Bedford

The Sutton Hoo ship is very interesting Keith. I'm a member of Lake Macquarie Classic Boat Assoc. we are a similar bunch of "old codgers" who build and restore classic boats but not to that scale or degree of authenticity. I think groups like that are always welcoming and happy to discuss their work. I can definitely appreciate the amount of waste that would occur cutting their strakes that way but it's authentic.

Well Keith, I knew this one was coming but I've been so tied up in my 1 : 1 build I forgot all about it but I've had a quick skim through up to present and am now eagerly watching another masterpiece take shape

I think Mark is onto it but the vertical lever is the tiller (side steering) and the half inch rod is a keeper rail to protect it. So bent to 90deg at each end and into the carlin or coaming so the tiller is captive. I'd guess side steering was the ideal method for a small fishing boat as it leaves the cockpit and the other side of the boat clear to work.

That's some nice progress mate, she looks great. I'm having trouble finding this metal rod of which you speak, is it that dot in way of the rudder head? If so I'd say it's a locking pin to stop the tiller coming off in adverse conditions.

I love that last shot, beautiful planking. More use of Huon Pine, lovely stuff!

Mark, I went to the Boat Warehouse on Monday and they have a model Ranger too, not a patch on the ones you build though. Meanwhile, I'm in Rathmines on Lake Mac and building my 2nd 12 inch the the foot model

Nice planking job Mark, and didn't Cliff draw beautiful lines!

Yes, I've seen and held Johns previous model and it's just beautiful. The man does excellent work!

Well done! She looks brilliant out there

I haven't used it on any models yet, I'm too busy taking Sheriff Brodys advice and building a bigger sail boat.

I use PVA and a little C.A. where applicable unless it's going to get wet in which case I use epoxy. Used WEST on the first RC one I did and it's a nightmare, the stuff goes off while you're mixing it! I now swear by Bote Cote. No nasty chemicals and no hardening anxiety, it gives plenty of work time to get a good job.

Nice to see you making some progress mate, You'll have to elaborate on the restoration project. There are a lot of beautiful, and some quite large, ship models there.

Hey Mark, nice to see some progress. What epoxy are you using and do you know the tricks of how to easily work with the stuff? If not feel free to ask

That's a great demonstration, lovely to see it moving with all oars. If you look at the rudders on RC sailboats you'll find they are normally way oversize because scale size isn't enough so if you want scale rudders you might need to get creative like, and it's a sneaky and historically abhorrent solution but I'm sure you could get a small bow thruster to slip into probably the stern, for proper movement, to help it turn.

All that beautifully intricate work foiled by cheap crap auxiliary components. It drives me mad that I can't buy good quality things like that anymore

It had to be incredibly frustrating having gone to great lengths to get the planking so good only to see it open up. It looks brilliant now but I'd be inclined to get that paint on as a matter of urgency to seal it before the moisture level changes again.

I love the lines of a Ranger, looking good Mark

The Couta Boat is considered such an icon of Australian nautical history that there is one at the Australian National Maritime Museum. Nice to see a model build of one.

On the subject of rudders, I wonder if they were, in reality, more trim tabs than actual rudders, as is the case in tall ships in which the set of the sails does most of the heading work. Having had the helm on a 4 man row boat I can tell you the rudder only has any real effect when the oars are out of the water so you end up with a segmented turn.

I was thinking the same as Grant, once you get the second tier of oars it should speed up, yes it's slow off the mark but then it should be. Before worrying about oar size I'd suggest you work out the theoretical hull speed "Hull speed can be expressed as a simple mathematical formula 1.34 X the square root of the length of the waterline (HS = 1.34 x √LWL). For instance, if a cruising sailboat has a waterline length of 36 feet, she should be able to sail 1.34 x 6, or approximately eight knots." Then work out the scale speed of the boat and take it from there, mind you it's doubtful such a big rowing boat would have ever attained hull speed. As for the amount of ballast, I'd leave that as is too for now because water doesn't behave in a scale fashion so if you make it lighter it might get tossed around like a cork. The ballast helps her ride in a more scale manner.

I'm glad the float test went well and it's good that you're thinking ahead and painted that prop, could avoid a disastrous encounter.

I nearly forgot about this one Mark. Glad to see some progress! I'd heard Maluka did the Fastnet, he's keen shipping her all the way over there for a race!

Nice project! I've come to the party a bit late but I have a few epoxy/fiberglass tips that may be useful later or to others. I'm currently building a 17' sail boat, yes, full size and I've made wooden RC boats. On the real thing I fibreglassed the bottom for mechanical protection and I worked a sheet of "peel ply" over it, this gives a uniform finish like a fine fabric weave one you pull it off after curing. You could use it on model ships if you really needed to 'glass the hull as it greatly reduces the need for sanding. However on the subject of sanding, the topsides of my current build are merely sealed in epoxy and will be painted and an old shipwright gave me the best tip ever. Use a cabinet scraper rather than sanding! It's so much quicker and easier and you can control what and how much you take off. I've been to the boatshed this morning and scraped the whole topside of the boat in about 2 hours leaving just a quick sand to go. Yes the frames are a long way apart on this model and you have found an issue with that. In that case I think I would have cut patches of light fibreglass to fit between the frames and epoxied them in on the inside. Hopefully the thickened epoxy you've added will do the job but a sanding filler in epoxy makes it thicker but weaker. You can buy other fillers that will retain the strength. I hope I haven't worried you with that but if I were you I'd be floating it again with enough ballast to bring it to its lines and leave it for a few hours. Better you find a failure in the tub than on a lake.

Keith, I mentioned a while back that I had to find a new place to live and a big deciding factor in moving here was the Lake Macquarie Classic Boat Association. A "Mens Shed" type arrangement, we are a group of like minded retirees that like messing around with small boats and we can build boats for ourselves with the help of many hands including a couple of shipwrights. It's a great environment and there's always something new to learn be it boat related or not.

I doubt they used rowlocks in those days or those ships, more likely thole pins or similar which don't allow feathering.