ccoyle

Smooth ... very smooth! 😉

Hi, Nate. A photo would go a long way toward answering your question. Snapping suggests that the plank is experiencing stress that should have been mostly alleviated by a proper planking procedure, so as barkeater pointed out, we first need to determine why the plank snapped. Did you fair the bulkheads before you started planking (have to ask, because every once in a while we see a newcomer skip this important task)? Did you spile the planks? Did you pre-soak and/or pre-bend the planks? What kind of glue are you using? How did you secure the planks while the glue set? Take care!

Hi, Oddball, and welcome to our forum. I don't know much about this kit other than some pictures one can find on the internet. It is not one that we see being built all that often -- in fact, I don't think that we even have any build logs of it here at MSW. I do have some concerns about the kit. The first is that I have no idea what Mantua used as the source material. The entire ship just doesn't look 'right' in either hull form or rig, especially compared to the general forms found during the golden age of piracy. Also, it is a very old kit design, and I doubt that Mantua has done much, if anything, to upgrade the kit to current industry standards. As a beginner, you face a real chance of being frustrated by the kit's smallish parts (being 1/100 scale) and probably sparse and poorly translated instructions (Italian kits are notorious for the latter). Whether you will be happy with the model's representation of actual pirate ships is a matter of personal taste. Your dilemma results from the fact that there are many much better options for first builds on the market, but that you already have this kit in hand. I can't make the decision to go ahead or not for you, but you will be better prepared to build your model if you go into the project armed with foreknowledge of the challenges ahead posed by the kit itself rather than your lack of experience. Whatever you decide, we stand by ready to dole out advice should you need it. Cheers!

Hmm -- that's an interesting photo. It's curious that this was called a Schnellbaukasten, or "quick-build kit", considering that one has to cut out the printed parts. Typically, "quick build" (one also sees "weekender" kits on the market) means that a kit is a simplified design intended to make construction easier at the expense of fidelity to the subject. In this case, the subject is a flight of fancy, since the makers are conflating the terms "pirate" and "slaver". Either way, the hull form doesn't look right for the 1840s. Enjoy building this little bit of modeling history -- I'll be interested to see how it turns out. Cheers!

Part of the reason the Germans never deployed four-engine bombers in number was philosophical. All the combatants of the Great War engaged in strategic bombing, but by the late 1930s really only the British and Americans still had both the political will and the nascent equipment to implement such a policy in the event of a future conflict. Germany had switched its attention to utilizing air power as mobile artillery in the Blitzkrieg combined arms doctrine, and after their early successes in 1939/40 it did not appear that they would need any strategic bombing capability. By the time it became apparent that the war would be a protracted one, Germany was well behind in the development of heavy bombers, which is why the He 177 Greif wasn't introduced until 1942. By then, almost all of Germany's output of aircraft engines, including the Greif's DB 601s, were needed for fighters for the defense of the Reich. As happened in other instances, Germany's efforts at heavy bombers were another example of too little, too late.

People's opinions on sails vary a great deal, but I have never been a big fan of sewn sails (though I'm using them on my current project simply because they were available, and I didn't feel like making them scratch). The issue is two-fold in that 1.) sewn stitches on models are always way over-scale (this is due to the small size of real-life stitches), and 2.) the stitching on sails is never actually visible at what's known as "scale viewing distance". Think of it this way: when your 1:32 scale model is viewed from 12 inches away, that's like viewing the real deal at 32 feet -- you can't see real stitches from that distance. At 1/32nd scale, one foot of real deal is represented by 3/8 of an inch on the model; even if the real-life stitches are an inch long (ridiculously large), that still works out to trying to cram twelve scale stitches into only 3/8" of sail hem. That's why when I do choose to make sails, I glue the hems instead of sew them. Just one modeler's opinion!

Just a side note to mention that one of our sponsors, Chesapeake Light Craft, offers a couple of full-size dory kits much like the model you are building.

Another piece of beautiful work, Xavier!

Hi. Your post is a little vague on the details of your project. You say it's a kit, but don't say which kit. Are the frames already shown on the plans? If not, how are you planning to predraw them? Or are you looking for advice on how to do that task? Cheers!

Go ahead and leave them so that others who might run into the same situation will be able to follow the discussion.

I'm not an authoritative source on RN colors of that period, but if that middle color is authentic, then I would opt for artistic license and go for the bottom color!

In most kits with false decks, like yours, the slots are already cut out, and the bulwark extensions are removed after planking the hull. I'm not familiar with the design of this kit, so I can't say why your false deck doesn't have such slots. Hopefully someone else can answer for you.

Talking about madrone makes me nostalgic for my native Northern California, where it is common in mixed forests with redwoods and Douglas fir. It's a highly-esteemed fuel for homes with wood heating.

The lateen-rigged caravel is a good-looking vessel -- my personal favorite from among Columbus's flotilla. Amati are a very reputable kit manufacturer, and your luthier's skills should be capable of turning this into a fine finished product. Cheers!

Welcome and good luck with your project!

Good idea -- I made the change.

Welcome aboard! Tip #1 is to write thread titles that more accurately indicate the information you're looking for. I took care of this one for you. As for the requested tip, I can't help with that one, but we have some pretty knowledgeable members who can. Hopefully one can hook you up soon with the information you need. A 1/10 scale reproduction is very ambitious as well as intriguing -- I hope that you'll share some progress photos. Cheers!

Very handsome -- congratulations!

It truly warms the cockles of my heart to see two of my favorite things -- paper and pre-Dreadnoughts -- coming together so beautifully!

But you got your build log title right on the first try, and that's important -- at least to those of us that have to edit the titles!

We need to have our tech guys turn off the 'numeral 8 - end parenthesis' emoji keystroke combo.

Welcome aboard! Hope you will share your progress with us here. Cheers!

Over the years, a goodly number of new members have cut their teeth on the AL Swift kit. More recently, the MS longboat kit has been very popular. You'll find numerous examples of both kits in the gallery and build log sections.

Thetis Down: The Slow Death of a Submarine Tony Booth Barnsley, UK: Pen and Sword Maritime, 2008 15.4 x 23.3 cm format, paperback, 220 pages 36 B&W illustrations, appendix, bibliography, index MSRP £14.99 ISBN: 978 1 52676 660 1 One aspect of being enthusiastic about history in general and naval history in particular is that there exists a seemingly endless list of people and events of whom one has never previously heard. With apologies to our UK members, the accidental sinking of HMS Thetis in 1939 was for me one such subject. It's difficult to review a book like Thetis Down without giving away too many plot spoilers, but I will try. The essentials of the incident are these: HMS Thetis was a T-Class submarine launched in the spring of 1939. On 1 June she departed Liverpool for her diving trials with 103 souls aboard; 99 of them would not return alive. It remains to this day the worst submarine disaster in Royal Navy history. Interesting side note: Thetis actually sank twice, in the latter instance with all hands -- but I'll leave it to you to read the hows and whys of that for yourselves. Thetis Down is a narrative by parts. Roughly the first 40% of the book chronicles the events of the sinking and the various attempts made to rescue the crew. Those attempts took the better part of two days. Thanks to the fact that Thetis sank in relatively shallow water, four people were able to evacuate her via an escape chamber. Why only four? Of course, you'll need to read the book to find that out. Because those four escaped, and more particularly because of who those four were, we are given a fair amount of information regarding events inside the boat on that fateful day. It's a very moving story, especially because 103 is nearly double the normal complement of a T-Class boat. Why were so many people aboard? Again -- read the book to find out! This much I will divulge -- when the contributing factors of the accident are divulged, it really says something striking about just how technologically and mentally demanding the task of operating a submarine is, and how terribly unforgiving the slightest neglect of any aspect of that operation can be. The rest of the book is about evenly split between an account of salvaging the boat and a description of the various tribunals and legal proceedings that followed. Tony Booth does an excellent job both of researching these events and elucidating them in his book. I only wish that my personal interest in the scope of these latter subjects was equal to his effort in setting them to paper. For me, the high point of the book is naturally the drama of the sinking and attempted rescue. That portion of the book is a real page turner. The salvage I also found fairly interesting because of its particularly macabre nature. The legal wranglings though? Meh -- not so much. That's not Mr. Booth's fault by any means -- it's just that I'm not a fan of courtroom dealings, regardless of how pertinent they might be to the subject. Other folks may find this portion absorbing. It's not hard to see how the sinking of Thetis might not loom large in the memory of those of us on this side of the pond. After all, it was a British boat, and events on the world's stage a mere three months later made the loss of a single submarine pale in significance. Interestingly, though, Thetis played a part in those later events, both in action at sea and in changes to submarine design and operation put into effect as a result of scrutinizing her tragic accident. But I won't divulge too much about those -- if you are a fan of all things "silent service," I can definitely recommend this as a book to add to your library. Lastly, the story of HMS Thetis may not be entirely over -- Booth informs the reader that there still exist to this day sealed records related to the accident. So perhaps at some future date Mr. Booth will need to issue a revised and updated edition of his work. Stay tuned! CDC

Krylon. One can lasts for many projects.