bruce d

Micro Shapers direct from AL: https://artesanialatina.net/en/micro-tools-for-modeling/1296-micro-shapers-b-wooden-plastic-models-miniatures.html

Apologies for the thread drift. This is an uncommon name and there is a 'Wederburg Mountain' in Pennsylvania: any link?

Count me in. I will never be that good but ....

Best of luck tomorrow Alan.

Kris, I am watching closely. For what it is worth, I agree with the the advice on dust collection. I have made a smaller, muuuuch simpler sander that I use frequently and the cloud of fine dust it produces can hang in the air all day. I wear a good quality filtered mask.

Been working on the bulkheads for Mediator. After getting the outside profile of all the bulkheads correct I turned to their tops, which support the decks. I really did not like the thought of truing up the lines of all 19 individually so I made a jig gizmo to semi-automate the process. I will post details soon in the 'tools' forum. The workpiece is fixed to the arm and then the whole assembly pivots on the pin (lower right). Bulkheads are held by an improvised screw-down clamp. Gives a good finish ... ... and consistent results. I should have the bulkheads assembled soon.

A belated welcome to MSW. Like the crab boat.

Welcome to MSW and I look forward to seeing your 'travels with my kit' build log. Just remember to put the tools in the hold luggage! Like you, I enjoy the archive digging as well as the time at the workbench. Bruce

Welcome to MSW, I am looking forward to a Chesapeake Bay craft.

Hello Kris, I look forward to seeing what happens next! Bruce

Hello Bruce, Well, you clearly can make a model. I would suggest you approach this by deciding which type of steam plant you want/can access and then the list of appropriate boats will snap into place. From experience: making a steam plant can be a massively time-consuming, and frustrating, project. A simple wobbler engine with a simple boiler is not as sexy as a Stuart D10 with lagged and plumbed scale marine boiler. If you want the '10', it may take a year to make the Bo Derek version but a couple of weekends to make the less exciting powerplant. Stuart Models can supply the steam packages in any form from unmachined kit to ready-to-run, including reversing gear, according to budget. I have no link with them other than being a satisfied customer. https://www.stuartmodels.com/ A long time ago plans for a simple "African Queen" were produced by a firm called HOBBYS here in the UK. I saw at least one project started using these blown up to a large scale (around three and a half feet in length) but sadly the builder was not able to complete it. It was scaled to match a Stuart Number 4 and was a good example of making the model match the most demanding component. Whatever you decide, please let us in on the build! Welcome to MSW. Bruce

They look superb. Now I'm looking around to see if there is a local version of your hippie-dude.

Hello Gerry, You are not the first to scratch your head over this but in fact it is easy when you know the trick. Upload your photos. They will be in a box at the bottom of the page you are writing. Enter your text and then place the cursor where you want the first picture. Godown to the uploaded pics and click on the '+' button within the image you want to insert: it will appear where you left the cursor. Repeat for each image. I find it looks better if you put a couple of lines of space below your text when placing the cursor but try it and see what suits you. HTH Bruce

I can't explain why there is a difference, but there are Unimat collet chucks frequently sold on Ebay UK for a lot less than that. There is one at the moment for an SL at £155. The aftermarket items usually take ER16 collets, the originals take E16. You can use ER16s in a chuck made for E16s but not the other way around. E16s are no longer in production so only ER16s matter. There is at least one UK seller who makes ER16 collet chucks with the Unimat M12 x 1 thread, usually around £140. Let me know if you want to follow up on this, P&P to the USA shouldn't be bad. HTH Bruce

After agonising over the rights and wrongs of the two options, I decided to attach the keel, stem and sternpost after installing the bulkheads. It may be obvious to others but it certainly made me think about how scratchbuilding is deep water. Next up is the stem. The wood in this group is cherry except the false keel and all shaping and fitting had to be done while it was still possible to lay the hull former flat on it’s side. The plans were stuck to the cherry in line with the grain. The earlier experience with an over aggressive spray adhesive is history: this is my new go-to spray adhesive and it works like a charm. It is strong but in one of those mysterious ways that only chemists can explain it is also temporary. For about 24 hours after initial application you can peel away the paper and clean away the residue with a touch of IPA. Once the pieces for the stem were cut out on the bandsaw and tidied a bit, the scarf joints were milled. This worked smoothly but I realised I should have left more waste area around each of the pieces when I cut them out as there was no ‘second chance’ should I have wanted to re-do a cut by even a tiny amount. No problem, but noted for next time. I did not attach the pieces to each other until the individual pieces sat properly in their position against the former. I marked the former where the scarf between the stem and keel should be (the transition from curved stem to straight keel) and worked from that. This allowed me to offer up the lower of the stem pieces and make a mark where the upper scarf would fall and everything else followed from that. Fitting and fettling of the first two pieces done, I glued them together and started to repeat the process for the final bit of stem. This was mostly just a process of offering up and making a lot of small tweaks. It was important to get the curve right on the front edge: the line of the curve will be continued as a straight line giving a taper in elevation to the false keel. Easily done by using a copy of the drawing as work board. The stern post is also ready and I will trim it to join the keel when they are all fitted to the former. Now I can move on to the bulkheads.

Odds are good that the right hand chuck has a set of Unimat soft jaws. Can't say for certain as there were also some very good aftermarket chucks that (I believe) came with jaws of that shape, possibly the Indian 'Soba' brand. Free advice, treat it as such: If you have recently acquired these and don't know their history, I suggest a total strip down (three minutes work), de-grease and a tiny touch of copper-grease before reassembly (another three minutes). The original Unimat chucks were great but many have been in the hands of well meaning users who (a) overtighten them and (b) bung any old grease or oil into their cavaties. I like the saw table.

I'll say it did. I like what you have done with the laminate. As I am about to make a smaller version out of some veneers laying around it was interesting to come across your description. I've heard people say 'We're going to need a bigger boat'. Well, looks like it's on the way.

Nice job Mustafa, looking forward to the next one.

Hello George, What a great subject, well done. I saw an image of something similar on Thassos a few years ago but there was no date. I will watch if you don't mind? Καλή τύχη Bruce

Looking good, mind if I watch?

They are invaluable. Also, they are cheap: https://www.proopsbrothers.com/modellers-hobby--craft-kit-plastic-parallel-slide-clamp-130mm-x-50mm-large-3092-p.asp ... and available in smaller sizes... https://www.proopsbrothers.com/modellers-hobby--craft-kit-plastic-parallel-slide-clamp-75mm-x-40mm-small-3095-p.asp Their ebay store has multi-packs of 5 and 10 at discounted prices. I have no connection with Proops other than being a long term satisfied customer. HTH Bruce

Hi Thomas, sorry for the delay in answering but it looks like you chose well. Your progress is good and you seem to be doing all the right things. The stern looks better after you thinned it down and the stem (that piece at the bow) looks alright to me (but I haven't seen the plans ). The stem is quite a big part of the distinctive appearance of these craft and I have spent quite a bit of time finagling the stem pieces on my Mediator.

Hi Michael, Actually, the cutter is English, purchased by the Danes. Since starting this thread ... ... I have narrowed things down a bit more. There are a couple of files which I believe will help once I can return to The National Archives (I don't have the guts at the moment). HTH Bruce

OK, have a look at this and compare the end grain of your wood with the examples in the video. If your walnut is quartersawn, you should be able to get good slices off the narrow edge. If not, you will have to experiment. Based on my own experience, and I am no expert, you will know pretty quickly if thin planks from the narrow edge are going to be any good. HTH

Hi Thomas, looking good so far. Just another unsolicited bit of advice: choose your filler to match the hardness of the wood surface. If one is harder than the other, sanding will be much more difficult because each stroke will remove more of the the softer material (whether it is the wood or the filler) and leave high spots and low spots. On the curved surface of a hull, the effect is even more pronounced. If anything, go for a filler that is softer than the wood. HTH Bruce