kurtvd19

Chuck: Great idea. I will be following this with great interest. Kurt

Lloyd Warner, former NRG Chairman, who owns Warner Woods West has retired from block making. Lloyd recently dropped his ad in the Nautical Research Journal and told me he's only making blocks for himself from now on. Lloyd had stopped selling wood and linen thread some time ago. Kurt

Any of the newer Model Shipway's kits sold by Model Expo - US made, US designed. You can download most of the instruction manuals from these kits from their web site - gives one a good iea of the kit's complexity and you can see right away how well the instructions are done. Kurt

Toni: Excellent work. I didn't get a chance to tell you that Atalanta received several votes for People's Choice at Manitowoc - even though it was in display only. Bill got a couple too. Kurt

Dan: Looking good. To avoid chipping the paint make sure that you file/sand on the hull only on the inboard stoke - lift for the outboard stoke. Should be able to avoid and chipping. You might want to apply some masking tape at the edge, mark it and sand to the line - again sanding only on the inboard stroke. For the fit of the deck you might want to bevel to top edge of the hull, when sanding it, to fit the angle of the bulwarks/deck camber. Also. I am sure you are going to put some sort of deck / hull clamp at the top edge of the hull to provide gluing surface for the deck - you might want to add it first to stiffen the hull edge and then do your sanding so the clamp's top edge is sanded to fit the deck camber at the same time you clean up the hull's top edge. Kurt

Also, what is your interest? Type of ship - merchant or warship? Period? With a few guides you will get much better answers. Given what you have said my answer would be definitely buy a US made kit. In my opinion best bang for the buck and no important stuff lost in the translation. But if Bluejacket or Model Shipway's don't make a kit that interests you then you have to buy something from across the water. If so then check out Ages of Sail here in the US - they import almost all the foreign made kits. Kurt

Dave: No problem with them being posted. Just was curious. I have a lot of the HAMMS plans - boarders might have been cropped a bit. Kurt

Dave: What is the source of these plans? I know about the HAMMS set and John Fryant's set. Bill Strachan used these for his model that was featured in the Nautical Research Journal issues 60.2 and 60.3. - a fabulous diorama! Kurt

Another thing about the BSI C/A is their accelerator is the only stuff I know of that doesn't leave a white residue after use. At least the BSI C/A and the BSI accelerator together. Don't know about using with any other brands. Kurt

Glen: I think C/A is fine for parts w/o stress on them over a long period. I have some parts that were attached with the original industrial super glues - Eastman 910 - back in 1968-69 that are still holding well. They are in a desk drawer and I come across them every so often and check them - last check all was well. I have models that are 20+ years old with C/A glued parts w/o any failures. I know your models are going into a museum but for the use on the boiler I wouldn't hesitate to use C/A. I have a model commission for a museum (unfortunately overdue for delivery) that I have used C/A on along with Titebond and I am not worrying about either glue. One thing about the C/A - I have used Bob Smith Industries C/A's for over 20 years and don't use any other kind. I am very leery of hardware store 'Super Glues" and wouldn't use any of them on a bet - who made it and when? Bob Smith stuff can be found with their name on the package but the stuff sold with the hobby shop's name on it is by Bob Smith - the Bob Smith name is there in small print but the hobby shop's is most prominent and essentially identical to the stuff under the bob Smith name. The hobby shop logo on the bottle in the photo replaces the Bob Smith logo/name. They also make excellent epoxies - with the same deal on the name on the label. Kurt

Glean: Great work and detail. For great looking rivets the Sensipress + along with the Riveter set up by Northwest Short Line Products can't be beat. The photos show the Sensipress with the Riveter table and the rivets on the boiler sheathing and smoke stack of my model of the African Queen (prior to paining the pipes). The arbor holds a male punch and the base holds a female die. A drill press or better yet a mill could do the exact same thing with your ability to machine the punch and die. The table makes even spacing a snap. Kurt

Ditto the previous WOW. This alone is worth the price of admission here. Great work and another great tip Ken Kurt

Brian: OOPS, I got it - dug out the copies and then forgot to follow through. PM on the way. Kurt

There is a documentary video by the History Channel about this boat and the sinking of the Albemarle. I picked up the video when I built this model. I don't remember the cost but it was very reasonable. They painted the hull white or light gray probably due to the night attack would have made the boat almost invisible. Other than that it's a good film. Kurt

Ken: The NSL stuff I have used has been top notch. Have a bunch in the shop and use it regularly - have not bought any recently but stock is going down. Maybe Midwest will surprise me and answer your inquiry. Kurt

Ken: Great work and good tips. Please don't hold your breath waiting for a response from Midwest as I think with their past record you will turn blue long before you hear from them. I want to be sure you make it to the San Diego Conference! Kurt

Cathead: Thanks for starting this topic. I will be following and hopefully contributing. Kurt

I don't disagree about using gray primer under red paint - except when I paint the underwater oxide red. I always use a black primer or undercoat before painting the oxide red underwater portion of a hull as the dark primer tones down the red a bit. As to painting with both enamels and acrylics on the same model - it should be OK to put enamel over the acrylic - it's always OK to put acrylic over enamel However, I would always test any enamel over any acrylic before applying to a model until you know it's OK. Paint manufactures sometimes change their formulas w/o telling anybody so just because it worked before don't assume it will always work. I am a big advocate of testing. Weathering is usually done with differing paint types w/o problems. When spending so much time on the model to not take the time to test the paints is a mistake. I use paints from a single manufacturer and I did my testing long ago and do not do it now, but I also have a direct connection to the manufacturer and would be aware of any change in formulation before it happens. They recently released a new primer that I tested extensively before it's release on model materials but not my current models (until after the tests). The reason I advocate testing was backed up by an unfortunate choice of primer that was then painted over with an acrylic. The acrylic paint would not cure and was still sticky after days. It was assumed that the acrylic was bad and the whole thing was stripped and sanded. Another acrylic was applied with the same results. Testing ensued with several types of acrylics being applied over the primer - same results regardless of the acrylic color coat. Switched to a couple of different primers and then shot acrylics over the various primers w/o an issue. The conclusion was the primer was at fault. My friend had bought the primer in Racine, WI and thought it could be a problem with that can or the stuff shipped to the Ace Hardware in Racine. I had bought some of the same primer here in IL from a Home Depot because I needed a white primer for a special paint application I had planned. I tested acrylics over the primer I bought here with the exact same results. I used a couple of other primers with good results. We had to conclude it was the primer. Checking around I found that every professional modeler I consulted said "stay away from that stuff" and named the primer at fault. "Never use it - they change their formulas all the time and never for the better". You will never see a can of Rust-Oleum in my shop after this experience. I am very glad that my friend had the problem first - his model had broad expanses of hull where my job was a very intricate assembly that would have been near impossible to strip or sand adequately. The new primer I mentioned earlier was received just before I had to use a white primer so I would not have bought or used the white Rust-Oleum stuff for the job. Kurt

Steve: Thanks for the great tip - I will be passing it along in my airbrush classes. I use a similar syringe and plastic dispensing needle for applying wood glues - will use the same set up when airbrushing - I will not interchange the set ups! Kurt

Ropes were not coiled on the deck as shown in Ken's photos when operational but they were coiled like they are shown when the ship was being inspected and everything was to look ship shape. As most models are displayed on a set of stanchions, obviously not at sea, the coiled ropes would be appropriate. However, were the model in a diorama, at sea, then they would have been picked up as you said. Kurt

Elijah: Next time you are at a meeting take a couple of photos of my shop/tools to show your Mom - she will not think you have so much once she sees the photos. Kurt

Ken: Your posts are always appreciated and educational. I have learned a few things reading your build log -and learned a lot of stuff from your book. One has to remember that there are always people who need to know some of the things than so many assume everybody knows because they learned the skill so long ago. There are always new modelers coming along who will benefit from tutorials of all sorts. You are providing information for all skill levels - I know for a fact that some very experienced guys do their chafing fish and mast cheeks just like the instructions show, relying on wood filler rather than fitting the faces of the strips together tightly. As I have said before, you have a skill for explaining the processes of building and are a great teacher. That's one of the reasons I asked you to be a speaker at the San Diego NRG Conference in October. Anybody wanting to learn first hand from Ken about working with brass come to San Diego. If you have Ken's book bring it with and I am sure he will autograph it for you (mine will make the trip) and I am sure he will bring some to sell there. This paragraph is a blatant plug for Ken, his book and the NRG Conference. Take care, Kurt

Very nice work Toni. I find myself using the dental machine almost daily - it's replaced my pin vises in most instances. Kurt

Cathead: I don't know. However, I will ask a true expert and get back to the group. I will ask Jack about tar paper and canvass coverings. It might take a bit as the professor can take some time to check his emails. Kurt

It appears that the roof covering is tar paper. The Texas decks roof shows port to starboard seams. I simulated tar paper on my Chaperon model using Silk Span strips, glued in place using Artist's Acrylic Matte Medium (AAMM). The AAMM was brushed onto the back of the strip then the strip was laid down onto the surface, overlapping the previous strip by a scale 6 - 8 inches. The entire roof area was done this way and then the surface was painted with a weathered flat black. I used some of the AAMM, after the painting of the tar paper, along the seams to make it look like tar had been applied as a repair to hold down an edge. These decks as you can see from the Shorpy photo were not used by the passengers. I have seen photos of planks laid over the tar paper to protect it from foot traffic. Caulked decks are not always as water tight as one might assume. These boats were not always maintained to the high standards associated with passenger traffic as we know it today. The use of tar paper or maybe canvass laid down with tar would go far towards making the roofs shed water - more so than a caulked deck. Remember these boats were very flexible and caulking wouldn't last long. During the 2006 NRG Conference in San Diego the vendors were inundated with rain coming through the caulking of the main deck of the San Diego Museum's Star of India and I am pretty sure this ship had better maintenance than the typical riverboat. The buckets in the racks are fire buckets that are immediately adjacent to water barrels. Sparks from the stacks on the roof could get a real fire going. The buckets were kept handy hanging on the racks so they would always be accessible and in the same place. Most fire buckets were also made with domed bottoms so that the buckets would not sit flat and would also hold a bit more water than a flat bottom. The rounded bottom made sure they were not removed by a crew member to use for another purpose so they were assured of being available when needed. This was true of all fire buckets not just those on riverboats. Kurt