Snug Harbor Johnny

'So sorry about the mishap, but it seems an Achilles Heel of the Revel Cutty (and Thermie) is the dolphin striker and the Cathead extensions ... and even the bowsprit itself. Well, to be fair, ship models are by nature somewhat delicate - and many things can get broken (like if you drop it). In the photos below, I put a piece of brass tubing (after squeezing into an oval shape when seen from the end, since the void in the Revell bowsprit is not fully cylindrical) into the bowsprit as reinforcement (some just glue in sprue to do the same thing). I decided to make a jib out of wood (scrounged from a 'parts kit') because the wood is far less flexible than the plastic one in the kit (but still breakable). The best thing I thought of for the dolphin striker was to cut one out of brass sheet with a jeweler's coping saw ... 'outside the line' for a rough cut, but easily filed before fully cutoff - then the bottom twisted 90 degrees. The plastic bowsprit end was drilled deeper to accept the brass striker. A few other fittings were cut out for the jib, and I'm OK with the result. I'll do something similar for the cathead extensions.

Don't forget a jigsaw ... and you don't need an expensive one. Mine is a handed-down Dremel mini jigsaw. Its noisy, but does the job cutting out small parts.

If you haven't tried annealing, then you haven't "tried everything". Annealing the brass 'ears' should work, just as marksmen in the North-South Skirmish Assn. (N-SSA ... I was a member for 30 years) firing repro brass cases for Henry Rifles or Spencer and Burnside Carbines experience work hardening around the rim (or formed shoulder of the Henry) cartridge after crimping and subsequent firing on a target range. Each case was stood-up in a pan of water (dimmed lights in the shop), then the case mouth was heated with a propane torch just until the slightest glow was seen from the metal, then the case was tipped into the water to quench. Actually the quenching was not needed to anneal, since mere heating to 750 degrees F accomplishes that, but temperature is hard to judge - so the metal will just start to glow orangey around 800 - 850 degrees degrees F. Quenching prevents overheating the brass, which can change the composition of the alloy by burning off some of the zinc. You can easily anneal the ear end of the chainplate with a candle flame ... Hold the long end of the chainplate with needle nosed pliers, hold the ear end in the yellow of the candle flame (near the end of the flame) until you see the brass start to glow (dimmed lights makes observation easier). Then immediately quench the hot end of the chainplate in water, dipping the entire piece into, say, a glass of water while still holding with the pliers. The 'Bob's your Uncle', you should be able to bend the ears open enough to insert the wire ends of the enclosed deadeye into the holes in the ears - then bend them back and they should not break. Only bend once, as this process work-hardens the brass.

Another thought ... There have been many builds of certain ships such as HMS Victory, USS Constitution, Cutty Sark, etc. These are well trod paths, and I'd likely be more interested in building a project done less frequently - if only for the relative novelty. The tips and techniques found in MSW builds are largely transferrable, at least to other ships near the period of the build examined.

Ahoy, mate ! You don't say if this will be your first ship model, or if you have prior experience. If the former, a Victory may not be the best place to start. I think there is a MSW topic on good "first models" to consider. I didn't find a review of that kit on MSW, but there was one unboxing and one review on you tube. Per an A.I. summary of my query on your primary question: The Constructo HMS Victory kit is a large, budget-friendly option, praised for its size and decent wood quality but heavily criticized for its poor, basic instructions, often requiring experienced modelers to supplement with other guides or kits for better detail, making it a mixed bag for those seeking accuracy and ease, though it can build into a nice display piece with significant effort. Pros: Large Scale: A big kit (around 1:94 scale, over 3.5 feet long) offering a substantial build. Good Value: Generally considered a great price for the size and wood included. Decent Materials: Wood quality is often good, with nice grain, though some pressed wood parts exist. Potential for Detail: With extra effort, it can become a good-looking model, especially the framed hull. Cons: Terrible Instructions: The biggest drawback; described as inadequate, basic, and among the worst in the industry, earning a low score. Lacks Accuracy/Detail: Compared to higher-end kits (like Caldercraft), it's simpler and less detailed, with features like deck camber often ignored. Advanced Project: Despite its simplicity in some areas, the lack of clear guidance makes it challenging, requiring an experienced builder. From the unboxing, there are some wood parts not laser cut, and you have to cut them yourselves. Other wood parts are 'pressed' (diecut?) but may take care in getting loose. The bulkheads appear to be laser cut. There are a number of plastic fittings, but also brass ones. There have been "simplifications" in the detail, so in the photo below from a reviewer (who said he found the kit difficult ... but persevered) it has the appearance of a better grade commercial pre-built model one can find for sale. But if the price is right, who knows what can be done with some effort.

'Love the way its coming together ! 'Looks like the wood fillers in the hull voids makes for both a sturdier model - and one with less kinks or dimples in the hull. I'm watching with great interest. Thanks, mate ! Johnny

I found that a thin coat PVA (polyvinyl acetate) bonded the wood veneer deck to the plastic beneath. The glue was applied to the plastic, allowed to get more tacky, then the wood put on top and pressed around with fingers. Then some cloth put over the wood, then a plank and some weight to evenly clamp.

Your ropewalk is setup with a 'top' (juggernaut) that runs itself up to the geared end as the rope is made - similar to a full-size rope walk, but constrained by the side line guides. A large version I used to use at craft demos had a swivel on the far end to relieve excess counter-twist, while other versions use a crank. Whatever way, the product comes out about the same. After using Chuck's Rope Rocket (judging the amount of twist by 'feel' and distance each end moves on the two-step process), the scale rope length is 'whipped' by hand to normalize any twist imbalance (that removes any kinks), then I'll step on one end and pull out the rope in sections to stretch it out ... this 'sets' the rope pretty good. I use poly thread for permanency, so it is heat treated on a cookie sheet for 5 minutes in a 320 degree F oven. Cotton doesn't need this if stretched with moistened fingers. Old models rigged in just plain cotton thread can have deterioration, but laid scale rope of cotton should last longer ... but many (like me) are betting on poly for the long run. Linen rigging - like the old fly fishing line used by old timers - holds up very well, just as fine linen sails have done.

Ahoy, mate ! I once saw a private sailing ship out of Annapolis name 'Despot's Heel' ... Those who have lived in Maryland will get it.

"hope you have smooth sailing this time around, mate !

The build of the USS Tennessee used the sewing method to put ratlines through the shroud lines, then before tying cow hitches on the outer shrouds, the builder pressed each gap with a tool to put in a little droop to the ratline ... not much, mind you. If I remember correctly, dilute PVA glue was used to 'freeze' everything in place.

There is a supplier in Eastern Europe (Czech, I think) who runs H.I.S. Models (hismodel.com) , and he has a set of photo etched decorations on thin brass for both the Revell Cutty Sark and the Thermopylae. I ordered the set for the latter - along with the wooden deck in beech veneer (oak has a heavy grain that looks out of scale) that I found on EBay - so I ordered through Ebay. You can check if he still lists the items there if you prefer. H.I.S. does accept credit cards now (they didn't s few years ago when I bought the items, and thats why I went through EBay). The decoration set (quoted in euros) is about $25 USD, and shipping should not be too much ... but I have no idea what the tariff situation with that country is now. You can always contact by e-mail, and find out. The photo etching is delicate, but handled carefully and glued (presumably with CA) it has looked very nice on photos of those who have applied them. (I'm dragging my feet on Thermie, since I've done a second hull with authentic lines - not those of CS used in the Revell Thermie kit - in basswood at 1:110, but will used many of the 1:96 parts anyway.) The wood deck made for the CS kit is more pricy (something like $75 USD), but very nice. I inlet sections of the plastic deck into the basswood Thermopylae hull to serve as mast bases and also for the hatches and the deck equipment, then I used PVA glue to bond sections of the deck veneer to the entire deck. This involved (for my case) in cutting-and -pasting the oversized 1:96 deck to the 1:110 area. For the Revell kit, none of that is needed.

The difference between the last two posts is that the lower one (video) uses clove hitches all across the shrouds, which leaves the ends of the ratlines sticking straight out ... so when they are cut off after any glue fixes the attachment points, there is a little bit that still sticks out. On ships, the ratlines went around the outer shroud (as an eye splice) and were seized ... and for most this is too finicky. The post further up shows a cow hitch on the end shrouds (slightly different form a clove hitch), and the cow hitch has the end of the line terminating on the inside of the shroud. When cut off, the outside of the outer shrouds look better, the cut end of the ratline is on the inside adjacent to the ratline as if it were seized. Note that the ratlines are much thinner than the shrouds, and in the video they seem a little thick. A main shroud may be, say, something like 2" on a full scale clipper or warship (somewhat lighter aloft), which works out to about .040 scale rope at 1:48, .030 at 1:72, and about .020 at 1:96 ... of course, shroud size will vary depending on the size and type of ship (a range of 1.25" - 2.5" ?). Ratlines were around 1/2" in diameter (+/-), so that would work out (respectively) at the above scales to; .010, .007 & .005". This means the on a 1:96 model one would use a single thread of Guttermann poly (or Metrosine thread) for the ratlines (thus sewing through the shrouds with a fine needle is an option, if you don't want to fuss with knots), whereas .010 fine scale rope (spun from 3 strands of thread) seem OK for 1:48 or 1:72.

'Always room for another crewman ! Welcome aboard !

This gives me an idea ... since the hull below the waterline has the most 3-D shaping the paper has to conform to, on a completely filled hull like catopower's, one could forgo papering that area (least seen anyway) - simply seal and paint the color of antifouling paint (typically a rust red). From the waterline up the paper would be used (excepting some features like optional metal gun barrels and metal railings). Most stuff topside come in flat planes or simple curves (there are some exceptions) .. so once past the underbelly, Bob's your Uncle !

It is most interesting to see the use of balsa to fill and stiffen the framing of a card model ... the very thing I want to do (eventually) on the USS Baltimore (CA-3 1890) 1:200 from Heinkel models. There is a complete build on MSW with many tips and innovations that can help any builder of a steel warship: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/37247-uss-baltimore-ca-3-1890-by-jsk-finished-heinkel-models-scale-1200-card/#comment-1066761 As for availability, they sold me an economical download version for less than $20 paid by credit card, and I was able to print it out with no difficulties. As for color and size, I imported a renamed duplicate of each file into Photoshop (not that I'm used to that very complicated - and powerful - program) and was able to do simple enhancements to the color balance and contrast by tweaking the sliders for those by clicking: Image - Adjustments - Color balance (or Brightness/contrast), then I saved as a jpeg file. Buying a download from the designer gets around all the shipping and tariff expenses (besides costing less than a physical kit). Of course, one must obtain the needed thickness of card (art board) stock to glue the paper (you print out) to, then the cut pieces out yourself. A good art store will have various thickness of paper products, and I went to Blicks for mine (now stored flat under our bed ... with the Admiral, out of sight is out of mind). Parts of the hull (fore-and-aft) are in two pieces meant to be printed on 8 1/2 x 11" standard paper (higher 'pound' weight stock is better) to make about an 18" model. But by dividing the images in Photoshop (by sizing duplicates) and printing the "halves" (with overlap so no individual part is cut) at the largest scale that would fit the length of 8 1/2 x 14" paper, I was able to get pieces that will make a 24" model (about 1:150 scale) that will be easier for me to fiddle with. I imagined that using balsa to fill the large voids in the paper framing would: 1.) stiffen the hull and make it easier to work with, attach structures to, and even pin into the substrate enclosed by the paper applied to the frame; 2.) give the model a little 'heft' so it isn't featherweight and will be more robust; and 3.) provide great lines of the hull, once sealed, that the paper can be glued to - and will more evenly conform to (perhaps with slight moistening by a water based glue. This means less creasing or kinking of flat paper trying to assume 3 dimensions. The builder of Baltimore didn't like how the recurved area in the upper stern came out, and if there was a solid substrate, the paper could have been molded enough to look a lot better. So as Chris advised, getting a smooth surface with filler will prevent those divots and irregularities from 'telegraphing' through the applied paper. 'Love your progress thus far, and I'll be following your progress as you go along. Savor each phase of the build and take whatever time is needed to go from step to step. Clear sailing ! Johnny

Indeed, A.I. can get it wrong. I asked what the draft of a C&O canal boat was, and the A.I. 'summary' said 6 feet. I knew this had to be wrong, because I recently visited the Monacay river aqueduct on the C&O and measured the trough depth (from half a foot beneath the top of the capstones) of 5' to the material added to the bottom during the maintenance done in 2005 - which added half a foot to the original base. Thus the range of water depth in the aqueduct available (though deeper in the earthen sections) when the canal was in use was 5 to 5 1/2 feet. So I did my own search to find the original specifications in use between 1873 and 1924 (the year of closure) and found that the largest boat was limited in loaded draft to between 4' 3" and 4' 9" - consistent with my measurements of the stone passage. A.I. was likely stating the distance from keel to gunwale (6'), because the specifications for minimum draft was 6" to 11". The barges were merely wooden boxes with slightly rounded ends, so an empty barge rode high in the water, and was known as a 'lighter'. Due to some low bridges, the overall height also had to be limited. Still, you can get many good leads from A.I. - but you still have to use human intelligence plus logic to 'filter' out bad info. It also depends HOW you ask a question in a search, so multiple queries put in different ways can lead to useful results.

You can consider adjustable shelving as seen in a tight end of my workshop. Found at most 'big box' home stores, the vertical rails attach to a wall (preferable screwed where there is an underlying stud), then metal arms (several lengths are available) clip into the verticals at the levels you choose (and they can be easily changed) - then the shelving made for the arm length chosen simply lies on top of the arms (don't space the verticals too far apart). You can put stash kits, supplies or whatever on the shelves ... and this idea can be used for finished models in any room, where acrylic sheeting is hung from the shelf above (drill holes along the top of the acrylic to fit over hooks screwed into the edge of the upper shelf) and the bottom of the clear sheet rests against the lower shelf. That, plus small sheets on any free shelf end, will keep out most of the dust - yet permits easy access to the model. Below my shelves is a home-made tall bench (plywood top and 2x4 legs & under frame) where I can work standing. Many find sitting for too long can cause back strain, so at least half the work I do is standing - also efficient in a tight space.

'Affordable' kits often have many compromises ... and even outright shortcomings. That's where doing research and buying better aftermarket fittings, buying or making scale rope, etc. will upgrade a model - but at a cost. But like painter Bob Ross said, "Its your world ... you can do anything you want."

I used a very old bench-top drill press equipped with a cross vise for a long time ... setting a depth was imprecise, but I'd use the 'creep up on it' method, then lock the depth stop tight. The cross vise was crude as well, but good enough for my purposes. When the drill press became unserviceable, it was replaced with one from Harbor Freight and put the cross vise on it ... again, not a precision setup but serviceable.

The 'original' color was exposed to a lot of sunlight, then sealed by successive pain coats, so depending on the constituents of the oldest paint - subtle (or not so subtle) shade changes may well have occurred. If cheaper yellow elements (like turmeric, but there are others) had been added to the mix for economy - after all the Victory had a lot of square footage to cover - that might explain what has been described as a 'pinkish' color. Conjecture, of course, but another reason might be that there was a priming layer laid on first that had a little red ochre in the mix - followed by a top coat of a 'yellower' paint. A Google summary is: The true color of the yellow/ochre stripe on early 19th-century British warships, especially around the Napoleonic era (like the famous "Nelson Chequer"), was a pale, natural yellow made from yellow ochre pigment, often mixed with white for a lighter, buttery or even lemon-yellow hue, sometimes described as "baby puke yellow," rather than a dark, brownish ochre, with modern analysis of ships like HMS Victory confirming it was a lighter shade, even a hint of salmon pink in earlier layers, though the iconic look was a distinct, pale yellow-buff. Key Details: Ingredients: The paint used natural ochre (a clay pigment), lead white, chalk, and linseed oil, with variations depending on availability and desired shade. Nelson's Preference: Lord Nelson favored a pale yellow, even requesting brighter mixes with white, but the Admiralty often stuck to standard ochre, though his preference for the yellow/black checkered look became famous after Trafalgar. Variations: The color wasn't uniform; some ships used darker ochres, while others might have had red ochre during the Seven Years' War, but the classic Napoleonic look was that pale yellow-buff. Modern Interpretations: Research on HMS Victory suggests earlier layers were pinkish, but the iconic yellow stripe was a pale, light yellow, distinct from deep, brownish ochres. Then again, ships of all sorts were often modified in their career (sometimes drastically), so it depends on which point in time the modeler wants to represent - just do the research, and as Daniel Boone said, "Go ahead." I know I've been 'stuck in the weeds' on one or more projects for years - just trying to decide the place and time to be represented, then researching how to justify a particular impression. Johnny

You're steaming ahead at 20 knots, mate ! Hmmmm, ... Scotty, can you give us any more ?! ... Captain, I'm giv'in' her all I've got !

I forgot to mention that I've cut a dolphin striker (and a few other fittings) from sheet brass of appropriate thickness using a jeweler's coping saw. At first it looks a little rough, but I cut a little away from the scribe line so it can be cleaned up with miniature files. It sure beats the plastic striker in the Revell kit.

Per your previous post, I've had to do 'shop vac diving' a few times ... and most of the time could retrieve an item accidentally sucked into the vac - except for a couple of tiny items. I've also learned, before sweeping or vacuuming the floor, to get down on hand and knees with a flashlight to provide low-angle light to search for any little thing that may have dropped down since the last sweeping. I also have used paper printouts for scrollwork decorations. Screenshots of such details from an old photo can be adjusted in Photoshop for detail and sizing, printed out, then carefully cut out. (Thanks for the tip of cautiously using CA to strengthen the paper.) After application on a model, a compatible sealer coat will protect the applied decoration.

Don't forget a time-tested alternative ... Linen. Now decent scale rope of linen is hard to come by (old time modelers use "Old Cuttyhunk" fly fishing line - out of production since the 1940s), but I suppose one could make their own with a Syren Rope Rocket or alternative rig ... yet fine linen thread has relatively limited availability and is expense, at that. Fine linen fabric ('lawn') is also hard to find, but the 70+ year old sails on a restoration I've worked on are still in good enough shape to re-use. Linen can last for many hundreds of years (e.g. Shroud of Turin) and there are samples of 2,000 year old Egyptian linen cloth.