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shipman

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Everything posted by shipman

  1. Hi Pat. Rarely is anything new. I picked the method up over 20 years ago, so long, I forget where. It's worthwhile shedding new light on old techniques as there are new members who find things new to them. It's winter and I have a good trawl through the forums to see what I've missed. This contribution was a response to help someone asking about painting chain. It appears I had a bit of brain lag, as I find this page isn't the one I was responding to. Doh!
  2. 'Our world is much the richer for his contributions.' I think that's how I left it. However, your response cuts a familiar vein. Irony is truly lost by the time it gets over the water. Honestly, 'Frankie', I do respect your knowledge which is clearly immense, especially on the subject of rigging issues. The details you highlight are consistently accurate and to the point. I don't wish to deliberately offend you and if I have, then here I am, publicly apologising. I'd like to take you for a pint and have a good natter. But you're too far away and I don't drink. Please accept my best wishes for the coming festive season; may you be happily surrounded by all those you love. Have a long and happy life.
  3. Though I admire 'Frankies' tenacity, I've come to accept he has an inconsolable pedantic attitude. This isn't a criticism, merely my own view. He does have deep knowledge of his subject, but sometimes you just can't get the bone off the dog. Our world is much the richer for his contributions.
  4. The remarkable thing is all of these books are ludicrously inexpensive on 'fleabay'. Such a wealth of information; they really are a steal.
  5. How much space have you got? Select your favourite period, then hoover everything up. Any and all the books will have something useful in them. Don't just read modelling books either. The historical accounts put so much into context.
  6. For the life of me I can't remember where I got it from, but I got some lovely 52/54 lpi black chain in 1 meter lengths at a good price. Do a google search, it will no doubt turn up. From 6 inches away you'd swear it was thread. And it's strong. BONKERS!
  7. I make my pedestals from cut off chessmen from yard sales. Carefully drill your holes through the keel including a strengthening pad inside. Then securely bond a brass or stainless bolt from above. Drill a close fitting hole through the middle of the 'pedestal' and cut a snug slot for the keel. Push it up the threaded part of bolt. The bolt then goes through your base board and is secured with a recessed washer and nut. Cheap and simples; works every time and doesn't move on a 3-4 foot model.
  8. Clean the chain in Meths. Let it dry on kitchen towel. Put the dry chain on a piece of card, hold one end and draw your paint loaded brush along it. Pick it up at one end with tweezers and drop it onto another piece of clean card several times. That removes excess paint. Hang the chain from one end to dry. Acrylic works best as it dries before the links get welded together with paint. If that happens, you didn't get rid of the excess. The same method works on manageable lengths of wire too.
  9. Copper wire in thin sections for ring/eye bolts will pull out of shape under the slightest tension in my experience. As for twisting the 'tails' of the eye-bolts, I use lock-wire pliers.
  10. Just got to admire craftsmanship on this level. It always strikes me that ships from this period appear to be robust. Yet they seem impractical and somewhat naïve, based on the illustrations as provided here. They must have been extremely uncomfortable. Still, eye-watering build. Thanks for posting.
  11. Bob....a voice in the wilderness. Here's my FINAL comment on the acrylic subject. A little experiment which anyone can do......take a square of your favourite material and give it a coat of any acrylic paint you wish (for extreme results use a red). Cut your square in half. Put one inside a cupboard/drawer and the other somewhere in your house that gets a little direct sunlight. In 6 months or better, a year, put the two pieces side by side and see the difference. It's that simple. Have a long and happy life.
  12. (YT. it's natural light, not crud, that is the problem. The fundamental nature of a transparent coating is that light gets through. Photons are little balls of energy and each and every one makes it's mark). For my sins, I spent four years achieving a baHons as a fine/graphic artist and worked professionally for 25 years. Good to hear everyone is happy with acrylics and I genuinely wish you continued success with them. I do agree, they are very user friendly and have many admirable properties. I don't wish to dissuade anyone from using them. Like everything else in life, it's all about being happy in what you do.
  13. Bob, I'm glad you found a reliable permanent marker and shared that info with us here. If Sanfords aren't available where Joe lives, out in the sticks somewhere, it's a matter of trial and error.
  14. There's another thing................ I was trained as a graphic artist when computers weren't even on the horizon. The thing we learned about acrylics was out of all the options available, acrylics were the most unstable. Even now they tend to bleach out with time. Beware....if your pride and joy gets even a little sunlight at the stern (for example), the other end will eventually become a different shade of the colours you used. At the end of the day, the stuff was made to paint your lounge!
  15. Druxey, the more I hear from you the more I'm convinced we were separated at birth. We must have been pencil twiddling in London at the same time. The scars are still raw.
  16. And I'm going to live forever? Seriously though, I do understand and get your point. However, I have no pretensions that my Revel 'Cutty Sark' will ever be sitting in a museum any time soon. I was a frequent visitor to the London Science Museum until they removed their excellent model ship collection. One of my favourite exhibits was Longridges famous HMS Victory. There couldn't have been a more dedicated modeller. I looked at it at different times over the years, but by the time it was removed it had developed various serious structural issues and was clearly pulling its self apart. Don't know what the environment was like in its case but you can bet your average UK house wouldn't be that stable.
  17. Ah! Meths. Thanks for that. And vinegar for cleaning epoxy off your hands. Is that the 'non-brewed 'condiment' variety? Or the posh wine vinegar? Either Meths or vinegar on the fingers will stop your kids picking their noses!
  18. Wasn't the 'Bounty' a converted merchant ship 'Bethea' ? Possibly a collier; if so that wouldn't have much point having colour, except black! Or was that the 'Endeavour' ? Don't under estimate the modellers choice of colours to keep 'her indoors' happy!
  19. I spent years as a graphic artist when 'Letraset' was part of the stock-in-trade in a vast range of choices. It was never cheap, but there were other products available. A lot of fonts came in colour choices, including gold and silver. I can't believe it isn't still available; try professional graphic supplies outlets.
  20. There are several companies selling 'decal' sheets depicting wood finishes in a wide variety in the model aircraft field. If you google this stuff you may be surprised at the quality. In the ship model world there are products in roughly A4 sheet form for planking. It's self adhesive vinyl, scored so you can peel individual 'planks' or in sections of your choice. Once applied I'd defy you to see the difference from wood. Plank widths are available down to less than 1.5mm!
  21. 'Bare Metal Foil' is a self adhesive product used widely in the model car field successfully, even depicting the trim around windshields, door handles and other bits of trim. It comes in a variety of metal colours (steel, aluminium, chrome, gold and copper). I've never seen it mentioned on this forum, yet I'm sure it has its use here.
  22. My experience with 'sharpie's' and permanent markers is simply, they aren't permanent over time. Also, I'd have serious doubts about the long term permanence of ink jet printed decals and the carrier film.
  23. 'denatured alcohol' What is this stuff called in the UK and where to buy it?
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