BobG

2 hours ago, niwotwill said:

Next week is my birthday and the Admiral got a package from England that's about the size and shape of a model from Vanguard. She put it away somewhere so I'll have to wait.

I'd probably be doing a little bit of snooping around the house... 😇

Thanks everyone for the comments and the likes. Encouragement is always appreciated as I plug along blindly as I attempt the deck fittings and the rigging.

17 hours ago, glbarlow said:

Great that you’re back at it. 

14 hours ago, gjdale said:

Glad to see you back at this lovely build Bob.

Thanks Glenn and Grant for your continued interest in my build and for nudging me along. Both of you are inspirational modelers!

6 hours ago, yvesvidal said:

I love the shapes of that vessel. Such elegance and such panache !!

Please, keep at it.

I'll do my best, Yves, and thank you for the encouragement!

I love everything about the whole history of the Pen Duick and Eric Tabarly but the quality of the AL model itself leaves a lot to be desired. Unfortunately, it seems to be the only kit available. It needs to be scratch built at a larger scale to really do it justice in my opinion, but I haven't been able find any good plans to help me with this model and I even contacted the Eric Tabarly Association in France for assistance with no luck. Maybe the Pen Duick could be the first racing yacht in the Vanguard or Syren line of models!  

Nice work, Mike!

3 hours ago, glbarlow said:

Thanks Bob, but who’s Grant?😂

Sorry, just a brain fart! 🤣 

Grant is gjdale here on the forum and he does spectacular work on all kinds of modeling subjects. I enjoy following all of his projects and, like you, he does outstanding work and creates wonderful build logs as well. Check him out if you haven't already. 

I believe you will be painting the hull so a small piece of wood to fill the gap along with some filler should do the trick. Take you time filling and sanding, at least to 220 grit, until you have a nice, smooth surface following by a good primer before you paint and your hull will look splendid.

Well, they say that wonders never cease so, believe it or not, I actually sat down at my modeling table and made a little progress on the Pen Duick. The Artesania Latina plans and instructions are pretty much useless after you finish the hull and, eventually, I lost my motivation to keep at it. I'm still not sure how I will figure out the rigging but I'll give it a go. My plan is to keep chipping away at the Pen Duick and also start building the Flirt at the same time. I figure that working on the Flirt and the Pen Duick at the same time will balance things out for me when the Pen Duick gets too frustrating.

I finished adding the hatches and the cockpit to the deck today. The only problem I had was that the tabs on the coamings around the cockpit did not line up well with the holes I had previously carved in the deck as per the plans. The walnut coaming is old and hard so they wouldn't flex much either. Eventually, after some careful filing, I managed to get them to sit flush on the deck without breaking them but there were some small gaps showing in the deck next to where the tabs slotted into the deck.

I use Titebond Quick & Thick as my primary glue. So I made a slurried mixture of the glue with some sawdust from the deck planking strips and used a dental tool to carefully fill in the gaps. It worked great and I'm happy with the way the cockpit and hatches look on the deck.

Perfection, Grant, such a pleasure to follow your work!

I just read over your build log, Sascha. Fantastic work on this unusual model!

2 hours ago, mtaylor said:

The ones that came were damaged in getting them off. 

I'm sure you could get new ones easily enough from Chris if necessary, Mark.

Very nice little boat, Andrew!

Sorry to hear about this, Mark, but I predict it is just a bump in the road of your journey building this wonderful model. We've all been there more times that we'd like to admit and, more times than not, we found a way to fix it. No doubt that you will as well. Good luck! 

Exceptional work, David! I'm learning a lot from your creative techniques.

5 hours ago, yvesvidal said:

To conclude this beautiful thread about some Fiat legendary cars: 

These legendary cars certainly didn't idle or run quietly...rumbling, choking and and belching fire!

I could smell the Mefistofele burning oil just watching the video! I wonder if this is just the way these engines ran even when they were new or if the car in the video was in serious need of a ring job?

Thanks for posting these videos, Yves...great fun to watch! 

Great idea for making those brass rings for stropping the blocks, Paul! The creativity of modelers like you always amaze me.

What is that exactly?

2 hours ago, WalrusGuy said:

Here are some photos after the surgery:

I think you could have been a good neurosurgeon! Nicely done!

Hi Closehaul, I noticed that photos you just posted aren't displayed because they are in Apple's HEIC file format. HEIC (High Efficiency Image Format) is Apple's proprietary image format that it uses to reduce the size of a photo file in order to save storage space on your iPhone while keeping the image quality high. The HEIC format is not compatible for posting photos here on MSW, at least not yet. I've had this problem on occasion also and it was bugging me because most of the time my phone would automatically take JPEG images and, then on some occasions, the images would end up being in the HEIC format.  

There are a coupe of things you can choose to do to remedy this:

1. You can convert an HEIC image to JPEG image on your computer by opening the each image in Preview and then clicking on File to open the file drop down menu. Then select Export and a small window will open where you can select the JPEG format. Click Save. The saved image will now be in JPEG format which is compatible for posting on the forum. You'll need to do that for each HEIC image that you want to post on MSW.

This conversion process does not eliminate the HEIC image so you will now have 2 image files on your computer of each photo: one in JPEG and one in HEIC. I just open Finder and then I delete the HEIC image files and keep the JPEG files.

When you open the newly converted JPEG photos in Preview, check the image size. You can do this by clicking on Tools and then select adjust size in the drop down menu. Now you can adjust the image size so it won't be overly large when posting it in your build log.

Now you can edit your MSW post and delete the HEIC images you originally posted and then add the newly converted JPEG images to your post and they will show up.

2. You can also change the settings in your iPhone so that your phone will only take photos is the JPEG format and not in the HEIC image format. Open Settings on your phone and then scroll down and open Camera. Then click on Formats and select Most Compatible. Your iPhone will now use the JPEG format only which will avoid any compatibility problems in the future. HEIC is becoming more of a standard but there are still compatibility problems like you had here on MSW and also with some older Android devices etc. I disabled HEIC to avoid having these problem. It does use more storage space but storage is not a concern for me.

3. Perhaps a simpler way to fix your build log post would be to change your camera setting to Most Compatible as I described and retake the photos of your model. Then simply edit your post and add the new JPEG photos.

I hope this helps.

1 hour ago, VTHokiEE said:

I realized that I needed to get some HSS drill bits and soon after that I realized that I was uncomfortable trusting any set on Amazon to actually live up to the specified sizes. In the end I ordered several 75 and 76 gauge bits from McMaster-Carr and so far they are working like a charm (I really only needed the 76, but in my worry I grabbed some 75 as well).

Thanks, this is good to know. I've broken too many cheap drill bits that I got from Amazon as well. I should know better...you really do get what you pay for...

Well, I finally did it and pulled the trigger on a Byrnes saw so I'll be watching this video again. I ordered the thickness sander also so I'll have the Byrnes trifecta now!

Kurt mentioned that there would probably be a part 2 of this online online workshop that will cover more advanced techniques and jigs. I hope that will happen pretty soon. One thing I think would be very helpful in the next workshop would be some videos or live demos of using the saw to safely make various cuts and perhaps demos of making and using various kinds of jigs also..

Beautiful model. Nicely done!

I just read over your build log again, Joe. Gorgeous, meticulous work! Any further progress on this wonderful model?

Thanks so much for taking the time to explain your techniques, Tim, it's fascinating and I love the realism it imparts to the model. It really brings it to life!

1 hour ago, Tim Moore said:

I was doing a bit of experimenting with this model, thinking I might want to tackle something more substantial in plastic like an old battleship or something similar. 

A Pocher model would be more "substantial" and, with your skills, it would be spectacular!

Stunningly beautiful, Tim! The aging effect is amazing. Congratulations!

I know relatively nothing about how modelers create such realistic aging like you have done on this model. I wouldn't know where to start. This may be too broad a question but how did you go about painting your model to look like that?

On 12/29/2020 at 1:15 AM, Warnerade said:

I have wanted a gerstner for years

I've been thinking about getting a Gerstner chest. Is the chest you have made from solid oak or oak veneers? How do you like it now that you've had it for a while?

I see that Gerstner has a Pro line of chests that are made in the USA but they are very expensive. I assume they are made of solid wood. There is also Gerstner International which makes chests that are made from oak veneer and are imported from Asia. They look to be very well built but just not solid wood. Lastly, there are quite a few of the vintage chests available on eBay and such that range from poor condition and need a lot of work, to some that have been already been restored, and a few that are pristine antiques. The better ones, of course, are quite expensive. 

I'm leaning toward the Gerstner International models since they get good reviews and are a lot less expensive. I hope you've been happy with yours!

34 minutes ago, MichaelW said:

I learned a lot in this build, which I plan to use on my next build. 

What's next, Michael?