"The Big Fitz" Painting 1 

November 2001 This month I was building a home for my Fitz. I spent most of the time putting together the Great Lakes Modeling Association. Welcoming any modeler building Great Lakes vessels. You can check it out here: www.greatlakesmodeling.com I also put together a spray both so I can finally paint my Fitz !!! Yes I finally got the paint, you can read the story on how I got it below.

I made this small spray booth out of some foam board, masking tape, and a heater duct fan I picked up at Builders Square. Then took a drier vent tube and ran it outside. It cost about $20.00 to make, do get any cheaper then that for a spray both. Notice the Jiffy peanut butter jars, that's my paint, hehe.

Getting the Paint

I recently contacted a fellow ISMA member by the name oh John about getting paint for my Fits, he said no problem. He's a mate on the Oglebay Norton.

John had contacted me on Nov 29, saying he would be unloading at Recors Point Detroit Edison Plant. Vary convenient for me seeing it's only 5 miles from my house on the St. Clair River. Then I noticed the arrival time was not 3PM but 3AM. Well I though if the guy is going through the trouble for me, I at least have to thank him in person. I never did wake up, it would help if I turned the alarm on. In the morning I ran up to the plant to pick my paint up from the Guard shack as planned. There was no ship unloading and no paint to be found. Turns out the high winds had delayed his ship by 8 hours. Later that day after getting home from the Memorabilia Mart at Harbor Hill Marine I received Johns e-mail about the delay. I went back to the guard shack and ask if some paint was dropped off, she looked at my and said "paint"? A small plastic bag sat next to the wall, "That must be it". As we opened the bag we found three jars of Jiffy Peanut Butter that had either gone real bad or was full of paint, it was paint. As I drove off I stop and took some pictures as I always do, of the Oglebay Norton 1000 footer unloading coal. Driving home I thought what better way to christen this model then with this paint. Paint that had traveled all over the Great lakes from Superior Wisconsin , across Lake Superior and within a few miles of the Fitzgerald as she lies on the bottom. By a ship named Oglebay Norton. See I told you I've lost it.