grsjax

This picture is not my lathe but it is the same as what I have.  Fix it and use it??
 

As to fixing the larger lathe- You can make small parts on a big lathe, but you can't make large parts on a small lathe.

If you have the Atlas Craftsman lathe, you have a tool that I have llusted over for years but never owned.  The top of the line lathe for modelmakers would be a Sherline but outfitted with chucks and other accessories to be useful will probably spend $1500++ and you will lose some capabilities; power feed and a good system for turning tapers.
 
Roger

Gjoa was used by Roald Amundsen to traverse the North West Passage from 1903 to 1906.  She was built in 1872 and used as a herring fisher until Amundsen purchased her in 1901.  This kit is  an old Model Shipways “yellow box” kit that I purchased on eBay several years ago.  These kits have minimal instructions and just a few parts: a machine shaped solid hull, some blocks for deck houses that are never the right size, dowels for masts and yards, and a bag of metal fittings.  I worked on the kit off and on over the last several years but failed  to take any photos.  Once I finished the paper model of the liner United States I decided to attack the Gjoa seriously. Attached are a few photos showing the construction of the cap rails and the pin rails.  For the cap rails I traced the out line of the bulwarks onto a piece of sheet wood, widened the line to the cap rail width, leaving plenty of extra wood.  The rough rails were then glued in place and shaped to fit.  The pin rails were done similarly with lots of test fitting with final shaping after they were glued in place.  In the photo the port side pin rail has just been glued .

The deck furnishings are coming along. I didn’t have a wood thin enough to bend for the roofs of the WCs and the companion way, so I made them out of card stock. Now that it is posted I see a gap between the wall and roof on the starboard WC.  Have to fix that.  

Hawthorn seems to be a fairly common tree in the Northwest.  I have seen it growing in parks and along roadways.

A display case means that you will cutting dimensional lumber to size. For that a good 10" portable contractor saw like a DeWalt or Ryobi would be best using a good fence and sliding miter gauge plus many of these are pretty light weight. I have heavy duty cast iron table JET JTS-10 with a Delta fence and INCRA miter gauge. This saw weighs in at a lot of pounds but with that said, when 'tuned' it will shave pieces down to .010 but is overkill if you aren't doing a lot of work and moving often. Something like a Byrnes or Proxxon are great hobby saw but not big or powerful enough to size dimensional materials.

If you are speaking about planking actually I find it much easier to bend, including edge bending, than boxwood, pear, and other harder species.   It is easier to work if pre-bent with heat.  If soaked for some hours and then bent and heated it is even easier.  Have you watched the four You Tube videos by Chuck Passaro on proper planking techniques? He shows how to taper the breadth of the planks at each bulkhead or frame and how to pre-bend them so there is little or no bending of the plank on the model itself.
Allan

Almost all kits have inadequate instructions for rigging. Do you want this book? 

It has fairly detailed diagrams for the rigging, and it includes a chart of rope diameters which you will need to translate for your required scale. 
 
It is $613 on Amazon. I have completed my model and I don't need this book any more. I think $20 + shipping is fair. Inbox me if you want my copy. 

Anyone have a set of instructions for AL's Le Hussard model kit?  I need a set and wonder if anyone has one they will sell or will scan and email to me?

Interesting article. I think this type of WWI mine-laying submarine would make a great model kit.
 
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/3d-map-reveals-why-german-sailors-sank-their-own-submarine/ss-AA1l8L4M?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=d7c816a499af4dd6b8c865758d68fd48&ei=146

I bought this kit on ebay and found that several pages are missing from the instructions.  Everything else is there.  I have tried the AL website for instructions with no luck.  Looked online for a copy with no joy there either.
So anyone have a copy they are willing to part with or scan and email to me?

Hawthorn seems to be a fairly common tree in the Northwest.  I have seen it growing in parks and along roadways.

Re:  Wefalk’s post #12 above regarding growth rate & wood density.
 
An outlier would appear to be the Lilac bushes that grow behind my house.  These grow like weeds and require pruning every two or three years to keep them under control.  The last time that they were pruned I saved some of the larger branches.  The wood is hard, dense, with no noticeable grain.  
 
Roger

Figured out a better way to clamp the planks at the bow…

 

FINISHED!
 
Took a bit longer than anticipated but finishing the build was important to me. I can be a bit like a hummingbird with my hobby projects.
 
I didn't take pictures of the rigging process. I found the rigging frustrating. I can't imagine trying something more complex rigging-wise for quite some time. Some of the challenges are non-negotiable--like my eyesight--but having better tools and materials would probably help. I used string which I had on hand but I couldn't tell that it was any different than what was provided in the kit. Plus, mine was on a spool rather than wrapped around a card and had less kinks in it. However, my string is nylon and I found that knots slipped too easily and the thread always wanted to resume its curl. Basically, it was difficult to manipulate. I also found that the thread unraveled if I looked at it cross-eyed and once I clipped an end the thread tended to fray.
 
Tool wise... I've only got one pair of tweezers small enough for this work so last night I found myself looking at surgical needle holders on-line. I think those will help. I also need a better way to cut the string. I have a little pair of squeeze scissors but unless the string is under tension they tend to chew through the string rather than cut it. Overall, I think my rigging is pretty rough. Especially the lines attaching the sail to the spar. I keep telling myself that this is a learning project and I learned a lot!
 
What I did find very helpful is that I've got two LED lights on flex-stands that stick out over the work surface. Having the ability to hang lines from the light supports proved beneficial. I could even cut a number of lines and drag the ends through CA then drape the lines over the lights to let them dry. It kept them out of the way until needed. Same thing for my 'helping hands' with alligator clips. Just being able to keep tension on the lines by clipping them with the alligators and setting the 'hands' off to the side was helpful.
 
Anyway. I'm calling this one finished. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. It's been a (mostly) enjoyable voyage. I'd recommend this kit to others at a beginning level. I might even see if I can find some 1/72 scale Vikings to crew her!
 







 

Thanks for the link to the hulk build, Steven. That was fascinating. The rudder withy attachment makes so much sense! Knock a wedge out to loosen the withy and you have a universal joint. One of the drawings in the thread also showed me that the rudder did have an airfoil cross section similar to modern rudders. I was wondering about that, too.
 
I've only done a little work on the model this week. I painted the shields, assembled the center-line racks (for oars or spars, I presume) and attached the rudder. The greatest effort was shaping the mast step. I neglected to take before pictures but it was in pretty rough shape. I did quite a bit of sanding and filing to make it presentable. I'm not sure I'm happy with the shield colors but I definitely need to add some color to their back sides to differentiate them from the hull strakes.


 

I did get a chance to try out my laminating scheme for a sail. I can't really call it a success but my 'prototype' shows enough promise to lead me to continue experimenting. I think I'll dump the hot-iron-and-plastic laminating and revert to glue. For this first attempt I just used 20 pound bond paper from my printer. Not quite the texture I want but I think I've got an old all-media sketch book around here which should provide a bit thicker, better textured paper. I folded strips of paper to edge the sail and the bolt rope is sandwiched in the edge strip. I'm not sure that's correct. Would sail bolt ropes be sewn inside a strip like that or were they always sewn to the outside edge of the sail?
 
Preparing for laminating, this shows the back side of the sail and the strings before having a sheet of plastic and then another sheet of paper (the front side of the sail) put in place:
Sandwiched in parchment paper in preparation to ironing:

The laminated sheet:

Cut to size:

With edge strips and bolt rope and clear matt varnish applied:

Frankly, the laminating didn't connect front and back together enough to avoid bubbling. But, I think if I can simply glue the sheets rather than laminate this might produce a usable sail.

I was wondering if the NRG has any plans to bring back the coffee mugs. My old coffee mugs are worn out and I would like to replace them.
  Thanks,
 Ron W.

Just had a chance to look over a Disar kit today for the first time.  I was expecting the instructions to be unusable based on comments seen on Model Ship World.  I was surprised to see that, at least for this kit (Marieville Steamer), the instructions were not great but better than I have seen for some other kits.  They are inline with what I remember of kits from 20 years back.   I think we are getting to used to kits with instructions that are very good and are disappointment with Disar instructions in that they are not as good as instructions from manufactures like Model Shipways and Vanguard.  They do need to work on their translations (obvious that the instructions were not written by an English speaker) and do more to ensure that the instructions are clear and complete.  But still they are usable when combined with the many photographs.

Beading tools.  Some nice tools used to hold beads, ream holes in beads and thread beads on a string.  Some these can be found being sold as "special" tools for modeling but if you look under beading tools on ebay or elsewhere you can usually find the same thing a lot cheaper.

Just had a chance to look over a Disar kit today for the first time.  I was expecting the instructions to be unusable based on comments seen on Model Ship World.  I was surprised to see that, at least for this kit (Marieville Steamer), the instructions were not great but better than I have seen for some other kits.  They are inline with what I remember of kits from 20 years back.   I think we are getting to used to kits with instructions that are very good and are disappointment with Disar instructions in that they are not as good as instructions from manufactures like Model Shipways and Vanguard.  They do need to work on their translations (obvious that the instructions were not written by an English speaker) and do more to ensure that the instructions are clear and complete.  But still they are usable when combined with the many photographs.

Just had a chance to look over a Disar kit today for the first time.  I was expecting the instructions to be unusable based on comments seen on Model Ship World.  I was surprised to see that, at least for this kit (Marieville Steamer), the instructions were not great but better than I have seen for some other kits.  They are inline with what I remember of kits from 20 years back.   I think we are getting to used to kits with instructions that are very good and are disappointment with Disar instructions in that they are not as good as instructions from manufactures like Model Shipways and Vanguard.  They do need to work on their translations (obvious that the instructions were not written by an English speaker) and do more to ensure that the instructions are clear and complete.  But still they are usable when combined with the many photographs.

Just had a chance to look over a Disar kit today for the first time.  I was expecting the instructions to be unusable based on comments seen on Model Ship World.  I was surprised to see that, at least for this kit (Marieville Steamer), the instructions were not great but better than I have seen for some other kits.  They are inline with what I remember of kits from 20 years back.   I think we are getting to used to kits with instructions that are very good and are disappointment with Disar instructions in that they are not as good as instructions from manufactures like Model Shipways and Vanguard.  They do need to work on their translations (obvious that the instructions were not written by an English speaker) and do more to ensure that the instructions are clear and complete.  But still they are usable when combined with the many photographs.

Just had a chance to look over a Disar kit today for the first time.  I was expecting the instructions to be unusable based on comments seen on Model Ship World.  I was surprised to see that, at least for this kit (Marieville Steamer), the instructions were not great but better than I have seen for some other kits.  They are inline with what I remember of kits from 20 years back.   I think we are getting to used to kits with instructions that are very good and are disappointment with Disar instructions in that they are not as good as instructions from manufactures like Model Shipways and Vanguard.  They do need to work on their translations (obvious that the instructions were not written by an English speaker) and do more to ensure that the instructions are clear and complete.  But still they are usable when combined with the many photographs.

Just had a chance to look over a Disar kit today for the first time.  I was expecting the instructions to be unusable based on comments seen on Model Ship World.  I was surprised to see that, at least for this kit (Marieville Steamer), the instructions were not great but better than I have seen for some other kits.  They are inline with what I remember of kits from 20 years back.   I think we are getting to used to kits with instructions that are very good and are disappointment with Disar instructions in that they are not as good as instructions from manufactures like Model Shipways and Vanguard.  They do need to work on their translations (obvious that the instructions were not written by an English speaker) and do more to ensure that the instructions are clear and complete.  But still they are usable when combined with the many photographs.