? Why it's model ship building of course! You can even be a skilful tattoo artist and excel at model ship creations as modeller Bob Wood has shown.

Recalling where his passion for model ships began was an easy task for Bob. With no hesitation Bob talks about his father frequently taking him to the Museum of Applied Science in Harris Street Sydney. While there they would wander around, his father explaining and teaching and Bob learning and exploring and within the walls of the museum Bob stumbled on his love of period ships.

Bob's enthusiasm started with the model of the H.M.S Sirius at the museum which captured his interest from the moment he saw it.

"The model of the Sirius had me really intrigued. The cannons, all the rigging, and the flags - the whole thing had me very interested." Bob said.

After this first encounter with the Sirius model, Bob an avid drawer, would catch the train to the museum and sketch the Sirius determined to create his own replica of the ship.

Drawing has always been his strongest skill, and Bob recall developing his talent from a young age. He tells, with a laugh, that as a young boy he would ask his mother what he should draw and she would say, "Anything, draw whatever you like." Bob said that he would get in her hair a lot.

As a young modeller Bob constructed war ships and air craft carriers. One of his techniques was to copy pictures that he found in magazines. By crafting rudimentary models in boyhood, Bob learnt the mechanics of piecing together model parts. From all this practice Bob is now a comfortable scratch builder preferring this method of construction because he can be more creative.

"I like building scratch models because I can put my own ideas into the ship." Bob said.

Bob has built the Victory, Bounty, Bellona and the Santa Maria to name a few. Bob has constructed over 40 models from when he was young to the present. Half of these are scratch and half are from kits.

With so many finished models it's not surprising that Bob believes a good technique is having patience and the persistence to see a model to the finished stage.

"My advice to fellow modellers would be to have patience. It's also good to know when to have a break and come back again." Bob said.

With a garage full of tools and a work bench setup Bob is equipped to continue his model making after retiring from the tattooing business.

After 40 years of being a tattoo artist he has accumulated many tattoos himself. One being a ship tattooed on his chest. It doesn't get more devoted than that.

Modeller of the Month - December 2009

Modeller of the Month - Gregory Baumgartner

Voyages by sea were the only method of travel for those early settlers who came to the continent of America. Early sailing ships like the lumbering Mayflower carried passengers willing to make these journeys to the New World. Passengers would endure five to seven weeks at sea if they survived at all. It was a common occurrence for sailing ships to be blown off course finding themselves in ports far from their original destination.

Men, women and children were crammed onto these tiny vessels which usually served as war ships or for transporting goods. Life at sea had no comforts, fresh food was unavailable and disease was rife. These treacherous journeys hold such historical significance that an honourable way to remember this period is to create models of the ships that once sailed.

Gregory a resident of Vail, Arizona originally from North Dakota is a model ship builder interested in the late 1700's to the mid 1800's era because he feels that his carving skills are not able to create the ornate sterns prevalent in the ships built before the 1780's.

"Also there is something about a full rigged ship that tugs at your soul." Gregory said.

Modelling since he was 12 Gregory has always pursued modelling as a hobby, right up till his retirement, keeping busy modelling and growing bonsai. When Gregory was 12 he began modelling with 1/32 scale World War 2 warplanes and 1/72 scale military World War 2 vehicles. Gregory constructed dioramas using his finished models. The initial attraction to model ship building began with a progression from building plastic warplanes.

Gregory began building model ships when the challenge of model planes dissolved, finding that replacing the cockpits, landing gear and scratch building engines became far too effortless.

"When rebuilding parts of model planes got to be too easy, that is to say there was no challenge anymore, I moved on to plastic model ships. When that got too easy, I moved on to solid hull ships. I made one, and then made the HMS Victory by Mantua. Then I started my current project, a scratch built USS Pennsylvania." Gregory said.

Progressing from plastic to wooden models is quite a common practice and for anyone beginning a modelling hobby or feeling uninterested with current models they are making will find expanding to different types a great way to expand skills and refresh their modelling. Gregory found that by moving through the different stages this kept modelling interesting and challenging.

While Gregory finds modelling and growing bonsai challenging he also finds it a very relaxing pastime.

"In this high stress world we live in these hobbies are great stress relievers." Gregory said.
Building the 130 Gun USS Pennsylvania in 1/72 scale Gregory reiterates the importance of research. Extensive research helps a modeller create a higher quality finished work and helps gain a greater understanding of the model begin built. Some modellers find that knowing the purpose of a ship and the life the ship endured turns a model into a replica.

Gregory finds the best research comes from modelling books because the research is usually more thorough than the information on the internet. One tip that Gregory has for fellow modellers is to be as precise as possible when building the bulkheads or the frames of your model ship.

"Research is very time consuming. To build a model as historically correct as possible is very hard. The information is out there, but even with the Internet, it is hard to locate. Good wood is also hard to get,"
"I cannot begin to tell you how many times I had to make corrections to my hull to make everything come out right. Spend a lot of time on your bulkhead drawing and be especially careful in cutting them out and sanding them down. Correct placement of the keel is the most important step." Gregory said.

Research can be a very challenging part of model ship building and can be just as difficult as learning new skills of craftsmanship although gaining the knowledge can be just as fulfilling as a perfect finished model.
Gregory hopes to build a 1/48th 74 Gun Ship of The Line, the USS North Carolina, or the USS Ohio for his next projects.

Creating a model ship is an excellent way to discover the history of your home country and to learn about the extensive maritime history which surrounds it.