justsayrow

I have read a number of books on the subject and the thing that struck me was that while there were many differences depending on which navy and whether it was a merchant or warship, one of the biggest influences was the Captain and senior officers of the ship. When you get to reading actual diaries or ships logs, the hollywood romance of 17th, 18th or 19th century sailing is quickly lost !
-Joe

Spontaneously Combustion does happen, caused by the breaking down of some material usually started with moisture in the mix, then the heat being generated by that breakdown being contained so it can't escape. Your damp rags or steel wool will be fine if you open them up and let them dry or just to air out so any heat generated is allowed to escape before it causes combustion. Spontaneously Combustion is a real hazard, so always keep  it in mind and make it a habit to take precautions.
jud

Here's my Ranger.. Can't beat it for a fun kit...

Never said you shouldn't manage risk, just that saying something is toxic does not necessarily mean that it is.  Most government agencies use the "precautionary principle", i.e. that if someone thinks something might be toxic better to list is as such rather than take any risk.  It is just another cya move. 
 
An example, Professor Blowhard of Grants-r-Us U, head of the questionable science department issued a statement that dihydrogen oxide has been determined to be toxic in rats and should immediately be banned or at least strictly regulated to avoid risk to humans.  Professor Blowhard determined this by an experiment using two test groups of lab rats consisting of 6 rats in each group.  The first group was placed in 1 liter chambers filled with dihydrogen oxide and the control group were placed in identical chambers filled with air.  The first group all died after struggling desperately for a few seconds.  The control group all survived with no ill effects.  This 100% mortality in the test group is very strong evidence of the toxicity of dihydrogen oxide.  Professor Blowhard is asking for a 100 million dollar grant to study the affects of dihydrogen oxide on humans in areas such as Hawaii, Tahiti, and other areas where large groups of humans are exposed on a daily basis.  Professor Blowhard and his grad assistants Wendy, Bunny and Sue will spend the next several years visiting these areas and accessing the impacts.
 
A bit over the top but you would be surprised at just how many studies used to classify substances as "toxic" are no more extensive than my humorous example.

I spent 6 months of my career sailing lakers. MV JEAN PARISIEN and MV ALGOMARINE. This is 15 years or so ago now. We used to race the steam powered boats. No way we could keep up with them. Steam is such a cool motive force. I'm thankful that once I joined the navy I was able to sail a steamer. Big old diesel boilers and steam turbines. Lots of power. Tres tres cool.

It's not so much that the stern swings... (The whole ship swings anyways when going astern, due to transverse thrust). In the canals and dredged channels of the Seaway, ships are travelling at a minimum safe UKC (underkeel clearance). Often less then 2 feet, after squat is factored in. Let's face it, in a canal a ship can only swing so far... But a ship with only 2 feet of bottom clearance, and an anchor that could be well over than in thickness... Well....imagine a really large tuna can meeting a gigantic can opener.
 
Andy

It may seem strange, but at one time the vessels plying the inland Great Lakes were some of the largest in the world. Even in the mid 20th century, most ocean going freighters settled comfortable around the 500 foot mark, lakers were already into the 700 foot range.
 
Thanks to the opening of the 4th Welland Canal in 1932, ships of up to 730 feet could make the transit down from the upper lakes (Superior, Huron, Michigan and Erie) to Lake Ontario. At that time, the largest ocean going vessel that could reach the lakes was limited by the locks and canals of the pre-modern seaway.  Smaller vessles, known as canallers, would tranship from lakes ports to ports on the lower St. Lawrence river. They were limited to a mere 261 feet long by 40 feet wide and a maximum draft of around 8 or 9 feet. These were small ships, but there were LOTS of them.
 
In 1959 the current Seaway was opened. This allowed passage of the largest lake vessels (at that time) to the lower river, it also reduced the total number of locks from 28 to 7, between Montreal and Lake Ontario. The old time canaller sailors used to joke, that they would litterally walk from Cornwall to Montreal. This also meant the end of "Canal" sized vessels, as they were no longer efficient in the face of the larger vessels. Aside from specialty ships (cement carriers or package freighters), most canalers were gone by the end of the 1960s. The last unaltered canaller currently sits at Industrial Marine and Salvage in Port Colborne Ontario. The crane ship "D.C. Everest" (1953) was last used as a barge. She now sits awaiting her eventual fate.
 
 
Another small update. Have completed the fo'c'sle bulwarks. Made of styrene sheet and strip. Each frame, and the bulwark was made from 0.030" styrene. The flanges and cap rail are all 0.015" x 0.080" styrene strip. I used the moulded on rivets on the hull as a reference for spacing the frames correctly. It will need a little touch up with filler along the bottome outside edge to fill any remaining small gaps and inconsistencies. But otherwise, I'm pleased with the result.
 
 
Now it's time to get serious tackling the stern and mid sections and get that hull put together.
 
Andy

Since June I have been working off & on on various aspects of the Anchor Hoy. I've started redrawing the hull and am at the point to where the bulkhead elevations will be redrawn. The end result will be several more evenly spaced bulkheads than the original plan calls for and will produce a better model in the long run.
 
From the workbench however, I've not been idle. I have been working on several parts of the deck furniture and have a photo of the anchor  to share. It's in the 3"+ size in reality and will be hoisted up by the forward anchor davit (anchor "cat") when the model is completed. I thought I had brought the photo of the anchor parts prior to assembly but that must still be on my computer at my workshop. The parts were made from boxwood, walnut, and brass rod and bar. The anchor cat is finished, as well as both deck hatches, and the after companionway is almost complete. While I built the hatches & companionway from hand sketches, I may actually produce finished drawings in CAD for each of these assemblies.
 
My Proxxon DB250 arrived and I've had a chance to use it. I have the bowsprit turned and finished but that was turned on my Turncrafter Pro Midi lathe due to its size. Right now my modeler/machinist friend Ken Smith in Advance, NC is once again working his magic on the Proxxon lathe in order to improve on the tool rest. I will post further information re. this tool in the post under Tools that's already started.
 
In the CAD dept. I've created drawings for the anchor cat, anchor, all masts & spars, and as mentioned, some hull layout drafting.
 
I am keeping these posts to a minimum as time is rather scant these days. I will try to get more camera work done on the other parts that are finished as well as those being completed
 
 

I have both a scroll saw and a band saw.  And I agree that the band saw is faster.  But when I have to cut parts that have an inside curve that is smaller than the width of the band saw blade the scroll saw is much better.  So it really depends on what you are cutting.  Since Jan said he doesn't have much room and will have to build small boats the scroll saw will be better for his needs.
 
Bob

Jan,
 
Since you will be working in small scale, like I do, you will be cutting tight corners in thin wood.  That is what a scroll saw is made for.  A band saw is really not good for this kind of work, the blade is too wide to make the tight turns. Also to cut thin wood you need a fine toothed blade, there should be two or three teeth touching the wood at all times.  As for the table saw, unless you plan on making your own lumber you will not need it.  The thin wood used in small scale boats cuts easily with a knife and a metal straight edge. 
 
Bob

Sorry Harry I did not intend to bore you,
 
it is in a way the months of research behind and the joy of developing and sharing the parts. It came out naturally as result of all those trials I did all along my way :-)
It was a tad more then 12 hours and will provide some help to modelers who just want do do some modeling without to much research. Even though this is still the kit section, the most important in modelmaking is not just to glue things together, but even more important is  to give a soul to a model - and this no etch part can help the modeler.
 
Greetings, Daniel :-)

Is it possible, James, maybe for a couple of weeks to pin John's log as a sort of book of condolences, so it doesn't immediately get lost in the shuffle?

You guys are a hoot! I love the excitement that comes from just knowing someone is watching and cheering, and correcting when necessary (often).
 
Randy, honestly, it is a bit nerve wracking knowing Chuck can peek in at any time . Does add a certain stress level to the build. I am just so hoping I can take the things I learned from the SF and put them to work here. The challenge this time is to only have to do the planking ONCE instead of 3 times lol.
 
Thanks Augie. No cats indoors so I will go down to the laundry room and "hang some weights from the ceiling" to stretch the rope when it gets here.
 
Tim...have plans for a real shipyard...and am hoping that Brynes saw is on its way...Then you have me...well...after the Syren, then off to the dark side. Although I do have my eyes on 3 other kits atm...Occre Endeavour Bark, Euro Model Mordaunt, and MS Flying fish. But, there is no rule that says I cant do kits and scratch at the same time!!!
 
I plan to be doing this until the day I die, and don't have plans for that happening any time soon, so I can dream BIG!!

Great start so far....REMEMBER to have FUN with it!!!!!!!!  

When i just did the micro blocks, it all continued with an answer from Jan here in MSW:   You will drive yourself insane! My guess is that your next "problem" will be to get these tiny blocks stropped according the rule book  Next you will realize that blocks have sheaves, that sheaves are held into position by iron pins, that these pins have nail like heads, that.... etc.   We will follow your route to insanity with ever increasing admiration!   Jan   OK-OK-OK, Jan´s challenge was accepted :-) The stropping we had already, so the next is ...     ... put a 1 mm poly rod into the machine, drill with 0,4 mm, turning the chuck of the lathe of course by hand ...     ... and cutting it off still on the drill to 0,5 mm slices ...     ... and this is the result of the production.   So what is missing next for some good blocks? The casing:   So milling a double slot and a single slot into a 2,5 mm x 1 mm batten ...     ... doing some carving ...     ... colored the disks with marker for not adding to the thickness ...     ... inserted the disks and the axles  ...     ... and cleared it up.     And here the family shot with the benchmark, the wonderful 2 x 2 x 2 mm block from JB.      While stropping I finally re-remembered the great power-splice, which makes things easier and cleaner, prepared a loop ...     ... and slid the block into it, secured with glue and  ...    *drummrollandsmallfanfare*     ... and the thing on place :-)   Lessons learned:    It is really possible to make blocks of 2,5 x 2,5 x 1 mm with turning sheaves! And by pulling on the loose end, the tackle works much easier than the other ones without :-) :-) :-)   The most difficult? Checking if the sheaves are turning after securing the axles with glue. Managed to do this with the point of a needle. Confirmed positivly!   ;-)   Liebe Grüße Daniel  

Starting the final assembly.
 
 
 

Its very subjective.  I prefer different looks on different models.  I do believe its something everyone should try at least once.
 
I am moving this topic into the proper forum as well...
 
Chuck

Hi,
 
I am sorry it took so long to re-register - but I have been very busy - plus my internet has been intermittent.
 
Whilst developing and building the Victory prototype, I have made many changes 'on the fly' - sometimes for realism/previous part not quite right to adding more detail - especially the stern windows.
 
I have just completed the boat designs, anchors (100mm long!) and made four new cannon barrel masters - here are some pics:
 

 
Copper plates laid in two distinct bands:
 

 
Rudder is very easy to copper.....:
 

 
Main Channel:
 

 

 

 

 

 
Checking the cannon masters:
 

 
As for release dates for kits, I am sorry, I cannot help. I have as much idea as you, as I only design and develop the kits, and have nothing to do with release strategy....
 
 
Chris

David your hull couldn't be any better.  Very crisp and clean.  If I didn't know any better, you make building a boat look easy, but since I know from experience how tricky putting together a model ship can be, I must conclude that your skills are first rate.   
 
Does the bear have a name?
 
Brian

Now I turned back to the lower hull.  It was refined with templates and progressively finer sanding blocks.  After the 400 grit level I sealed it with Minwax Wood Hardener.  This product is designed to strengthen rotted wood, but I have found it to be perfect for sealing wood where I want a truly smooth surface.  The only drawback is that the wood becomes so hard that it is quite difficult to remove more than just a small amount - don't aske me how I know.  I now hold off on using it until I am quite satisfied that I have the proper shape.
 
After the hardener dried overnight it was sanded smooth to remove the raised grain, and the first coat of Krylon auto primer was sprayed on.  This revealed that there were small imperfections where the various lifts had been joined to each other.  These were filled by painting the entire lower hull with a thin solution of small-grained plaster.  After sanding with a sanding block you can see where the plaster has filled the voids.  The plaster was hardened and the next primer coat was applied, then sanded smooth.  Ultimately, seven coats of primer were laid on and progressively sanded off with up to 1000 grit paper. 
 
The keel fin and bulb were similarly shaped, hardened, filled and sanded.  Because the keel fin is so thin its connection points with the lower hull above and the keel bulb below would be incredibly fragile.  I therefore planned for and fitted a steel pin that goes into the hull about 2 inches and down below the keel bulb about the same amount.  I don't know how it will be displayed, but this should give them a great deal of flexibility in choosing the mounting for the model. 
 
So here is my progress to date.  The three major components - upper hull, lower hull, and keel - can be stacked to see how they line up and to refine them as needed.  More as the model develops.
 
Be well
 
Dan Pariser
 
 

Thats not needed...most folks are good people.  They wouldnt do those things.  Those that would.....these types of agreements wouldnt matter.  If you post anything on the internet...beware of where it may end up.  Its really simple.  There is no way to protect yourself from crooks and evil people.  If you post any documents make sure you list your name and copyright.  Other then that...posting is open for all that "suck" to do their selfish deeds.  I have seen so many people ripped off (including myself) it is painful.   But those that are caught will be banned immediately from this site.
 
Chuck

John - Yes, that's a good thing to keep in mind
 
The attending photo is the work as of last night - I have all the bulkheads (except for the transom) now in place on the centerboard.
As with the construction of PEACOCK, I cut 1/4" square stock for the blocks that hold each of the bulkheads in place. This (more or less) assures that the bulkheads are all at right angles to the centerboard.
 
Since the article in Grimwood doesn't specifically give scantling sizes (his model is a lift construction hull), I'm going to use the sizes described on Chapelle's redrawn plan of the Boston (Doughty) Anchor Hoy which should work out well for this model. That wil give me the deck & hull planking widths and thicknesses that I'll use.
 
Next week I'll begin fairing the bulkheads and also get the transom board ready for placement.

Hank,
That drawing in Grimwood always fascinates me!  The boat is so small and the anchor so big.
 
I'll be watching your log.  The hoy might have to be my first atempt at scratch.