Bob Cleek

Along with what Bob is saying, I don't see that being much more useful than a pin vise.  It is going to stall very easily and the tool selection is very limited compared to devices with a 1/8 collet sharing the Dremel type tools.
 
While not cordless, I have found this to be very useful for light work.  It weighs in at 6.8 oz, so is very easy to use.
 
Dremel 2050-15 Stylo
 

 
It also takes the Dremel keyless chuck eliminating the need to change collets for the smallest drill bits on up to 1/8  for all Dremel type accessories. 

Just some opinionated general observations to add to the good advice above, offered for what it's worth. Others' mileage may vary:
 
Since the internet and especially the Covid pandemic, we've begun living in the age of mail order. That has opened up much wider and more easily accessible sourcing options than we ever had before. However, the catch, particularly for those living outside of major metropolitan centers where a few "brick and mortal" shops struggle to survive, is that the costs of shipping and handling are added to online purchases and these added costs have risen exponentially in recent times. That fact has to be factored into the equation. "Amazon Prime" and "free shipping and handling" are significant considerations in making online purchases these days. 
 
You can rely on any of this forum's sponsors for the best of whatever they sell. They've all been thoroughly vetted and their customer service is top notch. You won't go wrong looking to them for specialized ship modeling products and their prices are very reasonable. If I needed an airbrush, I wouldn't consider looking any further than USA Airbrush Supply or for after-market blocks any further than Syren Ship Models. This is a no-brainer for me.
 
If the online outfit advertises itself as a "hobby" anything, you are often better off going directly to an online supplier of professional supplies of the same type and see if you can do better. A "hobby shop" can get away selling lower quality tools and supplies at a higher price to a broader spectrum of customers, while a professional supply house will soon die on the vine if the professional customers aren't satisfied with product quality and service. Approach hobby outfits like Model Expo and Micro-Mark with caution. These two online retailers have an excellent selection of products for the modeler, but in many instances they are priced significantly higher than other sources catering to professional clients in allied fields. (It's a good idea to get on their mailing lists, though, because they often offer great discounts on clearance items.) This is particularly true with respect to tools. For example, Micro-Mark sells a pair of crudely scaled six-inch proportional dividers made by Tacro for $140.00, but you can find models of the finest rack-and-pinion adjustable, Verniier decimally-scaled ten-inch proportional dividers ever made, used and in good shape, for half that price or a higher-quality set of seven-inch dividers than the Tacro six-inchers for as little as $25 on eBay. The same goes for surgical and dental instruments. The "hobby shops" sell poor-quality tweezers, forceps, scissors, hemostats, scalpels and blades, and so on at higher prices than the mid-range quality stuff the medical and dental supply houses are offering on eBay or Amazon.
 
There is a wealth of model-building tools and materials that can be found in higher quality and lower prices from professional jewelers' supply houses. This is where to look for pliers, cutting tools, files, tweezers, rotary tools and burrs, soldering supplies, and such. A couple of the most popular are Rio Grande (https://www.riogrande.com/) and Otto Frei. (https://www.ottofrei.com/ ) Cheaper files can be had from hobby supply houses, but, for example, cheap files are a waste of money. The same goes for pliers and cutters. When buying tools, the cheapest quickly becomes the most expensive when you have to buy another to replace it.  
 
Medical and dental supply houses are also a great source for ship modeling tools, although many of these companies sell "to the trade only" or in large lots to institutional purchasers. eBay is a good place to find used medical instruments useful in ship modeling, but caution has to be exercised because there are a lot of Asian manufacturers unloading poor-quality instruments on eBay. The upside of this is that they are often so inexpensive that taking a chance is worth the gamble. Carnegie Surgical Co. sells a range of professional quality ear polypuses, a type of forceps for working in very confined spaces that I consider to be an invaluable rigging instrument) ranging in price from around $100 to $250. Micro-Mark sells a 12" ear polypus for fifty bucks. eBay, on the other hand, has tons of different versions ranging from ten to twenty-five bucks (and up) that are quite acceptable for modeling use because we aren't going to be using them deep inside a patient's ear canal. The same applies to tweezers. If you're looking for an 8" or 12" pair of tweezers to reach inside the shrouds on your square-rigger, eBay is the place to buy them.
 
As a footnote, there was once a time when you could get lots of used medical and dental instruments from friendly medical professionals. Forty years ago, I worked in a large state institution that had a big dental clinic and I was friends with the chief dentist there who was an avid HO train modeler. He kept me supplied with all sorts of worn-out instruments: probes, dental chisels, drill burrs, forceps, pliers, and the like. (I still have an oddly shaped pair of pliers designed to extract molars which comes in handy now and again.) Sadly, a combination of the trend to disposable instruments which are more cost effective because autoclave sterilizing and sterile repackaging labor is no longer needed and heightened "biohazard" prevention protocols now mandate the controlled disposal of used instruments. Few doctors and dentists consider it appropriate to deviate from the biohazard disposal protocols and save a "goody box" of used instruments for their modeling friends. If you are lucky enough to find one who will still provide you with some, go for it!  
 
Finally a word about paint.  Ship modeling very rarely requires exact color matches. What we do need is quality paint with good archival qualities and a high content of good pigment ground finely that will produce good opacity. Most all the pre-mixed modeling paints marketed as such will meet these requirements... at a very high price. Bottled modeling paints are very convenient if one needs to get an exact color match and for this reason they are the favorites of armor, aircraft, and railroad modelers who need the exact shade of field gray used by the Wehrmacht in early 1943 or the exact shade of boxcar blue Conrail paints its boxcars. Ship modelers don't have the problem of that level of color accuracy and I don't think we have to pay five bucks an ounce and another five bucks in shipping and handling for a bottle of generic black, white, or bottom paint brown (which is the same as "boxcar red.") So I'd urge anybody who doesn't want to go broke collecting a couple of hundred one ounce bottles of modeling paint to display on their shop shelf while the paint dries hard in the bottles to learn to mix, condition and use quality tubed artists' oils or acrylics. Tubed colors have a shelf-life measured in decades, come in as many pre-mixed colors as anybody could possibly want, and, if one learns to mix their own colors, can provide any color in the rainbow out of five or seven tubes. (Black, white, red, blue, yellow, and for convenience maybe a brown, and a green.) There are many YouTube videos on how to use artists' tubed colors in both oil and acrylic for brush and airbrush application in miniature work which are well worth a ship modeler's time to watch. (Many are by the guys who paint fantasy gaming figures and miniature soldiers.) There is also an excellent instructional chapter on mixing your own colors for painting ship models in volume two of Ship Modeler's Shop Notes which can be purchased from the NRG. Tubed colors, as well as varnishes, thinners, and flattening (matte) additives and coatings are available on line from artists' supply houses, or locally from arts and crafts stores much easier than modeling paint is locally available at local hobby shops if you can even find one anymore. Painting and finishing ship models seems to be an aspect of the craft which is often given short shrift yet it is one of the most important factors in the final appearance of a model. There's a lot more to it than just applying paint straight out of the bottle. Once the relatively simple skill of mixing your own paint is mastered, you're free from all the limitations and inconveniences of sourcing pre-mixed modeling paint and can enjoy the benefit of saving lots of money over the course of a modeling career. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

It's difficult to tell from the photo exactly what's happened to the finish, but from what I can see and you've described, it appears that the spray lacquer employed a very "hot" solvent which reacted with the oil paint, "skinning over" (drying quickly on the surface with greatest exposure to the air) and when the lower level of the lacquer dried, it "shrunk" and created the "crackle" finish on the drier top of the lacquer coat. Such problems are almost always the result of incompatible coatings with different drying or adhesion characteristics. 
 
It may also be a function of the incompatibility of the acrylic basecoat and the oil paint over it. Some reaction between the "hot" lacquer solvent and the oil paint causing the oil paint to soften may have resulted in the oil paint being pulled away from the acrylic base coat as the oil paint dissolved by the lacquer solvent shrunk when the solvent evaporated.
 
The different result you had when you tested the coatings on the "coating paper" may have been due to the paper's porosity or surface flexibility permitting the lacquer solvent to evaporate without creating tension between the lacquer and the lower coating layers.
 
Another possibility, and this is a wild guess, is that the drier you used on the oil paint reacted with the lacquer solvent, causing the lacquer to dry more quickly than it should have which caused the crackling in the lacquer.
 
This is all speculation, of course. It would take a chemist to evaluate the compatibility of the various coatings used. Generally speaking, "water and oil don't mix," and water-based acrylic paints and oil-based paints and lacquers shouldn't be considered compatible in any event.
 
You may be able to remove a fair amount of the lacquer and oil paint using lacquer thinner to soften it and wipe it off. Similarly, you may be able to remove the acrylic coating with alcohol or some proprietary acrylic stripper. In any event, a gentle scraping and careful sanding down to bare wood is in order. From there, it depends upon the finish you desire. High gloss finishes are usually avoided on models as the high gloss destroys the impression of reality and makes a model "look like a toy," as some have described it. If you wish to darken the wood, as you apparently tried to do, the proper coating schedule would be to apply an oil based wood stain to the bare wood. Thereafter, the wood could be coated with an oil based varnish and after that had dried well, hand rub the varnish with pumice and rottenstone until the desired level of low gloss was achieved. Alternately, a "wipe on" polyurethane finish containing stain might also be used, but only after testing this on the same wood species with which you used to plank the hull.
 
I'm sorry to see the problem you've encountered. Unfortunately, there's a certain degree of alchemy involved when dissimilar coatings are used, particularly when modern synthetic coatings are used. You just never know what you are going to get. Myself, I entirely avoid using "rattle can" spray coatings and water-based coatings on models because I've had similar difficulties to what you've experienced when I've done otherwise. Fortunately, the damage can be undone with a bit of work.
 
 

It's difficult to tell from the photo exactly what's happened to the finish, but from what I can see and you've described, it appears that the spray lacquer employed a very "hot" solvent which reacted with the oil paint, "skinning over" (drying quickly on the surface with greatest exposure to the air) and when the lower level of the lacquer dried, it "shrunk" and created the "crackle" finish on the drier top of the lacquer coat. Such problems are almost always the result of incompatible coatings with different drying or adhesion characteristics. 
 
It may also be a function of the incompatibility of the acrylic basecoat and the oil paint over it. Some reaction between the "hot" lacquer solvent and the oil paint causing the oil paint to soften may have resulted in the oil paint being pulled away from the acrylic base coat as the oil paint dissolved by the lacquer solvent shrunk when the solvent evaporated.
 
The different result you had when you tested the coatings on the "coating paper" may have been due to the paper's porosity or surface flexibility permitting the lacquer solvent to evaporate without creating tension between the lacquer and the lower coating layers.
 
Another possibility, and this is a wild guess, is that the drier you used on the oil paint reacted with the lacquer solvent, causing the lacquer to dry more quickly than it should have which caused the crackling in the lacquer.
 
This is all speculation, of course. It would take a chemist to evaluate the compatibility of the various coatings used. Generally speaking, "water and oil don't mix," and water-based acrylic paints and oil-based paints and lacquers shouldn't be considered compatible in any event.
 
You may be able to remove a fair amount of the lacquer and oil paint using lacquer thinner to soften it and wipe it off. Similarly, you may be able to remove the acrylic coating with alcohol or some proprietary acrylic stripper. In any event, a gentle scraping and careful sanding down to bare wood is in order. From there, it depends upon the finish you desire. High gloss finishes are usually avoided on models as the high gloss destroys the impression of reality and makes a model "look like a toy," as some have described it. If you wish to darken the wood, as you apparently tried to do, the proper coating schedule would be to apply an oil based wood stain to the bare wood. Thereafter, the wood could be coated with an oil based varnish and after that had dried well, hand rub the varnish with pumice and rottenstone until the desired level of low gloss was achieved. Alternately, a "wipe on" polyurethane finish containing stain might also be used, but only after testing this on the same wood species with which you used to plank the hull.
 
I'm sorry to see the problem you've encountered. Unfortunately, there's a certain degree of alchemy involved when dissimilar coatings are used, particularly when modern synthetic coatings are used. You just never know what you are going to get. Myself, I entirely avoid using "rattle can" spray coatings and water-based coatings on models because I've had similar difficulties to what you've experienced when I've done otherwise. Fortunately, the damage can be undone with a bit of work.
 
 

I have had a General Tool cordless screwdriver with a chuck attachment. 
It works as a reamer, but the RPM are not all that they could be, nor the power.
 
I suspect any battery operated mini drill might not perform as well as desired.
 
A small DC motor with narrow gauge wiring to a selectable power supply ( MPJA ~$25) -more power - small enough wire not matter vs wireless.
AliExpress  features small motors - some with a larger Jacobs chuck - and some with a #60 or smaller keyless chuck.
 
Anything with a fixed DC output transformer will probably under perform.
As I understand it, a DC motor will tolerate higher voltage or amps - maybe have a premature death - but they respond poorly to an under the rating power supply?

Again, this Cleek guy knows stuff.

It works to fix toothpick handles into small blocks of packing foam to make a glue spreader.  It resists the water in PVA and tap water to clean the spreader.

Actually, in my experience, the number one most likely purchaser of a fine yacht model is going to be the prototype's owner. Yes, they have the real thing, but who doesn't enjoy admiring the beauty of their own yacht, whether it be a model or the real thing. Besides, having a great model of your yacht on display in your office or home is an understated way to make a "casual" statement of great wealth. That said, there are reportedly a number of models of Cangara extant, some at Fulford Place National Historic, the original owners' estate in Ontario, so maybe he's already got one.

Very true! For this reason, mechanical fastenings are to be preferred in all instances. 
 
I've found the same to be true of every other adhesive I've ever encountered. I've discovered through empirical analysis as well that the incidence of unreliability increases in direct proportion to the increase in shear force applied, regardless of the ratio between the surface area to which the shear force is applied and the surface area of the bond. 
 
I believe this is known in physics as the "bigger hammer principle." 
 
   

Very true! For this reason, mechanical fastenings are to be preferred in all instances. 
 
I've found the same to be true of every other adhesive I've ever encountered. I've discovered through empirical analysis as well that the incidence of unreliability increases in direct proportion to the increase in shear force applied, regardless of the ratio between the surface area to which the shear force is applied and the surface area of the bond. 
 
I believe this is known in physics as the "bigger hammer principle." 
 
   

My father graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1932 with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering.  At the height of the depression he and my mother decided to supplement their income by selling model airplane kits designed by my father.  I still have sales literature for their short lived “Viking Aircraft Company.”
 
A part of this enterprise involved manufacture of “Duco type” cement that was included in the kits.  My father described this as dissolving Celluloid plastic in acetone.  This activity took place in the basement of their rented house in the vicinity of the open flame water heater.  The landlord eventually put them out of business.
 
Roger

No idea for sure why the rattle can gloss lacquer clouded on you. The defect you describe is usually related to high humidity in the environment when the lacquer is applied. Alternately, the moisture content of the wood itself may be an issue. Wood readily absorbs moisture and automotive clear lacquer is designed to be applied to metal, not wood.
 
If I were you (and I admit I'm not,) I'd strip it to bare wood. Sand perfectly smooth. Apply a sealer coat of thinned spar varnish to soak into the wood and then eight coats of spar varnish, sanding lightly between each coat to key the surface (don't sand off the previous coats. The object is to build up a thick coating that provides some depth to the varnish that enhances the wood grain. (Use a tack rag to remove all traces of dust before varnishing.) If you really want to get fancy, after the eight coats of spar varnish dry well, hand rub the knob (or machine polish it if you have a wheel) with rottenstone and pumice until you obtain the level of gloss you desire. (Obtainable at any paint store. Follow simple instructions on the container.) This will provide a deep fine-furniture finish that won't look garish like high-gloss varnish alone can often look and its incredible smoothness with be a pleasure every time you touch it. (This is how Rolls Royce finished the interior trim on their now-classic motorcars. Modernly, Rolls Royce coats the wood trim with a number of proprietary resin coats that are then baked to cure the resin, after which they polish the surfaces with fine abrasives like pumice and rottenstone in the old fashioned manner.)
 
 

Actually, in my experience, the number one most likely purchaser of a fine yacht model is going to be the prototype's owner. Yes, they have the real thing, but who doesn't enjoy admiring the beauty of their own yacht, whether it be a model or the real thing. Besides, having a great model of your yacht on display in your office or home is an understated way to make a "casual" statement of great wealth. That said, there are reportedly a number of models of Cangara extant, some at Fulford Place National Historic, the original owners' estate in Ontario, so maybe he's already got one.

Actually, in my experience, the number one most likely purchaser of a fine yacht model is going to be the prototype's owner. Yes, they have the real thing, but who doesn't enjoy admiring the beauty of their own yacht, whether it be a model or the real thing. Besides, having a great model of your yacht on display in your office or home is an understated way to make a "casual" statement of great wealth. That said, there are reportedly a number of models of Cangara extant, some at Fulford Place National Historic, the original owners' estate in Ontario, so maybe he's already got one.

I have to confess I've used Duco Cement almost as long as you  and I still do, perhaps because I'm used to it. Because I try to the greatest extent possible to create a mechanical connection when joining fittings and parts, I find it is much easier to work with than epoxies when gluing a metal mounting peg into a wooden hole. Duco is nitrocellulose  that's been dissolved in acetone, so a lot of people in California get their knickers in a knot over it, but so far it's still available in most hardware stores. A homebrewed approximation of Duco Cement can easily be prepared, athough with a styrene base instead of nitrocellulose, by dissolving styrofoam packing material in acetone until a sufficiently thick consistency is achieved. It takes a surprising amount of styrofoam to accomplish this, but i always seem to have plenty of the stuff on hand. Both nitrocellulose and styrene are probably not very archival, but when used to cement pegs in holes, they seem to do fine. 

No idea for sure why the rattle can gloss lacquer clouded on you. The defect you describe is usually related to high humidity in the environment when the lacquer is applied. Alternately, the moisture content of the wood itself may be an issue. Wood readily absorbs moisture and automotive clear lacquer is designed to be applied to metal, not wood.
 
If I were you (and I admit I'm not,) I'd strip it to bare wood. Sand perfectly smooth. Apply a sealer coat of thinned spar varnish to soak into the wood and then eight coats of spar varnish, sanding lightly between each coat to key the surface (don't sand off the previous coats. The object is to build up a thick coating that provides some depth to the varnish that enhances the wood grain. (Use a tack rag to remove all traces of dust before varnishing.) If you really want to get fancy, after the eight coats of spar varnish dry well, hand rub the knob (or machine polish it if you have a wheel) with rottenstone and pumice until you obtain the level of gloss you desire. (Obtainable at any paint store. Follow simple instructions on the container.) This will provide a deep fine-furniture finish that won't look garish like high-gloss varnish alone can often look and its incredible smoothness with be a pleasure every time you touch it. (This is how Rolls Royce finished the interior trim on their now-classic motorcars. Modernly, Rolls Royce coats the wood trim with a number of proprietary resin coats that are then baked to cure the resin, after which they polish the surfaces with fine abrasives like pumice and rottenstone in the old fashioned manner.)
 
 

I have been using Duco Cement or similar glues for at nearly 70 years and it keeps forever. It contains acetone and other volatile chemicals, so if you live in California you should worry that it will cause your ears to fall off. I know it isn't "fashionable" these days, but it works very well with wood. It does dry clear, but it leaves a visible film. It sets up in about 20 seconds but doesn't form a strong bond for about an hour. It hardens fully in 24 hours.
 
I have used PVA and it works, but I end up throwing most of it out because it hardens in the bottle, even when kept capped.
 
I never use CA (cyanoacrilate). It turns to rock in the tubes before I get around to using it. If I do get to use it the necks of the tubes clog after a single use.

Actually, in my experience, the number one most likely purchaser of a fine yacht model is going to be the prototype's owner. Yes, they have the real thing, but who doesn't enjoy admiring the beauty of their own yacht, whether it be a model or the real thing. Besides, having a great model of your yacht on display in your office or home is an understated way to make a "casual" statement of great wealth. That said, there are reportedly a number of models of Cangara extant, some at Fulford Place National Historic, the original owners' estate in Ontario, so maybe he's already got one.

Actually, in my experience, the number one most likely purchaser of a fine yacht model is going to be the prototype's owner. Yes, they have the real thing, but who doesn't enjoy admiring the beauty of their own yacht, whether it be a model or the real thing. Besides, having a great model of your yacht on display in your office or home is an understated way to make a "casual" statement of great wealth. That said, there are reportedly a number of models of Cangara extant, some at Fulford Place National Historic, the original owners' estate in Ontario, so maybe he's already got one.

No idea for sure why the rattle can gloss lacquer clouded on you. The defect you describe is usually related to high humidity in the environment when the lacquer is applied. Alternately, the moisture content of the wood itself may be an issue. Wood readily absorbs moisture and automotive clear lacquer is designed to be applied to metal, not wood.
 
If I were you (and I admit I'm not,) I'd strip it to bare wood. Sand perfectly smooth. Apply a sealer coat of thinned spar varnish to soak into the wood and then eight coats of spar varnish, sanding lightly between each coat to key the surface (don't sand off the previous coats. The object is to build up a thick coating that provides some depth to the varnish that enhances the wood grain. (Use a tack rag to remove all traces of dust before varnishing.) If you really want to get fancy, after the eight coats of spar varnish dry well, hand rub the knob (or machine polish it if you have a wheel) with rottenstone and pumice until you obtain the level of gloss you desire. (Obtainable at any paint store. Follow simple instructions on the container.) This will provide a deep fine-furniture finish that won't look garish like high-gloss varnish alone can often look and its incredible smoothness with be a pleasure every time you touch it. (This is how Rolls Royce finished the interior trim on their now-classic motorcars. Modernly, Rolls Royce coats the wood trim with a number of proprietary resin coats that are then baked to cure the resin, after which they polish the surfaces with fine abrasives like pumice and rottenstone in the old fashioned manner.)
 
 

Since you are experiencing difficulty, yes, there is an easier way to tie in "reef points" on a sail. Real reef points have a "figure-eight knot" tied into the line on either side of the sail. The figure-eight knot will not jam and is easily untied, no matter how much tension has been placed on the knot.
 
Figure-eight knot, also called by some a "stopper knot:"
 

 
At all common modeling scales, a simple overhand knot is sufficient to portray a reef secured to a sail.
 
Simple overhand knot:

 
The easier way to tie overhand knots in scale rigging cordage is to employ the surgical suturing technique known as an "instrument tie." This requires the use of a surgical instrument called a "needle holder" or the equivalent, which could be some sort of tweezers or the like. A long needle holder works best for modeling, since its length permits access inboard of the stays and other hard to reach places. Another handy instrument to have is a long tweezers or a second needle holder. These instruments take the place of fingers, which are much too large (and perhaps short) for the delicate tasks at hand, be it sewing up a wound or tying scale rigging knots,
 
A picture is worth a thousand words and a video is better than that, so I've attached three videos of various flavors produced for the purpose of instructing medical students in performing a basic instrument tie.  Get yourself a needle holder or three. They are handy for all sorts of modeling tasks. (eBay is full of dirt cheap ones or ask a friend who works in a hospital to obtain one for you.) Watch the videos and practice until you get the hang of it (which should take one or two tries... it's very simple.) Once you have the basics down, you can then apply the instrument tie technique to a wider range of applications than just simple overhand and surgeons' knots.
 
As for tying in reef points, the simple overhand knot is tied first, then the reefing line is sewn through the sail with a needle, making sure that you've left yourself enough length to accomplish the following exercise. Approaching the single end of the reefing line from the knotless side, the bitter end of the reefing line is held in the non-dominant hand while a turn (or two if you prefer to use a "surgeon's knot" for the purpose... which is explained in the videos) is thrown around the needle holder. (This is sometimes more easily accomplished by grasping the line with the needle holder and twisting the needle holder to wrap the line around it, which is why you need to leave yourself some surplus line at the beginning.) Then, instead of grasping the other end of the reefing line as in the case of suturing knots shown in the videos, you grasp the standing part of the reefing line with the point of your needle holder (the same way as if making an overhand instrument tie) with the needle holder clamped on the reefing point as close as possible to the point on the standing part where it comes out of the sail.  Then, with the needle holder clamped to the standing part of the reefing line as close as possible to the sail, using your fingers, a tweezer, or another needle holder, carefully slide the line wrapped around the needle holder down the jaws of the closed needle holder and over the standing part of the reefing line to form the overhand knot and then carefully coax the bitter end through and pull it tight. Easier done than written, but you should be able to figure it out once you have the principle of the instrument tie down. (This is similar to the method described by VitusBering above, but the point of the needle holder replaces the needle he uses in his method. The "needle method" works fine, so long as you have the room to get your fingers where they need to be.)
 
Needless to say, all knots should be secured after they've been tied with a dab of shellac, thinned PVA, or CA. Myself, I prefer shellac because if the knot needs to be untied for further adjustment, the shellac can be softened, and the knot untied by simply applying alcohol to the dried shellac. I don't like thinned PVA because it takes a while to dry, can get messy, and is hard to reverse if need be. I avoid CA adhesive wherever possible because it's just nasty stuff, expensive, and hard to clean up if it goes where you don't want it. Another thing I like about shellac is its adhesive properties. When modeling reefing points, they will inevitably stand straight out or up or everywhere other than in a plumb fashion hangling down against the sail like the prototype. I use shellac, which is very viscous, to saturate the reefing line. As the alcohol in which the shellac is dissolved evaporates, the line will become increasingly stiff and sticky, but still pliable. (This is a very quick process, since the alcohol evaporates very quickly.) When it becomes pliable and sticky, the reefing line can be pushed against the sail and it will stick where you want it, making it very easy to achieve realistic looking reef points with all your reef lines hanging straight down and parallel to one another.
 
There are many YouTube videos on surgical instrument knot tying and much to learn by watching them. Learning use surgical instruments to tie knots will significantly speed up your rigging tasks and reduce the level of frustration that rigging often otherwise occasions.
 
Learn how to Tie a Surgical Knot with an Instrument - Bing video
 
Instrument Surgeon's Knot Tying - Bing video
 
How to make a square knot and a surgeons knot - instrument tie - Bing video

What Jaager and maylor said. And now moving from the novella to the encyclopedic treatise...
 
We all own Dremel Moto-tools of one model or another, or, in many cases, we own several. Over time, they seem to secretly breed in dark tool drawers. There are lots of handy uses for a Dremel tool, such as grinding small metal parts, using cut-off wheels for cutting metal, stirring modeling paint with a length of coat hanger wire with a little loop bent in the end, trimming your dog's toenails, and so on. Drilling with tiny numbered-sized bits, however, is not one of them. Neither is drilling in the Dremel "drill press" which mounts the Moto-tool in a cheesy, lightweight and way-too-flexible press. [While not the best substitute for a dedicated full-sized bench top drill press, the much higher quality Vanda-Lay Industries Dremel- or Foredom handpiece-powered drill press is better than the Dremel offering by an order of magnitude. The same goes for their Dremel- or Foredom-powered mill and other accessories. Vanda-Lay's lower-powered offerings do provide a less expensive option for sometimes expensive machine tools, keeping in mind that Dremel tools trade speed for torque which works okay for sanding and grinding, but not so much for drilling and milling. See: HOME (vanda-layindustries.com]
 
Numbered drill bit sizes really aren't designed for powered hand-held drilling at high speeds. Even at a Dremel's low-end 15,000 RPM speed, the slightest movement of the motor out of line with the bit is likely to snap the bit. Similarly, hand drilling with a pin vise requires a very steady hand, a sharp bit, and light pressure to avoid breaking the bit. Use in a drill press, with metal particularly, requires center-punching before drilling and a slow speed and light pressure is to be preferred. There's really no way around these facts. Numbered bits are skinny little things and they can't handle a lot of stress.  One thing than goes a long way towards preventing bit breakage is to "choke up" on the bit by chucking as much of the bit as possible and leaving only enough of the bit extending beyond the pin vise or chuck to drill as deep as you require. This really cuts down on "whip" and stiffens up the bit shaft. If a deep hole is to be drilled, it often pays to only extend a short length of bit and drill down as deeply as it will reach, then extend the bit a little farther from the pin vise or chuck and lower the bit into the previously drilled hole and drill a bit farther until the bit is fully buried in the hole, repeating this process until the entire depth is drilled. The trick is to have as short a length of bit between the hole and the pin vise or chuck as practical, which will keep the bit shaft more rigid and less able to "whip" and snap.
 
Bench top drill presses can be found on sale second-hand and "old 'arn" is often a good investment as long as the machine hasn't been destroyed by a generation of abuse in a high school shop or daily hard duty in a commercial shop. (If you are really lucky, you may find a 1950's vintage Craftsman bench drill press made by King-Seeley which has a threaded quill that permits exchanging the Morse taper mounted Phillips chuck for a quarter-inch collet chuck that converts the drill press into a light milling machine when a suitably sized X-Y table is mounted on the press table.) It would be a good idea to bring along a dial indicator to test for excessive quill run-out before buying a used drill press... or even if buying a new one of those $79.00 Chinese-made mini-drill presses. A drill press that "wobbles" the bit may work for use with larger bits that can take the abuse and drill a less than round hole, but a tiny numbered bit won't survive excessive quill run-out.
 
 

No idea for sure why the rattle can gloss lacquer clouded on you. The defect you describe is usually related to high humidity in the environment when the lacquer is applied. Alternately, the moisture content of the wood itself may be an issue. Wood readily absorbs moisture and automotive clear lacquer is designed to be applied to metal, not wood.
 
If I were you (and I admit I'm not,) I'd strip it to bare wood. Sand perfectly smooth. Apply a sealer coat of thinned spar varnish to soak into the wood and then eight coats of spar varnish, sanding lightly between each coat to key the surface (don't sand off the previous coats. The object is to build up a thick coating that provides some depth to the varnish that enhances the wood grain. (Use a tack rag to remove all traces of dust before varnishing.) If you really want to get fancy, after the eight coats of spar varnish dry well, hand rub the knob (or machine polish it if you have a wheel) with rottenstone and pumice until you obtain the level of gloss you desire. (Obtainable at any paint store. Follow simple instructions on the container.) This will provide a deep fine-furniture finish that won't look garish like high-gloss varnish alone can often look and its incredible smoothness with be a pleasure every time you touch it. (This is how Rolls Royce finished the interior trim on their now-classic motorcars. Modernly, Rolls Royce coats the wood trim with a number of proprietary resin coats that are then baked to cure the resin, after which they polish the surfaces with fine abrasives like pumice and rottenstone in the old fashioned manner.)
 
 

I bet Jeff and Bob McNeil, Cangarda's owner, would be thrilled to see you build a model of her. Have they seen your Germania? It don't get much better than that!

In terms of shelf life? Obviously, it depends on the type of glue. As for modeling glue, PVA will let you know it's past its expiration date when it gets thick, if not hard, in the bottle. Epoxy doesn't seem to have a expiration date as long as its containers are kept tightly sealed. CA adhesive will last practically forever if you keep it tightly capped in a sealed zip-loc plastic bag in your freezer between uses. Shellac will last forever and can be reconstituted by adding additional alcohol to the mix. As for the rest, which aren't particularly advisable for use in ship modeling, see: Wood glue - Wikipedia and read the instructions on the containers.
 
The only perfectly clear glues used in modeling that I know of are CA and Duco, a nitro-cellulose glue formerly popular for styrene model assembly and balsa model airplane construction. PVA (e.g. Titebond) will dry without color, but is somewhat cloudy and not perfectly clear, although when used to create properly formed joints, PVA should not be visible at all. (Some actually add black color to PVA in order to accentuate the joint lines in decks and timbers in bright-finished models.) As for which are "good" and "clear," I would say Titebond PVA in any of its permutations is about as good a wood glue for modeling as is available these days. Epoxy and CA have their place in joining dissimilar materials, particularly wood and metal. Beyond that, most "modern" adhesives pose risks associated with out-gassing and less than optimum archival qualities. See: Nautical Research Guild - Article - Specifications for Construction of Exhibition Models of U.S. Naval Vessels (thenrg.org) and Nautical Research Guild - Article - Ephemeral Materials in Ship Models (thenrg.org) for detailed discussions of materials to be used in ship modeling.