wefalck

You have the propeller-makers decals - I was about to ask 

Somehow, I overlooked that these are pencils. Then there are not acrylics (probably). They are what is called 'artistis water colour pens'. They have been around for decades. Unlike normal coloured pencils that are bonded with a greasy substance (not sure what they used), the pigments in them are bonded with a water-soluble binder (chatCPT could probably tell you what it is). The problem from my point of view is that after application the pigment remains water-soluble. One has has to keep this in mind for the following steps in painting. Applying light coats of varnish could solve the problem.
 
I suppose the Tamiya 'clear' lacquers are water-based acrylics? That would explain the smudging effect on your 'wood' layers, because you partly redissolved the pen-pigment, particularly when applied by brush.

These acrylic paint pens (assuming that is what the AK pens are also) are handy and their soft sharp tip allows good control - in the meantime I have a whole range of Faber-Castell Pitt Artist's pens.

Somehow this e-book had escaped my attention so far - unexcusable !
 
I really love those pictures that combine models with a digital seascape and atmospheric effects.

Everything you ever wanted to know about this (and other) lathe(s): http://www.lathes.co.uk/atlas/index.html
 
But beware, it may make you drool, when you see what kind of attachments etc. once were available.

You have the propeller-makers decals - I was about to ask 

Greg, what do you mean by 'dernier line'? Dernier normally is a measure for the fineness of a thread (1 den = 1  g per 9000 metre) and was also used to classify ladies' stockings and pantyhoses. There are other systems, such as the tex.
 
I am not a great fan of monofilament, as it tends to be relatively springy and, thus, knots tend to unravel, unless immediately secured with some varnish.
 
Some time ago, I became aware of this high-end Japanese fishing line. It's braided, available in 'steel-gray' and down to diameters of 0.06 mm: https://fish.shimano.com/en-GB/product/line/braided/a155f00000c5ijoqa3.html. Quite pricey. I have not tried it myself, because I didn't have a need for 'wire-rope', which it might simulate quite well. 
 

You have the propeller-makers decals - I was about to ask 

You have the propeller-makers decals - I was about to ask 

I inherited a whole bunch of pre-war(?) unisolated ones from my father. In general, they are much better stamped/folded and close better, than what you get today.

It seems that one can spend a fortune on those fly-tying vises ... I would rather spend those 200-400 US$/€/£ on a machine tool. 
 
You have think a bit over what operations you want to use it for and then design your own from materials at hand and according to your machining capabilities. I gather with a piece of curtain-rail and some pieces of wood and steel-rod you could make a very useful tool for tying blocks and the likes.
 
At least over here in Europe, alligator clips are designed to fit over 4 mm banana-plugs, so starting with 4 mm rods is a good idea. You have to have two blocks or two angles that can be screwed to the curtain-rail, so that you can adjust the distance according to the need. The exact design you have to figure out yourself to suit the material you have (or are prepared to buy). I made various clamps and hooks with 4 mm stems so they all fit into the same holders and can be combined to suit the need.
 
If you are as unlucky (and ignorant) as I was in my younger years and bought one of those multi-articulated and poorly manufactured 3rd-hand-thingies, you may want to dump most of the pieces and just keep the foot and may be some rods to build something useful around it. Fewer degrees of freedom are more useful for preparing the rigging.

Everything you ever wanted to know about this (and other) lathe(s): http://www.lathes.co.uk/atlas/index.html
 
But beware, it may make you drool, when you see what kind of attachments etc. once were available.

Everything you ever wanted to know about this (and other) lathe(s): http://www.lathes.co.uk/atlas/index.html
 
But beware, it may make you drool, when you see what kind of attachments etc. once were available.

Everything you ever wanted to know about this (and other) lathe(s): http://www.lathes.co.uk/atlas/index.html
 
But beware, it may make you drool, when you see what kind of attachments etc. once were available.

Everything you ever wanted to know about this (and other) lathe(s): http://www.lathes.co.uk/atlas/index.html
 
But beware, it may make you drool, when you see what kind of attachments etc. once were available.

Somehow, I overlooked that these are pencils. Then there are not acrylics (probably). They are what is called 'artistis water colour pens'. They have been around for decades. Unlike normal coloured pencils that are bonded with a greasy substance (not sure what they used), the pigments in them are bonded with a water-soluble binder (chatCPT could probably tell you what it is). The problem from my point of view is that after application the pigment remains water-soluble. One has has to keep this in mind for the following steps in painting. Applying light coats of varnish could solve the problem.
 
I suppose the Tamiya 'clear' lacquers are water-based acrylics? That would explain the smudging effect on your 'wood' layers, because you partly redissolved the pen-pigment, particularly when applied by brush.

Everything you ever wanted to know about this (and other) lathe(s): http://www.lathes.co.uk/atlas/index.html
 
But beware, it may make you drool, when you see what kind of attachments etc. once were available.

These acrylic paint pens (assuming that is what the AK pens are also) are handy and their soft sharp tip allows good control - in the meantime I have a whole range of Faber-Castell Pitt Artist's pens.

Somehow, I overlooked that these are pencils. Then there are not acrylics (probably). They are what is called 'artistis water colour pens'. They have been around for decades. Unlike normal coloured pencils that are bonded with a greasy substance (not sure what they used), the pigments in them are bonded with a water-soluble binder (chatCPT could probably tell you what it is). The problem from my point of view is that after application the pigment remains water-soluble. One has has to keep this in mind for the following steps in painting. Applying light coats of varnish could solve the problem.
 
I suppose the Tamiya 'clear' lacquers are water-based acrylics? That would explain the smudging effect on your 'wood' layers, because you partly redissolved the pen-pigment, particularly when applied by brush.

These acrylic paint pens (assuming that is what the AK pens are also) are handy and their soft sharp tip allows good control - in the meantime I have a whole range of Faber-Castell Pitt Artist's pens.

Somehow, I overlooked that these are pencils. Then there are not acrylics (probably). They are what is called 'artistis water colour pens'. They have been around for decades. Unlike normal coloured pencils that are bonded with a greasy substance (not sure what they used), the pigments in them are bonded with a water-soluble binder (chatCPT could probably tell you what it is). The problem from my point of view is that after application the pigment remains water-soluble. One has has to keep this in mind for the following steps in painting. Applying light coats of varnish could solve the problem.
 
I suppose the Tamiya 'clear' lacquers are water-based acrylics? That would explain the smudging effect on your 'wood' layers, because you partly redissolved the pen-pigment, particularly when applied by brush.

These acrylic paint pens (assuming that is what the AK pens are also) are handy and their soft sharp tip allows good control - in the meantime I have a whole range of Faber-Castell Pitt Artist's pens.

Greetings Fellow Modelers
 
After a busy month with little time for modeling, I've finally begun work on the fish hold of this dragger.
 
 
But first, please allow me a quick diversion.
 
The path of the recent solar eclipse tracked over Maine on a day when there was barely a cloud in the sky.  My wife and I traveled several hours north on country roads to get close to the center of totality.  A total solar eclipse is such an astronomical coincidence that it's hard for me to get my head around it. That from a moving 100-mile diameter shadow on earth, two spheres appear to be the exact same size because one being 400 times larger is 400 times farther away, and that they line up precisely with the smaller sphere blocking all the direct light of the larger while leaving the entirety of its corona visible.  Perhaps I'm a simpleton, but I find this extraordinary.  To be honest, I thought this was going to be an interesting but ho-hum visual event, but when it went dark and I took off the glasses to see where the sun had gone, I was mesmerized.
 
I had a DSLR mounted on a tripod with 200mm of lens.  I promised myself beforehand to enjoy the experience and not spend the few minutes of totality tinkering with camera settings.  So, I preset the camera and hoped for the best - manual focus, aperture priority, exposure bracketing, cable release and crossed fingers.  I pushed the cable release quite a few times without ever looking at the results.  Later, I found most were completely blown out and a few were just terribly overexposed.  But I'm not disappointed.
 

 

 
 
The lens flare image below is my favorite.  A lousy eclipse photo, but an interesting image just the same – kind of surreal.
 

 
 
 
Fish Hold
 
My decision to display the boat with the hatches open and maybe a bunker plate or two, requires that the entirety of the hold be modeled as I can't predict what will be visible through each opening and view angle. Mainly that view will be small fragments of individual bunkers and planked partitions, so this modeling will be on the quick and crude side.
 
Before I started in on that, I first washed the hull exterior with India ink/alcohol to give it a little age. About 2 parts ink out of a hundred. I've yet to decide on how the hull will be painted/weathered, but this small amount of coloring doesn't narrow my options, and the alcohol tends to remove shiny sanding spots and helps to unify the overall look – at least to my eye.
 

 
 
I then penciled on the water line. I placed the hull back onto the base and used a squared scrap of construction lumber with a pencil glued to it.
 

 
 
The fish hold uses up almost 17' (5.1m) of hull length. The area is partitioned off into 20 individual bunkers/pens as shown below in the top-view drawing. The pens with green dots hold the ice/fish and the red dot areas do not. The blue dots are the stationary posts that hold the wood slats which make up the partitioning. The four pens in the center over the keel functions as a walkway but can also be partitioned to hold ice/fish.
 

 
 
Shown below is the lower half-section at station #7. The open space against the side of the hull is the area identified by red dots. This area is empty and begins at the lowest bilge ceiling strake. This drawing detail is actually from the “transverse section” plan sheet of a completely different boat by the same designer a few years prior to the Pelican, but it is labeled as the “type plan” for the Pelican.  Consequently, the dimensioning is incorrect for my boat, but the structural construction is the same – presumably.
 

 
 
The bases for the posts are 6” square timbers and on the model the six center bases are mounted on wood strips that span the entire length of the fish hold. The six bases away from the center are beveled to reflect the changing shape of the hull as it narrows toward the bow. The drawing below shows the bevel for the posts in the area near station 6A.
 

 
And for the posts in the area near station 4A. Note that the bevel has changed due to the base sitting higher up in the hull. This is necessary because the interior space is narrower yet the distance between posts must be maintained.
 

 
I print out spacing guides to locate the center line for the wood strips the post bases will sit on.
 

 
I mark the center line for the inner and outer strips on each station bulkhead.
 

 

 
 
The strips are placed, and the outer post bases are beveled and glue on.
 

 
 
As per the plans, there are three planks below the lowest bilge ceiling strake and below that is concrete. Although they are not yet glued down, the image below shows those three planks in position. The six inner post bases have been added as well as some styrene sheet material to act as a support floor for the “concrete”.  Also, note how the post bases (top of photo) incrementally sit higher from left to right as the hull narrows.
 

 
It would have been easier to place the two lowest bilge ceiling strakes as one piece and mount the post bases on top of that. But, I didn't and decided instead to piece it together around the posts for reasons that in retrospect make absolutely no sense. But that's water under the bridge and in the end it won't show anyway.
 

 

 
 
I smeared on some Hydrocal to form the floor of the main fish pens.
 

 
 
Colored up the bulkhead planking with chalk/alcohol (burnt sienna, raw umber and black).
 

 
 
Made up the grating to place over the keel and gurry trough.
 

 
 
I'll be placing some dim-ish lighting in the hold, so a gloppy PVA mixed with black acrylic paint is slathered onto the hull to prevent light leaks. All of this mess will be hidden by the wood plank partitioning.
 

 

 
Next – posts, partitioning and completing the hold.
 
Thanks for taking a look.  Stay well.
 
Gary

Everything you ever wanted to know about this (and other) lathe(s): http://www.lathes.co.uk/atlas/index.html
 
But beware, it may make you drool, when you see what kind of attachments etc. once were available.

Well we’re moved and I’m setting up the shop and I believe it was here that we were talking about atlas craftsman steel lathes.
 
 Anyway I dug out my craftsman lathe and yes I need a new base and deep cleaning but this is what I have.