wefalck
-
Posts
6,358 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Events
Everything posted by wefalck
-
Very nice work - as usual, of course. I only wonder about the padded bars in this case. They would actually impede the lowering of the boats. Normally, the davits would be turned somewhat to swing the stern of the boat backwards, then the boat passes between the davits bow first, the davits are swung around to bring the boat parallel to the ship, and it then lowered. In situations like this the boats would be secured in their chocks by so-called gripes, straps of canvas with a hook at the end that go over the edge of the boat. At the other end the straps have a bull's eyes with which they can be lashed tight to an eye-bolt on the deck. To my knowledge these padded bar are only used when the boats are hung outside of the ship in their davits. the boats are then pulled against them using cross-wise canvas straps to prevent them from swinging during the ship's movements. -
The Stirling Single No. 1 was (as number indicates) the first of a series that evolved during the 1870s. There are many monographs on British locomotives, also on this one: Leech, K.H., Boddy, M.G. (1965): The Stirling Singles.- 160 p., London (David & Charles Ltd.). This and the Dapol-kits are from the 1960s or 70s or so and definitely do not have the amount of detail one would expect to find on a 2020s kit. On the other hand, British steam-locomotives seem to have had much less outside details compared to their continental sisters. Only from the 1960s on, they became similar in appearance. Unfortunately there are not so many early to mid-Victorian era R2R locomotive models or kits around. There may be a few in etched brass, intended to be motorised for running. I didn't start 'No. 1' for lack of time and also it would require a lot of 'kit bashing' to bring the details to it that are possible in 1/76 scale. I would also replace all the parts that would be bright metal with real metal ('only real metal looks like real metal'). Perhaps I would build it from scratch, using the kit as overall guidance, rather than 'destroying' what is essentially an untouched historic kit. Talking about 'real metal', I am curious how you will treat the works of the BR86.
-
There was the Kitmaster kit of the GNR Stirling Single No. 1 (as preserved in the UK National Railway Museum): https://www.scalemates.com/de/kits/kitmaster-9-stirling-8ft-single--182022. I have one, but these historic kits are rather pricey. The British company Dapol offers various OO plastic kits for British locomotives: https://www.dapol.co.uk/collections/self-assembly-unpainted-oo-kits?srsltid=AfmBOorSykTN6uY7jggiYn6myTihg-CISKiDhw6eQkDOUDl1_UEPoRG-&page=2
-
The wire-'seams' look like an idea to try out 👍🏻 The problem with (diluted) PVA-glue is probably that its surface tension is still too high and and it does not penetrate well. In general, the penetration is better, when glue/paint is brushed on, but indeed that may disturb the layout of the wires. I worked on the material stretched out on a board covered with clingfilm and then cautiously brushed on a fast-drying solvent-based varnish, that penetrates better.
-
scissors, shears, cutters for rigging
wefalck replied to palmerit's topic in Modeling tools and Workshop Equipment
It doesn't work with plain threads, particularly cotton, but once stiffened with varnish, one can use so-called cutting-tweezer to nip-off rope close to knots etc.. They are used by watchmakers to shorten watch-springs and have very hard cutting edges cut flat on the outside, so are cutting flush. They are also around 30 of the usual currency units. BTW, a major advantage, in my view, are that the Castrovejo-scissors are lightly sprung, so you don't have to put your finger in and can operate them from the tip of your fingers. The light leaf-springs give you a positive feel of what you are cutting. They are available straight and curved. -
scissors, shears, cutters for rigging
wefalck replied to palmerit's topic in Modeling tools and Workshop Equipment
It depends how thick the 'rope' is. For very thin (fly-tying) threads and ropes made from them I use so-called Castrovejo eye-surgery scissors that come in various sizes. There are traders (e.g. on ebay) who sell 'seconds' that for some reason or another have not made it through the QA procedures that allow them to charge doctors or hospitals 150+ €/US$/£ for them. They still may be in the range of 30 to 50 €/US$/£, but worth their money. -
Hull colour.
wefalck replied to serpe's topic in Building, Framing, Planking and plating a ships hull and deck
It boils down to the question, whether one wants to build a 'realistic' or 'artisanal' (as most of the museum) models. -
Perhaps it is also helpful to look at pictures of the real ship or catalogues of yacht/ship chandlers of the respective times. I think several of the latter are available on the Internet, e.g. archive.org.
-
I suppose these winches are supposed to be sheet etc. winches for the J-Class yacht? In this case, they don't look to me too bad at all - as a starting point. What would be missing, would be some details. Presumably, there would be some wooden reinforcement on the deck, where the winch is located. They also should have a crank, though these would not be permanently rigged, but only used when needed. There would be a square or hexagonal hole for them on top of the winches. You could fake this by simply drilling a shallow hole. On the other hand you could also make cranks. Such winches would be typically made from steel/cast iron and perhaps chrome-plated. You could get some chemical tinning solution to give the brass a silver metallic colour. For a display model with all-brass fitting, I would just leave them like they are.
-
Hull colour.
wefalck replied to serpe's topic in Building, Framing, Planking and plating a ships hull and deck
Pine-tar was commonly used on European vessels operating North of the Bay of Biscaye, as there - at the time - the risk of attack by Terredo navalis was limited and the phenols in the tar were sufficient to discourage weeds for some time. Going further South or let alone to the tropics needed stronger stuff. This is were the (off-)white concoctions come in. When Marquardt was talking about a pine-tar/sulphur concoction, was he referring to ENDEAVOUR's original configuration as collier by chance ? -
These clinker-boats look very nice. I suppose, they will be shown covered?
-
This is always the dilemma, when we are building 'realistic' (as opposed to 'artisanal') models: how to make it look rough without looking like shoddy workmanship. It can be quite instructive to have a look at what railway- and plastic-modellers do, though some tend to overdo the 'weathering' a bit.
- 28 replies
-
- 3
-
-
- sultan
- Artesania Latina
- (and 1 more)
-
Actually, unless it were one of those modern tourist-dhows, it is unlikely that the deck of dhow ever shone. They were built rough and treated rough in their daily life. Deck and planking of the real thing also would not be too regular, as wood in this part of the world is a precious good. These dhows were built from timber imported from India for important structural parts and cheaper and more crooked wood, such as Mango, was used for other parts. They had to make do with whatever lengths and widths was available.
- 28 replies
-
- 3
-
-
- sultan
- Artesania Latina
- (and 1 more)
-
Well, if I had the space, I would have a spraying booth, a photo booth, long benches with all the different machines set up as workstations ... 😁 Nice set-up anyway, gives you something to dream about at least.
-
Talking about polyester threads and 'ropes' made from them: they are certainly less compliant than cotton, but also less fuzzy. I manage them by dabbing them in situ with a fast drying solvent-based varnish (zapon varnish). In this way you can hold them in place while the solvent evaporates and a drop of acetone makes them pliable again should you not be happy with the result. This works well on acrylic paints, but you may run into trouble with enamels (have not used them anymore myself for years).
- 2,623 replies
-
- 2
-
-
-
- heller
- soleil royal
- (and 9 more)
-
Well, I was told so by my grandfather, who was in the German Imperial Navy. And my 1920s textbook on ship’s joinery clearly distinguishes stairs and ladders.
-
Once you were washed over board, you didn't care about anything anymore, that was the end of it ... Talking about negotiating stairs, which were always inclined by definition, on a ship you do this always backwards when going down, so you can hold onto the sides and your centre of gravity is over the stairs. So, no need for hand-rails.
-
Very professional looking indeed 👍🏻
-
Nice Scandinavian-looking outhouse you built there 👍🏻 ... and the boat is coming on nicely. One can imagine almost an old Nordic/Viking ancestry at this stage of building.
-
If there wasn't the messing around with the monomer resin. Hopefully, in couple of years or so I may have a dedicated workshop-room, but in the corner of the study in our apartment that is not such a good proposition 😞 The is also a steep learning curve to get to master the CAD modelling programmes, so I had some basic training in Auto-CAD a few years ago and regularly use my 2D CAD program. On another forum I am following a couple of guys, who model and print whole ships in 1/100 scale. Wonderful stuff they do. I am envious. On the other hand I would loathe to replace my 'historical' lathes and milling machines because they have become obsolete by this new technology. It took me years to build it up and now that it is in full working order it has become kind of obsolete in a way 😲 Well, at least for building 'realistic' shipmodels, perhaps not for 'artisanal' style models.
-
I am not really familiar with skipjacks, but if they had plain wooden decks, why would you want to stain and varnish it? Some people leave bare wooden decks bare wood, but one could also apply a sanding filler/shellac to aid sanding or rubbing down with steel-wool.
-
Ad 1: Brails on gaff-sails could only be used, when the sail was loose-footed, i.e. only attached to the boom by the sheet; you can't even use the brails with sail laced to the boom. Ad 2: My understanding of brails is that they were used on square sails to take up some of the weight of the sail when reefing or furling it; on gaff-sails they could be used to help furl the sail against the mast, particularly when rigged with a standing gaff; they were also used when sailing to adjust the centre of effort of the sail plan, to balance the ship on a particular course or to help tacking/going about. Ad 3: I don't really know, but as both storm-sails are smaller than the regular spanker, the hauling point would have to be further forward along the boom; their sheet could also be belayed at any convenient point, e.g. the rails; I wonder actually, why there shouldn't be any sheet for the spanker - somehow it has to be attached to the boom?
-
Professional etchers use either a foam- or a spray-etching process to achieve uniformity across the fret and reduce underetching of the edges. One thing I will try one day is to laser-print the design onto so-called thermotransfer-paper and iron the design onto the prepared metal sheet. One has to make a sleeve from the thermotransfer-paper with mirror-images of the design matching up exactly, so that the etching takes place from both sides. This reduces underetching and allows surface etching (say rivets), if the two designs are made appropriately. The toner acts as the resists and one does not need a separate etching mask and photoresist covered metal sheets.
-
Plexiglas (acrylic glass) is much harder and stiffer than polystyrene. It machines very well in comparison and keeps a keen edge. It can also be polished, unlike styrene, which comes handy when building skylights etc. I am kind of partial to Plexiglas, as I sort of grew up with it. My father worked for the pharmaceutical subsidiary to the parent company Röhm GmbH, the original manufacturer of Plexiglas. So we had easy and cheap access to it. In fact most of my supplies were acquired before my father retired in 1986, so the material above is probably more than 40 years old. A problem is that Plexiglas is not available in thicknesses of less than 0.8 mm. So, the 'structural' parts of the model will be made from Plexiglas, while the planking will be styrene - not ideal, because I would have preferred something stiffer. I could use bakelite-paper, which works very well for the purpose, but I want to engrave some of the planks (as one will see later on in the building-log) and that does not work very well with the brittle bakelite. Also, I would have to glue everything with CA, which I don't like too much.
-
I wonder, whether there aren't any photo-etching service suppliers on your side of the pond that cater (also) for modellers? Over here in Europe we have several established in the market for years - I know one or two in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland (the latter two are price-wise quite competitve due to lower salaries). I had a go at photo-etching myself a few years ago, but with mixed results. The main issues I identified was producing masks of sufficient black density with my printers and the primitive etching process in cuvettes I used. Even for the small frets I made uneven etching across the fret was a problem. Our parts are quite different from PCBs, because we have parts that are to be etched through (no backing board) and we also etch in different layers (surface etching). Most home-made PCBs are also unlikely to have such fine and dense details as are required for modelling.
Our Emblem ®
