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Hello from Montana

CharlesEdward

CharlesEdward

Joined
Aug 11, 2026
Messages
125
Points
78

Location
Townsend MT
Hi all I have not posted to one of the build sites since 2015 or so. That was on the now defunct Model Ship World site. I am awaiting confirmation of my status. When should I expect this?

My user name here is CharlesEdward, I am a 7 decades old retiree, who was in the US Navy for a bit and fell in love with the oceans. Unfortunately I was born in the Rocky Mtn region of Wyoming and although I lived in California for almost 20 years, finally left to settle in Montana. I spent Jr. HIgh and HIgh schools making plastic ship models of the 16th to 19th century sailing vessals. I have 10 wooden ship model kits in my Hobby room in various stages of building, plus three kits in my spare bedroom still in boxes.

I have completed the following kits since 1976 or 1978: US Dallas, forgot the manufacturer since I gave this one to my pastor in CA when I left, Mantua Santa Maria, Yacht Mary, Golden HInd and Half Moon.

I will try to post a few pictures of these kits later.

Currently building the Ocre Montanes, post that later.
 
Welcome aboard from a fellow Navy career man, with 30 years in SD! Now from Loveland, CO.

Our mobile shipyard is currently 60-70 miles due west from you in Garrison.

We head to Billings tomorrow for a few days at the State Fair.

Then to Ft Smith for a week of fly fishing on the Little Big Horn. LOVING the BIG SKY State!!!

Hope to see some photos of your completed works!!
 
Welcome to the forum. My father was raised just down the road from you in Harlowton. Graduated from Montana State in June of 1941 a land grant school with an ROTC requirement. When the war started he received notice from the Navy to report for induction. General Electric in Philadelphia where he first worked petition the Navy to give him an occupational deferment which was granted. He continued to work on radar for GE and hopefully contributed to saving lives. Apparently a joke during the war was when someone asked where you worked, the reply was, "the General." I am civilian retired and for the past 10 years have volunteered with the American Red Cross at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. To echo what was said before, "thank you for your service."
 
My Garage Hobby Shop:

The previous owner of my house had a hobby of making Bows, so he needed a space with a constant temperature to set the fiberglass or whatever material is used for those items. He also owned a boat, so my Garage has space for three cars plus an additional 15-foot length and 5-foot higher roof, to house his boat. He built an insulated room, walls and ceiling plus plenty of outlets and lighting. It is approximately 6 x 10 foot with a workbench made out of a kitchen top lengthwise.

Looking from the door of the shop to the rear wall: Note the boxes for the Wappen von Hamburg, Carracca Altantica or Sao Miguel, the two Albatross kits, one from OcCre and the smaller one from Constructo. A boom box to play my classical or other music as I work.

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From the door again but angled toward the workbench showing the Royal William and Sao Miguel hulls. Some extra timber for a missing or necessary parts to build if needed. The mast to the right is the Montanes Foremast. Metal Tool box housed my cutting tool attachments blades and etc. I tried to keep like tools and attachments in the same container.

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The Proxxon rotary tool with its power 110 W converter, an electric pencil sharpener to sharpen pencils for making up deck planking. This was my first power tool purchased, followed by buying a nice cordless Dremel rotary tool, as the Proxxon is not cordless.

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The large item underneath the towels is my Fox Mini-Lathe for tapering masts and spars. It has the extension added to it so I could taper the longer dowels for the bigger models, that tool weighs at least 200 pounds of cast iron. To the right of the wood lathe is my band sander, covered in a towel also.

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A closer shot of the back wall for more details. Safety items, latex gloves, dust masks, paint and paint brush storage all are unusable. The Bulwark Red is the only paint that the hot water trick worked, hence how I completed painting the gunport hatches.

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I installed several cork boards of various sizes on the empty walls of the shop to assist me while assembling the current model, Montanes. The Top and Side elevations of the plan sheet #2.

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This is the mizzen mast and spar elevations, its 1:1 scale drawing to match the parts.

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This one is of the Main Mast and Spars elevation. Again a 1:1 scale drawing.

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The old girl herself in current state, that is the Mizzen Mast assembly sheet on the wall behind the Montanes model.

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I also have full size carport that the previous owner walled in with subpar insulation and just threw a metal roof on top. There is no water, just a nice dry bar made by the previous owner but will make a fine workbench when I get that room cleaned and set up for expanding my modeling hobby. The previous owner called it his ‘John Wayne’ room where he had a big screen setup to play all of the Wayne movies.

It is a standard 12 x 24-foot carport with one heat duct to keep it warm in the cold Montana winters. Because the Fox Lathe is so heavy and it fits so nicely in the garage hobby shop, I will probably keep it there for all of my tapering work. I might be able to set up the band sander on that bench also. But the new space has plenty of room to place shelves for kit boxes, work tables for two or three models at once, plus the dry bar for the main project. Also some mini-benches for other power tools that I am planning to purchase; Router, Scroll Saw, Drill Press and etc.
 
Your photos are witness to a serious and well executed commitment to the craft. I think of my own recent work using a power drill with a large chuck, a wood rasp and various grit sandpaper to taper masts and spars, and realize it is that commitment that separates members and the goals they pursue, though they are all noble. May the fair winds of a Chinook warm your studio this winter.
 
Don't laugh guys, but I am SERIOUSLY contemplating buying the OcCre limited edition kit of the le Soleil Royale, the entire purchase should be around $3,000..00 or so. That model inspires me and I would like to build it anyway. What do you all think?
 
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