tkay11

Just as a matter of interest, where did you get the castello cut into such nice-sized planks? I bought a nice 2-foot chunk some time ago, and certainly like its qualities for small parts, but it does look a nice thing to use for framing. Tony

I'd be a bit careful with that claim. I bought the chuck and found it very difficult indeed to put a 0.3mm drill bit in it and keep it dead straight. The best I could manage was 0.4 on my copy. I did buy a miniature jewellers' pin vice that I could insert in a collet in the Proxxon drill, and that proved much better. Better still are the very cheap Chinese Tungsten Steel Carbide drill bits which I buy in units of 10 for each size from 0.3 to 0.5 on eBay. Their shank fits Dremels and Proxxons just fine with the collets. They do vary slightly from one batch to another by about 0.01 mm, but I'm quite happy with that. Although these tend to snap when using a cheap drill stand which has some play or is not perfectly vertical (hence my buying in units of 10), I find them to do the job perfectly in the Proxxon mill or my modified Proxxon drill stand. They won't be up to the job when using a hand drill, though, so if that's your intended use you'll have to stick to HSS. Tony

Is it not possible to print very small letters to dry transfer decal with just an inkjet printer? Tony

Well done with the drill! You must have been holding your breath a bit! Tony

You can also fill the holes with a Liberon wax filler stick which has the right colour. Very effective, simple to apply, little work! Tony

Thanks, Derek. I too have a pile of old boxwood rulers I picked up from eBay before they became so expensive (more so than buying from suppliers per cubic meter) and before people started advertising non-boxwood rulers as boxwood (I was stung a couple of times before I noticed). I bought them specifically to build just those small parts and deck fittings that require detail, and planed the sides of their markings. I have already decided to do just what you suggest as I have dry shellac to hand. All the same, I'll also be trying the castello with an eye to the future. Tony

Hmmm. More excellent food for thought. Thanks, everyone, for chipping in. After all the comments so far, I will experiment a bit, but may well in the end leave the boxwood as is, especially after seeing Roger's pic of the dyed boxwood. Interesting thought about briar, jaager, I'll have a poke around the web. Of course the lockdown here makes going out and about impossible for the moment. Don't worry about screaming: it's a natural response when something like that is so easily researched on the web. I didn't take offence, especially as you went on to provide very interesting observations as per usual. I took it as more of a groan. As for ageing, Gregory, I've seen the opposite happening to myself -- getting paler the longer the lockdown and these dark winter days. So maybe that proves the point that sunlight does indeed darken. Tony

Thanks for the scream, jaager, and for the interesting thoughts about mixing dyes and about shellac. I hadn't thought of those, and I have a good stock of shellac which I make up myself with spirit. I did know about the difference between dyes and stains but my thoughts just made a slip while writing too quickly. So I hope you can forgive my senile moment. Thanks also for mentioning the beautiful old colour of the boxwood, Allan. I too love the colour and would prefer to use it as is. It's just with 2mm blocks and below I find it hard to use pear and the lighter colour of the boxwood looks a bit odd to me when I look at contemporary models. In fact I might continue without trying to alter the colour. I also have a stock of India ink for the wales, but that won't be for the boxwood. Roger: you put the thought of castello into my head. I have a large chunk of that, so I might try making small blocks with that. Gregory: thanks for the experience with Chuck's blocks, as that seems to be good evidence. Mike: thanks for the comparison between water- and spirit-based Liberon. I had tried the spirit-based on some lime and had the same experience. So I'll try water-based in future. Anyway, a very stimulating set of thoughts for me to use as I ponder! Tony

Thanks, ah100m, good tip. I was using water-based stains of my own concoction before. Perhaps spirit-based has better infiltration. Tony

I'm making blocks from boxwood (from an old ruler) and would like advice or comments on how to stain them. My attempts in the past have been rather woeful, with poor uptake of stain. I'm reluctant to paint, but want to replicate the dark brown colour of old blocks in the mid-19th Century. Anyone? Tony

Great to see another Rochefort build. You've made a lovely start. I'll be following with much interest. There are very good builds on one of the French modelling fora. Most show a lot of self-explanatory pictures. Tony

That's a beautiful model. What did you use for the deck plans? Tony

Sorry to hear about the problems with the models, Daniel, but it's great that you're back on the forum. I have no advice to give. The only glues I can think of that might work are contact adhesive or two-part 5-minute epoxy. Tony

I can't remember whether this has been mentioned before, but there is a nice jig for making your own sharpening guide for very small chisels (1mm, 2mm etc.) which you can download at Patrick Sullivan's site. His video is on YouTube. It's done for round stock, but can easily be re-drawn for rectangular blades. Tony

If you build good supports, there's no need to glue. This would have an advantage should you have an accident or mishap and need to remove or repair the mast in future, and will help in squaring the mast once the rigging is in place. The other thing to note is that the rigging will hold the mast firmly in place once completed. Of course, a blob of epoxy will keep it very firmly in place if you're confident about its position. Tony

That's a wonderful drill press, Andrea. Very much my kind of thinking, as you have said. I really enjoy seeing what I can do with existing tools and modifications. It is a great part of the overall fun as well as another method of learning. And don't worry about your English. At first I thought you were a native English speaker -- you are very clear in your explanations. Tony

Thank you very much for the compliment, but I don't think that you should believe you will come out with much lower results. Your beautiful work already shows your pride of finish. I look forward to the tips you yourself provide, and from which I can learn as well. The build logs with the most detail about processes, problems and solutions are always the most interesting to me. They are much more interesting than the logs with just pretty pictures of a perfect product. Tony

Nice start, and I'm looking forward to following your build. Are you using the plans from AAMM in France? Tony

That's really nice of you, George, especially as you are one of those on whom I relied as a guide in the Sherbourne build. You were incredibly helpful. So I'm glad I am doing the right kind of thing! Your Ballahoo is turning into an even more informative and interesting build, especially as you make so much reference to original plans. At the moment I'm having a lot of fun experimenting with the Allège d'Arles, using the Ancre plans, at 1:100. However it is more of an exercise in learning some techniques (the hull is in card, the rest wood) for modelling at a smaller scale, for using only plans for a guide as the monograph provides no real assistance (unlike other Ancre monographs), and for painting. So as the finish is rather rough I might just post a review of the monograph a little later using the build as a set of examples of problems I've encountered and how I've tried to overcome them as well as the several oopsies that I've made. The only other builds I know of are Javier Baron's wonderful 1:200 miniature and the two builds of a rather different Arles allège using the card kit from WAK, so a review of the monograph together with such a discussion might be more interesting than a blow by blow log. Once I've achieved that, I might be ready for a proper build! Tony

French vessels of the period show a gradual thickening, but of course that could be entirely irrelevant! Great to see you back in the 'thick' of it! Tony

One thing I forgot. I find that I now use a hand-held coping saw far more than the electrical scroll saw. It needs no set up (other than a good home-made bench pin), and is very accurate, especially for the tiny pieces we often have to handle. It's also quite cheap! Of course, you can do very well indeed without any of the electrical equipment (and many modellers do), but some of it, especially the table saw and drill with a stand, makes the work a lot faster and easier. Tony

I wouldn't throw out the Proxxon FET table saw, especially as you are based in the UK. I own one, and though I often lusted after a Byrnes, the easy availability and lower overall cost of the Proxxon made my choice. I don't regret it. It has its quirks, but once I got to grips with the workings of its adjustments after a lot of experimentation, I am easily able to cut accurately to a tolerance of 0.1mm. You can buy an adapter if you need to buy blades of different widths but Proxxon do a good range of their own. You can cut wood up to 19mm thick, but if you turn it over and re-cut from the other side you can go up to 38mm. Sure, the Byrnes is a lot better, but is it really worth that much more after shipping and customs are taken into account? I'd buy it like a shot if I were in America, but I'm not. I did buy the Byrnes draw plate and would strongly recommend that, though. There's nothing else to beat it. The main things to look out for when using the Proxxon saw are: * Making sure the fence is really at right angles to the table when in position and clamped. * Recognising there are three controls for the fence. The order for adjustment being: clamping the slider very firmly in roughly the right position, and finally clamping the fence to the slider. * Using feeler gauges to get to that last 0.1 mm These Proxxon saws are used throughout Europe by the leading ship modellers, as well as the Proxxon MF70 mill which I also have. Axminster is a great source for refurbished items of the mill which they occasionally advertise on eBay. I got mine for £110. When buying tools, it's probably best not to buy everything at once. I didn't. Over several years, after I had worked out that ship modelling was definitely for me, and at each stage when I discovered that an additional tool would indeed serve me well, I bought it. Wherever possible I researched eBay and looked for refurbished items. That way I could be assured of their use over time, and spread the cost over the years. I reckon that way I've spent on overall average roughly £150 per year on tools, and another £150 on books per year during that time. I fully agree that getting or making for yourself a good set of chisels is one of the best things you could invest in, and learn how to sharpen. Another thing you might look out for is an Axminster refurbished Proxxon DSH scroll saw. These regularly sell around the £90 mark. Lots of blades available for that. I use a lot of other Proxxon tools as well: their micromot 50 drill, the smaller sander, the pen sander, footswitch and various vices (including the excellent Proxxon PM40 precision steel vice and their PMZ precision table clamping vice). I would avoid the standard Proxxon drill stand (the cheapest one) as it is inaccurate and needs careful alteration to make it perfectly vertical: although I made sufficient adjustments to make it into a reasonable milling device, in the end I went for the MF 70 mill. Many modellers use their bench drills with much satisfaction. Finally, if you want real icing on the cake, there is the Proxxon DH40 Planer Thicknesser -- but only if you are going to be cutting a lot of wood to very accurate thickness! Chronos are often cheaper than Axminster for tools, and include the cost of shipping in their prices. Both are firms with excellent support and service. Finally, although it's important to have the right tools, and even though you can pick up a huge amount of advice by using ship modelling fora and the internet, I have found books to be at least as important. I hope this helps, Tony

You may be amused to note that in French the channels are called the ‘canal des angouillers’ or the eels’ channel. Slippery customers! Very appropriate! Tony

Have a look at the drawing on Page 21 of the French book. You'll see the little notches at the base of the frame floor. You'll also see them on pages 23 and 24 of the French book where they are discussed in detail. I don't have access to the printed version of the English translation, so I don't know the page numbers of that version. If you need more help, let me know. It's worth reading through the whole book and study all the plans first so that you can think about each step. Even better would be to buy Ancre's guide to the Rochefort build. You can purchase directly from Ancre. It's only €46 and well worth it. Tony

The rigging looks great. Well, I hope that is a New Year's wish that is not to be held to. Happy New Year! Happy modelling! Stay safe from COVID! (We have a friend aged 60 who was begged by her daughter to come over for Christmas as she'd cooked so much food. The daughter on the day said her food tasted weird, so didn't eat much. The daughter then had a raging temperature and it turns out she had COVID. Our friend rang this morning to say she herself had just been tested positive. I am pretty sure that there will be stories from all over the UK that will be similar). Tony