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About 6 months ago I splashed out and bought a sparmax 610 compressor (with air tank) and a sparmax DH-103 airbrush to go with it. Initially I thought I had wasted my money as I struggled to achieve a consistent result. I persevered and now I love it. I totally agree with Jay, air pressure and paint consistency are the key factors. When I began, I was mixing my paint way too thick and the result was splatters, clogging and lots of swearing. Consistency of skim milk is pretty right, I thought it would be way too thin, but it isn't. I mix my paint 50/50 with a 50/50 mix of distilled water and clear windex. I use about 20psi pressure. You have to do 5 or 6 thin coats for best results but now I always get a smoothe result. The best thing is that you can still clearly see the Wood grain even after half a dozen coats - something I really like. I am currently using admiralty acrylics which give great coverage. The only thing else that I would add is that if you are working indoors, you may like to consider purchasing a mini spray booth. I got one from eBay for around $100 AU. It folds up into a little case that is easy to store. It has a retractable power cord and a flexible exhaust hose that can be wedged into a window. It also comes with a turntable. See pics below. I made a piece of timber that fitted into my sash window. A slot was cut into it to insert the end of the exhaust hose The hose is then connected to the spray booth and inserted into the slot in the board. ] This spray booth works really well in exhausting overspray. The filters are cheap to replace (available on ebay) The whole booth packs away into a small case and is easy to store

Modellers Shipyard in Sydney will sell you planking screws. They are a little expensive for what they are but they do work. Have a look at their website, you may be able to make up something similar. I have used pushpins with a plastic piece glued to the underside of the plastic on the pushpin. I hammer rather than screw them into the bulkhead below the plank being attached.

I sm currently using Admiralty paints, both with brush and airbrush. They are acrylics and give very good coverage and finish. Authentic colours too.

Yep Brian, little kids all round the world will now be screaming ....... MUM, grandpa stole my Lego!

Clamps and Lego blocks work well for me when squaring the frames to the keel.

Your question does not compute. I am a firm believer in the philosophy "He who dies with the most toys WINS!!!!"

My only other suggestion is to invest in a set of dental tools. Using a combination of tweezers and the other pointy/pokey things in the set gets most fiddly jobs done for me. These are available on ......yes, you guessed it ....... ebay. Just remember most problems can be solved if you throw enough money at them AND he who dies with the most toys.... WINS!! PS - The dental tools are also great for getting bits of steak out from between your teeth. Just make sure you wipe the CA glue off first!

I hold small parts in a variety of ways. What I use most is a cheap fly tying vice (obviously originally designed for tying fly fishing lures) Because it can be adjusted in an almost infinite variety of ways it is very handy for working with fiddly little parts. You can pick one up on ebay for $30 - $50. Money well spent I think! I also use alligator clips attached to small wooden stand with tie wire (so they are easily adjusted/bent into a variety if positions) This I mostly use for holding parts to be painted with my airbrush. I even use a lump of blu-tac on the end of an extra long match (held in a vice) on some occasions. The fly tying vice is probably what I use the most! Hope this helps!

Another Storage Solution: A while ago I invested in a compressor and airbrush. Once I worked out the correct air pressure to run it at and the correct dilution of paint, I found it to be a great addition to my workshop. However, I found that I could cover a lot of area with a relatively small amount of paint and I often ended up with some left over. The paint was mixed with a 50-50 solution of clear windex and distilled water to use in the airbrush, so I didn't really want to pour it back into the original bottle. I am using Admiralty acrylic paints at the moment and they aren't cheap so I wasn't happy to pour leftover paint down the drain either (even if I only had 1 ml left in the airbrush bowl !!) I ended up buying a heap of syringes from ebay. The beauty of these was that I could suck the unused paint right out of the airbrush cup with very little wastage. I cut the ends off nails and ground them to a point so I could use them to seal the end of the syringe once the paint was salvaged. Another benefit of the syringe was that I could carefully squeeze the plunger and bleed off all the air from it before `stoppering' it with the nail. As a result, the paint lasts indefinitely. All I do is give the syringe a shake to mix and then squeeze into the airbrush bowl and I'm off and running! syringe with leftover paint and nail `stopper' removing the paint from the airbrush bowl I made a simple stand to house the paint syringes

I suggest you look at the thread ' adding interior lights to a build' - on this site. Some good ideas, particularly those referring to LED's used in model train construction. A couple of good websites mentioned for purchasing lights and lighting systems.

I use a fifty-fifty mix of distilled water and clear windex glass cleaner when thinning paint for my air brush. This works fine.

An interesting article BUT at the end -under the heading 'What threads to use for modelling rope',Pat states, "the suppliers I have identified below are for threads that modellers throughout the world have as meeting their needs for scale rope" However, he has not listed any of these suppliers. Is he referring to the websites mentioned under the heading 'Sizing Make Up' or to something else that he has left off the file? - hate to sound obtuse, but I am a little confused.

I have tossed up using wax on a number of past builds. Haven't tried it as yet. May not now if it is a dust attractant. As for fighting the fuzzies, I just rub a drop of PVA glue between thumb and forefinger and run it up the line after fitting. Wouldn't do it if the line wasn't under tension. Don't know if this is considered an acceptable practise or not, but it works for me.

I have the Proxxon Lathe too. It's great for small jobs like masts, spars and pedistals. I have successfully used it to shape masts and spars on half a dozen builds. Dowel slides right through the main body of the lathe so you can work on reasonably long lengths. I tend to do my shaping with various grades of glasspaper checking constantly with my vernier calipers. I have my lathe mounted permanently on a tray that has a lip around it.Tthis means I can pull it foward and back depending on whether I am using it or not - it also minimises dust. I also made a perspex cover for the chuck (sold separately) so I don't take the skin off my knuckles when working close to it.

I have tried a number of methods of simulating caulking. I found that pencil graphite smudged too much when sanded. I used the marker pen method for a while - it worked OK. I've now come up with a quicker and (I think easier) method. Purchase a liquid shoe polish (in the colour of your choice) but get one with the foam applicator on the end. Load the shoe polish into the foam applicator by squeezing the bottle while holding the foam applicator in a tissue. Mount the polish bottle (foam applicator end up) in a vice so that it is stable and slide the plank along the foam applicator - I find I have more control if I slide the plank along the foam rather than the foam along the plank (don't push down on the plank or the polish will go onto the face of the plank) The polish dries very quickly so you can glue it to the deck immediately. I only `caulk' one side and one end of each plank.

Thanks Druxey, that makes sense. I have just started the Caldercraft 'HMS Supply' ' and am doing a little research for future reference. The plans or this model do not include waterways and the three build logs on this site don't appear to have included them either. I might add them though.

Hope this isn't a dumb question, but was/ is there any set formula or convention for the spacing of the drain holes in the waterways?

Thanks SJSoane, I often think I spend more time thinking of ways to make modelling easier than I do actually modelling!!

I agree with Brian C - The Model Machines Drawplate is brilliant - one of my favourite non powered toys!! I have used bamboo BBQ skewers to treenail/Trennel/trunnel on my last two builds. I think tree nailing and another dimension to the hobby and, if done well, looks great. I found that the bamboo skewers went through the drawplate well, but had to be sliced longitudinally several times in order to fit into the larger holes. This meant slicing with a hobby knife. I found this to be a pain for two reasons. Firstly getting the hobby knife to slice evenly along the length of the skewer was sometimes difficult. Secondly I tended to cut, stab and splinter myself with the knife & bamboo slivers - klutz!! I ended up making a simple jig to halve, quarter and then further divide the skewer if necessary - without blood and swearing!!!(see pics below) The Byrnes Drawplate - an engineering masterpiece!!! - take 2 identical pieces of pine which are slightly bigger than a razor blade and drill 2 holes through them (clamp together for drilling so holes line up perfectly in both) - insert bolts which will be fitted with wing nuts for quick adjustment - Fit both pieces of wood together and tighten wing nuts - Drill a hole (about the same size as a bbq skewer) down the centre of the 2 pieces of wood - make sure that half the hole you drill is in each piece of wood. - a bench mounted drill will achieve much more accurate results than a hand held one. - Do the same with a smaller drill bit - for use once you have quartered your skewer. - fit your razorblade over the bolts - slide the top half of the jig over the bolts and tighten with the wing nuts - the jig can be adjusted by tightening or loosening the wing nuts - this will accommodate any slight variation in skewer diameter. - Push then pull the skewer over the razor to produce an even slice. Happy tree nailing!!

Another idea for replacement cannon balls could be lead `split shot' used for weighing down floats in some forms of fishing (I am a keen angler) They come in `dial packs' of various sizes - based on the size of shotgun shot (I think) I know that they are `split' but could be gently squeezed back together then filed or sanded smooth. Shotgun shot are NOT easy to obtain in some countries anymore e.g. - Australia!! These are cheap and far easier to obtain. Just a thought The link below shows an example of a dial pack of split shot - it's from an Aussie website but I'm sure they would be available all over - in one form or another. http://www.motackle.com.au/dinsmore-super-soft-shot-3105986.html

I purchased an Aeropiccola plank bender about 30 years ago and it is still going strong. I am not sure if it is still obtainable but the great feature of it is a spring mounted roller which presses the plank to, and follows the curve of the heating iron. (See pic) I usually mount it in a vice and it is necessary to raise and lower the spring mounted roller with a pair of pliers because of the heat, but it has worked well - even on very rounded bows - for years. I always dampen the planks first - usually about 20 - 30 minutes in warm water, mount on the hull while still wet (using plank clamping screws) . I then remove when dry, glue and remount on the hull. I too used to use a thermos to soak planks but found that sometimes I needed both ends of the plank damp as I needed to produce a curve at both ends. Using a bath was one option for soaking long planks, then I came up with the following idea. It is a long piece of poly pipe which a cut in half but curved up at each end so as the end of the pipe remains intact. I then glued the appropriate sized cap to each end and mounted it on a timber stand. I intend to put a tap in one end for drainage when I get time. It works well and sits happily on my workbench when it is `planking time'

Don't know if this will help any but I will post anyway I looked into purchasing a keel clamp a few years ago and found them to be too expensive - for what they were offering. I decided to make my own. It is a cheap alternative. It doesn't rotate or tilt, but to be honest, I found I didn't have a great need for these functions. It just holds the model firmly upright, is portable or can be G-Clamped to a workbench. Hope the idea is of some use. - Purchase a couple of cheap hobby vices - they are available from a multitude of places for very few $$$ - Use a hacksaw to neatly slice off the clamp section. Grind or file so you end up with a flat surface (not difficult as they are all made with a fairly soft alloy. - disassemble the top of the vice by removing the circlip behind the front jaw. - Countersink two holes into the base of the vice - construct a timber base long enough to accommodate a range of keel lengths - screw the vices to the base ensuring that they line up with each other. I have glued pieces of ice block sticks to the jaws to avoid keel damage. If I have to accommodate a longer/ shorter keel, I simply drill a new set of holes in the base of the keel clamp and relocate the vices. I have used it in the completion of 6 models so far. I suppose you could use more vices to clamp a particularly large model, but I have found that two works well enough on everything so far - up to and including the Corel Victory.

A very, very impressive build!! The detail is remarkable. I am particularly impressed with your paintwork. I assume you used Admiralty Paints?? If so, did you use acrylic or enamel? Was an airbrush involved or did you paint everything with a brush?

I have the Triton Work Centre and the Triton 2400w saw to go with it - beast of a thing! The only time it would be useful for ship modelling was if you were building 1:1 - or maybe Noah's Ark!! I looked at the plunge router and table but the cost and limited amount of use I would have for it meant that couldn't justify its purchase (very unusual for me! ) I have however purchased a Ryobi 350W Trimmer/Router (model EVT359RG). It was inexpensive ($100 at Bunnings) and easy to mount into a homemade table similar to the one I made for the Proxxon Mini Plunge Router. I use it to make display bases for my models - which are outrageously priced in hobby stores! - It paid for itself after 3 bases! [ The pedestals I knock up on my proxxon wood lathe

I have a number of Proxxon tools (9) and am very happy with them. I have mounted my Proxxon Router into a home made router table. It works well. I have used Perspex on the table top and to contain sawdust at the rear of the table. It hooks into a vacuum cleaner. The aluminium fence is adjustable with a couple of wing nuts. The Router is easy enough to mount and access for height adjustment It is great for fine cuts such as the steps to my Cutter Mermaid which were 2 x 2mm