wefalck

Tony, hand-scraping is an old-time, well, art of precision-fitting of machine surfaces. With a chisel-like tool minute amounts of metal are removed until a perfect fit or match has been achieved. More details e.g. here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_scraper. The 'fitters' at the same time tried to achieve a pleasing looking surface. Today with CNC-precision grinding this craft is only needed for repair or restoration work. I am only a self-taught evening-mechanic, so I don't really master it and rather use a file I don't have such lathe, so I don't know how the tailstock is actually constructed. Looking at the catalogue picture, I think there is a simple bore going through the tailstock; the barrel presumably is plain in the front part and has a thread cut into the rear part; the brass nut that runs in a slot of the tailstock moves the barrel in and out; the barrel also has a key cut into the top surface; a thumb-screw on top of the tailstock prevents the barrel from turning and also locks it when set. Am I right ? If could post a picture of the disassembled tailstock, perhaps I could give you some ideas how to reduce the side- and end-play of the barrel. Do you have a pillar-drill ? wefalck

Well, wood lathes are acctually not really designed for this kind of centre-drilling, that's the domain of metal lathes, even when it is done into wood. The purpose of a wood-lathe is rough centre a piece of wood and then to work it down with chisels. That's why wood-lathes typically are built much more simple (and cheaper). By the same token, a wood-lathe tailstock-barrel (or least the one of the DB250) are not meant to work under load, they are designed to be set and then clamped tight. To work under load, the tailstock bore would have to be ground carefully in line with the headstock to a sliding fit for the barrel - at the price of the lathe this would be impossible. However, scraping-in (the workmanship method) or filing-in (the amateur's way - I did it as well …) of tailstocks to the bed is possible, if there is enough 'meat'. wefalck

What type of collets does it actually use ? PROXXON sells several types of (proprietary) collets separately. Otherwise, you can get a light plastic 4-jaw chuck or a metal 3-jaw chuck that allow you to chuck-up larger diameter parts. wefalck

Thanks for the comments @Amateur, I still have an unresolved problem with painting the Dutch 'tricolore' on the tiller. My attempts to do it free-hand didn't turn out well. I have to start again with proper masking and the airbrush. The (running) bowsprit was left at home when fishing in the winter. The summer rig would comprise a couple more (rather odd) sails, for which spars would be carried. I only modelled the iron-work that goes with the bowsprit. wefalck

Thanks again, gentlemen, for the kind words. *** Time has come to release the botter into its natural habitat ... The model was fixed to the baseboard by a screw with countersunk head. Where necessary, the loosened ice around the boat was touched up with the same sugar-acrylic gel mixture with which the rest of the ice-scape was modelled. The next step will be to complete vitrine. Then, work on population of the scenery will continue and a some ‚loose’ equipment for the botter will also have to be made. wefalck

Thanks again, gentlemen, for your favourable comments. A fishing boats needs some fish-baskets to store the sorted catch in. Fish-baskets on the Marker botter in the Zuiderzeemuseum I could not think a convincing method to fake such baskets and dropped ideas of using fabric or wire mesh – there would always be an unrealistic seam. If you have a closed or filled basket, you may sculpt it from something and imprint the woven pattern, but this does not work for empty ones. In the end, I decided to weave real baskets, well almost. Tool for making (fish-)baskets For this I needed a tool that would give the basket its shape and allow me to handle it while weaving. So I turned the little implement above from a piece of 5 mm diameter aluminium and drilled a 2 mm hole all the way through it. It will allow me make two baskets simultaneously. The material for weaving is another issue. I would have like to use wire, but it would have been difficult to actually weave with wire. So I used some thin cotton thread for the stakes and fly-tying yarn for the weave. Weaving fish-baskets First the ‚stakes’ were put into place by wind the thread around the form tool in a continuous series of loops, passing the return part through the middle of the center bore of the tool. This then was woven out with the fly-tying yarn using a sewing needle. The rim is a bit of a fake: normally the stakes would be bent back one over each other to produce a stable and decorative finishing. Here I made a double row of half-hitches with the weave, i.e. the fly-tying thread. Once this was finished, the ‚basket’ was soaked in wood stain and then a few dabs of matt varnish were applied to secure the weaving. The stakes with the exception of two on each side then were cut off flush with the rim. The remaining stakes were twisted into looped handles. Finally the stakes were cut around the hole in the bottom of tool. A bottom of the basket was faked by closing the hole with a good drop of white glue. The finished fish-baskets The baskets then were weathered using acrylics paint (umbra). After looking at the museum-picture, I noticed that I should paint onto the baskets the registration number of the boat - so that catch can be identified at the fish auction. One may notice on the above photograph that in the meantime also the anchor, a grab, has been installed. Finding such small chain is a challenge, but I got something suitable from a Bavarian model railway supplier. While the links were nicely soldered and blackend, they were actually round. Anchor chains, however, have oval links. With a pair of pliers I slightly squashed the links into an oval shape. wefalck

You will probably find that most of the 'modelling products' are just overpriced items you can find in other realms as well. I tend to use what is easily available everywhere. Way back in the 1960s my grandfather, who was a regional director in a big insurance company, had Faller as a client and once he took me with him to visit them … great for a little boy wefalck

Well, for many years I just took fo my spectacles (but donned some safety glasses instead) and got instantly 3.5 diopters, albeit at the cost of having to move the stuff closer to the eyes. With increasing age, however, the eyes loose their accomodation capabilities … cheap reading glasses from the chemist/department store are an option, but do not offer much protection when working with machinery. There is also a slight problem, when you need different corrections on both eyes. A short while ago I bought a pair of safety glasses that have a magnifying insert a the lower inside corner. While this works in principle, I have to hold the head in a somewhat awkward position to use these inserts. Not good for longer work-sessions. I wish they would do magnifying safety glasses. This would be good for lathe work and similar. I am still looking for clip-on magnifiers that clip onto the thicker frame of my safety glasses and have a slim clamp - all I saw on ebay have a rather bulky clamp that gets into my field of vision. Perhaps I have to modify some commercial ones. wefalck

You may want to have a look at my building-log on a Dutch botter frozen-in at the Volendam harbour: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/68-zuiderzee-botter-by-wefalck-artitec-resin/?p=80030 The materials used are finely ground sugar and acrylic gel resp. varnish. wefalck

Got some about a year ago, but haven't realy used them (yet). What you are calling the 'depth of field' presumably is the 'working distance', i.e. the distance between the lense and the object you are looking at. The dentist ones seem to be designed for working standing up and hovering over the patient. I found the distance of 400 mm uncomfortable, it means that I have to sit rather upright and with arms nearly stretched out at my work table to keep the objects in focus. I also found that the actual depth of field, i.e. the range over which objects appear in focus, is rather small at the large magnification. In addition, I had problems adjusting the two microscopes for stereo-vision. Somehow the optical axes never seem to aligne with those of my eyes. Not sure, whether all these problems are related to the fact that it is 'cheapish' (still 120 Euro) one. You can get branded ones for 400+ Euro ... wefalck

Scale is not so important, rather than the actual size of the threads/ropes. One can also using 'false' splices, i.e. pulling the whole thread end through the standing part with the help of needle. Somewhere on the forum this old method has been discussed in some detail. Check out 'dafi's' thread on his HMS VICTORY in 1:96 scale for rigging the guns in a small scale ! wefalck

Well, the 'Currywurst' was not 'invented' until after the WWII in Berlin … and normally we don't eat Bratwurst with Sauerkraut, but rather 'Eisbein' (i.e. salted porc knuckle) or fresh liver and blood sausage. The beer, however, was available everywhere at all times for probably a 1000 years or so wefalck

This was indeed a rather pompous mock-up that stood in Kiel for a while. I can't put my hands on more detailed information at the moment. The closest the Prussian / Imperial German Navy ever came to a a three-deck ship of line was the old HMS RENOWN, that was purchased in 1870 for use a stationary artillery training ship. SMS NIOBE was a much sleeker affair. In fact the Prussian Navy, when set up seriously in the late 1840s almost immediately passed into the steam-age and rifled breech-loading guns.The only old-style sailing warship was SMS GEFION that was captured (after having surrendered to a make-shift coastal battery at Eckernförde) from the Danes in 1849. wefalck

SCOTTISH MAID seems to have been one of the first 'clipper' style schooners with a closed gallion and very sharp lines for and aft. The fine lines mean that she wouldn't have had a lot of buyonancy there, resulting her dipping deep in when the sea was heavy. So it may have been vital to make provisions for shedding water fast, so that she would rise fast out of any waves. Partially open bulwarks seem to have been quite common (on smaller vessels) before swinging ports were introduced. A vaguely remember having seen the half-model of her in the museum in Aberdeen some 15 years ago. wefalck

I gather the kit is based on David MacGregor's set of plans that are reproduced in one of his books and are available as a separate set. You may be interested in this PDF on the Nautical Research Guild's Web-site: http://www.thenrg.org/resources/The_Journal/584/58-4%20Scottish%20Maid.pdf wefalck

I think there are couple of technical and stylistic reasons for not showing the caulking on the hulls of models. Technically, the caulking is done a bit different on the hull and on the decks. The most visible feature on deck caulking is the sealing with pitch and this is what most people model. The seams outboard would not be sealed in the same way, but worked over together with the surface treatment of the hull, being it painting or oiling or varnishing, e.g. with harpeus. The result is that the caulking is not very visible, even when the surface treatment is not pigmented. On old ships' photographs, when taken at a glancing angle, one can sometimes see the caulking. On shots taken perpendicular to the hull, the caulking normally is not visible. The stylistic reason is that many (if not most) shipmodellers actually do not build models of ships, but rather models of shipmodels. What I mean is, that they try to recreate an antique model as seen in museums and these not normally show the caulking, but rather have nice smooth and shiny wood walls. wefalck

As the hull probably is epoxy resin, I would use epoxy resin for glueing wood onto it. Expoxy resin is also used in full-scale. Cyano-acrylates can become brittle with time and the planks peel off. wefalck

I don't think they do a fixed steady. However, it is not so difficult to make one yourself. In order not to leave marks on the wood, I would use a thick and stiff cardboard disc into which a close-fitting hole has been drilled/punched. This cardboard can be held by three scews with washers against a piece of plywood into which a larger hole, say of 1 cm diameter, has been drilled. The three-screw-plus-washers-arrangement allows you to center the steady on the work. The plywood can be held upright on the bed of the lathe with a small angle iron that is clamped down onto the T-slot. wefalck

Since about the 1840s virtually all iron-work that is exposed to the elements, as well as iron fastenings, was hot-dip zinc-plated. In addition, the iron-work could be painted to suit the decorative scheme of a boat. While this anti-corrosion treatment is quite efficient, when not done very carefully, the plating can be porous, so that the iron can rust underneath. The corrosion products, iron(hydr)oxides, can diffuse into the zinc layer tarnishing it into a yellowish tint. Vice versa, a porous zinc layer can soak up e.g. tar-based paints, making it look yellowish, even when the paint has been removed. Seawater-resistant bronce would normally not be painted and is indeed not easy to paint, as paint does not very well adhere to this material. wefalck

One can mark the centre of square stock by drawing diagonals from one corner to the opposite one; then you punch-mark the centre and put it against the tailstock centre; now you put the tool-rest close to the chucked-up material and observe the gap between the tool-rest und the material (close one eye and look down onto the lathe bed); adjust the jaws until the gaps are equal on the edges of your stock. Voilà you material is centred. wefalck

I am inclined to think that structural metal-work would be zinc-plated iron that has been painted black. However, on yachts one never knows; the owner may have opted for bronce, though its mechanical strength tends to be lower than that of iron. My photographs unfortunately do not help to decide on this and now I am living several hundred kilometers further south. wefalck

Thanks, gentlemen ... Slowly the work on the Botter itself draws to a close. Small and unspectacular steps in which the previously made parts are assembled to give the ‚whole’. The rigging work is rather difficult to photograph – one’s three hands are already busy and there is no free hand for the camera. Net hauled out up the mast for drying The Botter is a fishing boat and a fishing boat needs a net. But just this caused me some headache. In accordance with the ‚story’ that is to be told in this scene, the net will be shown hauled out up the mast for drying. This can be seen on many old photographs. Detail of the net hauled out up the mast In these old photographs one also notes the fineness of the yarn from which such nets were made. There is not really any material that can convincingly represent a fishing net in the 1:87 scale. The second best solution are the finest ladies tights one can put one’s hand on. Unfortunately, these don’t have quite the reddish-brown colour of a tanned fishing net. In order to improve their resistance against the elements, fishing nets were ‚tanned’, i.e. they were boiled in a brew made from oak bark. Tanning of nets (in the Zuiderzeemuseum, Enkhuizen) An additional problem was, that I didn’t have any detail information on what kind of nets a Botter would have used in the winter fisheries on the Zuiderzee and how these nets were constructed – Van Beylen just devotes half a page to the subject. There is a book by Pieter Dorleijn, that apparently treats the subject in some detail, but I found it too expensive to buy this book, just for the one net I had to make. Therefore, I cheated a bit. Detail of the net hauled out up the mast As the tights didn’t have quite the right colour, I somehow had to dye them, which turned out rather difficult to do. First I pulled the tight over a round-bellied bottle to open the meshes. A try with mahagoni-coloured woood-stain failed, the material just didn’t take up the stain. In the end I stabilised the tight with thinned matt acrylic varnish applied with the airbrush. After cutting it out, the ‚net’ was coloured using Sepia-ink, again applied with the airbrush. The acrylic varnish allows the net to be draped in an acceptably realistic way. The net then was glued with solvent-based matt varnish onto the fore-deck. A few drops of this fast-drying varnish also kept the draping in shape. The net draped on the fore-deck The lee-boards were brought on board too. They are fastened with small round-headed nails. In reality the lee-board would have been secured on the pin with a wedge in a rectangular slot in its outboard end. As on the model this pin has a diameter of only 0.4 mm, I gave up on the idea to recreated this arrangement The lee-boards are raised by a simple tackle. A block with a hole, fastened to the rail, redirects the pulling force and acts as a stop. The lee-board halliard is belayed on the aftermost half-cleat. The raised lee-boards Also the various belaying pins found their right places. The pins, turned from steel, were heated using a hot-air soldering gun until they changed their colour to brown and almost blue. This, in my opinion, looks quite like forged iron that is slightly rusted. An overall view of the model Other fittings will follow suit ... wefalck

I think many J-Class and similar large yachts were composites. wefalck

I forgot that I had taken pictures of that in Chatham too … in the background you can see the furnace in which the bars were heated. The rails around the slab are a concession to modern visitors' safety requirements. If I remember right, the bars were pulled out of the furnace using tongs suspended from overhead rails and gantry cranes. wefalck

The iron frames etc. were not rolled, to my knowledge, but bent red-hot to shape on a special cast-iron plate. This plate had square holes in a regular pattern into which stops or dogs could be set. These dogs followed the shape as lofted. The iron profile is being forced against the dogs using levers and tackles. It is secured with more dogs and wedges until it has cooled down. As steel would loose its properties when heated to a red, this technique can only be used on wrought iron and is not used anymore in modern times. wefalck