7 hours ago, RossR said:

i am going to give Scotch Brite a try.   Love the finish but hate the mess with steel wool.   Do you know if the fine Scotch Brite pads available at box box home improvement stores?

They are and will be found in the paint department. That said, I have not seen the full range of grit sizes in the DIY warehouse stores that will be found in an auto painting supply store. The pads in the big box stores are for general prepping for house painting and are fairly coarse for model finishing work. The grit size you want for modeling is much finer than that, down around the 300 to 600 sandpaper grit range. The abrasive pads are available in auto painting supply stores down to ultra-fine grit sizes suitable for "rubbing out" auto body finish defects. Most towns of any size will have an auto painting supply store nearby, or even a DIY auto parts store, that will carry a range of different grit grade abrasive pads. You might also stop by a local auto body and fender repair shop and ask if they have some they will sell you. Like most abrasives, I'm sure there's a big price break on purchasing larger quantities. The pads last quite well, so it's not like you need to buy more than a few at a time in a small range of grit sizes (or in just one grit size, depending on your uses...) if they are only going be used for modeling work. If all else fails, you can always make a donation to Mr. Bezos' retirement savings account and buy them from Amazon. Beware of the peg-rack packaging prices in retail stores, though. There's a huge difference in price between the "civilian" retail prices and the "commercial" lot-packaged prices, as well as between the "Scotch" brand pads, which were once all that were available, and the wide range of generic brands available now.

Scotch peg-rack package of one pad: $8.88

Amazon.com: 3M Paint & Body Scuff Pad, 03193, 6 in x 9 in, 1 Per Pack : Everything Else

Tonmp 10 Pack 4.5 x 10 Inch Hand Pads Coarse Medium Fine Superfine 5 Different Specifications Assortment General Purpose Scouring Pad: $8.99 ($.89 per pad)

Amazon.com: Tonmp 10 Pack 4.5 x 10 Inch Hand Pads Coarse Medium Fine Superfine 5 Different Specifications Assortment General Purpose Scouring Pad Ideal for Garden Tools and Grills,Automotive Body Tools : Health & Household

6 hours ago, ChrisLBren said:

So far after two coats of 1lb blonde shellac on some scraps Im not happy with it - I think I will mix up to a 2lb cut.  Its almost a "non finish" at this point after buffing in between coats with steel wool.  

 

I do like the pure tung oil finish better at this point however dont want to give up yet.  I also understand many modelers use a wax finish as an alternative.  I am a fan of more natural finishes than a poly finish.  

 

Any tips are appreciated as always.

It sounds like your shellac sealer coat is working exactly as it should, so don't feel bad at all. It appears that you aren't happy with your shellac job because you are expecting it to do something it's not able to do if you expected it to look like a "pure tung oil finish." (Which is more a product of the finish coating manufacturers than it is the seeds of the tung tree, but that's a story for another night.) 

It appears the use of shellac as a finish requires some clarification. Shellac can be used as a finish and is, most famously in the "French polish" method of traditional fine furniture finishing. Shellac can also be used as a finish by building up successive coats, much as one would with a varnish, and then wet-rubbing them down with very fine abrasive powders or simply attempting to apply thick shellac as one would a varnish, which is very difficult to do without encountering brush strokes, given the speed with which alcohol evaporates. These now antiquated finishing methods have been widely replaced by modern finish coating materials over the years, beginning with sprayed clear lacquers and more recently polyurethanes and epoxy finish coatings. The classic shellac finishing techniques are only seen in very fine custom furniture and in refinishing antique pieces these days. 

When we talk about shellac as often used in ship modeling, we are generally talking aboout using shellac as a sealer, rather than a finish. This is to say that many of us use shellac on our models precisely because it's "almost a non-finish." That's how it's supposed to look. A coat or two of thinned shellac soaks into the surface of the wood and seals the pores, but does not build up a thick coating that would serve as a finish coat with any of the depth needed to accomplish what one would consider a finish on the wood. A very thin varnish application will, also bring out the figuring in figured woods, but enhancing the figuring of wood is decidedly not something one would want to do on a ship model and figured woods are avoided wherever possible in any event. What a thin coat of shellac does as a finish on a ship model is to mimic the appearance of bare wood while invisibly protecting bare wood from exposure to the elements, dirt, and greasy finger stains. (Heavier cuts of shellac are also used as an adhesive and medium cut shellac is particularly useful in cementing knots in rigging work and stiffening lines to create realistic catenary shapes.) 

When used as a sealer shellac on a model used to portray bare wood is theoretically a "finish," but not one intended to be seen. When shellac is used solely as a sealer, it is exceptionally effective beneath subsequent finish coats of paint or varnish. I know of no finish coating which will not adhere well to shellac. It is compatible with everything. Shellac is a particularly effective feature if subsequent coatings are water-based because water will soak into the pores of most wood species and, to one extent or another, "raising the grain" of the wood as the water-wet wood expands, which makes achieving a perfectly smooth finish virtually impossible. Shellac does not raise the grain when applied to bare wood and when dried may be lightly sanded without creating the "fuzzy surface" that results when sanding many softwoods, such as basswood, commonly found in ship model kits. While no coating is entirely impermeable to moisture, shellac is recognized as one of the most impermeable coatings we have available.  Shellac's ability to slow the exchange of moisture between the wood in a model and the ambient humidity of the environment in which the model is kept is often a valuable contribution to the life of a wooden model which otherwise must endure the shrinking and swelling, however microscopic, of its separate parts as the moisture content of its wood fluctuates, a process with can, over time, weaken glue bonds and cause the structural integrity of the model to deteriorate. 

Now, if one desires a "finish" on their model, I would not advise attempting to achieve a "finish" on a ship model using shellac simply because the intricacy of the parts virtually preclude the rubbing and polishing required to achieve a traditional "hand rubbed" shellac finish and because the thickness of the shellac coating required would, in any event, operate to obliterate the fine detail on the model, a fault commonly seen in models built by modelers inexperienced in the nuances of finishing miniatures.  If your model is now shellacked, and providing you haven't sanded off the coat you applied (another mistake often made and easily corrected by applying another,) you've properly prepared and sealed your surface for the application of the finish coat of your choice. That choice is entirely up to you and will depend upon what you want the finished product to look like. If you are seeking to portray a compelling impression of reality in miniature, a "furniture finish" would not be appropriate and, in fact, the "bare wood" appearance of shellac alone would serve the purpose well. If on the other hand, you want to finish the bare wood on your model as if it were a piece of furniture without regard for the actual opaque paint colors applied to the prototype, an artistic effect which seems in vogue to some degree these days, you will have to either hand-rub wax over the varnish sealer, a traditional furniture finishing technique that is best left for flat table tops than any modeling application, or use a varnish or polyurethane coating. These are quite subtly varied in appearance, and you will have to experiment to determine which product creates the finish appearance you like best. A lot of modelers who prefer the "all wood look" on their models use what's called "wipe-on poly," This product is apparently not available in Europe, whether this because of VOC content regulations or some other reason, I don't know, but "wipe-on poly" as marketed in the U.S. is simply thinned clear polyurethane coating, produced in a range of stain tints. As it says on the can, it may just wiped on with a soft cloth and it will yield a matte finish of whatever depth one wishes to apply. 

3 hours ago, Dr PR said:

One user on the Forum cautioned about steel wool. It can leave tiny pieces embedded in wood that will eventually rust. So be sure to clean thoroughly after using it.

 

I love #0000 steel wool for producing a fine satin finish.

A lot of commercial finishers, particularly in the auto painting business, are now using Scotch-Brite abrasive pads instead of steel wood or superfine abrasive paper. These are the same things you see on the back of dishwashing sponges, except that they are available in a range of ten abrasive grits. One big advantage they have, which perhaps isn't all that big a deal in modeling, is that they can be used wet and hung to dry and be used over and over again. The Scotch-Brite ones are color-coded as to the grit size. There are now other brands besides the ones made by Scotch that are available at a lower price point. They are carried by any auto paint supply store and a lot of paint stores.

As many know, "satin" varnishes are just gloss varnish with chalk added to it. "Satin varnish" is marketed to mimic a true hand-rubbed finish achieved with rottenstone and pumice, which can be a lot of work. Now, a good "hand-rubbed" varnish finish can be achieved with a lot less "elbow grease" using these plastic abrasive pads. 

6 hours ago, Brinkman said:

I think I will try using cut offs from make up sponges held with by tweezers and use a generous amount of my wash and linseed mix and let capillary action transport it where I can not reach.

If you are using a traditional thin wash of linseed oil, solvent (turpentine?), and a dash of color from pine tar or raw umber tubed artists' oil paint, I think you will find the result very pleasing. Capillary action is exactly the ticket. You'll probably find also that the slightly greater amount of wash that finds its way into the corners, joints, and seams and perhaps around the fastenings, will produce a slightly darker color that will add interest and realism to the finished product. It's a really nice model. In my opinion, we don't see enough small working craft modeled. Most modelers seem more interested in building huge historic ships of the line than humble workboats with just as much historic importance.  

That's some beautiful work! Even at large scale (1:12 ?), real clinched-nail fastened clinker planking is quite an accomplishment. I'm looking forward to your posting the finished model! 

Ditto to what everybody else said. I will only add that it's unclear whether you intend to "paint" the entire model with opaque paint or plan to leave a fair amount of the interior finished "bright." (Meaning that the wood would be finished with some sort of clear coating such as shellac, varnish or an oil. I've done my share of refinishing traditionally-built full-sized boats of that type and, as you probably know, even "in real life" that sort of finishing job is a real challenge to get the less accessible areas covered. It's for this reason that most clinker planked traditionally framed boats often have their interiors "washed" with what we call "boat soup" here in the U.S. (i.e., a half and half mixture of linseed oil and turpentine, with a dash of pine tar) instead of being coated with glossy varnish or paint. Wiping on a flat (matte) sealer coat of a clear oil-based finish is a lot less of a chore as it rarely requires more than a wash-down for preparation and the "soup" can be wiped on with a sponge or rag without worrying about brush strokes and cutting-in where opaque paint edge meets the "bare" wood. (When refinishing the oiled wood, which is required periodically, a thin clear coating can actually be wiped on right over the edge of a painted area and then wiped off the paint before it dries without any masking required at all.) 

For a model, gloss finishes are generally avoided, so you might want to consider applying some sort of thinned clear "wipe on" finish on the inboard areas, just as is done with the full-size prototypes. Thin clear (sometimes called "white" or "bleached") shellac (e.g. "2 or 3 pound cut"...the consistency of water) or even well-thinned varnish, linseed oil, or clear polyurethane coating could be applied relatively easily using cotton tipped swabs or, better still, those foam tipped applicator sticks they sell for applying cosmetics. The foam swabs will carry more liquid than the cotton ones and not pose a risk of leaving bits of cotton on the surface. A well-thinned coating material can even be "flooded" into the nooks and crannies and the excess that collects in the corners wiped or "blotted" up once the coating has soaked into the bare wood. You might even consider pouring a considerable amount into the bilges and just sloshing it around and then draining off the surplus and wiping up the excess on the surfaces thereafter.

Keep in mind that I'm not saying I've done it this way before on a model, so experimentation is required before you do anything to that beautiful workmanship which cannot be undone, but I've done enough finishing over the years to think it should work fine. I'm not suggesting that you try to put a high gloss varnish finish on it in this manner way at all. This is simply an application method for applying a sealing coat that will bring up the color of the wood and protect it from stains and such. This approach is best done before any painting with an opaque coating is applied to other portions of the model, but you may have to "dance with the girl your brought" and avoid staining what you've already painted with masking tape. Once it dries, a thin application of any good oil-based clear coating should be easy to cover with your opaque paint where the edges of the two meet. Keep in mind, however, that care should be taken to be sure that the different coating materials you use are compatible. Not all are. Here, again, experimentation before application to the model is imperative. Always test coating combinations on a scrap of the same surface material you intend to use them on and let them dry well before proceeding to apply them on the finished work. This is particularly true of any of the more "synthetic" coatings such as the polyurethanes, epoxies, and acrylics or anything advertised as an "eco-friendly" replacement for traditional coatings. These modern coatings, as good as many of them are, often contain exotic chemicals that don't get along with each other and can produce unexpectedly disappointing, if not disastrous, results when they are applied on top of each other.

On the other hand, if it is your intention to paint the entire inboard area of the boat with an opaque paint, a "wipe on" solution for the hard-to-reach places won't work, in which case, I wish you much luck and may God have mercy on your soul!  

I am unaware of and have no interest in the particulars of the above-referenced transgressions, but I do wish to address a related matter concerning the "twenty-five post sales rule" which you explain has occasioned this post. 

It is not uncommon for the heirs of both MSW members and "outlaw modelers" (to use a biker term) to join MSW for the purpose of posting an inquiry regarding how they should best dispose of the ship modeling effects of their recently deceased ship modeling relative. By the same token, it is likely that most of the MSW membership, particularly those "of a certain age," with varying levels of intensity are concerned about the disposition of our ship models, research library, and shop tools and materials once we "shuffle off this mortal coil." It is one thing to have subjected most of our "dearly beloveds" to the outrages imposed by cohabiting with a ship modeler's equipage during our lifetimes, but to leave it for them to dispose of prudently after we are gone seems particularly unkind.

The models built by a late ship modeler may be of some sentimental value to his heirs, though never to the degree the modeler imagined as the models were being built.  Other parts of a late ship modeler's detritus, however, may be of considerable value monetarily, although of limited marketability only to a relatively small niche group of ship modeling hobbyists. It is difficult to know what happens to a deceased modeler's shop tools and materials when the modeler's estate is distributed. Maybe some "big stuff" is sold at an estate or "garage" sale, or the heirs simply distribute it in kind, but it's not generally encountered thereafter in any form identifiable as belonging to a modeler. On the other hand, we do see large numbers of unbuilt kits and research library books which apparently seem to find their way to "pickers" and "flippers" in the resale market. The used book wholesalers buy up for below market value that which they know they can sell for a high premium on eBay and similar sites. Regrettably, from a modeler's perspective, financial advantage is taken both of the modelers' heirs who receive much less than the full value of what was left to them at one end of the transaction and advantage taken of the ship modelers who must purchase these used research volumes at often-inflated online auction prices at the other end.   It is in this fashion large ship modeling research libraries that have taken the previous owner decades to acquire, often at very substantial expense, are bought cheaply, broken up, and the books sold piecemeal because the trade considers this the most profitable way to move merchandise. (And no disrespect is directed to used book dealers who are some of my favorite tradespeople, but if "middleman markups" can be avoided, so be it.) For the reasons previously mentioned, we'll never know the cost to the hobby of breaking up deceased ship modelers' workshops, but surely, the economics of the used tool market is no different than the used book market: "buy cheap and sell dear."  Neither will we ever know how many cords of prized modeling wood stock have been used for firewood by those who knew not what they did! 

Although it is true that some ship modelers' modeling effects are distributed through the auspices of their local ship modeling club, in the "information age" the reality is that local clubs are fewer and farther between than they once were and the likelihood that a club is sufficiently large to provide a viable "customer base" for the marketing of a modeler's estate is not as great as it may have once been. For these reasons, it's not at all uncommon that a deceased ship modeler's heirs or estate administrator has no idea what to do with "his ship modeling stuff."

Often, when ship modeler's estate liquidation inquiries come MSW's way, they are in the form of a first post by a new member. This is to be expected because anyone who doesn't know what to do with a ship modeler's models, books, and tools and materials isn't likely to be a ship modeler themselves at all and so not a previous MSW member. And, of course, this is where they run into the "twenty-five post sales rule" that often terminates any further exchanges with them beyond a polite suggestion to try to donate the models to a local library or yacht club or sell it all on eBay.  While the "twenty-five post sales rule" serves the sound purpose of preventing unwanted (and possibly untrustworthy) commercial vendors from advertising on MSW without paying sponsorship advertising charges and limiting the use of the "Buying and Selling" forum section to genuine forum participants, in the case of ship modelers' estate sales, it operates to the disadvantage of the MSW membership and the heirs of serious ship modelers because it causes the estate to pay more to sell the property and ship modelers more to buy it. 

I propose that the Administrators consider making an exception to the "twenty-five post sales rule" in the case of deceased ship modelers' estate sales. This exception would, on a case-by-case basis, waive the rule in the case of a deceased modeler's heir, heirs, or estate agent, who wishes to offer for disposition to the MSW membership ship modeling related items from a deceased modeler's estate.  Additionally, I propose that MSW could establish a policy that MSW members could dependably advise their future heirs that their models, books, tools, and materials could be disposed of through such an MSW "Buy and Sell" "Estate Sale Provision" if they wished, thereby providing the membership with a valuable benefit to assist their survivors in disposing of their modeling detritus fairly and at a reasonable return when they "join the Choir Invisible" and providing their heirs with the benefit of disposing of their modeling gear without having to pay the sales commissions charged by sites such as eBay.  It might even be arranged that a local MSW member might make themselves available to personally inventory the deceased modeler's modeling things and advise a deceased modeler's heir or estate representative regarding their sale. Surely, making such forum resources available to our heirs and estate administrators would provide peace of mind to many of us who hope that their modeling hobby will not continue to be as cursed by our "significant others" after we are gone as it may be now while we're still here!  It would also provide MSW with the additional competitive edge in the "internet membership sweepstakes" as a tangible membership benefit that cannot be underestimated.

Some may express concern that to the extent MSW enables the sale of used modeling items, it negatively impacts the interests of its ship modeling retailer sponsors. While it may be true in theory that if someone buys an unbuilt ship model kit second hand from a ship modeler's widow, that's one ship model kit that isn't going to be sold by a ship model kit retailer. However, some retailer already sold it once, so it is not in any way unfair to the retailers if their previously purchased products are resold on the second-hand market. In fact, in the instance of hobby products, it's to the retailers' benefit that their unbuilt models are resold because they can then expect to sell other products to that same modeler, who often may be just coming into the hobby, and who will be a customer for years to come.   

Anyway, that's just my two cents' worth and I suppose advice is worth what you pay for it. I'd just hate to see some other ship modeling forum think of the same thing and beat MSW to it.

3 hours ago, Dr PR said:

True Oil is a "purified" linseed oil that is used on gun stocks. It has no color and dries into a hard clear finish that does not yellow with time. I think it may also have some other oil additives. I have used it and the finish is as good today as when I applied it over 60 years ago.

 

It might be a good oil to mix with oil paints. I haven't tried it.

Yes, Birchwood-Casey Tru-Oil should work fine mixed with oil paints, although it's a quite expensive way to make paint. Tru-Oil is made for the shooting sports market as one of a large range of such niche market products marketed by Birchwood-Casey. (Many modelers may be familiar with Birchwood-Caseys "Brass Black" metal finishing product modelers use for blackening brass model parts.) Tru-Oil is simply linseed oil cut with a solvent with a little bit of a siccative added, the exact formulation of which is undisclosed on their MSDS because they deem it "proprietary." A siccative is an oil-based drying agent that accelerates (catalyzes) the hardening of drying oils.  These catalysts were traditionally hydrocarbon carboxylate chelates of lead, but due to lead's toxicity, cobalt and other elements, such as zirconium, zinc, calcium, and iron, have replaced the lead in more popular products. Most driers are colorless but cobalt driers are a deep blue purple color and iron driers are reddish orange. These colored driers are therefore compatible only with certain darker pigmented paints where their color will be unseen. 

Separate drying additives for paints became necessary as zinc oxide-based paints were developed as an alternative to the lead oxide paints ("white lead") that had been previously used. Zinc oxide paints were developed in parallel with the introduction of "oil soluble driers" or "terebines" around 1885. These were lead and manganese soaps of linseed fatty acids or resin, also termed linoleates or resinates. Terebines had poor shelf life in mixed paints, as they auto oxidized and lost their effectiveness. As a result, early factory-mixed paints, unless fresh, were a poor substitute for fresh paint mixed by a painter on site from raw ingredients. This situation lasted until the late 1940s; by then further drier developments had superseded the terebines. In 1925, stable naphthenate driers were developed in Germany and commercialized in the US in the early 1930s, in parallel with the development of durable and fast-drying alkyd resin enamels. In the 1950s, metallo-organics based on synthetic acids were introduced as driers.

Japan drier is a common lay term and generic product name for any oil drying agent that can be mixed with drying oils such as boiled or raw linseed oil and alkyd resin paints to speed up "drying". The name refers to "japanning", a term for the use of drying oils as an imitation or substitution for urushiol-based Japanese lacquer. 

(Full disclosure: I didn't know all of the above chemistry off the top of my head. I looked it up.  )

The question whether Tru-Oil can be colored with artists' oil paint is a good one that is becoming increasingly important to many "thrifty" modelers. While there is a tremendous range of quality modeling paint colors available to modelers today, they are extremely expensive in terms of the amount of paint we get for our money. To be sure, most can afford six or eight dollars for a one-ounce bottle of "store bought" paint, but when the number of bottles on our paint shelf start to mount up and however many are found to have dried up since we last opened them, the savings, flexibility, and convenience of mixing an infinite range of paint colors and gloss levels from readily-available and substantially less costly components without the inconvenience of sourcing them from the internet or searching in a "brick and mortar" hobby store you hope has what you are looking for, starts to become a lot more attractive. Mixing your own model paint can certainly can be done using Tru-Oil as a base, but Tru-Oil is fairly expensive for what it is at around US$35.00 a quart. However, even considering the additional cost of several bucks for a tube of artists' oil paint, it's a bargain compared to the equivalent quart of seven buck an ounce hobby paint totaling US $224 ! Now, if you shop around, both boiled linseed oil and gum turpentine each cost about a US $10.00 a quart, so a quart of "half and half" mixed is going to run about US $10.00 from the big chain hardware stores, which makes Tru-Oil will cost you about three and a half times what its "homebrewed" equivalent will. By using boiled linseed oil and turpentine to make your own modeling paint, exclusive of the relatively negligible expense of the artists' oil paint which goes a long, long way, and other conditional additives that are used in very small amounts, if at all, you've avoided paying almost twenty-two and a half times the cost of commercially premixed model paint! Also, Tru-Oil cannot be shipped to or sold in California, USA, presumably due to California's restrictions on VOC content. (It may also be unobtainable in the E.U., given their often more stringent environmental regulations.) If one can't get Tru-Oil in their area, or simply wants to save some money, boiled linseed oil (which contains driers as packaged) thinned with natural gum turpentine, or raw linseed oil, natural gum turpentine and a dash of Japan drier "to taste," should perform as well at a huge savings. I've long used boiled linseed oil and gum turpentine mixed 50-50 as an "all purpose" furniture and rifle stock finish as well as a furniture finish "restorer" with results comparable to what Dr PR describes from Tru-Oil. Wiping it on and into scratched surfaces such as varnished kitchen cabinets, baseboards, stair bannisters, and case goods, etc. will usually cover the scratches well. (Used just like "wipe-on poly.") I routinely keep linseed oil and turpentine in half-gallon or at least quart quantities in my shop paint locker for mixing all sorts of painter's concoctions. 

Quality artists' oil paints (look for finely ground pigment in high concentrations) packaged in tubes can be mixed with boiled linseed oil (or raw linseed oil with a suitable amount of drier) and thinned with turpentine for use as excellent model paint for brushing, spraying, or airbrushing. Raw linseed oil (no driers) and turpentine with a suitable small amount of artists' oil paint can also be used as a stain. If the resulting dried finish's level of gloss is too high, the gloss of the dried finish can be knocked down from high all the way to flat matte by hand-rubbing with rottenstone and pumice, or Scotch-brite abrasive pads made for this purpose, or by mixing into the paint a "flattening agent" which is sold in small, over-priced quantities in art supply stores and in larger, much less expensive, quantities in paint stores. "Flattening agent" is generally just finely ground "whiting" (which is calcium carbonate powder, AKA "chalk" or agricultural lime.) sold in a suspension of solvent to expedite mixing it into paint or otherwise sold as a "bagged" powder like baking flour. Follow the instructions on the container. (Note that if the flattening agent is sold mixed in a solvent, the type of solvent has to match the type of paint. Alkyd enamels take one type, polyurethanes take another type, and so on.) A bag of "painter's whiting" is always good to have on hand for many uses including mixing up your own old-fashioned glazier's putty (and wooden boat plank seam stopping) which is why it is sometimes sold as "glazier's whiting." (When used as putty, it is mixed with raw linseed oil alone so it won't harden as quickly.)  If an old-timer tells you that adding gasoline to your paint will work as a flattening agent, don't risk your life finding out. It used to be true. In the '50's and '60's we kids would use it on our plastic car models and it worked great, but that was then. Now, the lead derivative once used to make high-octane "ethyl" or "leaded" gasoline which were responsible for the flattening effect when we'd mix gasoline in our model paint or apply it directly to styrene plastic has been outlawed for public health reasons. (Back then, a kid's life was an adventure! We'd drink out of garden hoses, ride bikes without helmets, eat unpackaged Halloween candy, and all sorts of other really dangerous stuff. If your mother said you might put somebody's eye out doing it, you just knew it had to be fun. No wonder the younger generation today are such a bunch of wusses!  ) 

There are lots of formulas online for mixing your own clear varnish that basically the same as the paint formula above, save for the addition of resins or differing oils, but for many applications an epoxy or urethane clear coating is to be much preferred over a low-tech traditional varnish and for any application where the finish will be exposed to direct sunlight, UV inhibitors are a must. At that point you get into more complex modern-day coatings technology and the traditional "DIY paint-making process" becomes more trouble, if not more dangerous, than it's worth and you are better off buying it mixed in the can from the paint store.

Gol-durn! You've really got some luck. You've got all the really good ones full of the best plans right there. From what I've seen over the years, that's pretty much as many as anybody's ever likely to find. They are numbererd and there are supposedly at least that many, but those are the only ones it seems anybody ever bought, or at least the only ones that show up in circulation these days. 

The Hathi Trust has digitized the first five volumes of MoToRboaTinG Magazine's Ideal series and has them available on line at http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011692724. The first four volumes look to be mainly how-to-build Hand designs, all from 1920 to about 1922, both sail and power. There are also excellent sections on general traditional boatbuilding methods from start to finish. The fifth volume appears to be the first edition of "Chapman's Piloting and Seamanship. (Chapman was the editor of MoToRboaTinG (why the weird spelling, I have no idea.) This was originally the manual for a mail order course in piloting and seamanship which the magazine offered in the early Twenties. There's a lot to learn from the stuff in these books. The later editions were full of Atkin designs into the Forties and Fifties and are treasured additions to the wooden boat afficianado's library, but I've never seen the early volumes from the twenties before. (Used copies go for as much as $150 these days.) Juicy stuff! Knock yourself out!

The William and John Atkins estate has now provided a link to a full index and PDF copies of every design in the Ideal Series. It may be found at: An Index of Plans and Articles in the MoToR BoatinG Ideal Series (boat-links.com) Click first on the links to the various volumes in the Ideal Series, then on the names of the designs in the chosen volume, and keep clicking on links within linked pages to "drill down." You will find the full "study plans" and comments for most every plan set. From there, copies of the full-sized plan drawings and table of offsets for each design are available, as indicated, from the Atkin design firm and/or Mystic Seaport plans outlet.

I don't know if it is the same in Sweden, but in the U.S., "raw linseed oil" is as it says, linseed oil with nothing in it. What is also sold as "boiled linseed oil" isn't boiled at all, but is rather linseed oil with some Japan dryer added to speed the oil's polymerization (drying.) Additionally, "food grade" (meaning "you can eat it") linseed oil and "flax seed oil" often sold in health food stores are essentially the same product, although sometimes produced by slightly different processes. Food grade flax seed oil is also produced according to safe food-processing protocols while non-"food grade" products are not and may be unsafe to eat. 

4 hours ago, Valeriy V said:

Thanks Bob for the useful information. I already realized that my advice is unnecessary for residents of the US and EU.  

  And, as I wrote earlier, I do not have such a choice and I am forced to work with what I can buy.  

Hah! I've yet to see anything in your great posts that I'd consider "unnecessary!" I'd say your skill and techniques are far more advanced than what most of us, here in the U.S. at least, are used to seeing regularly or capable of matching. I can't imagine what magic we will be watching you perform when you are no longer working under your present constraints. I have no idea how you can presently accomplish what you do. Please don't ever consider your advice unnecessary. I can't speak for the E.U., but from what I've seen in my country, the American amateur ship modeling hobby nowhere nearly as advanced as the Eastern European ship modeling hobbyists appear to be. While I'm sure each group has its "stars" such as yourself, here we haven't even begun to think of what we do in terms of the highly competitive "sport" that ship modeling looks like where you live. Please don't stop sharing your work with us!  

On 11/4/2023 at 12:22 PM, Valeriy V said:

We live in different conditions and I don’t have such a wide selection of hardeners as you do.
And yet, with the resin that I have to work with, this is what happens. At the moment when it just begins to thicken on the hull of the model, I still have the opportunity to make it more liquid for a very short moment using a hairdryer.

This technique allows me to have time to remove all excess resin from the model body and achieve an almost ideally smooth surface of fiberglass impregnated with resin, without lumps of excess resin.

That's an effect I've never encountered. Perhaps what's happening is that the resin you are using is rather thick and heat will thin it out if it's heated before the polymerization is too far advanced. That said, the mixed resin and hardener shouldn't ever be "just beginning to thicken on the hull of the model" before you have the time to wet down your glass fabric. (Here, many now use a non-glass fabric called Dynel which is more like stretchy Lycra that they make ladies' stretch pants out of than woven glass cloth. It stretches to conform to curved surfaces much easier than glass cloth does and it doesn't have the nasty habit of spreading microscopic bits of broken glass that gets on your skin and makes you itch like crazy!) A hull like that is a very small area.  It sounds like you're using a very fast curing epoxy.  If you don't have a slower hardener or some type of retarder, you can try chilling the resin and hardener before mixing. The lower temperature should retard the cure rate quite a bit and give you better working time. Any way you cut it, it sure should not be as challenging a job as it is for you now. I can understand, of course, that the present isn't likely to be the time for you to be complaining about the quality of the locally available epoxy. Here's to the day when you will be able to just order some of our slow stuff from Amazon without any hassles! 

We don't worry about getting a perfectly smooth surface when we sheath with epoxy and fabric (glass or Dynel) in applications like we are discussing. We just want to make sure the fabric is well saturated and flat against the surface to be sheathed without any air spaces between it and the surface. Instead, what is done is to "squeegee" the mixed resin into the cloth with a piece of  flexible polyvinyl plastic card or the like just enough to soak the cloth completely. "Squeegee-ing" means spreading the mixed resin with the edge of the card like a scraper and using the flat of the card to work it in. The mixed resin is just poured, a bit at a time, as it is spread so that there isn't a lot of excess resin on the surface. When the cloth is fully soaked with resin and any excess scraped off, it is left to cure. There will be the texture of the cloth apparent, since all of the excess resin has been scraped off. You should be able to do this spreading and scraping quickly enough that there will never be any problem with globs of hardening resin kicking off while spreading the resin Glass cloth will have a bit of a texture of the weave on the surface when the resin is cured. (Dynel, on the other hand, has a bit of a "fuzz" to its surface, being very finely woven,) After the resin has at least cured sufficiently to no longer be tacky and you can work with it without getting stuck to it your self, we mix another batch of resin and hardener into which we add glass "micro-balloons" or some other "fairing compound additive." These are powders used to condition the epoxy for various purposes, in this case, to make the hardened resin and additive into an epoxy that is extremely easy to sand to a very fine, smooth surface. That batch of resin and sanding additive is then applied in the same fashion as the earlier coat of resin applied onto the cloth. It will have a thicker consistency than plain epoxy resin because of the powder additive and can be spread like soft butter or peanut butter. Spread it onto the surface no thicker than you need to fill the surface irregularities of the first resin application. When it hardened well, it can be sanded like soft auto body putty and when smooth can be sprayed with basecoat paint. 

51 minutes ago, tmj said:

Sorry Bob. I sometimes use the search box, but most times I do not. I've grown accustomed to finding everything under the sun 'except' for what I'm truly looking for when I use the forum's search option. It's usually easier and faster to ask a question and get a response like this. 🙂  

No need for apologies. I find the same frustration with the search engine myself. (Sometimes opening up another window and "googling" a topic is actually an easier way to find it in the MSW forum!) In this instance, "horseshoe" was an easy one to search. Google would have yielded twenty-six "sponsored" advertisements for horseshoes and local farriers, I'm sure!

What I'd like to know about these "horseshoes" used to reinforce scarf joints is why they were horseshoe-shaped. It seems to my "armchair shipwright's" mind that a squared flat plate would serve as well and be a lot easier to fabricate and install. I wonder if the shipsmiths actually just hammered flat old worn-out horseshoes to fashion these and didn't bother to take the time to forge straight, flat stock. Some of the horseshoe-shaped reinforcing plates are quite large, but draft horse hooves are quite large and there were a lot more draft horses around in those days than now.  It just doesn't seem like the shape has anything to do with the strength of the fitting. 

5 hours ago, Valeriy V said:

in case the resin polymerizes too quickly, I have a construction hair dryer nearby with which I can heat the desired area of the resin and fiberglass to liquefy it

Beautiful build so far! Not to distract you with petty questions, but I'm curious if something was "lost in the translation" of the above statement. I've done a lot of boatyard work with epoxy resin. As I am sure you know, the curing speed of epoxy resin is dependent to a great extent to the temperature of the epoxy. Reducing the temperature of the epoxy resin and hardener mixture will greatly slow the speed of the cure. With all my epoxy work, I try to mix the epoxy in a flat pan rather than a tall-sided container like a can. This expands the surface area of the resin mass to permit the greatest dissipation of the heat generated by the exothermic reaction of the curing process which otherwise can accelerate out of control dangerously.  In some large laminating jobs, I've even put the epoxy container on ice to slow things down enough to get everything assembled and clamped before the resin "kicks off." (This can reduce the temperature of the epoxy enough to cause condensation to form on it, causing it to "cloud," but this moisture seems to evaporate on its own without any ill effects to the bond and the "clouding" disappears in due course.) 

I gather a "construction hair dryer" is what we call a "heat gun," basically a hair dryer that gets very hot. These have generally replaced the old open-flame "painter's blowtorches." Are you saying that heat applied to epoxy that is curing too quickly can be heated to reverse the polymerization process and thus "re-liquefy" it? In my experience, heat speeds up the curing rate of epoxy resin, making it harden faster. I've never heard of heating curing epoxy to reverse the hardening (polymerization) process. (Which isn't to say I've heard everything yet!  ) In commercial work here in the United States, we use hardeners that produce a cure at varying rates of speed. I prefer using one rated for "tropical" use in hot weather which retards the cure rate substantially because I'd rather have the time to get the job done before the resin hardens and I have no reason to desire a fast cure in the work I do. (See: User Manual & Product Guide | WEST SYSTEM Epoxy translated into various languages.) 

I've heated cured epoxy resin with a heat gun when scraping paint that was applied over epoxy resin and found that the resin softens somewhat, but scrapes off in a dry, "crumbly," consistency and not "liquefied." If simply heating epoxy that is curing too fast with a heat gun reverses the curing process, that would sure be a good trick to know when working with epoxy.

Please explain if you have time from your great work. 

The "search" thingy is our friend!  See: 

8 hours ago, bushman32 said:

My old coffee mugs are worn out and I would like to replace them.

Sounds like you're a heavy coffee drinker. I've broken a lot of mugs over the years, but I've yet to wear one out!  

Cute little gizmo, although I'm always leery of tools that trade torque for speed. It's the speedy ones that eat up drill bits. 

I suppose in all your excitement, you forgot to post the link to the source of the item. All we have is a picture. No brand name, no URL.. Can you tell us more?   

UPDATE: Never mind. I found it! Mini Bench Drill Press Precision CNC Table Milling Machine Portable Driller NePr | eBay

It's interesting in that until now I haven't seen much more from the "Patriotic Chinese People's Machine Tool Collective "than marginal quality cast iron and plastic. 13MM of quill travel (the max drilling depth) isn't a whole lot, though. Does the chuck hold really small number bits well? is it possible to mount a collet holder on the quill instead of the chuck provided? Interesting tool. 

Have you put a DTI on it to check the runout?

Ditto t what Keith just wrote. It looks great to me! 

Dremel offered a range of collets for its Mototools and I expect they still do. I have a collection of collets, some from Dremel and some from "Who knows where." As said, though, the Dremel tools are much too fast for my taste. I use them these days almost exclusively for grinding and brushing and the like, but not for drilling small holes. 

14 hours ago, Jaager said:

I used an electric chain saw (el cheepo HF) to bisect the largest - to speed seasoning and remove the pith. There was significant loss to kerf and a freehand chainsaw rip cut is dangerous.  An Alaska mill is both safer and produces more precise planks.  A log is difficult to place so that it does not move and the end of the bar does not have the teeth digging up soil.  The electric has lower power so the kickback force is easier to resist.  Beyond a certain thickness, a completely round log can be a real challenge to resaw on a bandsaw.  About the best that a tablesaw can do is 2" and a rolling log is a nightmare to rip cut.

Have you ever tried running a circular saw down the length of a log to cut as deep a kerf as possible and then splitting the log with wedges and a maul? I've found success with the method. The flat side of a split can then be run through a jointer (or planed) and that will produce a flat surface to start milling billets on a bandsaw. It also has the advantage of yielding a flat side that runs parallel to the grain without runout.

I second the recommendation of an Alaskan mill. The do very good work for the use intended, although a suitably powered chainsaw is highly advised, as is the use of a proper ripping chain. The Granberg "Alaskan" chainsaw mill was invented by the late Elof Granberg, a friend and sailing buddy of mine. It's a very well-made tool that's stood the test of time and, for what it can accomplish, very reasonably priced. Elof's son now runs the family-owned Grandberg International company.  Interestingly, Elof started Grandberg International to manufacture and market hospital bed equipment such as the metal framing used to mount IV bottles, elevate leg casts and hang "pull up" bars. He was an avid sailor and woodworker and he figured there had to be a "better mouse trap" for sharpening his chainsaw. He came up with a small 12 VDC rotary tool that spun a small carbide grinding drum sized to fit the chain tooth's gullet and could be plugged into a pickup truck cigarette lighter for use in the field. As the saying goes, "The rest was history." The Granberg chain sharpener took off and soon afterwards he invented the Alaskan(tm) Sawmill that really put Granberg into the chainsaw accessory business for good. 

2 hours ago, ccoyle said:

For wooden models, I recommend that you use acrylics specifically formulated for models -- they have finer pigments and will thus produce smoother finishes.

Excellent advice... to which I will add that any wood one intends to paint with water-based acrylics should be first sealed with shellac or thinned varnish or the equivalent and sanded lightly (so as not to remove the sealer down to bare wood again.) Application of water-based coatings onto bare wood is likely to cause the wood grain to raise. For a "model quality" finish, the surface must be perfectly smooth, and the paint applied in a thin coat, or preferably several thin coats, to obtain a proper finish. 

7 hours ago, RolBerg said:

I did read it in this article, there they say Contact Glue is good for the second planking layer.

 

https://www.modelerscentral.com/model-ship-building/what-glues-paints-do-i-need-for-a-model-ship/

Hasn't anyone ever told you not to believe everything you read on the internet... especially when it's posted on a merchant's website?    

8 hours ago, Jaager said:

DAP Weldwood is very thick and amber.  Applied from a tube, I think that the bore of the tip would need to be fairly large and would need strong thumb muscles to extrude it.  I use it to hold sandpaper to a Maple sanding drum.  Mineral spirits will cause it to roll into balls, but I have found no actual solvent to remove it.  So, replacing the sandpaper is a major project. 

Have you ever tried acetone? If memory serves, that stuff is thinned with acetone. 

Sorry, but I only see one picture in your post and can't tell what's wrong from looking at the picture.

I have no experience with this product at all, but if it is a "contact" adhesive as that product is generally understood, it isn't a very good choice for planking because it does what it says: sticks on contact. This doesn't allow for sliding the piece around to position it. The placement has to be perfect and as soon as the two surfaces with the contact cement are touching, they are stuck together pretty much for good. PVA is generally what is used for wood to wood gluing.

6 hours ago, wefalck said:

There is also a maximum value of goods you can bring with you from outside the EU duty-free.

That might not be an unreasonable price for a used Byrnes table saw.