ccoyle

I scraped away the red from the above tape line. More paint and stain! The middle black stripe bled terribly, so I scraped it with exacto blade back until it looked reasonable. Then I applied water based stain to the hull.
 
And added two more stripes - masked with tape and applied by brush. The bright red took several coats. I had made hatch covers in mahogany and applied polyurethane. But the bass wood hatches looked just as good, so no change there.

I'm glad to see that others here have discovered The Destroyermen series.  I made mention of the series back in November on the posting of the 1:96 USS Peary DD-226 by rcweir.  His model is just the type of ship depicted in the series.  Along with the four stack vintage WWI destroyer Taylor starts out with, there are also included many other vehicles of war developed in the story including wooden sailing warships, ironclads, WWI and WWII aircraft, aircraft carriers, dirigibles and submarines.  I am currently reading volume 10 Straits Of Hell and am still wondering just how far the story can go before the technology will go on before it catches up with our current state of warfare.  Every volume introduces something new and as I said in the model posting, I can hardly put them down once I start. 

I just wanted to thank you for this recommendation. As a fan of maritime fiction (and non-fiction) and sci-fi/alternative histories I thought this series would be right up my street and I was not disappointed. I've nearly finished the first volume and if Taylor Anderson keeps up the same standard I'm looking forward to the rest of the set. I agree it's not high literature, but I like his style and he delivers good plot lines, characters and descriptions. What more can you ask of a good escapist page-turner?
 
Derek

But Icouldn't resist.... So, here ist the redo (better now  )
and one of the guns. Five parts (one of them being .5 mm styrene rod).

and a front view, not quite symmetrical, but almost

The starboard canvas railing cover turned out better tham the left side. Some sources show the railing on the topdeck with canvas,  but the light does not stand high enough to get above the railing, so, no canvas there
 
Jan
 
 

Hello,
 
I did a few plastic aircraft models and failed two wooden ships as a teenager. Now I'm almost 30, and I decided to take seriously on an hobby to clear off my mind during my doctoral studies. I played around with matches (glue-free) and built a few Ugears models in the last year and found the love for working with wood again

However those models are getting a bit simple for me, so I decided to give it a try to ships again. I love models (or in general, artworks) with lots of details, and this seems the best option. Fingers crossed, the third time will be the good one! Thanks to @ccoyle's hints I cooled down my enthusiasm and started with something simple: Occre's Albatros! I see lots of videos/logs about it and I'm looking forward to draw from the experience of the seniors on this forum! If I win over my shyness I may even start a build log myself... let's see. I'll soon start the planking, let's hope everything goes well!
 
Thanks to everyone keeping this wonderful community running, see you around!
Matt

The Destroyermen (Series) by Taylor Anderson
ACE Books
 
Okay, doing things a little bit different here -- this review isn't for a particular book, but rather for a series of books. I think you might like this series if you:
 
a.) like naval warfare fiction
b.) are a fan of alternative history, and
c.) don't care that everyone knows that you aren't reading Pulitzer-worthy material.
 
WARNING: SPOILER ALERT! (Just a few.)
 
The Destroyermen is the name of the series that began back in 2008 with Into the Storm and now numbers 14 installments and counting. In that first book, Anderson introduced us to the crew of the fictional USS Walker, a WWI-vintage four-stacker that gets caught up in the early events of WWII in the Southwest Pacific. During the Battle of the Java Sea, Walker attempts to evade the Japanese by heading into an unusual squall. Afterwards she finds herself on an alternative Earth. The key word there is alternative, i.e. this other Earth ain't like the one the boys left behind. The biggest surprise is that the alternative Earth's indigenous "peoples" aren't exactly people. The America sailors, led by Lt. Matthew Reddy, find that humans are not the only sentient life forms on this other Earth (it's alternative history, after all), and that some of the other combatants in the series have, um, "unusual dining habits". Some of these creatures will eventually become close friends and allies of the destroyermen, and some will serve as particularly dangerous adversaries. Along the way, Reddy and his men will discover that their new home is populated by many other surprising and unexpected characters.
 
Anderson is a great storyteller, and does a fine job of vivifying his fictional world, including the setting, the cast of characters, and the of course the alternative history leading up to the events described in the series. The list of dramatis personae gets longer with each volume, despite the inevitable combat losses, thanks to the increasing number and complexity of plot strands. It can be a little difficult to remember just who is who as you read from one volume to the next. Fortunately, each book includes a list of characters, descriptions of the current military hardware in use, and orders of battle. Some of the characters we first meet are tantamount to Star Trek "red shirts", if you catch my meaning, but others remain central to the narrative, and it's easy to get attached to them. Don't get too attached, though, because just like Patrick O'Brian, Anderson doesn't hesitate to off a beloved character here and there.
 
Speaking of Patrick O'Brian, no one will ever mistake Anderson's work for that of the Aubrey & Maturin author. The Destroyermen will never be held up in any English lit class as an example of the highest form of prose. The dialogue, in particular is often long-winded, since it is used as a device for filling in relevant plot details. But where Anderson excels is in describing the action, complete with all of the little technical nuances that we fans of naval fiction appreciate. Anderson also keeps the story line moving forward at a brisk pace and in an engaging manner, such that each book winds up being one of those page-turning, "just one more chapter" types that gets devoured in just a few days -- or less. Take that, O'Brian! (BTW, I love the Aubrey/Maturin series.) What the reader will enjoy is seeing how Walker's crew uses their wits, ingenuity, and antiquated destroyer technology to face down and overcome an endless variety of novel and seemingly insurmountable challenges posed by the hostile new world that the men find themselves in. It's also fun to see them first adapt to this new world and eventually grow to appreciate it.
 
I just picked up the 14th book in the series, Pass of Fire, and I'm pretty certain that I will have read it through in just a couple of days. I'm fairly certain that this book will find Matthew Reddy and the ever-expanding forces at his command facing down some enormous threat, and it will conclude with a satisfying resolution of the current dilemma, but leave me hanging with the hint that a greater dilemma awaits in the next installment. This is a high compliment to Anderson's abilities -- that his alternative Earth and its multitude of characters haven't yet grown stale after over a dozen books, and that readers are still eagerly anticipating more exploits by The Destroyermen.
 
So, if you are looking for some light reading to kill time in between bouts of serious nautical research, if you enjoy some likeable characters and a good yarn, even if it isn't written in early 19th-century English, try The Destroyermen. You might find alternative history as enjoyable as real history!

The Destroyermen (Series) by Taylor Anderson
ACE Books
 
Okay, doing things a little bit different here -- this review isn't for a particular book, but rather for a series of books. I think you might like this series if you:
 
a.) like naval warfare fiction
b.) are a fan of alternative history, and
c.) don't care that everyone knows that you aren't reading Pulitzer-worthy material.
 
WARNING: SPOILER ALERT! (Just a few.)
 
The Destroyermen is the name of the series that began back in 2008 with Into the Storm and now numbers 14 installments and counting. In that first book, Anderson introduced us to the crew of the fictional USS Walker, a WWI-vintage four-stacker that gets caught up in the early events of WWII in the Southwest Pacific. During the Battle of the Java Sea, Walker attempts to evade the Japanese by heading into an unusual squall. Afterwards she finds herself on an alternative Earth. The key word there is alternative, i.e. this other Earth ain't like the one the boys left behind. The biggest surprise is that the alternative Earth's indigenous "peoples" aren't exactly people. The America sailors, led by Lt. Matthew Reddy, find that humans are not the only sentient life forms on this other Earth (it's alternative history, after all), and that some of the other combatants in the series have, um, "unusual dining habits". Some of these creatures will eventually become close friends and allies of the destroyermen, and some will serve as particularly dangerous adversaries. Along the way, Reddy and his men will discover that their new home is populated by many other surprising and unexpected characters.
 
Anderson is a great storyteller, and does a fine job of vivifying his fictional world, including the setting, the cast of characters, and the of course the alternative history leading up to the events described in the series. The list of dramatis personae gets longer with each volume, despite the inevitable combat losses, thanks to the increasing number and complexity of plot strands. It can be a little difficult to remember just who is who as you read from one volume to the next. Fortunately, each book includes a list of characters, descriptions of the current military hardware in use, and orders of battle. Some of the characters we first meet are tantamount to Star Trek "red shirts", if you catch my meaning, but others remain central to the narrative, and it's easy to get attached to them. Don't get too attached, though, because just like Patrick O'Brian, Anderson doesn't hesitate to off a beloved character here and there.
 
Speaking of Patrick O'Brian, no one will ever mistake Anderson's work for that of the Aubrey & Maturin author. The Destroyermen will never be held up in any English lit class as an example of the highest form of prose. The dialogue, in particular is often long-winded, since it is used as a device for filling in relevant plot details. But where Anderson excels is in describing the action, complete with all of the little technical nuances that we fans of naval fiction appreciate. Anderson also keeps the story line moving forward at a brisk pace and in an engaging manner, such that each book winds up being one of those page-turning, "just one more chapter" types that gets devoured in just a few days -- or less. Take that, O'Brian! (BTW, I love the Aubrey/Maturin series.) What the reader will enjoy is seeing how Walker's crew uses their wits, ingenuity, and antiquated destroyer technology to face down and overcome an endless variety of novel and seemingly insurmountable challenges posed by the hostile new world that the men find themselves in. It's also fun to see them first adapt to this new world and eventually grow to appreciate it.
 
I just picked up the 14th book in the series, Pass of Fire, and I'm pretty certain that I will have read it through in just a couple of days. I'm fairly certain that this book will find Matthew Reddy and the ever-expanding forces at his command facing down some enormous threat, and it will conclude with a satisfying resolution of the current dilemma, but leave me hanging with the hint that a greater dilemma awaits in the next installment. This is a high compliment to Anderson's abilities -- that his alternative Earth and its multitude of characters haven't yet grown stale after over a dozen books, and that readers are still eagerly anticipating more exploits by The Destroyermen.
 
So, if you are looking for some light reading to kill time in between bouts of serious nautical research, if you enjoy some likeable characters and a good yarn, even if it isn't written in early 19th-century English, try The Destroyermen. You might find alternative history as enjoyable as real history!

Well done, Chris. Having an upgraded wood option (e.g. pear) is something I think kit builders have long yearned for.

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
 

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

Děkujeme, že jste si udělali čas na sdílení vašich fotografií s námi. Jsou velmi ceněny.
 
Cheers!

Welcome and thanks for joining in! The Mercury is a beautiful kit subject, as is Pegasus. And, as you probably already know, we are very fortunate to have the designer of both kits, Chris Watton, as a regular contributor here, sharing updates on his new designs coming from Vanguard Models. look forward to seeing your work!
 
BTW, sharing photos is not difficult. Use the "choose files" link in the bar at the bottom of the reply window. Click on the files you want to upload. Each one will appear as a preview. When you're ready to add one to your post, simply click the "+" on the preview photo, and the pic will be inserted into your post.
 
Cheers!

Hello all,
 
I just became a member after a few weeks of reading and browsing this great site. I'm a novice model ship builder from Sweden who recently decide to try this fascinating hobby. In a way I have been drawn to ships and ship models since I was a kid. I think that it was a trip to the Viking ship museum in Roskilde Denmark and the paper model I bought and built after that that sparked the interest. But I never continued then. I did some plastic models and some model air planes in my early teens, but that is more or less the extent of my modelling experience.
 
I plan to take it slow, not overreaching my still non-existing skills. I started by ordering a kit (Billing Boats Will Everard). But due to shipping problems just before Christmas it has not arrived yet. I also read some build logs here on the site and learned that it is not necessarily a "beginner model" after all, despite Billings labeling. So I went and bought a BlueJacket Swampscott Dory from a local hobby store. That kit seem to be more in line with my skills and should not take to long (hopefully) to finish.
 
Cheers
/Tobias
 
PS. My "pen name" is Swedish for bow line and the picture is of a sail from a medieval long ship with the bow line set.
 
 
 
 

I tried another part of railing.
I'll check tomorrow atviewing distance, but chances are that this will become a redo
 


 
btw: in broad daylight the paper railings arenot so far off in colour. As they are paper ones, and prone to splittibg, I don't want to fuss to much around with them, so: no painting before placing them, and probably also not afterwards.
They can be curved rather "easily", as long as put over a round object. Bending between fingers will lead to nothing.
 
Jan
 

As far as I know, there are no records of how Speedy appeared, colour-wise. For a while, she was painted to look like a Danish ship to fool enemies, so you could paint her any colour and it probably wouldn't be wrong (within reason...)
 
OK, yesterday we finished putting up the insulation layer in the laser workshop, and have just taken some pics (before shiplap is applied to interior), so it looks like a set off a low budget '80's Roger Corman sci-fi film..
 
I have now cut a few sets of Speedy upgrade ladders in pearwood, which I have taken a pic of. Also, I have done a few samples of cleats. The keval cleats are done in 72nd and 64th, and the staghorns I have done in three sizes, 20, 23 and 26mm long. I will sell these in pairs. I have done a 'yard cleat pack', is this a good idea? I know I hate having to cut each cleat from wood strip, and then having to make sure they all look the same. I have located the retention tabs to they are easy to file down, and none are on the contact/gluing surface, so should sit flush to whatever they are glued to. Would people be interested in that kind of thing, do you think?
 
I will laser cut the kevals and staghorns today, and should be on the site to buy at some point during the next week or so..
 
Oh, also sorted out how to do the laser engraved decks (many pieces of plywood were sacrificed to get that far...), and have laser engraved the Speedy deck complete with small treenails.

Todays work. Some railing on the bridge (more to come  )
 

the anchor handling crane. Awfull little thingy. Chris suggested making an opening for the pulley. I cheated, and halved the pulley, and glued from two sides.

 
and I mounted the boat (before that, I gave the boat a good clean-up, as I made it long ago
 

It feels as if almost done, but those little parts take a lot of time (and redo's: gone is really, really gone. No way of finding back pieces of a square millimeter)
 
Jan

So after a break of close to five years, being inspired by Vanguard Models‘ Speedy (yes, I bought one), I decided to dust off the Diana and carry on where I left her. 
I had always had the intension of filling in the space between the bulkheads with balsa as, a) I didn‘t trust my planking skills and b) to check her hull after modifying the bulkheads the way I did. This was a slow process at first but started to move along once I got the hang of it.
I found the best way to shape the infills was by carving...


...and sanding with 40 grit sandpaper on a small plank

The bow and stern where also filled in


The thick lower deck wasn‘t in place when I did all this so I could turn her upside down and work on her the ‚Hahn‘ way. This was nearly a disaster as it was very difficult to get it to fit right.


In the end I also filled in the space between the very last bulkheads. The stern wasn‘t easy but manageable with a bit of planning and forethought.

Some glamour shots at the end of the day



that‘s all for now. Thanks for looking,
 
Chris
 
 

Thank you dear friends for your comments and "likes". 
I am pleased you enjoy my work.
Now I am finishing the cannons for lower and middle deck. It remains to make 32 smaller cannons for the upper and quarter deck but 18 of them will be fully detailed with rigging. I have given a detailed tutorial to this thread some time ago if you are interested in "how to do".
I have to admit that I am totally bored of such monotonous work.... Oh yes, I told to myself in past - "I will never build a three decker again"... Well, and I couldn't resist it again....😃
 


 
 
 
 

I went ahead and broke the tail removed decal and applied NEW decal to the same EFFECT!!! @#*^% So we took off that decal repaint the rudder all white again mt mask for the tail made it to the trash so I had to paint the black by hand.This time kevin glued the damn rudder to the plane and applied decal although the wrong ones for the plane it will just have to frigg'in do! I am good now Kevin
 
 
 
 
 
 

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.

I started work on Pegasus in July 2018, but unfortunately didn't take any pictures of the early stages.  I had just completed the Caldercraft 'Granado' kit, and enjoyed building it so much that I decided to go for this one straight away (I wish I had taken some shots of Granado during the build now, but didn't - anyway I shall put something in the Gallery for the finished model soon).
Granado only took me six months from start to finish, but I haven't been able to spend the same amount of time on Pegasus.  Still quite a way to go, but I hope that alternating work on my other current build, the Russian brig Mercury, with finishing off Pegasus will keep my enthusiasm up!
The first two shots are the only images I have of the earlier stages.  The others were taken outdoors on a wet Welsh Christmas afternoon.

Pleased to meet you all!

I hail from the Midwest U.S. and grew up building plastic model ships of both sci-fi and WW2 varieties.  I tried my hand at wooden ships some decade or so ago and (as does often happen) bit off a good deal more than I could chew at some point.  After a small scale galley and a fishing schooner who's names escape me now, I leapt beyond my means into the Constructo HMS Pandora kit.  I lacked the toolbag or competence for such a project.  I've toyed with a number of techniques on scrap woods and poured over more than a few build logs on this very site recently and, feeling a good bit more confident than in the past, have at least tempered my ambitions with the Model Shipways Rattlesnake model.  In some ways the very well documented shortcomings of the kit are part of what made it seem like a better option, as I do intend to pick up some bashing and scratch-building skills along the way.  I inquired with a relative I had left some things with a while back and the Pandora kit is back, though has quite a twist in her frame and skewed bulkheads (another repairing/reworking/altering skill-building opportunity).  That was done before I knew anything about "fairing" and the rabbit hole that can lead down!

I have great respect for the crafters here, master and novice alike.  I look forward to our future interactions and will be getting a build log up, pronto!

Fair winds,

DO

Adding the cap rails. Lots of careful sanding. Had to check all of the photos  in the plans to see how to finish the bow deck and the stern. I needed a little filler on the bow deck. 

Received my selection of books yesterday, all in good condition. Frank doesn't mess around when it comes to getting stuff shipped promptly!

Thanks Nils, John Mark and Pete.
 
11.2. The gaff and the boom
The gaff and the boom are made in the same way as the mast.
I make the gaff jaws from a piece of beach.

 


The gaff with the gaff jaws.

 

The metal work of the boom:
The gooseneck at the mast side:

At the outer side: from right to left:
a band with two ring at the outside; the upper ring is for the boom topping lift, the bottom ring is for the sheet block.
a bit left of that band is a sheave built-in in the boom for the outhaul of the clew.
finally there are two metal bands with a ring at the underside of the boom for two blocks to lead the main sail sheet to the bottom of the cockpit.

 
Thanks to follow
Thanks for the likes
Thanks for the constructive comments
 
Happy New Year for all of you
 
Till next year!