Bob Cleek

Thank you Phil / Mark I will take on board your comments. I have now made the fore and main masts, the fore and main top masts, the fore and main booms and the fore and main gaffs. None of them are actually complete as sundry strops and sheaves have to be added. That left 3 more spars to be made i.e. the spinnaker boom and the 2 main top sail spars.
 
I started with the spinnaker boom which was turned to diameter and then tapered each end by sanding it in the lathe. Turning down long thin dowels requires the support of a steady. Rather than mount the steady I improvised by putting a piece of wood in the back of the tool post. I then mounted a drill in the chuck and bored a hole in the wood slightly larger than the required boom diameter. I then turned the boom to size using this arrangement.
 

 
I the proceeded to make the gooseneck fitting for the boom.
 

 

 

 

 
The boom part of the hinge was much the same as previously described.
 

 

 

 
I then discovered a problem. The mast bracket was of insufficient width. This meant that the boom fowled the mast hoops when in the vertical stowed position. I had to remake this.
 

 

 

 

 
I then needed to make the beak. I don't have any details of this so I used a typical example from and internet search.
 

 

 

 
The latch doesn't work.
 

 
I then made the topsail spars. These are simple tapered dowels with end fittings and eyes.
 

 
That's about it for the masts spars and booms, at least for the moment. Now on to something else - a change is as good as a rest.

What Kurt, the air brush guru, said. 
 
It depends upon the level of your modeling skill. There's little point in putting lipstick on a pig. When you're ready for an air brush, you'll know it. If you aren't an accomplished brush painter, that will be sooner, rather than later, as your skill grows. Most of the masterpiece models displayed in museums were build before air brushes were invented, but they knew how to paint with brushes in the old days. The learning curve is much less steep with an air brush.
 
That said, don't throw out your brushes just yet. A brush in the hand of an experienced painter can do just about anything an air brush can, and then some, while the same can be said about airbrushes. Each have their unique capabilities. I'd expect most serious modelers use both with equal ability.

I used some English boxwood for the hornblocks with ball races for the bearings.
 
As my supply is now very limited I will be putting all the offcuts into the boxwood cuttings box for future considerations.

 
The rectangular section is the prize this time. After squaring the peice up on the shooting board I milled out the sides.
 

 
Then turned the section on its face to bore the recess for the 3/8 x 5/32 ball race. and drill the holes for the stabilising rods and the cover plate. As each one was drilled it was sliced off with the exacto saw and reset for the next set of holes. The surface looked like glass.... such an amazing wood.
 

 

 
Next I turned up a small button for filing the tabs for the stabilizing rods then hardened and ground it so as to act as a depth gauge as well.
 

 
After removing the bulk of the material either side of the tab the offcuts went into the boxwood scrap box.

 
ready for the finishing filing
 

 
The completed hornblock after a little bit of filing to round off some of the edges and blackened  with a sharpie pen.
 

 
The hornblocks were dry placed to check the fit and appearance.
 

 
The hornblock guides had to be remade today because I made them too long, but the method i used was a good practice for the final ones which I have not photographed yet.
 
Michael
 
 
 
 
 
 

Always keep it on, so that you do not accidentally damage the needle ...

Actually...this is quite true.
 
These are so easy to make too.  I just cut a piece of wire about an inch long...crease it back onto itself, forming a *U*.  Then grip the two ends with a plier....then using a *Hook* of the desired size(Diameter of the eye) in a pin vice, I hook the looped wire and then turn the wire, winding it, onto itself.  when the turns are tight, prior to breaking, I cut the shank to the desired length.  Then slide the pad eye off the *Hook*.
 
Easy- Peasy....
 
Rob

I make 3 sizes for my 1/96 models.  Wrap wire around a specially made hook(3 sizes) in a pin vice and twist it to form the eye.
 
Rob

For those who can't bring themselves to sacrifice a pair of needle nose pliers, or just love an excuse to buy another tool, "store boughten" "wire looping pliers" are now available from jewelers' supply houses in many different styles and sizes, permitting three or more different sized loops from a single pair of pliers. 
 
For really small eyes, I resort to using a drill bit of the desired size, bend a length of wire over the middle of the drill bit, and, holding the two ends of the wire, use the drill bit to twist up the wire ends. I then slide out the drill bit and snip the "pig tail" to the desired length. The twisted ends hold really tiny eyebolts better when glued into holes, too.!
 
 
 

 

 
 

In the US, it seems the jewelers call it "electroforming' (as opposed to the similar "electroplating.") There are many tutorials about the process, most for jewelers, on YouTube. 
 
 

I gather this is your's here on sale by Charles Miller: https://www.charlesmillerltd.com/auction/lot/321-AN-IMPRESSIVE-AND-FINELY-DETAILED-148-STATIC-DISPLAY-MODEL-OF-THE-IMPERIAL-RUSSIAN-STEAM-YACHT-STANDART-ORIGINALLY-BUILT-BY-BURMEISTER--WAIN-COPENHAGEN-1895/?lot=13252&so=0&st=&sto=0&au=48&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=0&pp=48&pn=7&g=1# ?

Two very fine nails with the heads filed off in a block of wood work fine too!

For those who can't bring themselves to sacrifice a pair of needle nose pliers, or just love an excuse to buy another tool, "store boughten" "wire looping pliers" are now available from jewelers' supply houses in many different styles and sizes, permitting three or more different sized loops from a single pair of pliers. 
 
For really small eyes, I resort to using a drill bit of the desired size, bend a length of wire over the middle of the drill bit, and, holding the two ends of the wire, use the drill bit to twist up the wire ends. I then slide out the drill bit and snip the "pig tail" to the desired length. The twisted ends hold really tiny eyebolts better when glued into holes, too.!
 
 
 

 

 
 

In the US, it seems the jewelers call it "electroforming' (as opposed to the similar "electroplating.") There are many tutorials about the process, most for jewelers, on YouTube. 
 
 

For those who can't bring themselves to sacrifice a pair of needle nose pliers, or just love an excuse to buy another tool, "store boughten" "wire looping pliers" are now available from jewelers' supply houses in many different styles and sizes, permitting three or more different sized loops from a single pair of pliers. 
 
For really small eyes, I resort to using a drill bit of the desired size, bend a length of wire over the middle of the drill bit, and, holding the two ends of the wire, use the drill bit to twist up the wire ends. I then slide out the drill bit and snip the "pig tail" to the desired length. The twisted ends hold really tiny eyebolts better when glued into holes, too.!
 
 
 

 

 
 

For those who can't bring themselves to sacrifice a pair of needle nose pliers, or just love an excuse to buy another tool, "store boughten" "wire looping pliers" are now available from jewelers' supply houses in many different styles and sizes, permitting three or more different sized loops from a single pair of pliers. 
 
For really small eyes, I resort to using a drill bit of the desired size, bend a length of wire over the middle of the drill bit, and, holding the two ends of the wire, use the drill bit to twist up the wire ends. I then slide out the drill bit and snip the "pig tail" to the desired length. The twisted ends hold really tiny eyebolts better when glued into holes, too.!
 
 
 

 

 
 

For those who can't bring themselves to sacrifice a pair of needle nose pliers, or just love an excuse to buy another tool, "store boughten" "wire looping pliers" are now available from jewelers' supply houses in many different styles and sizes, permitting three or more different sized loops from a single pair of pliers. 
 
For really small eyes, I resort to using a drill bit of the desired size, bend a length of wire over the middle of the drill bit, and, holding the two ends of the wire, use the drill bit to twist up the wire ends. I then slide out the drill bit and snip the "pig tail" to the desired length. The twisted ends hold really tiny eyebolts better when glued into holes, too.!
 
 
 

 

 
 

Brett - alternatively look up Gerald A Wingrove - he has written an number of books and you can find some of his work on MSW. Sadly Gerald is no longer with us. RIP.
 

Brett - this would be a good start:- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Model-Building-Brass-Ken-Foran/dp/0764354949

For those who can't bring themselves to sacrifice a pair of needle nose pliers, or just love an excuse to buy another tool, "store boughten" "wire looping pliers" are now available from jewelers' supply houses in many different styles and sizes, permitting three or more different sized loops from a single pair of pliers. 
 
For really small eyes, I resort to using a drill bit of the desired size, bend a length of wire over the middle of the drill bit, and, holding the two ends of the wire, use the drill bit to twist up the wire ends. I then slide out the drill bit and snip the "pig tail" to the desired length. The twisted ends hold really tiny eyebolts better when glued into holes, too.!
 
 
 

 

 
 

Volume II of NRG’s Shop Notes, available from their online store, includes an excellent article complete with extensive color chips about old time paint colors. It was written by Eric Ronnberg a careful researcher. Although focused on the Nineteenth Century, the color chips include a number of preindustrial colors such as Red Lead, Red Oxide, Yellow Ochre.  This is one case where it’s better to have a hard copy as you are not looking at colors through a computer monitor.
 
In my opinion, this one article is worth the prices of the book.
 
Roger

For those who can't bring themselves to sacrifice a pair of needle nose pliers, or just love an excuse to buy another tool, "store boughten" "wire looping pliers" are now available from jewelers' supply houses in many different styles and sizes, permitting three or more different sized loops from a single pair of pliers. 
 
For really small eyes, I resort to using a drill bit of the desired size, bend a length of wire over the middle of the drill bit, and, holding the two ends of the wire, use the drill bit to twist up the wire ends. I then slide out the drill bit and snip the "pig tail" to the desired length. The twisted ends hold really tiny eyebolts better when glued into holes, too.!
 
 
 

 

 
 

I have found that making my own eyes and hooks means getting them the size and shape I need and using brass means I can easily solder when making up more complex assemblies with them.  This comes from my background in brass locomotive construction where handrail stanchions were required in relatively large quantities.
I use a standard pair of cheep Circles pliers (the type that operate like normal pliers not reverse pliers).  I file down one of the circular tips to a fine cone with needles files then use a flat file to make sure that there is an even, parallel flat between the two jaws of the pliers.  
I can then make quite small eyes/hooks clamping the brass wire between the flats at the point along the cone where I want the desired diameter.
In the attached image I have made 1.0mm eyes with 0.5mm hard brass wire (unsoftened wire could also be employed but I like the hardened wire).  I could go smaller using finer wire as I have done in N scale locomotive constructions....
These 1mm eyes represent 50mm (2in) at 1/50 or 65mm (2 1/2in) in 1/65 for my ENDEAVOUR.  A little more realistic than the 3mm (195mm or 7 3/4in) versions provided in the kit
(but as a newbie I could be wrong.....)

Yep, this is the method I suggest when folks ask about where to buy eye bolts. Why buy them when you can quickly and easily make them yourself? And for much less money, too!

In the US, it seems the jewelers call it "electroforming' (as opposed to the similar "electroplating.") There are many tutorials about the process, most for jewelers, on YouTube. 
 
 

Search for AlexBaronov and Imperial Yacht.
 
The process is galvanoplastic, which has been used for some 150 years to duplicate objects. Alex uses a sort of inverse lost-wax casting. The core is CNC-milled from jeweller wax and then coated in a conductive paint. On this copper is deposited electrolytically to a sufficient thickness. The core is simply melted out.
 
Another technique used is metal spinning.

I know her well. She was on S.F. Bay for many decades, known as Wander Bird.  She was a rig-less houseboat in Sausalito when I first met her in the early seventies, thirty years or so after she'd completed her voyage west around Cape Horn to San Francisco before the War. Warwick Tompkins had skippered her around the Horn with his wife, two young children, and a paid hand. Warwick was a well-known local yachtsman, as to this day is his son, Warwick "Commodore" Tompkins, who was four at the time of their voyage.
Warwick M. Tompkins wrote two books about his family's voyage around Cape Horn in Wander Bird: Fifty South to Fifty South, 1938, W.W.Norton & Co., NY and Two Sailors, 1939, The Viking Press, NY, (a story of the voyage written from the perspective of the Tompkins  children.) Both of these books are full of good photographs showing details of the vessel which would likely be very helpful to the modeler. Fifty South by Fifty South,  contains together with the expected narrative of the voyage, an appendix containing many technical details on the vessel . Warwick Tompkins also made a 35mm movie of the voyage entitled In the Wake of the Clippers, which a modeler would probably be interested in watching. I've never seen the movie and I don't know if it is still extant. I'm sure "Commodore Thompkins" would know. I expect he could be reached through the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco.
 
Wander Bird was later acquired by Hal Sommer, a local tug boat skipper and acquaintance of mine, who spent years restoring "the Bird" to mint condition and sailing her on the Bay. Wander Bird was for many years the centerpiece of the classic yacht community on San Francisco Bay. I was fortunate to be able to witness a lot of the work done on her and I learned much about larger wooden shipbuilding by watching Hal, his son Ross, and other "old timers" working on her.  Wander Bird was ultimately sold and moved up to Washington, I believe, and then returned to Germany as a museum ship. 
 
The restored Bird sailing off Yellow Bluff heading home to Sausalito, CA on S.F. Bay. Note the two crew aloft at the mainmast doubling. I have no idea what they are doing up there, other than "skylarking," but I doubt that. Hal ran a tight ship so I doubt they were up there for fun. They wouldn't have been raising setting a topsail in than wind and on that course and there's no evidence of one on deck, 
 

 

 
She carried a rafee topsail earlier in her life:
 

 
I'm looking forward to your build log!