grsjax

This is an “opened for inspection” copy of the lovely kit of the Mary Byrne, an Australian Colonial era brig from 1826.    The kit is laser cut, with high quality fittings, and comprehensive plans and instructions.   (There are a few build logs here on MSW showcasing this fine kit!)
 
The kit sells for about $235 plus shipping new.  I am selling my copy for $117, plus shipping from New Hampshire.   
 
I have only sold a few books here on MSW, but I have great references from Hyperscale, RCGroups, and Ebay I can share with anyone interested.  
 
I’ll take Paypal, venmo, etc..   I’ll use Pirate Ship to keep shipping costs down.  
 
Why am I selling it?   Simple reason, I’ll never build it, and I want to buy a laser cutter!
 
If you want any other photos, or me to check something in the kit- please ask.
 
-Bill
 
 

A couple of mini lathes for sale on eBay.  These are not mine, just passing along the info for anyone that is interested.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/226173908145?itmmeta=01HZWW0J1MQBXTCHEG1BRE4FK0&hash=item34a903f4b1:g:fTcAAOSw0ORmXJz9&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAAwLG%2BNfqUNjHSkM7%2BkY9JjK57%2BZtnZVXMIDpmA8JgrbxS6eONLETJ8UXVyfiJZZXImUoLRVPMNN%2F5NhYf%2B%2B5AqibV16veAH3ocRDWhUUzwV9hHxKBN4NQGn9xFwD8FVREAAIaEpE8MbmJ9BlZsB5zi6Pw1U%2BG7Rz97RLrRR3KNKMyMP%2BYbCQ7aCaa0xZpcTIPMwYI6s1i85%2FDppqqT%2BHRgQzNutBoIR2ZHMEFMtVuu8jSJoXBOk2TD8iIeY1ot3H5Nw%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR4qhgpz_Yw
 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/285893211189
 

A couple of mini lathes for sale on eBay.  These are not mine, just passing along the info for anyone that is interested.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/226173908145?itmmeta=01HZWW0J1MQBXTCHEG1BRE4FK0&hash=item34a903f4b1:g:fTcAAOSw0ORmXJz9&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAAwLG%2BNfqUNjHSkM7%2BkY9JjK57%2BZtnZVXMIDpmA8JgrbxS6eONLETJ8UXVyfiJZZXImUoLRVPMNN%2F5NhYf%2B%2B5AqibV16veAH3ocRDWhUUzwV9hHxKBN4NQGn9xFwD8FVREAAIaEpE8MbmJ9BlZsB5zi6Pw1U%2BG7Rz97RLrRR3KNKMyMP%2BYbCQ7aCaa0xZpcTIPMwYI6s1i85%2FDppqqT%2BHRgQzNutBoIR2ZHMEFMtVuu8jSJoXBOk2TD8iIeY1ot3H5Nw%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR4qhgpz_Yw
 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/285893211189
 

The NRG is an educational organization, dedicated to providing our members with the knowledge to improve the quality of their model ship building.  One of the most common problems model builders have is rigging their model.  Kit instructions are poor.  Often, the materials provided in the kit are improperly sized or the cheapest that the manufacturer could obtain.  We all know that blocks are not square!  I wanted to develop a project whose purpose would be to teach ship modelers how to mast and rig a ship without having to build a complete hull.  This model is a 1:48 scale cross-section at the level of the main mast of a late 18th century British sloop of war, Swallow 1779.  To keep the size of the model manageable and eliminate the need for a building board, the hull is cut off just above the waterline.  For the same reason, only the center portion of the lower yard and the lower part of the topmast are constructed.  Also, because this is a cross-section, certain lines, such as the stays and backstays, are not included.  My emphasis will be on demonstrating techniques to improve your rigging skills.  Skills that can be used on your next project.
 
As this was developed as a teaching aid, certain shortcuts and compromises to historical accuracy were taken.  Wherever possible, I have used measurements provided by the plans and such authorities as Steel and Lees.  I apologize in advance to the master modelers who might criticize my shortcuts.  I have kept the use of power tools to a minimum.  The only thing that is outside the normal collection of hand tools is a serving machine.  The Guild hopes to begin selling this kit in the next few months.
 
The kit contains all the materials required to complete the model.  But I always keep my scrap box nearby for those times when a piece of a contrasting color wood is desirable.  I will mention those times as the build log progresses.  Also, the build log is made up from the best photographs taken from three builds of this model.  A sharp eye will notice some differences in the wood color because of that.
 
The hull is constructed in typical plank on bulkhead style.  There is a notched spine and notched bulkheads.  The laser cut sheet of one-eighth inch basswood ply also contains a template for the top and four types of spacers, A through D. 

The spine and the frames are assembled as seen below.  Frame 1 is installed with the printing facing aft.  This gave me the option of painting the exposed bulkhead after construction was completed.


 
The mast fits in the slanted slot between Frames 3 and 4.  To keep the mast vertical, support spacers are glued on both sides of the spine.  They will be sanded flush to the spine when the hull is faired. 


To prevent the hull from twisting and to strengthen it, spacers are placed between each frame.  The three aft spacers are “B”, the next one is “C” and the two foremost ones are “D”.  They are placed close to the edge of the frame for maximum stability.  The laser char only needs to be removed from the fore and aft sides so that their surfaces are flat.  If too much wood is sanded off, I glue strips of paper onto the edge as a filler to prevent distorting the hull.
 
The hull and deck were faired so there are smooth curves fore to aft.  I used a sanding block for this.  I did not fair the bulwark extensions (the thin strips of wood above the deck) to prevent them from breaking off.  This model has a significant camber to the deck.  Sanding sticks help getting into the corners.  You can see that the mast supports have been sanded down to match the height of the deck.

Next up is planking the hull.
 
 

It's time for yet another scratchbuilt Missouri River steamboat! Peerless was a small, obscure vessel that operated on the lower Missouri River during the waning days of the steamboat era. Image from the State Historical Society of Missouri digital collections:

Built in 1893 at Hermann, Missouri, she seems to have handled small-scale trade that wasn't yet captured by the railroads. One reference states that she operated primarily between Rocheport (in central Missouri) and St. Louis, but she also apparently made some trips up several navigable tributaries flowing out of the Ozark Mountains to the south, such as the Gasconade and Osage. This region was rugged and resistant to road and rail development, so those rivers continued to act as a conduit for trade much longer than the main rivers, and various small steamboats took advantage of this. In addition, while a rail line had been completed along the south side of the Missouri River as far west as the state capitol Jefferson City around the Civil War era, no equivalent line had been built along the north side until one was begun the year of Peerless' construction, so there was still a certain call for river transport among towns on the north bank. Here's a map I developed of her operating region:

This project builds on my long-standing fascinating with Missouri River history, such as previous builds of Arabia, Bertrand, and other river vessels (follow links in my signature for build logs). The first two (shown below) are my favorites, though they're not directly comparable as Arabia (1:64) appears much bigger than Bertrand (1:87) due to scale; in reality they were very close in size.

Peerless was a smaller and later river steamer than either Arabia (1853-1856, 31'x181' hull) or Bertrand (1864-1865, 33'x161' hull), built in 1893 with a 21'x97' hull. She's a simpler design that still retains many essential features of what's generally called a Western River steamboat: shallow draft (hull only 3.5' deep below the deck), long & narrow hull, simple superstructure with a pilothouse at the highest point, machinery and cargo carried on the main deck (often just inches above the river), passenger cabins on the next deck up (confusingly called the boiler deck), and built on-site to local design.
 
Despite being a small and obscure vessel, there are quite a few photographs of Peerless, many of which show her in strikingly different configurations. The following images are from the wonderful collection of steamboat photography hosted by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Murphy Library.
 
Here she's hosting some kind of outing on the river, probably a good source of revenue:

Here she's somewhere along the Gasconade River; note the tall dolomite bluffs constraining the river, typical of the deep Ozarks. This is my favorite photo; so full of detail to study, and set in my favorite region:

Here she is with a barge of cotton and other cargo. Compared to the first & second photos, note the extension built onto her aft cabins, the added boiler deck railings, and the diamond-shaped windows or designs on the engine room walls:

Here are two shots from the bow; this is back to what I think of as the "original" configuration, without the additions seen above. I love what appears to be a railroad locomotive headlight mounted in front of the pilothouse (you can see this even better in the very first photo I posted).

Here's a hybrid form, with the fancy railings and diamond windows ,but no after cabin extensions, but also the locomotive headlight is back even though it wasn't present on the other shot showing these additions. She really looks like an excursion boat here (you can even see a sign reading "excursion) propped against the boiler), with fancy awnings and benches and no trace of cargo.

And here she is in 1903, partially sunk by ice along the levee at St. Charles, Missouri, the last port before St. Louis. This has some nice detail of the boiler and chimneys, capstan, and that locomotive headlight.
 

From what I can discern, she was apparently repaired, spent some time on the Illinois River, then moved down to Vicksburg MS for a long while. But that part of her history isn't my focus.
 
In future posts I'll start sharing more on how I'm developing the design for this model and so on. I'm excited to get this started!
 
 

Very nice to see this! I, too would like to build a model of one someday (torn between these or a Trabaccolo...). Marzari's book is superb; another is Penzo's, from 1992:  (They are very complimentary, with each having things the other doesn't cover; I'd say either stands alone well for model making).

Lesser known than Venice of course, is Cessenatica (south of Ravenna): A superb museum there with a Bragosso in the museum, and several outside in the canal: 

 

A seldom seen subject here. As I have a soft spot for those boats from the Venice lagoon and I will follow the progress. That book has been sitting on my shelf also for some time now - I think I bought in the bookshop 'Carta di Mare' in Venice or from Gilberto Penzo.
 
The 'Padiglione delle Barche' of the Museo Storico Navale in Venice preserve a couple of Bragozzi from the late 19th/early 20th century: https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/venezia/museonavalevenezia-3.html. I took a few pictures in case one day I also want to build one.
 
 
 
 
 

For a few days now I have been working on the model of the bragozzo. It is a self-built sailing ship with the help of Marzari's beautiful monograph on this type of Adriatic boats. The hull is about 52 cm long and is on a scale of 1:24.

I am fairly new to this also and started with the Model expo ship shipwright series. A series of 3 boats each a little more complex. They can be bought as a set or individually, They have a plan if you build the first (Grand Banks Dory) and send them a picture of it you will get full credit for your next build. I had a lot of fun with these kits and I think you learn a lot going from one to the other.
 
https://modelexpo-online.com/Model-Shipways-Shipwright-3-Kit-Combo-Series_p_5465.html
 
Rob

You might want to back track a bit and get the Model shipways Lowell Dory Kit as a place to start.  It is the first model in their Ship Wright series and guides you step by step thorough the process.  The Norwegian Pram is the next in the series.  It will take you further along the path to mastering wooden model building. 

I really didn't want to come back to this rabbit hole again.
 
If the blocks must be perfect, the ropes also must be perfect. Before I began making 1mm blocks, I made appropriate ropes using my customized ropewalk. I won't comment on the details of rope now, and will focus on making an 1mm block. Here are today's goal and ropes I made for the blocks.
 


 

The 4th rope is the thinnest rope I can mass-produce at a low cost. However, it is painful to build the rope, so I don't use it for "fun builds".
 
Under 0.10mm is a really pricy world. 0.001mm silver wire isn't economical. I have Veevus 16/0 and Uni-caenis 20D mono-filaments, but they are not rope. I'll use these ropes only, so the hole size of the blocks is bigger than 0.13mm.
 
 

(Source : https://syrenshipmodelcompany.com/boxwood-rigging-blocks.php )
 
Next. What kind of block should I make? There are thousands of different types of blocks.
 

This is a common single block of HMS Bounty. (AotS book, p107) The hole size (black circle) is approx. 25mm or 1 inch.
 
I made the single block in three different sizes. (2.00mm, 1.00mm, and 0.80mm)
 

It is digital carving time.
 

It took 5 hours... I'll print it tomorrow... zzz

During my working career, I saw a number of these Jarmac saws in use at model ships operated by large engineering firms (Bechtel, Fluor, etc.) to build models of industrial installations.  The saws were used to cut plastic scale pipe and structural shapes to length.  Ripping would not have been required.  In the case of piping, the fittings all had sockets cast into the ends.  The cut length was slipped into the socket and glued so the length of the assembly could be adjusted slightly before gluing.  End play of the blade was therefore not a problem.
 
Roger

Did a bit of web crawling and found that the Jarmac is available from a number of vendors.  Don't know if it is still being manufactured but seems to be plenty available.  This one seems to be the "deluxe" version.  Tiny motor but apparently fairly reliable.  Motor can be upgraded with a new motor with the same form factor but twice the power.  Going to mess around with it a bit and then pass it along.

Anyone know anything about this table saw?  I picked it up recently and there is no brand name or indication of where or who made it.   Looks well made and solid.
Sorry about the upside down pictures.  I am not real good at graphic editing.

Did a bit of web crawling and found that the Jarmac is available from a number of vendors.  Don't know if it is still being manufactured but seems to be plenty available.  This one seems to be the "deluxe" version.  Tiny motor but apparently fairly reliable.  Motor can be upgraded with a new motor with the same form factor but twice the power.  Going to mess around with it a bit and then pass it along.

Did a bit of web crawling and found that the Jarmac is available from a number of vendors.  Don't know if it is still being manufactured but seems to be plenty available.  This one seems to be the "deluxe" version.  Tiny motor but apparently fairly reliable.  Motor can be upgraded with a new motor with the same form factor but twice the power.  Going to mess around with it a bit and then pass it along.

Did a bit of web crawling and found that the Jarmac is available from a number of vendors.  Don't know if it is still being manufactured but seems to be plenty available.  This one seems to be the "deluxe" version.  Tiny motor but apparently fairly reliable.  Motor can be upgraded with a new motor with the same form factor but twice the power.  Going to mess around with it a bit and then pass it along.

Anyone know anything about this table saw?  I picked it up recently and there is no brand name or indication of where or who made it.   Looks well made and solid.
Sorry about the upside down pictures.  I am not real good at graphic editing.

Put shrink wrap tubing on the ends of those clamps.  Wont come off.

There`s a copy of that book at the University Of Chicago library:
https://catalog.lib.uchicago.edu/vufind/Record/4862288
Doesn`t seem to be far from Don`s place of residence.

It is available from various used book sellers but isn't cheap.  About $170.

It is indeed.
 
Dan, here's a few more clues:
 
https://www.arbeitskreis-historischer-schiffbau.de/mitglieder/modelle/roemerschiff-victoria/
https://roemerschiffe.de/victoria/
 



 

Looking at the last shot I see the midships moulds look to be arcs and the other moulds use the same arc rotated.
 
Taking the above and adding it to This:

Gives:


Certainly not 100% right but perhaps 90%? It doesn't include the bow or stern either.
 

Side wheelers don't do it for me, I think it's because they're at the start of the transition period. I'm much committed to the 1870-1900 time period but I'm beginning to have my doubts about another long term commitment. If you're in to side wheelers it looks like a great kit.  

This might be a long shot, but has anyone bought this model of the Fridericiana Alexandrina Navis, a reconstructed 1st century Roman boat used on the Danube River?  The Friedrich-Alexander-Universität
Erlangen-Nürnberg built and sailed this boat in 2016 and they now sell a kit of it:
 
Kit - Roman boat of the FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg (fau-shop.de)
 
I'd prefer to just get the plans and any other documentation that comes with the kit as the kit materials appear to be plywood and I wouldn't build a model from that.
 
Just thought I would check here to see if anyone's got any experience with this.  The subject is very interesting!
 
 
Dan
 

Coming Soon!!!
 
I really dont know why I havent offered these already...Oh well
 
I will be making a ton of bulkheads with doors for Speedwell really soon.  They will require many hinges.  The usual "H" and "L" type hinges we use on models.   So I have designed three sizes which should fit most scales.  They are 9/32" and 7/32" and 3/16" tall hinges.   
 
You get 21 hinges "L type" 
You get 45 hinges "H" type"
 
These should be available in a few days.  They are all black laser board and will come in very handy.
 
I dont have a picture with these in use yet but soon.  The closest I have is the Bulkhead door but it uses a unique version for the top curved hinge.  But you get the idea.  The bottom hinge is one of the "L type hinges".  It is the larger size in height for this scale but its all relative.  
 

Some used on Mike's Winnie...although these are adjusted slightly but you get the idea.