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TBlack

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Everything posted by TBlack

  1. TBlack
    Janos, If you're still watching this thread, what did you get in place of the Dremel drill stand? I've got the same problem and would like to find a solution. Tom
  2. TBlack
    And don't forget your dentist. They have dental burrs by the score that they don't use and are happy to part with.
  3. TBlack
    Popeye, Back in my day, skis didn't have bindings but rubber "step-ins" (easier to get out of). It was sort of a two part affair: a piece of rubber around the heel and another over the top of the foot. Also, I think I showed you my radar antenna back in version 1.0; don't forget the repeater on the dashboard.
  4. TBlack
    Thanks, KayZee,; I'm working on the salon currently. Nothing much to show yet, but it's been slow (I've been distracted by needed repairs to the garage door opener). Tom
  5. TBlack
    Dan, Welcome to our little (or not so little) on-line community. So now we have you and Chuck, do we get the rest of the Board? Anyway, have you been on one of these 42's? Quite a racing machine. I'm assuming you're doing this for the NYYC? Do they specify the kind of presentation, or is that left up to the artist? Tom
  6. TBlack
    Harvey, Thanks, we've got plenty of time. I'll make sure I do pilot holes. I'm only doing a single wheel; it's in a pilot house, so not quite so visible; and I've got a boring bar! Tom
  7. TBlack
    Harvey, I want to use your technique on a model I'm building. I particularly liked your solution to the 10 spoke spacing problem. Positively ingenious! What size drill did you use for the spoke holes? And I'm assuming it's long enough to go through the rim and into the hub all in one operation? Also, I'm reading that some of the spoke alignment was out. I'm not sure I completely understand, but do you mean that if you had drawn a line around the edge of each rim in the center you would have avoided the problem? Tom
  8. TBlack
    Runner63, It was in 1830 when Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. penned the poem that begins: "Aye, tear her tattered ensign down..." that galvanized the salvation effort for Old Ironsides. Maybe we need a new poet for the United States? Tom
  9. TBlack
    Steve, A picture from the fall of 1938, the demise of a proud vessel. By that time she had been lengthened by 15 feet which allowed room on the fantail for a ladder to the boat deck. Tom
  10. TBlack
    Steve, Re: the ladder. Never thought of that. The picture below doesn't show "the people's boat" off in the best light, but it's the only close-up of the area that I've got. I've marked where you think the ladder ought to go? Tom
  11. TBlack
    Steamschooner, I have a lot of respect for your opinion, given your interests. But if it's a ventilator why is it gone in that last photo above? See, I figured that initially the builders in Searsport realized that the passenger cabin had to be heated and they put a stove in there, but later realized how to tap the steam from the boiler and got rid of the stove. Anyway, while I've got your attention, would you look at the picture and notice the stack as it goes through the deck. Are those bolts or air holes that go around the base?
  12. TBlack
    In molding the styrene window inserts, I've been trying to see how thin I can make them with an eye toward the pilot house which will include an interior. That being so, the window assembly needs to be a thin sandwich. I've gotten the inserts down to less than half a millimeter. Also, notice the cup in the photo below which contains the styrene fluid after the molds have been filled. There's a lot of waste in this process which grates on my yankee sense of things.
  13. TBlack
    I'm working on constructing the salon on the 01 level. I'm approaching it the same way I did the main deck cabin, but then I had my brother's help and CAD program to produce a template. But he's out of town now, so I'm on my own to draw my own template (semi-successfully). Construction's the same, that is, cherry sides with windows and doors punched out and window inserts added from the back. The only difference is that the windows now have a vertical mullion. Otherwise all is the same. I make a first stab at the windows which then needs some cleaning up (some basic re-sizing!). To help I have a "plug" the size of the opening and a corner punch from Micro-Mark.
  14. TBlack
    Cap't Bob, The picture you have included is from post 1905 when Vinal Haven was lengthened to 115 feet. Notice that the number of windows in the forward part of the main cabin is significantly more than the version I'm modelling. But there were several alterations to the 100 foot boat prior to the 1905 rebuild. Look at these 3 photos displayed in chronological order. The easiest difference to pick out is the moving of the crew quarters from the freight deck to the bow. Notice in the first picture that there is a smoke stack coming up in fron of the life boat; it originates down in the main deck cabin. Notice also that the door is always open and includes a porthole.In the third picture the smokestack is gone from the cabin and now sits in the bow. The door is closed and the porthole gone. And portholes now appear in the hull in the bow. I guess they needed more room for freight. But also notice the ladder that goes up alongside the pilot house to the 02 level. There's a door into the pilot house right behind the ladder that couldn't possibly open, so the ladder must have been an afterthought. John, I'll have to take a closer look at that line-up. It may be that my Charlie Noble is no more than a ventilator, although the stack goes all the way down to about a foot off the deck before entering the salon. That's what led me to believe it was for a stove. Tom
  15. TBlack
    Michael, Charlie Noble was a British seaman, merchant marine I think, who was either in the galley as a cook or a concerned officer who always wanted the stove pipe polished. Consequently, the Charlie Noble is the stovepipe. Cap't Bob, I cannot figure out the shape of the top on that stove pipe; I'm going to have to wing it.
  16. TBlack
    What the heck is that thing! It either belongs over in the Name the Ship game or in a monster movie! Anyway, I'm moving forward along the 01 level and dealing with the salon. Nothing really difficult here and pretty straightforward, but I have to develop the plan. If you recall my approach to the main deck cabin, I used my brother, the architect, and his CAD program to develop the cabin sides. But he's out of town now and I'm on my own to hand draw the sides. One of the side benefits of building from photographs is the detail that keeps cropping up as I investigate more fully. The Charlie Noble that I've circled in the first photo, somehow just appeared. Notice that it has a "fence" around it in that photo, but in the next photo it doesn't (it's just forward of the lifeboat).
  17. TBlack
    Peter, that was a marvelous demonstration and beautifully described. We also got a glimpse of some fine model work in the background. I like the look of the deck and the color of the mast! I'm gathering that the secret here is the lacquer that keeps the line "tame" and in place while additional coils are being added. But I also learned about the toothpick tool; gotta have one! Tom
  18. TBlack
    Michael, It surely would be a hoot (especially from a steam whistle!), but I'd never be able to get it out of my basement! Tom
  19. TBlack
    Now all I need is a rather large woman in a floppy hat to complete the picture!
  20. TBlack
    John, Thanks for the encouragement. Here's the final product:
  21. TBlack
    The bench at the aft end of the 01 level looks pretty straightforward from the photo. There is no back to it and the legs look straight, and white. I decided to make it out of apple, just because I have a lot of it and it finishes to a nice golden hue. What I did was to make a "mould" that replicates the curve around the stern; slice up some slats; and make some spacers out of basswood. I tried assembling the whole thing all at one time. Too complicated; pieces flew in all directions. I realized there were too many moving parts. To minimize that I'm tackling one section at a time. So, I put the spacers in at the end and glue the first cross piece; let the glue dry and move the spacers around to the next cross piece and so on around the curve (I hope!).
  22. TBlack
    Snowmans (does this refer to winter weather or is this about women?), A lot of this bending stuff depends on the wood you're using and how thick it is. But to your question, I've found that if you soak a wood like cherry for too long it will change the color of the wood (it gets lighter and grayer). I can't imagine that it would take a whole day for the water to do its thing. You might try shortening the soak time and see how pliable the wood is. Tom
  23. TBlack
    Popeye, It has to be like that to keep the traplines from fouling as the traps go back over the side off the stern. Notice also that there are no cleats on deck aft for the same reason. Tom
  24. TBlack
    Thanks, John. I appreciate the comment. Next up is a U shaped bench at the back end of the 01 level. It should be more fun to build. Tom
  25. TBlack
    For better or for worse, I finished the railing around the 01 level. I laid out the railing on the 01 deck to get the joints and curves properly aligned. Next I put stanchions in place around the deck. The next step took some education on my part, but it turned out that the best way to install the railing onto the stanchions was to take one of the sections of the railing (there are 7 sections all the way around), attach stanchions only at the end points and let the ones in between fall where they may. That process insures that the stanchions will be vertical and parallel. The railing is cherry, the stanchions are Evergreen styrene rod (.040), and the nipples are Evergreen tubing. That hole in the decking at the forward end of the 01 level is where the pilot house goes. Tom

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