Josh, to pick up on that ‘rake’ you are either a fan or just have a real eye for detail. As someone who is a bit of both, I can tell you that I have spent an inordinate amount of time over the degree of cant on the flying bridge. I can tell you that you are 100% correct about the angle. It does rake back a little. But it is a little that most Orca makers don’t see, even in some beautifully made examples, such as below...

As you can see, the angle of the bridge in the above is 90 degrees and for me, it’s a deal breaker. Yep, geek.

Now, the movie had a two main Orcas (with other ‘jigsaw’ Orcas), both of which were slightly different in terms of THAT angle.

On the ‘seaworthy’ Orca (above) you can see the ‘rake’.

But on the ‘sinking’ Orca, although the boat is angled, it’s clear they’ve made the flying bridge perpendicular to the cabin.

Now, if anyone’s still awake, on my Orca, I have split the difference and gone with a slight, but definite, angle, below...

It’s more noticeable sitting on top of the cabin, given the natural slant of the deck.

And yes, I DO need to get out more.

On the subject of colo(u)r - don’t get me started, I’ll never get to sleep tonight.

And when it comes to weathering, this Orca will be a little battered, but not as much as this...

...which sold on eBay for, ahem, $4,200...

Even Quint would be tempted to clean that one up.

Absolutely splendid David, absolutely splendid. Two thumbs up!

To tell the truth David if it wasn't for the excellent profile shot of the real Orca at the beginning of your article I probably wouldn't have noticed it. Once you see it though you can't unsee it. Funny thing is on the one that is wrong it gives the illusion of leaning forward and would probably seem oppressive if you were standing by the barrels! (Kind of like being in a large room with a low ceiling. Give it a bit of vaulting and everything seems happier! What a big psychological difference a small design choice like that can have on the brain!) As for the color of the lower hull I would have accepted "yes". I would surmise Cap'n Quint may have traded paint on occasion! Can't wait to see her done! (Populating the cabin with all the bric a brac is probably going to be the most fun not only for you, but eventual spectators as well!) You should try and get a small speaker to play an MP4 of the gang singing "Show Me The Way to Go Home"!

One led to the other, Chaz. The two builds are very much linked and in many ways the whole ‘Jaws’ movie is about the Indianapolis. It’s the reason why Quint hates sharks, why he does what he does for a living, and why he ends up destroying the radio and pushing the Orca too hard - an in turn destroying himself.

“Thing about a shark, he’s got black eyes, lifeless eyes, like a doll’s eyes...”

That is one ‘out of this world’ photo, Chaz!

Looking at the last photo you posted reminded me of something...I remember watching this show a few years ago on the Discovery Channel. It was during “Shark Week” and was about the prehistoric "Megalodon" shark.

They showed this picture and claimed it to be photographic evidence that the Megalodon still exists.

Can you imagine ? That's a U-boat I wouldn't want to be in... You could post this "On this Day" December 18th... or even on April 1st... as an April fools joke.

The Orca is looking good... 3 barrels and all...

A lot of bench time today. Nice to get some traction on this build.

Started by drilling through holes in the mast and embedding the hand rails.

Did some glazing. Ha, which you can’t see, guess that’s a good thing?

Some quite intricate work on the ‘crow’s nest’ footrails.

Managed to find some brass eyelets that very nicely stand in for portholes (ever so slightly big for scale certainly within a margin of error). “Front, bow, back, stern.
You don't get it right, Chief, I throw your a*s out the little round window
on the side!”

Spent a long time thinking (lying on the sofa) about the crow’s nest rails, from where Chief Brody has his final battle with the beastie.

I finally cut two thin strips of styrene which I looped and pinned to a dowel that I inserted through the mast. I can finesse this later.

Not unhappy with the results of today.

In the original casting of the movie, Charlton Heston was considered for Chief Brody, while Lee Marvin and Sterling Hayden were initially sought for Captain Quint, and Jeff Bridges was in negotiations for Matt Hooper, the marine biologist. There’s only one Quint.

Now, a German U-Boat against the Megalodon would undoubtedly be a much better movie than the rubbish that ‘Meg’ actually was.

The iconic barrels are a work in progress. The ones you see are a rudimentary shape crafted from modelers clay, just experimenting. Any ideas welcome; I know some folk sell them as 3D printed items but I really want to scratch build.

Love those photos, Louis, I have always loved sea monsters and have a ‘kraken’ wall in the den of old prints of monstrous squids attacking boats. Some things you just don’t grow out of...

David,

Best I can tell is the original barrels were for Water Storage. 50 gallon capacity 23L x 23W x 34H inches. Did a quick search on line but could not find any manufacturer's here in the states that looked similar.

Looking really good!

1 attached image. Click to enlarge.