Rik Thistle

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

Popeye, Thanks. It was a fun build. These little engines and their full sized cousins produce a lot of power ...some say a can of spinach is added to their boiler tanks at the start of each day 😉 This gentleman runs a professional steam powered workshop using no equipment made later than 1925* .... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WXHNBMLZZM He deserves a medal for doing this. Interestingly, steam still provides most of the power we use today. Richard *He does admit to using some modern measuring equipment but tries to keep it out of sight.

Clive, She looks ready to get to work. Well done. What a good lloking model. Richard

Hi all, I think I've now got most of the workforce back in the shipyard, after them disappearing off to enjoy the Summer. So just a short post to get the ball rolling, again. I had previously done some initial work on the masts eg turning diameters etc in my little lathe. So I will continue with the two masts. Below - I glued the Bolsters to the 'trees'. Then I sat and stared at the Mast Drawing plan (Sheet 5) for quite a while, and realised that there is a lot going on with these two similar masts. So proper parts organisation seems a good idea, as did much more staring at Sheet 5. Below - the two Topmasts had the 4mm square (Edit: My mistake, should be 3mm square, darn...so sanding down to 3mm) section milled on the end. This turned out fine - the starting size was a 6mm diameter, so I tentatively took a 1mm deep cut, gently holding the protruding section in the Proxxon vice. I thought it might start to flex as I got to the 4th side but by going slowly all was fine. I have a dividing head, but instead used a set square resting on the bed and the freshly cut side to ensure 90 deg rotation - that worked OK. As I mentioned, there is a lot of detail on Sheet 5 that I need to reassimilate. It wasn't a good idea to leave Flirt for months...I should have tried to do a little each week. Ah well, live and learn. Richard

Well done Glenn; she's a beauty...and well lit at the window. Richard

I would be interesting to know what specialist delivery companies do different. Do they control the shipping environment completely from A to B? Here is only one stage in the delivery of 'normal' packages ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF_w7uSnOj0 From what I've seen and know, marking normal packages with Fragile and/or This Way Up makes no difference whatsoever, unless the item is mounted on a pallet and moved by forklift so improving it's survival chances somewhat. If a valuable three masted ship with lots of rigging, say, was being shipped around the world then what is the optimum solution?... - Design the hull (the part with most mass) so that it can be rigidly fixed to a base plate, and leave the masts/rigging mounted and in free space. - Remove parts from the ship that might work loose in transit and put them is a separate box rather than them becoming missiles. - Securely mount the base plate in an extremely tough box that always maintains a gap of at least 150mm from any part of the ship. - Do not use peanut type packing, or any for that matter, that can contact any parts of the ship. - One of the flaws with the above is that the masts, if suddenly accelerated back and forth (and upside down), may not be able to take shock loading. - Do 'insured' packages have a big 'Insurance' label on them that the handlers see so know that their employers will not be happy if those particular goods get damaged? Just thinking aloud. Richard

Ron, Yes, I've watched a lot of his videos especially his one on the Stuart Engine ... 'MAKE A STUART STEAM ENGINE pt 1 of 9 tubalcain' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WZykfoKIsA&list=PL6HIFled82YUVmxw4RysNJron441QhyFO He's very helpful. Another one is BlondieHacks...she's quirky but likeable and is good at explaining things. And, as you say, there are a load of videos on sorting out mini lathes. I've lost track of how many I've watched 😉 I got my lathe from ArcEuroTrade in the UK - these lathes all seem to come from one or two companies in China that make the raw castings, then Seig and others buy those castings, machine them up to their desired specs and add USP features. I believe ARC actually spend time in the Sieg factory explaining what they want and the desired quality level that must be met. There's 3 or 4 distributers in the UK of the lathes; they're all pretty good. I wouldn't buy direct from China or eBay since it is a bit of a pig in a poke purchase. At least with a local distributer you have someone you can phone up and discuss things with. Also these distributers stock all the lathe add-ons/tools that one could ever wish ...I'm suspecting it's a bit like the old Gillette safety razor...the handle was sold at a loss and the profit made on the blades! Richard