This Day in History July 28

July 28

1854 USS Constellation (1854), the last all-sail warship built by the United States Navy, is commissioned
1586 Sir Thomas Harriot introduces potatoes to Europe
1868 The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is certified, establishing African American citizenship and guaranteeing due process of law
1935 First flight of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

Birthdays:

1746 Thomas Heyward soldier, signed Decl of Ind
1907 Earl S Tupper invented Tupperware
1958 Terry Fox, Canadian runner and activist

Deaths:

1655 Cyrano de Bergerac French dramatist/novelist, dies in Paris
1746 John Peter Zenger journalist, involved in 1st admendment fight

Thought for the day:

" To make pleasures pleasant, shorten them. "

Terry Fox ....one of our country's greatest. Ben

Old Ironsides:

On one of my trips to Boston, I decided to pay her a visit. Was an amazing feeling as I traversed her decks and thought about what it must have been like to live and work aboard her. I couldn't get over the hull thickness...don't remember the dimension, but caught my attention. The gun deck, during battle, had to be a nightmare....low ceiling, open span yet a closed box with decks above and below plus the sides of the ship, no bulkheads to block what was happening with other guns on deck, no fresh air, had to be hot, extremely noisy, and full of gunpowder fumes.........adding that to any battle damage that the crew encountered. A must see if in the area.

I'm starting a Scientific Models, Inc. (brand) Kit # 300, a 28" model of her. It's an old kit that I picked up on ebay....some collector must have had it sitting back on a shelf for 30 or so years and either decided to clean out the cob webs, or passed on and heirs are selling off a collection.

It's advertised to be an Authentic Museum Quality wooden model. Will be a challenge as a lot of wood and rigging work will be required. This follows a Scientific wooden "Flying Cloud " clipper that set the world speed record from NY to SF in 89 days via Cape Horn, yet to be beat,"The Mississippi" wooden paddle wheeler and the USS "Harriet Lane" a plastic Civil War sail/paddle wheel blockade runner. If you are tired of fixing old tractors (in the heat) as a hobby, might give it a try. Keeps your imagination active....figuring out how you are going to make this and that fit and all. I hear that keeping your mind busy wards off Alzheimer's. Or you can try trains, planes, and model classic cars. Great sport.

That does indeed sound very interesting Mark

(quoted from post at 01:19:32 07/29/16) That does indeed sound very interesting Mark

Click to expand...

Well worth your time either way, the visit or the hobbies.

ebay has a lot of old models, where I got all 3 mentioned, from collectors that quit for whatever reason and a liquidator.....nic-nac store type thing, buys them out and unloads on ebay.

I learn something on everything I do and each one has a history of challenges that makes you remember it and gives you a platform to handle the next set of them.

I just finished a 1941 1/25 scale Ford "woodie" station wagon that dad had when I was a kid. This one could be built either stock or as a hot rod. I already had a 1940 Chevron (tail light) black Ford coupe like my grand dad had early on but I kept it stock. This one I took the hot rod route, with the fuel injected (yes hotrodders do fuel inject the old flathead V8s) Ford flat head V8, Chrome custom wheels, Goodyear 20" (scaled) sport tires, rubber with full raised letter ID, tire size, and even direction of rotation arrows.

I had a few sitting people from an O scale (model train jargon) set I used on an airboat I built from scratch, electric propeller driven motor that will really make it scoot.

I painted them and put them on and in the wagon. Theme was California beach with the hotrod, a pair of lovers necking in the back seat, good looking gal sitting on the front fender waving, and a fancy surf board (came with the hot rod kit) leaned up against the car......you don't suppose she was looking for a little help with her board and driving her hot rod in the beach sand do you?

Lots of fun.

Mark