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That's gorgeous, Frank. Congratulations!

BATTLECRUISER REPULSE: DETAILED IN THE ORIGINAL BUILDER'S PLANS John Roberts Seaforth Publishing, 2019 hardback, 25 cm x 29 cm format 160 pages SRP: £30.00 I can't speak for everyone, but I have a tendency (and not a good one) to think of the state of things as they existed more than a generation or so ago as something akin to medieval. After all, in the U.S. of 1916, the Ford Model T was a state-of-the-art automobile, and airplanes were still flimsy contraptions made of wood and cloth -- how primitive! But on the high seas, the capital ships of the various maritime powers had reached a high degree of development and sophistication that other weapons of war had not yet reached. Battlecruiser Repulse is a fascinating glimpse into one such ship. The absolute star of this volume are the color reproductions taken from the original builder's plans for Repulse housed in the NMM. The sweet thing is that all of these plans are available for viewing in this book for only £30.00 -- I can only imagine what this complete set would cost if you ordered copies direct from the NMM. The various views throughout the book are annotated with a wealth of commentary on various aspects of the ship's construction, in addition to more comprehensive sections of text that describe first the overall design, then focus on the particulars of internal layout, armament, fire control, protection, and machinery. Additional sections discuss the various additions, modifications, and refits that occurred during Repulse's nearly 26 years of service. In essence, the book actually covers two sets of plans, since both the as-fitted plans of 1916 and the post-refit plans of 1936 are included. Let's take a look inside. The longitudinal profile is broken down into smaller sections for discussion, and the locations of stations are indicated. Station plans at each indicated section are shown and given additional treatment. Naturally, deck plans are included, and deck details, structures, and furnishings are discussed. This is true not just for the main deck but for every deck on the ship, such as the platform deck and hold As you would expect from builder's plans, these are incredibly detailed drawings and show just how incredibly complex a fighting ship in the Dreadnought-era had become. It's hard to imagine that only just 50 years previous to the launch of Repulse, CSS Virginia had slugged it out with USS Monitor in the first combat between armored steamships. It goes pretty much without saying that anyone interested in super-detailing a model of Repulse will want to get their hands on this book (and as of 21 Jul 2019 it is on sale at Seaforth's website). Not only is there an astonishing wealth of detail in the plan's I've already shown you -- there's also priceless bits for modelers such as a rigging plan, the answer to the eternal question: Where are the attachment points for all these silly guy wires? But I've saved the best for last. The pièce de résistance is a four-page (four!) foldout of the 1936 profile drawing. It is pure eye-candy, and sadly I can't fit the whole thing into one picture, so you'll have to get your own copy (the cover art is taken from the same drawing, so that will give you an idea). On the front side of this foldout is a three-page view of the 1916 as-fitted plan; on the backside is the three-page 1936 rig plan. We all know that the whole battlecruiser concept ultimately proved to be deeply flawed, as was demonstrated by the sinking of Repulse in late 1941, but that's not the focus of this book. What is the focus of this book, and one that it presents well, is that Repulse was a marvel of naval engineering, a science far advanced in comparison to contemporary air or armor designs of 1916. It astonishes me to think that this metal behemoth with her 30 knot speed and 15-inch guns was built at a time when my ancestors were still farming with draft animals (not an exaggeration). But this book is also a fine testament to the skills and abilities of the draftsmen who produced the various drawings. These men could scarcely have imagined that the work they produced in response to the pressing needs of the Great War would still be marveled at over 100 years later. Thankfully, with books like this one, the marveling can be done much more readily and at reduced expense. Further volumes in this series will doubtlessly be eagerly anticipated. CDC Thanks to Seaforth Publishing for providing this copy for review. To purchase directly from the publisher, click the link in the title above.

Pfft!! Nevertheless, we like the variety!

THE ROYAL NAVY 1793-1800: BIRTH OF A SUPERPOWER Mark Jessop Pen and Sword, 2018 16 cm x 24 cm format, 158 pages 17 B&W illustrations, 10 maps SRP £19.99 I'm going to be honest -- I really wanted to like this book. Truly, I did. After all, what's not to like about the Royal Navy at the turn of the 19th century? The Royal Navy of Nelson at the height of his career, epic sea battles, etc., etc. And at times, this book is actually pretty good. I learned some interesting stuff, especially about the economics of maintaining Britain's fleet and the run-up to the Battle of the Nile. But, let's backtrack a little. First, let's start with the structure of the narrative. It's broken into eight chapters, and each chapter is built around the contemporary point of view of a historical character, e.g. a schoolmaster, a merchant, a petty officer, etc. Each of the eight chapters deals with a particular facet of the Royal Navy's history. For example, one chapter deals with the epic costs of Britain's defense of her maritime interests. There's a lot of data on rising shipbuilding costs, total annual expenditures year-over-year, info on seaman's wages, and the like -- pretty good stuff, actually. Another chapter focuses on the need for England to maintain the freedom of her sea lanes. One chapter focuses on naval activities in the Mediterranean, another solely on events in the Caribbean. Individually, some of these chapters are good reading. But the book fell flat for me on several fronts. First, I didn't care for the historical perspective provided by the contemporary characters. They just didn't add anything for me. I think this was an attempt by the author to do something a little different from other historical narratives, but I didn't find it particularly effective. Second, since the book's subtitle is "Birth of a Superpower," one would think that the birth of the Royal Navy as a superpower would be a unifying theme. But I didn't find the book to be a unified, cohesive narrative. Instead, it was a lot of bits and parts, some better than others. This feeling of lack of unity was exacerbated by the narrative having no linear timeline -- there was a lot of skipping around from early bits to later bits, to bits in between, and back again. Not my cup of tea. Lastly, the individual theaters of action were treated separately, i.e. English Channel in one chapter, Mediterranean in another, Caribbean in another. An upshot of this method of treatment is that it's difficult to see how each theater worked in concert with the others to contribute to the overall "rise" of the RN. Lastly, to conclude this review, I have to wonder aloud about the particular time interval selected by the author as the bookends for any RN rise to superpower status. It seems to me that anyone covering events up to 1800 would have done well to toss in events up to 1805 too, i.e. Trafalgar. If the Nile in 1798 made the point of England's naval superiority over France, wasn't Trafalgar the final exclamation point on that statement? Just asking. So, in summary -- good book in spots, a little lacking when taken as a whole. Still, at only GBP 19.99, it won't break the bank if you decide to add this one to your collection. CDC Thanks to Pen & Sword Books for providing this review copy. To order, see link in title above.

Hmmm -- pretty low-tech set-up. I might be able to pull off something like that.

Looks like what we might call a scribing tool, or perhaps part of one.

Halinski -- not for the faint of heart.

All eight writers in my pod at work have variable-height work stations. Interestingly, only one writer works primarily standing, and he almost never lowers his desk. The other seven of us prefer sitting and almost never raise our desks. Go figure.

That's because it is easily sourced and relatively inexpensive.

Isn't this akin to loving one of your children more than another? 🤔

The Fly kit was designed earlier and does not include some details that were incorporated into the Pegasus kit. There is an upgrade kit available for Fly that makes it roughly equivalent in detail.

Whatever kind you opt for, I recommend one that has the lenses in some kind of shroud, like the one Kurt linked to. I tried one that has the lenses sorta just dangling out there (like this one), and I found the un-magnified stuff in my peripheral vision very distracting. Plus, the interchangeable snap-in lenses were acrylic, and one of them broke almost immediately. I went back to a $3 visor from Harbor Freight -- works for me, but I bet the Donegal Optical set is pretty nice, too.

She looks great, Joe!

Hi, Paul. At first glance this appears to be a home decor model, but it is not possible to tell with certainly based on just two photos. Can you post any additional photos of the model? An overall shot of the hull ans some close-ups would be good.

I love all the little scratch-built bits and the clever techniques for making them -- I would never have thought of those.

I did wonder about that possibility.

Your stash includes at least one kit that I built way back in the 70s -- the Tamiya 1/35th scale Matilda Mk III.

Rest easy. Make sure to take full advantage of any pampering that may be available!

Bom dia! (That's pretty much all the Portuguese I know.) Smart of you to start with a small project. I think most of us who bring some kind of modeling background to our first efforts at wooden ships would agree that ships still present their own unique set of challenges. BTW, congratulations to Brazil on their Copa America victory -- I watched almost all the games, including the final. Cheers!

She tends to check in intermittently.

Love me some fish & chips -- the U.S. deep south version with catfish and hushpuppies is pretty good, too. Have fun on your trip!

Very nice, work, Joergen! Brian Criner, whose name you might recognize from his work appearing in various forums and magazines, is the fellow who got me back into modeling after an 18-year hiatus. I didn't go back to plastic, though, because I knew there would be a steep learning curve to approach anything like Brian's models. I chose wooden ships instead. Later I got into card modeling as well, in fact I did the Halinski version of the exact same Polikarpov I-16 as you show here. To date it is still the only Halinski kit I have managed to complete. I enjoy seeing the detailed plastic kits and aftermarket parts that are available today and what talented builders like yourself are capable of doing with them. Cheers!

Can you remove the coating with fine sandpaper or steel wool?

But she still looks great!

I don't know what a "B&Q" is, but if it's anything like a Lowe's or Home Depot, then yes, that's the place. I can't really recommend one brand of sealer over another -- perhaps some of our more knowledgeable woodworkers have some advice on this.