Hello dear model building friends,
I live and work in Berlin. A real Berliner for 64 years. The city, with the many lakes of the Spree and Havel and the many beautifully landscaped parks with their bodies of water. These created water surfaces inspired me 50 years ago and so it was not enough to build my first model ship at the age of 14.
And here is the little, short story of how I came to your forum.
By the time the woman of my love came into my life and the first child was born, I built six mobile models. Graupner Krabbenkutter Tön, Dansk Modelflyve Industri Trawler with Graupner Elke Rumpf, Graupner tug Bugsier 3, Graupner Jacht Commodore, Graupner Schnellboot Wiesel, Robbe fireboat Düsseldorf, Graupner fire cruiser Weser. Family life was now the order of the day. The hobby fell by the wayside. But the children will certainly ask questions. Unfortunately none of the children inherited my passion. Incomprehensible - but for sure - they are mine.
At the age of 50 I was able to devote my hobby again as our 4 children grew up. My wife also went back to work and so there was money left for my hobby.
Restore the old ships and equip them with new batteries and a new RC system. My interest now passed to sailing ships. I decided to sell all of the old ships except for the Tön and the Trawler on the largest online marketplace and built the Saphir, Windstar and Smaragd with different sail areas.
Unfortunately, there was little time left for the sailing ships in the summer. The best wife of my 4 children decided to redesign the garden. Grandchildren were not expected for the time being and so the children's tools and digging boxes were exchanged for a newly designed garden. Of course, my instinct to play also came through here and so I cheated into the design of an LGB garden railway.
But I can't get away from the water when I can watch a beautifully designed ship maneuvering on the lake that was respectfully set up beforehand. So, I need something for the haptics of my hands and my mind in order to be able to design and create something.
Laptops and look for unusual model construction ships on the Internet. Thanks to the Google translator you can read along in all forums. After a week I saw a picture of a harbor tug in natural planking. What a beautiful model ship. Where am I stranded here?
https://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/.
Wow, a great English forum with extraordinary entries. I have to say you have what it takes. In your forum the spiritual inspirations of the forum members only have to gush out in order to be able to create such great documentations with illustrations.
That's why I registered with you. Of course, also to catch up with my knowledge of the last 40 years and to be inspired by one or more ideas. So I sincerely thank you for being included in the forum.
But now to the model ship. At first I just looked at the pictures and got big eyes. A wooden hull in plank construction and perfectly constructed. There was something at a young age. I had completely messed up the wooden hull of the trawler (Dansk Modelflyve Industri) with my youthful inexperience. In order not to be naked after the well-built shrimp cutter Tön, I bought the GRP hull of the Elke and built the trawler on it. I had never sworn to myself wooden hulls again.
Well, you change your mind when you read your great posts. Also owed to the mature age with the machines and the right tools for model making. I have decided to emulate the great tug Anteo 2 from Mark T. (Panart / Mantua Anteo Steam Tug Build) in its natural color scheme. Since I am not familiar with steam engines, I will install a powerful electric motor with a smoke generator, sound module (steam engine noise, anchor chain noise announcement, fog horn, etc.), as well as some other functions (light, anchor chain etc.) and a hidden aileron.
Next I will turn to Mark T. with his Anteo 2 to praise him for his great work. I hope I can ask him a question or two if necessary.
So, now I am with you too and am looking forward to starting the construction. With this little story I would like to inspire others to devote themselves to this hobby. Don't worry, with a little will and creativity, everything will work out.
Best regards from Berlin from Ralf Jäger