Theresa Marie Model Ship Project

Theresa Marie Model Ship Project

Week One: The Delivery (June 8 - September 2, 2012)

After placing the order for the brig kit I hooked up with Rick at modelshipcastings.com to come up with a propeller drive to attach to the rudder. My intention is to get her operating first as a powered boat that can sail in places with no wind or on crowded water, including our local rc club (Indy Admirals) boat shows.

Rick's drive pod under construction.

My vision is to have a large, colorful crew onboard, so after some searching I bought over a dozen 3 inch figures from Papo and re-painted and disarmed them to conceal their piratical pasts. I also found a future figurehead, a Japanese-style Netsuke carving of a mermaid from boxwood.

The SC&H brig kit comes with a very simple looking transom, so to spice it up I made some windows using 1 1/2 inch mirrors for the glass.

Philip emailed me a pic of the transom so I could get to work on some windows.

After a two and a half month wait the kit finally arrived. The heavy keel and parts for the launching cart came in a wooden crate, and all the rest of the kit came in a five foot long box marked "FRAGILE". The packing list has around 275 items on it and so far everything looks good.

Our dog Boomer doing some quality control checks.

For now I'll be using the same sewing machine stand for the shipyard that I used for the Beagle, which can be easily wheeled around to get at all sides.

Sewing cabinet for the semi-mobile shipyard.

To get things started I assembled the launching cart. One step down, a couple of hundred to go.

As a side note, I used to own a 55 gallon aquarium. At first it seemed really big, but after having it for awhile it seemed normal. Then I bought a 125 gallon tank. Even after 18 years I still think, wow that's a big tank. My Beagle seemed large while I was working on it, but after sailing her a few times she just looked normal. I expect the Theresa Marie will always make me say, wow that's a big model ship.

Comparing my 1:36 Beagle with the new girl in town.

Week Two