amateur

It is not isolated, the last pic in my log also rotated. but as it is long ago that I uploaded it, I don't know when it rotated. It only happened to the pics that I made using my Iphone, manually rotated, and uploaded. When uploaded it had the orientation I gave to it, now it is back to its original orientation. No need to correct it, but just to letyou know that something changed (somewhere, sometime). Jan

Hi Mike, The question often arises. But - without any pics or additional info - my guess would be that those models are worth their sentimental value. Remembrance to (grand)dad, but without any monetary value to the outside world. As you say that they have been in a bedroomshelf, my guess is that they are something like 'decorators models', that were quite common between 1935-1975. Mass produced, intended to give the impression of a somewhat older model, depicting a shiptype, rather than an actual ship. Jan

Perhaps a stupid question, but what ship/model is shown in the new banner? (or do I now officially qualify as an outsider by not knowing ? ) Jan

Fun! Another out-of-the-ordinary build.:) Jan

Haven't posted here for some time, but the model has turned out very convincing! All the research and work has certainly paid off. Jan

Can your "home production" cope with the potential increase of demand without damage to your health, or are you in for a 24/7 year -round production scheme to keep up? Jan

In my experience: the pinrail does not split at drilling (especially not when using a sharp drill in a dremel), it splits when you try to force a 1.55 mm pin in a 1.5 mm hole..... I didn't drill many rails, but for me the following, rather lowtech solution worked: take the piece of wood, mark the positions of the pins (using a needle, and along a ruler to get the holes on a straight line, evenly spaced. Drill 'pilot holes' using a .5 mm dril (by hand, why not?) and drill again using a 1,5 mm drill btw: you could also stop at the .5 mm, as these are probably more in scale. You can use .5 steel wire to make your pins (using while glue to form the head). His will help you to make strong, thing and long enough pins. I think (but am not sure) that Edt shows this inhis Yong America build log) Jan

According to wiki: build as an 18 gun, three masted privateer in 1757 by the french . refitted/reclassed as mortar-vessel twice in her career. Jan

I didn't realize that the whole back-end of the car would turn in mahogany, I thought it would be the upper side only. And with respect to the wheels: as the respoked ones are so much better than the originals, I don't beleive you when you say you are never goibng to do that again. You will be doing it, as it is worth the time and nasty words. Jan

Are you sure yhay you dn't actually sell two norske lowes for the price of one? The box with the red flags is at least ten years older than the other two boxes. Billings fittings used to be a bit disappointing: plastic blocks, ugly thread..... Jan

I don't know whether there is a rule on which side to taper. I only know that for me getting the taper right is better achieved when the taper is on the side of the previous plank. I never tried the method you describe, so I'm not going to comment on that. As far as I can see, the theory is correct. Part of the real life is: will your planks side-bend or not. If not, you are back to: let them go where they want to, but in that case your planking will not have a nice flow in planking bands. Jan

Still struggling to get the size of this model.... I had a neighbor riding a 50 cc mini-motorbike once. I have the feeling that your model is larger than his mini-bike. Jan

In that case: don’t forget to correct for the thickness of the ‘missing’ first layer. Filling in certainky helps to have a nice surface, but the probllem of forcing your planks remains essentially the same. (Although reduced to te outer layer only) Jan

I know it is difficult (and I don't know how much spare you have), but my advice would be: start over. Jan

Hi John, to me it is not clear that you removed to much material. To me it looks as if youtend to force your planks into the oosition you want them to be, but where they don't want to go. Forcing your planks results in a kind of 'stepped' appearance of tour bow, as the underside of the planks will tend to bend outward. When you take a strip and lay it at 90 degrees over the planks you did so far, the strip should lay flat over the planks. As soon as you see small triangular openings, you know you are forcing too much. Antother check: pin your next plank on the two midship framse, an let the plank decide where it wants to go. If it does not go nextto the previous, but runs over the previous plank, you have an indication that you are forcing too much. In that case, to have a nice run of you planks, you should either use drop planks (planks that do not reach the bow), or side bend your planks. However, It is hardly ever possible to sidebend your planks, unless you have rather flexible, good quality wood. European kits quite often have rather thick, open grained, not so flexible stuff.... There is a very nice planking tutorial somewhere here on MSW. I lost the link, but you should be able to find it. Jan

Definitely not a model to display in your living (unless your living appears to be in something likethe White House) For what purpose was it started (and where will it end up after you are finished? Not a warehouse agin, I hope) Jan

I thought I was theonly one going crazy, but apparently not. The sooner we go back to normal, the better, as far as I'm concerned. The officeis for work, the home for building and messing around. Mixing those up, isnot a good strategy. (Atleast: not for me) Jan

Never seen that one before. Looks a nice model. Jan

Hi Dan, thanks for showing your last model. Wish you strength for the time that comes. Jan

Apart from all that has been said above: You may want to take an other course for another reason: the plans from the (at least European) kits are hardly ever based on real drawings (especially the older shiptypes). And as they were made for static display-models, no one ever bothered about proper lines, stability, proper dimensions of the rig compared to the hull. As long as it looks right, it is right So, perhaps you should start with drawings that are based on contemporary drawings of real ships, or on a drawing that has been mede especially for the 'sailing business': I know that for reasons of stability, it vcan be worthwhile to change the underwaterpart of your model, or add a keel of rather oversized dimension, just to prevent 'vasa-like' situatiuons at her maiden trip. That brings me to a question (no experience in this line of business, but just wondering): Ik know a guy in a german forum turning out rather small models (scale around 1:40), which he can sail by RC. Mostly models of schooner-rigged type (as he states those are easier to sail, and therefore more fun). My point is: he needs quite an amount of lead into these models to get them stable sailing. (I rember something like 2 kilo's on a 1.5 ft long model), When you aim for 6 foot, all dimensions go by a factor 4. What does that do to the amount of lead you need on your keel (or how long does your external keel need to be, and how is sailability in not so deep water with such a lenghty keel?). Jan

Hi Alex, Nice work so far! Do you know the book by Heinrich Winter 'Hollandische Zweidecker 1660/1670'? He gives quite a lot of pictures of a model of a Dutch two-decker. Dik has used the drawings from that book as a starting point for his recreation of the Zeven Provincien, and Mamoli clearly used the book as primary inspiration for the Friesland. The pics in the book may be helpful when it comes to the detailing of the decks. Jan

Hi Marc, making masts and spars from wooden dowels can also be done by hand. gives you far more control on the resulting profile than using a machine. There are quite a few threads in the 'wooden' buildlogs showing you the prces to get from square to octagonal to round. I don't know how that was done in French ships, but for dutch ships of that period, the taper of masts and spars was not a 'straight' one: in profile, the masts and spars were kind of rounded, the thickest part not being at the bottom. starting with a square dowel and doing the rounding by hand does give you the possibility to scribe the profile exactly on the wood, and make sure that it fits the regulations. Jan

And ofcourse: my last like also includes the paintings between this and my previous like Jan

Ah well, three ships that are certainly not covered by the books you mention..... I don't know anything on greek ships, I know that in Denmark there is a rather large literature on those drakar-like ships. Google on 'skuldelev' and you will find loads of pictures of the reconstructed vikingships. Pics give a rather nice view of the rigging and detailing of the ships. Jan

Hi Matt, as a very crude rule of thunb: yes. in practice: depends. I don’t know what model you are working on, but take a 17 century dutch ship: the diameters of all ropes are related to the size of the ship in a rathe complexsystem: the standing rigging relates to the size of the mast: the standing rigging of the mizzen is much thinner than on the main. Also: the standing rigging of the topmast is thinner than the lower mast. The same holds to the running rigging: the larger the sail the thicker the ropes. So: on each part of the mast the standing is thicker than the running, but the running rigging on the lower masts is way thicker than the standing rigging on the topmasts. Besides: the thickness of the running rigging varies: the lifts are relatively thin, the sheets almost as heavy as the standing rigging. following the formal rules, my Prins Willem shoukd have around 20 different ropesizes. Using around 8 sizes did result in a visually acceptable result. Jan