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The chief knock I've seen against Billings is their somewhat meager instructions, but we have some members who love them and have built fantastic models from them. Mastini's book is based on the Artesania Latina version, which is similar. But -- you should build something that will hold your interest, so if a small man o' war is what interests you, then have a look at a cutter or armed schooner. Lots of examples out there.

PVC pipe and water is the method I have used for 20 years now. 😉 But I don't use hot water -- cold water and a plank bending tool works for me.

Like a lot of people in this neck of the woods, I'm not actually from these parts -- transplanted California native. 😉

Hello, Cristik! I edited your build log title to show the more usual English translation of Panart's Italian name for this kit. If you need some guidance during your project, we have at least one finished battle station in the build logs, which you can find by searching for "battle station." Bbucurați-vă de noul dvs. proiect!

Far from it! Personally, I love smallcraft models and am always happy to see one being featured here. Cheers!

Congratulations on completing your model, and good luck with the next one!

Smart! And it looks like you are off to a great start, too. I did model rocketry as a kid -- still have vivid memories of most of my rockets, probably due to the fact that they usually came to some sad but spectacular end!

From Hunter to Hunted: The U-Boat War in the Atlantic 1939-43 Bernard Edwards Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2020 16 x 24 cm format, hardback, 200 pages 16 B&W illustrations, bibliography, index MSRP £19.99 ISBN: 978 1 52676 359 4 "It had been a busy morning in the Dolius' engine room, with a squad of Chinese day workers carrying out essential maintenance under the critical eye of Second Engineer Bob Hutchinson. At precisely 1030, following the time-honoured practice in British merchant ships, the day workers had downed tools and trooped up on deck for their morning mug of tea and a cigarette. Left below were only the men of the watch, Fourth Engineer Samuel Parr, Junior Engineer Donald McGillivray and Greaser Lau Hing. All three died when Oskar Staudinger's torpedo slammed into the ship's side and the sea came cascading into the engine room." - From Hunter to Hunted, p. 161 That little snippet from Bernard Edwards' latest, Hunter to Hunted, should give you an idea of the kind of taut writing that fills its 188-page narrative. Contrary to the impression you might get from the title, the book is not a detailed examination of all things War in the Atlantic over the first four years of the war. Instead, the book is divided into two parts. Book I is really a series of vignettes; and each can be read as a stand-alone story. Each chapter focuses on a particular ship or convoy from the war's early years. Edwards is an excellent story-teller, and we are given a good look at the backstories of the characters on both sides of the conflict, both ships and men. Through these select few snapshots of the U-boat war, the reader is given a taste of what the fight was like. It was perilous work for both the merchantmen and the U-boats that stalked them. Book II is also a stand-alone narrative, focused on one particular running convoy battle -- that of ONS-5, a slow, west-bound convoy headed for Halifax, Nova Scotia. Fought in late April and early May of 1943, the Battle of Convoy ONS-5 kicked off what came to be known as "Black May" in the Kriegsmarine. As such, the events surrounding ONS-5 are considered by some historians to mark the decisive turning point in the War of the Atlantic. ONS-5 was not a huge convoy, only 42 ships and seven escorts, but the skillful and determined defense by the British and Canadian escorts, well-versed in the use of ASDIC, Huff-Duff, and radar, exacted a fearsome toll in exchange for thirteen ships sunk: of the over 40 U-boats that were vectored to intercept ONS-5, six were sunk and seven damaged -- a loss rate that the DKM could not sustain. Edwards chronicles the agonizing passage of ONS-5 from its assembly until it reaches land-based air cover on the other side of the Atlantic, and the story is a fascinating one. Basing his account on reports and descriptions from both sides of the conflict, Edwards weaves in plot strands representing all the major players, i.e. the merchantmen, the escorts, and the U-boats. Everybody gets their share of ink, but the central figures are undoubtedly the merchantmen and their crews. Edwards paints a very moving picture of their professionalism, steady courage in the face of lurking and unseen danger, and even their occasional (and not always fruitless) efforts to strike back at their tormentors. Edwards' writing style is engaging and easy to read; his descriptions cause the reader to genuinely care about the fates of the players, and this in turn makes From Hunter to Hunted a book that the reader consistently wants to read just a little more of to see where the story is headed. In other words, it's a page turner -- and one that I think any naval history fan would enjoy. Recommended! Thanks go to Pen & Sword for providing this copy for review. To purchase or for more details, click here. CDC

It's obvious that you are taking your time to get this project just right, and the result is extremely pleasing to the eye so far. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Looking great, Kevin!

Just catching up on this log -- all I can say is 😲!

Other stores to check for strip stock include craft suppliers and model railroad stores, if you have any such near you.

That is some exceptional craftsmanship, Daniel!

Absolutely fantastic result! Congratulations!

We have one (Mike Draper) in Whitehorse -- that's only 1880 km away. 😮

It's "mad dog". 😂 Took me a second or two to figure out what was meant by "wonder dog."

I created this reply by using the click-and-highlight function. Just as I did in this instance.

I created this post using the lower-left quote button.

Folks, as a reminder, please recall that we have two ways to quote text built into our software. If you want to quote a previous post in its entirety, then use the "quote" button at the lower left corner of that post. Only use this button to quote short posts -- DO NOT use it to quote long posts that have lots of photos in them! Those redundant posts unnecessarily hog bandwidth and are a pain to have to scroll past. If you wish to quote a shorter section of a long post, then click and highlight (left click-and-hold + drag) that portion of text; when you let off the mouse button, a small box will open that says "quote selection". When you click that box, a reply window will open with the quoted text in it. You can repeat this step to quote multiple portions in a single reply. Thanks!

Looking very good so far!

Mamoli kits are now produced by Dusek Ship Kits. There's an ad banner on the home page that links to their site. Owner is Daniel Dusek.

Try googling images for Pride of Baltimore II. She has a similar rig, and there's tons of photos of her online. Look for ones that show the particular sailing attitude you wish to capture.

Hey, folks! Here's a great tip for making realistic rope coils. This post was originally made by member Peta_V in his excellent build log for Master Korabel's AVOS kit, which you can read here. Enjoy! ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Here is a short guide, how I do coils. I have a jig from the scrap wood with 3 removable pins (2,3,5) and 3 securing points (1,4,6). 1. Secure the line to point 1 and make several loops around pins 2 and 3. I do 4-6 loops so the coils does not look similar. (I start with removed pin 5). Once finished with loops secure the other end to point 4. 2. Unsecure line from point 1 and pull out the very first loop through the middle of the coil. 3. Now you have to twist this to form the eye and secure it with pin 5. 4. Remove pin 2 and fully insert pin 5. Now you can adjust the coil as you want a once happy secure the end to point 6. 5. Now I secure the coil with 3 drops of CA glue. One where the eye meets coil, second ať the bottom of the coil and third to secure the loose end to the coil. Remove the coil from the jig by removing pin 5 and trim the excess thread. 6. Place the coil on the deck Perhaps someone finds it usefull. Stay healthy! Peta_V

That's a great technique, Peta. I hope you won't mind that I copied your last post and made a separate entry for it in the Masting & Rigging subforum. That way it can be more easily found by folks searching for help with this particular task. Cheers!

Moin, moin, Michael! Welcome to MSW. Always happy to see another "steel navy" builder sign up. If you are relatively new to ships, be sure to check out some of the builds by our member RGL, such as his recently completed USS Essex. He's got the knack for working with after-market detail sets and realistic painting and weathering. For an inspiring model of a Fletcher, take a peek at Bob Steinbrunn's award-winning USS Kidd, if you haven't already. Hope you will share your build with us, too. Cheers!