Snug Harbor Johnny

I wouldn't bother untwisting the cords, but just make rope of the opposite twist (running the drill in reverse on the Syren's Rope Rocket). It will still look OK on a model.

The Surprise (guess that name will be permanent, with the popularity of the film ... too bad they did not make the sequel) was originally the HMS Rose - famous in Colonial Rhode Island history. It was independently build (by contract) by a good friend of mine, John Fitzhugh Millar (now of Williamsburg, Virginia) back in the early 70's. This was around the time the repro. of the sloop Providence was built in preparation for the Bicentennial. John explained how expensive maintaining and sailing a ship the size of the Rose (now Surprise) can be, and although leased for a couple films (one of which was Man Without a Country), sold and repossessed twice - he was lucky to about break even when a sale finally went through. John did come away with a real treasure - for he met his future wife Cathy while conducting sea shanty sessions aboard the Rose, and the couple run a B&B in Williamsburg to this day, where the inestimable JF Millar has written a number of books on colonial history, architecture and art (13 Colonies Press).

'Looks sharp with Syren rope ... true 'miniature' rope spun much like full-size rope (although full-sized ropewalks produce rope from the far end to the spinning head, the result from the Syren 'Rope Rocket' where the rope comes together from the middle outwards is essentially the same thing). I've seen numerous builds on MSW, and perhaps the single best upgrade one can do on a ship with rigging is to use properly made miniature rope. It look better, feels better, behaves better and has very little (if any) of the 'fuzz' you see on close-ups of builds using average commercial rigging (I wouldn't call it rope) ... cord. Whether bought or self-made (with a little practice - and it's not that difficult) miniature rope won't detract from all the hours spent on the hull and other fittings - proper rope will ADD to the effect. BTW - I love your Drakkar model. Do you plan to add sea chests that the rowers would have sat on?

'There is a build log on the Woody Joe 'Khufu's Solar Boat' - a model described by the builder as 'easy, but not too easy'. It is a copy of the actual funeral boat recovered from the base of the Great Pyramid, and the original was re-built and now on display in a museum. A few simple tools , sandpaper and glue are all that appear to be needed. There is no mast (or sail), thus no rigging. But the laser cut parts appear to make a remarkable model of the oldest compete ship in existence. The planking is done in an innovative fashion, where the ribs are part of the forms and the hull is planked from laser cut sections upside down. Then the ribs are detached from the forms and the hull comes away. You have to see the build to appreciate this. I plan on getting this kit for my stash ... NOTE: the instructions are in Japanese, so a translator app for your phone will be very helpful. The kit comes from Japan, and the selling company accepts PayPal and is legit.

I'd recommend thinned model airplane 'dope' ... a familiar name was Aerogloss, which sold thinner separately as straight dope is too thick for this application. Old-fashioned hobby shops used to sell this, but there are far fewer such shops around - so one may have to go on-line. Otherwise, clear nail polish (preferably thinned) can work. BTW use with plenty of ventilation in small amounts because of the odor/outgassing. Another product one used to find was Duco cement, which also sold a thinner. Once again, kids got into the habit of 'sniffing' any of these so they are far less available to prevent abuse. Try buying more than one can of spray paint at most hardware stores ... there is some kind of program to prevent 'youths' from getting spray paint for graffiti. Best to experiment on test pieces first to assure suitability for the effect you want with rigging elements.

There's scale, and then there is practicality. From what I've seen thus far, very many models have at least a 'tad' of leeway when it comes to the deadeye sizes. One must pick which things to 'battle' and how much to fret over any detail. I seen postings of models large enough not to be able to get out of the space in which they were built. Larger size may mean deadeyes and belaying pins will be easier to be 'in scale', but then smaller stuff has to be represented that does not have to be included in smaller scale versions. There is a 'rule' or 'formula' I somewhere in this forum to calculate the minimum real-life size of anything one the original ship that should be represented at any particular scale. If anyone recalls that, they might just post in this thread.

I note the long boiler cylinders in the images, and this brings to mind that the CSS Hunley (submarine) hull was converted from a long boiler body - and can be seen in a couple period photos. Fascinating stuff, now that the Hunley was found and raised ... a subject for a scratch build?

Ahoy, Shipman ! I bought a copy of the book dealing with the CS Airfix 1:168 kit ... and it has a trove of information on rigging two different ways (as well as many modifications that can be made to the subject kit). The 1:168 kit doesn't seem to be in production, but I have the 1:150 Academy Cutty kit (one that has extended studding sail booms) - which is 'close enough' to 1:168 to use the book's dimensions (plus a smidge). OMG this is a challenging scale to try and do everything in the book 'to scale'. BTW, the book is masterfully "compressed" ( a little like a compressed computer file?) so that depending on what presentation one wishes to depict in a model, one must jump around from place to place and keep one's head on straight. Yet the information is there nevertheless, and applicable to larger scales. 'Saw another 1:150 build where the builder cut the extended stud sail booms and re-glued them under the yards. Another build was the (currently available) 1:130 Airfix - a nice size compromise between 1:150 and 1:96. Assembly order is important, yet there may be couple ways to assist in the later stages - like pre-attaching blocks to the optional deck eyes and eyes placed on the pin rail ... and pre-rigging lines between those blocks and the blocks they are paired with. The author mentions pre-mounting deadeyes to the pin rails, and pre-lacing them to their mating deadeye (already with shroud attached) might work out as well. Rob's way of furling sails on top of the yards presents a third method of presentation. A fourth might be with sails in a 'becalmed' state ... or merely 'ghosting' along with a very faint breeze. Ships were periodically becalmed at sea, and the sails would hang limp with the yards braced evenly while waiting for any sort of wind to break the monotony. Johnny

'Thought about it some, and here's my 'take' on the instructions, which appear to be done by computer translation. Rad admits that he does not know English, so uses a translator. Step 1, Degrease carefully (on both sides) with a 'Q-Tip' (cotton swab) on a PAPER shaft using one of several known liquid degreasers. Don't use the swabs where the cotton ends are on a thin plastic tube, since the tube could be attacked (and/or dissolved) by a solvent. Possible solvents: CRC circuit board cleaner, Automotive 'Gunk' (trade name), acetone, toluene ... one can't get tricholoethylene anymore ... or MEK. Lay the entire sheet on a felt backing and use a light touch. Do with plenty of ventilation, and allow to air dry. Step 2, Paint the outer surface as appropriate with enamel - do not use water base paint. You can use 'micro' brushes. Allow to dry. Step 3, Cut the part with a NEW (sharp) X-Acto blade - or surgical scalpel. The decorative sheet needs to be on something with more substance than an 'ordinary' cutting mat - they make polyethylene mats that have the 'right' firmness, but a piece of vinyl floor tile will do as well. Use a deft touch. Step 4, You can peel the backing off the transfer tape, but then what do you do with the tape in the interim? Rather, just lay the decoration painted side down on a trimmed piece of waxed paper somewhat larger than the piece of decoration. THEN, carefully apply gel CA with a micro brush to the back (unpainted) side of the decoration ... sparingly. If any should get through the decoration to the waxed paper, it won't stick to the wax ... but try to be neat without wasting time in the process. Step 5, Un-peel the transfer taper (if you have not done so already) and lay it on a smooth working surface 'tacky side up' ... that's the side that was protected by what was peeled off. Pick up the piece of waxed paper (slightly 'curling' opposing edges) so the decoration will only slide off the far end. Position the waxed paper where you want over the transfer tape, and let the decoration 'slide' off the waxed paper and onto the transfer tape. It will tend to stick where it lands. The painted side will be against the transfer tape, with the CA gelled side facing up. Step 6, Pick up the transfer tape and move it so the decoration is where it needs to be on the model. In the case of the 'wrap around' stern art, press the center first. If right handed, you will position the artwork centered on the stern (with the right hand) and press the center down with the left thumb - and the left forefinger will reach around to the inside of the bulwark so to help 'pinch' the center point of the decoration in place. Then smooth the right side (as you're looking at it) around with gentler but firm pressure with the right thumb. The sticky side of the transfer tape that overlaps the decoration will stick somewhat to the hull as you go. Once the right side is wrapped around, use the right forefinger to get hold inside the bulwark to help 'pinch' to hold that side of the decoration in place. Then (while holding the right side of the decoration in place), relax the 'pinch' of the left thumb and forefinger so the left thumb can smooth the left side of the decoration around before re-pinching. (This is what is known as using 'finger clamps'.) Then I'd hold on to everything for a while to allow the CA to set. Step 7, When you dare, try letting go and see if the decoration stays in place. IF not, then you let go too soon - and can hold everything down a while longer ... that is, until it stays. 'Don't know how long a good CA cure is, but I'd give it a rest for at least a couple hours. Then the transfer tape can be carefully removed. Don't just pull up on either end, but rather lift one end slowly while tugging out as much as up - and the tape should 'lift off' leaving the decoration in place. For smaller flat (or relatively flat) decorations, they go on much easier that something that has to 'wrap around'. 'Hope this helps someone ... Johnny

Rob, I read an account of a builder who had some of the 'as molded' belaying pins on the 1:96 Cutty break off ... 'don't know if age can make them more prone to this - but UV exposure can do it to plastic parts. His advice was to cut them off, then drill holes in the pin rail to accept scale brass belaying pins that are turned long enough to belay lines well. I'm absorbing everything I can from ALL the fine builds of this kit before doing anything on the Thermie (which needs additional work to make it closer to the original than Revell managed). I'm at the beginning off retirement - so am not worried too much at taking plenty of time to mull everything over before starting. 'Course the reaper could come for me at any time (as with those of any age) - but if the object is to satisfy myself with whatever is done, there's no point in fretting over what 'might happen'.

'Thinking about scale, and 1:96 is 'close enough' to 1:100 to make math easier. The builder's specs fro the Cutty note (I believe) 9 1/4" deadeyes (the larger ones), so if one uses 10" (again to make the math easier), that would be about 254mm at full size ... so at 1:100 scale one would use 2 1/2mm deadeyes - and presumably 2mm for the backstays? Did I figure right? So many suppliers use mm, so I'll work many accessories in metric. 'Guess using 3 1/2 mm (large deadeyes) and 2 1/2mm for the back stays is not going too far off strict scale - and easier to work with. Scale gets to be more of a problem going to 1:120 (Woody Joe Susquehanna) or 1:125 (Sergal Thermopylae), as scale deadeyes would be a mere 2mm. A 6" (150mm) block would be only 1.25mm ... kinda hard to strop. So the Sergal kit provides larger stuff to make it manageable to rig - their photo is kind-of cute with the larger blocks and deadeyes, but any other aspects of building in the smaller scale are challenging as Popeye attests.

Let's see ... at 1:100 scale (close enough to 1:96 - a scale I've done in the past and also at present), a .100" square hole (my example) represents 10 inches, where a beam would fit in. Your stated scale is 1:50, so that would represent a hole for a 5" square - still perhaps a bit large, but a .050" square hole (1.3mm) represents about a 2 1/2" square socket. That may be about right for wooden levers (going from square to round - tapering slightly towards the far end) - or wrought iron bars (square to round) used to work the drum. If I needed that size, the .070 (1.8mm) right angle veiner would be carefully reduced (ground) along the back edge (unsharp side) of each leg to .050 - or a little less using a rotary tool (like a Dremel, but I prefer the foot controlled variable speed unit I bought at a Harbor Freight ... don't knock it, as working vintage dental drills are priced out of sight). The mini carving set I found at a one-off (independent) wood working store years ago, but they might have something like that at Woodcraft (a chain) or on line somewhere. After all, there are decoy and bird art carvers who need fine tools, and some of them might go that small. Plan B would be to work a piece of harden-able steel to shape, and torch harden it ... hardly as difficult as forging an Aussie knife on Forged in Fire. Tiny files can also be found as clock makers need them, horological speaking. Snug

Hi Trond, I'm no photographer but I've attempted to show a test-of-concept. First, don't worry about the mortising tool mentioned - the smallest i think they come is 1/2" square and they are used in furniture making. It was the idea of slicing out a chip from the 'corners' that can make a round hole square. I took a pencil so one can get the idea of relative scale, and drilled three holes with whatever small drill I chanced to come upon (later measured as .085). I did not drill very deep since I soon hit pencil 'lead' (graphite). Obviously, once would not have this problem drilling into a solid wood dowel. The right-hand hole in the pencil was drilled with the drill (shown next to the round hole). The middle hole has just one corner 'nicked' with the mini 'duck carving' tool to square it. The tool does not show the right angle tool as well as I'd like - but the hand-me-down camera is limited in close-ups (as is my skill -or lack of it - in photography). The hole on the left had a chip taken out of all four corners with the 'veiner' (right angle cutter), then I picked at the chips in the hole a little and was able to blow then out with my breath (a blast of 'dust-off' compressed air through the provided extension tube would work just fine for chip removal). There is a tapered square file that I used to 'dress' the corners a little. Now there was a slight enlargement so that verniers showed the square hole to be .100 on each side. Now I've shown proof of concept. If I wanted a smaller square hole, I could always grind down the sides of the veining tool to make it smaller, and there are really TINY files available in sets having a variety of profiles (round, square, triangular) - but one only need used a square file to dress the hole. 'Hope this helps, and as they say 'Once picture is worth a thousand words. Johnny

Rob has me sold on furled sails for a couple of reasons, apart from portraying a ship moored for a relatively short while so the crew would not take the sails down. The compactness of furled sails atop the yards requires only a little material folded just-so and dangling 'mouse ears' (aka dog ears). A.) One does not have to worry about all those dangling reefing lines, sail seams and the rope around the perimeter (except for the ears). B.) The furled sails conceal the jackstays, so I won't go to the trouble of making jackstays in scale at 1:96. C.) I can also have them cover-up the buntline blocks (and so omit them, as well as reduce their number .. a sleight of hand to have fewer buntlines to deal with). Any buntlines I use can be glued to the top of the yard before laying the furled sail over with a gammoning line, and rout the buntlines through blocks at the mast then down through fairleads to belaying pins. One can get great ideas from the many fine builds seen on MSW.

What a treasure to start with! ... and so much tedious work already done for you. With care the repairs can be done and there are several ways to go; stub masts as an 'Admiralty model', first sections of masts with tops and shrouds/ratlines only, fully masted with standing rigging or completely outfitted with sails. A lucky break would be to find an incomplete kit somewhere to use as a trove of masting parts and fittings (and perhaps plans?). You'll find plenty of builds and helpful information on MSW to guide you.

I've shore at Burrabogie and I've shore at Toganmain I've shore at Big Willandra and out on the Coleraine But before the shearing was over I longed to get back again Shearing for old Tom Patterson on the One Tree Plain Chorus All among the wool boys all among the wool Keep your wide blades full boys keep your wide blades full I can do a respectable tally myself whenever I like to try And they know me round the backblocks as Flash Jack from Gundagai I've shore at Big Willandra and I've shore at Tilberoo And once I drew my blades boys upon the famed Barcoo At Cowan Downs and Trida as far as Moulamein But I was always glad to get back again to the One Tree Plain I've pinked them with the Wolseleys and I've rushed with B-bows too And shaved them in the grease boys with the grass seeds showing through But I never slummed a pen my lads whatever it might contain When shearing for Old Tom Patterson on the One Tree Plain I've been whaling up the Lachlan and I've dossed on Cooper's Creek And once I rung Cudjingie shed and blued it in a week But when Gabriel blows his trumpet lads I'll catch the morning train And push for Old Tom Patterson's on the One Tree Plain

Trond, I think I have an approach to squaring your holes that may work. Mulling over the problem today, I chanced to recall using a mortising drill for furniture making. Yes, it is a way to 'drill' a square hole - in that there is a long square housing with side openings that has a wood auger inside. When used with a drill press on a piece of wood to get a mortice (for a tenon, of course) the auger cuts a round hole and the sharp, square corners of the holder follow and cut square corners. The chips from the round hole come up the flutes of the auger to come out the open sides of the square holder, and the chips sliced out of the corners just come up with everything else. Now there is no such tool small enough for model applications, BUT there are miniature carvers made for bird and duck wood carving. I have such a set I used for old time gun smithing (got them from Woodcraft). One of the is a tiny square 'v' carver. The tools come both straight and with bent ends. The 'v' tool will cut a square corner into the round hole already drilled. One can judge 'by eye' where to make the other three chip cuts to square the other corners, but I suppose they could be marked with a pencil dot for a guide. The tiny chips that come out of the corners can either be blown out or 'winkled' out with a pin (or other implement) - I might try a dental tool.

'Love that low-angle plane. Its one of my favorite tools.

Some years ago I did see a demo of aluminum-to-aluminim 'solder' at a wood working expo ... a thin rod of aluminum alloy with a melting point a little less than common aluminum for cans or shapes found in hardware stores. It was a no-flux heating of parts to be joined until the solder rod flowed and, to my surprise, the items joined. I bought a small bundle of rods, and they sat around for years. But eventually I had to use one and it worked. I had to heat carefully, because of the danger of MELTING the metal parts. I figure it is actually closer to a 'weld' than a 'solder'.

"I'll do it first." meaning the first chance I get.

A.) Looking at the images of the work done so far, you only need to modify the planking near the bow. Starting several inches out, draw a pencil line that show the top three planks tapering down to nothing as the line ends up where the top of the third plank from the bottom 'should' be (more or less). Cut carefully along this line with a couple of light cuts using an X-Acto (a flexible steel ruler can be a guide - temporarily taped in place with blue painter's tape as you go). You're only going partway down into the planks, so you can go back and pare the face of the planks with the knife held even with the surface of the planks. This will be a controlled 'whittling' , and you don't have to go down all the way to the first planking either. The lower planks can then be sanded down gradually (surface tapered, actually) until they are thin at the bow. Glue planks with the shape you want over what's left after sanding. Then once the glue is cured, the added material can be sanded until the added wood is 'fair' with what they were glued to. Then you can continue planking with tapered planks up from there. B.) If that seems involved, you can glue strongly tapered planks at the very forward end to produce a triangular 'adjustment' ... a sort of 'fill-in' so you can plank normally up from there. When the model is mounted, the area in question will be very hard to see ... in other words, few people (if any) will notice what is way 'down under'. C.) Ships of this type were likely coppered, so if you take any one of the coppering options (a lot is on the forum about that) the planking underneath can be far from exact due to being subsequently covered.

Rubber cement and other 'contact' cements have failed for me over the course of years, so are not recommended for applications meant to last for decades. This is why I take exception to some kits showing the use of contact cements for model building. 'Just saying.

I share the same stropping concerns - a reason that 1:96 may be the smallest scale I'd care to work in. Reference Popeye the Sailor's log on the 1:124 Sergal Thermopylae to see how it can be more finicky, and still many components can go 'out of scale'. Louie da Fly is working on an even smaller scale model of Henry Grace a Dieu, which has a build log. Kits at around 1:70 can be more manageable - e.g. many of the OcCre kits. As to our respective 1:96 classic models, Rob has several fine logs of ships based on the Revell Cutty hull. He has used the blocks in the kit - like in the current log of Glory of the Seas, perhaps because many of the blocks were 'internally stropped' by the time of the clippers and had an iron ring on one side. I suppose wood blocks could be stropped with beading wire depending on the configuration needed; e.g. a hook on one end, a hook plus a ring on the other end, double ringed ... I'm no rigging maven, and will have to consult the many sources available. There are posts showing ways of using mini clamps or fly-tying implements to assist in stropping with miniature rope. BTW, I bought a Rope Rocket from Chuck at Syren Ship because I'd like to try spinning my own modeling rope - a vast improvement on most of the rigging thread around. You can also buy scale rope from Syren or Ropes of Scale. Rob is placing furled sails on his Glory, which (per photos of real ships) ... more to follow

The wood deck looks sharp, mate ... really fine. 'Looks like you got the oak option from HisModels - I have a vintage Thermopylae model that I ordered a birch deck for when I get around to building. Hands down, adding a wood deck seems better than trying to paint plastic to look like bare wood. Now some have done well with paints, but ... real wood is real wood. Now, where wood was painted on the original - no problems painting the molded parts. Removing the triangular 'stanchions' was also a good move, as you can replace them with better realism. Wood blocks and deadeyes for full rigging should look great. Fair sailing! Johnny

When picking a kit, one can see if there are builds of that kit already on site. I have an interest in the Oseberg Viking ship, and read two or three builds on the recent Billings kit. I could see every step they builders took, and noted their comments on what they liked or didn't like ... and the solutions they used in each situation. Selected pictures were screen-captured and printed for reference. That gave me a good feel for how I could go about it as a future project - so I ordered the kit to be sure I'll have it when the time comes. And then I'll revisit those builds again, since I'm in the middle of a build myself. I've learned a LOT from other builds (not all complete, but many are far along the way) on my present build, and have made alterations based on the gain of knowledge. Let me tell you, doing something for yourself is a great teacher - and many things can be corrected or otherwise 'done over' as you go. Ultimately, a builder does a project for self-satisfaction regardless of skill level or detail level in the work. It will definitely be a LOT better than any "20 dollar toy" you can find.