BrianK

Lynn I forgot to mention lighting when weathering wood. Consider the display location for the model and what kind of light it will have. It will affect the color of the wood. Here are bridge frames sitting on the railroad layout with the lighting they live under. They have a different look than they did outside. BrianK

This is actually an interesting discussion topic Lynn. If the launch ways were relatively new, how do you capture the look of wood that has only aged a year or so (or maybe less). Not to mention the drips and scars from being under a full scale build for a while..... I looked at this slight aging issue when I started building a bridge for a model railroad layout and I wanted the bridge to be modelled at about 18 months old, in 1886, in New Mexico. They would probably not have treated the wood with darkening preservatives for such a bridge at that time. It is easy to find pictures of raw wood and of well-weathered wood, but finding "slightly" weathered wood photos is a bit more challenging. I was sitting in my kitchen contemplating the issue and looked out the window and started to laugh. Our back fence is a wood stockade fence and we had it replaced with new raw wood panels about 18 months prior. I grabbed the camera and headed outside. We live on the coast in north Florida where we get "seasons" which may include a frost or light freeze once or twice, but more significantly, we get plenty of humidity and sun. After playing around with inks, here is an outdoor photo of a test bridge member with some light ink on the fence. The bottom end of the member is un-inked. This is for 1/87 (HO) scale.

Chris, Can't wait to see skin on the wings. I am sure it will blow away my Revell P-51B plastic skin with its huge 40 grit rivets. my brain continues to tell me its a card model (I have advances from using the term 'paper' 😃 ) But my eyes tell me your build is way beyond a card model..... I have never seen such a thing. I would love to have a one-question modelers quiz when you finish. I would ask: What do you think this model is made of? No way a noticeable percentage comes back "card"..... BrianK

Thanks wefalck! How common are those doors on ship's fishing rigs? I had not really noticed them until meeting captain Barry 20 some years ago.....

Thanks for that story weflack. I have walked in Amsterdam and the canals were a marvel. I could image they would become quite fun for skaters if iced over.... 😃 Quick similar snow story. My wife is Thai. We met here in Florida about a year after she came to the states. One of the first trips we took was to Philadelphia where I had been consulting regularly and had many friends. Long story short, in the winter of 2010 they had back to back blizzards that closed things down and we were there for it. After 3 days of being shut-in, she declared "I hate snow". 😃 The Zeesenboot model is not here yet but have started some searching -- a bit of a challenge (and fun) with so many ways to say its name in German and English. The net sounds interesting -- Sort of a scaled down version of the bigger nets used on trawlers. One of my good friends ran shrimp fishing boats all his life. Captain Barry Woods of Fernandina Beach, FL. Retired from the sea now, but his last boat was "Island Girl" which he owned. It was a San Sebastian (St. Augustine, FL) wood hulled ice boat laid down in the early 1960's. She was 65' with outriggers that trawled nets on the bottom. Each net was held open with wooden doors that were dragged on the bottom. The doors were chained so that when pulled forward they would "fly" open to either side creating the opening of the net. He called the net rig an "otter" rig -- I believe the name had to do with the shape of the net. The picture is of Captain Barry freeing a stuck chain on the port side outrigger before deploying them on Island Girl's maiden voyage. He used the steel haul cable just like a yard-arm footrope to get out there.... I was "4th mate" that day in April 2007. 😃 (I was the coffee maker and documentarian, and stayed out of the way). A few years later, he was doing that same dangerous move when the chain shackle broke. He and the doors went to the bottom. They often shrimp in 15'-20' of water, just off shore, so he got free and surfaced. His mate got him back onboard and to the hospital. He lived alone across the street, so my wife and I met him in the ER to take him home. He had a big gash in his leg and a hell of a story that included circling sharks and dolphins (they follow the nets) and references to "Davy Jones' locker"....

Dave_E, just noticed your Orange Park/NAS Jax reference. Definitely a navy town with three navy bases and Cecil Field and contractors galore all around. In fact, I teach some of the NROTC engineering students at Jacksonville University..... Getting back into model shipping building, ("back into" is a stretch since I built the CW Morgan at 12, some 45 years ago and then went into model trains), here in this place, should find me rubbing elbows with some local support. The NRG listing identifies at least two clubs in town...... Getting excited..... 😃

Sorry that should be inks, not stains, in the first line. BrianK

BTW, I work with stains to age new wood for model railroading structures: India, brown, sepia, etc. It is impossible to get that great 2-tone affect with inks alone (at least for me 😃 ) There is a youtuber in the model railroading world whose primary interest seems to be extreme aged old structure modelling: Jason Jensen. His work is amazing.... https://www.youtube.com/c/JasonJensenTrains

sjanicki, thanks for sharing this great build. I am hoping to start this BJ cutter soon and have found 3 or 4 finished MSW builds on the topic, including yours, that are very inspirational and rich in information for a novice builder like me. I am a follower. 😃 Thanks again! BrianK

Love that look Keith. Reminds me of the old wood door and window frames in ghost towns in New Mexico.....

Jeff I jumped in the deep end and ordered the 1:48 Revenue Cutter from Blue Jacket today. Not quite as large as 1/2" scale but thanks again for the idea.....Hopefully it will ease me into those more ambitious 1:96ish builds I have planned for my model railroad layouts.....

wefalck, I live in Florida but your diorama reminded me of the neighborhood pond that would ice over growing up in the north in Connecticut. So success to you! 😃 That 1:20 Zeesen boat build is a big one. Almost 1000 posts. I will have to carve out some quiet time for it (pun intended). Thanks! Google translate does the job just fine too.....

Hi BillT, I am researching BJ Revenue Cutter builds for a future build of my own and yours looks great. I will be following.... BrianK

Hi Eric, researching builds of the BJ Revenue Cutter. I have one on order and I am a novice. I am glad you are recommending it. I will be referring to your build. Regards, BrianK

Josh, I just bought this kit today. Will be referring to your awesome build photos and techniques often as I hope to build it soon. Happy New Year, BrianK

Thanks Jeff. I am guessing the 1/2" scale will help a lot with honing rigging skills. I think I may do the same: Find a much larger scale build to practice with first.... Regards and Happy New Year, BrianK

Hi Wefalck, I am so impressed and inspired by this build! I am new to MSW and was going to build a Resin Artitec German Zeesen boat in HO scale that I think arrives tomorrow. Its for a future model railroad layout. I started searching MSW builds and when yours came up I felt very lucky. 😃 I am a novice so 2mm teapots and extreme figure make-overs are not in the plan but I know I will be asking myself "I wonder how Wefalck would do this?" many times over the coming weeks..... Warm regards and happy New Year, BrianK

Lots of choices with this famous aircraft, right Chris? For instance, does the kit have propeller variants? I think the Spitfire props had metal and wood variants and different lengths and blade widths..... BrianK

Hi Skibee, Joining your build just now. I have the same Pilot on the shelf. I am curious to see what I will be getting into. Following Lynn's (Iraymo's) same build too. The copper plating looks challenging. I have a roll of 1/4" adhesive copper tape I use for printed circuit board work and was thinking of adapting it for future builds. Your 1/8" by 3/8" plate size will definitely inform my decision making process on that task! =). I also curious about the history of the step on the pilot boat that you and Lynn both just carved. I am guessing the name is apropos and provided a place for the pilot to go and come easily from his ship. Regards, BrianK

Hi Lynn, BrianK here and also jumping on. I too have this kit on the shelf so thought I would follow a few builds..... I have used the NWSL chopper in model railroading for years and love it. The matching NWSL True Sander is a nice addition and reasonable: https://nwsl.com/products/the-true-sander. There is a new-ish sanding tool on the market that is pricey but very nice. I picked it up a year ago. It can also be set up for repeatable lengths with the optional jig. It is a hand-crank rotary sander. Its called the Ultimation Sander and the optional jig is called the "Repeater". It is made by a Canadian company and they sell direct if you are interested: ultimation.ca

Continuing to look amazing Chris. What do you for "filling" on these particular model types..... BrianK

Here you go Keith. The first one is the one I use and is in the attached photo: It has M3 male and female threads at each end to accept whatever appurtenances you prefer. https://www.makerbeam.com/gooseneck.html This gooseneck was sold with threaded alligator clips and 3mm rods as part of a kickstarter product line called PCB Grip. Now Makerbeam just sells the goosenecks and you have to attach your own ends. It is intended to attach to Makerbeam extruded aluminum beam segments which use M3 hardware. The other more generic style of gooseneck clamps is a complete solution found on Amazon or ebay: 1) https://tinyurl.com/342sarxz 2) https://tinyurl.com/2p9p8njt Apologies for the rotated image. Still learning the ins and outs of posting on MSW.

Very interesting tool Keith. I use Pana-vises and old General Vacu-Vises on my benches but that B&D looks interesting for wide jaws... It also looks like you could interchange metal jaws on that B&D if you wanted. That would be a nice trick to have..... The reason I also use a Vacu-Vise is the metal jaws. My Pana-vises are newer and have plastic jaws. Fine for model building, but not so good for soldering..... There are also some interesting gooseneck grip solutions from the electronics industry that I would think would help with rigging too. I may be jumping the shark here if that solution is already well known.....

Chris that looks fantastic! I use Krystal Klear from Microscale for canopy glue but Pacer and other are similar. I believe they are all in the PVA glue family like Elmer's but not quite the same..... might explain why they work well with paper too.... Brian

Thanks Keith. I will keep it in mind. I think I am going to start back boat building small with some resin and plastic boats then a few small wood hulls. I plan to share the journey and promise not to be shy with questions or thoughts! 😃 Brian