OPERATE JAMES STREET -
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OPERATE JAMES STREET -
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Ship 5- 'ARCTIC'
Just prior to first Covid lockdown, Steve had decided he wanted a large port area to allow for more freight (and possibly, but not yet, passenger) traffic. He asked me to build some more ships suitable for timber, coal, grain, and banana traffic, and whatever I thought might be a good idea. He gave me three Revell 'North Sea Trawler' kits to help me on my way. The kit has had several names when issued, including 'Russian Spy trawler', and is still in more or less current production. As its name implies, it's not a lot of use as a cargo ship without major modification, so on with the builds…
Then with the Covid enforced exhibition shutdown Steve decided to push on with the new harbour as quickly as possible. He also decided to add a new marshalling yard, colliery, loco depot, and parcels depot as part of the extension. But that's a different story....
For the next ship, using a trawler kit, I decided to build a steamship from around 1940, empty and awaiting the next cargo, and nearing the end of its life. For variation, I thought that I'd model it as having the hatch boards still off and stowed on deck but using the hatch tarpaulins as a tent over the hatch to keep the weather out.I used much the same methods to model most of the ship. New lifeboats were fitted, as the kit only had one which was too modern for the age of the ship. Making the propeller was a bit of a challenge, as at the waterline modelled, it was only just in the water. It was fun trying to cut the propeller blades to match the waterline of the rest of the hull, this was then painted a bronze colour
. I had intended giving it a Swedish or Norwegian type name, but using the transfers in the kit, I thought that ARCTIC would be better under the Dutch flag again. The funnel is again plastic tube. Accommodation was scratch built using plain plastic card and timber-embossed plastic card for the decks. The ship's derricks were modelled in the raised position to emphasise that cargo work to load is expected but not yet started. These are again brass rod and tube, with some cotton rigging. The hatch tarpaulin tents were made by painting printer paper the appropriate colour, allowing to dry, then scrunching it up to give the creases it required, then cutting it to shape so as to get it to hang more or less correctly from the cargo hook modelled on the derricks. It sometimes helps if the printer paper is backed by kitchen foil, attached with PVA glue, to help keep the rigidity of the tarpaulin. I've used the same method on wagon tarpaulin covers
Then came, literally, the biggie......