Tony Hunt

Very good looking ship, Valeriy - I can see the attraction!

Nice! I hadn't seen those model railway rivet decals before, they look really good. Perfect for this application.

Hi Dan Another possible contender to try for treating the lines is thinned epoxy. There are quite a few commercial preparations on the market, most marine chandlers should stock it, it's used a surface sealer. You can also make it yourself using a comment solvent like methylated spirits and/or acetone as the solvent. Just mix the two parts of the epoxy and then thin it to the desired consistency.

The next phase begins! I'm really looking forward to seeing how it progresses. Can I make a suggestion? Use wire for the rigging, not thread. So much more permanent. I've got a decorative model sitting on my bench at the moment that I made about 20-25 years ago that I'm now having to completely re-rig, as all the linen and cotton I used to rig it has perished. I'm going to use wire this time!

Welcome Gaz! Don't let all the masterpieces you see here put you off, there's room for everyone. 😀

Wow. I step away for a couple of minutes and look at the progress you've made! That looks absolutely fantastic! Amazing to think it's only five inches long, the crisp detail makes it look much bigger. I especially like the weathered effect you've achieved on the floorboards, that's a really clever and effective technique.

Best wishes, Bitao. I'm happy that your mother led a long a life.

That looks wonderful.

Thanks James, they look really good. Easy to waste a couple of hours browsing around their website, too! 😀

Brother Lee Love!

Such a clever technique to make the links. I love it.

Exquisite.

Spectacular. I'm really worried that I'm going to run out of superlatives long before this build is finished.

Lovely tight joinery!

Like ship models (and modellers!) today, the quality varied! It looks like a real one to me, although not as finely made as some.

That's a wonderful relic, Michael. Do you have any plans for it, or are you going to keep it "as is"?

Mr Haug is a Sydneysider, like me. A quick Google search reveals he was a shipbuilder in Newcastle (a port city a couple of hours north up the coast) and is now 84 years old. Maroubra is in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, with a well-known surf beach. I'd be happy to meet him!

I think Snug Harbor Johnny is onto a good suggestion. I've seen some amazing woodwork done with homemade plywood, made using very thin hardwood veneers glued together with two-part epoxy. If the veneer is thin enough (i.e. about paper thin) the epoxy soaks it right through. The result is a material that is amazingly stable in all dimensions. You can make a four layer veneer with the two inner layers at 90 degrees to each other, and the two outer layers parallel to each other and at 45 degrees to the inner layers.

Awesome! Thanks for showing them, they're great. And quite beautiful, too. You're a precision factory in human form, Bitao! ☺️

I like these clamps, they're perfect for this application. Did you make them yourself? I'd be interested to see what the other (outside) end looks like, too.

Wow.

Another source that might be useful is the work of Joseph Needham, a Cambridge scholar who devoted most of his life to studying the development of technology in China. It turns out most of everything was first invented in China. His monumental life work is documented in 27 volumes of Science and Civilisation in China, published by Cambridge University. I recall from reading his biography (The man who loved China) that one of the fundamental technologies invented in China was the rudder. The synopsis below is from Wikipedia: Science and Civilisation in China Main article: Science and Civilisation in China In 1948, Needham proposed a project to the Cambridge University Press for a book on Science and Civilisation in China. Within weeks of being accepted, the project had grown to seven volumes, and it has expanded ever since. His initial collaborator was the historian Wang Ling (王玲), whom he had met in Lizhuang and obtained a position for at Trinity. The first years were devoted to compiling a list of every mechanical invention and abstract idea that had been made and conceived in China. These included cast iron, the ploughshare, the stirrup, gunpowder, printing, the magnetic compass and clockwork escapements, most of which were thought at the time to be western inventions. The first volume eventually appeared in 1954. The publication received widespread acclaim, which intensified to lyricism as the further volumes appeared. He wrote fifteen volumes himself, and the regular production of further volumes continued after his death in 1995. Later, Volume III was divided, so that 27 volumes have now been published. Successive volumes are published as they are completed, which means that they do not appear in the order originally contemplated in the project's prospectus. Needham's final organizing schema was: Vol. I. Introductory Orientations Vol. II. History of Scientific Thought Vol. III. Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and Earth Vol. IV. Physics and Physical Technology Vol. V. Chemistry and Chemical Technology Vol. VI. Biology and Biological Technology Vol. VII. The Social Background See Science and Civilisation in China for a full list. The project is still proceeding under the guidance of the Publications Board of the Needham Research Institute, directed by Professor Mei Jianjun.

What an interesting discussion - especially as an Australian, for whom most of these timbers are exotic and/or unobtainable except from specialist suppliers (at correspondingly high cost). I was surprised Holly wasn't mentioned until Bob brought it up, I understand it has been used as an alternative to boxwood in the UK. Privet (also mentioned by Bob) is quite nice to work, close grained, although the colour is a bit ordinary, a sort of dirty greyish-white in my experience. I know chestnuts have disappeared from America, but I wonder if it is still available from timber recyclers? Here in Australia, timber recyclers are a good source of some of the finest local timbers, especially New Zealand Kauri, which was widely used in floorboards about 100 years ago, so is readily available in boards 6" wide and 3/4" thick, in long lengths. Perhaps there is an equivalent in North America?

I totally agree. Along with the WW2 Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, I think the Alaska-class battlecruisers were just about the best looking modern warships. Pity about that gun tub perched right on the bows though!

It is looking fantastic Alex. Lovely, clean, crisp work.