hornet

I use a two part epoxy to give a crystal clear protective coat to the whippings (bindings) on fishing rod guides (runners) that I custom build. I see no reason why it would not also work for this application. Sometimes it gets tiny bubbles in it after application, but these are easily removed by blowing with a hair dryer on a warm setting. It is available in a variety of brands at most fishing tackle shops.

Birchwood Casey Brass Black Metal Finish works well. It is available on EBay. See my post in the thread below for more info and pictures. http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/4815-painting-and-blackening/

do these pics help at all? Taken aboard the Endeavour replica.

I wish that Jim Byrnes would be made an honorary Santa's Elf and would open a workshop in Australia!

In reality you may be correct Mick. I am no expert on the history or the plating of ships in the 'real world.' This is only the second ship I have coppered and I have looked at a lot of models on this site for guidance and watched the 'Modellers Shipyard' DVD guide to coppering a hull. They all seem to be coppered in a similar fashion. Thanks for the information though, I will do some research. It wouldn't be hard to remove the plates and replace them with something else if necessary. I haven't built the rudder yet either. If anyone else out there could shed some light on this issue in relation to modelling, I'd appreciate the input!!

Hi Mick As to coppering of the hull. I original tossed up between buying the Caldercraft Supply and the Modeller's Shipyard version (see link below) The modellers Shipyard version is coppered but was a lot more expensive. While in communication with modellers Shipyard, I was told that Supply was indeed coppered. If you check out the history of coppering hulls of Royal Navy you will see that the process begun in 1779. Wikipedia states " all ships up to and including 44 gun ships were ordered to be coppered when next in dry dock" By 1786 the entire fleet was apparently sheathed. The Supply remained in service to the Royal Navy until 1791 and was the used as a coal carrier until 1806. One would have to assume therefore that she was coppered at some stage in her long career. I presume that Caldercraft did not include copper plates to keep costs of the kit down. I actually pinched the copper plates from my Caldercraft HMS Bounty kit (next in line to be built) and in the same scale. I ordered some more for her from Cornwall Model Boats. They supplied and are delivering the plates for less than half the price that I can get them in Australia - Go Figure??? http://www.modelshipyard.com.au/ship-models/modellers-shipyard/hms-supply-first-fleet-1788/

Hi again Mick868 Further good pics of the Supply can be found at the address below. It is in a slightly different configuration but the pics are fairly high resolution and are worth a look. Picture Number 6 is a stern view of the model and may also help you with your build. Hope this helps http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=238338&img=182799

I am a little ahead of you on the Caldercraft Supply. Just installing copper plating. Hope these pics of the stern section are of help. I did not use the stern counter pattern supplied (part 73) I used the supplied one as a template and then cut one out of thinner basswood and planked it. Cheers

I don't sand the deck beforehand. After fitting a treenail, I use a pair of small cutters that I keep very sharp with a diamond sharpening stone ( so as not to crush the bamboo treenails). I can cut the treenails practically flush to the deck with this cutter. I then sand the deck and treenails with very fine grit sandpaper - try not to over sand as deck planks are often very thin. I have recently bought a proxxon pen sander which I will use to get into tight corners of the deck of my current build - the 'Supply' - when I reach the deck planking/ tree nailing stage of the build.

LEAD SPLIT SHOT - used in fishing and available, in very convenient dial packs, from tackle stores in a range of sizes - can be gently squeezed closed, filed back and painted black. They make good cannon balls. EXTRA LONG MATCHSTICKS - can be turned up on a wood lathe to make oars - I did this on my 18th century longboat ALUMINIUM FLASHING - for windows and guttering - Available cheaply by the roll in hardware stores (one roll would last a lifetime!) It is thicker and easier to work with than aluminium cans and can be used in a variety of ways when bashing!

Today marks 100 years since the first convoy of 30 000 Australian Troops left from Albany, Western Australia, for the Middle East and on to Gallipoli in World War One. My stepson is a crew member on board the Collins Class Submarine H.M.A.S Rankin - Which is taking part in the Australian Navy Sail Past as part of the commemorations in Albany this morning. A very exciting day for Albany!!!! Lest We Forget https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/25396510/anzac-flotilla-arrives-in-albany/ HMAS Rankin leads the fleet into King George Sound - Albany W.A PICTURE BY NIC ELLIS 31 OCTOBER 2014 THE WEST AUSTRALIAN FAIRFAX AND AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW .

Looks like I'll be buying yet another toy!!

Hi Wallyh No 75 may be a bit too tight. I've done a few conversions to metric (which we use in Australia) No 75 drill equates to a little over 0.5mm. No 25 on the Byrnes drawplate equated to a little over 0.6 mm. I think you may need about a size 71 drill bit which is about 0.66mm. You don't want the treenail too tight. It should slip into place fairly smoothly when dry. A small dob of glue on the end will then slide up the sides between the treenail and the plank/ deck when you glue it down. As to depth, just don't drill right through the deck. Deep enough so it is firmly in place. My suggestion is to do a few on a piece of scrap wood until you are confident about the drill bit diameter and depth. On your model is no place to experiment!!

Try here. Proxxon have a good range. Good quality too. www.proxxonworld.com.au

Hi again JPett Just tried your warp drive method on a short (3cm long) piece of bamboo. It worked a treat. Thanks for the great tip!!!

I usually raid under the Christmas Tree at about 2am on Christmas morning. Not able to resist playing with any new toys that come my way Kevin. In the case of a new saw, I would probably test it by cutting the handle off the Admiral's broom or something equally inappropriate. Your restraint is admirable.

Hi JPett Just wondering, do you have many twist offs when you engage 'Warp Drive' or do you just draw very short pieces of bamboo through the plate. I tend to pull long pieces of bamboo through and I would think they would twist off very easily when attached to a dremel, even on the lowest speed setting.

I think on 1:48 you would need to take it down quite a bit further than No 55. Someone more qualified than me may disagree (I have treenailed the deck of a 1:48 and 1:36) but I would suggest around 0.6 diameter which means about number 25 I think deck treenails (or plugs) were from 25mm to 35 mm in diameter in real life (1:1). I have a really great little Ap on my phone and iPad. It is called Modelscaler. You input the 1:1 size and the scale and the Ap will give you the scaled down size. In this case 1:48 and using about 30mm as the actual size of the treenail/ plug, the size of the scaled down treenail would be 0.625mm. This would be about No 24 - 25

It took you 3 years to play with it????? Hell of a lot more self control than me!!! I have the smaller Proxxon table saw - the KS 230. I looked at the FET but didn't think I could justify the extra $$$$. I have been using the KS for about 3 years and it is adequate for my needs - mainly bashing. I note that the FET is now around $600 Aussie Dollars - about 330 of your pounds. If I had spent that much on an FET, I would be using it on my next build and then making a decision on whether it is up to scratch or not. According to many, many threads on this site, the Byrnes machine is unmatched but I'd have to agree with Ponto on this one.

In my opinion treenails would be visible on the deck of a 1:48 scale model. Check out the pic of the deck of the Endeavour replica that I uploaded on another thread which recently discussed the merits of treenailing. http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/8317-to-treenail-or-not-to-treenail/ In addition, I also had some difficulty with the Byrnes drawplate initially. I ended up making a small tool to cut down the bamboo to a size easily pulled through the plate. See it on the following thread: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/2959-treenail-detail-option/ I use a pair of pointy nosed pliers to pull the bamboo through. Pull through each hole a couple of times and only go down one hole size at a time.

Less tedious than fitting copper plates I suppose but both look really exceptional if done well. Something every modeller should attempt .... at least once!

Agree with Brian. The Byrnes draw plate makes a tedious task pleasant. Well not quite pleasant, but at least you end up with very good quality tree nails relatively quickly. Whatever you do, don't be tempted to buy a cheap draw plate on eBay. Not worth a pinch of.........!!!!

Just one final word from me too NHDave, If you want to combine the VOB files that you have copied into one large file on your computer so they will play seamlessly, there are programs available (for free) on the internet that will do it for you. Or, you can do as I do, and combine them from the command prompt(assuming you are running windows) - This is a little more complicated - but not much! The resulting file will not work on a DVD Disk, but will play happily on your computer's media player or any other media player and means you do not have to click on separate files if you want to watch the whole video. Just type the following into google - or whatever search engine you use: - combining vob files into one file or - combining vob files from command prompt (this one is for windows computers only)

Yep, sure did Brian!! Won't be buying any more though.

I have been using commercially made plastic planking screws for years. They work quite well but after a while the head of the screw starts slipping in the plastic casing. It is not accessible and super-gluing it on the outside is only partly successful. I thought about investing in the Micromark metal clamps, but they are a bit expensive. I then came up with the following idea and made a set of my own planking screws. Sneaking into the back yard under the cover of darkness, I pilfered some of the Admiral's plastic pegs from her peg basket. I dismantled the peg and cut off the ends I then used some 8mm dowel and some 4G by 20mm wood screws to make the `handle' of the planking screw. 4G by 20mm was the thinnest/longest screws I could find so I had to recess them into the dowel so they were long enough to go through the bottom. I had to grind the screw heads a little so they would fit through the dowel. I then cut notches, using my hobby knife, into the `wedge' of peg that I had cut off and drilled a hole as close to the end of the notch as possible (this gave the most leverage when screwing in the planking screw) The pic above shows a peg end with and without the slot I then fitted the dowel `handle' to the peg `wedge' to create the planking screw. It did not take long to make up a set They worked quite well, especially on straight runs I thought I was very clever until the Admiral questioned me about all the half pegs in the rubbish bin! Gulp, I knew I should have buried the evidence!