BANYAN

This will be an interesting build of a very interesting subject. cheers Pat

They do take some time to do; I am in the middle of doing similar items for my current build. cheers Pat

Hi Dave, great to see you back amongst the sawdust. Nice touch with those gangway ropes - wish I had done them now The carving detail you have done is great for a first time effort, and far superior to anything I could achieve I think. cheers Pat

Nice metal work as usual Keith, seems like a nice quality brass you use as it cleans up and 'works' very nicely? If my first trick is unworkable you could always try my fallback option Try flicking it so that it flies off the workbench into some place you cannot immediately find it - it will turn up a few weeks later cheers Pat

Nice work on the rudder; I like the reducing technique. Mate the trick to finding things is to keep it in the most unlikely place - the last place you would think to look for it cheers Pat

Very nice build Greg; a very fine collection you have assembled. You need a bigger display case me thinks :) ?? cheers Pat

Ouch; good idea to have a first aid kit nearby. I certainly have one out in my shed. Hope all heals well. Pat

Great to see you back Patrick; and even better to hear you sounding 'chipper' about things. cheers Pat

They're the ones SRC - nice looking set those ones. cheers Pat

Hi Gregory, those 'trick stoppers' as they are known; this one being a 'Spencer' design, were a 19th century release mechanism. Other similar designs used a pressure plate instead of a swiveling lever, and others used different types of 'tumbler' mechanisms amongst other options to release the anchor. This is the mechanism I went with for my build of HMCSS Victoria (1855) I have included better pictures of the Spencer Trick Stopper, so you can see how it worked. Sorry to hijack the thread Vossie - but I thought this may useful to others at some time? cheers Ppat

Hi Sam, to answer your earlier question - depends - sorry. If it is one of those products with the protective/finish coat on them I still use the fibre-glass scratch pen; but, the ultrasonic cleaner has certainly reduced the number of times I have to use the pen. cheers Pat

Very (VERY) nice model Rob; even incomplete. cheers Pat

Now you have done it Keith; I can see all my bald spots in that finish cheers Pat

Nice job on the fairing john, all looks nice and symmetrical. You may need that 'cone of silence' on Monday cheers Pat

Stunning model Ed; the rigging brings her to life. In 'Victoria' some lines/tackles were also led to eyes (Lang's eyeplates) in the channels - still trying to sort through that one though cheers Pat

Hi Gregory, Vossie is working with a windlass close to the bows and riding bitts (see earlier picture). Capstan bars cheers Pat

I have tried several processes successfully but I have now settled on a more efficient way having purchased a small ultrasonic cleaner. I use Birchwood Casey (diluted) as the blackening agent. Always rinse and buff with a soft cloth or towel paper on completion and redip in blackener if required. As Mark points out rubber gloves when handling , then cotton gloves after blackening (until buffed and you are happy with the finish, as handling is usually not a problem for me after the item has been blackened and buffed. I use cotton once blackened until buffed as i found the rubber tends to grip the item too much making it harder to manipulate. Method 1: wash and rinse, soak in vinegar and rinse, soak in a weak acid solution and rinse then blacken and rinse again. I use a tea strainer (dipping type that closes which allows me to swish all the items around in the solutions. The acid can be diluted nitric, or muriatic (brickies acid) or even acetone. I only soak in each solution for about 15 mins and vigorously agitate quite often; but a longer soak if you have the time can create a better finish first up.. Method 2: (a little more time intensive) first I use a fibre bristle-pen to 'scratch' clean the entire surface of each item. I find this necessary on some after-market parts (especially K&S brass shapes) as they seem to be treated with some sort of finish - then as for method 1. This takes more time but usually yields an acceptable finish on the first attempt. be careful with the fibres from the pen (fibreglass) as the very small 'dust/pieces' are a real pain to get out of your fingers if they stick in Method 3: (if you have an ultrasonic cleaner - small ones are pretty cheap these days). Almost the same as for method 1 or 2 (depending on the type of brass i am blackening) but instead of a prewash in warm water and detergent I use the ultrasonic cleaner - a lot faster and better clean. With some trials I was able to blacken with very acceptable finishes without the vinegar and/or acid soak afterwards. I have settled on using the fibre-pen and ultrasonic wash before blackening on all my pieces now unless it is a very (very) small part made from soft brass - the extra time in using the fibre-pen results in a lot less rework. I hope this provides some help in choosing a method suited to your needs; cheers Pat

I believe Keith may be on the right track. Even if two anchors are used it is possible the anchors would have been secured by the windlass alone. One likely scenario MAY have been that the first anchor is dropped, set then the cable secured to a riding bitt (having been stoppered, with the tail remaining wrapped around the windlass drum and back into the cable locker tiers. The second anchor could be dropped by a boat, set then secured the same way having the tails veer around the drum when that cable is not being worked, or 'leant back on' to allow the selected cable to be worked (after removing the turns from the riding bitts. I have heard of the windlass acting as the riding bitts also, in that case I would suggest the same procedure except there would be no turns transferred to separate riding bitts? Pure conjecture on my part - over to other for comment. cheers Pat

Beautifully crafted Keith; if I didn't know better I would have thought it the real thing. cheers Pat

Nice work Pat

Welcome back and glad to hear all had a good time on your trip. The pendants look good Dave; who's to say which is correct? I used the Sidney Parkinson drawings (port quarter aspect drawing) as my main reference for this. cheers Pat

It is a pleasure to see your work Chuck; the clean lines and crisp joints are always inspirational! cheers Pat

Further to the advice CapnMac offers re deck numbering which is correct for USN vessels; the RN (and most Commonwealth Navies) use a different system of single digit designators (1-n) decks down from the weather deck (weather deck being 1 deck), and double digit (01 - nn) above the weather deck for upper decks - 01 deck being the next up from the weather deck. In this instance, as it is pre 1947, the 04 designation would align Offered only to clarify for other classes /nationalities of vessels. cheers Pat

Hi all, from my limited research so far I believe that in the RN (Service ships) it was preferential to 'box' the compass until later in the 19th century (once the quadrantal correctors had been proven proven) - this meant applying a known 'error' for each of the compass points (as well as allowing for magnetic deviation for the heading) when steering. Note: this term is more commonly known to mean "To know, and be able to recite the 32 points and quarter points of the magnetic compass from North, both clockwise and anticlockwise." BUT it is also the term applied to determining the magnetic compass' error for each of the 32 points and requires swinging the ship through 360 degrees around her anchor or a buoy - a practise still used in the 'Service' today for magnetic compasses. In the mid 19th century, mercantile ships 'commonly' used iron pieces implanted into the decks and deck furniture in an attempt to correct the compass on each compass point. Another earlier correction (I think from 1850s - but stand to be corrected) was the use of the "Flinders bar" a metal rod fitted within the pelorus/binnacle as a vertical rod? For the 'Victoria' (1855) I am reasonably confident that she was fitted with at least one, possibly 2, Gray’s prismatic azimuth type compasses with internal compensating bars. Sorry to hijack your thread Keith. cheers pay

Nice job on the 'bodging' Pat; a great improvement. cheers Pat