Chuck Seiler

He uses Crimson Red. The second from the left on my plate #2.

The other option is when you make a custom color, make a whole lot of it. <then, of course, it sits in the container and gets all dried out..... :-( > I guess I was supposed to use

The answer to your question will depend on what your experience with woodworking is and what equipment you have to work with. Making a mast and yards from square stock may be the best answer, but may not be practical for you. Another option might be to use something to reinforce the existing mast. If the mast is hollow, try brass tubing for the inside.

I have to say that I have been interested in getting 'the right red' almost to the point of obsession for several years. I looked at different woods, different dyes, etc. This is an extension of that. It also explains why I have seemingly alot of reds laying around. Shortly after Joel posted his color swatches above, I got with him IM and discussed different reds. It prompted my to develop my own swatches, which I took to the NRG conference. Unfortunately, I did not take the opportunity to discuss wit may people. One thing did get from Joel was to post a common item, like a can of soup, so differences in monitors, etc, can be gauged. Plate 1 consists of some colors I was playing with (upper) as well as combinations. CABOOSE RED is obviously not close to red ochre, but it was a possible option for bulkheads and gun carriages. Plate 2 consists of plain reds I had. WINE and PERMANENT RED are not very appealing to me. Thoughts and comments?

It looks like the bells they had in the old California missions.

Count me in!

Chuck, Will we get the carving blanks thru SYREN or thru NRG?

Dealing mostly with 18th century ships, but also having worked on a 1607 vintage ship model, I got some insight on wales. I am sure there are more knowledgable people on the subject, but I will add my 2 quid. One function of the wale is to hold the frames together...sort of like barrel hoops. I am not sure if that is the intended function, but as a major structural part, that's what it does. What I believe to be the primary function, is to provide structural "meat" to support other parts of the ship. In the 18th century, this was to support the deck structures, such as the clamps, knees, etc. In earlier years, the frames were much different. Then, the futtocks were NOT bolted to each other. Rather, they were bolted to a wale where the two futtocks overlapped. That is why you see several narrower wales on ships like the Santa Maria or same era ships. ...and, yes, from what I could tell from the plans, there were wales below the waterline.

Great timing. I was going through some pictures of SURPRISE and found a shot of the galley smoke stack (Charlie Noble).

Gadzooks! Checking the various hues online I find there is alot of paint out there. Monitor color does not reflect true color however. I may need to head down to Dick Blick, who has MANY different brands, and check out the swatches. Is anybody going to be talking 'color' at the upcoming NRG conference? None on the schedule, but maybe in a round table.

I have tried Crimson, but am not wild about it. Cadmium Red and a little Burnt Sienna. I am on track but need to work on it. I recently got Iron Oxide Red I will experiment with in conjunction with the others. The problem may be that I am shooting for a barn red look, when that may NOT be what I want. The red cliffs of non-Dover (above) seem to have more yellow.

Does anybody have a good formula for replicating red ochre? I am experimenting with various hues of acrylic red to find a shade I like. So far, I am close but not on target.

After having spoken from memory, I checked my sources and found that there is also the half breath plan. At any rate, here is a better discussion of the lines using SULTANA as a reference. http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/plans_and_research/InterpretingLineDrawings.pdf I only used waterlines to create a hull once (with success). I have used the station lines several times to make bulkheads...using them to make a hull. Starting the model is easy. Finishing it is...

CA, I had similar experience as you with the hull block. After I screwed it up the first time, I decided to make the hull using the bread and butter method using lifts based on the horizontal waterlines from the body/sheer plan. It turned out to be much easier than trying to sculpt the single block of wood.

It is the "SAN SALVADOR" from the San Diego Maritime Museum. Below i a picture after construction but before commissioning. Here is a link to the site. https://sdmaritime.org/visit/the-ships/san-salvador/

I found that padauk wood also makes a reasonably good brick. I used it on my scratch PHILADELPHIA for the hearth.

That's about right. They were not all that roomy and the folks were smaller then. Movie and TV depictions are bad examples because they often build the sets overly large to accommodate the film crews, cameras and comfort of the actors. IIRC, the BOUNTY used for the 1960s movie was 1.5 times the size of the real BOUNTY. That is also the reason why, unlike the army, the British navy never stands when they make a toast. Tradition. Back in the day, if you stood in the wardroom or great cabin, you may end up whackin' your head on some beam or overhead object.

The whole gundeck area.

As I recall, the flue on HMS Surprise in San Diego has the angled cap with a damper that can be open and closed. Also recalled is that the cap has handles so you can remove or move the cap. A docent once told me that it was so the cap could be pointed downwind to keep drafts from blowing into the flue.

You can get a 1/8 inch replacement leg. That's .125" wide...at least it WAS until I started using it on smaller stuff. Now mine is .06 wide at the bottom. :-)

Dave, For the Byrne's Saw, the zero clearance insert is easy. Jim sells blank aluminum inserts that you install with the saw blade down. You slowly raise the blade and, viola!!!, zero clearance insert. The beauty is that you can make one for each blade size. I am sure you could do it with the Dremel as well if you can find or make the correct size blanks. I have also seen people use the appropriate thickness airplane model grade plywood.

I use it and I find it quite helpful. My 1/8" attachment is a bit thinner than 1/8" these days, however.

In my opinion, that which makes a log good also makes it hard to keep up. I have often gotten bogged down on a model because I am taking so much time and effort to get pictures at the right point, get thoughts on paper and compile a good post. I don't know if that ever came through in my logs, but I tried. Here is what I think makes a good post: Explain what you are doing as you go along. Looking at pictures of how your model is progressing is nice, but looking at the process you are using to get to that point is even better. How did you make that thingamabob? What problems are you having? Detailed info on how you make something can be enlightening. There is a fine line between going into TOO much detail and no enough. I have seen things that I have tried to make many times and I cannot get them to look that good. How did you do it? I guess that is what IMs are for. A lot of pictures. Close ups, full model, different angles, high resolution. The latter is important particularly when illustrating a lot of detail. I find it frustrating to click on a photo to blow it up, only to find it is not very large or poor quality. My rule of thumb when I was a newsletter editor was I should be able to expand the photo to 200% and still get good detail. Different angles are good. I have been trying to find some shots of where the wales come together at the bow, both sides. I cannot find many. Most shots are of one side or the other, but not both. Same goes for other areas we don't normally see. In my opinion, a very good example of a good build log is Dan Vadas' "VULTURE" log. PS. His VULTURE cross section isn't bad either.

Random thoughts after having looked at the list. Some are repeats, but important. Clamps. You can never have too many, but you can have the wrong ones. Small pinchy ones, large clampy ones. As you work on your model you will find ones that work well in various scenarios. If you are working with woods like basswood, be careful about having too much spring. It could damage the wood. My experience is the best clamps are the ones at the ends of your arms...but I only have 2 of those. Be careful not to superglue those to your model. Sandpaper. One secret to a good model is a good finish. The secret to a good finish is a smooth faring and sanding. In addition to the 60-100 and 120-200 range, get some fine paper...300, 400, 1000 for finishing the model, even if painting. Check out Chuck Passaro's WINCHELSEA log regarding paint finishes. Hairdryer. Use the hairdryer to dry or form the plank while it is in the bending jig. It speeds things up. Scalpels. ...and when you start going with larger tools, Mini table saw and mini disk sander. I find them invaluable. Personally, I have the Byrnes Saw and the Byrnes Disk Sander (no affiliation, just happy customer). And don't forget the clamps.

Passion and desire....which I guess it the same. When we (San Diego Ship Modelers Guild) man a booth in the county fair each year, the #3 question/statement (behind "Where is the restroom?" and "Is that a pirate ship?" but ahead of "How do you put a ship in a bottle?") is "That must take alot of patience." My answer to that is 'patience runs out. desire keeps you going.' There are times when you get tired of working on it. Frustrated with it. Stumped by a particular process. Desire and passion brings you back. ...and you get to wear Hawaiian shirts at the formal NRG dinners.