Roger Pellett

Linda,  the line in question that you have marked in green is the sheet for the Royal Sail.  It’s job is to pull the clew (corner) of the Royal Sail down against the TopGallant Yard, the yard immediately below.  The line passes through a sheave in the outboard end of the TopGallant Yard.  It then runs inboard along the yard where it is turned again by a block close to the yard’s centerline.  From here it passes down to a belaying pin on the deck.
 
If you are modeling with set sails, it is attached to the clue of the Royal Sail as shown in the picture.  If the Royal Sail is furled it will lead up to furled the Royal Sail, still attached to its clew.  If you are modeling the vessel without sails, this line can be omitted.
 
Roger

Byrnes saws do one thing exceptionally well; they cut small dimensioned lumber and brass to exceptionally close tolerances they are helpful if not essential for scratch building models.  The Proxxon saws are close but no cigar.  I would not use my Byrnes Saw for cutting hardwood framing from rough sawn lumber.
 
For building wood framed glass display cases a full sized table will suit you better.   Most of the work is ripping and grooving.  I use single strength glass and a blade that will cut a 1/8” kerf is necessary.  Miters can be cut with a quality miter box but a table saw with the proper blade and a good adjustable crosscut guide will work better.  I use a set of Sears Craftsman moulding cutters mounted on my table saw for the moulded edges of the case, but a Router can do this too.
 
My present table Saw is a 10in Delta bought used.  This is a bid heavy brute not intended for shipping to a new duty station every three years or so.  My two previous saws were much smaller 8in saws that built several cases just fine.  I would look at Lowe’s, Home Depot, Etc. To see what they offer.  You need:
 
5/8in arbor.
rigid fence and crosscut guide
Power!! No such thing as too much 3/4hp  minimum
Largest table for your $$
Ball bearings
Adjustable depth of cut (for grooving)
The lower prices saws are probably one of the familiar hand power saws mounted upside down in an arbor.   Higher quality saws feature separate motors  with v belts.  Variable speed?  If offered, a useless marketing gimmick.
 
I second Jaager’s suggestion for finding a quality used saw.
 
Roger
 

Dean,  
 
Price points:  
 
Dewalt portable planer.  Mine is mounted atop a plywood box with castors. I move it outdoors for planing it’s very noisy and can quickly make a wheel barrow load of shavings.  Capacity about 1in.  Cost $500 +-.  Corrosion- Store In plastic snap on lid box w/ zrust.  Space- not much larger than what you have.
 
Byrnes sander-  Enough already said;  if Company resumes production. Cost $650?
 
Full sized drum sander: $1500 and large.
 
Improving what you have:  The speed issue should be easily solved by swapping out the pulley combination.  I would swap out the bearings with new ball or roller bearings.  These are not expensive.  So, it is certainly possible to upgrade what you have.  The question is cost.  I doubt if any custom machine s hop can machine the shaft and drum for anything close to the $500 spent on a small portable planer.
 
Roger

You are building a model of a steel hulled vessel.  That means showing a beautifully executed planking job is silly and historically inaccurate.  Goop is your friend.  Durham’s Rock Hard Water Putty comes to mind.  Spread it on with a putty knife, let it harden and sand it down until you get a smooth hull.
 
Roger

Coke made from coal is one of the three essential ingredients in smelting iron ore into iron which is then further processed into steel.  Close proximity to deposits of coal and cheap waterbourne transportation of iron ore (Minnesota) and limestone (Michigan) over the Great Lakes caused the American steel industry to locate in Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio.
 
Steel was not commonly available in bulk quantity prior to the invention of the Bessemer Converter in the 1850’s. Before that iron ore was smelted into high carbon cast iron and wrought iron, a mixture of low carbon iron and slag.  I believe that this was usually done using charcoal as fuel/ reducing agent.
 
Coal was also reduced to provide gas for lighting.  Many cities had their “City Gas” plants; one being located in Washington DC’s Foggy Bottom of Watergate fame.  Presumably coal tar would have been a byproduct of this had anyone bothered to collect It.
 
I, therefore, wonder if Coal tar was available in the US prior to the development of the industrial steel making process and widespread gas lighting in the later years of the Nineteenth Century.
 
Roger

Doing this is a two stage operation.  Stage 1 is locating the center of the cylinder.  Apparently you have figured out how to do this.  The second stage is to mark out the location and to keep the hole from skidding off of it.
 
I have a small Proxxon rotary engraving tool.  A Dremel rotary tool would work 
too.  My tool is fitted with a tiny burr.  I often use this to grind a tiny dimple in brass before drilling.
 
Roger

If I were fixing this, using a razor saw or other fine toothed saw I would cut away the damaged area.   I would cut vertically down from the deck and horizontally in from the bow.  This will form a step to seat a wooden block.  Regular lumberyard pine would be my choice.  The block will eventually be glued in place with ordinary PVA glue but first while the block is still square I would dry fit it and drill for a dowel.  Using a French curve I would extend the curve of the deck and vertical shape of the bow on to the block.  Away from the model I would cut the block to its vertical and horizontal shape slightly outside of the traced lines.  The block can now be doweled, glued in place and shaped using conventional methods.
 
Finishing is just a matter of finding something compatible with what’s already there.  I suspect regular hardware store gloss black enamel.  Not acrylic.  Rust-Oleum makes a nice black inanely in a half pint tin.
 
Roger

I’ve used a lot of West System Epoxy for boat repair projects.  Here’s what I know:
 
If mixed in the correct proportions it cures. Otherwise, you have a sticky mess.  For example, adding too much hardener does not make the end result harder, it just keeps the mix from fully curing.
 
Cured epoxy resin itself is not especially hard and the fairing compound that you used is intended to be sanded.
 
I am therefore of the opinion that you mixed and applied the epoxy correctly, so your problem is with the abrasive that you are using, not the epoxy/ fairing compound system.  And if you are just sanding with the paper held in your hand, it’s just skidding over the high spots, not fairing.  It needs to be backed up with something solid.
 
Make sure that that you are using high quality abrasive.  I’ve had good luck with 3M abrasives.  Back your sandpaper up with a sanding block. A block of wood works fine, as does a large diameter dowel for concave areas.  As soon as your paper “loads up” get a new piece. Ditto when it stops cutting, otherwise it’s just polishing the surface.  Use coarse files for major shaping.  When they load up clean them with a wire brush or better yet a file brush.  
 
Roger

The lighter appears to be rigged with a combination of metal and wooden blocks; metal for the wire rope lifting the plane itself and wooden controlling the boom doing the lifting.  
 
The wooden blocks are not those sold by most model ship fitting suppliers. They are internally stropped.  The typical blocks that Syren furnishes are the older pattern  blocks intended for external rope strops but they do offer laser cut kits that can be assembled into the internally stropped blocks that you require.
 
Bluejacket offers metal blocks.  These are castings.
 
There are also posts on this forum that describe making both metal and internally stropped wooden blocks.  Do some browsing on the scratch built build logs, 1900 and later.  Judging from the workmanship displayed by you so far, you might want to try making your own.
 
Roger