BANYAN

Thanks for the pointers Alistair, they look a good read. I'll keep my eye open for some of these cheers Pat

Nice work Greg; looking really trim. cheers Pat

Thanks Jud, appreciate the feed back and I think is probably the only real way to get sufficient tension. Having rubber belts doesn't help; I'll see what Jim comes up with. This shouldn't happen and I hope he can come up with a solution. cheers Pat

Is anyone else having problems with thier ropewalk? I have not used mine for about 6 months and went to use it recently and it appears the belts have gone again!!!!!!! nothing I do (and I have tried everything) makes the ropes set. As soon as I stop the machine it starts to unwind. By the time I have taken it off the winding spool it has already unravelled. it appears that the belt that drives the bobbins does not have enough tension to keep them spinning! I am so frustrated as this is the second belt now - if this is the problem it seems they justy stretch way too easily!!!! cheers Pat

Thanks for the update Wefalk, the wait was worth it - WOW. Very nice work mate, and as Druxey has commented that rigging is supurb for such a small scale you are workig at. I hope all is well with ealth after your short hospital stay! cheers Pat

Danny that is great work on the timberheads; I wasn't aware the angle of the 'head' also sloped to conform with the caprail etc - live and learn - thnanks for the education along the way. cheers Pat

Hi folks, in my limited experience, I have found that if you are 'spiling' then each plank pair will have a slightly different profile (mostly) so marking the line then cutting, shaving and/or sanding back to the marked line on invidual planks is the best approach. However, for some models when planking in bands where you may have (say) 5 planks that taper evenly going forward that you may be able to shape each to very much the same profile. For this I used the old Mantua Strip Clamp (see piccy -it has a metal vice surface to sand to and uses cam locks to apply pressure) to be very handy; but, it may require repositioning the planks a few times to get the right profile. You could make a home-made version of this. Basically, using whatever method you prefer to determine the required profile, transfer this to a single plank. Stack a few planks (I work on up to six at times) in the clamp ensuring they are truely aligned and with the marked plank on the outer side from which you will be working -I then clamp the whole assembly in a bench vice to stop it moving, but you could use a bench stop, anti-slip mat or the like. Now use blades, planes and/or sanding to reduce the planks to the the profile line. If it is a complex curve/shape, as I said earlier you may have to reposition a few times and this is when it is important to ensure the stack of planks do not move (relative to each other). I use a bit of low-tack tape wound tightly (only once) around the stack in two areas where there is little or no clamp pressure to assist. For best results it is still best to slightly bevel the edge of each plank in the appropriate plane/alignment to get a good fit especially on vertical curves/rounds in the hull. i hope this helps? cheers Pat

Thanks Wayne - back to the (virtual) drawing board and more practice

Hi all, and many thanks for the valuable feedback. Grant, thanks to the pointer and exactly the sort of thng I was trying to achieve with lines but not using the correct command (3 point Shrink/Expand). Many thanks for that! Wayne, thanks for looking in. I am ever so glad you haven't removed it as it is still a very useful tutorial. I will heed your advice to treat it as a guide rather than gospel as, among other things, some ways of doing things may be version specific. I have another image to import tonight so I will give your method (as advised to Greg) a shot. I am only doing deck arrangements and a side profile (as drawings) so the issues with waterlines and stations is not a great concern in this little effort thankfully. Thanks on the idea for keeping the lines to the fore also. As you say rescaling the AP, FP and Keel is a 'good thing', it's the alignment lines I want to keep as are. We spent a bit of time in Photoshop adjusting the side profile photo as it was actually slightly stbd bow offset (towards camera) and we needed to adjust for that so we could use the photo to create alignment lines for the positioning of some of the fittings. Wayne while I have your attention (if I may) - another frustration I am dealing with is TCs penchant for returning to the last object used for a particular drawing tool. For example, if I select polygon line tool, I return to the model space and if I am not careful to check (more often tha not ) TC draws the new object on the layer this tool was last used, even if it is locked - is there a way (preference setting I have missed?) for stopping this that you have found? HSM - may thanks. I am using TC 20 and I am finding that importing very large images is not a problem and I have four embedded so far - waterlines for the actual ship, deck plan for Arrow Class, deck plan for Vigilant class and a side profile plate photograph (taken in 1868) - I have a scan of a side-profile lithograph to go. Great tip about cut and paste direct from Graphic programs - thanks. [Edit: Apologies to Grant] cheers Pat

Same as with many of the other comments - have a pair (with the intention to use them for planking) but they haven't seen the light of day Tick strips have replaced that idea - Druxey, great idea on the radiating lines; just need to be very careful in producing a set to ensure accuracy? cheers Pat

Thanks for the promt response Harvey, helps a lot and I appreciate your feed back. I had hoped Wayne may look in I have set a target to reread his tutorial this weekend. WRT full size loft - Yep! Only way to go as you have suggested. I am also using the trick of the extended lines, but wished to avoid the constant zooming. The other trick I have found is to bring the other layers/objects to the front (viewing) is to click the eyeball off/on for the associated image layer, this brings the the dimension and alignment lines to front again. The benefit is that I have found drawings of some of the ship's equipment/fittings which are drawn to scale which I can import and resize to the real dimensions and then align them before tracing over them (e.g. I know the chain cable was 1.5" diameter, so the drawings of the capstan can be rescaled until the chain is 1.5" and then the capstan should be to actual size also. I wasn't aware of the Scale X/Ypicks, I need to investigate that a bit more - I am assuming this is scaling down / up in factors with 1 = 100%. When you say 'lock' the ratio aspect is that the button / tool for ' keep aspect' or something similar; in the local menu? (in TC 20 anyway). OR, is it like the little lock that locks the field value in the inspector bar? Is that the place this Aspect tool lives also? Anyway, back to the TC forum to investiogate the Scale picks now - thanks. [Edit - Havrvey tried the scale pick boxes and they worked a treat for rescaling concentric odd shaped items such as skylights, not as helpful as for the rescasling of the larger images though] cheers Pat

Hi, I am a relative newbie to CAD (using TurboCAD 20 Deluxe) and believe I am going about the scaling process the wrong way. Could anyone please advise the best way to scale an imported picture which I intend to use to trace, or take alignment lines from. I am trying to draw the deck arrangements for a ship (one-of -a-kind design) but very similar to the gun despatch vessels of the mid-nineteenth century. I have already imported the deck plans for two of this class as well as a photo (adjusted) which I use to trace and/or align to draw the deck fittings/arrangements. To date my routine has been to create a layer with dimensions (real-world scale) shown. I then import the image, rotate it to get it level and then manually adjust it (takes a lot of fiddly adjustments but eventually I get there) so that the picture fits to the required scale (as drawn on the Dimensions layer - usually the length between verticals with elongated perpendicular ends). This process is difficult as when the object (layer) to be scaled is selected it comes to the fore and hides the underlying dimensions/scale layer. Sending it to the back is not the same as layer management in say Photoshop, as in this case it is the objects that are sent to the back (which can be on the same layer). Is there an easier way? I was hoping to try and draw a line on the imported picture (say between the verticles), lock/merge/group this line with the picture, and then set the line's length via the properties/values for line length hoping this would then scale the grouped photo with it - BUT this does not seem to work (or more likely I am doin git all wrong ). Also, is there anyway in TurboCAD to make layers semi-transparent when working with them so I that can see the image/lines under the selected object while manipulating them? A lot to ask but I have been unable to find anything in the set-up or preference3s etc to do this. I would very much value any ideas or tips from you experienced folks? cheers Pat

Very nice work on the planksheers Danny. And - that's not cheating - its being 'creative' or practical cheers Pat

Careful Keith, you'll be a tool' aholic before you know it You may even need to sell off some of that supurb sound equipment to buy the tools WRT to developing your skills, you've come a long way but I know what you mean. I look at my Endeavour and just wish I could redo some of the very early work again. But like you, I have accepted it for what it is and I can live with it, and will strive for better in the next build. If you are looking for a smaller project have a look at / maybe consider the Longboat or Cutter kits (from Model Expo) that Chuck designed. Quite a nice project that brings in some interesting build challenges? cheers Pat p.s. Don't be too concerned if not too many people coimment in your log - you probably get a lot more visitors that read the page but don't comment. There are a lot of build logs and I only comment in about 10 myself (not enough time for others but they do deserve looking at - purely time management), but I do realise it is nice to get some acknowledgement for your efforts at times

Thanks Greg; on the model then cheers Pat

Very nice work on your rigging Greg, she is coming along really nicely. I am due an update (you have shamed me into it ) as I have stepped the lower masts and made a start on the rigging. Did you do your crows-feet while the mast was off or when stepped? Iam trying to decide which is easier cheers Pat

She came up very nicely Keith, the woven sail reinforcements look good - glad you put that detail in. I love that little flourish on the display stand with the anchor did that come with the kit or an enhancement you made? cheers Pat

A very nice model Ilhan, very well executed and presented. cheers Pat

Very nice detail work Gary (as usual ) cheers Pat

Hi Keith, great to see you post your build. You've made remarkable progress and it is looking good. cheers Pat

Those are some very neat seizings on the gun tackles Danny. I also very much like the colour of the rope in one of the photos; is that the actual colour of the rope made by Chuck and a few of the other photos justshowing them a little washed out? If so, that would be the most realistic rendering of manilla rope I have seen (sisal would have been to stiff for this application). cheers Pat

Hi Nirvana, as Brian says your's looks a good profiler. I also have made good use of one; it is metal but is a little "stiff" and takes a bit of mucking around pushing individual needles to get the best contour. Your's appears to have a tensioning knob on the ends? If it does, where did you get it please? cheers Pat

Ah, but John, that is mostly 'traditional' merchant Navy routine. In warships they would more than likely have had a hitch; the latter is still practised that way in the 'steel' Navy. if you look in the old (and new) Admiralty Manuals of Seamanship they show it only with the hitch/loop pulled through from the standing end and over the pin, cleat or staghorn etc. So it depends on the ship being modelled I think. cheers Pat

Slowly but surely John; all is looking good. cheers Pat

Great to see this lady back Russ; and ....to see you back also cheers Pat