wefalck

No. 2 are some sort of fairleads indeed, or half-clamps. When hauling-down a line, it is not so easy to put it around the belaying pin, while there is pull on it; if you hook the line onto the fairlead, the friction reduces the pull and you can handle the end more easily. No. 3 looks like an 'eyebolt' in which a line is secured with a 'stopper knot' at the end; these were use on the inside of bulwarks in pairs to secure rope-ladders for getting on-board. No. 1 is too blurred, but if nos. 1 are the same on both images, than it would be the same as No. 2.

brunelrussel, could you just put up a link to the picture in question ? I also get assorted unuseful results. In addition to the more common vertical machine telegraphs, in the earlier days also horizontal ones were in use. Machine telegraphs on the bridge are connected by wire to an equivalent device in the engine-room. With the lever you set the desired speed/direction, which is indicated to the engineer by hand connected to the lever; the engineer has to confirm your instruction by moving his handle over the hand, which in turn moves the hand on your device; if both conincide the instruction was received and acknowledged. There were also bells connected to the device to attract attention. The 'thing' could also be a rudder indicator ...

Haven't actually heard of the 'fan' as proportional dividing tool before I used a simple paper strip for each frame/bulkhead to take off the circumference and subdivided the measured circumference into an equal number of strakes/planks of calculated (pocket calculator) width, beginning from the middle of the ship. If the plank width becomes too wide at the end(s), you will have to add stealers and vice versa. There are usually certain strakes that run uninterruptedly along the whole length and that have a fairly uniform width, namely the wales. These planks should be put into place first, dito the strake along the keel. The remaining spaces then are subdivided as appropriate. 'Fitting' the planks is a good advice and follows prototype practice. Trying to shape a priori all planks is likely to lead to frustration and poor fit ...

I have been using silkspan for several models over the past 40 years or so, for both, single-panel sails as well as sails made up from individual panels. I used the lightest variation, 14 g/m^2 I think, but think it is only suitable for scale of 1:60 or bigger. The material is thin, but not very tighly woven. For this reason, the 'holes' in the weave need to filled with paint or lacquer. Originally, I used gouache paint, because it is dull flat, but when acrylics became available I used those. Acrylics remain flexible, while gouache is brittle and might peel off. Rather than using white glue for adding the seams and re-enforcements, I used the same paint as for painting the silkspan. The bolt-rope, however, was attached using white glue. For sails made up from individual panels, I prepare the material in a similar way as in the video and then cut strips of the required width. For assembling the sail, I draw its pattern on a piece of cardboard, which is then covered with clingfilm. The panels are glued together using the paint and the whole is let to dry thoroughly. Seams, re-enforcements and bolt-ropes are attached as before. Furling such sails has to be done with caution, as the narrow line of attachement between the panels can come loose quite easily. It has to be said that such sails are opaque and not translucent as some people like them to be.

Not sure 'bitumen', whatever it really is, is a good solution. I know some of the Russians use it, but there are more easily obtainable paints. It appears, as if indeed various washes of paint were used and some wiped off after application. I would think they were oil-washes, but this technique requires a lot of time, because the oils have to 'dry' (oxidise). No intermediate sealers are needed on properly dried oils. A semi-gloss varnish seems to have been used over everything to blend it in. Using acrylics is faster, as they dry within minutes, so you can apply the next wash fast without disturbing the previous one. One can actully apply oil-washes on acrylics as well. They will deepen the colours. The same happens, when you apply a clear acrylic varnish over matt acrylic paints. Very nice 'muleta' indeed, the model shown above.

'dafi' is not a full-blown commercial tradesman, but rather a fellow modeller, who shares some of his developments. I gather some 'real life' issues, such as a house move, got in his way. I made him aware of the problem and I am sure, he will react soon.

For exactly that reason, that I couldn't find small enough chain, I put off a project for years, because it has stanchions with chains all around at 1:160 (N-scale). What I will be doing probably is to first twist two wires of suitable thickness together, but not too tightly and then twist two strands of those together, but into the opposite direction. This looks quite convincing like a somewhat twisted chain, at least better than any other solution I have come across so far. The thickness of the wire should be the scale-thickness of the wire from which the individual links of the chain in question would have been made. As you can get easily wires down to 0.05 mm diameter, that should cover at lot of needs in small scales. The colour can be a problem, but there are tinned Cu-wires (representing galvanised chain) or black wires at least down to 0.1 mm diameter. I would probably give them a light black wash or some silver dry-brushing to give more plasticity, but be judicious. Leaving details out at HO-scale is not really an option, particularly not chain-stays and the likes.

Absolutely right. I had downloaded Ordnance Instructions years ago and forgot about them. However, they do not contain many drawings of the different types of guns and their carriages. It is mostly a verbal description.

I don't have specific information on US Civil War practices, but the 1840s to 1870s have seen many attempts to improve the controlling and handling of guns as they became heavier. A particular problem was the control of the reoil and balancing the efforts of running the gun out against destroying the recoil in some way. These are two opposing requirements. The recoil on a gun on four-wheeled trucks is partially destroyed by its inertia, partially by the friction of the wheels on their axles, partically by the friction in the running-out tackles, and largely by the elasticity of the breech-rope. An additional problem is, that in a heeling and pitching ship, the direction of the recoil can be rather unpredictable. In order to catch two birds with one stone, a wooden bar with iron re-inforcements was laid underneath the trucks and pivoted on the deck; the truck was lifted onto the bar with an early form of compressor in order to turn its rolling movement into a sliding one with higher friction; also, the bar directed the recoil as it formed a sort of internal rail; the bar obviously could be trained. For similar reason the two-wheeled carriage was developed, as the hind-pads rather than -wheels increased the friction; the two-wheeled carriage was also combined with the above directional bar. It seems that such systems where particularly developed in France. I have some offcial naval artillery handbooks that cover the period from 1850 to the late 1870s, where these systems are shown in great detail. The French used them even in conjuction with 'modern' breech-loading rifled guns before they become supersed by pivoted carriages. Given that the French naval and weapons industry supplied at least the Confederate forces, it is not surprising to see such systems on ACW ships.

Recently I have come across very thin, down to 0.05 mm molybdenum wires that can be had from Chinese sources for little money. Apparently they are used to separate the (broken) glass from the displays of mobile phones ...

Preiser, in my view, makes the best figurines. However, they focus largely on 'railway' scales, namely 1:220 (Z), 1:160 (N), 1:120 (TT, limited range), 1:87 (HO), 1:43 (O, limited range), and 1:22.5 (LGB). There is also a military range for 1:72 scale aircraft. The availability of these figures made me choose 'railway' scales for my shipmodels. They do large sets of unpainted figures that are cheaper per piece and a good starting point for conversions. There also 'academy' sets in various scales, which are naked figures broken down into body-parts that can be assembled to your gusto and 'dressed' using the usual sculpting techniques. An example of using Preiser-figures is given here, for instance: http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/botter/botter.html#Creating_the_Staffage

See my response above ...

Tea is acidic and will bleach with time as most natural organic dyes. You would have to look for a permanent, synthetic dye or ink.

I guess wire is easier to coerce into shape ... I found it very difficult to twist three wires into a uniform 'rope', slight differences in tension make the wire with the least tension bulge ...

if it had to be really fast: every sailor had a knife in a sheath on his back so that it could be reached by both hands ...

My sailing instructor in 1971 told me to have the loose end always on the outside and the standard German textbook on ropework for yachtpeople (first published in 1953, got the 1969 edition) warns against having the loose end inside, because it can rub against the bollard etc. and become damaged ... Apropos books: I build up a considerable library of contemporary and antique books, but found that it has become devalued quite a bit (apart perhaps from the collector's value), because many of them can now be downloaded for free on the Internet. Still it is nice to have them on the shelves around you

Just catching up again with this wonderful work !

Going to be interesting. I am not very familiar with the 17th century, as I am more into the 19th century. It is interesting to see how either a type evolved over time or how a denomination shifted from one type to another. In any case, the boeiers of the 19th century look rather different from those of the 17th century and also have a different purpose, being either a short-distance private conveyance or pleasure boat (equivalent to a horse-drawn carriage in less waterlogged parts of the world), rather than being a freight ship. I always found these Dutch boats somewhat bizarre and ungainly - but got to love them during my years in Noord-Holland ...

In Europe, we don't seem to have these 'For Sale' signs for sale - indeed, in some countries they are forbidden in order not to deface the looks of streets For a cheap alternative to a styrene sheet, you can also coat a piece of paper in sanding filler, which will give you a similar non-absorbing surface. In general, it is a good idea to test the appearance of a painting scheme on some material of similar surface roughness to were you want to apply it. Surface structures can be a curse and a blessing - mostly a curse, I think, because they are usually grossly overscale. Figure painters, particularly the 'war-gaming' fraternity, seem to like them, because you get a lot of (pseudo-)detailing with a simple dry-brushing technique. Personally, I like acrylics, because they dry fast, so that you can work fast without washing off previous layers of paint. Other people work in artists' oils with very good results, but this requires more patience, as you will have to wait for several days between washes and there is always the risk that the high solvent content (turpentine) of a wash dissolves a previously layer, when you insist too much with a brush. Working with multiple layers of washes has the advantage that you can built up slowly the desired effect and that you can wash/rub off the layer you worked on while it is still wet, if you don't like what you did. The process gives a lot of control over the effect to be achieved. Adding washes at particular places allows you to control the hue or saturation of colours, depth of shadows and strength of highlights. You can mix this with other media, such as pastels or coloured pencils, e.g. for highlighting edges.

Actually, I think every shipmodeller should have a book on knots/hitches on the bookshelf for reference (and doesn't quite need to be the 'Ashley'), even though a lot can be gleaned off the Internet these days. There are also several Web-sites that illustrate, how they are tied. Search for instance for 'animated knots'. However, beware that these sites are not always 100% fool-proof and sometime perpetrate common mistakes. For instance here: http://www.animatedknots.com/bowline/ the bowline knot it done incorretly with the loose end inside the loop, which can make it difficult to untie, if it becomes wedged between the loop and the bollard ...

'Marbleing' and 'Wood-Graining' were actually specialisation in the painters' trade, but have largely died out after WWII with Resopal and Melamin taking over as false wood surfacing. It still seems to enjoy a certain popularity in the UK, judging by the fact that you can buy instruction books on it and some of the tools, such as special rubber combs, rollers and brushes to imitate wood grain. I have one of those books and others on faking materials. If you have a chance to visit the Zuiderzeemuseum in Enkhuizen (NL) to see their collection of traditional Dutch boats, you should also pay the old painter's shop a visit, where they demonstrate the techniques of marbleing and wood-graining. BTW, your fake (I hesitate to use this word these days ... the French faux seems to be less loaded ) looks really good, Druxey.

A ring-light is definitely a most useful attachement to any mill. I found the microscope-ones to bulky for my machines and thus fabricated one myself. The basis was a so-called angel-light, an LED-ring to be installed in car head-lights that you can buy for a Euro or so from ebay, plus another couple of Euros for a small electronic transformer ('LED-driver'): http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/tools/attachments/attachments.html#Ring-light Not sure that I would go for the Sherline 8-axis configuration. Tramming the column to be vertical can be a pain. I would rather go for tilting vice or the Sherline-native tilting mounting plate. I would agree that a rotating table is a useful implement, if not even a must ...

I am actually using paints pre-diluted for the airbrush. I put a drop into a glass mixing palett and water into an adjacent cup. The paint is diluted in the brush and applied. If needed, I take more water into the brush and distribute it. As long as the acrylic is wet it can be diluted or washed off again. Once dry, the paint is permanent and more washes can be applied without removing the previous ones. The trick is to build up the desired effect from several layers.

Actually, my 'workshop' is a 3.5 sqm (= 36 sq ft) corner of my office, where I earn my living. I made some small (1' by 2') workstations, like the one above, for the heavier, metal-working machines. The other machines are kept on shelves around.

Got some shelving in solid beech staves cut to size, or you may find cut-offs from similar kitchen tops. I sanded them nicely and gave them a coat of cellulose sanding filler, which was rubbed down with steel wool. This gives a nice satin finish that is quite resistant to oil, easy to clean and pleasing aesthetically. Otherwise, I made boxes or under-bench cupboards with drawers for the numerous attachments and tools one tends to collect with time. For the spindle tools (chucks, collets) I turned the drawers upside-down and drilled holes for the shanks into them: