Bob Cleek

I have long had an interest in live steam power as well. I had friends in the boating community who had steam boats. I had the pleasure of restoring a  5" long working live steam yacht model to working order years ago and that really got me thinking seriously about building a full size steam launch for myself but, alas, "life intervened." I did add a fair number of books on live steam to my library over the years in the course of studying  the subject. There's a surprising amount of model steam equipment on the market. It's more like buying jewelry than model parts, though!  
 
An engine will run around $600 to $1,100. The steam plant will run around $900. Then you have to make all the additional plumbing and tankage and the stuff for the RC control system. 
 

 

 

 
Saito of Japan is one of the main manufacturers of scale model steam gear.  They sell model kits, as well.  https://www.saito-mfg.com/en/top_en/steamengine-boiler-boat_en/

This is another armchair experiment (denken experimenten) :
In light of the suggestion that the Dremel carbide cutoff disks be strengthened by a coat of low viscosity epoxy,
could sheaves be made from paper or cardboard soaked with epoxy?
A cork borer! could be used to cut the disk.  ! (a metal tube - usually brass -with one end pared to a knife edge)
Three layers of paper - the middle having a smaller diameter - makes the groove-   It could be made in any color.

I have long had an interest in live steam power as well. I had friends in the boating community who had steam boats. I had the pleasure of restoring a  5" long working live steam yacht model to working order years ago and that really got me thinking seriously about building a full size steam launch for myself but, alas, "life intervened." I did add a fair number of books on live steam to my library over the years in the course of studying  the subject. There's a surprising amount of model steam equipment on the market. It's more like buying jewelry than model parts, though!  
 
An engine will run around $600 to $1,100. The steam plant will run around $900. Then you have to make all the additional plumbing and tankage and the stuff for the RC control system. 
 

 

 

 
Saito of Japan is one of the main manufacturers of scale model steam gear.  They sell model kits, as well.  https://www.saito-mfg.com/en/top_en/steamengine-boiler-boat_en/

I have long had an interest in live steam power as well. I had friends in the boating community who had steam boats. I had the pleasure of restoring a  5" long working live steam yacht model to working order years ago and that really got me thinking seriously about building a full size steam launch for myself but, alas, "life intervened." I did add a fair number of books on live steam to my library over the years in the course of studying  the subject. There's a surprising amount of model steam equipment on the market. It's more like buying jewelry than model parts, though!  
 
An engine will run around $600 to $1,100. The steam plant will run around $900. Then you have to make all the additional plumbing and tankage and the stuff for the RC control system. 
 

 

 

 
Saito of Japan is one of the main manufacturers of scale model steam gear.  They sell model kits, as well.  https://www.saito-mfg.com/en/top_en/steamengine-boiler-boat_en/

I have long had an interest in live steam power as well. I had friends in the boating community who had steam boats. I had the pleasure of restoring a  5" long working live steam yacht model to working order years ago and that really got me thinking seriously about building a full size steam launch for myself but, alas, "life intervened." I did add a fair number of books on live steam to my library over the years in the course of studying  the subject. There's a surprising amount of model steam equipment on the market. It's more like buying jewelry than model parts, though!  
 
An engine will run around $600 to $1,100. The steam plant will run around $900. Then you have to make all the additional plumbing and tankage and the stuff for the RC control system. 
 

 

 

 
Saito of Japan is one of the main manufacturers of scale model steam gear.  They sell model kits, as well.  https://www.saito-mfg.com/en/top_en/steamengine-boiler-boat_en/

I have long had an interest in live steam power as well. I had friends in the boating community who had steam boats. I had the pleasure of restoring a  5" long working live steam yacht model to working order years ago and that really got me thinking seriously about building a full size steam launch for myself but, alas, "life intervened." I did add a fair number of books on live steam to my library over the years in the course of studying  the subject. There's a surprising amount of model steam equipment on the market. It's more like buying jewelry than model parts, though!  
 
An engine will run around $600 to $1,100. The steam plant will run around $900. Then you have to make all the additional plumbing and tankage and the stuff for the RC control system. 
 

 

 

 
Saito of Japan is one of the main manufacturers of scale model steam gear.  They sell model kits, as well.  https://www.saito-mfg.com/en/top_en/steamengine-boiler-boat_en/

I have long had an interest in live steam power as well. I had friends in the boating community who had steam boats. I had the pleasure of restoring a  5" long working live steam yacht model to working order years ago and that really got me thinking seriously about building a full size steam launch for myself but, alas, "life intervened." I did add a fair number of books on live steam to my library over the years in the course of studying  the subject. There's a surprising amount of model steam equipment on the market. It's more like buying jewelry than model parts, though!  
 
An engine will run around $600 to $1,100. The steam plant will run around $900. Then you have to make all the additional plumbing and tankage and the stuff for the RC control system. 
 

 

 

 
Saito of Japan is one of the main manufacturers of scale model steam gear.  They sell model kits, as well.  https://www.saito-mfg.com/en/top_en/steamengine-boiler-boat_en/

And then there are aural and nasal speculae...
               

Funny you should say that Bob .... https://www.mainsteam.co.uk/mainsteammodels-gallery   😉
 
I've spent quite a bit of time reading through Keith (Appleton) website, and there are many glorious examples of what can be done with steam engines. I find it a fascinating subject.
 
Richard

Actually, there's another ship modeling forum on the internet that's infamous for ignoring intellectual property rights. Let's not go there. Keep it real.  

That engine is just the ticket for an RC open steam launch hull. 

That engine is just the ticket for an RC open steam launch hull. 

So it has. From the Latin root verb, specere, "to look" and the suffix, -ulum, "a tool for..." Speculum is the Latin word for "mirror." Supposedly, in the late 1500's and early 1600's they called a similarly functioning instrument of torture a "choke pear." 
 

 

That engine is just the ticket for an RC open steam launch hull. 

That engine is just the ticket for an RC open steam launch hull. 

That engine is just the ticket for an RC open steam launch hull. 

So it has. From the Latin root verb, specere, "to look" and the suffix, -ulum, "a tool for..." Speculum is the Latin word for "mirror." Supposedly, in the late 1500's and early 1600's they called a similarly functioning instrument of torture a "choke pear." 
 

 

I just love how I learn something new from nearly every one of your posts, Kurt! (And, reading back issues of Ships in Scale, the same goes for your fine articles in that publication.) In this instance, I must confess that despite my life-long wide-ranging pursuit of nautical trivia, I've never until now encountered a seaman's speculum which, of course, sent me scurrying to Google. While never having had any first-hand encounters with a speculum, seaman's or otherwise, I'd previously understood it to be a medical instrument commonly employed by gynecologists and proctologists.
 
It's not unusual that we find medical and dental instruments useful in ship modeling, but I'm at a loss to see what use a modeler might find for a speculum in the model shipyard, except, perhaps, to gently spread rigging in order to access inaccessible inboard areas. My "Googling" reveals that disposable speculums are now made in plastic. Might these be particularly useful to plastic model builders? "Enquiring minds want to know" what use modelers, or seamen, for that matter, might have for a speculum?    
 
 
 
      

I just love how I learn something new from nearly every one of your posts, Kurt! (And, reading back issues of Ships in Scale, the same goes for your fine articles in that publication.) In this instance, I must confess that despite my life-long wide-ranging pursuit of nautical trivia, I've never until now encountered a seaman's speculum which, of course, sent me scurrying to Google. While never having had any first-hand encounters with a speculum, seaman's or otherwise, I'd previously understood it to be a medical instrument commonly employed by gynecologists and proctologists.
 
It's not unusual that we find medical and dental instruments useful in ship modeling, but I'm at a loss to see what use a modeler might find for a speculum in the model shipyard, except, perhaps, to gently spread rigging in order to access inaccessible inboard areas. My "Googling" reveals that disposable speculums are now made in plastic. Might these be particularly useful to plastic model builders? "Enquiring minds want to know" what use modelers, or seamen, for that matter, might have for a speculum?    
 
 
 
      

The 2022 MODEL SHIPS CALENDAR featuring models made by NRG and MSW members is now available from the NRG Store.  A new model each month for 13 months (Jan 2023 included).  The supply is limited so don't delay.
 

We also have several new products available in the store.
 
The Seaman's Speculum or Compleat School-Master by John Davis is now available again.  This is a reprint of the 1711 treatise on late 17th and early18th century rigging of British naval and merchant ships that the NRG first printed in 1985.  This is a PDF download. 
 
     Presented as a "how we did it" book, Modeling the Ironclads by Steven Lund and William Hathaway documents the authors' construction of a   variety of radio-controlled Civil War monitors.  This is a PDF download. 
 
        Capstan Practicum.  The subject of this practicum is a single British capstan circa 1777. It is installed on its step, and it actually turns. The practicum will also teach you how to construct hatch coamings and gratings.  This practicum is provided in two versions.  The Intermediate version is aimed at the model builder whose only power tools are a hobby-sized circular saw and a Dremel-style rotary tool.  Drawings show actual dimensions so it can be built in any scale.  This is a PDF download. 
 
     Nautical Research Guild gift cards are an easy way to give the perfect gift. The recipient of your gift can use their gift card anytime on NRG store to purchase plans, books, Journal back issues and more.  Available in amounts of $25, $50, $75 an $100.   Please note use limitations before ordering cards
Order early to avoid delays with mail as we approach the holidays.
 
 

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.

That must be the one I have on my bench right now. A nice sailing model of a three masted coasting schooner? It was consigned to FedEx. They put it in a big box and filled the box with "packing peanuts." Apparently, when the box was turned upside down and dropped in transit, all three mast tops and the bowsprit "went bye-bye." The sails and rigging looked like a bored alley cat had at it. 
 
LIke the bumpersticker says, "Do it right. Do it once. Hire a licensed contractor!" Fine art and antique specialist shippers are the only way to go. Pay the premium and save the grief.

The model sent (and destroyed!) by UPS was well packed: triple cardboard box with triple fluting, wrapping the plane in tissue paper, then bubble wrap everywhere in double thickness, then polystyrene chips to fill the volume. The box was stiffened by an interior wooden frame on all edges.
All the sides were lined with self-adhesive labels to indicate the side to be placed and to warn about the fragility of handling. I would add that the package was designated as fragile by the UPS services, and the shipping bill written by this company warned the various parties involved that the price included a special transport!
 
But you can build the strongest box in the world, when it is thrown from the top of a truck or jumped on, or used as a base for tens of kilos on top, no wooden model inside can resist such treatment. 
This is just incompetence and disrespect of their own rules. 

That must be the one I have on my bench right now. A nice sailing model of a three masted coasting schooner? It was consigned to FedEx. They put it in a big box and filled the box with "packing peanuts." Apparently, when the box was turned upside down and dropped in transit, all three mast tops and the bowsprit "went bye-bye." The sails and rigging looked like a bored alley cat had at it. 
 
LIke the bumpersticker says, "Do it right. Do it once. Hire a licensed contractor!" Fine art and antique specialist shippers are the only way to go. Pay the premium and save the grief.

That must be the one I have on my bench right now. A nice sailing model of a three masted coasting schooner? It was consigned to FedEx. They put it in a big box and filled the box with "packing peanuts." Apparently, when the box was turned upside down and dropped in transit, all three mast tops and the bowsprit "went bye-bye." The sails and rigging looked like a bored alley cat had at it. 
 
LIke the bumpersticker says, "Do it right. Do it once. Hire a licensed contractor!" Fine art and antique specialist shippers are the only way to go. Pay the premium and save the grief.