My money is now where my mouth is

That is truely awesome stuff John.

Both are very impressive, especially the Hancock.

Very very fine indeed. It is so refreshing to see models with figures and action. Your sails and hammocks are done very well and I am looking forward to trying those techniques that you have described here on the forum.

Thanks for sharing,
Scott

John,

That's inspiring work. Thanks for sharing your photos.

Regards,

John-

It was obvious to me from your excellent posts that you were a master modeler but now we have proof...amazing work!

Now you get to join the rest of us "in the arena" as Teddy Roosevelt once said who post their models here and open the door to discussions...

Thanks for the advice you have given on this forum and for showing these 2 works of art...

-Len Roberto

Many thanks to all for your encouraging comments. Maybe one of these days I'll finish another model!

In the mean time, I'm working up the energy for another photo session. I think I can beat the pictures posted over on www.drydockmodels.com; the backgrounds and lighting bother me a little. I'd also like to take some shots of my little model of H.M.S. Bounty. It's getting a bit long in the tooth now, but it's in remarkably good condition for its age.

Tilley,
Great work. Only you could find fault in those pictures. Hope all is well in Carolina. The snow has started to melt away in the DC. The Navy Yard is starting to look it's normal drab self.
Can't wait to see some more of your work.
Chris

Chrisstedt - many thanks. It's been cold (by local standards - that means below 30) here in eastern NC, but we haven't had anything like the problem with snow you good folks to the north have had. We got a light dusting late last week that made the roads treacherous for a few hours. (My beloved Miata went into a spin and ended up in a ditch, but a Good Samaritan with a pickup truck pulled me out.) Raleigh, a hundred miles or so to the west, got clobbered; the traffic jams made people hours late getting home, and some of the schools stayed open all night because the busses weren't able to function.

The biggest snow we've had so far this year here was a couple of days after Christmas, when my wife and I were in Dallas visiting the grandchildren (and getting our luggage lost - twice). This weekend we're going up to Norfolk (we have tickets to the Va. Opera); it'll be interesting to see how Tidewater's been hit by the recent cold spell. Maybe have a chance to do a little shipwatching, too. We're staying at the Sheraton in downtown Norfolk, overlooking the yard of Metro Machine, where some interesting warships are usually being refitted.

I love obnoxious opinions. It makes for better models.

VERY neat!
Jake

WOW! Very nice work. Keep us posted if and when you finish another one

Fine work. Figures give a real since of scale and movement, but are rarely seen on ships. Keep it up!!

Very, very nice. It is no wonder that you've been a museum curator.
Well, Prof Tilley, I can give you a heads up on the weather in Norfolk... no impact except that incurred by moronic drivers that don't know how to handle ice on the road.
My son's ship (Whidbey Island) is in that dismal shipyard and I'm sure you'll see it there. What an eyesore! If you can make it to the Naval Base, you'll have just about the entire fleet to check out as they are still here in force because of the holidays. Have a safe trip and enjoy the opera.

Subfixer - thanks for the heads-up. Few things are more dangerous than a Tidewater Virginia driver on the ice. We'll be in the Sheraton Waterside, and I specifically requested (and paid a little extra for) a room facing the water. If it's on a high enough floor I may be able to get some interesting pictures of the ships over in Metro Machine.

The one time I actually set foot in that yard was in about 1982, when I was working for the Mariners' Museum. We'd been given the heads-up that Metro Machine was breaking up the remains of the big yacht Atlantic - the 1910 (or thereabouts) schooner that won the Kaiser's Cup, and still, I believe, holds the record for crossing the Atlantic under sail alone. We managed to get to the yard in time to rescue the last six feet or so of her stern, which we brought back to the museum on a truck. The rest of the ship had been reduced literally to a pile of scraps, which, on that dismally cold winter day, the yard employees were burning to keep warm. I salvaged one piece of teak deck planking, which I still have in my office.

The opera Sunday is Wagner's Tristan and Isolde, which lasts about four and a half hours. Members of the Forum will, I hope, forgive me if my posts for the next few weeks are phrased in slightly archaic German.

Jtilley
My apologizes.I looked at your pictures last weekend and thought I wrote to you.I have these senior moments you know.Anyway excellent work . You have to be very proud of both models.Are you going to post more.For me its great viewing.Great detail.keep them coming.
Rod

As far as local shipyards go, Metro is one of the scarier ones. Their policies on housekeeping and safety aren't up to Newport News and Norfolk Naval's standards and we avoid the place like the plague. Just don't get too close.

Our friends over at Drydock Models have been kind enough to post some pictures of another one of my models, H.M.S. Bounty. If anybody's interested, here's the link:

http://gallery.drydockmodels.com/album207

The model is based on the ancient Revell kit, in 1/110 scale. Actually seven pieces of the kit (other than the crew figures, which were reinforced by drafts from several other kits) made it into the finished product: the hull halves, the transom, the figurehead, the quarter badges, and the hull of the launch. I'm not sure I want to build another model that way, but I hope it may be of some interest in showing the potential of even an extremely old plastic sailing ship kit. (The kit was first released in 1956.)

Drydock has also posted some new shots of my two other models. (I think these pictures are better; I used a better background and better lighting.) The Model Shipways Phantom is at http://gallery.drydockmodels.com/phantom and the scratchbuilt Hancock at http://gallery.drydockmodels.com/hancock .

Drydock Models has a terrific site. I urge anybody interested in sailing ships to pay it a visit.

With work like that you can be as obnoxious as you want man.......your work is something else, beyond words.
jim

My, my, my! A veritable work of art.