Yes, I CAN finish a non-Japanese boat model!

Today, I just put the finishing touches on the Swedish Gunboat that I built from an Amati kit. For those interested it’s also called Cannoniera Svedese, and is listed as AM1550. To recap, this is a very inexpensive small model kit that measures about 13.5″ long when complete. It lists for $109 at Ages of Sail, where this one came from. There have been some challenges, but they’ve all been small ones.

The Swedish Gunboat project is the closest I have to completion now, and it’s very nearly done, so I decided to put most of my effort there now. My ideas about using it to practice new sail making techniques or other grand thoughts have been set aside. As I mentioned before, the model is mostly being built straight out of the box, but there are a few minor modifications.

After dealing with some scheduling issues due to looming government shutdowns, the Hyde Street Pier Model Shipwrights managed a nice, normal meeting on February 17, the first meeting of the year. We had 8 members attending, which is pretty good for this group. We agreed that we need to bring in more ship modelers, as only about 3 attending members have been actively ship modeling in recent months.

Still, it was one of the most productive meetings we’ve had in some time. We also managed to replace the dehumidifier tubs in the big square-rigger model’s case. Being on the bay, we need to do this periodically to help keep these display models in good condition.

With the Government shutdown over the weekend, and the closing of the National Parks, the Hyde Street Pier Model Shipwrights meeting had to be cancelled. It has now been rescheduled for the following Saturday, January 27th, at the usual 9:30am.

However, this didn’t affect two other groups that met this month. One of these is the South Bay Model Shipwrights, which normally meets on the third Friday of each month at 7pm at the Los Altos Public Library. This is a great and very social group, with several members meeting for a pre-meeting dinner at Chef Chu’s restaurant, just up the street from the library.

This is one of the early ship modeling groups and was started by Jean Eckert in 1982. While the group is much smaller than it was in its heyday, the members still keep it an interesting and active club.

Here are a few…

I made it to the meeting of the South Bay Model Shipwrights, which is a very long-standing and respected ship model club that was started by Jean Eckert back in 1982 and has operated continuously ever since. Some current and past distinguished members include Jerry Blair, Dr. Clayton Feldman, of course Jean Eckert, Ed Von Der Porten, the late Charles Parsons, and many more.

The club currently meets at the Los Altos Public Library in Los Altos, California, at 6:00 pm, generally on the third Friday of every month. The club, though much smaller than in the past, is  currently headed by Jim Rhetta, who recently completed the rigging of a model of the 3-masted schooner Fannie Gorham for a couple who’s father had passed away after completing most of the hardware.

Jim brought the model, which was in a case built by member and past-president Walt Hlavecek, and presented it…