Jaager

Is it a single continuous sheet? Does the grain look like a plane cut or a rotary veneer cut. The shape that the sheet wants to take looks like a rotary veneer cut and it is going back to it shape on the log. Is there a problem with what it will glue to? Is it a minimal surface with few contact points? Is there a problem with clamping it with enough pressure to get a strong bond? This is the natural conformation of the sheet. Any mitigation that you do before bonding will be a temporary fix. Mother Nature will fight you. Titebond II will hold it if done correctly, because that bond is stronger than the lignin bond holding the wood fibers together.

If you are like most of us, you are on the edge of a free fall that will last for 8 or 9 more years. Your interest, focus, and enthusiasm can literally change overnight. Too large a project that you lose interest in, can be both misspent money and a nagging mental thorn. Being politically incorrect by being too single product focused, starting with ONE - the dory - of the Model Shipwright beginner series is a prudent option. A deal on multiple kits is only a deal if you finish all of the kits. You might develop an interest in the dory by watching an old, old movie: Captains Courageous, 1937 version.

I do not believe that the situation where AAMM has a monograph of this vessel is a coincidence. My guess is that the AAMM plans were used to develop the kit and that royalties were paid. Now almost all wooden sail AAMM monographs are drawn with a eye toward laminated carved hull. They have a Body plan, so POB is easy enough to derive from it. Once you get beyond hull fabrication, the monograph contains more than enough detail and is probably better than the plans that come with the kit. The scale is 1:75 The data is on a large and crowded sheet. It is all "What". There is no "How". Besides this site, there are more than a few books, and three journals available as CDs here that more than cover the "How". We have wooden houses and many other wooden objects that are at least hundreds of years old. There are trees that are hundreds of years old. Wood is a polymer, but unlike man-made synthetic polymers, it does not get all that brittle with age. Too much moisture or direct UV over time will degrade it, but if the wood in an old kit is brittle or fragile, then this probably is because the species of wood and plywood quality supplied was crap to begin with.

As you do this, think about the physics of the operation. The plane of the cutting teeth and the plane of the fence must be parallel up thru the zone of active cutting. The part of the blade behind that is an encumbrance. It is a source of friction, A blade that is hollow ground or whose teeth have set can greatly reduce the friction. Hollow ground is more expensive, There is an outer ring in the zone with the teeth that is not ground. We are usually cutting stock that is so thin that some or all of it is still at the flat part. We loose the advantage that the hollow provides. Blades with significant set also have significant lose to kerf. If the fence has off set THAT IS LIMITED to the part that is behind the crown of the blade will reduce the friction. But, to do this, the fence must have two planes and must have special engineering. If the product being cut comes out between the fence and the blade, once the settings are precise and accurate, you can rock and roll forever. There is just kick back and pushing it all behind the blade to worry about. If the thin rip guide is used, there is no kick back and the push is easy. The fence must be moved after every cut, so no rock and roll. But a micrometer is not needed to reposition the fence. The surface of the stock that rides against the fence does not change with every cut. Another factor but not a part of this problem is that the ideal is that the blade be one with three teeth in the thickness of the stock being cut.

I forget the old joke, but the punch line: "It seemed like a good idea at the time." sort of fits this tool. I suspect that the primary utility of this thing is to allow the seller to get a return on the money that he spent on his laser cutter.

In respect to your living situation, I will suggest consideration of a vanishingly small segment in all this - at least when it comes to wood and sail: 1:192 scale. For pre-1860 wooden hulls - the models are small and many can be kept in a small area. For steel, it is probably too large. Cases are vital. The masts can be stubs. It would be 100% scratch. The skills and techniques are much most artist based than the technical woodworking skills that most of us perform. It is more simulation than replication. It is perhaps the one area in all this where, if done with real skill and talent, an actual profit can be had. For larger scales, half hulls mounted on a board - no spars - 100% scratch build.

OK. Expressing my philosophy on wood to wood PVA bonding: I use Titebond II. If it is getting thick, it is time to get a fresh supply. At this time and for a while now, I make a puddle on a piece of Cut-Rite wax paper. I use miniature foam stick applicator. Round toothpicks and whatever size foam piece will do the coverage I need. The foam is the squishy packing foam - not the peanut type, Duco works well to weld the handle to the foam. I do a just wet coat on both meeting surfaces. Any squeeze-out means you left too much. If I want a strong bond, and for some strange reason - and in a very rare situation - I felt the need to dilute PVA - 95% concentration and never less than 90% is as low as I would go. I do use 50:50 dilution of pH 7 Lineco to set linen yarn twisted to rope while it is hanging lead sinkers to set. It reduces the fuzz and unraveling.

Thinking about what Phil wrote, - I lost an elderly dog to blasto - and the interior being infected and a source of future problems, what with the concentration of fungal invasion being higher than ambient, I was thinking a gas to kill it. A gas that was an active fungicide would also probably be bad for model components. If dormant fungus or fungal spores are not anaerobes then a significant time in a 100% N2 chamber might turn the fungal infection part into inert organic material. What about the bloom on the guns? Is it just dried rain? Is it an outgrowth and attached? If it is a fallen powder, a simple, but tedious, mechanical removal may be the way. It is essentially maleficence for a museum not to case a ship model.

For a kit, a rotary tool is probably mostly a tool looking for a job. A pin vise can probably cut any needed holes. For scratch POF, and especially if the now out of favor trunnels for hull planking is your want, a rotary tool is a necessity. But more is the pity for those just starting - the best for this - the smaller size cordless models - are no longer for sale- i.e 8050 or MiniMite.

The blade can last longer than might be imagined. It can be given a coat of Renaissance Wax to reduce rust. A frequent stropping on leather with gold or green or red compd will keep it sharp. Just do not hit a nail. If you find that the work that a small plane does is to your liking, do yourself a favor and go from cheap and cheesy to quality. That is, check out Lee Valley Tools for their Veritas series.

The company that manufactures Gorilla "glue" uses Gorilla as the name for just about every type of adhesive that is available to the general public - including CA, PVA, rubber cement,.... If the original Gorilla glue is the subject of your inquiry - it is a water activated polyurethane. Once cured (fully polymerized) from what I can discover, a very sharp chisel is about to only way to reverse it. The lack of a reverse gear as well as the cure behavior (I think it foams) has this adhesive as one that is a very very bad choice for anything involving scale modeling.

Brute force nailing has worked for a long time in full size construction. This is usually done with softwood that has enough air space to mostly accommodate the increase in volume. This strictly friction hold is probably not wise with hardwood at full size and a totally bad idea at miniature scale. I suggest first drilling a hole with a diameter just slightly less than the diameter of the brass nail. A test will determine just how much less. If the receptor is plywood, it is likely end grain is involved. End grain makes for a very poor bond. With plywood molds, the outer edge may act more reliably if it is seriously primed with PVA ( with no excess ) a few days before anything else is done to it. If the tool applying force requires serious force from you, the receptor hole is too small. If the nail wants to bend, the receptor hole is too small. If an electrical hammer tool is anything but overkill, the receptor hole is too small. The cylinder type push tool is a poor choice. The MM plyer push pin tool is a better choice. A good quality curved Kelly hemostat is a better choice. If the nail is to remain, dipping the nail in 90% PVA - for hardwood or 100% PVA - for plywood may work in your favor.

I think a great deal of misunderstanding can be avoided if the terms in use on this subject have precise and agreed upon definitions. I suspect that I am not alone in having tunnel vision. What I mean is that while it is nice to have plans of the internal parts and all, the only plans of real significance for historical authenticity are hull shape lines plans.

Given your space limitations, if the hook gets firmly set and the scratch bug bites you there is an ultimate target that might fit. That target is miniature scale large vessels. The necessary skills veer heavily toward the artistic.

Various protein based adhesives were pretty much all that was available before WWI. There are hide glues that are still commercially available. They probably rate more consideration than we give them. I wonder if shellac would serve as a rigging fixative? The less extracted grades of flakes - dark auburn and amber may even turn inappropriate bleached running rigging into a more accurate straw color. They would be easy to apply and have an effective reverse gear.

One of mine is a hollow core no panel Lauan closet door. I cemented a layer of Linoleum to the top. I see that now they are Masonite. The wider - the better. The length can be shortened and a piece of Pine glued in the opening if 80" is too long. There is a furring strip back splash - two power strips fixed to it, with two large holes for the power strip cords. The base is two economy 2 drawer file cabinets. I discarded the drawers and fixed plywood shelves. I used wood scrap glued to the underside of the door to make two sockets for the top of the cabinets. The bottom of the cabinets can sit on wood risers to get a preferred bench top height. I have a second version with a narrow width door as the bench top. It sits on two kitchen cabinet bases. One has drawers and the other has shelves and doors. The legroom is less but the additional height gets my drill press and other machines up to a better working height.

I would add Underhill to basic library list. If you favor wooden sail of US subjects, most everything that HIC wrote can be useful. How much depends on your focus. If you have a supply source with post office boxes, you may be able to use Amazon to obtain additional tools while in the boonies. Plastic kits are where the instructions are expected to cover any information needed - except sophisticated painting and weathering. Wooden ship model kit instructions are mostly about details that are unique to the subject being modeled. The general techniques are so diverse and dense that it is not realistic nor possible for a kit to supply them. If you get hooked into all of this for the long term, the store here is a good base. Two printed volumes of shop notes. CDs that have all volumes of NRJ, SIS, and MB. The latter two are very much more kit centric than NRJ. The NRJ was and should still be mostly focused on what a spy would report about his current ships- shape and parts - narration about what was happening.. There is no single book that does it all. It is a matter of cherry picking a technique here and a tip there. This involves lots and lots of "trees" to pick from.

I see the plank butt of every other strake on the same beam as one of Ulises' options, and OcCre seems to love it, but when and where was this hideous pattern ever really used?

For this rigging function, starting with Zinsser clear - any dilution would be a wet finger in the wind sort of thing, but probably in the very slight range i.e. 1 part thinner to 9 parts saturated shellac. Shellac has several grades one is ruby red more common is amber then blonde / super blonde- which is also termed clear there is also an "ultra" clear grade that probably falls the negative side of a cost vs benefit determination. The material removed to lighten the color is a wax - or it is called a wax. This wax also helps solublize the shellac. The closer the grade is to water clear, the lower is the concentration at saturation. Also, shellac flakes have a definite shelf life. The older the flakes, the less soluble they are. If they do not dissolve fairly quickly, I would advise trashing them, eat the loss and buy fresh. If you are not familiar with shellac - it is probably better to buy the already dissolved version. The aerosol version strikes me as being a completely absurd and pointless product. Shellac is soluble in alcohols. Way back when, it was methanol (methyl alcohol, wood alcohol) It has the advantage is being free of water. It will also ruin your life if you drink it. It may be difficult to find now. Shellac thinner now is ethanol. From a practical position it is 95%. The 5% water is all but covalently bonded. Shellac "loves" water. It shows its joy in binding with it, by turning white. It is easily repaired, but no fun to do. The 5% in shellac thinner is not enough water to be a problem 100% isopropyl alcohol will also work as a solvent A primer coat of shellac on a wood surface is a 1:1 dilution of the saturated shellac. Amber shellac seems to be about twice as soluble as super blonde - the ultra is maybe even less soluble with a short shelf life.

A Web search = 3 possible A Loctite two part CA product dangerous chemicals and probably tends to spread A polyprop hot melt glue stick difficult to hide, limit the amount, and not get burned fingers One of the several Gorilla glue varieties. no idea - but it could be company hype passing as objective rec PE and PP have a surface that is glass-like in that there is no opportunity for a mechanical bond system to work.

There is(?) a ship model society in DC, but that is a bit of a haul from Waterford. Were I just beginning in ship modeling, I would want several projects of progressively more difficult subjects to build my skill set before I attempted to essay a frigate. The Modelshipways new beginner series is a painless entry. It has the advantage of providing the skills to build boats - something that most every ship has at least one of and usually several. The 1834 Belle - I would suggest sticking with 1:75 unless you have prior experience with changing the scale of plans. The model will be sufficiently large - especially if you are not the solo decision maker. Oh, check this site for the numerous posts about rescuing old dusty, greasy, wrecked models for a reason to plan for a case. The most common hull construction method for the French AAMM model plans - at least when the plans were drawn - seems to have been: carved hull from WL layers. I think that the Belle AAMM plans are aimed at the advanced skill level. The plans seem to be really focused on masting and rigging. In view of the presently popular styles here: Building the hull as designed: carved and shaped WL lamination is a realistic option. Clear White Pine would probably be more pleasant to work than Basswood. Based on scratch build forum logs here, this seems to be unpopular. POB seems to taken hold - even for scratch. I could probably not have a more negative attitude toward POB, so I would never ever consider it. But there is enough data in the Body plan for it. The outside plank thickness would have to be subtracted. There are not enough stations to support a single layer of planking, unless all of the gaps between the molds have a filler. With a double layer of planking, you would have complete control of the thickness of each layer with your subtraction. My initial thoughts on 1834 Belle - were I too attempt it: The lines/ Body plan seem to be outside the planking. (I think they were taken off of a contemporary model.) The frigates and larger ships of the 1815-1860 era were in general utilitarian - not sexy enough to be worth bare frame POF. I would use my usual Station Sandwich method. A solid wall of frames (HomeDepot 2x4 Pine) and use the lines as presented up to the wale. I would cover the bottom - directly on the frames - with copper painted rag bond paper. The wale and above = check Meade for appropriate outside planking thickness and subtract that from the outside lines. It is a different country, but I do not read French and the physics of wood is not subject to national whims.

To mount the blade, there must be a slot. The slot has two outer wings of the table flying in the breeze and subject to flex. 58, 59, 60 look like they are involved with connecting the two outer wings so that the table is a single unit. To change a blade, they would have to be removed. They are probably the easiest parts to go missing. What you have there is a 3 wheel bandsaw. They are a nightmare. The blades do not want to track. They are difficult to mount. They tend to slip off the wheels. For resawing, be prepared for a lot of frustration, heartache, and a low productivity with a lot of wedge slices instead of rectangles. You may have to have replacement blades custom welded. Standard 3-4 tpi steel blades have way too much set. They chew up the faces of a cut. Wider blades will not assure better tracking. Are you sure that the giftor is really a friend? 😉 For a bench top bandsaw, I suspect that a 10" Rikon with the big motor - 1/2 HP - would be about a magnitude easier and more reliable. If it is scroll cutting that will be its function, a Carter Stabilizer is worth what it costs and then some. Lenox Diemaster2 1/4" 4 tip is my sweet spot.

Zero data, but if a pin rail on a solid mount would solve the problem and I was determined to be economical and efficient, I would give a thought to placing a pin rail at the front of the deck house.

You found contradictory information because this subject is more about opinion and what you are used to than it is a set formula. It is also difficult to follow because there is zero discipline exercised with the definitions for the words. If we could have a common agreed definition for sealer a useful one would be "a thick clear finish material that contains small solid particles whose function is to fill open pores in the wood species that have them, interact with the finish material so as to be translucent, and leave a glass smooth finish." It is better to never use a species of wood that would need a sealer if the wood is to be clear finished. If you are going to paint the wood, and it is an open pore species (that is being used anyway) a filler then sanded smooth will do what a sealer does. A primer reduces the number of coats of paint needed on a raw surface. If you are painting a room with an expensive paint, a low cost primer coat may save you money. This factor is not a significant one at model scales. But multiple thin coats may serve better than one thick one. A traditional first coat over raw wood is 50% diluted shellac. It is compatible with just about any follow on material. It is easy to apply. Maybe not necessary, but no real downside. For most of us, a sealer is probably best reserved for those building full size furniture.

http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/ships/ca/c-06/olympia-232-enc/enc-review.html When I did a search for USS Olympia - to make sure of the ship identity and how a ship from the Great White Fleet era could have a crewman who was close to someone still living - this link came up. A very old plastic kit seems to have been resurrected. I have no idea about its quality, but at least the actual plastic material will not have been subjected to 70 years of possible oxidation and continued polymerization to a brittle or powder covered surface. It is a shame that the Bluejacket version was such a short run.