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So here was the build, as of Tuesday night, August 2nd. I was out of time and out of luck... the only option was to actually finish the model
at the contest. I had never tried to do anything like that before, but after consulting some of my buddies in the club, some of them confessed to having done this themselves before... I figured, if anyone had sympathy or understanding for what I was trying to do it would be the guys there.
And so, I packed up my little unfinished carrack, several types of line, some paints, glues and tools and rode off to Omaha with my buddies Jim Root, Richard Fisher, Wayne Watts and Don Anderson of IPMS Metro. Didn't know if I would have time to finish the
Sao Vicente de Fora and get it entered into the contest or not, but I was determined to try.
We arrived late Wednesday Night, very tired and lacking any energy except to meet, greet, and sleep. Thursday I woke up, spent the morning blowing 'great fripping wads of cash' (as Monty Python puts it) in the Vendor Rooms on some of the most beautiful resin and brass I've ever seen and got to meet a lot of great guys I had been corresponding with for over 3 years but had never met in person, including Bob Cicconi (pronounced Bob 'Sickownee') Keith Bender, Vlad Yakubov, Tony Bunch, Tim Dike, Pavel Vacata, John Iverson, Martin Quinn, Charles Scanlon, Joe Simon, Dai Nakabayashi, Gary Kingzitt, Carl Musselman, Ed Grune, Kevin Winks and many others too numerous to name; gentlemen and fabulous modelers to a man. They were both appreciative and supportive of my efforts, and many of them stopped by to cheer me on in the atrium of the hotel as I wrestled with little curved bits of barely visible thread.
I had managed to remember everything I needed to actually finish the ship, although I forgot to bring paints for the additional figures I was going to add. In the event I was unable to do everything I had originally intended, and wound up making some hard decisions about what to do and what to leave off for the contest.
You will notice in the gallery that my little carrack is not present, or else buried deep in the back pages. There's a reason for that. I was told that the deadline for entries was 6pm Friday, but upon discussing it with the officials, they weren't actually clear on the deadline. I 'entered' (filled out my papers) starting around 5:45, and suddenly remembered I had forgotten a touch up on the rudder... ran back to the atrium, touched up the rudder, and wound up submitting it for judging at about 6:15 on Friday. This is why you can't see it in most of the photos. It wasn't there until the very last moment.
Once my little carrack was finally put to bed I could relax. The rest of Friday and Saturday I spent spending money, chatting, reading some new books and 'taking it easy' as we waited to see if the judges would smile on our efforts. Joe Simon, whom I met and got to know at the meet took one look at the completed carrack and said 'That will win Best Ship' but I wasn't sure I'd even place. There was an excellent 350th Scale Escort Carrier by a gentleman by the name of Rodney Mead that looked the equal, if not the superior of anything I had done, and even the relatively simple conversion entries that I shared the category with could arguably have been judged cleaner than my little
Fora that I had sweated over these nine months. I had no idea if I would place or not. I did know that I had done everything I could to get it done. Having remembered the situation of the
Beja at Soonercon I had no expectations about placing.
However...
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As you can see, Bruno's excellent details were finally implemented, all together in a single build, Photo-Etch, Flags, Sails and Hull decals all in place. It was truly a thrill to work with these materials, and the results only confirmed to me that there is no substitute for great details.
These pics btw weren't taken by yours truly, (who forgot his #*%@ camera) but by Carl Musselman, who was kind enough to do some (very needed) closeups at the table before I packed her away for the journey home. Amazingly there was no damage at any point, either by me or by passers by. This was my second Nats to compete in, my 1st to attend, and needless to say, a welcome shot in the arm for the Carrack Effort.
I didn't get best ship, that went to the amazing and well deserving Flower Class Corvette by the amazing Kevin Wincks, but I felt happy and pleased to have placed at all at a national level. It was nice to make a little bit of a 'comeback' after walking home empty handed at Soonercon, but honestly and truly and with all sincerity the best thing about the Nats, and the best thing about this hobby in general is the opportunity to meet guys that have the same interest and passion for naval history that you do. I hope to go again, and would recommend the experience for anyone who hasn't yet made it. It was a wonderful time.
One comment I do want to make about rigging. I had been pleased by the fineness of the Black Nylon Monofilament Doll Hair I had been using, and though the brown and blond doll hair was finer, it was also harder to see. I was concerned (because of some comments Rusty White had made) that the judges might not even notice the rigging due to the fineness of the nylon, and decided to do all of it with black, which showed up best. However Dai Nakabayashi used fibers which he had extracted from dental floss on his two stunning 1/700th Scale entries, the Yukikaze and Fuyuzuki. This was the finest rigging I have ever seen, much finer than what I had used. I spoke with Dai at length about his rigging and his techniques and will be attempting to adapt them to my work if I can.
There were so many great builds there, it was really stunning to see. Speaking with Rick Jackson, a master ship modeler and fellow Oklahoman about the state of the hobby, the show this year really demonstrated that Ship Modeling is indeed in good shape for the time being, although of course there is a concern about whether the next generation will 'take up the torch.'
So that brings us up to date with the Carracks. I will be posting more detail shots of the
Fora, for those who are interested in the rigging, and will be attempting to finish up the other incomplete carracks this fall, especially the Flemish Carrack, which I had hoped to complete in time. I will also be starting new threads for new casting masters in the near future. See you soon!
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