Vol. 64, No. 4 winter 2019 328


13. T e Godspeed’s model builder cleaning the model with a soſt sable brush and a can of compressed air. Although a bottle of isopropyl alcohol was at hand, only the brush and air can were required. T e suspension bar (and monofi lament line) can be seen above the ship.


components, including scaled three-strand rope and wooden blocks from Syren Ship Model Company and a silver-gray heavy thread from a fabric store to simulate the color and look of wire rope shrouds. Terminating the gray “rope” in cast metal turnbuckles worked well, as did the more accurately sized normal rope and blocks for the extensive sail rigging that was not provided in the kit. However, the Notman kit did include a substantial number of laser-cut mast hoops to accommodate a full set of fore-aft rigged sails, but no sail rings to attach to the hoops or sheet hauling lines. I obtained a large number of 1/16- inch diameter small brass rings, blackened them and used these to mount all the model’s sails to their appropriate hardware.


During fabrication, I colored all my pre-fabricated sails with an off-white, Parchment acrylic spray paint. The canvas bolt lines were drawn with pencil afterward. Reefi ng ropes were attached prior to mounting to mast hoops and hauling lines.


My commission required that the model would be displayed in a tabletop case for several weeks prior to securing it to a mechanism that would eventually


suspend it twenty feet above the sanctuary from the church’s rafters. To display the model to the congregation in the sanctuary, I built a very large case with a full acrylic cover. I also included an attractive bronze acrylic baseboard which is refl ective and highlights the ship’s hull well when displayed at tabletop level. The case and ship were set on a simple folding table near the altar that allowed full 360-degree, close-up viewing. This was, of course, a good reason to fabricate the model with the details required of a quality build, although most of these would not be seen once the model was suspended high above the congregation. I was not certain there would not be some maritime afi cionados in the church to judge my work critically, so throughout the project I nonetheless remained my most critical judge.


Hanging out at St John’s: A fortuitous suspension mechanism


As it turned out, a stunningly simple solution was already in place for suspending the model from the rafters. The church’s sanctuary has several horizontal


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