vossy

Hello Kurt, thank you so much for this advice! This is exactly the type of response i was hoping for. i will definitely try this. it looks so simple, cost effective, and straight forward. i can't believe such a task as making coils have been giving me so much grief.
 
Cheers Chris

Jeff retired from the premium lumber business.  
 
Crown Timberyard has taken over, in many ways, from Jeff. 
WoodProjectSource also has a variety of timbers.
 
Have a look here... http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/384-where-to-buy-wood/   It lists these and other suppliers.

Hey cristkc am looking closely at this model for a future build can you let the group know of the wood quality and quantity please.
have built Amati Santa Maria (great quality wood and reasonable amount)
Mamoli Golden Hind (very poor quality wood and not enough, just as well below the waterline is painted so can cheat with other timbers.
also poor quality fittings and badly misshaped parts)
half way through Corel Victory (great quality throughout)
would love an appraisal before forking out the considerable sum this model costs. would not touch another Mamoli kit
cheers
Vossy

Hello Kurt, thank you so much for this advice! This is exactly the type of response i was hoping for. i will definitely try this. it looks so simple, cost effective, and straight forward. i can't believe such a task as making coils have been giving me so much grief.
 
Cheers Chris

Hello Kurt, thank you so much for this advice! This is exactly the type of response i was hoping for. i will definitely try this. it looks so simple, cost effective, and straight forward. i can't believe such a task as making coils have been giving me so much grief.
 
Cheers Chris

surprised it took so long!
 
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-13/colombia-spain-in-row-over-3billion-loot-from-galleon-san-jose/7024530
 
chris
 
 

surprised it took so long!
 
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-13/colombia-spain-in-row-over-3billion-loot-from-galleon-san-jose/7024530
 
chris
 
 

yep. just like the figurine mentioned by TMAN well placed buckets, barrels etc. can be very effective.
 
chris

yep. just like the figurine mentioned by TMAN well placed buckets, barrels etc. can be very effective.
 
chris

A good friend and fellow model builder built a model of Model Shipways "EAGLE." In the process, he dropped a paint brush on the deck. The bristles were full of red paint. Strangely enough, though the spot left on the deck was rather small, instead of trying to clean it up, he made a figure of a deckhand carrying a paint bucket of red paint and a brush. The brush was dropped, by the figure, on the deck. It too was full of red paint; guess where the deckhand's brush was dropped...right where my friend foiled the deck when he dropped his brush. It was one of the most ingenious repairs I ever saw on a model! And it looked planned. Fret not my friend.......all mistakes are repairable.........

I just read through this entire thread again after seeing that another member was directed here.  I feel it is worth pointing out (again) that it is really very hard to make generalizations about the instructions in kits made by various manufacturers (with maybe the exception of the soon-to-be-defunct Midwest Products boat model line).  The simple reason is because manufacturers and their kit line-ups both change over time.
 
Take Caldercraft as an illustration of this point.  Their first dozen or so kit offerings really had very spartan instructions.  It's only their most recent kits that have had detailed instructions.  If you were to buy a kit of Caldercraft's Snake, for example, based solely on your positive experience with their instructions in Pickle, you'll be sorely disappointed; Snake is one of the older kits with far less detailed instructions.
 
Same goes for Model Shipways.  The instruction manuals in their older kits have a lot of pages, to be sure, but they don't really tell you how to accomplish many of the steps.  They'll tell you to 'plank the hull' for example, but won't tell you how to plank the hull.  MS instructions assume a certain amount of ability on behalf of the builder.  But, again, their newer kits (those designed by Chuck, for example) have much better instructions.
 
Another thing that can make it an absolute booger to make generalizations about this or that kit line is that some manufacturers have, over the years, acquired and sold kit designs that they didn't themselves design in-house.  Many times they didn't take the time and expense to update those kits, and that includes the instructions.
 
Many manufacturers are aware that their kits and instructions need updating, but ship model kits aren't a lucrative business, and if they already have a box of, say, 500 less-than-stellar instruction manuals for HMS Lollipop sitting in the warehouse, rest assured they're going to box up and sell those instruction manuals in 500 kits before they pay to have them redesigned and reprinted.  It's about economics.
 
If you really want only the best instructions, you can't go too far wrong (here I am making a generalization after I just warned about making generalizations) in taking the advice mentioned earlier in this thread: newer is better, and by 'newer' I mean as in newer kit design.  The last few years have seen a real uptick in the quality of instructions being included in kits, especially from MS, Caldercraft, Victory Models, and some of the newer European manufacturers.  Cruise the various catalogs and web sites and work from the latest releases backwards - the farther back you go, the more likely you are to get more terse instructions.
 
Kit instructions - it ain't as easy as saying Brand X instructions are better than Brand Y !

hey hamilton, thanks for the swift reply. the amati bounty 1:60 does not call for a coppered hull. but i am lead to believe the vessel had such a hull at the time of the mutiny. this is when i want my model to depict . also i put my usual xmas order in for my family present today. Mckays anatomy of the ship. unfortunately after numerous calls to many shops throughout australia i was told the book is out of print here! one has been ordered from uk but who knows when that will arrive?
 
i am pretty certain i will give her a copper bottom. i just need to know what i am going before i start.
 
cheers chris

only power/electric tools i ever use are Dremel and electric soldering iron for plank bending.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-06/spanish-galleon-san-jose-found-with-3-billion-of-treasure/7005266
 
cheers chris
 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-06/spanish-galleon-san-jose-found-with-3-billion-of-treasure/7005266
 
cheers chris
 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-06/spanish-galleon-san-jose-found-with-3-billion-of-treasure/7005266
 
cheers chris
 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-06/spanish-galleon-san-jose-found-with-3-billion-of-treasure/7005266
 
cheers chris
 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-06/spanish-galleon-san-jose-found-with-3-billion-of-treasure/7005266
 
cheers chris
 

hey mike. our big hardware stores stock it here. but a dedicated paint store will definitely have it. essentially what you need to ask for is long life tape (means it can stay on for a specified period of time before it will pull the underlying paint off. about max now is 14 days. so you want that, but you also want what they call edge lock technology. this is a very thin (less than a millimetre) edge of ultra sticky and stiff coating. paint will not bleed under it. brands in australia are scotch, bear, haymes etc. i would be amazed if a similar product could not be bought in america. if you have a paint store nearby i would go there. but as per my previous post it is VERY advisable to first seal the wood, and then brush away from the tape. i said it was expensive. over here i can upwards of $20 for a 1/4 inch 25meter roll.
 
chris

you can buy really good professional painter's masking tape with super advanced edge lock technology now days. make sure the wood is sealed so the paint will not absorb into it too much. also, brush away from the tape, not towards it. this tape is expensive but it works 100%.
 
cheers chris

hey mike. our big hardware stores stock it here. but a dedicated paint store will definitely have it. essentially what you need to ask for is long life tape (means it can stay on for a specified period of time before it will pull the underlying paint off. about max now is 14 days. so you want that, but you also want what they call edge lock technology. this is a very thin (less than a millimetre) edge of ultra sticky and stiff coating. paint will not bleed under it. brands in australia are scotch, bear, haymes etc. i would be amazed if a similar product could not be bought in america. if you have a paint store nearby i would go there. but as per my previous post it is VERY advisable to first seal the wood, and then brush away from the tape. i said it was expensive. over here i can upwards of $20 for a 1/4 inch 25meter roll.
 
chris

you can buy really good professional painter's masking tape with super advanced edge lock technology now days. make sure the wood is sealed so the paint will not absorb into it too much. also, brush away from the tape, not towards it. this tape is expensive but it works 100%.
 
cheers chris

thanks for the help and advice guys. there is much to learn and do! but for now, at least, its dinner time!
 
chris

sucks eggs our dollar is so low but i want be getting anything till i get the mckay book anyway. that may or may not be for xmas. i know it is ordered. will give me plenty of time to search out suppliers, quantity, and size etc. i am still a bit confused as to whether or not to go with single plates of copper strip? anyway i still have to complete first planking so a final decision is a ways off.

hey hornet. i'm 100% with you on modeller's shipyard prices on anything! i have been to the float a boat store and dealt with them before. they are terrific people. they where the ones who told me that mckays bounty book was not available in oz. i have ordered a copy from the uk. looks like i may have to do the same with the plates.