Javelin

I'm also surprised you don't get many comments (but also guilty of not frequently making any 🫣). Makes you probably the most underestimated modeller of this board! Definately considering your pace of construction. Great job on those stern decorations! I'm with Steve on that coppering as well, very sharp result.

Thanks for all the praise, it really is too much coming from builders like yourselves! It's all a bit crooked and far from the sharp level of modelling you mostly display! Unfortunately not much progress was made. It's not a real builder's block, since I'm still working on it, but priorities have shifted a bit and for this kind of detailing I need long stretches of time in which I can fully concentrate. Those long stretches of free time are missing at the moment. However some progress is made wherever I can. Not in the pictures, but I did also start making that railing on the portside forecastle to eventually finish that area of the vessel. This basically involves drilling the fairleads, adding stanchions and going from forward to aft, it only takes about 15 minutes for each, so I can do that when time is short. However, the main activities in the past weeks were those little stairs/platforms. Each pump dome has a platform with a stair: Here you see tank 1. The stair on the vapour dome (forward, rectangular thing) still needs feet. Particular to these areas is that the tank dome are part of the tank and the tank is independent from the vessel structure. It basically sits inside on supports, but is not welded to the vessel. All this is done because of course the tank shrinks quite a lot when it is cooled down from ambient temperature to the low cargo temperatures. Underneath the skirts around those tank domes is a big rubber connection to keep the space around the tank air/gas tight. All this means that the tank dome comes down when the tank shrinks and comes back up when the tank is heated up, so there can not be any fixed/welded connection between the vessel and that tank. The stairs between the main deck and the tank dome are therefore fully resting on the main deck. Hence the need for these platforms and legs. A logical thing when you think about it, but very often still mistakes are made in shipyards where they do connect things like that... And as @Jim Lad rightfully mentions, those catwalks are also complicated. I've made steady progress on the most complicated part. A constant sequence of fitting, adjusting, fitting again, etc. In general I build them this way to get some rigidity in it. Two flat lines are used (in this case the side of a heavy battery and the steel ruler) and a small weight (in this case a sharpening stone) to push the grating into the glue. I use multiple sections of grating to keep the, often bent, plastic L-shaped parallel, while I glue the first piece of grating. Afterwards I make my way forward. The intersections are chosen to create maximum strength in the direction I want it, be it longitudinal or transversal. As long as it's not complete, it's wobbly, so I use the cardboard template to test fit it. It's a very delicate fit, since I don't have anything to really hold it in place. It's not only longitudinal or transversal fitting, but also rotation, I need those catwalks to be parallel to the centerline as well. And since it's extremely light, it shifts off the supports the moment I touch it. That said, the main part is done. It's now "self supporting". As you can see the forward edge is not finished yet. Next step is now measuring and finishing the aft edge, where it connects to the existing catwalk. When that is done, she's "fixed" in the longitudinal direction and I can cut the forward part to length and finish it. It also needs 3 additional smaller platforms that lead to stairs, those will follow afterwards to make sure they are resting on their supports. After that it needs railing and that is a very time consuming part. I also noticed I'm going to be short of PE stanchions for my railing... And probably by a LOT. As a last note, you also see that complicated bended pipe (unpainted) that I needed to make. That was a rather impossible part to bend in one piece, so I had to build it up out of several pieces. Still not fixed though. There's another, easier one, towards the back, but it's not in the picture.

The aft part seems to be bolted on and has the same shade as the hub, so I assume it's also brass (blades also seem bolted with their base to the hub). The forward shaft clearly has a different shade, I'd guess steel, but I'm not too familiar with that age in shipbuilding.

Actually nowadays they are painted matt black by colreg regulation. The reason is that it shouldn't reflect the colour of the light at all, simply because the light would then be visible from unwanted angles (in case of sidelight that would be from angles too much astern). That said, I believe that only came into use in 1970 or later, so for Lula I guess it's really up to you. In any case this thread is great to follow, so much detail on such a small model. She really looks the part!

After my little foray in the SIB theme, it's time to get back to this one. I had a few options, I guess I want for the most logical one and that is going forward from where I left off. So this is the area I'll be concentrating on for now. A cardboard template of the catwalk in that area is fitted to check out for size and fitting. Slight adjustments are required to let each part fit. However first I'll need to do that details on the lower levels inside the catwalk area. I'll probably destroy that catwalk if I'd put it on first. So you can see that white, unpainted structure with stair, that's one of the pieces that still needed to be made. That set me off on a whole series of small stairs. Basically each tank dome has a small 4-step stair to the main deck, so I started making all those first. This jig is about as old as the model itself, not perfect, but still good enough. It also allows to adjust angles for the different stairs etc. And the first ones are there. The one connected to the platform is a bit too flat, the angle isn't correct, so I'll change it by a steeper one. And the additional details required on the tank dome are the instrumentation box, cabling between the two pumps (similar to the aft tank dome) and the handrail. For the instrumentation box I needed to make the legs. To get it firmly on that deck, the legs are drilled into the deck before gluing. First I made a template based on the box bottom itself. I drilled 4 holes to fit the corners of the box. I then used that template to drill the holes in the deck. I then cut the legs to length, glued them to the box and used the template again to get them straight, so they'll fit in the holes in the deck later on. So here you see the glued legs to the box in the template. Hopefully it'll fit nicely in the deck now.

That's not a very true assumption, rope rarely, depending on the lay of it, has a tendency to coil up round. It generally depends on the lay, direction of coiling and simply the motion that is made during coiling that would define the shape of it. I must admit this is looking more like a coil that was made vertically, hanging and then laid down afterwards rather than a coil that was made straight on deck. But honestly... if that's the only question we can pose, he's doing a great job. And that's what this is! Great work all around, astonishing work and VERY Tiny blocks indeed!

Not sure if this will work, but plenty of plans of that ship on the Dutch national archives. Jacob Van Heemskerck

I think I'll make a half-hearted attempt at 4 frames of a ship and then go to Glen in despair and ask him to finish it for me 😁. I know, the starting point here was by no means half hearted, but if Glen can do it better, why make the effort...😆. Joking aside, regardsless of some historical accuracy issues (perhaps), you're doing a marvellous job here!

I kind of regret you're finished. She was a pleasure to follow and came out beautiful! Love the way you did the sails, brings an extra dimension to the build. I'm sure you learned a lot of things and will use those lessons in the next build.

Seems indeed the shop in Bruges (not Brussels, very insulting for Bruges 😋), is called Hobby Neverland, while the manufacturer is Neverland Hobby....

You are talking about a shop near Bruges. I've been there in the past. It's a shop, as far as I know they don't produce anything and are therefore different from the manufacturer Bruce is enquiring about.

I saw most of your updates by the posting on the main page, but seem to have missed quite something now. Finally following this topic, better late than never I guess. Great job on Lula, she looks very realistic. Having some gaps left and right is good in this case. She was pre industrial mass-production and therefore likely to be less sharp and crisp as anything built later on. Hope you didn't get hurt too bad from that fall...

That's a brilliant stand! Never seen this before, so quite original and beautifully executed. (the ship as well)

Although I don't have stands for my models, I'd look for supports for curtain rails of the rod type? Old brass versions of those. Perhaps modify them a bit.

YES PLEASE! A dredger would be fantastic! However, first Lula. A gorgeous piece of work and a great example of combining materials to reach an overall complicated appearance! True scratchbuilding. I can't imagine, but do hope, to be building such sharp and intricate details at your age.