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Mark, Your attention to detail and facts based on actual research of contemporary sources is fantastic and I, for one, very much appreciate the time and effort I am sure you take to do this kind of research. Allan

Hi Jim, good to see you back. Your latest paintings reminded me of one of my merchant mariner heros, Edwin O'Hara for which the athletic hall at the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY is named. He was an 18 year old cadet of the SS Stephen Hopkins which was in a surface battle with a German ship in 1942. The Hopkins went down with much of her crew, including O'Hara who took over the manning of their 4" gun prior to going down. I believe the Hopkins was the only Liberty Ship credited with sinking a German ship as the German ship Stier was so heavily damaged by the Hopkins that she was scuttled. The painting below can be seen at the academy and I thought as an artist you would appreciate this tribute to O'Hara. Cadet Edwin O'HaraSS Stephen Hopkins

Welcome aboard Cricket. Good to see such lovely work as yours. I for one am looking forward to seeing more of your work. Allan

Richard, Shame on me for not spotting your build log before now. Your attention to detail is awesome. I will be referencing it for sure the next time a schooner project comes in. Allan

My preference is as Chuck states, do the wales first, with one exception, that is if the wales are to be anchor stock or top and butt planks. In that case I install the top strake of the lower thick stuff as a guide for the wales. The top edge of the thick stuff will make it easier to form the curved bottom edge of the wales pieces. Allan

Hello Hook From Lees Masting and Rigging, page 40. When hearts were used, the lanyard was spliced into the upper heart, then rove through alternate hearts, using as many turns as the heart would allow or until the lanyard was used up. The end of the lanyard was seized to the turn of the lanyard adjacent to itself with a couple of seizings. Allan

Rib, This video may be of some interest to you. High temp silicone molds are easy to make. I have used pewter and melted it with a propane torch directly in a ladle so costs of equipment are negligible. You can also forgo the pewter or similar casting metal and use two part resin with most any silicone mold that you make. There are dyes that you can get to make the resin black before pouring. Would not have to be a high temp version. Allan

Beat to Quarters -- Any name you can share by which we can address you? Took a quick look on the 'net about San Andres. Your island has had some interesting visitors, from Columbus to Henry Morgan. Sounds like a beautiful place on earth to be living. Welcome to MSW!!! Allan

Welcome to MSW David! Let us know a little about yourself and if you have any projects going on. There are thousands of potential helpers here should you need any!! Allan

Thanks for sharing these. How does one get to Norfolk Island? Looking at maps, it seems to be rather small and quite a distance from both NZ and Australia. Allan

Les, If you are not set up for carving in wood, some clays are an alternative. Look at the build log of the Royal Katherine by Doris as she goes into a lot of detail on decorations using clay. Allan

Welcome aboard Doug. For tape bleed...… put on the tape, then, with brush or spray, coat the edges of the tape where the paint is to be applied with a clear finish that is compatible with the material, be it wood or plastic. This will seal the edge and prevent bleeding under the tape. Once dry, paint the color you want. Once the paint is dry, remove the tape and you will have a clean sharp edge. I have used masking tape and pin striping tape, the latter doing a better job. Many auto parts stores carry pin striping tape so not hard to find and it comes in several widths and colors. Another use for pin striping, at least for larger scales, is a final striping material. Several coats of a clear finish over the tape will soften the edge. The tape holds up very well. The model of Columbia has literally been at sea on the Allure of the Seas since she was launched in 2009 with no ill effects. Photo below shows her hull with the white pin stripe I used. Cheers, Allan

Sam, What ship/era are you building? David Antscherl gives a very detailed explanation and drawings in volume II of The Fully Framed Model for the Swan Class Sloops of 1767-1780 on pages 73 and 74 but this may not apply to your ship if it is a totally different era, nationality, etc. Allan

Not sure what you are looking for. Can you post some pics? The simple answer is wood glue, but it sounds like you are having some other problem such as holding the layer down on the frames while the glue dries. Allan

David, I am not familiar with Spanish ships, but English ships rarely had crows feet for the topmasts, (Lees Rigging and Fitting page 56) While the plans for the kit may call for them, this may not be accurate. Hopefully a member can cite a more reliable source as to their use. That aside, tensioning the crows feet is simply a matter of tightening using the blocks and line between the euphroe and stay. The sketch is similar to that shown in Lees for a main stay, but would surely be similar for the top mast crows feet. Allan

David, Sorry to ask but what do you mean by spider lines? Not sure if you are referring to crows feet and the euphroe or something else. Allan

Hi Wahka, As this is your first build, don't get discouraged, we all go through a long winding learning curve. Have you tried acetone? The argument continues for and against the use of CA and you may have just provided another reason not to use it. Some builders use it sparingly with success, others don't even have it in their shop. Lesson learned here I would guess. For the future, carpenters' glue such as Tite Bond or other brands is much easier to work with for any wood to be glued and can be soaked with alcohol or water to remove a piece if necessary and does clean up a bit more easily. Allan

Glenn, If your are building the Lady Nelson at scale 1:64 and with treenails for the decking at probably 3/4" or 1" diameter, they would only be about 0.011 to 0.015 in diameter. Even the Byrnes draw plate, which is an excellent piece, only goes to 0.016 diameter and it is difficult to make treenails this small in diameter even with bamboo. Scott Chambers suggestion above may be a good one with the right filler material. If the scale is indeed 1:64, drill holes in #78 or 80 size and fill with a wood filler that is a LITTLE different in color than the decking. Too much contrast will look like a case of the measles. At these small diameters even this method may not work so well. Showing deck treenails at this scale may not be a good idea at all. Some people, myself included, believe that oversized treenails look far worse than none at all. Maybe make a few test pieces and see how it looks using different methods then decide which, if any, you like. Allan

Hi Don, My apologies, and I hate to do this, but have to start with a couple questions regarding your question. What approximate size, era, nationality are you referencing? You mention skiff, but is it truly a flat bottom boat like a skiff or some other type of small boat such as a ship's boat? If you are working on something like a ship's boat from yesteryear the following may be of some help. The line sizes varied with the size of the boats themselves. Examples of long boat, yawl, and pinnace standing and running rigging sizes for British ships can be found in Mays' The Boars of Men of Way. A couple examples - Main sail halyards for a longboat of about 30 feet had a 2" circumference where as a longboat of about 21 feet on a fifth rate was 1.5" circumference. Same sizes applied to the sheets. But, the jib halyards for a 31 foot long boat was 2" circumference and the sheets were 2.5" circumference. For a 21 foot long boat, both the jib halyard and sheets were 1.5" Standing rigging was larger. Shrouds for a 31 foot long boat were 4" circumference and for a 21 foot longboat 3". He also lists wooden hoops on the mast as sails were not laced directly to the mast. Allan

Beautiful painting Wefalck!! Allan

Tony, I really have no idea on how it would be stowed, but I would think it would be stowed forward, under a thwart. If the bow area is closed off between the stem and forward most thwart, perhaps under there, so it is out of the way along with the rode and line. Regardless, I would want it to be at least a little visible on the model as it looks great! Allan

Chris, Did you consider asking a licensed allergist physician or even your family practice physician? Allan

Gerard, I second Lou's response. I was lucky to meet Jim some years ago at his shop when I was in his area on a business trip and he gave me a great tour on building a thickness sander which I ordered by the time we were done. Same for Chuck, when I was living in NJ I was fortunate to attend a number of model club meetings in north New Jersey where Chuck has been a very very active member. He was giving great tutorials long before he jumped into his current business. You will not be disappointed. Allan

Shotlocker Sorry, but I have to throw this one in to you being from Indiana, PA. I remember some fine times at Patti's (I think on Philadelphia Street) some 50+ years ago when coming in for weekends to visit my then girlfriend (now wife of 50 years.) Anax While this is a light gun compared to what is found on Sovereign of the Seas it does show four live or rolling trucks, not two. https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/36827.html Drawings of guns in The Restoration Warship by Richard Endsor, which is centered on Lenox (1677), shows drawings with four rolling, or live trucks for demi-cannon on the gun deck and two live trucks and two dead trucks on demi-culverin on the upper deck. Swan, 1693 had dead trucks and live trucks on small carriages as did one or more of the thirty ships of 1677. Either way, the guns recoiled and would require a breeching rope, running rigging to bring the gun back into position for firing and rigging to bring them inboard as well when finished being in use. The model of the 1655 fourth rate at Preble Hall shows that the guns are rigged but I do not have any closeups where one can see the rigging other than the breeching ropes. The carriages on this model appear to use four live trucks on the upper deck. The following from John Seller's Sea Gunner's Companion 1691 shows live trucks but no rigging. His book may have other drawings with both live and dead trucks. The book itself may have details on rigging if you can find access to a copy. Choosing live and/or dead trucks and proper rigging for the 1640 era, hopefully someone here at MSW will have more concrete information. Sorry this is not at all conclusive, but hopefully will be a little bit of help to you. Allan

I have been using a MM table saw for many years with little to no issues. With the exception of using very thin, fine tooth blades for cutting shallow kerfs/slots/grooves for making gratings as described by Frolich in The Art of Ship Modeling (pp.117-119) I always use carbide tipped blades that are thicker. It makes more sawdust, but zero issues with the blade wobbling. Allan