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Louie da fly

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Everything posted by Louie da fly

  1. Louie da fly
    Beautiful work, Dick. I particularly like the rusty effect that the blackening produced. Byzantine anchors are now a favourite subject of mine. For my own model I copied the Serce Limani anchors, but I love the look of the Yasi Ada one as well. Steven
  2. Louie da fly
    The earliest carracks were open at the break of the aftercastle, so the helmsman could see forward. However, as the aftercastle got bigger the fore end was closed in and steering must have been a bit of a problem. The same issue has occurred to me, and the only thing I can think of it that perhaps steering orders were relayed to the helmsmen by those on the upper deck. Obviously the whipstaff was an improvement, but even that wasn't a perfect solution, and the development of the ship's wheel would have made things a lot easier. Steven
  3. Louie da fly
    By the way, an amazing video of the making of the Master and Commander movie with footage I've never seen before - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTJBXmFnxOU Steven
  4. Louie da fly
    I can't give definitive evidence, but all the sources I've seen put the beginning of the whipstaff in the 16th century or later. Steven
  5. Louie da fly
    As far as I'm aware the whipstaff didn't come in until the late 16th century, so definitely too late for a cog. Steven
  6. Louie da fly
    Oh, that's just one of the giant hands I keep for when I photograph model ships. I got them from Kenny Everett . . .
  7. Louie da fly
    RdK - I just had a look at your Neptune log. That's a LOT of carvings! Whether you use sculpey or carved wood, don't expect your first effort to be satisfactory. But keep it - to remind yourself how far you've come. Given the large number of carvings, I'd think sculpey would be preferable because it's easier to work. Carving wood is very labour-intensive (don't ask me how I know - just look at my dromon build log). The precision of finish with sculpey isn't as good, at least initially, but in my view the big advantage is that you can "rough out" the shape of the item much more quickly than with carving, and with experience you'll get better and better at it. And when it's dried, you can come back to it and tidy up the detail with a scalpel and sanding. You will produce monsters to start with, but unless you're very good with carving tools you'd do the same with wood anyhow. So my recommendation would be to try sculpey and see whether you're happy with it - and don't let a few setbacks put you off. Steven
  8. Louie da fly
    Nice part of the world - just up from Margaret River (wine and foodie heaven), a stone's throw from Yallingup for the surfing . . . a short drive to the mighty jarrah and karri forests. Very nice. Mind you, Ballarat's pretty good, too . Steven
  9. Louie da fly
    Good to see taking the ship off the mould has worked well for you, Schrader. And thanks for the information about leaving some of the deck open so people can view inside the hull - the planked bulkheads will look good Steven
  10. Louie da fly
    Looking good, Chuck. Steven
  11. Louie da fly
    Well, having seen the time and trouble you've put into the Nina, and the quality of work, this next build log should be something to watch! Steven
  12. Louie da fly
    Thanks everybody for the likes; and thanks, Radek. I was hoping the photos would be what you wanted. I've done some extra sanding and most of the CA is gone now - along with a bit of red paint that must have transferred from my thumb while I was painting. I might be about to disappoint you, though. I intend to darken the underwater planking with shoe polish - it'll be sort of brownish-black in line with what they used to do back in the day (tar) - you can see an example a page or two back in this build on the bottom of the longboat. You'll still be able to see the planking, but it won't stand out so much like a sore thumb. Unfortunately the old sails are way past redemption - the fabric is actually crumbling. And anyway I plan to give her a whole new suit of sails in fake cloth of gold as in the reconstruction picture on the first page of this log. That was the original plan when I built her back in the day, and I think she deserves to look as good as she can. As we (used to) say here in Oz - as flash as a rat with a gold tooth . . . Steven
  13. Louie da fly
    I understand. So will you be replacing the current bulkheads (which seem to be made of MDF) with plank-built ones, or won't the bulkheads be visible in the finished model?
  14. Louie da fly
    And the mast steps in the Yenikapi Byzantine wrecks seem to have been rudimentary at best - some not even attached to the hull! Probably fair enough. Even the hockey stick may not have had a sheave, but just a groove along the top to guide the halyard, as I seem to recall your theorising in an earlier discussion. The amount of chafing from this arrangement may have been small enough to ignore in practical terms. Steven
  15. Louie da fly
    Roger, there are in fact two wrecks - known as Doel 1 and Doel 2. They are nowhere near as complete as the Bremen cog. You can see the archaeological reports at https://www.academia.edu/19499820/Construction_Features_of_Doel_1_a_14th_Century_Cog_found_in_Flanders and https://www.academia.edu/27506746/Doel_2_a_second_14th_century_cog_wrecked_in_den_Deurganck_Doel_Belgium Steven
  16. Louie da fly
    As far as I know nobody really knows how the rigging on Viking ships worked. There have been rigging elements (such as L-shaped pieces) found but as far as I know the ropes had long since perished. I think there's a lot of educated guesswork in any modern reconstructions. Others might know more, but perhaps if you get in touch with the Viking Ship Museum at Roskilde they'd be able to give you what information is available and what they based their reconstructions on. I'd be more likely to trust their information than what the kit manufacturer says - they have access to all the best evidence. Steven
  17. Louie da fly
    As requested . . . Note the remnants of a CA spill on the last one. I need to do more sanding to get rid of it, I think. Steven
  18. Louie da fly
    Can't be Albany - too far. Busselton? Bunbury? Manjimup? (I grew up in West Oz). Steven
  19. Louie da fly
    Pure masochism. I just like suffering . . . Steven
  20. Louie da fly
    Thanks Pat and Radek. And thanks everybody for the likes. Radek, the idea for the deadeyes is very good, but I'm really wanting to make all my deadeyes myself, masochism notwithstanding. I'm not quite sure what else I can add - I've pretty much posted everything as I went. Is there anything in particular you'd like to see? Such as the hull shape from different angles? If there are photos I can provide I'm happy to do so. Steven
  21. Louie da fly
    Reminds me of the time I was a volunteer on an archaeological dig in the old pearling town (now a ghost town) of Cossack in Western Australia. We were excavating the town store, on the site of the first building in the town. The mining company that now owned the town had burnt the building that had been on the site, as it was believed to be the third building there, so of no historical value. Turns out what they'd burnt down was the original building . . . Steven
  22. Louie da fly
    And from another Aussie! Where are you situated? (Oz is a big country - WA is three times the size of Texas). Maybe one or more members are close to you. Not us in Victoria for the next 5 days, though - back on to Stage 4 lockdown (sigh). I had the opportunity to see the Cutty Sark in 2009 when I was in the UK - only to find she'd been burnt by some Visigoth with a box of matches and couldn't be visited. Apparently all fixed now, but it was very annoying at the time. Missed out on the Mary Rose, too, dammit! Yes, do start a build log. The instructions are here: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/24705-before-you-post-your-build-log-please-read-this-starting-and-naming-your-build-log/ Good to have you aboard. Steven
  23. Louie da fly
    Welcome to MSW, Fltguy! Don't forget to start a build log of your own. Just as those of others have been of use to you, the solutions you come up with to the problems you face in the build may well be useful to those who come after you. And it's also a great way for other members to give you help and advice as you travel on your journey. The instructions are here: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/24705-before-you-post-your-build-log-please-read-this-starting-and-naming-your-build-log/ Good to have you aboard! Steven
  24. Louie da fly
    You did a good job. I struggled to get mine to (a) be circular and (b) stay circular. Maybe I should have used a bending iron - I just progressively and gently "kinked" mine with a pair of pliers till they were roughly circular. Probably should have taken more time and care. Steven
  25. Louie da fly
    Congratulations, Cri-Cri. That's a beautiful model. Do you know what you're going to do next? Steven

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