Thank you. The video was my first attempt, but I took care to move slowly, and the camera was on a tripod as well. I find it annoying when video camera movements take on the appearance of "a jelly on springs" I had thought of either saying something, or adding captions, but at that stage, there was not a lot to say. I would prefer captions, but at the moment, have no idea how to add them. Someone elsewhere gave me a free video editing download link, but when I put it in, it brought a whole lot of other "junk" with it that really messed up the computer operation and even stopped my Photoshop from working. It took me ages to get rid of it all, and return to normal. Over the years, I have got used to minimal response from fellow model shipbuilders, and it doesn't bother me a great deal, although I tend to put less on than I would if more interest was shown. But as I have often said, collectors are continually asking when the next will be ready, so I don't feel ignored by any means! This little ship sailed regularly from Belfast to Preston (where I live) between 1891 and 1959, consequently, a lot of interest is being shown in the build on Facebook.

Bob

It is more than the club, it is generally across the whole spectrum of model shipbuilding. There are always a minority who like them, but they are few and far between. Someone on another forum recently told me that "merchant ships are not as sexy as warships!" Can't figure that one out, how can you think something like HMS Devastation is sexy, but a pretty little merchant ship like Nina Bowater is not? – Bob

I do get a lot of feedback about what I write, but not from forums, exhibitions, or clubs with the models themselves. Being quite a "needy" sort of guy, I just can't summon up much enthusiasm to post "build logs" as they call them, with minimal or zero response. I no longer exhibit models at clubs or exhibitions for that reason. I do enjoy building them, but that will now be reducing. Not because no-one wants them – the demand is as high as ever, but following the destruction of the model of the barque Gulf Stream, I have decided against ever sending anything by courier ever again – not even in the UK! Sometimes, I think that collectors only want them because they are unusual, and even they seldom seem to show any interest in the histories of the ships, or what life was like aboard them. Indeed, a lot of them insist on calling them "boats" for reasons that have always escaped me! I guess I am just a bit (or a lot) eccentric. I would like to keep them all, but the house is not big enough – the current model is number 276 since I started counting in October 1992. I may even move over to plan drawing instead, as I can keep all them, being flat. This is the latest. Only completed a week ago, and I am already getting "when are you going to build it? from collectors, but at the moment, I am not even contemplating it! But from fellow modelmakers, only casual glances, maybe with "that's nice" thrown in for politeness!

Bob

Edited By Bob Wilson on 15/08/2018 19:34:40

Small schooner ready for sea – and same in sea – Bob

The seams on the sails are printed on both sides of the white airmail paper in light grey on the printer. I use light grey so they are not too prominent. The reef points are drawn on with a 6H pencil. The ship was so small that there were no brails, so I assume you are referring to the curved downhauls on the jib stays and the loops on the back of the two square sails (they are the lifts that support the yards when they are in the lowered position). The downlhauls and lifts are wire. The masts and rigging, including the ratlines, are 100% metal! The masts and spars being a c ombinaton of brass tube and rod, copper rod and silver steel rod. The rigging is all fine copper wire – I never use cotton or thread, and there are no knots anywhere. I wrote regularly for Model Shipwrigh for quite a number of years until they finally discontinued the publication in 2013. John Bowen died shortly after at the age of 99. The bottom of the ship was sheathed in yellow metal, so I used brass paint, but most of it is hidden under the sea (that my wife painted). My wife used to accompany me on long voyages from the UK to Cape Town and back aboard the passenger liner RMS St. Helena, so had plenty of time to study the sea in all its moods! The model is of the Julia, but at that stage, I hadn't put the nameplate on!

Bob

I do have a supply of copper tape that I use when applicable, but most of my models are of iron or steel ships. Yes, I was merchant navy from 1959 to late 1992, serving in a total of 19 ships from colliers to passenger liners. Here are three photos at various stages of my sea career. Aboard the collier Wandsworth in 1962, servicing the main radar installation aboard the passenger liner RMS Windsor Castle in 1973 and my last few days at sea aboard the RMS St. Helena in October 1992!

Bob

I still use an AVO myself that I got from a car boot sale a few years ago for £5. I find that for certain applications, it is easier to interpret the movement of a needle rather than try and follow scrambling figures on a digital meter! In the last picture, I was repairing a telephone, and a passenger took the photo and posted it to me later. A few days later, we docked in Falmouth, and that was the end of my sea career. The ship about two years old at the time, and carried on until earlir this year when it was sold at the age of 28 years. It is now helping with the war against piracy in Somali waters. Now very famous and hundreds and hundreds of images if you put RMS St. Helena in Google search – Bob