Rik Thistle

Hi all, I have a bit of uncertainty regarding the number, type and attachment point of the Topmast Crosstrees' blocks. I wonder if anyone would be kind enough to point me in the right direction. On the image below (from pg 52 of the Manual) it shows the larger Main Topmast Crosstree (left) and the smaller Fore Topmast Crosstree (right) On the left side of the pic above I see 4x 'J' blocks - the uppermost two blocks I can see are attached to the middle legs of the Crosstree (as the drawing below shows) , but the bottom two blocks seem to be attached to something near the mast itself? Q1- where/how are the bottom two blocks attached. .... and on the right side I see 4x 'J' blocks - two are attached to the middle legs of the Crosstree, and the other two as per on the left side? Q2 - See Q1.... (Note: I also see a fifth block but I believe that is attached to the 3mm square section of the mast?) Below is a crop from Plan Sheet 5 (Fore and Main mast). This time, the left side shows the Fore mast and the right side shows the Main mast. From above ... on the left side of the crop ....ah, as I write this I may see part of the answer....there are a pair of 'J' blocks hanging from each of the middle legs of the Crosstree. Q3 - are the J blocks suspended in pairs? On the right side above, I see a block suspended at a different height (in the view where it mentions 'Paint black'). Q4 - why would the block (and it's partner on the far side?) be at a different height? I've been staring at this block arrangement for about two weeks on and off and getting nowhere, so hopefully someone here can put me out of my mysery 😉 I'm sure the answer will be straightforward, like a crossword puzzle I've been looking at too long. Regards, Richard

FlyingFish, The final pic, of you standing at the door, is a real keeper. I'm amazed at how some people have the persistance and skills to keep hammering away at the all superbly crafted fine details till the project is complete. Awfully well done. Richard

Andrew, Thank you, yes "Nisha" is diminutive, but I think there was a bit of distortion in that shot as it makes her look tiny. Picture below against a 12inch rule. Widest part of her beam will be just under 3 inches when finished. I didn't have a mental picture of her size till now. Since bench/shelf/display room is an issue in my study the relatively smaller size of Nisha makes her more attractive, and she is still on the same scale as Vanguard's other models (1:64). Anyway, she's coming together very well in your build. Richard

Welfalck, What a great selection of books on that website ... https://www.camdenmin.co.uk/ Thanks for the heads-up. Richard

Alan, If the historical interludes are boring please let me know and I will desist. I find this area hugely interesting and can get a bit out of hand. Personally, I find the historical pictures and background stories very interesting indeed. But I can't speak for everyone. Richard

Steve, She looks fine in the pic, but maybe you are finding some 2nd planks don't sit flush next to their neighbours? IIRC, I had a bit of that ...I locally unglued those areas, slipped a thin section of sanded plank/shim underneath the 'sunken' planks to push the misaligned planks out to lie flush with the adjacent plank. Then a final sanding and all was resonably flat and plenty good enough. Richard

Tim, That's exceptionally neat looking.... Amati would be happy to use it for box art I suspect. Looking forward to seeing the remaing parts added, and then finished Fifie sitting next to the trees, or maybe some water if there's any nearby. 😉 Well done, Richard

The fleet leaving Eyemouth Definitley a good day for hanging out the washing! Richard

After a LOT of sanding, 🙂 Yup, I know the feeling. I think some of my first planking was sanded almost paper thin in places and I was worried that the 2nd planking would have nothing substantial to hang on to.... but it turned out OK. I think the reason mine was paper thin was to compensate for not sanding the bulkheads correctly in the first place. On my next hull I will put a lot more effort into getting the bulkhead contours correct rather than charging through that part of the build (...he says). Anyway, she's definitely starting to look like a Fifie! Richard

I think the shape created by your first planking layer looks perfectly fine. And, yes, filling and sanding is your friend - it certainly was mine 😉 You'll be very pleasantly surprised by how good she turns out once all the planking is done and a layer of paint added. Richard

Off on a slight tangent but it does involve photography and the 'talent' is an interesting, ancient subject ..... https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=174972 It involves the 'Antikythera Mechanism Research Project' - the 2.000 yr old lump of brass that was found on the sea bed, and turned out to be a very sophisticated lunar calendar. X-ray photography was used on the 'lump' to see inside. Now some posters are starting to ask if the way the photography was done may be misleading the Project team members. The discussion really starts to warm up on pg 5 (IIRC) when one of the Project team joins the discussion. Richard

I have the 'Proxxon PM40 precision steel vice' that Tony mentions, on my MF70 micro milling machine. It seems quite precise and is extremely easy to use - a large plastic thumbwheel tightens the work piece in the vice jaws. Occasionally I wished the jaws would open another 2 or 3 mm but no big deal. It is bolted to the table.... the bolts can be a little fiddly to get in to place but again, not a big issue. I also have a precision toolmakers insert vice (for a Sieg SX2P mill) that Wefalk mentioned. It is very easy to deploy, fitting inside the jaws of the larger vice already fitted to the table. It's minor drawback is that a separate tool (Allen key) is required to tighten it's jaws. Both vices suit the type of machine they are designed for. Thomas, for Proxxon equipment I wouldn't hesitate to get the Proxxon PM40, assuming it fits your table. Richard

not that there is any rush. Steve, enjoy it while it lasts 😉 ... you'll be surprised how quickly the time passes. Planking, I find, requires a number of skills... - correctly curving the surfaces/bulkheads the planks will lie on - cutting the planks to the correct shape - bending them - preparing good rabbets - getting the planks to follow the structure underneath - and not least, making the planks stick in place I'm sure there are other steps I've missed. I'm still learning about all these steps. Some I'm better at than others. Some still pretty poor. But it's good fun learning...if it was too easy then there would be no challenge and satisfaction when done. You're doing good. Richard

Where timberheads are fitted with a rail, they are adjoined with a temporary beam which makes sure the spacings are correct That's clever 😉 Richard

Mark, I don't have a YT channel, Facebook account etc, or plan to. And I can understand MSW not allowing even a 10 sec video to be directly hosted on this website...bandwith, storage etc. But, I have got the reversing geat kit for the engine so will be adding more pics to the build over the next 12 mths. Richard

Hi all, I first tested my 10V with compressed air a few weeks ago. She runs well, from a slow speed to a 'bouncing off the bench' speed. Highest pressure I've dared use is 20 PSI. It's quite amazing the power these engines develop. OK, it's currently being fed compressed air from a 500W compressor but I believe steam contains even more energy so would provide even greater power. I now have a better understanding of how a single steam power plant had the oomph to work multiple machines in workshops over a century ago. I'd post a short mobile-phone video of her running but I don't think that's possible ...one needs to link to a YT channel? Richard

Steve, A great project to get you through the winter months. As you've noted there are now a number of Lady Eleanor builds on here, ranging from no 'bashing' to quite heavy bashing .... all ending with very satisfied builders who, if they are like me, were kinda sad when she was finished. Mine is sailing about four feet above my right shoulder and is a very pleasing sight to start each day 🙂 Richard

Gregory, After reading your post, I took a closer look at a Panasonic FZ80 I had my sights on for a camera upgrade. Turns out it has 'focus stacking' and calls it 'post focus'. Your images show that the focus stacking feature works well.... certainly good enough for showing our work here. I'm quite impressed that all of it is done 'in camera' and that the camera processing has enough headroom to take on such a task. All in all, it's a very neat and free feature from Panasonic. Richard PS: Wouldn't it be nice if all camera manufacturers standardised on a common camera OS, menu system and terminology. I know there is absolutely zero chance of that happening. Some of the menu systems are a nightmare...looking at you Sony.

After reading this thread I discovered my (2016) Panasonic DX80 had a Firmware update available that added focus stacking. The update means the camera can take a very short 4K movie and (in-camera) stack the frames together. The first image below was taken on a 50mm lens at f8, 1/160th, ISO800, tripod mounted, camera lens about 12" (300mm) from the front of the model... f8 was the smallest usable aperture I could select without the pic becoming too grainy. As you can see the middle is in focus but the front and back isn't. I then used the focus stacking feature to take another pic. And now the whole ship is in focus. The focus stacking procedure took about a minute. As I mentioned, all this was done in-camera...no PS involved. For a free firmware update I think it's not too bad. Richard

Very neat work. You've picked a perfect first model IMHO. After Druxey's explanation, I thought I should find out what a 'Banks dory' actually is .... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banks_dory "The Banks dory, or Grand Banks dory, is a type of dory. They were used as traditional fishing boats from the 1850s on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.[1] The Banks dory is a small, open, narrow, flat-bottomed and slab-sided boat with a particularly narrow transom. They were inexpensive to build and could be stacked or nested inside each other and stored on the decks of larger fishing vessels which functioned as mother ships. Banks dories have long overhangs at the bow and stern which helps them lift over waves. There were one-man and two-man versions. Most could be fitted with sails. The dories became more stable in when they were loaded with about half a ton of catch." A simple but elegant solution to a need. 'The Fog Warning is a great painting of a dory...wouldn't it be neat to turn your dory in to it? ... 😉 Richard

Alex, Yes, 'clamping' is a bit of a black art in my opinion. There are some real gurus on this website ...just Search 'clamps' etc and you will see some amazing solutions. Some are quite complex but most are simple and effective. I guess experience and figuring things out before hand are two main 'clamping' skills. Richard

Alex, Looking good and a fine commentary as well. Yes, this hobby can be addictive, as can delving in to the multitude of builds and shared info on MSW 🙂 Richard

'Shackelton's Captain', the 2012 movie is now available on Amazon Prime in the UK. Richard

Ron, I had a Google for the model you mention but no luck...it sounds exquisite though. I did find this YT video on how museums actually built models of the day down to very fine detail ... https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/science-and-technology/corliss-engine/ That would be a very pleasant job, working in the museum caring for those models. Richard Edit: I wonder if this might be the model you refer to Ron?... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXOJ1UEfikI

Hi Roger, I hope that you get to run it, at least on compressed air. I'll post a short report when I do - a compressor is on order. Just done a quick read-up on the Corliss engine ...very impressive, and 30% more efficient than any other competitor, which is a huge advantage. Here is a model version which looks superb .... https://www.1stdibs.co.uk/furniture/more-furniture-collectibles/collectibles-curiosities/models-miniatures/complex-working-corliss-steam-engine-model/id-f_6868103/ No info though on the builder that I can see. Richard