Tony Hunt

4 hours ago, giampieroricci said:

I like this frigate like crazy!

Me too!  One of my favourite books is CS Forester's Hornblower and the Hotspur, and this little ship is exactly what I imagined the 20-gun Hotspur to look like. Absolutely beautiful!

10 hours ago, albert said:

Alex your work is very very nice.

 Magnificent understatement! 😃

23 hours ago, Keith Black said:

 

 

I love the dockside crane in this photo. What a wonderful piece of Victorian-era engineering!

Magnifico!

It's also quite endangered as a species!

Fabulous work. It looks wonderfully realistic and intricate.

They look really good. The CNC cutting for the pulleys is wonderfully crisp, perfect at that scale.

You're a harsh judge Rob. I think that looks extraordinarily good!

Wow.

My fingers are crossed, David!

6 hours ago, bitao said:

 

 

The beauty of your craftsmanship is only matched by the beauty of Ed Tosti's superb drawings.  Talk about a marriage made in heaven!

I love the riveting on the funnels. It really lifts their appearance to a new level.

Use wire. It lasts longer!

Nice work Wefalck. Ladders are so difficult, because of all the close parallel parts the eye can detect even the slightest imperfection. Yours look really good!

Me too. I'm just trying to teach myself ship drafting in TurboCAD 20 so, I'm watching with real interest.

It's looking fabulous Bitao. Keep it coming!

17 hours ago, Bob Cleek said:

As I recall, the famed miniature ship modeler Lloyd McCaffery, uses wire on all of his amazing miniature models. As I recall, he discusses his techniques for that in his book, Ships in Miniature. https://www.amazon.com/SHIPS-MINIATURE-Classic-Manual-Modelmakers/dp/0851774857

 

Indeed, the synthetic thread, particularly the earlier stuff, isn't anywhere as long-lasting as the linen thread that used to be available is. Fear not, though. There may be a solution at hand. While the linen thread manufacturers have left the field, there's a growing market for and production of hemp thread happening right now. For all intents and purposes, linen and hemp are virtually identical, save that hemp tends to curl counterclockwise and linen clockwise (or is it the other way around?) Sourcing some and seeing how it lays up as rope is on my "to-do" list one of these days.

 

 

Yes, It was reading Lloyd McCaffery's book that first introduced me to the idea.  I'll be very interested to hear how the hemp thread works out though. Add a bit of Stockholm tar and you'll have true authenticity!

I'm trying to only use wire for rigging these days, for exactly this reason. I have too many models 20-50 years old in my house that have brittle rigging, or the remnants of it.  Admittedly they were rigged with cheap materials, mainly cotton, but even so.  Making realistic "ropes" from wire is an interesting challenge, but I think it's doable. I'm having fun experimenting with it, anyway!

I'm also pretty wary of using plastic parts, for the same reason. I'm not sure how long they will last. I'm interested to hear views on how long cast resin parts might last.

On 3/14/2021 at 10:00 AM, lmagna said:

IF it is done by people like you and Jeff! Someone like me................. not so much!

 You're not alone, brother. 😀

That is looking really good. Fascinating to see these ancient techniques come to life in the model.

Looking good. Worth the trouble!

I'd love to see a picture of the trophy wall, Mark.

Tanami is ABSOLUTELY gorgeous, I agree.

That is just extraordinary!

It's looking very nice Mark.  The Huon Pine should look great when its finished to that lovely curvy shape.

I occasionally crew on a boat that races with the Amateurs, mainly in the twilighters in summer. Byzance, an S&S designed Swan 40, blue hull. I'll have to watch out for Cherub!

On 3/2/2021 at 12:08 PM, druxey said:

Epoxy is the conservator's nemesis, Tony!

Oh, I absolutely agree. Epoxy glue in restorations is a complete no-no. However, this isn't the epoxy you're thinking of, it's as thin as water.  And it's quite flexible when dry.

As Bob says, CPES is a well-known example available in North America, but there are plenty of others and they are all pretty similar in my experience. It's pretty easy to mix up a dab of epoxy and then thin it with methylated spirits (aka denatured alcohol) to try out on a test piece.  I think it might work well for making paper sails, too.