Brian the extraordinaire

Throwing in a few more comments:  Lever, Steel, Harland are all excellent authors of rigging and all have valuable information.  Other authors include Lavery, Hahn, Napier, Ronnberg, Marquardt, Underhill, Longridge, Chapelle, White, Goodwin, Biddlecombe, McKay and others.  Petersson is OK but be careful as he made a number of errors. 
 
The Niagra is a very different ship from the Connie meaning that you cannot find a single book for both types.  You might find one for each ship but more likely you need to verify the instructions in the kit by consulting the authors noted above.  Rigging also changed on each ship so you will need to pick a time frame and then do some research. 
 
Personally, I enjoy the research and associated discovery, plus this gives me a more representative model (as soon as I finish one and get to another...)
 
Above all, enjoy the process and the discovery!
 
Duff

Rob,
 
You can also purchase Yellowheart through Jeff Hayes at Hobbymill (link on home page) and he can mill it to your exact dimensional requirements. Very reasonable prices, top quality material, and customer service second to none. No connection other than a very satisfied customer!

Hi Brian,
Well bully for him. I wish other companies like Mantua for instance, had someone like him. When I start the build, I am looking forward to working with him.
Vince

I used styrene foam near the bow and stern. It was easy to do, did add some work, and was not all that helpful. Yes, it gave the planking some extra support, but to add some extra thickness to the bulkheads would do the same thing.
I would not bother again.

Brian,
 
Look for some bigger stuff than your hedge.  If left alone in grows into quite a respectable tree - and no-one will stop you from taking your chain saw to a privet!  
 
John

On my AVS kit, I did the planking first, then added the Nibbing Strakes after. I traced the shape with tracing paper and transferred it to wood plank.
I cut it out slightly oversize so it could be fine tuned by sanding for an accurate fit.
 
Ken

I know it is a lot to ask Alex,but do you fancy doing a small tutorial on this?This technique is employed by quite a few builders in Eastern Europe,but as yet,has not really been employed in the western world.I think there may be many builders on here that would find this most interesting.I do however fully understand if you would rather keep the secret to yourself.it is a bit like asking for the recipe for kentucky fried chicken.
Kind Regards Nigel

Thank you John and Raphael - in answer to your question I use "Birchwood-Casey Brass Black".
 
Capstan Step
 
The upper Capstan Step is made in similar fashion to it's lower counterpart. Three pieces of Boxwood were jointed together using rebates :
 

 
The step was then sanded down into a wedge shape to allow for the sheer of the quarterdeck. This is necessary to ensure the axis of both capstans align vertically :
 

 
The hole for the capstan shaft was also drilled, slightly oversize to allow for alignment. Blackened brass bolts were also added :
 

 
Two views of the fitted step and capstans. Some tidying work is still needed :
 

 

 
  Danny

Hi friends,
thanks for the kind comments.
 
Brian C,
no nails, holes in the planks filled out with dark wax.
 
Regards Karl

I can't tell you about any other plans except for the ones I have. I was going to do POF too , but the plans were so bad it was impossible. I really can't say enough about how poor they are. I  nearly canned the whole project, but decided to go on as an excercise to prepare me for the Sussex. The plans enclosed in the book seem to be right on the money. I am a scratch builder so I am going to try to do all the carvings as well as construction of hull. I just wish I could figure out how to carve a better human figure. No museum will ever hold my models but from 2 feet away they look pretty good LOL. Tony

Jim,
 
I'm going to cast another vote for the Oscillating spindle sander with tilting table. I have a Rigid brand which is serviceable but it is a monster size wise.
 
For me the perfect unit would be small in size, have a motor that does not bog down in routine model making activities (not talking about sanding 2" rock maple), has a removable pivot pin in the table surface, use off the shelf sanding drums and possibly be variable speed.

The green covered edition referred to by Brian C is the second, revised edition published by SeaWatchBooks. This edition was published in 2010 (the first in 2007). It's an excellent production that does justice to the unique collection of models collected by the Kriegstein brothers over a number of years. The models are an inspiration. Indeed, most models are or should rightly be called works of art.
 
As samueljr writes, the models in this book were all built without power tools!
 
Yet again, SeaWatchBooks are to be congratulated on a first class production - and the authors on sharing their collection with us. I highly recommend this book!

Hi Pete, I'm currently building Amerigo Vespucci in the 1/84 scale. If the cost is to great in one go, take a look at Cornwall Model Boats and you'll it possible to buy the kit in sections. You can also download the instruction manuals free of charge, which I would suggest is essential.
 
She is a big ship and quite a commitment. I'm about 18 months into the build and will update the log in the next few days.  Good luck.
 
Best wishes
Richard

I've used painters tape 1" wide. I hold on to each end of the piece of tape and apply it making sure it touches middle of the hole first then both ends at the same time. Don't push, just set it over the hole.
Once applied, I use the side of a sharpened carpenters pencil and gently rub the edges of the hole. I sharpen the pencil so the lead is about 1/4 - 3/8 in length.
Remove tape, set on plank, add 1mm cut to shape, sand to fit numerous time until done.

Basswood is fairly standard in ME kits. It's biggest problem is it is very soft. It is easy to work on especially sanding as one of the other members mentioned.  It also can be readily bent after soaking in water. It stains nicely unless you do not properly clean up excess glue on the surface. That can be easily accomplished by scrapping or rubbing with a q-tip soaked in acetone or Isopropanol depending on what glue you used (CA or PVA). Some folks subtitute better woods for key areas where color or hardness would be beneficial.
Best
Jaxboat

Well, the Admiral pulled up to the dock at 1850 in the MC "Gwenmobile."  (MC stands for Motor Car   )  She was tired but glad to be home. (Me too   )
 
Hey Boris, that's a magnificent piece of work, very nice looking   .  Now about the upper part of the launcher opening.
 
Let me put my (unofficial) engineering hat on.  The entire deck structure is what I call secondary structure.  It is not subject to any substantial forces and can be of a rather light construction.  It's quite similar to the Fokker F-70 and F-100 where the cabin floor structure is secondary, it only has to carry the weight of the seats and passengers.  
For the submarine, In order to span that large opening without the vertical structural members on the sides a heavy primary structural member had to be installed at the top sides to function as a bridging beam for the lighter deck frames.  It appears that these heavy beams extend somewhat down into the side opening because they had to be fastened to the forward and aft top stringers.  What type of beams they are, I don't know but my guess would be T beams on their side.  The span-wise deck frames are either riveted or welded to the horizontal portion of the T beam.
 
This is similar as I had to design for a few of the aircraft of an airline I was the director of QC and Engineering for.  The design was for the bridging of the cabin floor over the entire wing root that ran through the fuselage, which was primary structure.  I used aluminum I beams though.
 
In my rework on my model I tried to make the span-wise deck beams as thin as possible, about 3 mm.  The top of the door opening is even with the bottom part of the deck beams.  This does not give me anything for a doorstop on the top.  I will be forced to extend the top of the side plates down 1 mm when I put the paper side panels on.  Even so, I think it will look similar to the photographs we have of the O 19, O 20 and later models.  I may revise my thinking and device another method to act as the doorstops.
 
What Gino is talking about is the actual doors.  They hinge on the bottom and fold down not quite onto the top of the pressure hull.  The two doors on the actual torpedo tubes have two very heavy hinge brackets on top that stick up above the launcher assembly.  That's what makes the space on the top of the opening quite critical.  
 
On my model I calculated the hight between the top of the pressure hull and the top of the deck for my scale and cut the deck frames accordingly.  I also calculated the vertical measurement of the launcher assembly itself and have just enough space to let it come through the side opening with perhaps 1 to 1 1/2 mm to spare on top.  So I believe that what I have is close to accurate.  I see no problem to make the side doors fold down enough for the launcher assembly to rotate over them.
 
I am attaching a few pictures that show that the top of the side opening is below the top of the deck.  This is what I am trying to achieve and I think that's what Gino is referring to.  
 

This is a rather small pic of the O 19 but it shows what I mean.
 

This pic was taken in Scotland after her refit in 1944.  They removed the doors but the upper part of the door structure is clearly visible.
 

As the picture show this is a model of the O 21, quite a nice model.  Here you can see that the side doors are laying flat on the bottom.
 
Cheers and keep up your excellent work,
 

Yes, Brian, especially when they were done by the Mermaid's commanding officer!
 
Trove is always worth a look.  You'll find reference material there not only from the National Library, but from major libraries all around Australia.
 
John

If you are painting, oak is probably OK.  If it is to be left natural, it is quite grainy and does not look quite right.  I am not a fan of walnut for anything except that I have used it for wales on occasion and that was American black walnut.  My preference is boxwood, European or Castello, the latter being less expensive and easier to find.  Box is strong, holds an edge, and with imperceptible grain in most cases.
Allan

Going on with the bulwarks. I’ve glued the rail and the upper planking using white glue(PVA) and also got rid off the casings.
 
For large and more detail photos see also:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilhan_gokcay/sets
(Best go into the set and choose slideshow)

Very good Posts Crackers and Frankie .
 
Silkspan is also excellent for making Flags. You can use your Printer to make any type of flag - even those "Fleur de Lis" French ones that are a real pain to try and paint any other way .
 
Here's a simpler one - the Jack on my "HMAT Supply" :
 

 
  Danny

Thank you very much for the kind comments Eric and Frank .
 
Continuing on with the Capstan, the next job was to finish shaping the Whelps. Looking from above they form a wedge shape, with the outer edge 2" thicker than the inner. To cut these angles I made a wedge-shaped block of scrap timber which I lightly PVA'd to the underside of the piece that I'd Milled the faces to. I cut one edge on all 11 pieces, then I used Isopropyl to remove the wedge, let the alcohol evaporate thoroughly, and glued it back to the opposite side to cut the other angle :
 

 

 

 

 
After cutting them all to length I set the saw blade to protrude just 0.25mm above the bed. I carefully marked the positions of two of the Chock Scarphs in one each of the Upper and Lower Whelps (there is a slight difference in them), set the fence to the first cut and did all of them. Then I reset the fence for the other 3 measurements and cut all the remaining ones :
 

 
The two on the left in the pic above have only been cut on the saw. The two on the right have had the Mortices cut into them. I used a #11 Xacto to cut the angles - they were quite easy to do, owing to the saw cuts.
 
Another pic showing the wedge-shapes of the whelps :
 

 
  Danny

Forward Stanchions, Cistern Hood and Pump Dale
 
Hi all,
 
The last few things for the Pump Assemblies (almost) - I've made the Forward support Stanchions, the port side Cistern Hood and the Pump Dale for the same side. None will be fitted to the starboard side.
 
The Stanchions support the forward ends of the Cranks :
 

 

 
The Cistern Hood is made from 1mm thick side pieces and 0.35mm boards over the top :
 

 

 
The Pump Dale is a removable item on the real ship - it would be a constant trip hazard otherwise. It is made from four pieces of 0.5mm thick timber, and attaches to the cistern via a board which can be lifted upwards :
 

 

 

 

 
  Danny

Apart from the excellent build quality of his machines, the single other quality that sets them apart is his service.  As another example, I purchased one of Jim's earliest ropewalks.  While the build quality was great I rapidly became very frustrated with the quality of the rope it was producing.  We corresponded for some time and Jim was quite patient.  It became evident that trying to sort the problem by email was not going to work out, so Jim asked me to return the machine (at his cost) for him to have a look at.  Now remember I live down under so this was not cheap   In his words " I can't have a customer on the other side of the world unhappy with the product".
 
It turned out one of the pulley belts had stretched (was too slack) and was causing inconsistent lay up of the rope.  Jim returned the machine to me (again at his cost) and all is working fine now.  Not too many companies would go to that extent!  I have every machine Jim has built and none have let me down yet - that is simple testimony of the quality of his products.
 
Jim you can pay me later - two crates of beer should do it  - sorry folks being flippent - just a very happy customer!
 
cheers
 
Pat