Rik Thistle

#4 I know what you mean about their website. They have some really wonderful stuff They sure do, including figures you never knew you needed to finish off a diorama.... 1/35 British Armoured Car Division Officer on Tea Break - https://www.artscale.eu/135-british-armoured-car-division-officer-on-tea-break-1 Richard

Mario, There are excellant Vanguard Zulu builds on this website, with some of those builds having many extras added by the builders. You will not be disappointed in your choice of Lady Isabella...looking forward to your 'build'. regards, Richard

Welcome Alan, Everyone here is very friendly and helpful, and even more - there are loads of Fifie and Zulu builds on here. Some of those builds are stock but there are others that have been bashed into something even more wonderful. Chris Watton's Vanguard Models is a great source of such kits and can even supply sails. There are also other very good manufacturers of similar kits, some being steam powered. Your big problem will be that you will probably spend weeks trawling this site wandering from one great build to another before you ever get round to starting a build! Best regards, Richard

Well, that was excellent...what an insight into the making of the movie. Thanks. It's a crying shame market conditions stopped them making any others in the series. Richard

#114, #115 & #116 .... I did more research on the winch/capstan.The ones shown for the Fifie were made by Elliott & Garroods Very interesting and great video also. Preston Services sell a lot of old steam powered equipment ... https://prestonservices.co.uk/item/elliott-garood-capstan-steam-engine-2-12-x-5-cylinder/ including steam powered models .... https://prestonservices.co.uk/category/miniatures-models/ ...and full sized steam ships .... https://prestonservices.co.uk/item/hms-bullfrog-steam-ship/ .... https://prestonservices.co.uk/item/steam-dinghy/ Richard

Ah, OK. Thanks.

0.229 m x 0.0305 m An extra zero...leading to a factor of x10? Richard

It so happened Jaws was on TV last night so I watched it again, keeping in mind to eye the mast shape. As others have said, it seems to be a circular cross section near the top. But closer to the the deck the mast has a 'rectangular' section but with the corners rounded off. There are many good moments in the movie but the part where Quint is sitting still whilst holding the rod watching the line in the water, and the reel suddenly gives two or three little clicks ...Quint's head stays still but his eyes slowly look down to the reel.... and you can tell he is thinking "hmm...we may have something here"....well, that's my new favourite moment.

FlyingFish, Your pics have now got me wanting to watch the movie again 😉 I've probably watched it at least half a dozen times over the years but (in my mind) it's a classic that ticked a lot of boxes ie great script based on a fairly simple but powerful story line, exciting and scary, three lead actors at the top of their game and great cinematography. Richard

VTHokiEE, She looks perfect. Your pictures are top notch and the painting, colouring and cleanliness of the build is way up there. Will she be harboured in the 'shipyard' or perhaps find calm waters in a living room? Richard

'Lothian Lass' is looking very good, with lots of very interesting and creative features. Part of my family also comes from Leith and I have many fond memories of spending time there with my grandparents. Richard

Erik, I think 'weathered sails' would look good. Most of the old Zulu pics I've seen are B&W but still give an impression of the weathering pattern eg ... https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/gallery/old-pictures-of-north-shields-7312242 Maybe even more recent coloured pics of restored Zulus are beginning to show how sail weathering presents itself. Only thing is, if you weather the sails do you then have to weather the rest of the boat? It's something I'd love to see - a fully weathered Zulu built from a new kit. It's on my wishlist...in fact, not just weathered but well used and worn and patched up and repainted etc. I have no weathering skills but it's a skill I want to learn. Richard

Chris has advised me the Master Shipwright Flirt comes with sufficient eyebolts and blocks to do the full rigging on the cannons (Right Option). Edit: So... I guess rigging the cannons is next on the To Do list 😉 I had previously glued the cannons in place with PVA but I really need them loose to do the rope work. Fortunately they are coming free with some light persuasion. Richard

Pete, Thanks for the pics. Your cannons looks fine. I'm now building the masts and will ponder what to to with my cannons before the deck gets too busy when the masts + their rigging are fitted. Richard

The next stage is to add the internal frames They look spot-on...much better than my chunkier, straight things which were added after the flooring was done. Can I ask what thickness of wood you used that allowed the frames to closely follow the curvature of the inside of the planking? Richard

Thunder, Chris suggests two options...the simpler one on the left, or the one on the right. If the one on the Right is chosen then two eyelets each side must be used. However the cannon build instructions only show one eyelet each side which is how I have build my cannons. The diagram at post #47 shows two eyelets each side. So I would now have to add an extra eyelet for the Right option. Delf's Speedy (sister ship to Flirt) build has gone with the Right option so I will study tomorrow how he did this - I'm away from the shipyard at the moment Thanks for the heads-up on the blocks...I hadn't thought about that. Richard

Have you looked at Delf's Speedy build? Yes, Delf has done the full cannon rigging...thanks... #296 https://modelshipworld.com/topic/22783-hms-speedy-by-delf-vanguard-models-scale-164-master-shipwright-edition/page/10/ I'll study that tomorrow.

Law enforcement buildings, jails, gallows, cemeteries ... in that order 😉

Finally, this is a you tube video that I think is fantastic and explains the process in a very simple way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpI7B43KA3I That really was a fantastic video. Great to watch a craftsman at work. The amount of thought and effort that goes into producing and fitting one plank is highly impressive. I liked his comment that he starts all his planking from the bottom upwards whereas shipyards working to a timescale plank from the top and bottom, both sides ie four planking teams. Thanks, Richard

Yes, they are a bit flat but at viewing distance they'll do. Thanks for the 'Make eyebolts' link. Richard

Hi Glenn, Yes, the diagrams are those of 'general views of typical ...rope...tackle'. And it's down to me to adapt those views to suit the Flirt cannons. I was wondering if anyone had actually done the Right Option and had any insights, and could advise if were there sufficient eyebolts (PE-15) included in the kit to do that Right Option. The kit comes with 145x so I wondered if that included 28x for the Right Option? I suppose I can go through the instructions looking for all the places where PE-15 is used on Flirt and see if there remains a spare 28 off eyebolts for the cannons (Right Option). Regards, Richard

A question on Flirt's cannon ropes.... The manual shows two methods of rigging the cannons. Both methods rely on the Closed Eyebolts (part PE-15...145 off supplied in the kit) being fitted, circled in red below. However this red eyebolt is not shown in the general cannon instructions in the manual. In that location there is the Traverse Bolt (PE-22). I can ignore the red eyebolt if I go with the Left Option below, but I'd like to try my hand at the Right Option. Question - If I do go with the Right Option are there enough spare Closed Eyebolts already supplied in the kit to fit out 14 cannons ie 28 spare eyebolts? If 'yes', it would mean drilling 28x holes for the eyebolts close to the Traverse Bolts...perfectly doable, I imagine. Thanks, Richard

Mike, This recent thread has some useful information. It shows 9 min stop motion video of how a ship kit is built... 'ropes' start appearing at about 4.55 mins in ... ... and on YouTube.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SuPPsyck2M It;s a great watch, and a superbly made video. Richard

Hi all, Flirt's 18' Cutter /contd. Below - Floor gratings painted muddy brown and fitted. Then the Rear Seat - this snapped in a couple of places and was reinforced by using some brass sheet from the kit. Also a 1.5mm thick piece of wood was glued under the front of the seat to help support it. The internal ribs were fitted and trimmed down using a mini-Dremel circular saw. Black planks bent and painted. Also brass parts removed from sheet. Rudders parts glued together. Holding the Inside Rails in position whilst the glue dried. The clamps have sharp teeth but they were all I could find that fitted into the small spaces available. However, after removal there was no teeth marking on the wood from the clamps. Preparing the Cradles. I didn't paint the brass Cleats brass just to add a bit of colour variation. Note: The closed Eyebolt is, I believe, part PE 15. Hull painted white. Rudder painted white and black and CA'd in place. Oars etc also prepared. Cradles fitted to the deck. I slightly curved the underside to follow the deck curvature. And the boat in place. I wonder how they get down the stairs without bumping their heads?...but I suppose you bump your head only once and you quickly learn to lean out of the way next time. Side view. I think I'll revisit the painting on the oars...the paint job is a bit scrappy and I've just bought some very fine paint brushes which should allow me to make the paint lines a bit neater, he says. I won't tie down the boat for the moment since I am unsure if I will need that space free when it comes to the rigging. So the boat goes in to cold storage for now. Rear view of the boat, From a distance she looks fine....quite a long distance actually. Building the boat was fun but challenging. And really is a mini-project in it's own right. Next on the agenda is starting work on the Masts, Yards and Rigging. The first two are in my happy zone but the rigging is a bit like Kryptonite to me. Ah well, it's what I signed up for so can't complain too loudly 😉 I might also have a look at what rigging is required for the cannons and get that out of the way first...decisions., decisions. OK, time for a coffee, decision made! Regards, Richard

Erik, Doing the reefing ties is a chore...they seem to be never ending when you are doing them ...but the end result is very worthwhile...they somehow bring the sails to life. Your sails deserve it 😉 The colour of the reefing ties wants to be light enough to be noticable but not too bright....the ones I've seen in old pics seem to have a 'weathered' colour (not surprisingly, I guess). And using white glue to coax them into a flat but realistic pattern is a good idea. Richard