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Newbie with a few tool questions....


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I've decided on my first build , downloaded and read over the instructions and also read Frank Mastini's book "Ship Modeling Simplified". In order to spread the cost of buying good tools, I'm going to purchase only what I need for each stage of the build. I used the kit instructions and Mastini's book to make my tool list but have a few questions for the more more experienced builder on a few items.

 

1. Block plane: Size and manufacturer?

2. X-ACTO Razor Saw Blade:  X239 extra fine 54 tooth or X235 medium 40 tooth? Or both?

3. Miniature File set: number in set and manufacturer ?

4. Miniature Chisel set: number in set and manufacturer ?

5. Is a coping saw needed in addition to the X-Acto saw? If so, size and manufacturer?

 

I should add the model will be the Model Shipways Bluenose II in 1:64th scale with a finished length of 32 inches, as this may determine the size of the block plane and other tools on the list.

 

Thanks in advance for your assistance,

Dave

 

Edited by CPDDET
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Current build: NRG Half Hull

Previous build: MS Bluenose 

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My best advise is to buy the best tools you can.  Don't waste money on cheap equipment.  For this build I would suggest using sanding blocks and sticks instead of a plane.  Glue the sandpaper to various shapes and lengths of wood to give yourself a variety of configurations.  I have never used the fine tooth saw blade.  Pop for a few good jeweler's files.  Start with a medium flat, triangular and round.  At this stage you probably don't need chisels.  #11 Xacto blades will substitute for them.  Add a Dremel to your list.  I prefer a battery tool but it is heavier than electric.  Consider getting a self-healing mat to prevent marring your workbench.  And don't forget good lighting!

Toni


Chairman Nautical Research Guild

Member Nautical Research and Model Society

Member Midwest Model Shipwrights

 

Current Builds:     NRG Rigging Project

Completed Builds: Longboat - 1:48 scale       HMS Atalanta-1775 - 1:48 scale       Half Hull Planking Project      Capstan Project     Swallow 1779 - 1:48 scale               Echo Cross Section   

Gallery:  Hannah - 1:36 scale.

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I've managed to complete four models without items #1, #4, and #5. Like Toni, I find my Dremel tool indispensable for wood models, but others have no use for one. There's a lot of personal preference involved in buying and using tools. It's better to start your collection slowly, even if it means waiting a week here or a week there when ordering a new tool, rather than starting right off with a big collection only to find that you never use half of them.

 

Cheers!

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Hawker Hurricane

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Toni and Chris - I agree  with both.  I have found that a hand plane is a tool looking for a job.  I view it as an advanced wood workers tool that wants skill and finesse.  Start with the kit.  Lay out your first job.  Figure out what tool you need -  see how others did that job - buy that tool.  Go step by step,  job first, then get the tool.  When it comes to drilling your first hole  - a pin vise is not expensive - for a Dremel Moto tool -  when or if you get to a gotta have one mind set - my go to for a while is the model 8050.  Search for a deal,  Big accessory kits are generally a waste of money,  but you will need a collet set.  But for the long delivery time  and what the new tariffs will do  AliExpress has been a low cost source for interesting stuff.

If you turn into another tool junkie - the Fates help your CFO.  But for now, husband your tool budget - that is my suggestion.  Find out naturally if this endeavor becomes an obsession or is not for you and you have bought a lot of stuff that you will never use.  I know that it is hard to keep tight reigns on enthusiasm, but these fields are probably littered with those who did not and wished they had.

NRG member 45 years

 

Current:  

HMS Centurion 1732 - 60-gun 4th rate - Navall Timber framing

HMS Beagle 1831 refiit  10-gun brig with a small mizzen - Navall (ish) Timber framing

The U.S. Ex. Ex. 1838-1842
Flying Fish 1838  pilot schooner -  framed - ready for stern timbers
Porpose II  1836  brigantine/brig - framed - ready for hawse and stern timbers
Vincennes  1825  Sloop-of-War  -  timbers assembled, need shaping
Peacock  1828  Sloop-of -War  -  timbers ready for assembly
Sea Gull  1838  pilot schooner -  timbers ready for assembly
Relief  1835  ship - timbers ready for assembly

Other

Portsmouth  1843  Sloop-of-War  -  timbers ready for assembly
Le Commerce de Marseilles  1788   118 cannons - framed

La Renommee 1744 Frigate - framed - ready for hawse and stern timbers

 

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Here's my bare bones tool collection: Mitre box and saw, flexible ruler with metric, scalpel, clamps (you will collect various), micro files (flat, triangular, round and square),  and for me 5x glasses (about $10 on line). I forgot to include sand paper.  You can build an entire kit with just these tools except for the rigging. I'm not a big Dremel user but occasionally find it useful but not required. I do use an electric plank bender but with a single plank model you should be able to soak and clamp your planks and omit this initial expense. The Bluenose is painted however if you were going to add treenails say for the deck add Model Machines draw knife as well as a pin vise and small drill bits. That is all you need to build a kit. One word of advice. It is easier to remove more wood than it is to replace it. Good luck.

20180925_131538.thumb.jpg.dd4b7d4817a458d38b0e7b3850d64063.jpg

Edited by barkeater

Completed scratch build: The armed brig "Badger" 1777

Current scratch build: The 36 gun frigate "Unite" 1796

Completed kits: Mamoli "Alert", Caldercraft "Sherbourne"

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I’d probably add a keel clamp of some sort to your list. Check out the thread above for one that I made cheaply and have used on 10 builds. 

Hornet

 

Current Build: - OcCre Shackleton’s Endurance. 

 

Completed Ship Builds:

                                     Caldercraft - HM Bark Endeavour. (in Gallery)

                                    Caldercraft  - HMAV Bounty (in Gallery)

                                     Caldercraft - HM Brig Supply (In Gallery)

                                     Aeropiccola - Golden Hind

                                                        - Constitution

                                     Clipper Seawitch (maker unknown - too long ago to remember!)

                                     Corel - Victory

                                     Modeller's Shipyard - A Schooner of Port Jackson - In Gallery

                                                                      - Brig `Perseverance' - In Gallery

                                                                      - Cutter `Mermaid'- In Gallery

                                                                      - Sirius Longboat (bashed) - In Gallery

                                                                      - Sloop Norfolk - In Gallery

                                      Completed Cannon:   - French 18th Century Naval Cannon

                                                                      - Napoleonic 12 pound field piece

                                                                      - English 18th Century Carronade

                                       Non Ship Builds - Sopwith Camel - Artesania Latina

                                                                   - Fokker DR1 - Artesania Latina

                                               

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The "good to have" tools are more than the stars in the sky. But the absolutely necessary ones are few. I would agree on the ability to drill holes, I love my (vast) collection of drills!

 

In regards to planes and chisels, you ll need diamond stones, straps etc to keep sharp and they are really in the "good to have" list. All in good time...

Edited by vaddoc
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For a kit like the MSW Bluenose you wouldn't need a lot of tools.  Bare bones would be an xacto knife with a No.11 blade (get extra blades), a razor saw, large and small tweezers  and sandpaper do most of what you need to do.  A few other tools are nice to have like a couple of needle files and maybe a miter box but arn't necessary to complete the model.  Look over each step in the process and determine before hand what tools are going to required.  Have fun.

Edited by grsjax

My advice and comments are always worth what you paid for them.

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Great advice! And thanks to all.

 

Could you tell me more about glues? I see there are different viscosities of CA and wood glue may be used as well?

 

Never fear, haven't purchased any tools yet; just asking questions as part of research. I already own a cordless Dremel but would have reservations about using it until I had much more experience (it could remove a lot  of wood very quickly).

 

The kit will arrive on Monday but I'm leaving for Arizona on Tuesday. So the box will remain unopened until I return home the following week. 

 

Dave

 

 

Current build: NRG Half Hull

Previous build: MS Bluenose 

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PVA glue will be the main glue you ll use. Aliphatic has quick set and dries yellow, normal PVA has more opening time and dries more clear. Epoxy can be useful for laminating and gap filling or for gluing dissimilar material, is messy and temperamental and has somewhat of a learning curve. I use it a lot though, usually thickened with talk powder as it is brittle on its own. CA glue for specific tasks. My personal opinion, all PVA glues are created more or less equal, epoxy and CA most definitely are not. For scratch building, glue sticks (pratt etc) are useful for gluing paper patterns to wood.

 

There are various other glues but are rarely used. 

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For a wood model such as Bluenose, get a small bottle of yellow carpenter's glue.  That small bottle will last for several kits.  One of it's advantages is that it is dissolved with isopropyl alcohol.  There are a lot of builders who swear by CA but I rarely use it.  For those times that you need to bond dissimilar materials, two part epoxy is your best option.

Toni


Chairman Nautical Research Guild

Member Nautical Research and Model Society

Member Midwest Model Shipwrights

 

Current Builds:     NRG Rigging Project

Completed Builds: Longboat - 1:48 scale       HMS Atalanta-1775 - 1:48 scale       Half Hull Planking Project      Capstan Project     Swallow 1779 - 1:48 scale               Echo Cross Section   

Gallery:  Hannah - 1:36 scale.

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I remember Frank. He was quite character, and quite a ship modeler. You won't need much in the way of tools to start. Get an exacto knife, a good straight edge, a small bottle of yellow wood glue (aliphatic resin), make sanding sticks or buy emery boards from the nail store, a decent scale, small flat jaw pliers, jeweler's saw and blades, single edge razor blades, some cheapo clamps, a decent pencil (.5mm pentel), and then go from there.

John

 

Member: Hampton Roads Ship Model Society

Current Builds: Tugboat Dorothy  Newport News Shipbuilding Hull #1 (complete)

                            Iron Clad Monitor (complete) 

                            Sardine Carrier which I will Name Mary Ann (complete)

                            Pilot Boat John H. Estill Newport News Shipbuilding Hull #12 (my avatar)

                    Harbor tug Susan Moran

                    Coast Guard 100' patrol boat

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Tools can be acquired as needed, but don't pass up a good deal when you see it > but only if it's on your list <.  

 

One tool that I consider essential, and that hasn't been mentioned above, is a stable work surface (or table/bench) that is equipped with a vise, an articulated lamp (architect or gooseneck), and maybe a birdsmouth and a bench hook.  It could be  a piece of 3/4" MDF or plywood about 20"x20" with these items attached,  and be stowed away somewhere if you don't have a dedicated workspace. 

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For ideas of workbenches and their accessories, here's a couple of links from Yesteryear when modelmaking was a common activity for leisure hours.  

 

In this one, note the plane fixture for accurately thicknessing in wood.   Using a sharp plane is quicker than sanding and will give a much crisper surface.  (Oh, and check out the toy rubber-powered tugboat a few pages down! a great kid's toy)

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=VicDAAAAMBAJ&amp;lpg=PA77&amp;dq=modelmaker workbench&amp;pg=PA78#v=onepage&amp;q=modelmaker workbench&amp;f=true

 

In this one, there's a vise, and anvil, a bench pin, a groove for shaping masts with a block plane, plus a mount for a Dremel.

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=UyYDAAAAMBAJ&amp;lpg=PA158&amp;dq=modelmaker workbench&amp;pg=PA158#v=onepage&amp;q=modelmaker workbench&amp;f=true

 

And here's a basic explanation of bench hooks:

 

https://www.wonkeedonkeetools.co.uk/bench-hooks/what-is-a-bench-hook/

Edited by Bob Blarney
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16 hours ago, Bob Blarney said:

Tools can be acquired as needed, but don't pass up a good deal when you see it > but only if it's on your list <.  

 

One tool that I consider essential, and that hasn't been mentioned above, is a stable work surface (or table/bench) that is equipped with a vise, an articulated lamp (architect or gooseneck), and maybe a birdsmouth and a bench hook.  It could be  a piece of 3/4" MDF or plywood about 20"x20" with these items attached,  and be stowed away somewhere if you don't have a dedicated workspace. 

Spot on Bob

 

Boat building needs a lot of space, a surface that ts ok if it gets ruined (it will) and a lot of light.   

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