bruce d

Caroline, like I said, 'fingers crossed'. My target sizes are not far from yours. First attemts will be from stock that is 6 - 10 inches length.

2 hours ago, vulcanbomber said:

 Does anyone know where I can get holly strip wood from in the UK? 

Keep your fingers crossed for me: in the next week or so I am making my first attempt at sawing up some holly logs that have been seasoning for a few years. If it goes according to plan I will have more than I could ever use.

What do you need?

On 3/26/2019 at 11:32 PM, Tom E said:

That airbrush should be soon!

When I was a youngster (and dinosaurs roamed the earth...) I saved up for one of these ...

... and learned that I could do anything with it. Later, when I became engrossed in modelmaking, including in my working life, I got other airbrushes. There were Badgers, Iwatas and other great tools, most of which I still have. Now that I have returned to modelling as a hobby I have dusted them off.

Why am I telling you this? Because for decades I defaulted to the basic Humbrol unless I had a particular reason for using one of the 'better' airbrushes. I learned, because I had to, how to do soft edges, large areas, small mottles, fine lines and just about anything with the cheap and cheerful basic Humbrol before I could afford/justify the bigger toys, and when I eventually my time with got those nice tools I used what I had learned from the basic tool. 

Not telling you how to do it, just how I did it. And by the way, I like your cannon.

Model engineers who make steam locos and boats face this issue and in the UK these people ...

  https://www.tracytools.com/taps-and-dies

... are among the best suppliers of left hand threads from stock.  I had a quick look at their online shop and found 10BA threads (1.7mm diameter, .35 pitch). I have found them very helpful in the past and they may have access to other small sizes beyond those in their catalogue.

HTH

Bruce

Not bad luck: bad practice. The tradition of prioritising maximum rate of fire meant that procedures of shutting and opening hatches and lifts between turrets and magazines were over-ruled. Gunnery officers were ordered to keep the shells and charges coming and they could, IIRC, nearly treble the rate of fire if they took the gamble.

Magnificent.

Bruce

These from the Danish museum may help:

HTH

Bruce

There is a feature on Hacker designs on pages 33-4 of the PDF in this link:

https://archive.org/details/ruddervolume00unkngoog/page/n29?q=zipper+hydroplane

... and pages 398, 556 as well.

I tried to attach the PDF but it was I believe too large, hope the link works.

Aren't these old hot-rod boats great?

Bruce

1 hour ago, steamschooner said:

If I am remembering correctly this was a Hacker design. 

It was. Have you seen this?

https://www.vandamboats.com/special-hydroplane-wooden-race-boat/

HTH

Bruce

The English Wiki page for Danish oil is here...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_oil

However, just to spread the news, a few years ago I found that the oil IKEA sells for sealing their kitchen worktops is NOT the same as the Danish oil product we in the UK know. The IKEA oil is similar but has a lighter, more stable colour and is reputed to slow the rate the wood below it changes colour with age. I am about to make some tests and if it does have this magical property I will probably use it on the exposed wood of my model.

Christian, I really like what you are doing.

Bruce

Thanks to all that replied, and especially Gregory for observing that I can leave out a couple of the illustrated components: always happy to find that there is less to do than I had imagined.

Bruce

2 hours ago, JerseyCity Frankie said:

... pure nonsense ...

I don't want to put you on the spot (well, maybe a little...) but the first subject in the Petersson book is the only one that affects me: it is "The British Naval Cutter", based on a model in the Science Museum. Is this one of the 'pure nonsense' items? Will I regret using his instructions?

Thanks, just trying to get it right and glad I found this pool of knowledge.

Bruce

2 hours ago, JerseyCity Frankie said:

....and since the topic has come up again I’ll add my usual warning not to use Lennarth Petersn for serious study. His illustrations are very good and much of what he covers is valid but in his book Rigging Period For and Aft Craft he goes off the rails into Stupid Town, passing fiction off as fact to who knows how many unsuspecting ship model builders? In my view he undercut his entire reputation with the publication of that deeply flawed book.

Hello JerseyCity Frankie,

Well that got my attention. I was planning on using the book as a guide in my first-ever rigging exercise. Would you mind elaborating? Are all the subjects in the book wrongly described or is it one in particular?

Thanks,

Bruce

Surface rust can be dealt with by electrolysis. If you haven't tried this process before I am happy to tell you that is very easy and it works. Don't be too concerned about equipment, I have used an old phone charger for the last few years to clean up small items.

Here is a good starting point:

https://www.instructables.com/id/Electrolytic-Rust-Removal-aka-Magic/

HTH

Bruce

1 hour ago, JerseyCity Frankie said:

I believe the topic was book recommendations? .......

Hello irishrover1970,

As a newbie I also wondered what books/guides were good and what was 'less than' good. I found the  Neophyte  Shipmodelers Jackstay great, as you will have read in post #14 by   JerseyCityFrankie but my education on the subject took a great leap forward when I got 'The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships' by C. Nepean Longridge. This great work explains what the parts of a wooden ship are and how they work together: it finally made sense of many of the other instructions and guidelines by enabling me to understand what the devil they were talking about. 

I have not reconciled the names of parts of a Viking ship with the names in use by an English shipyard from the age of Nelson, but the book's illustrations are very good at showing what goes where and it can only help.

I am making a set of drawings for my modelling subject and it is a LOT easier now that I have that book.

Good luck with your model, there is a lot of good advice available here.

Bruce

Hi Griphos,

Have you tried contacting any local engineering firms? They may have F1 or a suitable alternative sitting on their shelves. If you want modest amounts you might find them able to help instantly.

HTH

Bruce

Locomotives evolved, the kit shows a later stage. If I recall correctly, there is no definitive record of the original valve gear, just a generic description. It would be a big job to convert anyway since it probably would mean fabricationg new wheels as well.

It looks good straight from the box.

The struggle for possesion of General got nasty. You might say it was ... a war between the states.

Bruce

The original is (still?) on display in a dedicated museum in Kennesaw GA. Tennessee and Georgia fought over ownership of the General for ages.

Be aware, the running gear is not period correct for the Civil War, it is a later modification and the kit represents the modication.

Bruce

After seeing your build I am tempted to get this kit so I have been digging. I am fascinated by the look of these craft and hope to find some reliable accounts of how they were used in action.

Bruce

Found this, good view of deck arrangement.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Decked_kanonjolle1.jpg

HTH

Bruce

3 hours ago, Oliver24 said:

Thank you montanes and bruce! I am glad that the original plans of those great ships survived 

Therer are more, if you have trouble finding them please let me know.

Bruce

See National Maritime Museum collections:

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/79963.html

Oliver, one more offering: have you searched keyword 'Spanish' in the National Maritime Museum ship plans collection? There are a few plans there of captured ships, such as the two below. There is also a plan of Montagnes.

HTH

Bruce

Hi Oliver,

You might find some useful stuff here ...

https://forum.game-labs.net/topic/1789-spanish-ship-plans-rare-scans/

Hope this helps,

Bruce

Are light-ships of any use to you? There are a few more like this plus equipment drawings.

Regards,

Bruce