BANYAN

Hi Greg, I have been away for a few days and get back to find all this amazing detail you have added. That is a really good job you have done with just the right amount of weathering (for my tastes). I would not be looking elsewhere, I think you can rank yourself among the best with your abilities in this genre. cheers Pat

That is sound reasoning and the mockup looks like it fits nicely. WRT height, I worked on a couple of guiding principles: 1. height of eye of the average sailor to enable a clear view of the compass top within the shelf/compartment; and 2. ability to view over the top of the binnacle to monitor ship's head and sails to maintain course. The 3D print is a great idea as you would get some amazing detail, which at this scale, is hard to do with wood (well for me anyway ). cheers Pat

I am with Jud, as an ex-navalman I am mystified with some of the over weathering of models I see (mainly plastic). I believe that through the ages, basic naval practices (cannot speak for merchant service) will be based around the same principles. I am sure that as there was not too much shore leave (fear of runners etc) one of the first things the First Lieutenant would have organised was a cleaning and painting party for the ship's sides etc. I acknowledge however, this is more difficult in such times as performing blockades etc. The ship is the sailor's home and cleanliness is paramount if you do not want a sick ship, or an angry Admiral/Squadron/Flotilla Commander. Ship's husbandry and maintaining fighting skills can be achieved together. Even in times of war, in most theatres some effort was made to keeps interiors clean, and basic ship's husbandry done on accessible parts of the upper decks and ship's equipment (especially life boats etc). Yes in times like WWII, during prolonged partols or escort duty in rough weather (Murmansk run) would have prevented any maintenance at all. That said, even during our long deployments (6-9 months) some effort was made to minimise corrosion and maintain the ship's appearance (but not at the expense of proficiency). While I am not a fan, and this is intended as a personal opinion only, I understand some modellers use weathering to display their skills - each to their own preferences and I do admire the skills required to do this level of weathering. cheers Pat

Some very nice details you are creating Denis; that charlie noble looks great - the bend really sets it off! cheers Pat

You pick some unusual but interesting subject matter JIm; very nicely executed as usual! cheers Pat

Hi Mauri, thanks for responding - I am the proud owner of one of Michael Mott's third hands. Do you have a link to Ed's third hand post please? However, what I am really looking for is a jig for holding small parts on a flat surface here. cheers Pat

Hi all, I am hoping to make a hold-down jig from metal. I hope to achieve something that is flexible to use and not too difficult to make. The device will have a flat metal base about 150mm / 6 in square with hold down fingers that can slide laterally along the edge of the square and in-and-out. The primary use will be to hold small parts for soldering and possibly filing etc. I am hoping I can design something with changeable insert bases, one for soldering, another for cutting and drilling and another pad for filing (sitting higher). Recently, while browsing, I saw a couple of likely candidate designs that peaked my interest in such a jig, and thought would be useful; but, the idiot I am, I did not bookmark them. I am hoping somebody may recall these, or offer a contribution. One device I saw had a round base and also incorporated what looked similar to GRS flex-arms; the other was a metal surround as described above but I think had a soldering pad inserted. I have searched a few likely logs and this forum with no luck so far. Any contributions, suggestions or pointers to these jigs would be greatly appreciated. cheers Pat

Hi Greg, he is looking great and will look even better once you add the additional detail. A small observation, unless you plan further weathering of the decks, the forepart deck looks a little more weathered (rust) than the rest of the decks (red)? If the soviet sailors maintained the red painted decks to such a degree, surely they would have maintained the foredeck also? That said, your airbrushing techniques are excellent and I may need to take a few lessons from you

Hi Dave, the two binnacle solution looks a goer. In this configuration you can still add the compass where you have the shelf and replace the desk top with a light locker? If you think a drawer necessary to hold the DR board etc you could add that and make an open shelf instead of the two door cupboards. in that configuration you can add a fold down desk top for chartwork if necessary? When I contemplated this issue for my build I went for the larger version as you would need a steering compass and, a conning and survey compass. I also thought a larger flat top might be required to hold the 'draft' survey charts etc when engaged in survey work? That said, you point about the skylight opening is very valid and in hindsight, I wish I had made my skylight with two part covers each side; you get the full benefit of light and can still open half for ventilation. cheers Pat

Hi Cristi, great to have you back and sorry to hear of the various issues you have had to face; I hope that all are well and truly settled down now. Nice production line you created for your carriage assembly - a very nice finished product to fit to the model. regards Pat

You achieve such clean crisp work Ed, a joy to see. Cheers Pat

Nope, not yet; you could make it look like one for me I am sure the Admiral won't mind too much cheers Pat

That is some very fine work Dave, you have done a really nice job on those ratlines. Your build is developing into a very good model of Endeavour. cheers Pat

Wonderful detailing Keith, the launch is a mini-project in its own right. cheers Pat

Looking sharp OC, you can come over and paint my place anytime you like cheers Pat

Very nice detail Greag and a good job on 'bashing' the very ordinary items into very presentable details. cheers Pat

I hope the new residence is all you desired, and you can settle down soon. cheers Pat

No mucking around with this build Denis, some rapid and great looking progress. cheers Pat

Hi John and Roger, I can only comment on what I have found that was relevant to HMCSS Victoria, a Gun Despatch Vessel or Screw-Sloop of 1855. The Contract for Victoria stated the provision of two 'cranes' for raising ash. I found a contemporary inboard arrangements diagram (dated 1860) for a contemporary vessel, HMS Harrier, which shows an ash chute which I presume there would have been one each side so that as weas disposed on the lee side. Contract: Iron cranes for hoisting up ashes, … I hope I am not breaching copyright (admins please delete if I am infringing) in showing this extract of the NMM plan (NPC6858), note the inboard side appears fixed with a curved 'mouth' to accept the wheelbarrow front. The outboard side appears to be hinged to bring it inboard clear of 'snagging' but lowers sufficiently to ensure the ash clears the ship's side. As to the cranes, these may have been simple goosenecks, or something a little more elaborate. Please PM if you wish more detail on those. As to coal bins I can only offer the following from the contract, but it offers some insight on the height of the coal dump: "The coal boxes to be constructed and arranged as may be hereafter determined, and sufficient details of the coal boxes in the engine rooms to be shown in the drawing, to enable a computation of their contents to be made in this computation; the space below the deck to the depth of 6 inches is to be excluded, to allow for the space occupied by the beams and for the difficulty of completely filling the boxes with coals. No part of the coal box plate to be less than 1/8 inch in thickness. Air tubes to be fixed in the coal boxes for ascertaining their temperature. A space of 13 inches to be left clear between the boilers and coal boxes in every part." I also found this info in Wikipedia: Coal trimmers worked inside the coal bunkers; they used shovels and wheelbarrows to move coal around the bunkers in order to keep the coal level, and to the firemen, who shoveled it into the furnaces. This could imply no bags? Could have been loaded in bags but emptied into the bunker? Also, reading through some of the related discussion on the web, there is inference that the coaling scuttle was a sort of box with a chute down to the bunker. From this I read that the coaling scuttle had a hatch type top that opened into a sort of small chamber which then had a chute attached at the bottom. Most of this related to the Titanic coaling arrangements so may not be directly applicable. I also found this site which provides some interesting background discussion and while of a later ship, the methods employed for coaling appear mixed (bags and bulk). Hope this helps rather than confuse the situation further? cheers Pat

That is one very fine looking model Greg, the paintwork effects are very realistic. if you placed a sea/sky background behind it it would be hard to tell the difference to the real thing. cheers Pat

I think Rob has stated that very well - the style and tone of your books, and the quality of your build logs help us less capable modellers learn to do exactly that - even if there is an occasional typo :). cheers Pat

Hi John, is there sufficient height in the coal bunker for an overhead 'spout' or shute like the swinging arm spout you see on the water tanks used to feed water to locomotives? This would have allowed the coal to be spread over a much wider area? In some recent reading, I noted comments that coal was usually separated into areas by mangers or cofferdams to form hoppers (bins). This allowed the coal to be moved about for managing the list among other things, and if there was a problem (e.g. a coal fire) to be able to isolate it. Coaling in the Victoria was via 4 scuttles, and the ash raised to the upper deck via two dedicated cranes for discharge overboard via two ash shutes. I don't know if any of this will be of much relevance to your build but may offer some food for thought? cheers Pat

All nice detail and should look great on the model on the model Greg; slow but good progress. cheers Pat

Nice carving; certainly a lot better than my efforts Toni. cheers Pat

That looks great Dave; good to see you back in the shipyard - Happy New Year! cheers Pat