Building the Kamakura Period Umi-Bune, Part 9

Been away from ship modeling due to various issues over the past couple months. Today, I made some real progress on modeling traditional Japanese boats, or wasen. The Kamakura period trade boat is getting closer to completion. Probably a couple build log installments to go after this one…

Wasen Mokei 和船模型

As if my work wasn’t coming along slowly enough, a car accident and heavier work load managed to bring my ship modeling of all types to a standstill. After nearly two months of making no progress on anything, I finally found myself in a position to move forward again on the Umibune. I didn’t managed to figure out too much regarding the making of scale figures for the model, but I did finish tying the bindings on the rails. I also decided on how I wanted to finish the aft deckhouse, or yakata.

I basically returned to the idea of installing only lower panels on the sides of the structure. There seem to be a multitude of ways that artists and model makers have interpreted this design, so I just went with something I recall seeing in a painting. Is it accurate? There really doesn’t appear to be any way to…

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Model Boats on Parade – September 16 in San Francisco

Sorry, I know this is a very last minute posting, but I was just reminded that the San Francisco Model Yacht Club is holding its annual model boat event tomorrow, Sunday, September 16, 2018, at Spreckles Lake in Golden Gate Park.

The event setup begins at 9:30am. It’s open to the public and should go on most of the day. The club will have its clubhouse open, so you can view various boats on display that aren’t out in the water. Plus, you’ll have an opportunity to see all kinds of powered RC models, some small, some VERY BIG, plus RC sailboats. There’s even a group that does free sail racing, where the boats, powered only by the wind, are pre-set to guide themselves across the lake.

Here’s the informational flyer from the SFMYC’s website:

Get set for a fun and interesting day in the park! Ω

 

Nautical Research Journal – New Digital Subscriptions!

At least one person I know wouldn’t join the NRG because he didn’t want any more paper subscriptions piling up in his house. Well, those with similar feelings will be happy to know that they can now avoid the slow mailing system and piles of journals stacking up or getting lost by signing up for a digital subscription.

Digital editions are available as either a separate, lower priced, subscription at $40/yr, as opposed to the regular print subscription included with NRG membership of $50/yr, or as an add-on to regular membership and print subscription for an additional $15/yr.

The benefits to the digital edition are many. The subscription appears to be stored on-line, and you access the editions via the web. There is a large array of tools for searching, zooming, and scrolling through your magazine. There is a drop-down table of contents, if you want to jump straight to a particular article. You can mark favorite pages and can even type in your own notes.

There are some downsides that I can see already. A minor issue is that when you are looking at the tool that lets you jump to specific pages, those page numbers don’t correspond to the Journal issue page numbers, as the Journal issues are consecutively numbered for an entire volume, or year. So, if you jump to page 40 in the Autumn issue, the current one, it’s actually Journal page 198. Certainly not a big deal.

Another point you might want to note is that you can’t print off or copy any pages. I can understand the need for copy protection, and for the Journal to put itself out on the digital scene, it’s about the only way to protect it. But, it is annoying to not be able to copy an article that you’re referencing and to store it with other research materials. For that, you’ll need the print edition.

Personally, I found navigating to be a bit funky, but that’s probably because I’m a trackpad user. Using keys to paginate and zoom are pretty easy, and I can imagine that using a mouse is also pretty straight forward.

All in all, it’s a great step forward for the NRG and the Journal. I’m not sure if I’ll migrate completely from the print edition, or maybe just add the digital edition to my membership. But, it’s certainly a good option and one that I’m sure many people will appreciate.

There is a sample issue available along with subscription details on the NRG’s website here: https://www.thenrg.org/digital-edition.php.

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