BANYAN

The planking looks good; coming along very nicely. cheers Pat

Wow - that's coming along very nicely Glen; looks great! The proportions and level of detail are spot on, especially for such a small model. Now, I have a little carving job if you are interes..... (quickly ducking for cover) cheers Pat

Congrats Greg, that is great recognition of your efforts. cheers Pat

Hi Eberhard; many thanks for the consideration. I am slowly getting back into it. I still have issues with my hands shaking (not Parkinsons) which slows me on many days, but my GP is trying some new meds which may help further. Due to me laying off for that and a few other factors I sort of lost the 'mojo' (desire) to work on the model and became easily distracted in doing other things in the workshop I must say that your, and a couple of other modellers, recent updates helped motivate me. In the past week or two I have restarted work on the spars with the three booms almost complete. Then I'll start on the gaffs and the upper masts (all upper masts are 'in one' with a combined top, top-gallant and royal mast). In the meantime I had to continue my research on them, the rigging and the sails which has been progressing steadily. I needed that sorted to finish the drawings to allow me to make up the spars. I am still trying to work out ways to make the upper mast as the royal sections in particular are very slender at scale (under 2mm) and I need to insert/show an embedded lightening protection 'copper path' in all spars. This will be pretty delicate and I am still not sure if I can pull that off. Anyway, long story short - slowing increasing my time in the workshop doing model related work, but as the parts are repetitive at this point there is not much that is new to put online - but I will put-up some updates sooner rather than later (I know I have said that before . Again, many thanks for thinking of me; much appreciated. cheers Pat

Hi Bruce, that's a good start. My recommendation would be to use some 'T'-track on either side of the board (assuming the visible edges are straight and parallel? You could use an underlying baseboard to secure it to rather than route into the existing board should you wish to go that path? The parallel tracks can be further enhanced with a 90-degree knee (small square) behind the board to ensure it remains perpendicular, while the tracks would keep the board parallel with the central keel piece. cheers Pat

Hi Steven, thanks for the link. I was aware of this as the author lives near me and we have discussed this quite a bit. I think his research is spot on for the flag and I am using it in the Victoria. Thanks for taking the time to put this up. cheers Pat

Great to see you back Michael, had been missing your wonderful, high quality work. cheers Pat

Glad to hear you are recovering mate; welcome back. cheers Pat

That is some very high quality work on those metal model accessories and the soldering Igmar. Your channel looks interesting. I have bookmarked it to follow along. Do you do any model ships (plastic or wood or card)? cheers Pat

Those oars look fantastic Ian; a really nice finish on them even evident in your photo. cheers Pat

Mark, best ask the 'war' dolphins sorry Glen high-jacking your great build yet again. cheers Pat

Nice work Glen, that looks great! Now all you have to do is add the seagull poo (Sorry couldn't resist and I know you just love these challenges) cheers Pat

Looking good Rob; you're not mucking about with this (re)build are you. cheers Pat

Hi Grant, please see my PM. HMCSS Victoria also made extensive use of chain in the rigging but unfortunately, the Rigging Warrant mostly lists the chain as "equivalent to" the listed hemp rope - but no rope size is given; for example for the lower yard slings. However, there are a few listings: for example, the Tye chain for the fore topgallant yard is listed as 17ft of 5/16 inch , and the topsail sheets and tye chain are listed as 9/16 inch. However, I can only assume the chain size is the wire size (thickness of the rod used to form the link). However, please note these sizes are specific for the rigging strength required in this vessel and may have differed to that required in your vessel of interest? I cannot be more specific about other chain rigging at the moment as I am away on holidays with no access to my reference library, but I do have a copy of the Rigging Warrant on my Laptop. From another document I had access to via a private message I had sent on this forum, I can provide: Middendorf, 'Bemastung und Takelung der Schiffe', 1903, page 401, states that chains running over blocks should be short-link chains. Brady, ‘The Kedge Anchor’, pages 310/311, confirms this in listing short-link chain for running rigging. He also informs that ⅛” of iron in diameter is more than equal to an inch of hemp rope in circumference. According to the Canadian Defence ‘Engineer Field Manual’, Volume 15, Chapter 4, page 62, chain is termed short-link when the length of a link is less than five times the diameter of the wire size and the links are normally oval shaped, giving a good strength to weight factor. Hope this helps you a little? cheers Pat

You would never know this is a rebuild - nicely done Rob. cheers Pat

Glen, my best wishes to your friend for a fast and full recovery. cheers Pat

Niiiiice! cheers Pat

Wow, you are certainly not shy of undertaking a complex project Glen; good luck mate. I look forward to following this one also. cheers Pat

Thanks Roger

Quick work Rob but looking really good. I don't envy you doing the bow mods, that will test your skills/patience. cheers Pat

Hi Steven, the club built a model of Cerberus which is in the HMAS Castlemaine Museum now; I think this was as delivered. I have a few images and I am sure you are aware of the 'Save the Cerberus' web page which has a wealth of info? Looking forward to seeing your build. cheers Pat

Great progress and looking good Rob; up to your usual very high standards. Kudos for working around the rigging, you really like a challenge don't you cheers Pat

Ditto Steven - how did I miss this. A very interesting subject to model, and very well executed. cheers Pat

Some interesting conundrums you are dealing with here Rob, I follow with interest. cheers Pat

Perhaps also worth considering this design for 'rocking' the vessel of sandbars or the mud in ports? (Many ships in shallow ports sat on the mud when the tide went out.) By shifting weight/cargo fore or aft would perhaps raise the keel sufficiently to get her off? But, I think this would have been an addition or complimentary outcome, rather than a design feature? cheers Pat