Mercy Stamp...

I'm interrupting my model blog posts to share something pretty cool that I found out about the other day. I was Googling for images of the Africa Mercy and I came across a Danish postage stamp that shows a postal sorting train with a ship in the background. The rail ferry depicted is the Dronning Ingrid, which became the Africa Mercy! My parents are philatelists and, sure enough, they found the very same stamp in one of their collections! I've added it to my small stamp collection! :-)

These are photos I came across on the Mercy Ships transfer drive several years ago. They show the Africa Mercy as she once was as the Dronning Ingrid. The bow opened to allow trains to enter the vessel.

The aft of the ship also opened for trains.

Aft Crane...

The large aft crane is an essential piece of equipment for Mercy Ships' mission throughout Africa. It is used to load and offload containers and stores, and it also hoists ship vehicles to Deck 8 at the conclusion of a Field Service. My crane has some functionality too. It can rotate and go up and down. It is, however, fixed in position for sailing! :-)

The base of the crane sits down on Deck 5 on the aft mooring deck.

The control cab being constructed.

The control cab attached to the crane. This is the aft view.

Parts of the crane ready to be fitted together.

Attaching the hook.

SWL = Safe Working Load.

The control cab fitted to the base of the crane.

The base of the crane sitting on Deck 5.

Starboard side view.

Aft view.

The lifting hook held in position on Deck 8.

Aft Mooring Deck...

The aft mooring deck is an area that is usually off-limits to general crew members. This is due to the hazardous nature of work occurring here. The base of the main crane sits on the aft mooring deck, and the hatches to the main cargo hold are located here too. There are also bollards and mooring lines for securing the aft of the ship when docked.

Early stage of work on the stern.

More work done on the stern - including large capstans for pulling in mooring lines.

Bollards for mooring lines in place now.

Working on the fixture for the aft navigation lights and flag staff.

In position on the aft mooring deck.

Bollards with mooring lines.

Mooring line needs to be released from the bollard and stowed. :-)

Aft mooring deck complete with crane and the ladder to Deck 8. :-)

Fancy watching a sunset from the Bow?

During a sail, the bow is always one of the best places to be in the early evening. It is wonderful to watch the sun slip beneath the waves while worshipping God. And every now and then, a pod of dolphins may appear to swim with the Africa Mercy as we sail along. It's definitely a magical place. I tried to honour the bow through the details here. It took me several days over the last two weeks to get this area just right. :-) Enjoy these photos of the bow coming to life!

The earlier phases of adding details to the bow.

The hatch to the interior of the ship is the white structure near the windows.

Bollards and vents in place. The green hatch leads down to the bosun's locker where the mooring lines are stowed.

Almost complete. Just one more important detail...

The anchor chain emplacements, of course!

Now to install it onto the ship...

And there we go, the starboard anchor chain.

Starboard and port anchor chains in place...

Along with the ladders leading to the walkway around the Bridge above.

The ship is coming along nicely. Next blogs will be about the aft mooring deck and the large aft crane. :-)

Swimming Pool...

The Africa Mercy's swimming pool was installed in Tenerife in December 2009, but crew members had to wait until January 2011 when it was fully-functional. Since then the pool has been a huge blessing to many crew members, especially the ship families. There's nothing better than spending a relaxing afternoon reading by the pool! I spent two days working on my pool last week.

The pool started out as a simple rectangular box.

I then added the deck - where crew members can lounge by the pool.

In 2012 the pool had the Mercy Ships logo on the bottom. I reflected this by printing out a photo of the real pool and using it for the water's surface. This creates a realistic water feel. :-)

Taking shape up on Deck 8.

My pool has an additional function. It stores the batteries and wiring for the light function of the model. This is the switch for the lights.

 Lift up the water and it reveals the compartment...

Housing the electronics.

Stairs up to the pool deck in place.

Supports for the deck around the pool in place too.

Pool complete! Not sure I'm going to add the canopy that covers this area of Deck 8. Will have to see how much time I have left over once finished! :-)

Forward Crane...

The forward stores crane has many important uses. It is used by the Galley to load stores through a hatch on Deck 8. It also hoists up waste and garbage dumpsters through the same hatch, and is used for lowering and raising the forward gangway into position when Mercy Ships arrives and departs a port. It is a key piece of machinery and is brought to life on my model here. :-)

The control cab for the forward crane. However, it is too small for a person to fit inside, and so the crane is controlled via a removable joystick.

 The main part of the crane.

The crane ready to be installed on Deck 8.

The hook is fashioned out of a paper clip. :-)

Engineering vents forward of the funnel.

Forward crane in position on Deck 8.

Another view. Deck 8 is coming to life! :-)