BETAQDAVE

It took me way too long to find your "incredible" build." ...Moab

oh my god....after seeing this....i just don't feel very well....nope...i don't feel very well at all.....😵....don't think i'll build anything again....just browse and be in awe....every performer has to have an audience....i'll remain a professional audience 🙂......bless this woman.....

Jim, this particular painting brings to my mind the old phrase "See how she scoons."  Once said to be the origin of the name schooner.  Scoon was an old time word meaning to skip across the water. 
    I think that most of your paintings seem to bring out an emotional response in the viewer, as this one does for me.  Keep it up!

I case you want to get a little more specific on the output shaft bulkhead flange, here's a pic from a German modeler on a different kit but in the same scale. 

yves - Maybe you're seen this before but SkipperTed did a great job using the Abteilung 502 Engine Grease. It's so hard to get a convincing damp, oily machinery look but I think this method really gets it. It's an oil so it's hands off for a week while it dries but you can go back and manipulate it for a couple days after you lay it down.
 
 
 

Well, the engine has been installed in its cradle, similar to what these mechanics were doing on these historic pictures. I have tried to shorten the stand of some of the rockers, to give the overall engine a more realistic look. If all the rockers were in the same position (as implied by the Trumpeter kit), then the engine would have a hard time running. It is not perfect, but at least it is better than what the kit is proposing. Also, I have added the six hand valves on top of the engine. Again, these are present in the PE sheet, but the instructions are not mentioning them.

I added a small washer between the shaft and the bulkhead, to make it look more convincing: 

Still trying to focus my poor camera on these gauges: 

And finally, giving the engine some offset, like the prototype:. The rear of the engines are closer to each other than the front (shaft/output) side.

Now, to work on the ceiling and on the other engine. 
 
Katuna, I am still debating about that oily look... It is very tempting but also difficult to represent in a realistic way.
 
Yves
 

A few pictures of the engine. It is almost finished and I have waived the oily look.... I was ready to use real dirty oil (from my car) but decided otherwise: 

I still have to paint the exhaust and assemble it.





Yves

Well, I guess that I was not kidding about the time involved to get back to this ship.  The spray booth project ended up taking much longer than I thought and then holiday projects came up, but now I can finally get back to it. This posting is a bit out of order as I needed to stage some of the illustrations after the fact but this is the gist of it.
    Working once again on the launching ways, I finished drilling the rest of the holes for the bolts in the support blocks and gluing down several that came loose when being drilled.  The brads representing those bolts needed to be blackened, but since the only part that would remain visible was the heads, I thought why blacken the whole brad?  Using a length of scotch tape laid down sticky side up flat on the bench, the brads were stuck in place with just a small portion of the head projecting beyond the edge of the tape.

    Then another piece of tape was stretched out sticky side down over the first strip.
    The next step was to form the strip into a coil as shown below.

    Using a plastic dish with some previously used brass black that had a bit of fresh mixture added to it, the coil was set into the dish with the brad heads down as shown and set aside for about five minutes for it to work its magic.

    Removing the coil from the mix, it was set on a paper towel to soak up the excess and let it sit overnight to completely dry out. 

    The next day, the remaining brads were pressed down with a nail set into the drilled holes.  A small hammer and the nail set were then used to set the brads until the head was still just visible.  So the ramp is ready to be drilled for the mounting bolts.

    Way back on post #42 I installed two LED lights for both ends of the open hatch and drilled a hole in the hull for the wiring to run to the switch and battery components. Changing my approach now to this problem, I decided to run the wires through the keel and hull support blocks rather than the far side of the hull so it would be less visible.  So, I’ll just fill-in that hole in the hull.
    At this point I discovered that the mounting bolt and wiring hole locations through the keel should have been done before the deck beams were installed as it was not possible to get a drill of such a small diameter (the keel is only 9/64” thick) in a long enough length to pass all the way through the ship and through the ramp, but once again hind sight never really helps much.  Luckily I had this battery powered screwdriver/drill made by General with a very slim profile with a lot of torque for such a small tool.

    Inserting my small 3-jaw keyless chuck for a rotary tool with a 1/8” shank into the tool that I picked up from Micro-Mark, I put a 3/32” bit into it and found that I had just enough space for it between several  of the beams.

    With clamps at both ends of the keel for balance the ship was placed on the ways in its approximate final position.  I picked the gap between beam numbers 11 and 12 and drilled through the keel for the LED wiring. With a thin brass tube inserted through that hole, the ship was shifted just enough until the tube could line up with the center of one of the support blocks and it was given a light tap to mark the position.  Replacing the tube with the drill the hole was extended through the ways.  Once the hole was finished, the brass tube was reinserted to hold the ship in its final position.

    The gap between beams 13 and 14 was sufficient for the drill so it was chosen for the first bolt hole.  With a pair of dividers I set the distance from the center of the support block with the wire hole to the center of the closest support block that would line up for the bolt.  The dividers were able to transfer that distance to the inside of the hull and the hole was drilled there.
    Actually drilling the hole was fairly simple as the drill was easy to keep centered since the hull seam made it easy to align the bit and the centerline of the beams helped to align the upper portion of the tool.  The fact that there was so little space between the beams also made it easy to stay perpendicular to the keel.

 
    For the second bolt hole the technique was somewhat different as the divider couldn’t mark the location inside the hull.  I picked the gap between beams 2 and 3, then located the closest support block to that space and marked on the keel where it lined up.

    Drilling from the outside was a bit more trouble as there was no flat area on the seam to set the drill.  So, I filed a flat spot and used an awl to give the drill a place to start.  Keeping the thinness of the keel in mind I carefully drilled a hole with a 1/16” bit perpendicular to the keel through to the inside of the hull.  Now that there was a hole to guide the larger bit, I enlarged the hole from the inside of the hull with the 3/32” bit.
    While I was locating the LED for the skylight the decision was made to install LED lights inside the two rear shelter houses.  The three of these LEDs were now all temporarily taped in their positions.

    So, now I will be installing a total of five LEDs to run through one battery and switch.  The wires are not long enough to pass through the hull and into the base were the switch and battery will be placed and thus need to be spiced with another section of wire to make up the difference.  The splice will remain inside the hull with just the wire extension running into the base. 
    Joining the wires is fairly simple.  I just need to gather up all of the black wire leads including the extension wire, twist them together, apply some solder, and slip a section of heat shrink tubing over the joint to protect it.  Then all of the red wires need to be joined together similarly.  A section of heat shrink tubing will protect the two lead wires where they pass through the keel and base.  Once the ship is anchored permanently to the launching ways, the finish connections can be made in the base.  For now they will just be taped out of the way.

 
 
 
 

I finally relocated this photo taken from an old magazine AD I filed in an old misc. ship info folder that I used to put everything nautical in nature into.  That was way back when I built my 1/6” scale scratch built whaler Wanderer w/ plans & fittings from A.J. Fisher.  That’s also well before I had a computer and became aware that a site like MSW even existed.  It did however; give me the inspiration to construct this particular ramp for my display.

    Coincidentally the model shown in that AD is also an old whaling ship, which while it’s obviously not the Wanderer, the similarities were enough for me.  (Judging by certain features including the billet head, false gun ports, seven whaleboats, and the fact that it carried a full ships rig, indicates to me that it may have been the James Arnold, a 346 ton whaler out of New Bedford in 1852.)
    The next step was to glue all of the keel blocks on the top of the supporting beams.  To line them all up evenly I glued the two end blocks first.  Then taking a long straight plank butted up to the glued blocks, I tacked that in place temporarily with rubber cement there and a clamp in the center.  With the guide now tacked in place it was a simple matter of lining the ends of the keel blocks with it and the edges of the beams and gluing them in place.  Here is the ramp shown with the guide in place.

    Once all of the beams and keel blocks have been attached, I will be adding a little more detail by using some small steel brads to represent the bolts holding them in place.  For the retaining wall timbers some brass rod will represent the drift pins normally made from long lengths of iron pipe or rod. 
    Impressions were made in each end of both the keel blocks and the beams with just the point of a pencil.  The brads are ¾” long and 18 gauge which measures 1.2 mm, so I had to use a 1.32 mm bit that was the closest size that I had that would be long enough to do the job.  The glue would probably be sufficient to hold everything in place, but a little help from the brads wouldn’t hurt either.  (I need to get a new collet for my Dremel drill press as their standard sizes can’t hold the bit.)  Luckily the chuck on my shop drill press can handle very small bits.
     The holes were all bored and the brads were given a bath in full strength brass black.  Since the holes were very slightly over-sized, a hammer will not be needed to drive them in.  A pair of pliers can be employed to set them in place and a nail set can be used to press them home so there will be less chance of wearing off the coating.
    The next thing to do was to design some braces for the retaining walls.  Varying lengths of 3/16” birch dowel will be used for the diagonal braces and beveled on both ends.  Lengths of 3/32” x 1/4” basswood will be glued up against the timbers from the ground to the tops of the walls to hold the upper ends of the diagonal braces.  The top ends will be shown bolted, and to hold the bottom of the braces, some short lengths of round tooth picks will be used to represent the pegs driven into the ground. Here is a slightly out of focus photo of the typical retaining wall brace.

     The ground itself will be indicated by some cut sheets of 150 grit sandpaper glued down to the base.  Once the sandpaper is glued in place, the setting of the 52 braces can begin.  All of the braces are different lengths, so mass production won’t be feasible here.  It looks like it will be a lot of cut and fit for each one with diagonal holes drilled in the base for the pegs.
    The actual hull braces were formed with some hefty sized timbers which in this case will be ¼” birch dowel to represent the scale 24” dia. peeled timbers.  These will have their top ends beveled to match the hull of the ship and the bottom to the 3/8” x 3/8” grade level long cross timbers. Here is a close-up view of a hull brace temporarily set in position.

   Here the ship is propped in place and located on the ramp to measure and cut the hull braces and to also align the holes through the keel and keel block for the light wiring that will have the batteries and the switch routed into the bottom of the base board.  (That’s that brass rod sticking out in the photo.)
 
    Two additional holes also need to be located and drilled through the bottom of the ramp into the hull of the ship for a pair of mounting bolts that will go into some nuts set into wood blocks glued inside the hull.  Between painting the copper portion of the hull, (not to mention constructing my spray booth) finishing the pintels and gudgeons to mount the rudder, finishing the ramp details, and mounting the ship onto the base, it may be quite some time before my next ship posting.  (I plan on posting the spray booth construction on the Modeling Tools And Equipment section  on the MSW site.)

This log entry will catch me up with the actual construction before I get back to it tomorrow.  Sometimes a medical timeout can work to your advantage.  Since I was unable to actually work on the ship for a while, I could still use the computer to do the log.  (No strain, no pain.)
    The cut components for the ramp had been stained and dried so all of the keel block support beams were glued down with wood glue and the current status of the ramp is as shown below.

    Rather than glue them down and waste time waiting for the glue to grab each beam, I made up this spacing tool to speed things up a bit.  As you can see it’s just one short piece glued to a longer one that has a total width of four feet to scale.

    Here is a short review of the process.  Holding down the beam just glued down with my thumb and three fingers of my right hand, one other finger was used to hold the spacer in place.   The next beam in line had glue applied and was held in place with my left hand as shown.

    Now with my right thumb, I slide the spacer forward until it releases.  All the time through this procedure, pressure needs to be carefully maintained on the beams to keep them from shifting out of position until the spacer is released. 


    Then it’s on to the following beam.  I placed all 26 of the beams in about 30 minutes, so my system worked just as planned. (Imagine that!)
 

Now that the ramp assembly was dried, I tuned it upside down and trimmed all of the excess projections off with a plane and sandpaper.  On the top of the ramp I took a No. 2 pencil and ran it along the scribed lines on the top planking to make them stand out better.  I did the same to the joint between the planks and the retaining walls.  This is the result here.

    The sides of the retaining wall also needed some indication of individual timbers, so using a long metal straight edge three joints were drawn parallel to the top of the ramp on both sides.

    That same long metal straight edge was now aligned with the marked line and clamped to the sides.  To ensure that the resulting scribed lines were very pronounced and straight, my small back saw was slid back and forth with a light amount of pressure along the edge for about a dozen strokes. 

     Making sure that the timbers appeared to be individual lengths, I made some tic marks on the individual timbers at a maximum scale length of 24 feet with joints offset by 4-6 feet from layer to layer.  Going back to my scrap pile, I made a small wooden square as shown below.  The square was set perpendicular to the top edge of the ramp and using a No. 2 blade those joints were scribed in.

    Setting the ramp on the building board and placing the ship where it would be sitting on it, I located the position of the two hull braces.  I marked the two notches for those 3/8” x 3/8” grade level long cross timbers on one side.  The ramp was placed upside down in my carpenters vice and using my back saw the saw kerfs of the notches were cut down to the top edge of the marks.
    Using my wood square, those kerf lines were extended over to the opposite side of the ramp.  Setting my back saw blade into the kerf on the near side and lining it up with the new marks on the opposite side, I had somewhat of a miter saw setup that ensured the kerfs would line up across from each other.  A chisel and scalpel were now used to clean out the waste from all of the notches. 
    The entire ramp was given two heavy coats of Minwax light oak to give it the appearance of weathered oak timber construction and set aside to dry overnight with it as it stands now below.

 

Well, I guess that I was not kidding about the time involved to get back to this ship.  The spray booth project ended up taking much longer than I thought and then holiday projects came up, but now I can finally get back to it. This posting is a bit out of order as I needed to stage some of the illustrations after the fact but this is the gist of it.
    Working once again on the launching ways, I finished drilling the rest of the holes for the bolts in the support blocks and gluing down several that came loose when being drilled.  The brads representing those bolts needed to be blackened, but since the only part that would remain visible was the heads, I thought why blacken the whole brad?  Using a length of scotch tape laid down sticky side up flat on the bench, the brads were stuck in place with just a small portion of the head projecting beyond the edge of the tape.

    Then another piece of tape was stretched out sticky side down over the first strip.
    The next step was to form the strip into a coil as shown below.

    Using a plastic dish with some previously used brass black that had a bit of fresh mixture added to it, the coil was set into the dish with the brad heads down as shown and set aside for about five minutes for it to work its magic.

    Removing the coil from the mix, it was set on a paper towel to soak up the excess and let it sit overnight to completely dry out. 

    The next day, the remaining brads were pressed down with a nail set into the drilled holes.  A small hammer and the nail set were then used to set the brads until the head was still just visible.  So the ramp is ready to be drilled for the mounting bolts.

    Way back on post #42 I installed two LED lights for both ends of the open hatch and drilled a hole in the hull for the wiring to run to the switch and battery components. Changing my approach now to this problem, I decided to run the wires through the keel and hull support blocks rather than the far side of the hull so it would be less visible.  So, I’ll just fill-in that hole in the hull.
    At this point I discovered that the mounting bolt and wiring hole locations through the keel should have been done before the deck beams were installed as it was not possible to get a drill of such a small diameter (the keel is only 9/64” thick) in a long enough length to pass all the way through the ship and through the ramp, but once again hind sight never really helps much.  Luckily I had this battery powered screwdriver/drill made by General with a very slim profile with a lot of torque for such a small tool.

    Inserting my small 3-jaw keyless chuck for a rotary tool with a 1/8” shank into the tool that I picked up from Micro-Mark, I put a 3/32” bit into it and found that I had just enough space for it between several  of the beams.

    With clamps at both ends of the keel for balance the ship was placed on the ways in its approximate final position.  I picked the gap between beam numbers 11 and 12 and drilled through the keel for the LED wiring. With a thin brass tube inserted through that hole, the ship was shifted just enough until the tube could line up with the center of one of the support blocks and it was given a light tap to mark the position.  Replacing the tube with the drill the hole was extended through the ways.  Once the hole was finished, the brass tube was reinserted to hold the ship in its final position.

    The gap between beams 13 and 14 was sufficient for the drill so it was chosen for the first bolt hole.  With a pair of dividers I set the distance from the center of the support block with the wire hole to the center of the closest support block that would line up for the bolt.  The dividers were able to transfer that distance to the inside of the hull and the hole was drilled there.
    Actually drilling the hole was fairly simple as the drill was easy to keep centered since the hull seam made it easy to align the bit and the centerline of the beams helped to align the upper portion of the tool.  The fact that there was so little space between the beams also made it easy to stay perpendicular to the keel.

 
    For the second bolt hole the technique was somewhat different as the divider couldn’t mark the location inside the hull.  I picked the gap between beams 2 and 3, then located the closest support block to that space and marked on the keel where it lined up.

    Drilling from the outside was a bit more trouble as there was no flat area on the seam to set the drill.  So, I filed a flat spot and used an awl to give the drill a place to start.  Keeping the thinness of the keel in mind I carefully drilled a hole with a 1/16” bit perpendicular to the keel through to the inside of the hull.  Now that there was a hole to guide the larger bit, I enlarged the hole from the inside of the hull with the 3/32” bit.
    While I was locating the LED for the skylight the decision was made to install LED lights inside the two rear shelter houses.  The three of these LEDs were now all temporarily taped in their positions.

    So, now I will be installing a total of five LEDs to run through one battery and switch.  The wires are not long enough to pass through the hull and into the base were the switch and battery will be placed and thus need to be spiced with another section of wire to make up the difference.  The splice will remain inside the hull with just the wire extension running into the base. 
    Joining the wires is fairly simple.  I just need to gather up all of the black wire leads including the extension wire, twist them together, apply some solder, and slip a section of heat shrink tubing over the joint to protect it.  Then all of the red wires need to be joined together similarly.  A section of heat shrink tubing will protect the two lead wires where they pass through the keel and base.  Once the ship is anchored permanently to the launching ways, the finish connections can be made in the base.  For now they will just be taped out of the way.

 
 
 
 

The Schooner 
watercolour 14” X 10”

There was a five part article in the now out of print Ships In Scale magazine running from the Jan/Feb 2012 issue to the Sept/Oct issue by Robert N. Steinbrunn where he did a highly modified version of that Smuggler kit from Bluejacket Ship Crafters.  I would suggest that you get a hold of those issues that are available from the NRG store on disc or flash drive. If nothing else it will show you just what is possible with this medium. From this shot of the article below you can see some of the remarkable details that he added to this kit that made it a truly museum quality model.

I imagine that I am not unique on MSW in my love of history.  It's hard to imagine anyone here on this forum that doesn't share that love.  One aspect I love about modeling is reading books on the subject.  I especially love books that focus more on the people and the time they lived in and their personal stories.  As I started to read the forward in the Gloucester Clipper Fishing Schooners the manual that comes with the kit by Erik A.R Ronnberg Jr.  I was delighted to see a list of suggested readings.  I was even more excited that I had a few of these already sitting on my shelf.  There is also a nice bit of history and actual photographs of some of these ships included in the building guide.  I have been particularly enjoying a second reading of Down to the Sea by Joseph E. Garland.  I admire the strength, courage, and determination of the people how sailed these ships.  Their story is as fascinating as the ships they sailed.  Years ago I read a quote at the Experimental Aircraft Associations gathering in Oshkosh, WI.  It said something like "So that no story should go untold"?  I thought that was a great line.  I love all history but especially the history that is more obscure or perhaps a better way to say it is the stories that don't get told or talked about very often.
 
In addition to some general modeling books not shown here are a few I will be referring to on this build.  I also picked up the data disc Dave suggested and the article on the Smuggler really has me thinking, and no good ever comes from that!  It has me thinking of taking my original modest plans for this build and pushing myself to take this ship to a much higher level.  This article is probably going to result in several more years being added the length of this build so thanks Dave for that! 😀 

There was a five part article in the now out of print Ships In Scale magazine running from the Jan/Feb 2012 issue to the Sept/Oct issue by Robert N. Steinbrunn where he did a highly modified version of that Smuggler kit from Bluejacket Ship Crafters.  I would suggest that you get a hold of those issues that are available from the NRG store on disc or flash drive. If nothing else it will show you just what is possible with this medium. From this shot of the article below you can see some of the remarkable details that he added to this kit that made it a truly museum quality model.

I was reading about your shop remodel and realized that all of my outlets were on the walls except for my main modeling table which has a power strip mounted on the right leg of the bench.  I hadn’t thought of doing it on my heavy duty bench until I read Bobs’ remark. 

 
    So I went down to the shop right away (before I could forget) and installed a power strip on the right side to remedy my omission. 

     I have had problems previously with cords getting in my way, and was surprised that I didn’t think of it myself.  I may install one on the left side later if I find the need.
     Being wheelchair bound, every piece of equipment in my shop is on casters to make it easier to clean the shop when necessary. (And to chase down some of those small items that always seem to dissapear underneath, where I can't reach them!!)

Hi Mark
 
I've just seen this topic and thought I'd add my two penn'orth.
 
I tried a tip I read in one of Harold Underhill's books where he recommends putting a thread on the tail of the eyebolt then screwing it into the deck or wherever. I found a cheap jeweller's tap & die set on ebay for £14.99 and tried it on a brass eyebolt with a 0.7mm tail.

The thread went on no problem (I found the best technique was to screw the eyebolt half a turn into the die each time then unscrew to release any swarf; half a dozen turns was plenty). The resulting thread was so fine I had to run my finger over it to check it was actually there, but once I'd drilled a hole one size smaller (#71; 0.66mm) I found it screwed in easily, cutting its own thread in the wood, and the result was as solid as a rock. I'll definitely be using that technique from now on. I guess you could use glue as well if you wanted to be doubly sure.
 
Derek, UK
 

'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.
 
 

Ive got a great idea! Let’s just stick to the topic and refrain from personal nonsense? The greatest aspect of MSW is the openness of the discussions on the many topics pertaining to ship model building.

I think this is precisely where this conversation went a bit sideways.   The original talk I shared was from the context of a conservation treatment protocol for ship models, thus the treatment principals I later described were/are relevant.  Frankie, I think, weighed in from a restoration background.    With as little offense as possible to those in the restoration business, I believe that restoration as a practice can be muddy water, particularly when it comes from a maker background and is not developed first on a foundation of an objects history and inherent values (artifactual, informational).   The differences are huge when you give a painter something to rejuvenate compared to giving the same object to a paintings conservator.   Further -  9 times out 10 restoration is conducted with the best intentions but not with the best materials, technique or methods.  In MANY cases the restorers vanity also has a disproportionate role.  It can be quite difficult for restorers to hand back an object that doesn't look totally outstanding.  Conservation treatment often sacrifices the aesthetics of an object for the long-term preservation of the whole.   For example, ever walked round a museum and wondered why things look old, dim, drab or washed out?   Because they are old, dim, drab and washed out objects.   The materials we might use to rehabilitate those aesthetics are often the worst contributors to deterioration.   Ever think "Gosh, that work would look so much more amazing if they would just turn the lights up a bit..." - its the lights that are the problem.   
 
All that said, the restorers work has its place.   Frankie is right that a fully restored ship will likely endure life as an object in someones home far better than those that have been conserved.   However, in a museum setting, restoration has no place and those institutions that have employed a restorer often do so out of ignorance for the nuances between the two ideas (and often, sadly, restoration is cheaper).  We can control what happens to an object in a museum, and thus can dial back on our conservation treatment because environmental deterioration is heavily mitigated.   Conservation practice exists on a spectrum, which is directly informed by the exhibition setting, collection storage environment and the handling/research/use interest the object experiences.   Some can be quite conservative and others much more intrusive - but, they never go anywhere without extensive research, materials vetting and documentation (the baggage of my life).   
 
 
This point made years ago, which I am now re-reading is also, I think, a bit misleading.   Ive worked both for myself and for institutions and my approach hasn't changed.  Ones ethics shouldn't be fluid...if you are having trouble getting enough work, it is not because your refusing too much of it, its because you aren't a particularly good business person.   Know your market, and understand work doesn't just drop in your lap.  The times that Ive had to refuse work is maybe three times out of nearly 20 years.  Most of my clients want the best for their objects and are willing to listen to reason.  They appreciate the explanations, in part, because they get to share that with their dinner guests and this often feeds their willingness to come back with something else.    There is a standard that ALL conservators must abide by regardless of whether they're in private practice or not.    The European Institute of Conservation (ICON), the American Institute for Conservation (AIC), the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) and the Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage (AICCM) ALL have peer-review/accreditation standards and they all have ship-model conservators in their ranks both privately and publicly employed.  Those organizations only provide referrals to those who have undergone significant training, education and peer-review.   If they preformed treatment outside of these standards, and those oversight committees found out, they would be stripped of their designations and lose both organizational affiliation and word-of-mouth business (a death stroke).   Its simply not a risk worth taking.  It takes a long time to get there, and its just not worth throwing away.   One familiar with the world of high-value collecting (private and public) understands how easily restoration and conservation work is to follow (and who is doing it).   
 
All that said, I was struck by Paul Fontenoy's editorial in the latest NRG Journal (64-4) where he suggests that the model making community reappraise the use of materials previously thought untouchable. Particularly now that some time has passed and those new methods have proven their mettle with age.   His last statement really hit home for me:  
 
"Skilled craftsmen are producing remarkable creations using these materials and we owe it to them to provide guidance for their models' survival rather than dismissing them as temporary aberrations." - Paul E. Fontenoy, NRG Journal 64-4.   
 
This is something I teach, preach and repeat as needed.   Artists, craftspeople and others (hobbyists included) should take a longer view of their work and I think in-particular ship modelers should as well.   How many of you/us are passing these legacy's down or donating them to some library?   I know for my own sake, I have at least three of my Grandfather's and I can already see the toll that extended UV exposure has had on stains or finishes he used.   I can see the uneven deterioration of the rigging from the exposed side and the ubiquitous "against the wall" side.   Fontenoy gives the reason that we now have 50-70 years of experience with how these materials age.  Thats about when we would expect to see many modern adhesives and plastics to start showing their age and starting to deform, discolor or embrittle.    Museum grade ship-models are hundreds of years old...  how will these new materials hold up to that type of longevity?   I wonder how useful/relevant some sort of written treatment on common materials (old and new) used in ship-modeling and advice for their long-term exhibition would be?   Being right up my ally, and having numerous analytical techniques at my disposal (I can simulate age and exposure to many hundreds of years in my lab) and the idea has certainly gotten my wheels spinning...      

I think the point is far more easily understood when one grasps the distinction between "conservation" and "restoration."
 
Something is conserved to preserve what might be preserved for posterity, for future study of the original fabric of the artifact. Something is restored to new or like-new condition to preserve it's usefulness for its original purpose. For example, an original hand-written copy of the Declaration of Independence is an historic artifact because it is an original contemporary hand-written copy, even if it is so brittle and faded as to be nearly unreadable. Therefore, preserving the fabric of it must be the goal. Tracing over the original writing so it could be more easily readable would be an abomination. It's not about restoration so it looks like it did when it was first written, but about conservation to preserve the history of the artifact evident in its present condition. 
 
If this principle remains in dispute, I don't see much point in continuing to "flog the poodle."

Good morning all. On this snowy day in Massachusetts, I am tackling my first-ever ship model.
 
I am 55 now and built my last models in my early teens (Revel and Monogram models of WW2 tanks, battleships and planes). So it's been a while since I had to pick Testors model glue off the pads of my fingers. Fortunately in the 40 years since then I helped build and now operate a traditional gaff-rigged schooner. So at least I know how these things go together, and what they're supposed to look like, in the real world. If I lacked that knowledge, I think I might find even the very simple model I have chosen (novice kit of YANKEE HERO from Bluejacket) to be overwhelming.
 
That's not to say my first model won't be my last, as Chris Coyle warned in his excellent post, but I'm jumping in today! Wish me luck.
 
Capt. Mike

Don,
 
I am humbled that the famous Mr. Prince is taking a look at my model. I am in awe at the extraordinary amount of work you have done on these German submarines and have learnt so much by reading your book (the PDF version). Also, thank you for introducing Mr. Tore to this community as he is probably one of the very few men having served on a Type VIIc vessel, still in existence today.
 
There will be more of your material being used in this Blog. It is my absolute reference.
 
Yves

Hello Yves,
 
Your model building skills are exceptional to say the least... The kit looks to be a daunting task and you have stood up to the challenge; I admire your veracity... Back in 2003 I joined "TheSubcommittee.com" and starting building the OTW 1/32nd scale model Type VII C U-Boat (About 78 inches long); the hull was fiberglass and the deck, tower, and all the accessories were plate brass. When building the tower I had to learn to use a miniature blow torch to build the brass tower which consisted of two (2) flat sides and all other components had to be scratch built form brass sheets or rods. It took me about three (3) years to complete the project as a display model. I never got to installing the Water Tight Chamber (WTC) with the motors and all the control circuits. A completed model would be a static diver which is radio controlled.
 
I noticed you posted some drawings that looked very familiar... Possibly, they came from the AMP Website that contains "Tore's Mailbox"; it is our intent to share our discussions about the design and functionality of the Type VII C U-Boat with everyone. Mr. Tore Berg-Nielsen served in the Royal Norwegian Navy in the early 1950's on U995, and U926 as an Engineering Officer (EO) and I believe he is one of the very few living experts on the Type VII C U-Boat and he is in his early 90's. Over the past 5 years, I have documented our discussions and created "Skizzenbuch: U-Boat Type VII C Project" in a PDF format. At one time I had a publishing contract, but the book format 11 x 17 inch sheet size, 516 pages with over 700 photos and drawings became too expensive to print the book. My original intent was not to profit from Skizzenbuch in the first place, so I made the PDF file available on the internet to be downloaded free of charge. You may find Skizzenbuch helpful in understanding how everything worked in the actual Type VII C U-Boat and what your model represents. Skizzenbuch may be downloaded at www.subcommittee.com and go to "Forums" then "The U-boat Pen" and Skizzenbuch is the second pinned entry from the top where you can download the PDF.
 
Regards,
Don_
 
PS - attached is my OTW version of U-96 (Das Boot)'''