Ship Modeler Reporting from Philly

Posted on June 28, 2015 by catopower

32-gun Frigate L’Hermione

Hyde Street Pier Model Shipwrights member Mark Rosenbush, one of the newest members of our group, reported in on his trip to Philadelphia today where he is currently on the scene and completed touring some of the ships there including the newly built reconstruction of the 32-gun French frigate L’Hermione. The original ship brought the young Major General Lafayette, only 21 at the time, to Boston in 1780 to fight along side the Americans who were fighting for their independence from Great Britain.

Of course, there’s much more to the story and much more about the modern reconstruction which recently sailed across the Atlantic from France where it was built.

USS Olympia

Mark says he took at least 100 photos on his tour of the Hermoine and other ships. He’ll be bringing these back with him and maybe we can coax a slide show at an upcoming meeting.

Clare Hess Reports on Edo Period “Hacchoro” Model

Posted on March 14, 2015 by catopower

Ship Modeler Clare Hess reports that his 1/24-scale model of a traditional Japanese fishing boat called a Hacchoro (Hot-Cho-Ro) is complete. The model, started in December of last year, is built from a Japanese kit with a few modifications. The boat carries the “Mon” or crest of the Tokugawa shogunate. History says that 24 of these boats were commissioned to provide escort for the Shogun’s boat. Due to restrictions on the number of oars that could be employed by the boats, they had a difficult time keeping up. So, special permission was given to increase the number of oars to 8. Thus, the name Hacchoro, which translates to “8 oars.”

Paul Reck Reports on Grand Banks 32 “Willie”

Posted on March 12, 2015 by catopower

Ship modeler and lead volunteer Paul Reck reported today that the model of the Corinthian Yacht Club’s committee boat is nearly complete and sent along a couple photos. The boat is a Grand Banks 32 that he scratch-built with the assistance Tom Shea. The 1/16-scale model has appeared at various stages of construction over the past several Hyde Street Pier ship model meetings.