Rx pics for the HECEPOB syndrome

I have taken the plunge; my wife just gave me the Constructo kit of the HMS Pandora.  I have the keel and bulkheads done.  The quality seems fine to me. Admittedly, she only paid $75.00 for it from a neighbor, but I think I'm going to enjoy it.  The neighbor also gave us a copy of The Anatomy of the Ship: HMS Pandora, so if there are really detail issues, at least I have a reputable guide.

Bill Morrison

Dear Bill Morrison:   Congratulation on your new Constructo kit of the Pandora. Even though this kit is one of the lists of HECEPOB that Professor Tilley casts his scorn on, the Anatomy of the Ship series, Pandora, by John McKay and Ron Coleman, should correct any discrepancy that can be found on the kit.

                             If you are able to obtain a copy of the October, 1985 issue of the National Geographic, you will find an interesting article of the location of the wreck in 1977 by two divers in 110 feet of water and the subsequent excavation and research by the Queensland Museum of Brisbane in 1983. The two season project by Ron Coleman and his directing of 20 diver specialist, have recovered hundreds of artifacts. The hull is still entombed in the sand below the reef which wrecked the Pandora on the evening of August 28, 1791.

                              Among the many artifacts recovered, the most interesting item is a pocket watch belonging to the ship's doctor, Master Surgeon, George Hamilton. This time piece, made of silver inner case, gold fired plates and brass movements, survived in good condition. The steel spring and other steel parts had corroded, but were replaced with modern substitutes.  When the watch was wound, it worked , after 192 years of sea water emersion. Engraving and hallmarks on the watch case showed the watch was made by J & J Jackson of London in 1787, the same year, by coincidence, that the Armed Transport Bounty sailed on her last voyage and eventual mutiny. The Pandora sailed to the Pacific to arrest 10 of the mutineers, and after the wreck, successfully returned then to England. Of the 10 prisoners, 5 were condemmed , 2 pardoned and 3 hung from the yardarm of the HMS Brunswick.

                                After you completed some work on your Pardora project, please post some pics of your progress. We will be interested to see the results.

  Montani semper liberi !  Merry Christman, Happy New Year and happy modeling to all and every one of you.                          Crackers  

I think I need to clarify something here.  It's certainly true that I have, in general, an extremely low opinion of HECEPOB kits - and frankly I'm glad that this Forum seems to have become a means of spreading the word about them.  On the other hand, I certainly can't claim to have actually examined more than a small proportion of the huge number of them that seems to be on the market.  I'm sure there's quite a bit of variety in them in terms of quality.

I've never looked at the Constructo Pandora.  The last time I actually had a Constructo kit in my hands was when I was working in a hobby shop that carried a few of them - and that was about thirty years ago.  The source I usually consult about such things, Model Expo, apparently doesn't carry the Constructo line any more; I have no idea why.  (Model Expo does offer a set of paints selected for that kit.) 

I did find an ad for the kit on the web:  http://www.historicships.com/TALLSHIPS/Constructo/HMS%20Pandora%20CON80824%20349_99/HMS%20Pandora%20con80824.htm .  Photos like this don't really answer many questions about a kit; it's impossible to tell how much of what you're looking at can be credited to (or blamed on) the kit manufacturer and how much was contributed by the modeler.  About all I can say on the basis of the picture is that the proportions of the hull and spars look about right, the structure of the rails in the bow looks distorted, the flag is wrong for the period of the ship, the stern lanterns look oversized, and the sails, to my taste at least, look awful.  What little I can see of the hull planking appears not to have been laid according to prototype practice (though I can't really tell from the picture), and there's no copper sheathing.  With the exceptions of the flag (which could, of course, easily be replaced) and the lanterns, all those features could well be the work of the modeler who built the thing, rather than flaws in the kit. 

The photo doesn't tell anything about the quality of the materials in the kit - another department where the HECEPOB companies are pretty notorious - or the basic design of it.  The ad says it's "double planked;" that suggests (but doesn't prove by any means) that the basic hull structure isn't sound.  ("Double planking" is an invention of the HECEPOB companies.  It has nothing to do with how real ships are built.)   

The other area for which HECEPOB kits get a great deal of criticism is the plans and instructions.  Here I agree with Crackers:  the combination of the McKay "Anatomy of the Ship" book and the knowledge that Bill so obviously has already should be enough to overcome whatever horrors the manufacturer may have put on paper. 

I've made the point elsewhere that  it's physically possible to turn anything up to and including a beef bone into a beautiful ship model.  The ship model club of which I'm a member includes several gents who've turned HECEPOB kits into pretty impressive models (usually having discarded and replaced so much of the kits' contents that they might as well have started from scratch - but that's another argument).  I'll be quite interested to see what Bill, who obviously knows what he's doing, makes out of this one.

Regarding that issue of the National Geographic - I can't resist relaying a story that may get me in trouble with the Forum monitors.  One big feature of the article is a painting of the Pandora anchoring at Tahiti, by a modern artist who did it on commission from the magazine.  As it happened, the art editor who commissioned the painting was a former student of my father's; Dad and I happened to go to dinner at his apartment just before the article was published, and were interested to see the painting leaning against a wall in his living room.  He related how, when the painting arrived in his office from the artist, he (the art editor) immediately took it to one of the magazine's senior editors to show it off. 

The painting features a bunch of Tahitian women rowing out to the ship in their canoes, clad...well, like Tahitian women in those days normally were.  They're all discreetly shown from the back or side, but their state of...unclothedness...is quite conspicuous.

The senior editor took one look at the painting and said one word:  "Tts."

The art editor replied, "Oh, come on, Charlie.  This is eighteenth-century Tahiti.  That's how women dressed."

The senior editor said, "Tts."

The art editor said, "Charlie, this painting is making a statement about cultural contrasts.  It's commenting on the awful, degrading situation Polynesian women found themselves in when confronted by Europeans."

The senior editor said, "Tts."

The art editor said, "Charlie, we've got a reputation to maintain.  We want the painting to be historically accurate.  And the Geographic has published plenty of photographs of women from non-Western countries that show more exposed flesh than that."

The senior editor said, "Tts."

The art editor said, "Okay, Charlie, I give up.  What's the matter with the tts?"

The senior editor said, "They aren't big enough." 

The art editor called the artist on the phone, and the artist laughed so hard he practically had a convulsion.  He changed the painting - and my youthful image of the workings of the National Geographic was destroyed forever. 

Thank you all for your wonderful comments!  I will be delighted to keep you informed of my progress.  In fact, the previous owner was satisfied with neither the lights, the flag, the sails, or the lack of copper.  He therefore included new lights, a new (and correct) flag, a bolt of sail cloth, and several roles of copper tape.  He also included a complete set of brass dummy cannon so that all of the gunports could be opened.  All of that, the book, several articles on the wreck of the Pandora, as well as a complete construction review in an unidentified ship modeling magazine for only $75.00!  So much for the "Hideously Expensive" component of "HECEPOB!"

I will also post pics of my progress with the Soleil Royal and the La Stella shortly.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Bill Morrison

Sounds like the original purchaser (or recipient) of that kit knew something about scale ship modeling.  One has to wonder why he decided to get rid of the kit.

For $75.00 it may well have been a bargain - especially with all that additional stuff thrown in.  The retail price of the kit, via the dealer I found on the web, is $350.00.

Good luck.

Well, the reason that he got rid of the kit is that he lost a hand to diabetes and can no longer build this kind of kit.  He has a passion for ship modeling so I promised to help him when I can.  I used to be a Navy Hospital Corpsman, and I told him that we can work on building with one hand by using such tools as "Extra Hands" as a form of physical therapy.  Anyway, he has a knowledge base that would fit right in with that which I have found in this forum.  His spirits are high, so I have hope for him.

Bill Morrison

      Professor Tilley's comments about the National Geographic October article with the painting of Tahitian woman in a canoe in various stages of clothed and unclothed poses, reminds me of the narration in the journal of French explorier, Louis Antoine de Bougainville, after he discovered the Island of Tahiti on April 6, 1768. According to the Time-Life Book series, "The Pacific Navigators", when Bougainville's ship, La Boudeuse, dropped anchor, a group of Polynesian natives payed a visit on board the La Boudeuse. One of the visitors was a naked woman, who according to the narration in the journal, "stood naked as Venus before the Phrygian Shepherd displaying the form of a goddess." This native beauty posed above grated hatch above the aft capstan. Below the hatch, a group of crewmen were pushing the capstan in a circular rotation to haul down a yardarm. According to Bougainville,"never was a capstan heaved in such speed, so that each could have an upward view of the special femininity of this native goddess."

         When Explorer James Cook discovered Tahiti on April 13, 1769, he too had concerns with native woman. Seamen, who spent months without female companionship, naturally had raging testosterone hormone levels. Since iron nails were a novelty with the Polynesians and their woman gave their favors easily, crewmen who went ashore, would pull the iron nails from the hull of the discovery ship, Endeavour, to entice the local women to give special treats. Captain Cook had to have marine guards patrol the ship to prevent her from falling apart, if all the iron fastenings were removed. 

   Montani semper liberi ! Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and happy modeling to all and every one of you.                             Crackers

Hmm....If we continue down the "naked Polynesian women" track (for which I accept responsibility), we're liable to attract the attention of the moderators.

Bill's neighbor's tragic situation reminds me of my old friend Marvin Bryant, who used to staff the model shop at the Mariners' Museum.  A Navy veteran and long-time Postal Service employee, a few years before I met him he was felled by a stroke, which left his right side, including his right arm, almost totally paralyzed.  He'd been right-handed.  But with the help of physical therapy, a wonderful wife, lots of friends, an enormous amount of talent and experience, and mind-boggling determination, he got back into ship modeling. 

Marvin had strong opinions about the "right" and "wrong" ways to do things; his attitude toward HECEPOBs (and plastic kits, and kits in general) made mine look downright friendly, and woe to the visitor who made favorable comments about the Crabtree models in Marvin's presence.  But the quality of his work was such that one couldn't argue much with him.  He was one of the best modelers - single- or double-handed - I've ever met.

Unfortunately Marvin's story didn't have a happy ending.  A couple of years after I left the museum he had another stroke, which left him paralyzed from the neck down and unable to speak.  I'll never forget watching his therapist push him, in his wheelchair, into the auditorium for the 1985 Nautical Research Guild convention.  All the attendees signed a certificate wishing him "all the best" (we couldn't think of anything better to say), and gave him a standing ovation when it was presented to him.  He died a few years later.

Marvin's experience did bring up a couple of tips that might conceivably be of use to Bill's neighbor - if he does want to get back into modeling.  The doctors figured out - correctly - that a big help in getting Marvin's left hand working well would be (don't laugh) cross-stitch.  Try doing needle work with your left hand (if you're right-handed); you'll see that it does indeed force that hand to develop dexterity in a hurry.  Marvin and his wife got into a friendly cross-stitch competition, the results of which adorned the walls of their den. 

And one of Marvin's machinist friends (people like that can be found all over the place in Newport News) made him a powerful, spring-loaded metal clamp, shaped rather like a drafting lamp, that fastened to the edge of his workbench.  It was set up in such a way that, by lining it up carefully and pulling a lever, Marvin could use it to fasten whatever part he was working on down to the bench and know it would stay exactly where he put it while he carved it, filed it, etc.  I envied him that one.  (I wonder if insurance would cover special tools for a diabetic patient.  I have a diabetic stepson who's a military veteran; I'm frequently surprised at the things the VA provides - and equally surprised at the things it doesn't.  I'd better not get started on that subject.)  What I didn't enjoy was watching Marvin use a jointer or a table saw.  The expression "my heart was in my mouth" was extremely applicable.  But the idea of saying, "Marvin, please let me do that for you, you'll hurt yourself"...well, you just didn't say things like that to Marvin.

I'm glad I left the Mariners' Museum when I did (I probably should have left sooner), and nowadays I give it a wide berth.  (My wife says she can sense my blood pressure rising whenever I get within a few blocks of it.)  But working there for three years gave me some experiences that I value tremendously, and got me acquainted with some people whom I really miss.  Marvin Bryant is at the head of the list.   

John,

I really appreciate your comments.  My neighbor has built plastic, HECEPOB, solid hull, and has scratch built ships of all types. He has no prejudices and appreciates ship modeling in all of its forms.  His opinion holds that all kits are flawed; indeed, one can find flaws in even the most meticulous scratchbuilt ship if one looks for them.  The flaws are not the point of modeling. To him, the joy is in honing your skills to improve the flaws; most of all, the point of ship modeling is to honor the particular ship being modeled and the men who served onboard her. Like me, and, I presume, the members of this forum, the love is of ships and the sea.

He has always said to me that whether one builds ship models from plastic kits, wood kits, resin kits, or scratch builds, we all share in this wonderful hobby and art form; it doesn't matter which that the builder prefers. We all share in the joy of the end product.

Bill Morrison

  Dear Bill:  Thanks for your comment that ship building hobby is really for the pleasure, regardless if it is a HECEPOB, scratch built or otherwise. In many cases, we really don't know what the original vessel really looked like, as many sailing ships do not have recorded illustrations, or underwent construction changes during their lifetime careers. If we, as modelers, become too bogged down in technicalities, then all the enjoyment is lost. I appreciate authenticity, but even that can be dragged to the extreme.

  Montani semper liberi !  Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and happy modeling to all and every one of you.                    Crackers