My book on the Gondola Philadelphia arrived yesterday… as you recall last week I expounded on the upcoming ship class whereby we will do the oldest warship in existence in America….yes, Virginia, its older than the USS Constitution…this Philadelphia is in the Smithsonian in Washington… its 54-odd feet long, was raised in 1935 from its muddy grave, and there is a wealth of super interesting detail this book will provide…for example, was the decking held down with trenails or black iron nails????

Ponder the significance of that, as I will employ this book to gain a better insight to the model we will be building…so far, it seems that this one “should” be able to finish within the three to four-month window I expect..

Time will tell.

THE NAUTILUS…Captain Nemo’s Nautilus has arrived!!!!! Its rather a nice looking piece, in 1/144 scale, nicely mouldedm and the squid stand is another model unto itself ! Bridgetowne got in 8 of these, they are less than $70.00 and will be a great sub to add special lighting to…I bought one for myself…add that to the 20,000 other models stashed away for the rainy day… The complete paint-line I spoke of last week has arrived, and Vallejo Paints fit quite well into Bridgetowne’s palette. You may want to stop in and you WILL find that special color you need for whatever you may be painting…they are really nice colors!

So time tells me there is a meeting I must attend, and so till next week….Ciao !! WmRD