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Louie da fly

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Everything posted by Louie da fly

  1. Hi Rick, I love the idea of your building a model of the African Queen (one of my favourite movies, where Bogart got to show he could play something other than a "tough guy"). You might get some help from these threads: and Regarding the live steam, is it your plan to install it in the model? The only problem I can foresee with that (apart from the whole thing of learning how to use live steam without blowing yourself up!) would be whether the relative sizes of the vessel and the engine/boiler would work together. Still, that's all part of the learning process, I suppose.
  2. Looking very good, Cri-Cri. How are you planning to fix the lateen yards to the masts? I've just been going through that process myself, and you might like to look at the June 9 post here:
  3. Welcome from Ballarat! Well, IMHO that's a good start. There are a few threads with recommendations for beginners' models - have a look at this one - Though I'm not a kit builder, Model shipways and Vanguard seem to be well recommended for beginners, with clear instructions.
  4. Those guns look amazing, Pat. Beautiful detail. I love the VR monogram. Maybe you should put a matchstick next to one to give a sense of scale. As a complete dunce regarding 3D printing, what do you have to provide to get something like this printed? A 3D CAD drawing, or can you somehow scan an existing real-world original? Steven
  5. When you say wooden do you mean the original ship is wood, or that you want to make a wooden model? If the former, you might consider plastic kits, which all the parts are already made and you don't have to assemble frames or bulkheads, plank the hull etc etc, with a great saving in time or effort. But if you want to make the model itself out of wood, I'd suggest a solid model, carved from a single piece of wood, or else built up of "chunks"of wood that are then shaped to the curves of the hull. This used to be a very popular way of making models, and can result in a very fine ship indeed. Particularly if you ar portraying a later (i.e. 19th century or later) ship where the hull is completely painted, there's no need to show the planking at all. I don't know if you can get kits that are done this way, or if you have to scratch-build. If you want more than one mast, and square rigged (which I think is often what people mean when they think of a tall ship), can I suggest no more than two masts - a brig, perhaps, or even a topsail schooner? It reduces the work in rigging, making masts, yards, sails etc, but still makes for a very beautiful model, and definitely a "tall" ship. Steven
  6. Having the large photo in your signature is a bit strange - I've come across it in putting up a link in a post, but I have a couple of links in my signature and they didn't do that. Steven
  7. Beautiful work, Chris. That shape is much rounder than I'd ever thought - very suitable for carrying cargo. Steven
  8. Oh, and you might like to put up some of your painted figures in the "Shore Leave" section of "The Crew's Lounge" (bottom of the Home Page), under "Non-ship/categorised builds." I for one am very interested in methods for painting human figures, particularly on getting the faces right. I have 48 oarsmen I have to paint for my dromon, and they're pretty close in size to your figures. Steven
  9. Good to see this build log starting, Boxbuilds. I discovered the person I thought was a part-time volunteer at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, where there's an almost identical model, was actually at the Maritime Museum, quite a distance away. I've sent a message to a friend of mine who I think used to be employed by the Powerhouse, but that was quite a few years ago. I'm waiting on an answer. Might be of use - I'll just have to wait to find out. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress on this build. If there's any help I can give, please let me know. Steven
  10. Yes, Oskar24, disregard our lame attempts at humour. Maritime terminology is a whole new world and it takes a while to get your head around it, but bit by bit it does come. There are quite a few good dictionaries of maritime terms online - I rather like this one - https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199336005.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199336005-e-48 - but of course (particularly when you're just starting out) you will look up a word and the definition contains new words you also have to look up. But persevere, it does get easier. And ask as many questions as you want. The people here are very helpful and will often give you better ways of doing something that save you a lot of time and trouble. Steven
  11. Hi Marcus. I don't know if this is likely to be of help to you, but I just came across an academic paper on fluyts - https://www.academia.edu/8205845/Eriksson_N._2014._Urbanism_under_Sail_An_Archaeology_of_fluit_ships_in_early_modern_everyday_life?email_work_card=title - also https://www.academia.edu/31169793/Eriksson_N._and_Rönnby_J._The_Ghost_Ship._An_Intact_Fluyt_from_c.1650_in_the_Middle_of_the_Baltic_Sea I hope it contains some information that is of use to you. Best wishes, Steven
  12. By hand. I think a slip with a power tool could be disastrous. Takes awhile, but much less time than doing the carving. Steven
  13. Not quite sure what that means - not even sure I want to know . . . Well the hands will be able to recover now. Oh, and to clarify, it's not that I kept cutting myself as I carved (though that does happen occasionally), but the heel of the left thumb gets painful, almost as though it's been bruised (it hasn't). Probably just holding the hand in a position it's not meant to be in for long periods as I hold the figures to be carved. Steven PS: I'm onto sanding the figures now - a little more than half way through.
  14. That's a very clever technique. You're doing a marvellous job with this model. Steven PS: Where in Oz are you based?
  15. We have a flute player The others may take some time . . . I feel like resting on my laurels for a while . . . Steven
  16. Pat, I was in the sea scouts when I was a kid but I still haven't mastered how to tie a bowline, let alone a sheepshank or sheet bend. I can do a reef knot, and a round turn and two half hitches . . . but I always had trouble with getting my head around knots. Now onto other things. A real milestone - I've finally carved the last of my oarsmen! But wait! (I hear you cry) they still need to be smoothed off and they don't even have arms yet. Crikey, you're a cruel bunch . . . Steven
  17. Thanks, Druxey. Unfortunately I didn't have a tape measure with me - otherwise I'd have been able to find out whether the gun was 8'6" or 9'6" long (much less usual). Steven
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