paul ron

are you talking about how to tie the sails to the yards or the associated control lines? bunts, leaches, clews, sheets... etc. to find these for your ship, you'd have to do the research. also scales makes a difference because these extra lines adds an enormous amount of belays in an already crowded rigging plan.

another overlooked possibility, when leaving the country of origin, they are fully loaded with cargo. it may be possible balast was picked up at other ports after loading and off loading along the way. also, im sure balast (logical conclusion) that has been dumped at various ports came from other parts of the trade routes so the balast doesnt necessarily have to be the country of origin. do you think they went scrounging new balast each time, or shared dumped balast?

how many coats is up to you. once you have a finish that pleases you, you're done. usually the wood sucks up the first, or even the second coat. be sure to let it dry completely between coats, then sand with a 600 grit to get the fuz down. .

it amazes me what exceptional work you guys do in such tight quarters. happy hollidays everyone.

elmers. makes a very fine finish, no shrinkage, can be watered down.

wow, stats, specs, charts n all. but... ive been using titebond or wood glue for the past 55+ years and can say without hesitation, not a single joint has come appart yet. so i find it hard to trust ca glue to last as long since i dont have any track record to compare. also ca glue out gasses for a long time.... which is very toxic as well as annoying when doing close work, burning eyes and skin irritations. besides... the acetone and other toxic waste involved doesnt sound like its better or advantageous to just using water for wood glues. are you wearing eye protection, gloves, a respirator rated for chemicals? soooo.... my question to all the ca users... what is your oldest project using ca glue?

i put my belt sander in my bench vice and square or round n shape my dowels to plan. then using a scraper i carefully finish them. its faster than the lathe, takes minutes to do. no centering, adjusting chucks n tool rests... etc.

@ers, sorry to hear about your situation. i know its a tough subject to deal with. i hope everyone takes your warnings very serious... same goes for hearing n eye protection. the few times when working dust, ill use my 3gal shop vac with adapters or hoods i custom make for the tool or area im working in. most hoods n adapters are made of card board or even toilet paper tubes or mailing tubes. my paint station is a cardboard box n ac filter i can fold up when not in use. there is no excuse not to use your personal protection equipment!

thats a good question... my 2 grand daughters, 9 and 11, have watched my scratch clipper model grow. when i run into any problems, i ask them to help me solve it. we'll brainstorm some ideas as we try to justify our fix. you would be surprised how crafty kids are. this has peaked their interest, so when they come to my house, they cant wait to see the ship in progress. recently, my 11 year old asked me if she can build a ship too. of course i said sure and that lit her face right up. i may start with something simple just to show her the process and how to work with plans. btw julia the 11 yo has helped me do home repairs and alwaysenjoys reading the instructions with me ever since she learned to read. the younger girl, chloe, is more interested in sewing, drawing n painting... thats another of my hobbies in progress. shes more artsy fartsy. i gave her a tam to work in so she looks the part, my little Rembrandt painting a cartoon character called stitch using her own painting set up in her own work space on my bench. we built table easels together. they loved using the jig saw n drill press... chloe said she feels so grown up now that she is allowed to use the shop machines n tools (with my supervision of course). i think the best way to get kids involved, let them help at an early age. ease them in as their curiosity grows. since they've seen how its done, they feel more relaxed and will want to go on their own. that helps them focus on their projects because its all theirs. one important thing to remember... you cant mess it up!... you can always fix it or make another... and together, we can figure it out.

my experiance with shellac flakes in alcohol, doing french polish on furniture, if the cut is too heavy, or too many coats, it takes alot longer to cure. the alcohol evaporates fast leaving the shellac resin behind, it will feel dry. but its still in a fresh state maybe a bit tacky for a few days but does fully harden, then i can recoat. the best thing in your favor... you can strip it very easily while its fresh just using alcohol to wipe it down. it may need a light sanding or 000 steel wool rub out. i dont do that because i dont like the residual steel wool or sand on my new shellac... i gently rub it out with my clean dry hand. my tough skin is better than sanding and doesnt gum up. though my choice for ships... clear semi gloss or matt acrilic spray. it lays evenly and has a polished wax finish. not gloss, not flat... right in the middle. btw, when making shellac, check if the flakes you got are dewaxed or not. you have to let the wax settle, then skim it so you dont get wax in your batch, which makes it too soft. https://kmtools.com/blogs/news/all-about-shellac-finish

ive done some research on these small lathes several years ago and what makes a big difference is what comes with the machine and what accessories are available. the older the lathe is, the accessories become rare and expensive. if you do buy a small lathe, be sure to check what comes with it and if other accessories you'll need to do more advanced work are available or included. i always wanted a unimat, and still do. ive had a few opportunities to buy one and im still kicking myself for not buying the few that were fully loaded. since they were old and did need some heavy cleaning and some overhauling, i passed them up since the asking price was too high for the condition it was in. that was a mistake. now the same lathes full loaded are much more expensive and even less accessories are available or way out of price range. unless the lathe was dropped out of the 5th floor window or abused, they are very tough and really easy enough to clean and refurbish. most of these machines use standard parts like sealed bearings, pullies, chucks... parts that wear over time like drive belts are easy enough to replace. runout is the biggest problem, but new bearings are easy enough to replace... also some parts and mods can be made by you on the lathe. if you arent handy, then buy a new(er) lathe. but realize you get what you pay for. they dont make em like they use to! cheap is cheap. try doing a search in the forums? this subject has come up many times over the years. there are plenty of machinest forms too you can search for information... even get the manuals for them, its an education in itself and thats were you'll find the differences. as for size?... i worked on a lathe that was 8' long making tiny metal parts and even threaded ss #4 left handed screws.

NO! a good mechanic makes a living correcting mistakes.

google "model ship cradles"... then look at "images." im sure you'll be inspired once you see so many variations.

looks like JMS is gone, now listed as guest. too bad, his idea is a very useful tool. i wish i saw this sooner.

the derma roller is a great idea. i found them on amazon if anyone is interested... https://www.amazon.com/derma-roller/s?k=derma+roller btw i kind of like the fishscale logic for speed and fouling. im sure there were good reasons for other methods.