Chuck Seiler

The internet can be a wonderful place! It is especially wonderful if you are searching for images to add to a post at Model Ship World. You can find thousands of images of ships online!
 
BUT (and this is a big but) you probably don't own those images! And that means you can't simply add them willy-nilly to your content! Many images you find by doing an internet search are licensed, meaning there are rules that govern how the images may be used. If you violate the terms of the licensing agreement, you are breaking the law. If you share those images to MSW, you may even be placing MSW in legal jeopardy.
 
There is a way to determine whether you can share an image you find online, and it's pretty easy to do. I will demonstrate this for you here. Let's start with a Google search for HMS Victory. The search results look like this:
 

 
 
In the upper right corner of the results page, look for the "Tools" drop-down menu and click it.
 

 
 
This action opens a second toolbar, from which you should next select the  "Usage rights" drop-down menu.
 

 
 
This brings up a menu with three options:

 
"Not filtered by license" shows all the results of a search. This is the default option. "Commercial & other licenses" typically means you're going to have to pay a fee to use the image. Images from stock image vendors such as Shutterstock and Alamy fall into this category, as do most other results. "Creative Commons licenses" is the option you want. Be prepared to see a greatly diminished set of results!  
Clicking that option brings up only images that are generally okay for you to use, but with caveats, as I'll show you shortly. Note in this image that TWO of the first three results shown in the "not filtered" set are gone now!
 
 

 
At this point, you still have some homework to do -- you need to actually read the licensing terms and see what conditions you need to fulfill in order to use the image. Let's look at the first image on its Wikimedia page.
 
 

 
Scrolling down that page brings us to the licensing information, which says that you are free to share the work. Hooray!
 

 
But wait! Not so fast! Even for this shareable image there are conditions you must fulfill! For this image, you must "give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made."
 

 
What does that mean? That means you must cite your source, i.e., tell us where you obtained the photo. Here's what that looks like in a kit review I posted:

 
For comparison, let's go back to our search results, set the usage rights option to "Commercial & other licenses", and then click on one of the results from Alamy, a stock image vendor. We'll follow the links until we get to the image at Alamy's website.
 
 

 
 
There are two very important things to take notice of at the Alamy image page. The first is that the image is NOT free to use! If you want to use it, you have to pay $39 for the privilege.
 
 

 
 
The second important thing to take note of is that the image is watermarked. A watermark indicates that someone is claiming ownership of the image. After you pay Alamy the $39 fee, they will send you an unmarked copy of the image. See how that works? If you share a watermarked image to MSW, that's a dead giveaway that you didn't pay the fee!
 
 

 
 
Yes, it takes a bit more work to research usage rights, but you need to do it, because
it's the honest and legal thing to do it helps ensure that our beloved forum doesn't end up in legal hot water and, probably most importantly for forum members, the staff will delete photos from your posts that they have determined violate usage rights!  
Thanks for your cooperation!

As a once Jersey man, I can appreciate that.😉

Ah-Ha! Your humor went right over my head. Too subtle. I'm fond of San Diego BTW.
A large contingent of my family lives a couple miles away in Warminster. And many members of my modeling club (Philadelphia Ship Model Society) live in (Southern) Jersey. As a recent Connecticut to PA emigré, I still have much to learn about the various tribes of the Mid-Atlantic...e.g. South Jersey vs North Jersey, Delaware vs PA (and NJ).

Ron,
    Understood.  Having grown up in Warminster, PA, I was using this as an opportunity to wiff on New Jersey.  

Ron,
    Understood.  Having grown up in Warminster, PA, I was using this as an opportunity to wiff on New Jersey.  

Ron,
    Understood.  Having grown up in Warminster, PA, I was using this as an opportunity to wiff on New Jersey.  

You should have gone with Modeller's Sawmill.  I believe the tariff from New Jersey is much lower.  😁  

Ron,
    Understood.  Having grown up in Warminster, PA, I was using this as an opportunity to wiff on New Jersey.  

Thanks for the recommendation Chuck. Good to know there are other vendors.  I guess I didn't make it clear that there was no tariff to pay for my wood shipment from Europe. I don't mind an extended delivery from Europe, or the additional shipping cost.
I've been very pleased with the vendor I use since they consistently maintain the tight metric tolerances I require and they can also supply hardwoods that offer color choice and consistency within the same species.  

You should have gone with Modeller's Sawmill.  I believe the tariff from New Jersey is much lower.  😁  

You should have gone with Modeller's Sawmill.  I believe the tariff from New Jersey is much lower.  😁  

You should have gone with Modeller's Sawmill.  I believe the tariff from New Jersey is much lower.  😁  

You should have gone with Modeller's Sawmill.  I believe the tariff from New Jersey is much lower.  😁  

You should have gone with Modeller's Sawmill.  I believe the tariff from New Jersey is much lower.  😁  

Those guys also sell and promote companies from Asia and abroad who steal designs from legit mfgs…and they openly support them.  Its a known fact.  
 
Luckily I know of a few honest mfgs right here in the USA.  Prices are already cheaper and the parts are better and no tariffs or fees.  
 
Those same parts bought elsewhere probably would have cost you just $20 …. maybe next time.
 
These tariffs are a bigly bummer.  
 
 

rhephner,
 
As you know, wood will bend, but it has a grain that tries to straighten it back to the original shape. To get it to curve around the shape of the hull you have to "retrain" it to the new shape. Virtually every tutorial about bending wood mentions water and heat. Some people just use water and clamp the wet wood into a form with the desired curvature. Eventually the wood will adapt to the curve - I'm not sure the water has anything to do with it.
 
Steaming wood to get it to bend is a very old technique. The heat is what does the work, and hot water or steam is used to convey the heat into the wood quickly.
 
You also need to taper the planks to compensate for the difference in distances around the large midships bulkheads/frames and the shorter bow and stern bulkheads.
 
The best way I have found for getting planks to form to the shape of the hull is to heat bend them on the hull. This gets all the correct curves and twists - you won't get this with an off-hull bending form.
 
I use an inexpensive ($35) quilting iron (Mini Iron II - Clover No. 9100) as a plank bending tool. I put the plank on the hull in approximately the position it should go. Then I wet the plank with water, using a paint brush. Then the bending iron is applied to turn the water to steam and heat the plank. Quite often a single pass along the plank is enough to get the desired bend. I usually give it three passes anyway, just to be sure. After heat forming the plank It will just lay on the hull with the correct shape without clamping. Then it is easy to glue in place. This is far and away the best way to bend planks that I have seen!
 
This link shows how I have been doing this:
 
https://modelshipworld.com/topic/37060-uss-cape-msi-2-by-dr-pr-148-inshore-minesweeper/?do=findComment&comment=1075263

To begin with, read one (or more) of the pinned planking tutorials on this site. We've all been there!
 
http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Framing_and_Planking/Planking primer.pdf
 
http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Framing_and_Planking/Lining Off your hull for planking.pdf
 
http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Framing_and_Planking/NailPatternJig.pdf
 
http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Framing_and_Planking/plankingfan.pdf

Thanks for the kind words Mark.  I am no expert, but my first task was to get the lines hanging equal and straight and glue them to the cathead and block and dry.  Don't get your lines crossed up when rigging the block - inboard line to inboard holes, outboard to outboard.  Forward to forward holes, aft to aft holes.  Hope that makes sense?
 

 
The rope in this case is Syren Ultra .025 inch (synthetic).
 
But the key is to get the rope glued to the sides of the block so you don't have the line bulging out in all directions.  I used a little toothless alligator clamp to pinch the lines around the block while they were drying and that also left the nice inwards facing curves at the top of the block.
 

 

 
When you hook the block to the anchor, I used a light pressure on a pin vise handle to coax a gentle arc in the lines.
 

 
Finally, I feel there is a natural order to which lines are outboard and which are inboard.  You may have to change their order in the arc to get the best lay?
 

 
Hope that helps you somewhat.  If I couldn't get them straight dry I might try dampening the runs slightly.  But use care if you secured the block with diluted white glue as water will release that bond.  Definitely try dry first.

There was /is a banner at the Malco site saying only the ownership had changed.  All the employees and infrastructure remain the same.
 
I use their blades with my Proxxon FET and have never had a problem.

Thanks for this info, Chuck!  I had not heard about this.  I was a first-time customer of Malco back around Christmas time, when I purchased $200 worth of blades for my Byrnes saw.  The blades I have used so far have worked very well.  Hope the quality stays high.

Guns are done!
 
Two 6 lb bow chasers...
 

 

 

 

 
And the full complement, sixteen 12 lb carronades and the chasers, all rigged and ready for action.
 

 
Whew.

Estaban,
    I am a big fan of placing one figure in a strategic location to give perspective.  I do feel, though, that the use of a base detracts.  In the past I have placed a small hole in one or both feet and pinned the figure to the deck.  Will discuss in 2 weeks.

Always sir!   I love that figure example - I've been shipboard in that exact pose so I can relate! 🤣🤣🤣
 
I might try to add a small clear base to the figures so they could be placed or removed at will.  It will be interesting to try to paint them and get a good outcome.  I doubt I would glue them down - I've done two plastic aircraft carrier builds in recent times and have yet to glue an aircraft or support equipment to the deck! 
 
And yes, after having empty decks on the Prince all this time, 6 figures seems alot.  It is difficult to fathom 50+ men and boys on deck for an engagement, maybe 5 per gun?
 
Thanks for the thoughts!

Link to the part that disintegrated after a vinegar experiment.  Terrifying!
 

 

Part of the problem with the white pot metal (pewter?) fittings used on older models came from the cases they were mounted in. Some of the woods or finishes gave off acetic acid fumes. The cases were air tight, so the acid fumes built up and turned the metals (zinc, lead and tin) into metal acetate salt powders.
 
The moral of the story is to use acid free materials and ventilate the cases.