Roger Pellett

The attached rather crude sketch shows my setup and shows how the third turn is “sewed” around the first two in step 3. Step 4 is tightly sewing a thinner thread around the grommet made in step 3. To serve it. It’s easier to do than to describe. Try it.

True strops for blocks are easy to make: 1. Using a piece of soft wire strop the block and the thing that you intend to attach it to. Straighten out the wire, measure the length and divide the result by three. This is the diameter of the strop. 2. Find a short piece of dowel close to the calculated diameter. 3. Wrap three turns of thread around the dowel- using a needle, the third turn should be a series of overhand knots “sewn” around the other two. Tie off the ends of the thread around the three thread turns. 4. Thread a piece of thinner thread to a needle and serve the twisted rope turns around the dowel, and tie off the ends of the serving. A dab of clear nail polish is good for securing knots. 5. The finished product will be a served grommet. This is then slipped over the block and seized as Frankie shows above. 6. It is easy to add a hook by passing each wrap in step 3 through the eye of the hook. This procedure is easy and quicker than it sounds. It provides a much mote realistic appearance than a tied knot. Roger

Henry, In the 1030’s A guy named E. Armitage McCann published several model making books. One described building a “decorator quality Galleon.” You should be able to find an inexpensive copy of the book to compare with your model. If Chuck is right that the model is true 1930’s folk art, any value that it might have would be lost through restoration. Put it on the shelf, and pick out a kit that looks like fun. Roger

The Anthony Roll predates the reign of Elizabeth I as it was compiled in 1546 at the end of the reign of Henry VIII. The E R on the sails would indicate that whoever built it was trying to make it look like something from Elizabeth’s time. The juxtaposition of the E R, the Royal Standard, and Spanish cross on the model is proof that the builder was trying to create maximum market appeal. Unfortunately, the model reminds me of the famous Winston Churchill quip to a lady who accused him of being drunk at a party. “Madame in the morning I will be sober but you will still be ugly.” There are model kits in all price levels and skill levels that will provide a better reward for your efforts, or better yet, jump in with both feet and build something from scratch. Roger

Dave, I have been planning to set out a couple of Birdhouses next spring but have been concerned about our large resident squirrel population. Do squirrels bother your wrens. The squirrels will empty a good sized bird feeder in an afternoon. Roger

Most kits, like the one that you are building, are plank on bulkhead, not plank on frame - big difference! if you want to build a plank on frame model and are willing to build from scratch there are unlimited possibilities. As a starter, buy an inexpensive copy of Chapelle’s “Search for Speed Under Sail” and pick something out. Drawings in the book are available from the Smithsonian but will have to be lofted by you to develop all of the frame shapes that you need. Another choice would be one of the small Revolutionary War era “New England Schooners” researched extensively by the late Harold Hahn. During the 70’s and 80’s he published a number of articles on these interesting vessels in the Nautical Research Journal. See if you can find references on the Guild’s online index or better yet order their digital collection of articles from the NRG office. Hahn also published a book about Colonial Schooners and you might be able to find a used copy. If you decide to build one of these vessels, scale drawings drawn specifically for model construction are available from his heirs. You will find discussions about ordering these on the forum. Since you don’t tell us where you live, if you are living somewhere other than North America these ideas may not work for you. By providing a little more information others will be able to provide better ideas. Roger

A dissenting opinion- Leave it alone! From your photos it doesn’t look that bad. Assuming that you intend to reattach deck houses, hatches, etc, they will break up the pattern. This appears to be a nice piece of folk art. Much nicer than the decorator models we often see. The somewhat haphazardly scribed deck is in keeping with the folk style of the model. Roger

There used to be an old ad promoting butter vs margarine. The punch line was “it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.” Where we live, Lake Superior has the last word. Presently the Lake is at a historic high. Several years ago it was quite low and i’m sure it will return to that condition in a few years. The city built a 3-1/2 mile lake shore walkway elevated 20ft above the lake. Twice, violent northeastern storms have torn up large paved sections in the past couple of years. The city can’t find the money to repair our streets but they keep plowing millions to fix it they apparently think that they can fool Mother Nature. it’s all part of living near the lake. Roger

A number of years ago there was a proposal to ship water from the Great Lakes in tankers to Saudi Arabia. There was also a proposal to build a pipeline to transport Great Lakes water to Arizona. In response, the congressional delegations of the eight States bordering the Lakes sponsored legislation to prevent water removal. The cities within the Lakes’ Watershed return the water that they use back to the Lakes so are unaffected. There is a town in Southeastern Wisconsin that straddles the Lake Michigan/Mississippi watershed that was getting its water from Lake Michigan and a legal battle did ensue. Roger

When the Big Boy left Duluth, according to our local paper it took on 55,000 gallons of water. Come to think of it this is illegal as removing water from the Great Lakes watershed is prohibited by Federal law. Roger

Thanks for posting this. The Big Boy visited the Lake Superior Railroad Museum here in Duluth July 20&21 but I missed seeing it. It headed South on Sunday evening, July 21st. The museum has a Yellowstone but they do not operate it. What is the purpose of the diesel unit? Is the Big Boy actually operating or is it being helped by the diesel? Roger

Bob, It was not my intention to give MicroMark a pass. Actually since I have belonged to the Model Ship forum I have bought a lot less from them as I am now aware of other sources for the same stuff. I have never purchased any of their proprietary tools as they appeared to be something that I could rig up myself. I was pointing out that they have been able to use a well financed marketing campaign to offset other shortcomings, a common business practice. We are fortunate here in Duluth to still have a well stocked old fashioned hobby shop that I would like to support. The proprietor is, however, such a @#$& that I hate going into the place. Roger

As the old slogan goes, “It pays to advertise” and this is one thing that Micro Mark Does in spades. It seems like the only organizations that out advertise Micro Mark are the Cruise Lines. I must get at least half a dozen Micro Mark catalogs a year, some on the heels of the previous one for no apparent reason. On the other hand I don’t know who NorthWest Shortline is and therefore, have never bought anything from them. A business needs to grow to a certain “critical mass” to be able to advertise extensively which rules out small shops. On the other hand, the MicroMark catalog for many is a one stop shop, and the Chinese issue is overlooked because buyers are used to things coming from China. In the case of propriety items like the Chopper, If it is in the MicroMark Catalog many would not recognize it as a knockoff and look for it elsewhere. Micro Marks stuff is not inexpensive. They just have reached a Volume that provides the revenue to fund their ad campaign. Roger

Bruce, I checked Ed’s post and was unable to find his description of building his POB hull. As an alternative check Backer’ series of posts for building Golden Hinde. He uses the same technique with excellent results. Roger

I agree with Kurt’s posts above. The reason for the double planking is economic. It allows kit manufacturers to provide more widely spaced bulkheads, reducing material and shipping costs. It also provides a marketing bonus- “you get to build the model just like the real thing” which of course is untrue. Since you you are building from scratch a better system would be to fill in the spaces between the bulkheads with easily carved wood blocks. The hull is then carved in the usual manner. You now have a solid, fair base for planking. Ed Tosti demonstrates this method in his build log for Young America. He actually built two hulls, a plank on bulkhead one and a plank on frame one. Roger