Old Fart in the Yukon

[Magic Mike]

Welcome Doug to the forums and greetings from Texas! Magic Mike

 

[MisterCA]

Hi.

 

[jplm]

Welcome from Orillia, Ontario. I am in the process of retiring, but I have done some remote work in Whitehorse which has been a refreshing experience.
As I have more time for more important things than work, I too have resurrected a hobby that I always loved. I have to deal with an essential tremor which affects my ability to do fine work. Ageing sucks, but is overrated.
Great to have you on the forums!

 

[TexBilly]

Doug, welcome!!

 

[Mikes shed]

Welcome to the hobby. I to am in my seventies 77. Rideled with arthritous nearly blind but i find that this hobby keeps me sane i was a boat builderand restored old boats hang in there and enjoy tnjs great past time

 

[JamesSmi63]

Greetings from the Yukon
I’m one of those souls who has built ships in the past, but for whom the exigencies of life interfered with what was important for about four decades give or take. So, at 76 I’m back at it rebuilding skills and learning new ones at the same time. I’m afraid these model ships will not be all I might desire as a bit of arthritis, peripheral neuropathy and unsteady hands have found their way into my life, intrusions that obviously complicate building. That said, I am finding tools and accommodations that are working out in their own ways. My first build was the Billing’s, “Danmark”, a model I still think is particularly beautiful. In fact I built it twice. The first version was built in 1977, and was quite enjoyable, however, my young son at the time, in a burst of delightful exuberance and desire to display his tumbling skills, put his foot through the hull, deck and rigging. It was a total write off. Some years later (about the time I was finishing the horrors of writing a thesis), my wife bought me another, much more detailed version of the Danmark kit and it survived until we moved to Whitehorse to be near our kids and grandchildren about 4 years ago. It was damaged in the move, but Billing’s was nice enough send the parts to repair the ship. It is on the shelf waiting. Right now I am working on the Billing’s version of HMS Victory. I picked it as a model that would allow me to develop some skills again and get in touch with what is new in the model building world. When it is finished I will dig into the Artesania Latina, Anatomy version of the HMS Victory. It’s sitting on the shelf waiting. Then, if I haven’t “shuffled off this mortal coil,” (thanks to Bill Shakespeare), I’ll fix the Danmark. https://bitmesh.network

So, there we are, a bit longer in the tooth, with some body bits not working too well, still I am enjoying working on these projects a great deal. It certainly takes one’s mind off the troubles of today’s world.

This is a really interesting discussion. One thing I like about forums is that everyone brings a slightly different perspective, and you often end up learning something new even if you've been following the topic for years. I'll definitely keep an eye on this thread to see what other members have to add and whether any new ideas or solutions come up.

 

[fourseas]

While reading this thread I feel I must share a build story which happened to me in 1970. My very first wooden ship kit was also the Billings Danmark which I believe cost me $20.00 minus the fittings kit at a local hobby shop. The only power tool I had at that time was a 1/4 inch electric drill and some very dull bitts. Ounce the hull was planked and painted it was time to install the lovely brass fittings. While trying to drill a hole in the fore deck for the anchor crane my drill bitt was not cutting properly so inexperience said "push a little harder", and it did go through along with the chuck and up to the drill casing. Instead of a neat 1/8th inch hole I now had a 3 inch irregular shaped hole and a completely destroyed deck which took days to repair. Sometimes the price of education in our hobby can be quite expensive.