Once I've finished the Britannia, I'll move on to the Wotan. A herring lugger. A small restoration.😁

I did a small upgrade: I painted the chimney, superstructure, and anchor winch.

I think I would choose Proxxon again.

Hello Alessandro
I have the one from Proxxon.
She's actually quite good. You have to get used to it and let the saw do the work. Threading the saw blade is a bit complicated, but once you get the hang of it it works. Overall I'm happy with it.
I have a hand dremel from Dremel...it's great.

hmmmm...that all looks pretty tight. There is usually a lock nut between the ship and the screw and this creates some play. But that becomes problematic because the end of the screw already hits the rudder.

Yes, I was able to sneak up very well and stood only 1 meter away. He noticed me immediately after I took the photo and then he was gone.

I snuck out past the kestrel. It had just eaten another bird.

Hello
Here is another revised edition of my novel.
But I'm not finished with Chapter 3 yet.



The Dark Planet
Chapter 1 
___________________________________


Jeff tried to use the hammer to remove the brake disc from the wheel hub. It had rusted over time. It was the end of May and quite warm. He lived in Newcastle Emlyn, near the west coast of Wales, and worked in a small workshop that did not commit to any particular brand. Jeff also repaired agricultural machinery and two-wheelers, and he enjoyed the variety with new challenges.
However, he didn't like the pit because he was slim, but with his height of 1.92 m, it wasn't fun. So he preferred to take one of the three lifting platforms. It was just before four in the afternoon, almost closing time.
He lived on Castle Street, not far from the new company called Black Goal, which had opened here a year ago right on the River Teifi. In his local pub he had heard that they were experimenting with black holes.
Today I'll treat myself to a nice beer in my pub, he thought.
He was just about to put the hammer down on the tool cart when all he saw was a bright flash - and the hammer fell to the ground.
His head was pounding and his eyes were burning so badly that he didn't dare open them. His arms and legs hurt as if he had run a marathon and then chopped wood for hours afterwards. He felt like his body weighed a ton.
Jeff tried to remember what happened. As if through a wall of smoke that slowly dissipated, fragments of his memory returned.
He had recently been working on the brakes of a Volvo. But why?
Am I a car mechanic or am I just skilled enough to repair my car myself?
He didn't know.
He tried to feel the surrounding area with his hands. His fingers and hands obeyed him. His right hand just felt wet, fingers digging into mud or something.His left hand felt wet grass - or so he thought.
He opened his eyes and saw nothing.
Am I blind?
Jeff sat up slowly, with great effort and with intense pain. His back, his arms, his legs - in fact his whole body - hurt.
He sat there for a while with his eyes closed, trying to relax. Slowly the pain became more bearable.
He rubbed his face with his wet hand and tasted the liquid, which he had assumed was water. It tasted slightly salty, felt oily, and smelled strange - almost like gasoline, but not disgusting. Rather pleasant, difficult to define. Regardless, it was cool and refreshing.
He slid his hands into the liquid again and ran them through his short black hair.
Then he opened his eyes again and tried to see something.
Why can't I see anything? Jeff wondered. Everything felt normal after all.
He raised his right hand and searched her with his eyes. He only saw them dimly - and only when he held them directly in front of his face.
Okay, I'm not blind. That's something.
It must be night, he thought. But why don't I see another light source?
The moon was not visible. There were a few stars in the sky, but too few to provide any real light.
He tried to get up, which he managed to do after a few tries. His legs ached as his weight rested on them.
He took a few steps and bumped into something hard. He felt it. It had to be a rock.
He sat on it and thought about the fragments of memories that remained in his mind.
He had been standing in a workshop with three lifting platforms and a pit. The workshop had three large doors, and at the end of the hall there were three workbenches. Various special tools hung on the wall above. On the left a staircase led to the offices on the upper floor, on the right a staircase led to the spare parts warehouse.Slowly the memory came back.
So far so good. But what happened – and where am I?
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of anything else at the moment. It was very warm, around 30 to 35 degrees Celsius. Then another fragment of memory emerged: He had been thinking in degrees Celsius. So he was probably European - otherwise he would have thought in Fahrenheit. A little smarter again, he thought and had to grin.
“Okay, Jeff, pull yourself together,” he said to himself.
"Ah, so I know my name too. Things are progressing," he murmured.
Now a cigarette, he thought. Oops, I'm a smoker. You can forget all sorts of things, but the addiction remains.
Then he also had to have a lighter or matches with him. He searched his pockets and found the cigarettes first. The box was almost full. He pulled one out and stuck it in the corner of his mouth.
“I hope I have some fire,” he said quietly.
He actually found a lighter in his right pants pocket. He held it up to his face and pressed it.
“Fuck!” he screamed. How can you be so stupid? he thought. I'm here for who knows how long, in almost complete darkness - and I light a fire right in front of my eyes.
It took forever for the dancing dots to disappear from his eyes.
“Okay, second try,” he said to himself.
He lit the lighter to his right, arm outstretched, looking in the opposite direction. He slowly turned his gaze to the flame. It was still very bright, but that was okay.
Then he just sat there and enjoyed the cigarette.
After what felt like an hour, he thought about how he could get out of this strange situation.
I have to explore the surroundings first.
He lit the lighter again, more carefully this time. He could barely see a meter ahead. There were trees, albeit with strange bark - but he didn't have the head for that at the moment.
What he had thought were puddles was a small trickle,which shimmered green. He held his hand over it and noticed that it was noticeably warmer there. He grabbed a handy branch, tore a piece off his pant leg, wrapped it around the branch and dipped it into the trickle.
As he held his lighter underneath, the makeshift torch burned with greenish flames.
Hmm, he thought. It must be some kind of combustible fossil material. But with such a color and in such a consistency?
Suddenly he heard a noise to his right. He spun around but couldn't see anything except for a few leaves moving near the ground.
Probably a small animal.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light of the torch.
He explored the surrounding area and found that the vegetation seemed completely unfamiliar to him.
“What kind of area is this and where am I?” he asked himself.
The grass was not green, but almost black, and there were closed buds at the tips of the stalks. The trees had bark that looked – and felt – like leather. He couldn't see the treetops because there wasn't enough light.
It should be getting light soon, he thought and looked at his watch.
4 p.m. She had stopped.
Then something occurred to him again. While he was working on the Volvo, he was suddenly blinded by an incredibly bright light. Then everything went dark - and when he woke up, he found himself in this mud hole.
I need to get an overview. A hill? None. The terrain was too flat for that - at least from what he could see in the torchlight. Maybe he should climb a tree.
Okay, that sounds like a plan, he thought. But I can't climb with the torch in my hand.
He chose a tree and rammed the torch into the soft ground. Then he looked at the trunk. Judging by its size, the tree had to be quite tall.Maybe I can see a town or a village from above.
He began the climb, feeling for the nearest branches above him. He couldn't see much, so he had to rely entirely on his instincts. The bark was very grippy and the branches grew relatively close together.
The leaves were unusually large, and there were also closed buds between them. Something is very wrong here.
It pulled itself upwards, branch by branch. Suddenly he reached into the void. He felt around, but didn't find any other branches.
I can't be up there already, he thought. I only climbed three or four meters. Judging by the size of the trunk, the tree should have been at least thirty to forty meters high.
“I don’t know of any tree that grows like that,” he murmured.
“Whatever, I’m upstairs – whatever.”
He looked up at the night sky. There were hardly any stars to be seen, let alone constellations. The sky was clear as far as he could tell. The moon was missing.
“Very strange,” he said.
He looked around – towards the west? No idea.
Darkness everywhere he looked. No, there - suddenly he saw a faint green beam of light.
I have to go there, he thought and began the descent.
He slowly felt his way down. He found a branch with his right foot, shifted his weight onto it, let go of the other branches - and fell on his stomach into the mud. He swore loudly and then laughed at himself.
“Man, oh man, I’ve never climbed down from a tree so fast,” he said.
He lit another cigarette, grabbed the torch and set off.
However, the torch didn't do much good. Once he almost ran into a tree despite the light.
The terrain is very flat – good for me, he thought. Here and there there were puddles: some with the green glow, others colorless. He didn't dare drink from it yet. But at some point he would probably have no other choice.When in doubt, listen to your sense of taste.
He had been walking for hours and was getting thirsty and hungry. Finally he chose a small, colorless puddle, lay on his stomach and held a handful of water to his nose. It smelled faintly of moor. He carefully dipped the tip of his tongue in.
The way it smelled was how it tasted.
“Well then, cheers,” he said to himself and drank.
After quenching his thirst, he rolled onto his back and lay there for a while. It didn't take long before he fell asleep.
He dreamed of the pretty bartender from his pub. Jeff flirted heavily with her and she agreed. There wasn't much going on, so she had time for him. She leaned over the counter, got her face damn close - and Jeff took the opportunity to kiss her.
She flinched at first, but he could tell she wanted more and she let him. The kiss was emotional and pleasant, but she was getting wilder - too wild for Jeff's taste.
He slowly woke up from the dream. The kiss became more and more intense until he opened his eyes and saw an animal above him. It sat on his chest and licked his face, drooling, with an incredibly long tongue.
Jeff screamed, jumped up - and the animal disappeared into the darkness.
“What was that?!” he shouted – and then had to laugh.

Chapter 2
Tiwa

Tiwa woke up and had to blink her big eyes. She sat up, stretched and crawled out of her small cave, which had been built on a branch of the ring-tailed lemur tree by her father Baraan. Her mother Sirian was preparing the first meal.
Tiwa belonged to the Akoni people. The Akoni are a very proud people. They know no violence and respect every form of life. There is no envy. Everyone has the same rights and obligations - although rights and obligations are completely unknown to them.
The ring-tailed lemur tree is not very tall, but has a tree crown with a diameter of around 500 meters. Its trunk and branches are correspondingly thick. The leaves look almost like those of a walnut tree, but are about 2.20 meters long. It takes several thousand years for a ring-tailed lemur tree to reach this size.
As soon as it gets light, the flowers burst open and after about ten to twelve days the fruits begin to grow. When they are ripe after another ten to fifteen days, they do not fall off, but remain hanging and are supplied with residual energy until harvest. This means they last a long time. The tree blooms once a year. Then it is covered all over with pink flowers and bears large fruits that look like melons, but are black and have a leathery skin.
The fruits last for several months. The peel can be easily removed from the stem, but you have to be careful: the ring-tailed lemur fruit consists of almost ninety percent fruit juice. That's why you always put a container underneath so that nothing spills. The juice has a very high vitamin D content, which is vital on the planet Sirah. It only gets light there once a year for a month. However, it was still a good six months until the next phase of glare.
The blinding phase, as the Akoni call this time, is extremely bright. That's why they retreat into the treetops of the katta trees and cover themselves with the long leaves.It's almost like a short hibernation, because the Akoni are nocturnal creatures. They are similar to humans, but are slightly larger and more muscular, have large eyes and can live very long - in the best case up to 150 years. Time doesn't play a big role for them. They live on what the planet Sirah gives them.
Right next door, on the next branch, was her little brother Tomo's den. As always, he was lying upside down on his bed.
Her father had built a table down on the trunk of the ring-tailed lemur tree, on which her mother now laid out the first meal. The Akoni are vegetarians, but there is no agriculture. They feed on what grows on Sirah - and that's not a little. Although it is only bright for one month of the year, this brightness is so intense that the plants absorb and store enormous amounts of energy during this time. This means they can survive the long darkness without any problems.
Shortly before the blinding phase, there is a rainy season on Sirah that lasts about five to six days. The heat that is pleasant for the Akoni comes from the interior of the planet, in the form of springs that shimmer green. These springs are ignited and burn with a green flame that never goes out on its own. Only enough springs are lit so that it is neither too light nor completely dark under the katta tree.
The table was richly laid. There was katta fruit and katta juice as well as berries from the jutta bush, which look a little like blueberries but taste more tart. The katta fruit, on the other hand, is very sweet. Both together, served on an edible leaf of the Kando plant, taste indescribably good. The leaves of the Kando plant also contain a lot of protein.
There was also something like a breakfast egg - from a flying lizard, the Wangas. These are not entirely harmless. They look like little dragons from the Game of Thrones series, they can fly, but they are significantly smaller and don't breathe fire.Instead, they are very fast and stun their prey with their saliva, paralyzing them for a while. Then it's easy for them.
Wangas' nests are located in the crowns of ring-tailed lemur trees and usually contain six to eight eggs. Reaching them is difficult, but worth it. The Akoni really like the nutritious eggs. Every time they do this, they take a high risk, but never remove more than two eggs per nest so as not to endanger the population.
Her father was already sitting at the table drinking ring-tailed lemur juice. Tiwa first went to her mother and greeted her by placing her forehead on her mother's forehead and saying "Katania", which means I touch you. Her mother returned the greeting. Afterwards, Tiwa greeted her father in the same way and sat next to him.
She also took katta juice and squeezed a handful of jutta berries over the cup, spilling some of the juice on the side. Her father noticed it out of the corner of his eye, but said nothing and just shook his head.
"Where is your brother?" he asked.
“It’s still in its cave,” replied Tiwa.
"Wake him up. We want to get Wanga eggs today, and Tomo is old enough to take on the task."
"Are you sure? He's only eight cycles old," her mother said. On Sirah, time is measured in cycles - a cycle extends from one blinding phase to the next and is equivalent to approximately two Earth years.
“Yes,” her father replied. "It's time for him to show his courage. Tiwa got her first eggs at seven cycles."
Tiwa grinned. She had gotten the eggs without her father's permission. The Wanga almost got her. She had just climbed out of the treetop when she noticed him behind her. She reached for two eggs, but the Wanga attacked. Tiwa let herself fall and the saliva only hit her legs, which immediately went numb. Since Wangas only stay in the treetops or in clearings,he couldn't pursue her any further.
She hit the ground hard and pulled herself under a bush. After almost thirty minutes, feeling slowly returned to her legs and she made her way home. At first there had been anger from her father, but soon he had become proud of her.
“We want to leave soon,” said her father.
Tiwa woke up her brother, which wasn't easy because Tomo was a real morning person.
“Father wants to take you to get Wanga eggs,” she said.
Tomo turned pale.
“I’m not ready yet,” he said, his voice shaking.
“Father decides,” replied Tiwa.
Two hours later they were on their way to the Wangas. Other Akoni from the neighborhood had joined. There were twelve in total. Including Botahn, who was a kind of medicine man in the group, because something could always happen.
Tiwa and her friend Ange were also there. Tiwa didn't want to miss out on seeing how her little brother would do.
“The Wangas will probably notice him before Tomo even looks through the treetop,” she whispered to Ange.
Ange giggled. "Then he gets a load of saliva beforehand. When he gets it in his face, the corners of his mouth hang down - even when he laughs."
They both had to laugh so hard that their father sharply admonished them:
“QUIET NOW!”
Tiwa and Ange pulled themselves together to keep from giggling again. Of course Tiwa didn't want anything to happen to her brother - but it would be funny.
Her father chose an old ring-tailed lemur tree and the men prepared to climb it. They did not need ropes, but their bodies needed to be protected from the Wangas' saliva. To do this, they cut leaves from the katta tree into strips and wrapped them around their legs, arms and upper body. The leaves are resistant to the saliva of the Wangas.
Her father paid close attention to how Tomo laid out the leaves.
“Not too tight,otherwise you won't be able to move anymore. But not too loose either, otherwise they will slip. And there,” he pointed to Tomo’s elbow, “you didn’t cover your arm properly.”
The other men were already starting to climb. Ten minutes later Tomo followed them. Shortly before, Tiwa had hugged him. She felt him trembling.
“You can do it,” she whispered.
Tomo cleverly climbed up and soon caught up with the others. They were still busy with their preparations.
I don't need that, thought Tomo and carefully pushed his way through the treetop. He spotted a Wanga brooding on its eggs. Tomo aimed for the exact position and sat down in the crown directly under the nest. When he looked over at the others, he saw that they still weren't finished.
They should, he thought. I don't want to wait for that.
Strangely, he was completely calm.
He took his stick, which he had carved a few days before, took precise aim and carefully pushed it into the nest from below. Then he brought the stick forward and struck it against the shell of the Wanga's belly. You couldn't hurt him like that - and you weren't allowed to.
The Wanga was frightened and flew up. Tomo quickly reached into the nest and grabbed an egg. The Wanga hissed and landed again, but Tomo struck again with the stick. When the Wanga took off again, Tomo also took the second egg and dropped two branches lower to avoid the saliva.
It had worked.
He couldn't believe it and screamed with joy. The other Akoni started and looked up. They hadn't even started yet - and saw Tomo sitting on a branch, grinning, with two eggs in his hands.
“I’m done,” he said.

Chapter 3
Jeff

Jeff had been running for hours now and it just wasn't getting light. That can't be right, he thought. I must have slept three or four hours, and I had already walked four or five hours before - and now I'm on the road again for three or four hours.
“It has to get light,” he said loudly.
He sat down on a tree stump and lit a cigarette. He thought for a moment, then muttered to himself, "There must be a logical explanation."
Slowly the memories of yesterday came back. I was in the workshop, then there was a bright light... from then on I don't know anything, he thought.
By the river – that’s where this new company opened… he remembered. Jeff had applied there and had to take a test that also covered wormholes and time travel. At that time he still thought: time travel, okay... if you say so. His knowledge of wormholes and time travel was rather poor, which is why he failed the test.
"There must be a connection," he said. What if some scientist at the company made a mistake and a wormhole went out of control and threw me here?
Jeff frowned. »I think I'm going crazy. What nonsense.”
I'm hungry, he thought. He was just about to get up when something clung to his leg. He was frightened and saw the animal that had woken him up a few hours ago with its long tongue. This time it didn't run away.
“Who or what are you?” Jeff asked.
The animal narrowed its eyes at him. The torch must be blinding, he thought, holding it slightly behind his back. The animal looked strange - almost like an armadillo, but smaller, without scales, with six legs, a curly tail like a pig, droopy ears and googly eyes. The snout was relatively small. Every now and then a long tongue would dart out,rolled up and retracted again in a flash - about eight inches long and five inches wide.
It came closer, but didn't seem dangerous - otherwise, Jeff thought, it wouldn't have woken him up but attacked him.
“Well, are you hungry too?” he asked. He tore off some grass and held it out to the animal. It sniffed it and retreated a little.
»You don't like it, do you? Me neither. Do you know where there is food around here or where we are?”
Jeff wasn't really expecting an answer and scratched his head. Suddenly the animal waddled towards a bush. His tongue darted out, tearing off a few dark berries and immediately devouring them.
“Do they taste good?” Jeff asked. He picked a berry himself and smelled it - slightly fruity. He carefully crushed it between his thumb and forefinger, and a sweet scent filled his nose. If it smells good, it's usually not poisonous, he thought. He put the berry in his mouth and was surprised at how sweet and fruity it tasted.
He looked down at the animal. It had been watching him the whole time and was wagging its curly tail. Jeff picked another berry and tossed it to him. The tongue shot out, caught the berry - and it was gone.
“They taste delicious,” he said.
Jeff began picking the berries, tossing one to Murphy—as he now called the animal—again and again. I shouldn't eat too much of it. Who knows how they get to me. It's better to take a small supply with you.
He sat down on a rock and Murphy snuggled up against his leg. »You need a name. How about 'Murphy'?"
The animal just looked at him.
“Okay, then from now on your name will be Murphy.”
I have to move on, Jeff thought. Maybe he should climb a tree again to get an overview. This one looked good.
He stuck the torch into the ground and looked at Murphy. “You have to wait here now if you want.”Murphy looked at him with wide eyes and wagged his tail.
Jeff started climbing the tree. Since he knew what to expect, things went pretty quickly. Just before he reached the top, he looked down again - Murphy had disappeared.
“You probably have another date,” Jeff murmured. “Then maybe see you soon.”
Once at the top, he made his way through the treetops. Something was different than last time. The branches were much denser. Maybe it's a different kind of tree this time, he thought, jabbing his arm through it.
Suddenly he heard a loud hissing sound. His arm became wet and began to burn slightly. He had touched a Wanganese nest. The animal started, hissed, and sprayed a fountain of saliva over Jeff's arm.
Jeff was startled, lost his balance and fell from the tree again.
He hit hard, tried to get up in a daze, but collapsed and lost consciousness.
After a few minutes he came to again.
"What happened?"
He tried to sit up and was startled. »Where is my arm? I can’t feel him!”
In a panic, he grabbed his right arm with his left arm. He's there, but I can't feel him. Where's the fucking torch? he cursed.
He realized that he had fallen into a puddle right next to the torch and that it had been extinguished by the splashes. He took it, stuck it in the ground, took out his lighter and lit it again.
He then looked at his arm and saw no injuries, except that it was completely numb and hanging limply. He tried to remember what had happened.
Then he heard something fluttering above him - something bigger, bigger than a bird. Suddenly there was a rustling in the bushes next to him. Jeff grabbed the torch and held it protectively in front of him. The sound got closer and then he saw Murphy.
“Where are you from now?”
Relieved, Jeff leaned against a tree. Murphy looked at him with his big googly eyes.

No, my wife only gave me a sightseeing flight over Hamburg in the Ju 52 as a gift.
I love building ships.

Hi Jan, a warm welcome to our forum from me too. If you have any questions, just ask. There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers.

That's right, you're correct, from Robbe of course.

Hello!
Here are a few more pictures of my Wotan. I bought it for 5 euros from an old sailor. I had to promise him that I would definitely get the ship back on the water. It's a Graupner herring lugger.

Beautiful ship, I like it. I enjoy restoring ships, especially working vessels, and they have to be old, with an old hull shape. A hole in the hull is perfectly fine, like on the Oceanic. You can repair anything if you want, and then make it look old and dirty. I like that. I have another old ship waiting in the wings; I'll show it to you soon.

Hi Dave, that looks great. I really like it.

Hi Roy, here are the same pictures again, edited. Hope it works now.

is that a hump-headed gecko?
are they native to you?

The ship turned out great.

Here I have my OCEANIC.
Only the Titanic looks worse.

I cleaned it with a scourer and did not repaint it. It should look old. I added rust and had to completely rebuild the rudder.

before, afterwards

https://youtu.be/ZGHeYllFd7Q?si=7X-hJ85d-F5rpjch

https://youtu.be/KJkEvvaaRFY?si=ZHB-diGNoLBdp5gI

this morning in Stade.

My sincere condolences to all relatives and friends.
I wish everyone a lot of strength during this difficult time.

maybe this?

https://www.wettringer-modellbauforum.de/forum/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=14

Hello

Finished the windlass today.

Hello Lev

I can definitely understand you.
There is also a model boat club in our neighboring town. I did some research and then didn't join. The reason...the members were extremely arrogant and I didn't have the time to get involved. Although I would have liked to.
Instead, I offered that if I could drive my boats on the club pond, I would like to give 20 euros to the club's coffers. They rejected that.
I can understand if you have to keep the area in order and it has to be done by someone. But taking a boat for 1 - 2 hours and spending 20 euros more on your wallet is nothing to sneeze at. Not everyone has the time to get fully involved in a club.

Hello, I started with the anchor winch. A little puzzle. I still have to paint a few parts of it and then it will be glued together.
Then I sawed another hole in the deck. Now I can also remove the front deckhouse and have more options for maintenance. The deck is now also glued to the hull.

Hello
Things have been looking like this in Stade since yesterday. And it should continue like this all week.

From me too, Happy New Year, health and good luck.
I'm glad to be a part of this excellent forum.
Thanks everyone.

I have this one from Carson, with 14 channels and am very 👍👍

Carson 500501004 Reflex Stick Multi Pro LCD 2.4G 14Kanal Pultsender/Empfänger - Modellbau Berlinski Modellbaufachhandel

https://share.google/a5rCC15Tv5hSK6iOu

What kind of budget do you have available?

Hello
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Let be rewarded richly, especially with happiness and health.
I look forward to all the coming years with you here in the forum.

Hello everyone, happy 3rd Advent
Here are a few contemplative pictures from our last short trip to the Baltic Sea in Sassnitz.

I'll submit Chapter 1 later. something isn't working.🤔