amateur

The flattening out is the same as with the decks: the same curve is used at every point., measured ftom the centerline. For decks increasong the curve doesn’t look good. I guess the same applies to sterns (but I’m not sure). I think it is the arc you see, not the distance in ‘height/depth’ between the .centerline vertical’ and the sides. But again: it comes down to ‘what is pleasing to the eye’. I’m affraid the proof is in the eating of the pudding Jan

Hi Marc, It is difficult to assess from your pics: it looks as if it is heavily out of square in all directions. But at the same time, your fingers looks like the legs of an elephant (size-wise, that is) In other words: I find it difficult to see which is the better solution: ignoring it, or trying to correct. I had some problems (long ago) with the stern of my Prins Willem, and discovered that a twisted (as in: upper arc not more or less parallel to the lower one) stern drew quite a lot of attention. Can you tweek the startboard-hull to get the angle more or less the same to the port-side? a non-twisted stern that is out of square is perhaps less distracting than a stern that is curved in various ways along its height. (typing I realize that what I am really asking for is a kind of a mock up to compare both solutions.....) jan

Hi Phil, do you know whether this 'raised position' of the carronade has any historic background? It looks a rather tricky construction to me. Jan

I googled the kit, the ship is a balimore clipper, and the gun looks a bit weird to me (as: never saw a gun mounted like this). It looks not like a mortar, those are far heavier, and positioned very low in the hull, and pointed upwards. this one looks like a relatively small calibre carronade, mounted on some kind of 'raised turning table' to get above the railings. Jan

It still looks as if it can cope with higher resolution pics I like the colour of this one. Has so much more depth in it than that bleak grey of some other ships from that period. Jan

Clamping perhaps becomes slightly easier as the hull has a rigid core. At least the risk of pushing the structure down into the hold is smaller. And as we all are very distracted by the vast amount of little details added to the ship, no one will notice that your railing is not to your own standards (it still is way above mine ) Jan

And reality seems to be somewhere in between: those hoses seem to be painted in the same colour as the bulkhead, those two things below are definitely in a more bright colour. (phote dated february 1944)

But there are still those two orange coloured hockey-sticks shouting for attention Nice progress. Will be another show-piece! Jan

Wait, aren't rhein/mosel, and cerberus the free downloads of papershipwright? The other two cost 6.50 (pounds) each. Total package ending up slightly below 15 pounds when bought at papershipwright. https://www.papershipwright.co.uk/category/free-downloads/ Pretty good deal for the ebay-guy. The Panther looks 'a bit' like the HMV-card model. But I can't see whether it is the HMV-version of it. And perhaps someone likes to buy a rather small diorama, the pics don't look too bad. Or do I miss something else in that last one? Jan

This will be a show-piece! (Btw: is the shapeways-piece 'reasonably priced', or does it really cost the price it looks?) Jan

What's inside? Don't keep us guessing and waiting

Hi Daniel, Are you going to remove the plastic parts on the inside, or is it just outside accuracy you are concerned with? Jan

and now the camera is inside the wing, and you didn't show us? Or did you just skip the camera, knowing that nobody could ever figure out whether it is there or not? Jan

Depends what you expect from the book If you like cooking, buy a cook-book, if you are interested in history buy a history book. What I mean: your choice may depend on what you need/like Mondfeld gives quite a lot of info, however, it does not very often go into the 'how do I do'. Mastini (Ship modelling simplified) goes into extensive 'how to', but is rather focussed on 'kits' and not 'working from scratch' Books like 'Young America' show both detail and how to, but are focussed on a very specific ship (although you can argue that a belaying pin, or a proper executed joint will show up in rather a few other shipmodels.) A second thing you should take into consideration: books like Mondfeld (but lots more) are dating essentially from the late sixties, showing historic knowlegde from that period, building materials from that periode, and techniques from that period. Those techniques may still work, but both technique as well as machinery have come a long way since. The same applies to historic knowledge. You may like Mondfeld, you may consider him outdated. Depends on what you are looking for. Third consideration: the whole digital universe is full of information. Google 'making deadeyes' or 'how to attach a block' and you will find loads of pages and instruction videos showing you how it can be done (the Passaro-tutorials are great indeed) . Far more difficult is finding detailed information on specific ships or of specific periods. The need for a 'general purpose book like Mondfeld is not so large as thirty years ago. You may consider therefore an alternative buying strategy: buy a book on something very specific: framing in the English Navy, Rigging of Tea-clippers, Books that can be read next to a hearth fire, with a glass of something, and getting all the general information from places like MSW. (and yes, Landstrom was my first book on ships, Hoeckel the second and Mondfeld came third.) Jan

My guess would be Corel : as far as I know only Corel uses those ugly metal gunport-frames [edit] just checked, tha mantua version also has these ugly things….. Jan

You mean these?

Nice model so far (I choose not to see your starving cows. Not nearly as starving as I breed them). By the way, how do you know? Jan

This made me aware of the enormous size of those airships. Never saw one mounted next to something as large as a battleship. Both ships came out great! Jan

I thouoght I found a cheaper version of Camarata's book, lister for 67 euro's. Following the link ended up at an american sellerfor 125 dollars. Nice change rates..... I have seen very convincing water doen by paper and arcrylic gel. As Mike says: everyting depends on scale, and situation to be depicted (heavy seas need other techniques that harbour scenes.) Jan

These Halinski's almost look like plastic models: highly detailed, an dlots of very small stuff (I guess that breathing is a no-go while working on those microscopic pieces) Jan

Are you doing those hooks still with 'basic tools' or did you upgrade in the meantime. In any case: increadibly crisp work. (and the studded chain: bought, or also self-made?) Jan

There is a second category of pirated kits: some of the major card-forums, and some individual builders, have 'free download models'. Quite a number of them end up for nice prices on the internet.

Lucky me, he is only taking north american customers

Stunning as always. Did you use your computer and printer to do the 'tiling' in the wheelhouse? Jan

Hi Hans, I missed your update in august. The model looks great. As far as I know the first 'Otte Blom'-model. Till now I only knew of the Dik-versions. It looks convincing to me. Please keep us posted! Jan