Mark P

A wonderful book on many modelling techniques.
Book published in German at VGB Verlagsgruppe Bahn GmbH under the title 'Marcel Ackle, Ein Natur-Talent', 2018.
ISBN number of the German edition : 978-3-8375-1963-1
 
French edition (2019) proposed by LR PRESSE, www.lrpresse.com
contact@lrpresse.com
 
Author of text, photos and models : Marcel Ackle
Book cover : Marcel Ackle
ISBN number of the French edition : 978-2-37536-030-9
 
208 pages
Format : 25 cm x 30 cm


Contents :

Some extracts




Not directly a book on ship model making but a real 'gold mine' on painting techniques and many build tips.
Unfortunately only in French or German but a lot of step by step photos.
The address of Marcel Ackle's blog :
http://www.feldbahn-modellbau.ch/
 
Thanks to Wefack for letting me discover the wonderful work of this talented model maker.
 
 

Good Evening Mark;
 
For tapering deck planks, take a look at my suggested method below. This will set them out nicely for you. Best drawn on a plan of the deck. Very simple, just an equally divided bar scale, rotated a little more each time as you approach the bow or stern. Then draw a gentle curve through all the left hand points, or bend the plank slightly to fit, if it will do so without buckling.
 
All the best,
 
Mark
 

Good Evening Mark;
 
For tapering deck planks, take a look at my suggested method below. This will set them out nicely for you. Best drawn on a plan of the deck. Very simple, just an equally divided bar scale, rotated a little more each time as you approach the bow or stern. Then draw a gentle curve through all the left hand points, or bend the plank slightly to fit, if it will do so without buckling.
 
All the best,
 
Mark
 

Good Evening Mark;
 
For tapering deck planks, take a look at my suggested method below. This will set them out nicely for you. Best drawn on a plan of the deck. Very simple, just an equally divided bar scale, rotated a little more each time as you approach the bow or stern. Then draw a gentle curve through all the left hand points, or bend the plank slightly to fit, if it will do so without buckling.
 
All the best,
 
Mark
 

Don't forget the alex snodgrass' adjustment method! When I was discouraged by the $139 cheapest bandsaw, his method gave a new life to my band saw, and I was able to do resawing 90mm cherry woodsheet properly by the troublesome band saw!
 
However, I definitely recommend you to buy 14 inch bandsaw if you need serious resawing work as someone said above.

(Thinks: Aha! another steam-boat to sink!)
 
Dangerous birds, those shags. You really have to watch out for them 
 
Steven

I brought what I thought was the 1805 plates only version here in the UK from a book dealer at £300, when it landed last week it was both volumes! Sim Comfort 1977 limited edition 105 / 500. I’m not complaining but wish I’d tried my luck at the Lottery the day I ordered it.

Hi John;
 
There are at least two books,  '18th century rigs & rigging' by Karl Heinz Marquardt,  and 'The masting and rigging of English ships of war' by James Lees (which I can see that you have borrowed from the library [must be a good one,  to hold such titles] but perhaps not yet read)  which deal with the matter stage by stage.  They start with the masts and associated rigging,  then the yards and associated rigging,  and then the sails and associated rigging.  They finish with sections on different types of blocks,  and belaying. 
 
Neither of them has a glossary,  unfortunately,  which would be helpful for you;  but you will read about shrouds and stays in association with the masts,  and braces,  lifts and halliards in association with the yards;  then sheets,  tacks and buntlines in association with the sails.  By the time you have read Lees' book,  you should have a thorough knowledge of the basics.  Deeper knowledge can only come from re-reading,  drawing rigging diagrams,  and from rigging models.
 
Lennarth Peterson's book,  by the way,  despite its title,  only deals with the rigging of one particular ship at one particular period.  So whilst it is very good for a model of this type,  for earlier or larger vessels,  it is a somewhat limited source.
 
All the best,
 
Mark P

Earlier (English) naval ships' treenail diameters were in proportion to the ship's length. I seem to recall the figure of  1" diameter for ever 100' 0" of keel. A sloop of 96' 0" had ⅞" diameter treenails, for example.

Well I'm going to gush over this model some more after going to the Facebook link in the first post of this topic and viewing the photos of this model in full size. It's simply incredible! Perfect in every detail and the finish is unbelievably beautiful. I think this is one of the most amazing ship models I've ever seen. Do yourself a favor and go to the Facebook link at feast your eyes on her. Congratulations to whoever built it!
 
Bob

That’s a really good deal.  These books are an amazing resource on how-to’s  even if you aren’t building a Swan class.  I’d jump all over this if I didn’t already have the set.
 

With no flying jib boom it would be Jib Sail, (out front) Fore Topmast Stay Sail, and Fore Staysail (back aft).
Your images do not have the Fore Staysail rigged or raised.
The traveller on the Jib Sail is hauled about halfway aft on the jib boom.

Good Afternoon Messis;
 
It looks to me as if it is the same sails in both pictures, but in the second one, the outer sail has been hauled further out on the jib-boom. It also looks to me as though the ship only has a bowsprit and jib-boom, there is no flying jib-boom rigged. 
 
So there are probably only intended to be two headsails in the present rigging set-up.
 
All the best,
 
Mark P

Good Afternoon Messis;
 
It looks to me as if it is the same sails in both pictures, but in the second one, the outer sail has been hauled further out on the jib-boom. It also looks to me as though the ship only has a bowsprit and jib-boom, there is no flying jib-boom rigged. 
 
So there are probably only intended to be two headsails in the present rigging set-up.
 
All the best,
 
Mark P

Thanks for posting these Alan;
 
Regarding the riggers hanging or drowning themselves, this was due to the Peace of Amiens, signed in 1802. 
 
Lord St Vincent, who had recently been made First Lord of the Admiralty, was convinced that the dockyards were staffed by rogues, who had no other object in life but to connive and steal for their own profit. As soon as peace was declared, one which St Vincent was adamant would last for at least 10 years, he immediately set up commissions of inquiry, and ordered swingeing cuts to the dockyard staff and Navy budget. He ordered halts to the purchase and stockpiling of most items needed for building or maintaining ships. These policies were opposed by more strategically aware Naval officers, but their protests were un-heeded. 
 
So of course, when war with France broke out again within a year or so, the Navy had few ships ready for sea, no timber stockpiled in the dockyards, a greatly reduced number of skilled men to put ships in commission and start on the building of new ones, and greatly reduced morale. At the same time, Napoleon was massing troops on the Channel coast, and proclaiming the forthcoming invasion of Britain. It was just like the disarmament policies of the British government in the 1930s, and the Munich agreement. Put not your faith in the promises of dictators!
 
St Vincent, a notedly harsh disciplinarian even in an age when much that would be unthinkable now was regarded as commonplace, would certainly not have spared a thought for either the damage he did to the Navy, nor for the lives of those who were so badly affected by his mis-timed and inappropriate cutbacks. Many of these men were probably owed years of back-pay, and having been dismissed from their employment, would have been unable to obtain any further credit to buy food. Being unable to sustain their existence any longer, they probably saw no hope of ever receiving their arrears of pay, and quite understandably, just gave up. Sobering stuff.
 
May their souls rest in peace
 
All the best,
 
Mark P
 
 
 
 

Thanks for posting these Alan;
 
Regarding the riggers hanging or drowning themselves, this was due to the Peace of Amiens, signed in 1802. 
 
Lord St Vincent, who had recently been made First Lord of the Admiralty, was convinced that the dockyards were staffed by rogues, who had no other object in life but to connive and steal for their own profit. As soon as peace was declared, one which St Vincent was adamant would last for at least 10 years, he immediately set up commissions of inquiry, and ordered swingeing cuts to the dockyard staff and Navy budget. He ordered halts to the purchase and stockpiling of most items needed for building or maintaining ships. These policies were opposed by more strategically aware Naval officers, but their protests were un-heeded. 
 
So of course, when war with France broke out again within a year or so, the Navy had few ships ready for sea, no timber stockpiled in the dockyards, a greatly reduced number of skilled men to put ships in commission and start on the building of new ones, and greatly reduced morale. At the same time, Napoleon was massing troops on the Channel coast, and proclaiming the forthcoming invasion of Britain. It was just like the disarmament policies of the British government in the 1930s, and the Munich agreement. Put not your faith in the promises of dictators!
 
St Vincent, a notedly harsh disciplinarian even in an age when much that would be unthinkable now was regarded as commonplace, would certainly not have spared a thought for either the damage he did to the Navy, nor for the lives of those who were so badly affected by his mis-timed and inappropriate cutbacks. Many of these men were probably owed years of back-pay, and having been dismissed from their employment, would have been unable to obtain any further credit to buy food. Being unable to sustain their existence any longer, they probably saw no hope of ever receiving their arrears of pay, and quite understandably, just gave up. Sobering stuff.
 
May their souls rest in peace
 
All the best,
 
Mark P
 
 
 
 

If you are talking about those lead pipes that lead from the inside of the waterways outboard, you may consider using hollow soldering tin. Dissolved the resin in aceton and shabe it to your needs.

You and me both! I've also got complete sets of K&E French curves, engineers' curves, and "railroad" and "highway" radius curves. I've got a fair number of "doubles" to the ship's and French curve sets. I had to buy "odds and ends" in lots before I got all of them. I built them up over a period of three years or so when the stuff started appearing on eBay and before collecting it got really popular. I built quite a collection of top-of-the-line K&E Paragon drafting instruments. It started when I first bought a K&E Paragon planimeter to calculate displacement and I went downhill from there.  I finally "admitted I had a problem" and "got into rehab" when the prices started climbing exponentially. 
 

I feel your pain, Bob. Current prices certainly make for attitude adjustment. I also have a lovely pearwood set of radius curves 3" to 200". Those earlier, heady days of eBay, when bargains could still be had! I still occasionally look and whimper softly.

I would concur with Dan. However, it is possible that the score for the fish davit to sit in is angled and is deepest inboard, tapering to nothing outboard. If so, the outboard aspect would be exactly as drafted.

There is something wrong here..   Your tools and work area are much too neat and clean..😄
 
Seriously, that is a very nice start.  I look forward to watching your progress...
 
I particularly like your work board with the drawers underneath..  I am going to shamelessly steal that idea..

Well I finally started the build, my build board is more of a build station. I have drawers below the build which are interchanged as I move from one stage of the build to the next, I have shown some pictures of how I utilize the space, hard to be original with designs, much borrowing of many different ideas incorporated here. This is my first build, but have been modeling and lurking about the forums for years....

This is the build station with the progress to dateT
 

Large drawer storage  top tray slides left to right to increase storage capacity

Carving tools
 

Cutting and drilling items

Keel alignment
 

Progress to date, I have not installed the bulkhead former's yet as I am waiting on some material to finish. I used Chucks instruction on bolts #77 and 15# Fishing Line
The Stem, I have used Watco wipe on Poly Satin to protect against dirt and grime

Good Morning Gerard;
 
If you mean the projections at the bottom, the heel, this is due to the frames not being square to the line of the keel, but canted forward, so the heel has to be angled to fit against the side of the keel.
 
If you mean the projections at the sides, this is simply because one half of the frame, the aft portion, one half of the frame sandwich, is much wider than the forward part of the frame, the other part of the sandwich. This is due to the taper of the ship towards the bow. Canting the frames negates some of the taper, but not all of it.
 
All the best,
 
Mark P

To return to another point of yours, how thin the blade is definitely matters, but it also matters in how often it needs to be sharpened and how strong that edge is. If you're making straight cuts and don't mind sharpening often, I long since had reached the same conclusion as you where the sharpest blade is achieved when each side of the blade is a whole bevel. I've been sharpening my detail/chip carving knives that way for a long time now, and I carved 90% of the chip carving below with a Hock detail knife sharpened that way.
 
The disadvantages are weakness under any twisting load, they have to be sharpened often, and sharpening takes much longer because you're hitting so much metal. Most of the knives I use for ship work aren't sharpened that way, they still have a big bevel but not the whole side of the blade. For me the only time the performance vs. drawbacks is positive is when I'm chip carving where you need well more than scalpel sharpness.
 
 

I bought the pirate kit when I was building the first kit an year ago. I didn't know this forum at that time, and the first time I read the post about banned makers was when I joined this community last month.
 
It is common that South Koreans buy chinese products from aliexpress, and I also found the kit when I was researching the next ship. As a consequence, I had to buy additional parts at $100 after I purchased the skeleton $20 kit. Unfortunately, SK modellers communities are super thin, and most people don't know about pirate issue. Only a few communities banned posting the pirate kit of 'GUNDAM', which is the most famous modeller's hobby in SK. When I bought the pirate kit, and was frustrated by the splitting sales strategy, some of modellers were building one of the pirate kits. At last, I stopped to make the kit because of horrible wood quality. It stinks really bad like strong chemicals.
 
That's my story. I think I need to spread about the pirate story to SK modellers. I'll translate the article and let people know what brands are wrong and why they shouldn't make the mistake I did.