Cabin Class Collectibles

07/02/2025

Big job ahead: the plate glass arrives for SS Argentina's dust cover.

06/27/2025

The Van Ryper s/s Argentina back in place. Glass has been ordered. Now I just need to finish the house!

06/26/2025

Ecstatic! I just picked up a custom made table base that a local metal worker built to my specs. With Ray Loewy and mid-century aethetics in mind, I designed it so the ARGENTINA's baseboard "floats" above the frame. To further enhance the industrial look, I requested that the steel be left in its raw state with solder and welds visible. I'll probably re-mount the model today, so watch for follow-up photos!

06/21/2025

Just completed the final t/s BALTIKA video. Enjoy!

The Soviet passenger liner Baltika had a long history, and sometime around the beginning of WWII this model was constructed – illustrating the ship’s configu...

05/24/2025

Just arrived from the casting company: capstans and Bergensfjord's unusual davits. These davits are for her 2 emergency cutters. (I got lucky. All but one were missing from the model.) Strangely, no capstans were fitted, though the prototype had them. I have never found a commercially available capstan in the style (and scale) I need, so I took the opportunity to turn one from brass stock and sent it off for duplication.

05/24/2025

Bergensfjord's stern rail had been broken at some time and, to compound the issue, the previous attempt at a repair was extremely shoddy. Best solution: cut away the damaged section and graft in a new piece of wood shaped to match the profile of the aft deck.

05/18/2025

Funnel base. The dark areas were actually burned by the heat from the model's interior lighting and may require epoxy to strengthen the desiccated wood. As for the "10"? Henning is telling us that the AMS shop produced at least 9 other identical models of Bergensfjord. The hull, btw, in addition to "10" is also stamped 4 56. You guessed it!

05/18/2025

Something about Bergensfjord's funnel has always bothered me. It hit me today as I was removing the remaining enamel from her stack. The funnel bands (on the prototype) were not parallel to the top of the funnel. This poses the question: should you correct an "error" when restoring a model?

05/17/2025

Only the base portion of the Bergensfjord's anchor windlass remained attached to the model. The simplest solution would have been to replace the entire windlass, but I chose to recreate the missing bits in brass on a metal lathe.

05/17/2025

The tedious task of stripping of the Bergensfjord's decks is now complete. Next: repairing the model's structural issues and physical flaws.

05/16/2025

Today: m/s Bergensfjord's transfer decoration drawn and printed, ready to be sealed. First time using Canva to create decals. Some limitations but overall a good result.

05/15/2025

Progress. Another day, another deck. The most frustrating aspect of this process: I have yet to discover a single clue that might explain why the model's decks were over-painted.