BANYAN

Chuck, try a jig made from scrap square. Drill out / bore the square first to the size of your dowel (if you have a mate with a lathe get them to do it - much more accurate), then cut it in half. This makes the placement and holding of the round dowels much easier. You can have several sizes all ready to go. Select the appropriate size, hold it vertically/horizontally in a vice and centre it (again easier using the square). A couple of tips; cut dowels to a minimum workable length - the longer the piece the harder to keep it aligned for the vertical bore. For horizontal drilling, use the same jig - again much easier to find the centre line. For regular (repeatable) positioning of these holes use a stop for the round dowel once you have measured up for the first drill. As long as you have taken the time to make the square (jig) centred the rest is a production line effort. cheers Pat

Really nice rigging Danny; she is coming along like a true masterpiece of work.

Remco, I think they may need to find a new definition for 'perfection" - absolutely stunning joinery. cheers Pat

She is looking superb Rusty and build into a very fine model. Chuck's 'bits and bobs' look excellent quality; thanks for the feedback on those. cheers Pat

Now that she has almost all of here 'skin' she is showing those lovely lines to perfection John. Looking great! I might add that around trying to advance his model with his time at the ANM, John has been kind enough to tramp all over the ex HMAS Vampire taking lots of detail shots for me, for an upcoming build - ta mate! cheers Pat

That's a great tip, and nice looking rigging mate - your Endeavour is coming along really nicely. edit: my only concern would be longevity as elastic tends to break down after awhile - have you any feedback from the 'seamstress' in your life cheers Pat

Errors or not Mark, that's still a nice build and informative log. Best wishes for s a safe and happy festive season. cheers Pat

That is looking great Sharpie; maybe santa's helpers can assist with the planking now their chores are mainly over Look forward to your next progress report. Happy Christmas Pat

Hi Mike, Karl's book can be confusing until you work out what he is doing with the drawings I still need to double check myself. The drawings on page 101 are the standing rigging associated with the mizzen, main and fore masts as generic depictions for the stay details (Figure H3/4) - it is not meant to represent the mainmast or the foremast, but both and then further detail is broken our as required for the mizzen mast on the page (diagrams below H3/4) and other pages. You need to reference back to page 95 with items 36, 37, 38 and 39 of interest, as are 57, 58 and 59. Lets deal with the main mast first with reference to 57, 58 and 59. The mizzen stay is terminated with a heart and lashing to a sling with a heart collar around the base portion of the main mast. The first detail drawing (lower left) on page 101 shows the rigging termination for the page 95 item 58 (Mizzen Staysail Stay) at callouts 11 (corresponding to 58), 12 and 13 which terminated at an eyebolt on the deck at the foot of the mast. The second detail drawing (under H3/4 on page 101) shows the terminations/rigging for the mizzen topmast stay (no preventers). Now let's deal with the Mainmast stays and preventers for which we need to treat figure H3/4 as the foremast. Then the main stay and main preventer terminate with hearts and collars at the foremast and near the jib respectively. The preventer rigging is another story which I can deal with when you get there. The main topmast stay (3) and stay preventer (5) are rigged as shown in this figure (H3/4) with both terminating with tackles at the deck as described at (7). the main topgallant stay is terminated as a hitch to the main topmast stay collar as shown at (4). The foremast stays and preventers are shown on page 95, items 15 through 19. Now back to the main mast stay preventer, which leads past the foremast and all indications are that it terminates as a lashing (via hearts with a lanyard) to an eyebolt in the peak of the ship to stbd of the boom. If you project the line of this stay preventer on the drawing on page 95, this supports this. However, to me that would put the rigging of this preventer in an awkward place for some anchor/cable working evolutions. The folks on the Endeavour Replica must have thought the same and they use a unique lashing arrangement that employs a sling around the base of the jib boom and a 'scotchman' (anti-chafing device) on the stbd side of the foremast where the preventer will rub. Jim Lad was kind enough to get some pictures of this for me which I post below. Up to you which method you choose. Page 114 is running rigging in my version of the book? Could you please identify exactly where the confusion with the rigging block is as I can't find it - sorry I hope this helps to clarify a bit? cheers Pat

You can never have too many clamps in a workshop, from C, F, G, parallel, machinist and pipe clamps to hair clips (DanVad tip) and rubber bands and surgical tubing, you never seem to have enough of 'that right' clasp for the job at hand. Yep I have all the previously mentioned including those little (toy) wooden pegs and a small-bucket of those plastic clamps from the local hardware store. cheers Pat

A big milestone indeed - rack the champers and have several with Christmas dinner mate. cheers Pat

Mike, the best thing would be to download the rigging size calculator developed by Jim Lad. You simply put in the required info and it pumps out all the info you need. I simply rounded most of these to the nearest full mm and then selected several sizes using the closest fit for the in-betweeners. This is the one by Jim Lad http://modelshipworldforum.com/ship-model-rigging-and-sails.php - Just go to the first worksheet (first tab at bottom) and follow-the instruction. Hope that helps cheers Pat

Hi again Mike. I am back at home and have had a chance to check the paperwork and find I need to advise a small change. While both he main and mizzen are raked back; the main is only 3 degrees (87 to the deck), the mizzen as advised. The foremast is perpendicular to the deck/waterline. cheers Pat

Hi Mike, yep those two are. at about 7 degrees aft rake (83 degrees from the deck) according to the kit instructions (AL) which I think were about right but I would need to check the other reference material I have. cheers Pat

That's very nice, neat and well finished rigging Danny. No fuzz at all that I can see (even at macro level)). cheers Pat

That looks great Sharpie; and a working model to boot (well sort of ) When remaking/replacing the winch dowel (axel/spindle) have you tried a much harder grade of wood and ensuring the grain is in the transverse direction ( I expect you have but just in case) - a really hard wood while more difficult t shape may provide the strength you need without oversizing too much? cheers Pat

She's coming along nicely Mark; you'll have the quarter galleries on before you know it cheers Pat

Thanks for the pointer Nigel; I was aware of this site and that White Ensign has shut its doors but I will have to have a better search of LionRoar etc. Of note, it is not the latest Darings (Type 45) I am after but rather the post-WWII Darings (updates of the old Battle Class). I don't know where I am going to find these bits I note L'Arnel have some stuff but their descriptions are poor so I don't know exactly what they offer and they don't have PayPal facilities. Chris; for a while there I thought I was the proverbial jinx - every lugger I served in payed off (After Vampire I posted to Duchess, then Yarra, then the Melbourne ...) I finally made it to the Teflon navy with Darwin cheers Pat

Hello again all - the lure of plastic (well resin anyway) finally got to me and I have plunged into the deep end. I have purchased the OzMods 1:350 resin kit of HMAS Vampire II (Daring Class destroyer) in which I served for several years (1973-76). At least she has been preserved as a Museum piece by the Australian Heritage Fleet (Sydney). For a picture please see: http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-vampire-ii I wish to detail-up this kit and I am looking for some pointers to aftermarket detailing such as photoetch and gun barrel/turret products for the ship. She was fitted with three dual gun 4.5" QF turrets (QF 4.5-inch Mk I – V), 2 x single 40mm bofors and 2 x twin 40mm bofors. When she fired a broadside, you knew all about it I am building her as fitted post-moderisation but before conversion to the training role so she will also have the triple barrel 'Limbo" ASW mortars aft. I am aiming to paint her as she was during the period I served in her when a lot of her time was spent showing the flag in SE Asia - so a lot of her fiddly-work was painted to make her look the "ants pants" - detail such as bollards and fairleads were painted white (grey again when we returned to Australia. Some of the detail I am looking for are the various davits, boat falls, antennae (DF etc), ship's lighting etc. Many of these will be the same as fitted to contemporary Britsh designed ships of the era (1950-1970). If anyone could please identify potential sources for these aftermarket products / Detail-up kits I would greatly appreciate it. regards Pat

A true work of art mate; and especially more amazing noting the scale you were working at. cheers Pat

That's a 'corker' of an idea (sorry have been resisting for some time - must be silly Monday Good idea to tuck away in the 'useful' ideas catalog - thanks Pat

Hi Mark, sorry to complicate the issue but also take a look at the article re threads for ropemaking in our articles area. Unfortunately, in the research I have done so far (at least here in Australia), many of the thread manufactures do not comply with the general sizing standards. For instance some number 0-100 as smallest to largest, and some vice versa, some use another system all together. Depends on the manufacturer. Also, some manufactures only make the full range of sizes in a limited number of colours - I have found blacks to be most affected with the good quality stuff limited in size range, forcing me to dye the white/ecru. The other part of the equation, depending on the ropewalk you use is whether you wish to maker Right-Hand-Lay (RHL) or Left Hand-Lay (LHL) scale rope. I have found a lot of RHL thread, but very little LHL to use as the start point for RHL (with the design of ropewalk I use); otherwise (as like me) you may need to make up some LHL first, then re make this into RHL. This too will govern the final output (especially consistency if not evenly tensioned each run etc). However, it appears that with some other designs of ropewalk, this is not as problematic. I have also found that anything with any polyester/man-made in it (poly-cotton blends etc) tends to stretch depending how much tension you put on it; this can also change the output size. I have found that 100% cotton (especially Egyptian or long strand) cottons have worked best, and that if they are mercerised (no fuzz) they make better rope with consistent size, little stretch and very little fuzz. As Chuck has also pointed out, minimal tension on completion to 'set' the rope should be all that is required and that only for some thread. Just some food for thought cheers Pat

That looks really good Hornet, no sign of bubbles etc from the two-part mixing and curing? That is the only problem I had with my method using the liquid gloss/water (which may not be flexible also). I'll have to give this stuff a try. Any ideas on what to add to give the slightly cloudy look of glass back then? I have the same problem with the liquid gloss I used - too shiny for that period (personal taste) but this looks easier than doing it with the other stuff. cheers Pat

That my friend is a superb display of skills - simply stunning. cheers Pat

Folks, In his scratch build of HMS Kingfisher, Remco identified a ceramic heat board with pins that he uses as a jig for soldering - see this post for one of its uses http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/18-hms-kingfisher-by-remco-1770-english-14-gun-sloop-pof-148/page-56 The ceramic board and pins are available at: https://www.fohrmann.com/en/modellbau-loetwerkzeug/soldering-plate.html (no commercial ties etc...) I think it is a great idea, however, for Aussies at least, while the price was OK at Euro 25 (about A$37) the asking price for sending it here was Euro60 (can you believe that for such a small and light product)- I queried this but quick as a flash NO response Looking around, I found a very similar product (much cheaper at $A18) at http://jewellerssupplies.com.au/honeycomb-ceramic-solder-board-122mm-80mm-p-2060.html you will need to source the pins elsewhere but I think brass wire of the appropriate diameter (1.5mm in this case) would work? Hope this is of some value to members looking at the various soldering issues and solutions. cheers Pat