wefalck

A Botter in the Zuiderzeemuseum (Enkhuizen, The Netherlands)
 
History and context
Looking at old maps it is amazing to see how land and water intertwined once in the northern part of the Netherlands, Noord Holland and Friesland in particular. It is even more so, when one drives through Noord Holland and reminds oneself that this once was a patchwork of islands and shallow stretches of sea. The Dutch fought - and continue to fight - the sea and at the same time a good part of the populations lived off the sea. The Zuiderzee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuiderzee'>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuiderzee) once was a vast bay of the North Sea, reaching deep into the country, nearly down to Amsterdam. It served as throughfare for transport and as a rich fishing resource. However, pressure on  the scarce land was high and the sea was a constant menace to the low-lying shores and islands. As part of their struggle against the sea, the Dutch dammed up the bay by a large dike, the Afsluitdijk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afsluitdijk), completed in 1933. This put an end to much of the fisheries. The already in its southern part brackish Zuidezee finally turned into a large freshwater lake, the Ijsselmeer.
Over the course of history there have been various types of sailing fishing vessels with numerous local variants. The best-known is probably the Botter (and its larger variant Kwak). At one stage it was estimated that there were over 1000 in operation at the end of the 19th century. The places around the Zuiderzee with the most botters were Enkhuizen, Volendam/Edam, Monickendam, Marken, Bunschoten and Urk. Spakenburg was an important building place.
Man's tools to win a lifelihood constantly change and are being adapted to changing circumstances, new needs and fashions as well. Thus methods of fishing evolved in order to increase efficiency and in response to changes to the fishing grounds and other environmental circumstances that influenced the availability of the resource 'fish'. The history of the botter is not easy to trace as no artefacts have survived and artistic renderings are not so reliable bevore say the late 18th century. As with all small boats, they were built without any drawings well into the 20th century. The botter or its somewhat larger version the Kwak as we know it today developed over the past two hundred years.
Sizes vary, but a typical botter has a keel of about 34 feet long.
Sources
There are quite a number of comprehensive printed works on the botter and its history (see below). These include also drawings. Some original drawings are preserved in various museums in the Netherlands. However, like so many traditional small boats, botters were usually built without any drawings. The museums also preserve various model built from about the early 19th century onward. There are also surviving quite a number of original botters, the oldest being from the last quarter of the 19th century.
These boats survived because they have been adapted as pleasure craft. Obviously a lot of concessions had to be made in this case to accomodate the modern leisure-boaters and therefore these boats are not useful for a reconstruction. In more recent years some of these have been reconverted into a state that is more like their original workday appearance. Also, from the end of the 19th century onward some botters had been built als pleasure craft for private owners. They usually deviate somewhat from the work boats and are often fitted with a cabin, as is found e.g. on boeiers.
The Zuiderzeemuseum (http://www.zuiderzeemuseum.nl/home/?language=en) in Enkhuizen preserves a late botter in its boat-hall. The Zuiderzeemuseum also has a large collection of ship- and boatmodels, including several botters. Some of the models appear to be contemporary, while others have been built in more
recent times.
The Model
The model is based on the resin kit produced by Artitec ( http://www.artitec.nl[/url]) in 1:90 (HO) scale. This company has developed a real mastery in casting complex and large resin parts. In addition to the hull, the kit contains castings for the mast and spars, for rigging blocks and, somewhat strangely perhaps, the taken-down sails. Of course, these kits are mainly meant as accessories for model railway layouts and people not knowing a lot about these craft. The kit also contains a small fret of etched parts, mainly for the ironwork of the rigging. While the etched parts are well made as such, they are for the most part not really useful for representing the forged ironwork. For instance, masthoops are, of course, flat in the horizontal direction, while they should really be short tubes. Other parts simply lack the needed plasticity. Hence most of the etched parts will not be used. Similarly, the cast rigging blocks will be replaced by home-made ones and 'real' sails will be made. I bought the kit 'second hand' and the at some stage the characteristic high stem head was broken off and a new one will have to grafted on. Various other details will be improved for better definition of the shapes. Although the casting is well made, there are certain limitations due to the casting process. A company policy of Artitec is to limit the number of parts and to cast-on as many details as possible. Thus for instance the spill is cast onto the foredeck. There are limitations to undercuts in the silicone rubber molds, hence the barrel is not completely free. I shall have to remove the material underneath the barrel using a scalpel etc.
 

The main cast resin item, the botter’s hull
Not only are Artitec masters in casting kits, but also in painting them as is evidenced for instance by the diorama of the
Texel Roadsted (http://www.dereedevantexel.nl) and models in various other museums around the Netherlands.
 
To be continued ....
 
 
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

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 

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

Thanks, dafi and Pat, for the encouraging comments - not that I am very discouraged though 
 
Well, like many of my tools, the micro-crochet hooks are accidental finds, not stuff you can buy at will. I appropriated them, when we cleared out the house of a deceased aunt or one of my grandmothers, I don't remember exactly. I suppose they were meant for making crochet-lace. In the old days ladies decorated their handkerchieves etc. often with lathe borders. I just love these old-time tools and many are of much better make than what you can buy today.
 
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

The rigging of the foresail was a rather painful process. My paper-sail turned out to be not quite fit for the purpose. They would be good to represent sails billowing in the wind. However, for representing sails that are hanging limp from the rigging in order to dry this technique is not quite suitable. In the past I made similar sails from ‚silk-span’, i.e. the silk cloth that is used to cover model airplane wings. These sails could be draped quite well, but the material would have been still too thick for sails in the 1:90 scale.
 

The foresail set for drying
 

Details of the foresail rigg
 
So I toiled, sweating blood, but am still not really satisfied with the result. The foresail simply looks too stiff. I also had too cheat a bit in the area where the sail is pushed together above the dead-eye. Due to the rather forcefull procedure of folding the sails some of the hoops on the which the foresail runs on the stay were ripped off. There are many area where some touching up is necessary.
 

Forestay set-up with dead-eye
 

Halliard/down-haul belayed on mast-cleat
 
On the botters everywhere half-cleats were used. This makes belaying a bit tricky on a model and somehow doesn’t look quite right, though I followed the sketches in BEYLEN (1985)
 

Fore-sail sheet
 

Forestay set-up with dead-eye
 
A shortcoming often seen on shipmodels is that the running rigging seems to be sticking out of the block, i.e. it doesn’t run properly around the sheaves. The reason, of course, is that usually only a cross-hole is drilled, without attempting to shape the sheave. The rather elaborate procedure of block-making described earlier was intended to remedy this. Looking at the pictures, however, it seems that I only have been partially successful.
 

Fore-sail sheet
 

Masthead with the head of the foresail rigged with a sheep’s head-block
 
And finally here a selection from my arsenal of rigging tools:
 

Rigging tools (from left to right): straight watchmaker’s tweezers, bent tweezers, stamps-tweezers for draping sails and straightening wires, two antique micro-crochet hooks to pull on rigging, pin-vice with forked needel for pushing rigging, pin-vice, sewing needle for making fake splices, micro-scissors, microscopy-scalpel.
 
Next the main-sail will go on. Another problem case ...
 
wefalck

Thanks, Pat. Actually, I don't find the scale that small and others (e.g. dafi here) are working at similar scales.
 
 
A colleague on a German forum pointed out to me that botters usually had an iron rod as forestay. I was aware of this arrangement, but somehow I assumed that these rods with forged-on eyes were introduced later, together with a set-up by lacing or a bottle-screw. I assumed that the somewhat antiquated arrangement with a deadeye would be used together with a wire-rope stay. With this idea in mind I misinterpreted the drawings in BEYLEN (1985) und DORLEIJN (2001). I re-reviewed the historical photographs I have and as far as can be seen the forestay indeed is an iron rod.   I corrected this now and re-rigged the fore-sail with a 0.15 mm diameter wire with soldered eyes as stay.   Fore-stay made from a ‚rod’.   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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just a small update on the scenic setting today, too much travelling and other activities recently.
 
With the Plexiglas sheet to simulate the ice in place, the positions for various piles that carry the planned jetty were marked out. The design of the jetty followed that seen on various historical pictures (see my Web-site). Holes for inserting the piles were drilled throught the Plexiglas into the wood. I cut some square strips of soft wood on the table saw and from these 'piles' of the appropriate length were chopped. The wood was roughend and shaped using a rotary steel-wire brush in the hand-held drill. Cross-pieces etc. were shaped from the same wood.
 

 
wefalck

Actually, on the real thing there were no treenails in the decks. What you see (or rather mostly not, except when really standing on a deck) are wooden plugs that cover the holes drilled for iron bolts (at least in later ships). The plugs do not show end-grain (as would treenails do) but were cut so that the grain runs in the same direction as the planks. The idea was to make them almost invisible for  aesthetic reasons.
 
It seems to be a fashion among modellers to use treenails to show how much effort they put into a model. There is also some mechanical reason, as the treenail securely fastens the plank. Otherwise, I would ignore them on a true 'scale' model.
 
wefalck