shipman

Marco, hi there, so happy you are well. I'm not a big fan of ship models in full sail, mounted on a plinth, there being something of the improbable. However, I must congratulate you, your sails are stunning. Well done, my friend. You have done us all a great service sharing this build which is the best rendition of the Cutty Sark I've ever seen; and all from the humble beginning of the oldest, most 'obsolete' kit available. A 'shock/horror' plastic one too! You've demonstrated what can be achieved through determination and skill, without needing to resort to such techniques like this new fangled resin printed wot-not. (Apologies, Kevin). Plane, honest old school modelling. Thank you for sharing your journey. Each installment has been much anticipated and provided endless pleasure for me. May you continue to have a long and happy life.

It may be of benefit to not overthink this model. Your treatment of the stern looks admirable to me. By all means use the photo etch, but remember at this scale you won't see an awful lot through the windows. If you treat the windows (from behind) with slightly watered down pva glue that would give an illusion of glazing when it dries clear, but not perfectly clear. That would be a step up from where you are now. But ask yourself if the effort is worth the work?

A sound treatise of the subject is 'Lofting' by Allan H. Vaitses.

Can I make a suggestion? The Airfix 'stand' leaves a lot to be desired. At this stage it would be easy to make something more substantial. I'd find a couple of brass or stainless threaded bolts, drill the keel to take them and epoxy them in, ensuring they are square and straight and long enough for your final display. Then source a couple of matching chess men. Drill through the center, the hole isn't critical just a little wider than the bolt. Carefully remove the 'decorative' top, making sure the top is square. Then cut a slot in each just wide enough to take the keel. Pass the embedded bolts through your handsome new pedestals, then through a building board of your choice and secure with nuts and washers. Eventually the building board can be replaced by whatever display base you choose. It took longer to write this than to make the pedestals themselves (handwork will do the job; no lathe needed). Once done, your model will be secure and capable of being supported safely at any angle.

Very crisp and clean work. Love the vessels from that period.

You've achieved so much and I've enjoyed the ride. Your hull is so well done, it would be a desperate shame to place it on your shelf of doom. Have you considered displaying your model without masts and rigging? Common practice with 18th century vessels. The quality of your build would easily justify that. And one day, who knows, the option of resuming the rest of the build will always be there. Gonna miss you mate.

Eberhard hi. I've followed your build from the beginning, yet have to admit your choice of subject hasn't been my cup of tea, mainly due to my lack of knowledge of the type. However, your approach and consummate skill has retained my attention and admiration. Rogers comment #701 reflects my own thoughts; at this scale your boats are little jewels and I look forward to their completion, with no doubt they will compliment all your excellent work so far.

BE, I'm trying to not imagine you stealing this model from the storage unit housing the Science Museum collection! Your Sphinx is a delight to my eyes. (Great job you did making the coppering look invisible.....grand job, that planking :).

While I enjoy looking at your well presented model, Ive just noticed what I can only imagine are the golf balls all over your copper bottom. As I understand it, the nails were flush. Also, though your sails are admirable, it always strikes me as incongruous seeing a ship with sails set yet sitting on a plinth! But each to his own.

This build is breathtaking, Amalo. I see you cherish your tools; not many know how to put a plane down. I was taught never to put one down on its foot, I see you contrive to support them properly. As you say, perfection is elusive and there are just a few details you've decided to live with, such as a few planks on the stern round up. How do you avoid dust/shavings dropping irretrievably into the warren of the hull?

Once you get started oh the rigging you'll plug into all that experience you obviously have and breeze along. It will no doubt become a frustrating business with the inevitable errors to overcome, but when it clicks I'm sure the rewards will be worth it. Would love to see pictures of your cars and trains sometime.

To be honest, I'm pretty much ambivalent about the monarchy as an institution. As when there was all the ooh-ha to do with the Diana cult, today's outpouring of grief leaves me more than a little bewildered, though I do sympathize with the individual family members loss. Fortunately they have no worries meeting what must be a colossal funeral bill; we have that covered! The Queen got the big chair a couple of years before before I was born, so her presence has been a constant. Her passing is another feature of life which emphasises the fleeting nature of mortality. Charlie has lived a long life being ridiculed for his own beliefs, many of which have now been accepted as having merit. When I was at school, tv's were hired so we all could witness his investiture as Prince of Wales. Generally the public had the opinion he was a suitable honorary member of another British institution...the Goons. Fortunately as he's matured and I find myself having genuine respect for how he's turned out. So if we have to have a new monarch, remarkably, it turns out he's the best of the bunch. It feels bizzare to admit; I can relate to him. He has my best wishes. Years ago I attended the Windsor Horse Trials (a big garden party with the Queen and Prince Phillip presiding). HM was a bit distant from us the great unwashed, remaining among the great and the good. However, I found myself stood next to Philip for about half an hour, earwigging his every word. Couldn't believe I wasn't lifted by the scruff of my neck and dragged away. Just shows how decent us Brits can be when left to our own devises. My own paternal ancestry can be traced to Tipperary, then rapid social decline via Glasgow to the coal fields of South Yorkshire.

Good to see you 'back'. Steady as you go.

Hackney and Longridge are opposite ends of the spectrum, but each of them provides extremely good advice; one provides an introduction and guidance for the keen novice. The other is a tour de-force for the experienced modeller (much has developed in the hobby since they were published decades ago). Still, if the intended readers can accomplish the advice given, then surely they would be well pleased.

Just keep a regular ebay search, they come up often.

Kevin, as I understand, you are a dab hand using 3D graphic projections, using the software for your resin projects. That kind of computer witchcraft is a mystery to me but... Could you not scan that plan, introduce evenly placed sections, then do your clever manipulations and by trial and error develop it until your new plan looks right. The 3D aspect gives you the magic where you can revolve the drawing through any axis you choose. After doing that and it looks right, what's wrong with that?

I can see what JDillon is getting at. Often (mostly US) folk say they just popped into their local branch of a national hardware store X and found or bought product Y. These outlets aren't an option here in the UK or anywhere else for that matter. Many of your US products don't even have an equivalent here. I'll give a random example; briefly I was over there in Minnesota years ago in a small town. The largest store was Wallmart. I found this to be an Aladdin's Cave of a wide variety of stuff entirely new to me. One item I bought was a cheap pack of thick cotton socks (of all things), which turned out to be the finest most comfortable socks I ever had. Wish I'd bought a suitcase full of them. Without success, I've tried and tried to find some here. None come close. It's the same for more relevant modelling products. Try and buy Byrnes or Proxon here......a few outlets perhaps, selling them at unobtanium prices. Buying and shipping stuff of any kind from the USA is so expensive, I stopped considering that rout a long time ago. Perhaps modelling is a minority occupation in the States as it is here. But that minority market in the UK is so small, very few suppliers exist. To find them and assess their quality and reliability takes an inordinate amount of time and effort. So, yes, I understand why JDillon asked the question.

Wouldn't it be grand if one of the established nautical publishers picked up on this fine project?

There you go, praise indeed. Along with your models, your little book project are testaments to be proud of. No doubt our appreciation and encouragement could persuade you to develop and expand the book; it would be a sad state of affairs if you don't go ahead and produce hard copies.

Shows what can be done with very little A charming accomplishment, thank you.

I've been waiting a long time for someone to have a go at this.....and here it is. Well done. All I have to do is figure which box in my loft contains my sons Lego (from 20 years of storage....I'll be billing him for that!)

This will be a charming set of boats. Enjoying your journey (as I now take for granted the level of skill, knowledge and presentation of all your projects). Thank you once again for your time and effort; most of all for sharing.

Many components in modern labs and instruments use recovered steel and other metals from pre-nuclear testing wrecks, notably WW1 German ships which were scuttled in Scapa Flow. NASA has an entire room made from 12inch armor plate, used to shield sensitive experiments from atmospheric background radiation. Few today appreciate that isotopes from the atmospheric testing remain, floating in today's environment. A sobering reminder. These components have to be machined from the metal as recovered; if it is re smelted, then it becomes contaminated from the air all around us.

Until now I had little empathy with this vessel type. I can only admire how you are turning this sows ear of a kit into something of interest to me at least. It's refreshing to see the obvious pleasure you're deriving from this project; none of the self doubt and lack of confidence which you occasionally express during your 'Cutty Sark' saga! Clearly you are making a progressive recovery from your recent spinal surgery. May that continue; soon be returning to back flips out of bed in the mornings, playing squash and regular half marathons!

Outstanding work.