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

I am quite sure that all decks on which people lived where scrubbed in one way or another for hygienic reasons, though bacteria etc. at the time of sailing ships were not recognised yet. For the same reason, sides and ceilings where white-washed. The lime solution has a very high pH and acts as a mild bactericide. wefalck

It is high time to report on some progress. The work progressed slowly, interrupted by various business travels and also a short hospital-stay. Head of the main sail from starboard The main sail was fitted out with the halliard and the throat-halliard and then attached. The imagined szenario is that the sails are set for drying. The shore of Volendam is exposed to the East, so that the sails are slightly filled by a light easterly breeze. The cold easterly breeze, that comes across from Germany and the Baltic was a winterstorm a couple of days ago and forced the botter to seek shelter in Volendam. The easterly wind brought with it the frost that is responsible for the Marker botter to be locked in the ice. The main boom has been topped a bit to provide better clearance in the workspace underneath. Head of the main sail from port In the meantime various ropes of different size were made from fly-tying thread. Then I also noticed that I forgot to make that special block with a half-cleat that forms the lower part of the main sheet tackle. This block was carved in the classical way from a strip of Pertinax and fitted out with an ‚iron’ band etc. Running rigging at the mast Running rigging at the mast The running rigging was attached by fake eye-splices. On the prototype, all blocks are attached to eye-bolts by hooks, which are secured by musings. The pictures do not show this detail yet. Owing to this way of rigging, all tackles could be prepared in advance and just hooked into their respective eye-bolts. The throat-halliard is made up from a short length of chain with an S-hook at its end. The S-hook is attached to the eye in the bolt-rope. The throat-halliard is hauled taught with a tackle that hooks into an eye-bolt in the mast. The S-hook was made from a short length of wire that was flattenend and provided with a hole in the middle for a chain-link. Stern with boom-sheet Stern with boom-sheet The halliards etc. were belayed prototype-fashion on half-cleats, which is rather difficult to do at this small scale in comparison to the same process on normal cleats. The rest was coiled up and stored at suitable places. I am not sure how this was done really on the prototype, as the half-cleat do not allow to suspend the coils in the usual way. The rope made from fly-tying yarn is relatively stiff. However, with a drop of flat varnish it can be persuaded to form more or less orderly coils. Hanging coils have to be loaded while the varnish dries in order to attain a natural shape. Shaping of the coils while the varnish dries In order to facilitate the work on the rigging the model was fixed on a small cast-iron stand. This stand can be turned and pushed around on the work-table at one’s convenience, yet is stable and safe. Model on the work-stand To be continued ... wefalck

Actually, for very thin yarn I often use the ratline-hitch. It tightens on itself and is very secure (which is why it used for the purpose the name indicates), but can be a bit fiddly to do with two tweezers in places. wefalck

I used to use for seizings this very fine two-ply silk/nylon yarn as used for mending ladies' 'nylons'. However, in our throw-away society, no one seems to bother with mending nylons anymore, so these yarns seem to have all but disappeared from the market. The next best thing is 16/0 size fly-tying yarn. I start the seizing by pushing the free end through the space between the block and the rope, fixing it to one leg with a half-hitch. I continue with a couple of half-hitches around the splice and then wind up as many turns as necessary. The sizing is finished with a couple of half-hitches, making sure that each turn is pushed tight against the preceeding one. For securing, I prefer matt varnish. If the the rope is supposed to be tarred, I may use semi-gloss black paint instead. wefalck

Pastels in black and white can also be used to good effect. Apply with bristle brush, a cotton stick ('Q-tips') or one of those small foam brushes that are used by the ladies to apply make-up. wefalck

I have a 1923 textbook on ship's joinery and this recommends 2" (50 mm) for the opening and the widths of the laths. The depths of one set would be 2"-2.5" (50 mm - 75 mm) and the other only half of that: modellers commonly notch both sets in comb-fashion, while in reality smaller laths were laid into the notches. They way modellers make gratings makes them self-locking, but on the prototype both laths types would be notched into the frame that provides the locking. wefalck

Of course, these are nice old-fashioned and very maritime looking tools. Would like to have one, but there is not much point investing somewhere between 50 and 100 EUR for a tool that in practices wouldn't have much use for me. A divider with lockable legs is a very useful tool for marking out equal distances and the likes and the proportionality function can be easily replaced by a vernier caliper together with a pocket calculator. For marking out equal distance along a curved line, such as along a frame for plank widths, I would prefer the paper-strip methods described by others above. It avoids the building up of errors by measuring from succeeding end-points. At the small scales I am working in the proportional dividers would also be far to clumsy. wefalck

Grit from sandpaper is poison to a (metal) lathe, try to avoid using it. Seriously, machine tools are good at straight surfaces, or surfaces that are bent in only one direction. As soon as you have to deal with surfaces that are shaped in the 3D-space, you are often better off with hand-tools. Nothing is as flexible for holding parts and guiding tools as your two hands. The amount of bevelling needed is usually quite small, so that it is quickly achieved with a few strokes of a sanding stick. The movement of a sanding stick has a sort of splining function, while using a rotary sander entails the risk of digging in and ending up with a wavy edge. wefalck

Bevelling is not just a cosmetic issue: if your plank closes on the surface only, but not on the inside, you will have small gap after sanding the hull … wefalck

I own a couple of milling machines, but I wouldn't probably use them for bevelling planks. One needs a stable, inclineable (to set the bvelling angle) jig that can hold the narrow planks securely - a lot of work to make one to fit your milling machine and then to adjust it. The other problem is that the usual model-maker's machines may have a too short x-travel to be useful. And another problem can be that the bevelling angle is not uniform over the whole length of the plank. I would probably use a simple bulldog clip. The edges may need to be filed down to ensure that it closes nicely. You hold the plank with it and work your way along it with a sanding stick, offering the plank from time to time to the hull to check, whether the angle is correct. wefalck

If it has to be white then … I would rather use a soft brush, at least for the first layer or two, to ensure that the paint gets into all those hollows. By definition, the paint from an airbrush flies on a more or less straight trajectory, so any obstacle in its way will mask the area behind; therefore, it may be difficult to spray-paint such sculpted surface adequately. To improve adherence you can paint it (after cleaning, of course) with a layer of pure acrylic (available in artists' supply shops), i.e. acrylic without any pigment. wefalck

The lower picture shows the sails set for drying while the ship is at anchor. They were draped sort of random on purpose so as not to push the ship in an uniform direction. BTW, in harbour, when moored to the quai, ship often tipped the yards so that arm facing out to the harbour almost touched the rails. This reduced the risk that another ship that came adrift or didn't calculate the distance right sheered off the yards. wefalck

I think all yards on one mast would be braced the same way. In fact some lines would be belayed on the same pin, so they would need to be cast loose at the same time. Also, taking in or setting sails would depend on the wind etc. and one would not want to waste time to brace the yards. Also note that yards are not braced up to the same degree, there is a certain 'twist' in them, i.e. lower yards are braced up tighter than upper ones. This has to do with the wind velocity distribution over the height profile - due to the friction over the water, the wind velocity is lower near the water; therefore, the apparent wind comes more from the front closer to the water. wefalck

MDF is extensively used these days in the furniture industry and by architectural model makers. I am using it for the bread-and-butter construction of a hull. Sanded and let in with quick-sanding filler it actually gives a nice surface and I have used it as workbench back and for similar applications. I quite like the material as it has no 'direction' and doesn't splinter like plywood when sawn. Also, it doesn't warp when used properly, i.e. access of humidity from only one side. wefalck

Actually, most model sails don't really look floppy or droopy enough, because the material used is far too thick and stiff - that is when there is supposed to be no wind. Billowing sails can also be made by working a wire into the seams or by making the bolt-rope from drilled-together and painted wire. wefalck

I am using a fast drying varnish or lacquer to tip the ends of thread in and to secure knots. The advantage in the latter case is that with a drop of solvent you can untie knots or belaying points, if needed. The varnish can be applied to knots with a small brush or the tip of a toothpick. I also keep a small bottle with varnish handy to dunk the ends of thread in that need to be threaded through something. wefalck

John Harland is not only a scholar in the thing as such, but also in the related etymology: HARLAND, J. (1985): Seamanship in the Age of Sail.- 320 p., London (Conway Maritime Press). BTW, rats (and mice) can climb up to the most impossible places - this is why large metal discs are being put half-way along mooring ropes. wefalck

Actually, this thread was about surface treatment of the said materials … perhaps you better make up a new thread on your subject. Anyway, what is the size and shape of these mouldings ? With this knowledge one could perhaps make some suggestions. When annealing brass, one need to remember that it behaves the opposite way of steel: if left to cool slowly, it hardens. So one needs to cool it down quickly. wefalck

Yes, it may be easy to machine, but PVC contains softeners (which is why it is soft ) that will diffuse out with time, making it brittle. That may be ok for a working model with a limited life time, but not good for 'museum'-type models. There are more durable plastics around, such as acrylic glass. wefalck

Hhmm, mixing Plexiglas with epoxi resin is calling for trouble in the longer term. The curing resin will induce corrossion cracks in the Plexiglas due heat released. These cracks may develop around the cut-out ship-form in a few years probably. It is better to use same acrylic monomer from which the Plexiglas was made, or artists' acrylic gels. wefalck

A wash means, as the word indicates, a layer of diluted paint that does not fully cover the underlying layer of paint. Essentially it is a technique already used by the the Old Masters to create a feeling of depth in their oil paintings. It can by used in painting with acrylics too. You basically dilute the paint with water until it contains only a little pigment. How much dilution is difficult to describe, one has to experiment with. I sometimes use acrylics that are maint for airbrushing and apply these just with a brush. Normally paint to be applied with a brush has to be thicker, so the airbrush paints have a good consistency for 'washing'. An effect of 'washing' is also that the pigment accumulates in surface depressions (such as engraved lines) or in corners, which is or can be an intended effect: these areas are less worn and, therefore, accumulate more patina or dirt, so that they appear darker (assuming that one used a darker colour for the wash). The 'washing' procedure can be repeated, once a previous layer is dry, which happens quite fast with acrylics. If you don't wait until the previous layer is dry, you may just wipe it off, when you go over the area again. 'Washing' does not work, when the solvent in the paint easily dissolves underlying layers of paint. So one has to be cautious when using organic solvent-based paints, such as enamels. Many people use (artists) oil-paint washes over acrylics. Because their pigment is very finely ground, they make good washes. When using oil-paints, one has to wait until they have dried, before applying the next layer of wash, which can be a long-winded process. Though, oil-paints are based on using organic solvents, the drying process in reality is an oxidation process, so that they are not easily re-dissolved by applying the next wash. I am also using inks (which by definition usually do not contain pigments, but dyes, i.e. organic coloured compounds), but if these inks are not 'permanent', i.e. water proof after drying, each wash needs to be protected by light layer of varnish, applied either by airbrush or with a spray can. Sepia ink makes for a good wash. I hope this explained the procedure a bit. wefalck

Actually, 'weathering' or whatever one may call this is quite simple. A basecoat of some creamy-yellowish colour (depending on how dark the 'wood' should be) applied by airbrush: Over this apply washes of diluted acrylics 'burnt umbra': This was the 'wood' part. To give the 'wood' a 'weathered' or worn look, white (for bleached areas and areas with salt stains) and black (general grime) pastels are applied with a bristle brush or a cotton stick ('Q-tip'). If you want to show areas where 'patina' has been worn off, e.g. at edges of heavily used parts, you may want to apply the dry brushing technique mentioned above. I use it with restraint, as it may make the look rather manieristic and exaggerated (which seems to be a certain style among plastic modellers). wefalck

Before I am off to the Polar Circle for a few days here a small update. The mainsail was sewn onto to the port side of the gaff. Correct, sewn ! On those Dutch craft the lace-line runs through a grommet of the head of the sail, then straight through a hole drilled into the gaff with a pear-shaped cross-section, runs along the starbord-side, returns throught the next hole and grommet, continues along the port side of the sail to the grommet, etc. Port side of the mainsail Into the grommets of the fore-leech of the sail the various lacings were spliced. With these the sail eventually will be tied to the mast. Often chafing of the lacing was reduced by a number of parrels. However, I neither could find small enough beads (0.6 mm diameter with a hole drilled through), nor did I manage to produce them myself. The parrels are optional anyway. Starbord side of the mainsail I also started to put in the reef points. These reef through a grommet and are secured by a knot on both sides. As one can see, the paintwork e.g. on the gaff needs a bit of touching up after all the handling ... wefalck