[Bobalooyi]

My first ship build was the SS Badger, a car ferry operating seasonally between Ludington, Michigan and Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The 11-1/2", laser-printed waterline kit is by Lake Freighter Minis.

The lakefreighterminis.com website lists retail locations, but most are in Michigan or maritime-museum locations. ATLANTISTOY&HOBBY and PROPSHOPHOBBIES have online sales of the kits. The product line is primarily Great Lakes freighters, including the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The kit had excellent instructions. My aged eyes had difficulty with touch ups.

The instructions say to glue just the bow and stern lifeboat edges together. When the glue is dry, separate the top edges with a toothpick; but the toothpick didn't have enough wide leverage. On a whim, I had colored the interior of the lifeboats with a yellow Prismacolor, which allowed me to use the yellow pencil point to wedge the lifeboat sides into proper ovals without marking up the interior.

This was a good choice for a first-time effort.