wefalck

It doesn’t seem to be too difficult to find Gütermann Mara over here in Europe in the detail trade. You mentioned color 2899, Chuck, but which is the other one ? In fact, Gütermann have a whole range of yellowish greys in their color-chart. 
You seem to have been using mainly their heavy sizes, what are then the final rope diameters ?
Tempering the rope in the oven sounds like a good idea. Have to try this with my micro-ropes made from polyester fly-tying threads 👍🏻

It doesn’t seem to be too difficult to find Gütermann Mara over here in Europe in the detail trade. You mentioned color 2899, Chuck, but which is the other one ? In fact, Gütermann have a whole range of yellowish greys in their color-chart. 
You seem to have been using mainly their heavy sizes, what are then the final rope diameters ?
Tempering the rope in the oven sounds like a good idea. Have to try this with my micro-ropes made from polyester fly-tying threads 👍🏻

That is some great looking rope you have made there.  I am also someone that has been biased by tradition and try to only use natural materials for my rope.  Silk is OK but it is too shiny for me and very slippery so it tends to unravel after you make it.  In some instances it unravels quite a bit like morerope.  But I suspect you have experienced that too especially on the larger ropes.
 
I was quite surprised about 4 months ago however with the prevailing thought about only using linen or cotton for scale ropes.  I was hired by a major well known museum in Europe (I wont mention their name) to make several thousand feet of rope for them.  They were going to use it to restore a contemporary model....and also to rig a newer model.  But they told me they have now decided that polyester scale ropes are being used from this point forward because of its longevity and its crispness and beauty.  It really lays up like real rope.  They have (like all of us) been unable to find good quality linen  or even cotton that isnt fuzzy or lumpy or that requires custom dying.  The custom dying opens up a whole host of other issues for them.
 
So anyway,  they specified polyester rope made the same way I make my other rope which they have purchased many times before.   But this time they also specified the brand and color they wanted for the polyester thread I was to use.
 
It does unravel like mad.....just like morope....BUT they are aware of this and use a conservatoires glue that is used to stop fragile textiles from fraying and deteriorating on it before they cut it.  They seemed to have a whole plan set up for now accepting the use of this material.
 
Below is a photo of some of that rope I made for them.  Its beautiful and I like its appearance and handling more than the rope I sell.  I even considered switching to it for all of my rope.  But then I thought model builders wouldnt get used to how it unravels.....it really unravels if you dont glue or burn the ends.   Just thought I would share that while you are making your experiments.  There are actually two colors they specified for all running rigging.   Both are in the photo.  No fuzz and no lumps and it laid up the best I could have asked for.
 

 

I dont want hijack Johanns topic but to answer.....No I dont have any plans to offer it.  Being a one man factory, its tough enough to make what I already offer.  I couldnt possibly stock another 8 sizes in another material or color.  I just dont have the time.
 
But for those of you who have a ropewalk....you can order 
 
Gutermann Mara Thread...color 2899
 
But you need to go to the industrial division to get the sizes which arent available retail.
 
You will need Mara 70.....   Mara 30.... and Mara 15..... thread in that color.
 
I experimented after making the rope and found that if you knot off the ends and place them on a cookie sheet,  place them in the oven at 275 degrees for 7-10 minutes.   Then rope looks the same afterwards and wont unravel.
 
Chuck

Assembly.
I haven’t installed the deck-house on its place, I still have to cut the doorways.

Yes, this absence of straight lines for reference would be a real challenge for a cartesian mind and hand like mine ... quite strange actually in a country that was dominated by rational thinking and calvinist religion.

This topic has been discussed already several times on this forum and I apologise for posting again the two pictures below that show what the coppering really looks like (albeit reconstructed):
 

 
 

DON FERNANDO II E GLÓRIA (1843) in Lisbon
 
Two observations:
- plates overlap top-down and fore-aft, meaning that the process started at the keel and worked upward, and back to forward
- the nailing causes depression - there are no protruding nail-heads; the reason is that the plates were fastened on a layer of felt soaked in tar.
 
Assuming that they are pressed/stamped, you can improve those plates from the kit by gently rubbing them on the side with the protrusions with a piece of round hardwood on a cutting mat. This pushes the protrusions back and leaves slight dimples. One has to play a bit with the amount rubbing and the pressure applied. They are then to be fastened with the side that showed the protrusions inside, i.e. the other way around from what most people would do.
 
Incidentally, the copper-green colour, as shown on the second picture, only appears when the ship is in dry-dock for prolonged periods. The 'service colour' is a dull copper-brown, as on the first picture.
 

Yes, this absence of straight lines for reference would be a real challenge for a cartesian mind and hand like mine ... quite strange actually in a country that was dominated by rational thinking and calvinist religion.

Deviating from actual brushes, there are other ways than the bow-pen of applying ink and paint in a controlled way. After the bow-pen came what is called in German a funnel-pen (Trichterfeder, not sure of the correct term in English), essentially a funnel-shaped device that fits into a pen-holder (it's the fourth from the left in the picture below). A spring-steel wire allows the tube to be cleaned from clogged ink/paint. The line-width is equal to the outside diameter of the tube. It is the predecessor to the fountain drafting-pen.
 

Image taken from https://www.typotheque.com/articles/from_lettering_guides_to_cnc_plotters, a nice summary of the subject.
 
While designed for use with inks, rather than pigmented paint, I know that it is still being used by porcelain-painters to apply lettering and in that realm still available commercially. I got a couple of them, actually. I would not use them with acrylics, as these just dry too fast, even though the airbrush-ready paints from bottles might be tempting. I think there is also white pigmented ink that dries more slowly. And, btw, normal pens as pictured above are also useful to apply paint to reasonably flat surfaces - but again acrylics don't work very well, unless mixed with a retarder.
 
Further deviating from brushes and looking beyond the plate: women use little foam brushes to apply make-up. I got myself some through ebay (not wanting to steal them from my wife) and they are useful to apply paint to objects, particularly raised features, kind of 'rubbing on' the paint. I have used their big DIY brothers a lot.

Another update - at last!!
 
Thank you all for your good wishes.  The treatment went well and I am currently 'all clear' with my next check in April next year.  Following the good news we took off for a holiday in South Australia - looking at the sights; checking out the maritime scene and photographing birds.  We had a really great time and arrived home very relaxed and ready for whatever the world decides to throw at us next!
 
My time in the museum since we got back has been limited, and even when I've been in I've been diverted by other things, so the 'Meteor' has only progressed by the addition of a couple more frames down aft.  This is by far the slowest build I've ever been involved with and the slow progress is beginning to frustrate me.  I'll bring the hull home next week to do a bit of serious fairing.  Too much fine sawdust being sucked into to ventilation system isn't good for the museum, but I'm reluctant to bring the model home as carrying a delicate model back and forth on Sydney's peak hour trains isn't good for the mental equilibrium!  This time of year is good as the trains are far less crowded over the holiday period.
 
Here are a few photos of the tiny amount of extra work done.
 
John 
 

 

 

Yes, have used pro arte prolene brushes for years, they seem to last quite a bit.

I gather on my side of the pond, but on the other side of the channel, it is called coach-lining, because it was originally applied to horse-drawn coaches and then spread to railway coaches and engines and finally to commercial vehicles, both steam- and IC-powered ones. It finally went out of fashion in the early 1950s I think. To me it always looked quite 'exotic', as only perhaps bicycles and motorcycles had such lining or stripes, say on the fenders, in continental Europe. At least German steam locomotives were painted black all over since the 1920s, a typical field of application in the UK.

Coach-lining seems to be a craft that has persisted much longer in the anglo-saxon world than in continental Europe, where it all but disappeared after WW2. Nowadays it seems to become more popular again, as it sort of merges into 'custom-painting' of motorcycles in particular and in particular in the USA. There the same 'one-shot' paradigm prevails. On the Internet there are videos of real good artisans in their field. It would be worthwhile to have a look at their 'lining' brushes and the paints they are using.
 
The problem for us modellers is that we should excel in at least a dozen, if not more, crafts ...

I gather on my side of the pond, but on the other side of the channel, it is called coach-lining, because it was originally applied to horse-drawn coaches and then spread to railway coaches and engines and finally to commercial vehicles, both steam- and IC-powered ones. It finally went out of fashion in the early 1950s I think. To me it always looked quite 'exotic', as only perhaps bicycles and motorcycles had such lining or stripes, say on the fenders, in continental Europe. At least German steam locomotives were painted black all over since the 1920s, a typical field of application in the UK.

Coach-lining seems to be a craft that has persisted much longer in the anglo-saxon world than in continental Europe, where it all but disappeared after WW2. Nowadays it seems to become more popular again, as it sort of merges into 'custom-painting' of motorcycles in particular and in particular in the USA. There the same 'one-shot' paradigm prevails. On the Internet there are videos of real good artisans in their field. It would be worthwhile to have a look at their 'lining' brushes and the paints they are using.
 
The problem for us modellers is that we should excel in at least a dozen, if not more, crafts ...

Coach-lining seems to be a craft that has persisted much longer in the anglo-saxon world than in continental Europe, where it all but disappeared after WW2. Nowadays it seems to become more popular again, as it sort of merges into 'custom-painting' of motorcycles in particular and in particular in the USA. There the same 'one-shot' paradigm prevails. On the Internet there are videos of real good artisans in their field. It would be worthwhile to have a look at their 'lining' brushes and the paints they are using.
 
The problem for us modellers is that we should excel in at least a dozen, if not more, crafts ...

I gather on my side of the pond, but on the other side of the channel, it is called coach-lining, because it was originally applied to horse-drawn coaches and then spread to railway coaches and engines and finally to commercial vehicles, both steam- and IC-powered ones. It finally went out of fashion in the early 1950s I think. To me it always looked quite 'exotic', as only perhaps bicycles and motorcycles had such lining or stripes, say on the fenders, in continental Europe. At least German steam locomotives were painted black all over since the 1920s, a typical field of application in the UK.

Yes, have used pro arte prolene brushes for years, they seem to last quite a bit.

Coach-lining seems to be a craft that has persisted much longer in the anglo-saxon world than in continental Europe, where it all but disappeared after WW2. Nowadays it seems to become more popular again, as it sort of merges into 'custom-painting' of motorcycles in particular and in particular in the USA. There the same 'one-shot' paradigm prevails. On the Internet there are videos of real good artisans in their field. It would be worthwhile to have a look at their 'lining' brushes and the paints they are using.
 
The problem for us modellers is that we should excel in at least a dozen, if not more, crafts ...

I gather on my side of the pond, but on the other side of the channel, it is called coach-lining, because it was originally applied to horse-drawn coaches and then spread to railway coaches and engines and finally to commercial vehicles, both steam- and IC-powered ones. It finally went out of fashion in the early 1950s I think. To me it always looked quite 'exotic', as only perhaps bicycles and motorcycles had such lining or stripes, say on the fenders, in continental Europe. At least German steam locomotives were painted black all over since the 1920s, a typical field of application in the UK.

Coach-lining seems to be a craft that has persisted much longer in the anglo-saxon world than in continental Europe, where it all but disappeared after WW2. Nowadays it seems to become more popular again, as it sort of merges into 'custom-painting' of motorcycles in particular and in particular in the USA. There the same 'one-shot' paradigm prevails. On the Internet there are videos of real good artisans in their field. It would be worthwhile to have a look at their 'lining' brushes and the paints they are using.
 
The problem for us modellers is that we should excel in at least a dozen, if not more, crafts ...

Coach-lining seems to be a craft that has persisted much longer in the anglo-saxon world than in continental Europe, where it all but disappeared after WW2. Nowadays it seems to become more popular again, as it sort of merges into 'custom-painting' of motorcycles in particular and in particular in the USA. There the same 'one-shot' paradigm prevails. On the Internet there are videos of real good artisans in their field. It would be worthwhile to have a look at their 'lining' brushes and the paints they are using.
 
The problem for us modellers is that we should excel in at least a dozen, if not more, crafts ...

Also noticed a few years ago that the booming market for nail-'artists' (perhaps better artisans) provides many interesting articles for modellers. In fact, it seems that they initially borrowed tools and materials from the modelling scene and then developed further. The larger market then has brought prices down. As noted, lining and dotting brushes are particular of interest.
Brushes are one of those items, where it is better to go to a shop and try them out. You put a bit of saliva on your finger tips to we the brush and form a tip. However, self-service racks in many art-materials shops have led to brushes often being damaged by negligent would-be customers. It happened to me that I had to walk out of reputable shops because they just didn't have (anymore) what I wanted.
In desperation, I tried mail order and got a batch from an UK supplier. One or two of their brushes were not ok, but they refunded the money when I mailed them a picture with the defective ones.
Winsor & Newton also do a series of short synthetic brushes, which have some advantage for detail work, though they do not hold as much paint as the standard ones. The fact that they hold less paint requires more frequent refilling with fresh paint, which is better with acrylics that would otherwise begin to dry in the upper part of the brush.
Since my wife gave me one of those mugs with paint-brush soap, I have used this, but before that I used the special washing powder for wool, which is very effective and keeps the brushes elastic.

I didn’t mean to say that smaller brushes dry out slower, what I meant is that due to the small volume one replenishes more frequently, thus keeping the paint moist. 

I didn’t mean to say that smaller brushes dry out slower, what I meant is that due to the small volume one replenishes more frequently, thus keeping the paint moist.