Keith Black

Horsepucky! They lie Keith, I've never gotten 4 hours dry time even at temps 70 degrees or above with 60% humidity. I've always had to wait overnight before handling or applying the next coat. The hull is drop dead gorgeous, the WOP really made her pop.

Thanks Mark/Bob, bookmarked.

I like paint as it adds realism to a ship but this hull is so very beautiful that painting it would give me a sad.

Entry by Woodeater, I thought his method was pretty slick. Click on woodeather (2nd down) not Bob Cleek's at the top though that's useful information as well.

I like it Paul, I like it a lot, it does make the ole girl pop. The hull planking looks ever so much better and the paint should help keep the wood from drawing moisture in the future. When I started painting the Tennessee it was a new experience for me. But, the more I painted the better I got at getting sharper lines with these ole shaky hands. One thing that really helped was WOP. It's impossible for me to get a sharp line on the first go, I beat myself to death with my first attempts. Then I sealed what paint I had applied with a coat of WOP, after it had dried I was able to go back and achieve sharper more defined lines. Because of the poly coat, if I went too far over my line, with a moist Q-Tip I was able to easily remove any unwanted over painted area. Even if the paint had dried, it was easily removed. When I'm satisfied with the paint, I seal with a final coat of poly. Each coat of paint builds up and it's easy to lose detail. I try to make my paint as watery as possible and still get pigment applied. On sealing with WOP, don't seal until all the wood that you want left natural, like the deck, has had all traces of any unwanted over paint removed. I use fairly inexpensive hobby craft acrylics, after the poly is applied, the paint is on there to stay. Keep up the good work buddy.........Keith

Welp, guess that means the garage is gonna see some new brushes, a fancy airbrush, a much needed shelf for all that new paint, and a wife asking "and exactly when were you planning on painting the house Mr Believer"

Please do!

*Keith sits and watches the comedy police raid the joint

If that rig starts taking on water during trials, it'll be easy to get a toe.

Bravo!

Paul, are you going to post photos in the Sirius build log?

or, a bigger finger. Keith, don't let Michael get away with throwing rocks at your nuts.

What beautiful work, a joy to see and thank you for showing how it was done.

Cog, I was ribbing Paul about his garage situation. Paul's had warping issues with one of his builds (cheerful) because of high humidity plus it's colder than a well diggers backside in the winter. I wish Paul could get inside to do his modeling but obviously his situation won't allow that. And yes I have, but only in pictures, I know what he's up against. Michael, sorry to hijack your build log. Beautiful work, I'll shut up and let you get back to it...........Keith

Paul The only reason I see for not painting a model is to showcase the modelers skills. If it's a great build then a natural finish by all means, people should be able to see the intricate details of the build. A shipwright once told me "caulk and paint are a shipwright's best friend" Paint will hide a multitude of sins and in most cases a paint job is historically correct. I'm somewhat skeptical about being able to recreate an exact shade today as was used on a ship 200 years ago unless you have an actual paint chip and even then it's iffy. I'm a paint it kinda guy, part of it comes from my mother and part from my military experience "if it doesn't move, paint it" Having said that, there are current builds going on in here where if painted, however historically correct, would be heartbreaking. Keith

I'm thinking it's more like self imposed exile.

Ian This is a site to a already built model but the pics might give you some ideas..........Keith https://www.stephensandkenau.com/ship/ss-great-britain/

It's molded glass but I don't know who the manufacture was as the SLCC drawings didn't elaborate. This photo shows the glass a little better. The upper glass is beautiful, fortunately there was only two missing panels though several were broken but remained in their frames.

I know very little about trains other than for awhile I was involved in the restoration of interurban car #29 made by the St. Louis Car Company that serviced Grass Lake, MI from Jackson, MI. The tracks (long since pulled) ran across the street from our house. When #29 was taken out of service the trucks were removed and the body was moved to one of the area lakes and turned into a lake cottage. The photo was taken on moving day. The Grass Lake Historical Society purchased the car from the owners and moved it to the village where restoration efforts began. Car #29 now resides in The Lost Railway Museum where restoration efforts continue.

Beautiful, simply beautiful.

Ken Beautiful work, have you ever thought about doing an interurban car? .........KB

Lantern hung more simply than I first intended. The height is too low my original over designed system. The lantern can be positioned fore or aft depending on where light is most needed. The lantern line can also serve as a clothes line. The block that the lantern hangs from are the blocks that AL supplied with their kit. They seem too small except for light use like the lantern or the flag. I'm going to use larger blocks for the rigging, I hung one on the lantern line to show difference in size.

Welcome to the rabbit hole, this is how it starts. I'll just restore this ole ship, how hard can it be? Well, that old rigging is rotten, need to remove and replace that. Oh geez, a couple of the blocks disintegrated when I removed the rigging, need to order some of those. That fitting is broken, can't find one, gonna have to make that. Gotta strip everything away from the model where I can get to every little place with that saliva coated Q-Tip (I'm going to disagree here with my more learned colleagues. As dirty as your vessels are, unless you can spit like a camel, I suggest you use paint thinner sparingly applied with Q-Tips. Do a small test area first that's not seen unless standing on your head. I've used paint thinner with no ill effects.) As you progress you'll find you need to know how to do certain things so you'll be searching NRG's site and get caught up in build logs that had absolutely nothing to do with your original search but, wow what beautiful work! Then you start thinking, I'd like to build a ship (my current state) and here you are, "mezzanine, watch your step" Avnips, go for it! Honor your Grandfather's memory and have something you're proud of that was his. You'll not be sorry if you have an interest in ship models which you obviously do. There is a wealth of information within the NRG site, in fact so much so, that like a great book, it's hard to put down. Ship modeling is a great hobby, it'll teach you patience, give you a sense of pride, and take you down roads you never knew existed. Welcome aboard...........Keith

Gabe How very kind, thank you. Regarding the construction of the lantern see the following. As far as positioning I'm going to hang it on a running a line between the two mast. I'm currently in the process of making all the necessary items, I'll post pics as soon as the lantern is in the air. Thank you again.........Keith

Pat Thank you, that means a lot to me and thank you to all for the thumbs up. Keith