Luckily for me, my wife decided that she'd like to try her hand at modeling. Given that I recently have gotten back into the hobby after quite some time, it's been a lot of fun learning and rediscovering.

Instead of starting out simple, my wife chose a Lindberg Jolly Roger ship to start out on. It's shaping up quite nicely for her, but the instructions and some fit issues have caused her to speak a few words that would make any sailor blush!

I thought I'd post a few in-progress shots of her kit. I'm pretty darn proud of her, and a bit jealous too!

Looks good so far, and you two get to spend more time together, enjoying a hobby.

shiver me timbers, land ahhoy!

Very well done to this point. I hope she is enjoying the process. It is nice to see families modeling together, you can both share the skills you learn and one day maybe you can build a dio together. What is her next project? Enjoy the time together!

ARRRRRRR!!!!! Looks like the little lass has me beat in talent!!! AAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

That is looking really good. Could be a nice mantle piece when it's done.

My ex-wife got ito modeling too, the problem ws she coudn't do intricate painting due to a handicap...so she would want me to do work on her projects which took a lot of time away from my own. Hope your wife is doing "her own work"

Let your wife know, well done. Can't wait to see it finnished. Maybe this will encourage my wife to join me as well.

If she can make a good model out of that old Lindberg kit, she's doing doing pretty well - wouldn't have chosen that one for a first!

All - thanks for the great feedback. I'll be passing it along to her today to boast her spirits. This thing has been a bear at times.

Everything in the pics is her own work. My only involvement has been from the financial side, fighting her for control of the sprue cutters, and offering her some advice.

Her plan is to give this to her mother as a shelf/mantle piece when it's completed. As for her next project, I'm not so sure. Her dad is a trucker, so she might build him a semi.

DaveCox - she's a brave soul, what can I say?

You're wife sure picked a good one for her first attempt!
Wait till the masts are up, then the real fun starts. The rigging . Will she be using thread for the mast rigs or do they come molded? I mean the ones you clime up in. The sail rigging will be o.k. but it takes forever.
I have put mine away for a bit, I do it piece by piece or I'll go mad.



Good luck to your wife, and good to hear that she get's into the spirit of the model :-) .

Cheers
Henk

Henk - that looks fantastic!

I'm not sure of what her plans are for the rigging. I think she's going to make every attempt to "do it right". She's already stated that it's going to be awhile before it's finished.

If you need a help, tips, 'shortcuts' for the rigging, give me a shout. There are different ways to do the rigging, if you must you could go absolutly bonkers, with working blocks, hoists etc but there are various ways of doing things a little easier, just to keep your sanity .
The finish on the aft cabin looks good, what is it?

Henk

Henk - I passed along your offer to my wife and we'll be looking you up once she gets to that stage. She's a bit intimidated by it, but very determined.

As for the aft cabin, this is what she told me. The cabin was painted in Raw Umber. Once it dried, she painted over the area with Brass, then wiped off the flat areas with a paper towel while the paint was still wet. Feel free to ask any specific questions and I'll be sure to get them answered.

- Frank

I think at one time or another everyone of us has tackled a sailing ship. The rigging is the defining line. If it doesn't kill you or drive you nuts, you finish it and have a fair shot of coming back for more. Years ago I did one of those medium sized Constitutions and it didn't tax me too bad and of course it looked spectacular. I got cocky and tackled the big 96 scale one. I moved a lot, so it didn't ever get finished, but I did get the hull done and the masts in place, then I looked at the rigging , and that was the end of the discussion. If I ever win the loto and get a big house with a large mantle piece............well I'll go out and buy one of those spectacular wooden ones.........and pay a pro to build it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Frank , there is no need to be intimidated by the rigging, really it's simple but very, very tedious. The trick is to work out wich way to work from. Work from the inside out, and just keep going. Best to find a good set of drawings of the rigging, and then decide what you want to replicate. When you're wife gets to that stage, drop me a line and I'll be happy to help you along. Might give me a kick up the to get on with mine :-) . The finished model is really worth the effort.

Cheers
Henk

Looks really good. Can't wait to see the next installment of pics.

I'm trying to convince the missus to build as well. But she too appears to be aiming high, and wants to build a wood ship kit I shelved a few years ago.

Tarok, let her have a go. Wooden models are a different ketttle of fish altoghether. I made one many moons ago, ( It's still in my parents living room, so I must have done something right) but you need wood working skills aswel as painting skills. To be honest, anybody can glue a plastic model together, but wood you have to saw, sand and fit! You are working with the base materials. The feeling of achievment when you finish a wooden model far outstrips the feeling of finishing a plastic model. I'm not putting down plastic models ( that's what I do myself now) just saying that with wood you really have a sense of achivement.

Good luck to your wife, and make sure we see some pictures

Cheers
Henk