Rik Thistle

Hi all, An update on the Dallas. All the rigging is in place. Lots of tidying up still to do to it eg seizing on some ropes, coils of rope to be added where necessary, some rigging tensions to be adjusted to pull yards, booms etc into proper alignment and trucks for the tops of the masts. From above... Then next is adding the anchors.... I quite like the look of the Dallas. It is sleek lined, has a nice balance to it and is not an overly fussy ship design. Function over form. So I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It took a fair bit of will power to restart Dallas after the hull sitting in the attic for 25yrs, but doing at least a tiny bit on it each day has helped keep moving it forward. I feel I may have now found a new hobby :-) Regards, Richard

'isopropyl alcohol' - ah, OK Louie. Thanks for the tip. I have a bottle of IPA in my shed, so will experiment with it on the Gorilla PVA glue I've been using on most of the ropes. I have Q Tips and also some small syringes (somewhere). I had initially used CA since it seemed a quick 'rope fix,' but quicly discovered it makes the ropes hard and leaves a mark. In parallel with my 'discovery', I was reading that many others on this website don't recommend CA as a primary fixing. Regards, Richard PS: I do like the self-sealing nozzle design on PVA glue containers these days. It's very effective at stopping the glue hardening inside the bottle, as well as being a reasonable dispenser. There is a current thread elswhere on this site discussing best methods for dispensing and applying PVA, that I've been following.

Hi all, Another short update. The rigging on the Dallas slowly continues. Learning a lot as I progress, and finding new tricks and dodges to hide (some) of my mistakes 🙂 I've also started fitting the Yards. ...and from above... To assist with the rigging I've bought a cheap set of 'dentist's tools', and two tools (blue ones) specifically designed for rigging... I'm finding as the rope density on the ship increases it seems to become exponentially more difficult to attach and route the next rope. The new tools help considerably. I'm also noting that taut ropes installed a few days ago become slacker as newer ropes are added. But I'm finding fudges to 're-taut' those ropes. All in all quite a steep learning curve for me. Those that rig ships such as Nelson's HMS Victory have my deepest respect! And there's not even any sails on the Dallas... another whole new ball game altogether. Anyway, still enjoying the pain but looking forward to finishing Dallas and moving on to the Lady Eleanor Fifie. Regards, Richard

Excellent! Thanks for the feedback B.E. And I'll have a dig around the other parts of the website for more info. Anstruther is a lovely, picturesque little town. St Andrews is just up the coast and, if you like golf, there are many wonderful golf links and inland courses to play on. Regards, Richard

Hi BE, Looking forward to watching the build progress. I've got Vanguard Models' Lady Eleanor Fifie sitting impatiently in it's box waiting for my current build (Dallas Cutter) to finish. Living in Scotland, my plan is to visit the Scottish Fishing Museum in Anstruther once things quieten down and the Museum reopens. They have a restored fishing boat in harbour there, the Reaper. As an aside, I notice you have the Proxxon MF70 Milling Machine in your workshop. I already have their mini lathe and one day might purchase a mill. How to you find the Proxxon mill?...is it robust enough for model making....any strengths/weaknesses?...and can it take light cuts on brass....and even the lightest skims off (gulp) mild steel? All the best, Richard

Welcome Paul, I live in Scotland also and, like you, restarted a 25 yr old project (Dallas Cutter) back in March when CV hit. Once I got back into the Dallas build and found I was enjoying it, I ordered Chris Watton's Lady Eleanor Fifie fishing boat as a follow-on project. My plan is to visit Anstruther, once things become a bit safer, where there is a similar fishing vessel (Reaper) that has been restored by the Scottish Fisheries Museum Trust. All the best, Richard

When I started on the Dallas Cutter (25 years ago) I wasn't aware enough to incorporate two captive nuts into the hull/keel area for the eventual mounting of pedestals. This week I received a base and a pair of pedestals (29mm high, slot 8mm deep x 5mm wide, with a 4mm appx through hole). The pedestals would need a means of fixing to the keel of the Dallas that didn't involve nuts inside the hull. Also, the slope on the keel meant that using two pedestals of the same height caused the deck to slope unnaturally. I turned a wooden 5mm thick spacer (on the right of the pic below) to lift up one of the pedestals to compensate for the keel slope, and stained it to match the wooden base. As for fixing the base to the keel, I threaded the pedestal with a 2 BA tap (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Association_screw_threads) to match two suitably long, slotted head, countersunk machine screws. With a 1mm drill in a hand-held Dremel (I don't have a small, high speed pillar drill) I drilled through the pedestals' rears (and partially into the fronts). These 1mm holes are for accepting 1mm dia brass attachment rods - see below. As seen below, the Dallas was then mounted on the pedestals (now screwed onto the base) and using that same 1mm drill (now in a pin vice), I drilled into the keel using the existing pedestal holes as a drill guide. I then dry fitted the brass rod. The drill holes will aways be at the rear of the display so no one will see them. (Note: drill one hole first and then insert the brass rod in to it before drilling the second hole in the keel - to prevent the keel slipping out of position). Although the pic below seems to show there is still a bit of a slope to the deck it's isn't that noticeable in reality. The Dallas deck slopes upwards to the bow and stern, being horizontal only in midships. And the the holes etc will be towards the wall so will not be visible. I will also put a short 90 deg bend on the rods' external ends to give purchase if I ever need to extract the rods. I'll use a small dab of Evostick to hold the rods in position. I'll finish the base off by gluing green felt to the underside. Richard

A quick update. Rigging going on. Some corners cut and mistakes made but from a distance it looks like the Dallas is slowly taking shape. The rigging drawing sheets, although they seem to contain all necessary information, are pretty smart at hiding crucial snippets of info in obscure places. I feel I spend more time studying the drawings/instructions rather than building...maybe that is the way it should be ...'read the manual first' ;-) Basic rigging in place. Topsail yard half way through being fitted. Close up of the rigging at the top of the two masts. Apologies for the photo quality - I'm using my mobile phone, mainly because it is handy and quick to transfer files. I'll dig out my proper camera for later pics. Richard

My National Gallery framed, 'medium' sized print (420mm x 325mm) arrived this morning. I went for the matt, no mount options. Total cost £70. Took 16 working days to arrive, which is perfectly fine considering it would have to go to the framers and the CV situation. The packaging was possibly the best I had ever seen. The print looks very good. One of the most colourful Turner prints I have. Very pleased. Now I need to make some space for it on my shack/shipyard/hobby room walls. Richard National Gallery link ... https://www.nationalgallery.co.uk/products/the-fighting-temeraire-print/p_NG524

This from the News page of their website... https://www.seawatchbooks.com/NewsForthcomingBooks.htm Summer 2020 It's been a wild first half of 2020. I've had 4 hospitalizations in the past year and am currently recuperating from some major surgery. Being an "old" sailor can be challenging!! On the good news front, Speedwell II is in the warehouse and available. This completes the series on this ship. On the not so good side, Rogers III will not see the light of day. With the book almost completed, the author quit, and I have nothing to publish. It is too bad because many people were looking forward to it. With the pandemic going on and the need to stay isolated, it is a great time to read books on ships and to work on models. Keep at it and stay safe. Richard

Slightly off topic, but Olha Batchvarov's prize winning model of Nelson's HMS Victory is quite stunning ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O6uBV0uThk ...as is the black background photography towards the end of the video. As a newcomer it was so impressive to see whilst at the same time a bit intimidating. However, in the Comments below the video she reveals it took her 4 1/2 yrs to build, so maybe.... Richard

Hi Steven, After threading the deadeyes, some of them rotated slightly as I was attaching them to ropes above - that caused the three lines of rope between the deadeye pairs to cross over each other. I think the problem would be easily fixible (ie rotate them back in to correct position) were it not for the fact that I 'cheated' by adding a touch of glue to the rope knots. Anyway, I'll keep slowly working towards finishing the ship and then have a think about whether I need/feel like correcting my mistakes. It's all a big learning curve at the moment which, I guess, is part of the enjoyment 🙂 Regards, Richard

Hi, After assembling and fitting the masts and bowsprint/jibboom I've made a tentative start on the rigging. Yup....another whole new set of skills required for the rigging. RichardG was kind enough to advise I read up on 'seizing' and I have had a go on some of the ropes, but there are so many.... Anyway, here's 3x pics of the little progress made since last time. Masts ect glued into place ...main mast at 76 deg 30 secs and foremast at 79 deg ....with a bit of luck. The foremast has the only rigging done so far. Close up of some rigging. Some seizing on some of the ropes but not on others (but maybe later). Deadeyes have rotated so ropes look a bit twisted - will try to rectify. Close up of the upper section of the foremast. That's all folks, Catch you soon, Richard

Hi Al, My rough and ready (but flexible) solution is to use 3x pieces of hardboard duct taped together. 3x pieces, so that they can be easily folded up for storage. Side view of my Plan Holder sitting on a rotating chair. The plan is held in position at the top by two clips. The natural fold at the bottom of the plan can be made to coincide with the lower hardboard join by adjusting the clamping position of the plan at the top. There is a piece of sheet metal behind the top two sections of the holder to stop the top section flopping backwards. A piece of 6mm thick plywood (or similar) would be just as good. There is duct tape on both sides of the 3x joins. The tape was added whilst the 3x pieces of hardboard were folded against each other rather than the 3x piceces lying flat on the floor...that stops the tape tearing when the 3x pieces are folded for storage. The rough side of the hardboard may need additional stapling to stop the tape coming off. The plan holder also acts as a temporary 'workbench' and is a bit lower than my desk (so easier to work on mast ropes etc) and the chair can rotate appx +/- 90 deg for slightly easier access to the rear of the model (but not as good as a proper Lazy Susan). I wouldn't leave the ship sitting on the holder 'workbench' unattended if there are other people using the room since it is quite easy to nudge the holder's corner as you move past it. Regards, Richard

Richard, Ah..... that's what I've been looking for. Many thanks. 'Seizing'...another new word for my rapidly growing shipbuilding dictionary! Google has thrown up pages of results...time to start reading ;-) All the best, Richard

I may have figured out the knot question. If I look at the Dallas knot drawing with a magnifying glass it looks like the main rope (say 145) has it's end looped back on itself, then a seperate piece of rope is wound round the original rope's two diameters to hold the loop firm? Richard

Jorge, I got the same lathe a few weeks ago. Very compact and good for what it is. Agreed, the live centre is very good. A little slop in the tailstock, and my tool rest also had a very rough finish....but a bit of filing and fine emery cloth soon polished it up. All the best, Richard

Hi guys, I wonder if I can seek some advice regarding 'knots'. I'm about to start attaching lines to the masts etc and tie off those lines. The Dallas drawing sheet below shows the various knots used.... I've had a look at https://www.animatedknots.com/complete-knot-list .... but can't see anything relating to how the 3x knots (145, 144 and 138) in the top left corner are made. The first two look a bit like a noose slip knot but I don't imagine ships used slip knots? Any thoughts or advice on how to make 145, 144 and 138? Thanks, Richard

Hyw, Even as a newcomer to this particular hobby, I can recognise an extremely high level of engineering excellence when I see it. In particular, this picture sent tingles down my spine ... It seems you have designed and manufactured a one-off measuring/machining table which can be computer (and manually) controlled in the X,Y and Z axes. I note the Proxxon rotary tool swung out of the way, but ready to be moved in to position to accurately machine what lies beneath. Also, you have carefully affixed to the table (referenced to the CNC control datum point) a 1:1 scale plan drawing of the hull as an approximate guide for manually placing the parts. Mind boggling stuff. I'd love to see a build log of how you designed/made the measuring/machining table - that would be an extremely interesting story in it's own right. I look forward to your next steps. All the very best from Scotland, Richard

Talos, Good to hear the National Gallery has faithful colours in their prints.....I guess I shouldn't expect anything else from them. I'm still pondering what size to order 😉 Roger, I'm glad you got the chance to view some of Turner's works. They can be quite mystical and some, at first glance, seem to be a mushy wash of pastel colours, but on closer inspection the story and the skill emerge. Steven, I don't recall ever having seen 'First rate taking in stores'... what a painting! Hmm...should I be ordering a print of that also? And 'yes', the The Fighting Temeraire would make a wonderful diorama, especially if it mimicked Turner's lighting. Have a good weekend, Richard

Thanks Steven, Yes, the new Proxxon lathe is very capable for small stuff. I'm looking for excuses to use it now. The last time I was on a woodworking lathe was at school, many moons ago. Those lathes were free standing and much larger, but the principles of operation are much the same. I'm enjoying doing the Dallas. But the further I go the more I'm beginning to understand why historical accuracy plays such a big role in many of the threads on this forum. For me at this time, it's more of an educational exercise learning about the best ways to 'manufacture' the model ship, all the names of the items used etc and then and just getting to the finishing post. Best regards, Richard

OK, thanks Richard. Yes, probably a stray piece of wood that might have been meant for another kit. Since it's been with me for 25yrs + I feel duty bound to find somewhere on the ship to use it 😉 ...maybe make it into a hatch, or something. Regards, Richard

Richard, I'm also building the Dallas. Still working on the masts etc. But I've noticed (for quite a while) a piece of wood lurking in the box that I have no idea what it is for. It looks like it is walnut, 460mm long. At one end it is 5mm x 5mm square and then neatly tapers down to the far end where it is 5mm x 1.3mm. It kinda matches the length of the hull but I see no mention of it in the Parts list or on the drawings. Any ideas? Thanks and regards, Richard

Louie, Talos, You've got me thinking now. I've had 3x Turner prints (IIRC, bought from Edinburgh galleries) hanging in my living room for donkey's years. But now I realise I need another one in my new 'shipyard' (former study). The National Gallery has a good description of the painting's story .... https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-fighting-temeraire ...and also sells prints. I believe the original painting was 48" x 36". OK, now to decide on the size of Temeraire print, a suitable frame and where in the shipyard I can hang it. I find it a very relaxing painting, if a bit sad. regards, Richard

In June I watched Channel 5's (UK TV channel) programme on JMW Turner's masterpiece painting, The Fighting Temeraire. It's available on My5 catch-up till 2024.... https://www.my5.tv/great-paintings-of-the-world-with-andrew-marr/season-1/episode-3-fb5b7964-3461-4c0d-92f6-37738312b665 Turner has always been one of my favourite artists but I didn't appreciate the poignancy of the scene depicted in this particular painting. For a noobie model shipbuilder like me it brought home the significance of each and every ship build and their finite lives. Wiki summarises the gist of the programme ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fighting_Temeraire The Fighting Temeraire, tugged to her last berth to be broken up, 1838 is an oil painting by the English artist Joseph Mallord William Turner, painted in 1838 and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1839.[1] The painting depicts the 98-gun HMS Temeraire, one of the last second-rate ships of the line to have played a role in the Battle of Trafalgar, being towed up the Thames by a paddle-wheel steam tug in 1838, towards its final berth in Rotherhithe to be broken up for scrap. The painting hangs in the National Gallery, London, having been bequeathed to the nation by the artist in 1851. In a poll organised by BBC Radio 4's Today programme in 2005, it was voted the nation's favourite painting.[2] In 2020 it was included on the new 20-pound note. It really is a great TV episode. Regards, Richard. PS: Has anyone ever build a model of the scene depicted in the painting?