FriedClams

Good to hear you had an enjoyable get-away, Glen. Nice progress on the Constitution! Gary

Fascinating post on planking, Andy. Please feel free to "ramble" with abandon. Very interesting stuff! Gary

Nice to see an update on your model, Bruce. She's looking great and I really like the detailed work at the rudder post. Gary

Thank you Druxey, Craig, Mike and Glen for your nice comments and to all for the "thumbs up". Yes, they are copper wires with a varnish insulation which is very tough and doesn't scrape off easily. I've had no problems with this type of insulation. The wire size question is more difficult to answer because there are many variables. I don't want to get into the weeds here, but the wire size needed depends on factors like the number of LEDs used, their size/output, circuit configuration, ambient temperature and even the length and type of insulation on the wire. Every wire/insulation combination has a safe maximum current rating, and every LED has a full voltage current draw, so it's a matter of math to find a proper match for the configuration of LEDs used. For a single small SMD like the #805 I'm using in the fish hold I use #38 awg. One LED only. For a few small LEDs I use #33 wire. But if you're considering adding model lighting, may I suggest saving yourself the guesswork and hassle of soldering your own and simply purchase prewired LEDs. Evan Designs, (who is one of this forum's sponsors) has a great selection of prewired power matching LEDs and other items (dimmers, flashers, remote control, etc.) to fix you up with whatever you need. There are many sellers of prewired LEDs on eBay also, but they don't come with the current limiting resistors you may need to match your power source. Not trying to discourage you, Mike, just pointing out an easier path. https://evandesigns.com Here's another good source of information and products for lighting models. https://ngineering.com/index.htm Thanks to all for stopping by. Gary

Nice solution for creating the traveler car, Paul. Ha, funny - but they look good to me even at a standstill and a long stare. Gary

Looking very nice, John! Gary

Just read through your log, Craig and enjoying your process and craftsmanship! The model is looking great and your informational and clearly expressed narration is appreciated. Gary

Wonderful work as always, Valeriy! Those gears are great, and the warping heads are jewelry. Gary

Looking great, Roel. Extraordinary detail - fantastic! Gary

Andy, Paul, Keith, Richard, John, Håkan, Jerome and Marc - thank you for your thoughtful comments! And thanks to all for the "thumbs up". Just a short update. The starboard side deck plate section has been attached to the boat and the planking has been extended to the covering boards. The plans didn't show that the planks were nibbed into the side of the covering boards, so I didn't. The deck still needs traffic wear patterns and some weathering, but that will be a bit later. And then a quick test to see if the fish hold lighting peaks out between the planks. It doesn't, which is good because I had no plan “B” beyond reciting a string of expletives to myself. Before I begin the aft deck, I'm going to build the bow whaleback structure next, simply for a change of pace. Thanks for looking. Gary

Been reading through your log and I'm enjoying this build very much. Interesting subject and stories, Phil. And thank you for your service. Will be watching for updates. Gary

Good to hear from you Håkan, and I'm looking forward to seeing updates on Atlantica in due time. Gary

Greetings After several months of doing little on this model, I'm moving forward again. The covering boards have been installed forward of midships. They are pieced together between the top timbers and the inside margin is a single strip. I did it this way because the thick deck planks were difficult to cut crisply around the top timbers. But I would not do it this way again. The top timbers are irregularly spaced in this area to accommodate the freeing ports as per the plans. Airbrushed with thinned Tamiya flat white – 2:1. It looks gray below, but it is white. Later I added a little dirt with pigment powder. Coamings for the fish hold hatches were made from 12” x 3” material. From the side they are parallelograms to compensate for the deck sheer. These are only the lower portions of the coamings, and they will eventually be heightened to 21” above deck. The 12” king plank was placed and a hole for the forward mast was cut. The hole was first pilot drilled then carefully enlarged with a 1/4” burr chucked into a pin vice. The burr cuts too aggressively, so I turned it counterclockwise into the wood. The burr is abrasive enough that even being rotated in the opposite direction still burrows a smooth and perfectly round hole into the soft wood. The plank was painted white on top of gray then scraped with the edge of a safety razor set almost perpendicular to the plank. The deck planks are stained a natural wood color as a base. Then gray paint was scrubbed on top. I added about 10 percent yellow to shift it away from blue. I applied the paint heavier is some areas and practically dry-brushed on in others. I began adding deck planks from the center outward. The planks are 4” wide by 3” thick and were painted black on bottom and sides to help keep the fish hold lighting from escaping. This is not the final deck finish. After all the planking is installed, it will be repaired as needed, scraped, wear patterns added and weathered. This section of deck has four bunker plates and two smaller deck inlet plates. The lids for the bunker plates have already been made and the process that I used is shown back on post #124. They were made from polymer clay and enclosed by a perimeter brass ring. Similar to a manhole cover, these lids fit into ring frames. The frames are made of three slide fit brass tubes that combined provide the wall thickness required. Soldered. Cut from the tube and treated with Jax Flemish Gray. The lids are epoxied into the frames – one will be left open. The deck inlet plates are considerably smaller and have 10” dia. openings. The plans label the port side plate "ice" and is positioned over a walk-in refrigerator. The starboard plate passes coal to a bin in the galley next to the cook stove. The plates are made from brass tube, wire and styrene. I made a section of deck for each side of the boat and cut holes for the deck plates off model. I did this to avoid getting wood chips and sawdust down in the fish hold. I began by creating a positioning template in CAD. I glued planks directly to the template. I could have glued them to a blank sheet of paper, but this insured the edges were straight and the combined width was correct from end to end. I then printed the same drawing on laser transparency and used it to locate the cutouts. The bunker plate holes were drilled through then enlarged with a tapered reamer twisted counterclockwise. The edges were cleaned up with a diamond needle file. With a tapered round file, the same was done for the smaller inlet plates. Plates glued into place. The other side was done the same way. Thanks for looking. Be safe and stay well. Gary

Very nice progress, Rob. Hope you're feeling better soon. Gary

Very true, Glen. And as a sufferer myself, I was only offering some friendly intervention before it gets out of hand. Gary

Very nice progress on Discovery, George. That's most likely about controlling the spread of freshwater Zebra Mussels. They are a destructive invasive species and problematic in many places in North America and indeed other continents. Free swimming larvae often attach themselves to hulls. Gary

She's looking really sweet, Paul! I like the base - long and thin like that graceful hull and it doesn't pull attention away from the model. Sort of minimalist. Gary

Such great workmanship, Keith. As others have said, the crew adds motion to the piece. Fantastic job - congratulations! I'm really looking forward to watching you bring Lula to life. Gary

Nice progress! Tricky figuring for unfolding the Dutchman. Sails look appropriately tattered - nice. Only a modeler would look at a dryer sheet and say to himself - "hey now, look at this material". You got the disease bad, Glen. Gary

Very nice progress, John ! Gary

Late to the party, but all caught up. Another ambitious project, Glen - best of luck. I'm confident you'll pull this off and it will turn out crazy cool. Gary

Very nice progress, Glen - and the “yard work” is looking great! Nice - does it run on batteries or is it one of those new fangled gravity units? Gary

Excellent work, Paul - the barrel looks great! Gary

Superb little dory, Richard! To my eye that is why your dory sings - because you reproduced the thickness of every member accurately. It is so easy to oversize wood dimensions at this scale, but your boat is true-to-life, delicately made and even elegant. Very nice indeed. Gary

Beautiful hull, Keith. Gary