BANYAN

Nice detailing there Carl' will look really good when all is brought together. cheers Pat

There is really a lot of nice detail in this build Greg; will look good when all together. The guns look great. Makes you wonder how some of these things floated with all that metal cheers Pat

Michael, was that typical of the sort of material used in ship models of that period? Was brass wire available back then? I think you are well on your way to achieving your stated aim of no noticeable repairs and looking like as he should for an older model. i know the camera can show or hide a multitude of thing, but looking closely the is not much to show of where you repaired her (and I mean that as a compliment) cheers Pat

Beautiful decoration Gaetan; very good quality control as the pair look nigh identical. cheers Pat

Looks good Ben, will the new timbers gain some colour with age and even out a bit? cheers Pat

Look forward to seeing you back in the shipyard Denis; sorry to hear of yor ails but happy you are on the road to recovery - a few of the finest of brews may assist further cheers Pat

Hi rexy, Steve has summarised it very well. Exact paint schema could never be known without a Tardis White stuff (white lead) bottoms were a bit after this but starting to emerge as Steve points out. If I recall correctly, this particular item was mentioned in some Contract letters and a Log or Journal reference that mentions the Brown stuff. The brown stuff would not have been readily visible as it was also covered with a sacrificial layer of wood sheathing and this would probably have been painted with some form of varnish of pine also to seal it a little. I have read somewhere, that as the sacrificial layer was lost and the brown stuff began to wear, it became slightly polished and for a while may have had a buffed creamy colour but very patchy? So, I think the bare bottom you see for a lot of models is the most popular solution; as Steve points out, the white is incorrect. I followed the clone path mostly as the Replica people put quite a bit of research into the colour schema; I did differ with the boats though. cheers Pat

Nicely done Michael. some awkward shapes to control there. cheers Pat

Hi folks, I thought I would do a bit of a tool review on a great new tool I have just received. Michael Mott, in his build log for the restoration of the Basset Lowke Albertic introduced a great new third-hand he had designed for himself - a new take on the usual designs. This looked very promising but as I am no tool maker, I asked him if he might make one for me - which he did See following picture. This was such a great adaption of the common cheap tool that are usually next to impossible to use for finer soldering projects, that I started looking at alternate uses for it. I realised it could also be very useful for rigging and opened another discussion with Michael on alternate clamp designs/arrangements that would not crush rope cordage, but could also be utilised for working wire rope where necessary. Michael has agreed to trial a few alternate clamps and has asked me to feed back to him on how useful they are. I thought the best way to do this is via a tool comparison and review; so here goes. Early in my hobby days, I had purchased two of those cheap version you can find in many tool, hobby and electronics stores. These were okay for basic use, until I found they were difficult to configure exactly for the job at hand, the clamps were very poor quality (fit, purpose, pressure) and marred the parts, or crushed the fibres of rope. I made a quick fix by putting heat shrink on the alligator clamp teeth which helped with grip and stopped some crushing of the fibres, but they still were not flexible enough to configure to hold small parts for a tight fit for soldering. I looked around on the Internet and found what looked like the best solution available; the GRS soldering station used by many jewellers, and some electronics guys - they seemed to have good reviews, and although expensive I invested in one. See the following photo: These have proven much better for soldering but did not resolve my rigging requirements. I then made a jig, based on a jig made by CristiC (I think) to assist in rigging which I used in conjunction with my 'rigging crab' which is an adaption of an idea by the late 'Hubert Sicard' on his Wood Ship Modelling Dummies site. However I still found I needed another arm, so invested in a single arm version of the GRS third arm soldering station. These can all be seen in the following photo: This collection of tools and jigs worked okay for my Endeavour rigging - that was until I saw what Michael had designed . Michael's third-arms are very well made, and with a wider spaced/longer base arm, and rotating components that can be tightened securely without damage to the arms, provide great flexibility in positioning to hold parts or cordage. The flexibility is enhanced with some great clamps, of which a wider range will be available after some further refining (if needed) whenI have used them for a while. I will provide an update to these clamps once I have received them and had an opportunity to try them for awhile: 1. soldering small and larger pieces typically used in our hobby; 2. holding soft cordage in various sizes for various tasks such as whipping, seizing, making tackles etc.; and 3. holding wire rope for the same purposes. With the wider spread of the lower bar, I am also going to trial its use to hold spars while fitting stirrups and blocks etc. As to soldering, at times you just need another hand to hold things, so I am going to trial an adaption to the base to allow me to screw in one of my GRS arms. I opted for a rectangular rather than circular base, and glad I did now as I can drill and tap a hole in one of the corners to allow me to fit that arm out of the way and get max configuration options Happy days! If anyone has any queries, or additional comments to make please feel free to add to this thread. cheers Pat

Good luck with that one OC, a few complex folds to be done there. cheers Pat

I prefer the bending technique you have used over the use of a heat source/plank bender although, sometimes the shape does resile a little and a further over bending may be required to allow for it. I also find that for thinner pieces I only have to soak for about 20 minutes. Nice progress, the planks should lay along this with very little pressure. cheers Pat

That looks a really nice fit Carl; coming along very nicely cheers Pat

Looks good to my eye Jay cheers Pat

Quite a bit of detail there Greg; she should look really nice painted up. cheers Pat

She's looking great John, not far to the finish line now. Any ideas on your next project? cheers Pat

Hi PeterOs, Any other characters planned? For example Officers and Helmen? cheers Pat

Thanks Druxey, I'll try that. cheers Pat

Nice little project Michael. Based on what I have seen posted in these forums, there are three workshops that I would love to tour noting the excellent tooling shown - those belonging to Gaetan and Wefalck, and yours - seeing some of these wonderful tools you knock up I'll bet your workshop is is something to behold. cheers Pat

Great to see an update Alan, especially noting your ongoing problems with your eyes - best wishes for a full and speedy recovery to full eyesight. cheers Pat

117 huns, phftt - you could do that in your sleep Carl - glad it is you and not me. Nice work on all that PE, seems you have quite a bit of dexterity left in them fingers but you probably have worn out the eyes cheers Pat

Great to have that old tooling hull to practice on; the actual model will look all the better for the practice. cheers Pat

Nice clean woodwork there Steve; they look good. cheers Pat

A major milestone completed nicely Rexy. cheers Pat

Thanks Druxey. I have trawled the NMM several times but you seem to know your way around much better than me (I wonder why ) I think I will just need to slowly go through the whole collection. That is getting fairly close, I just need to exchange the iron frames for the diagonal planking with Lang's Plan of ironwork. Pity they did not mention the ship class or name as I could then locate the associated plans (hopefully he says appreciate this cheers Pat

Those trawls will look excellent; nice improvisation Denis. cheers Pat