Mike Y

JP, hope your build progresses nicely! Just a small word of caution in that critical moment - check the alignment of the top part of your frames, next to the cutoff sections. These areas are thin, and would be very visible once the hull is flipped over. Luckily cutoff sections can be moved around a bit to compensate for it, but it needs to be done before frames are glued to the jig. Some strip of wood would help to check the alignment. I was not so careful during that step and still see the results of that mistake..

Be gentle with the clamping force though, if overtightened - the guide rods will bend, and jaws would not be parallel anymore, vice will start to wobble. Don't ask me how I know Great value for money anyway!

Pat, very interesting idea, thanks for sharing the link! Heard about the dental tools, but always postponed the purchase due to their price. Maybe it's time to go for another ebay hunt Carl, thanks for the generous offer, I'll keep it in mind! No need so far, and it mounts to the full-size Dremel, which is too bulky and aggressive to be brought close to the model, I'm a bit scared of it after using the mini dremel tool.. I've now realised what made my life more difficult than it should be - it's a small downside of the Hahn building method. The top of the hull is higher and narrower than it should be due to dummy parts that attach it to the jig, so it really limits the angle of the tool that you can use inside the hull. (The photo is quite old) It would not be an issue once the hull is cut free, but that would happen way further down the road. At the moment my handmade drill seems to work just fine, already drilled and treenailed a quarter of the inner planks. To be on the safe side and avoid overheating I simply switch it off after every row of holes and move over to drawing bamboo through a drawplate for a few minutes. That way I keep a roughly 1:1 ratio of holes-to-treenailing-stock, and switch tasks to break the monotony - otherwise it's too easy to phase out and make some dumb mistake

Hm, sorry, I did not know it's so hard to get it in US With Hobbymill and Crown closed, I thought you can buy Pear, Alaskan Cedar and Castello Boxwood sheets from Syren, but now when I check the site - it looks like it's down to Cedar only. Well, maybe ordering from Europe is not such a bad idea, on a large enough order the shipping cost would not be so significant, and there are no import fees into US, right?

It's quite impressive, would benefit from some walkthrough video!

Nothing that could not be fixed with a bit of sanding! 👍

Thanks, it is a nice Christmas present to the community!

Jaager, may I respectfully disagree about the need to mill your own wood? It's very nice to have your own bandsaw, and it's a good skill to have - but if you do not have the space or desire - it's not so expensive to just buy milled wood. I'm building 1:48 scale with Hahn method and the cost of swiss pear for framing blanks (where more than a half goes to waste) was 150 EUR, and I've ordered plenty of extra pieces just in case. And I was told this is not the cheapest supplier (though I am very loyal to them due to their quality). It's not peanuts, but definitely not too expensive. You don't _need_ to invest in all the machines to mill your own lumber, or find somebody with them. Ordering sheets and wide strips of pre-milled wood would be just fine. Especially since you can spread the purchase over many years while building. I am building POF in the apartment with no workshop, and just want to say it's definitely possible with a limited set of miniature tooling. Please never drop that idea just because you do not have a space for a large bandsaw Of course a 74 gun in 1:24 scale would be a whole different story..

Thanks Gaetan, nice to know! Sometimes I wonder how everybody else drills the treenail holes inside the hull? Most of the build logs omit that process, just showing a thousand neatly aligned holes I can't believe that it's all drilled by hand with a pin vice, especially since it is too long to reach some areas on the extremums of the hull.

It’s mostly pear, castello boxwood and cherry, you will find plenty of older topics about pros and cons of all these woods. Cherry is the cheapest, pear in between, castello box is the most expensive of them all. There are a dozen of other woods, but they are even harder to get. there is also a dedicated topic with a list of wood suppliers, smth like ”where to buy wood”. One thing for sure - you would not want to go back to ”kit wood” after using that stuff

Hope now you will spend more hours in your cozy work area Glad that you are back to this build!

Richard, interesting idea for the next generation of the tool! I'm pretty sure this one would break before I finish the model Had a few late-night drilling sessions in .45mm size (#77, third smallest hole in Byrnes drawplate). This corresponds to 7/8in in real life. First problem: tiny drill bit is too tiny for any collet. I tried wrapping it with masking tape, aluminium foil, etc - all was fruitless, it was spinning once bit bites into the wood. I turned the internet upside down trying to find a proper chuck/collet or a set of bits with larger shank. That was fruitless, but I found a great advice on MSW from Von Stetina in 2013: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/4348-micro-drill-holders/?tab=comments#comment-125198 You basically wrap a wire around a bit, which provides enough grip. In my case just a wire was not enough, but if you add soft solder on top - then it works like a charm! Looks like a horrible feat of redneck engineering, but it works Due to a low rpm of my drill a minor wobble induced by this abomination is not an issue at all. So after all a set of tiny holes was drilled. I tested it with both bamboo and boxwood treenails. It is much easier to draw bamboo (I managed to do it all the way to second hole in the drawplate without breaking), with boxwood it becomes even more delicate. Results were quite different when oil is applied, bamboo has some dark blotchy spots, while boxwood is evenly colored. Here bamboo is on the left side, boxwood is on the right. Top plank is pear, boxwood is in the bottom. Will probably go with a compromise - using bamboo treenails for internal planking and boxwood ones for external planking and deck planking. If somebody asks - will blame the crew for the poor maintenance of their living quarters 😜

Mark, I am also worried about overheating, the problem is you can't know how hot it is inside. If the outside gets hot too - then it's probably already too late So I'll just make sure to take tea breaks, no drilling marathons. Alan, I did not know you can attach 90deg attachment to a flexible shaft, interesting idea! But then control is still an issue, when your fingers are 90deg to a hole.

Thanks everybody, it's so nice to be back GuntherMT, the motor is geared down significantly, so it's pretty slow, but provides enough torque for the purpose (tiny holes that are not very deep). So you only need a moderate pressure. Though it's not fast, each hole takes around 5 seconds. Dremel would do that in a second, but the cost of mistake is higher. I chose a weak motor simply for the size, anything more powerful is also bigger. And the design goal was to have a tiny little thing. Unfortunately collet is as long as the motor itself, but I do not have good enough tools and skills to machine my own collet on this scale... Foot switch would be nice, but I did not have one, and making it would be a bit more complicated. Can be retrofitted pretty easily if needed. I usually do not have space for both hands when working on a model, at least not for internal planking. The power supply is a simple "adjustable power adapter" from any electrical / hobby shop, with a range from 3 to 12v. I run this motor on 5-7.5v usually, but trying to be careful and take breaks. I am worried about frying this little motor, wooden drill body would not dissipate the heat, and I would not feel the motor getting hot. Machining it from brass and attaching with some thermal paste would probably be smarter, but it's another can of worms (surrounding a bare motor with conductive material is probably not great).

Once I've lined up the treenail holes - I realised that I do not have a way to drill them. Dremel is too long, manual drill is too long as well, so I need to make a tiny micro drill that is as short as possible. But then the spring came, I got into mountain biking hobby, youngest daughter started to grow up and need attention, then we had a fantastic boat trip in the archipelago, one thing lead to another - and I found myself in the middle of Christmas holidays, realising I haven't touched the model for a year, such a shame! When you have a break that is soo long - it feels pathetic. You don't remember when some tools and parts are, there is a thick layer of dust built up on some tools, and so on. So back to making tools The idea is simple - use a tiny geared down motor as a drill, control it with a button that is held with another hand (to reduce the chance of whoopsies when drill bit wanders off when it touches the pilot hole). Milled the recess for the button, using a blue tape + CA trick as a workholding method. That would be a perfect job for a CNC mill, if only I had one... Shaped it with my new toys - miniature rasps. They are fantastic for that, cutting pear pretty easy: That's how the assembly looks before the glue-up. Next was the drill part. Due to noise limitations imposed by a younger kid - I am trying to avoid using power tools if possible. While table saw is gathering dust - tried ripping a block of pear with a handsaw, following the scribed lines. The result was surprisingly ok, nearly straight, and took just a few minutes. Interesting shot - here is the blank after drilling the hole for the chuck After milling the internal recesses or the motor I tried to mill the outside shape using a vertically mounted rotary table, but faced a very stupid problem: jaws of the chuck hit the milling table. Adding a spacer underneath the rotary table would have solved that problem - but requires a longer mounting bolt, which I did not have No mill then, back to shaping by hand with a rasp. That was pretty satisfactory, though the result is clearly hand sculpted and not as precise. Everything is ready for the glue-up, and I managed not to cut off too much wood to expose the inner recess. Got pretty close though. The glue-up was delicate, I forgot to seal the gear block, so used very little glue in that area to avoid it getting into the gears. And the final result - the mighty Turbo Buzzr 3000 🤣 It works and make a buzz, the drill bit rotates, you can actually drill with it! Now I have a few hundred holes to make Feels very strange to hold a wooden drill, so used to the feeling of rubbery plastic when drilling, wood feels entirely unnatural in that situation. Glad to be back! A lot of build logs to catch up on MSW... Which is a good problem to have. Stay safe and Merry Christmas to all! 🎄🎄🎄

Glad that you have returned back to the model! It hits close to home, that sudden losses of enthusiasm. I would never dare to actually paint the letters, would try some sort of paper / plastic / photoetch trickery By the way, I really like your wooden master anchors, they look great!

Monumental work on a clinker hull where you can't just smoothen everything with a gentle swipe of a sandpaper.. Amazing!

Remco, thanks for sharing your situation, and truly hope it would be back on track soon! The journey of the Kingfisher would continue one day, I believe! Someday when it's done I hope to see it again, regardless of the location (it's worth a roadtrip!) Merry Christmas, and let's hope that this curveball is a beginning of something new, something great! 💪

It's so nice to realise that we inspired some to start building with their kids Hopefully there would be more! Will try to share all my observations, maybe it would be useful. Of course, everything is different, and I only have one child to compare. The modelling sessions were around 20-30 min at the age of 6. There was no expectation of a quick result, but more of "I want to do the same thing my dad is doing", plus a natural interest in doing something crafty. Each finished phase was treated as a semi-finished thing you can play with. I remember same when I was a kid - finished model was as exciting as an unfinished one, so do not stress too much about it. It is unlikely to be finished unless you can do it many times per week. Expect some deviations from the plan, this is normal and increases the interest. For example, my daughter likes to build things from small scrap pieces left over from my build, by gluing them together and to a piece of paper. The starting skills are non-existing, every technique needs to be explained with some practice and help. How to hold a file? Sanding? Gluing? Cutting? Every single operation is new, account for that when planning a build. Prepare every session, so you have parts at hand, tools ready, etc. Each method and skill is introduced the following way: show it first, explain how it works. Let the kid practice on some scrap, first holding hand, then letting go and allow to make some mistakes. Do not start with safety precautions, introduce them gently where necessary. Dremel is quite kid friendly, by the way (if you do not use cutoff wheels and such). One of the hardest skills is keeping a consistent angle / plane when using a tool, as well as consistent pressure. Steady hand when using a file, for example. Still struggle with that a little bit, so do not have a very high demands on filing quality. Sanding is tedious, plus a pressure level is different. Split the time evenly, so kid feels that the contributions is fair. But just because of skill and pressure, your sanding would do 70% of the job. The other person holds a vacuum hose, which also counts as help. Let the child help, find some "busywork" in a delicate situations. For example, some of the planks in our kit are a very thin and delicate veneer, which breaks easily. I was doing any edge shaping, but she was helping to fit, hold the light, etc etc. Safety-wise - perfect time to introduce dust protection and safety glasses, no problem with that if you both use it. Dust protection is mostly decorative, all the masks and respirators are way too big for a child face, but it's still a good habit. I used a vacuum to really catch small particles when sanding. Plastic or wood? Plastic models involve CA glue or cement, both are harder and more risky to use by a child. Also parts are smaller. Wood - larger parts, safer tools (file, sandpaper, PVA glue). Some machine tools are also fine - with some help and introduction, she learned how to use Dremel (nylon brush to clean the glue squeeze-out, sanding drump, drill), disk sander (low power, so it would stop even if you stick finger into it) and even a bandsaw (of course, all supervised). At the same time, I would not dare introducing table saw or a mill, that one is too risky. Planking is actually doable by a kid if planks are pre-shaped (laser cut). Assembling the hull (bulkheads and so on) - doable as well. The rest is up to you, probably a lot of details needs to be skipped. But even if you will end up with just a planked hull - it is already something that is nearly finished. Add a mast and few sails - imagination runs wild! Do not forget that it's all for the process - positive reinforcement, highfives and a good mood is the most important technique in the whole exercise. It helps to be a big goofy, make stupid mistakes and let a child correct you and help you - it makes them very very proud Hope you will have many enjoyable sessions with your granddaughter, that she will remember for a long time afterwards. Does not matter if she will end up with a finished model.

The replacement well done!

Very neat solution!

Hoorray, another Hahn build, this time from giampieroricci! I like the transformation of a rough hull to a smooth one after fairing, very satisfying! More progress pictures, please!

You need quite some rigidity when sanding, to achieve it and prevent misalignment when humidity changes - you need temporary spacers between frames anyway. Hard to imagine how that can be done with a non-temporary joints. Replacing a frame or two is doable by just dissolving PVA as described above, but getting them all in and out?

Wow, that is quite an impressive weathering (not overdone) and quality of details on this scale!

Yay, another Hahn build! Like your surface sanding jig, very neat!