sticker

Noted   thanks

Hi vaddoc    no not tried it yet,  just started  panarts armed pinnace, still planking so not yet ready to stain   I can't see there being any problems (famous last words) may be in a couple days I'll give them a try on some scrap wood   we'll see how it goes      cheers

Hi all   could i draw your attention to a product that may be of some use to you if you need to stain some of your  wood for your models   ,it's some stain sample bottles that cover a lot of colours  from a company called     furniture clinic    here in the UK . The bottles are 15ml, they come in various pack sizes and colour types ,i bought 2 packs  1 x 5 bottles of browns and 1x9 bottles of various other colours  for less than £15   which seems good value to me , i have no connection to this company    it  just seems like something us modellers can put to good use    ps i forgot to mention earlier that i bought them on amazon ,again no connection        cheers

Hi draque   i see where your coming from with this model  .when I get chance to visit any model ship collection  ( such as whitby yorkshire ) this type of model with its age and style always grabs my attention,  there is something that I can't explain about them ,but  they will always stop me in my tracks to stare at them ,don't get me wrong  I love looking at model ships of any type and finding a model in a different type of setting is always a joy   eg , the treasurers house in York has a beautiful model ship in a gorgeous case which I can happily stare at for ages just taking in the details    . I hope you keep going with your model  it  deserves your best efforts    , and I will be happy to follow along    good luck and happy building   ............  sticker

Tom lauria makes some excellent videos   I look out for them on YouTube     the way he works  and the pace he presents at  is a joy to watch   (as opposed to some of the videos  that machine gun you with info from other youtubers)    if you haven't seen any of his other videos check them out! You won't be disappointed  I have no connection with him  I just admire his  work

Hi Marcus      don't get too disheartened with your model    you've  learned a lot so far   , planking is probably the hardest part for a beginner to atempt  we all had to go through this at the start   and as with  everything in  life some people are better than others at certain things   ,you're next model will be better    .my first model  was billing boats VASA    Waaaay to much for me,    got binned   never went near models again for around twenty years    then restarted  but with something smaller and a bit easier     and carried on from there    so don't worry it will all work  out in the end      stick it out                      cheers    sticker

A    tuit.....usually circular in shape,  but an essential tool  so you tell the captain   yes dear I,ll do that job  when I get    a round tuit   .  apologies     sticker

hi mark   first class idea  and well timed for me  i need to fit pinned cleats and gun tackle eyebolts    and was pondering how  to go on  ,and as usual someone comes up with a simple and efficient method !      cheers   sticker 

Good work mark    and a nicely paced blog     happy to follow    cheers sticker

Hi starlight   you might like to try Admiralty paints from cornwall model boats  (no affiliatian)   they seem to do the trick      cheers     sticker

Thanks for that tom   i hope you and your family had a great christmas  and you got plenty of modeling related stuff in your stocking ( i did! ) looking forward to seeing your model progress in the new year .   So happy  and prosperous new year to you and yours   and to anyone else reading this      cheers     sticker

Hi papa   ive been following along for sometime now and i reckon your doing a fine job  ,i must admit the one part of model ship building i find hard  is the repetition of certain parts   so i would find the whale boats  challenging    i have just finished my cannons on my granado and i struggled towards the end of them ( theres only ten  )   .  Would you mind if i pointed out a youtube channel that maybe of interest to you ?  ,its  TJ Lauria    he is  currently running a series on building a model whale boat  ,i dont mean it as a tutorial just maybe of some interest     ,and i also think his channel deserves  a bit of merit   i particulaly like his  pace of explanation    , sorry if you already know  of him  but maybe some others reading this dont      keep up the good work          cheers   sticker

Hi jeffft     personally i dont think there is one drill press  out there that will do everything      ,i have  a large bench pillar drill which is great from 13 mm down to about 4mm   but the chuck wont close to any smaller than that  but you could use a small chuck in the big chuck if you get my drift  but the accuracy suffers   so for small modeling jobs  ie  4mm and under to around 1mm then i use a dremmel type in a  purpose built drillpress and for 1mm and under i use a hand held rechargeable drill just because of the feel you get ,  and i dont break to many small bits     so in my opinion   its horses  for courses   ,      by the way have you heard the saying?  ......you need a big hammer to knock in a big nail...... its very true

Hi vane    as it happens my wife bought me the book on granado  .........and ....... tell you what   have a quick look at my post   re   aots books   ,i dropped lucky       cheers sticker

Hi steve g    ive used an AMATI pin pusher for the first time on my model  and found it fine   after a little practice on some spare plank stock  its alittle slimmer than the one you have   ( i have affiliation to amati )   the kit i'm on is an amati  so maybe the pins work well with this pusher than others   cheers    sticker

Hi vane   ive been following your build for sometime now and i reckon she's coming along nicely  .I myself am building a granado but not the caldercraft kit  mine is the amati victory ( chris watton ) version  im at a similar stage to you  but looking over the kit details there seem to be a lot  of differences in styles ,  by the way  i think i must be the only person doing this version   so unfortunately i have non to compare / check with ,  So a couple of  differences  that apparent to date  are the mortar bays  yours are fully built up then dropped into cut out of the same shape where as mine are boxes dropped in then the outer frames built around   ,the fore deck is different  , the aft deck section with the small doors looks very different , the amati model has bill boards from the wales  has yours?      Please dont think   that i consider mine any  better than yours  in fact when i ordered mine i thought i was buying the caldercraft kit  ( i didnt check )  and when it arrived  i was a little dissapointed to find everybody else doing the caldercraft kit    So the kits may differ but i reckon that they will run parallel at some point soon so i will continue to Follow your build     and try to get some photos up this weekend          cheers sticker

Hi all    i dont know if anybody uses this brush cleaner / preserver    but my son got me some at christmas this year and i have been using it with pretty good results so far (no connections to company)  its really easy to use  , i dont know where he got it  (off the internet i expect)  he and his friends use it all the time because they paint a lot of war game figures  and they use good/expensive brushes , so they want to keep them in good condition.    If you cant make out what it is from my poor photo its called     ORIGINAL B &J   THE MASTERS brush cleaner and preserver    it cleans oil,watercolour,acrylic and stain you might want to give it a try if you use good brushes     cheers     sticker

Hi allenyed      good call on the exacto handle i know exactly what you mean,   so thats my next job for this stuff,   i dont see a problem with it sticking to the round profile of the handle but just to be on the safe side i might file a couple of flat surfaces as insurance      cheers    sticker

Hi all    not long ago i sent for somthing off of  a well known auction site  ,this was some thermosetting plastic   .I wanted to try and mould a handle on to my scalpel   ,now the stuff i got  arrives as beads but when you put it in hot water above sixty two degrees  it changes its state from white beads  to a clear squishy lump   it only takes a few miniutes ,  then pour off the water and then mould it around the handle ,after a few mins of manipulating it starts to reset itself , then when you are happy with its shape either leave it or run it under a cold tap   and    viola!   A handle that fits perfect  and if your not happy reimerse it in hot water again and start over    its reuseable as many times as you like   .  Now im sure some of you would have other uses  for this stuff  so ill name it  ,(  please note i have no connection with this company  i just think its  its good stuff ,)  the company is called     THERMOWORX  the product is called POLYMORPH  it can be coloured  or you can buy it precoloured   and its quite cheap    i bought 100 gram bag for £5  and used just less than half to get a good handle     cheers     sticker(

Hi oliver   thats a shame    , we could have compared notes        by the way whats your main project?      Cheers     sticker

Hi oliver   did you ever get started on your granado ? I just wonder ,because if you did then that makes us two the only people i can find that are doing / done  this kit,  if you havent started then it seems to be just me   .i have started my kit  this winter  and i must admit the plans have had me scratching my head a little ,but ill get through ,  there dosnt appear to be any build logs anywhere !  unless you know any different  and i cant do one myself  ( dont have a smart phone )     cheers   sticker

Thanks   uss frolick   will give this a go  i always have my radio on  while working  on models   and i have read the books twice so far,   cheers    sticker

Hi davebaxt     in your first post you mention the videos,   is that amatis  official videos ?   i ask this because i had a look for myself  and saw that a chap called Davaoshipmodeller has done a series on amatis bounty   , he does models for a living  and it maybe worth a look  ,there do seem to be a few issuses with this kit  but he shows you how to get round them,  good luck with the kit   you will get there !     bluff bows = test of patience     cheers    sticker

Hi there Davebaxt      personally i would not use nails on first planking  or nails at all for that matter   i think its not a good idea to push into the edge of your bulkheads  plywood and MDF (horrible stuff ) they dont take the pressure to well  and a line of pins running down from top to bottom  cant be good even if its glued    just my opinion    cheers   sticker

Hi there Davebaxt        treenails ie  nails made of wood/bamboo as opposed to metal   ( brass/ copper nails)   . To use   , drill through plank where it touches the bulkhead   (and also into the bulkhead aswell  )  side then you would use a glued wooden pin pushed through the plank,  because the treenail is tapered  it will lock the plank in place  ,you should thin down youre pva glue   so it swells the pin and dosnt push back out on insertion .Some sort of clamp is a good idea while the glue sets    or even a spot of super glue on the inside  an a quick spritz of activator  for a real belts and braces approach,  and could pop onto youtube theres plenty of vids    hope this helps     and im sure plenty of the guys on this forum will help you out      theyre a good bunch     cheers   sticker