Green Sea Shipbuilding Establishment

Saturday, October 21, 2006

A NEW SEASON FOR GREEN SEA SHIPBUILDING!














YAY! Scale boating has finally returned to Dobson Lake and the Mesa Model Yacht Club! Today's activity saw 3 ships from my fleet take the water. QUEEN MARY, NELSON, and AMOS HATHAWAY. It was a great opprotunity to catch up with fellow members, many of whom I had not seen since May. Now I take the time to reflect on the many developments in my fleet since May.

It was a busy summer for me. Probably my biggest news to come from this summer is the Battleship MUSASHI. At 8 feet 3 inches long, she is the widest and second-longest ship in the fleet. Making her Maiden Voyage on October 21st, she has quickly become one of my most talked-of and popular ships.

Modeled after the World War 2 Japanese battleship of the same name, she combines the size and majesty of the QUEEN MARY with maneuverability more akin to the ZUIDERDAM. She was a big hit from her debut at Dobson Lake on her builder's trials, September 23. The Musashi is kind of a work in progress. After every voyage, details are being added to her decks and superstructure, until eventually, she's finished. The handling of the Musashi is refreshing for a ship of her size, and so is her battery consumption!

However, probably the most important development of recent weeks is the construction of the Battleship NELSON. While not remarkable in overall appearance, she is by all outward appearances, a normal ship.

The construction of the Nelson was anything but normal! Rather than use my usual cardboard covered with fomecore technique, I used fomecore board simply painted with epoxy spray, then enamel. So far, I have always had to cover the cardboard with fiberglass resin, which is messy, smells very toxic, adds weight to the ship, and takes lots of TIME. With the Nelson, the hull is ready to go as soon as I assemble and paint it!

Needless to say, the Nelson currently holds my personal record for fastest construction-3 DAYS! It may be quite some time before that record is eclipsed!

Anyway, back to today's voyage, I took alot of nice pictures as you will see. It was great having so many other boats for the Queen Mary and Nelson to sail with!

Barrett Hochhaus
diamondback78@hotmail.com