Bob Cleek

Oh yeah! Definitely! Professional jewelry supply houses, and medical and dental instrument supply houses are goldmines full of useful modeling tools and supplies, generally at higher quality and even at lower prices that the "hobby" online suppliers. 
 
In the US:     https://www.riogrande.com/category/tools-and-equipment
                 
                      https://contenti.com/professional-jewelry-making-tool-kit   
 
                      https://www.ottofrei.com/jewelry-tools-equipment
 

With the disclaimer that I'm no chemist at all (My lab partner and I passed chem in high school by building a still and distilling the alcohol from cheap wine and passing it around the class so everybody could have a taste. The teacher was a bit of a lush and loved it!)...
 
Decent models should always be cased, but cases need a bit of ventilation so the air circulates some because whatever acids that are in the materials will otherwise collect and concentrate in the atmosphere of the case. I'm not sure how this happens, actually, but as I understand it, the less acid in a model's material, particularly a cased model, the better. I avoid acid like... well... acid.

With the disclaimer that I'm no chemist at all (My lab partner and I passed chem in high school by building a still and distilling the alcohol from cheap wine and passing it around the class so everybody could have a taste. The teacher was a bit of a lush and loved it!)...
 
Decent models should always be cased, but cases need a bit of ventilation so the air circulates some because whatever acids that are in the materials will otherwise collect and concentrate in the atmosphere of the case. I'm not sure how this happens, actually, but as I understand it, the less acid in a model's material, particularly a cased model, the better. I avoid acid like... well... acid.

I build this in the early 1990s on the basis of a kit by Friulmodel (https://friulmodel.hu/termek/mp-5-knight-hospitaller-c-1150/). The helmet was still good for around 1200, but the shield had to be changed to the more modern, rounded triangular form of the time. The chain-mail and helmet is the bare white-metal, polished, while the coat was painted with the airbrush in acrylics. Details were added with a brush in acrylics and oil. The background is modelled after the Chorin-monastery not far from Berlin. The bricks and stonework are shaped and engraved from plaster of Paris and painted.
 
 
 
 

With the disclaimer that I'm no chemist at all (My lab partner and I passed chem in high school by building a still and distilling the alcohol from cheap wine and passing it around the class so everybody could have a taste. The teacher was a bit of a lush and loved it!)...
 
Decent models should always be cased, but cases need a bit of ventilation so the air circulates some because whatever acids that are in the materials will otherwise collect and concentrate in the atmosphere of the case. I'm not sure how this happens, actually, but as I understand it, the less acid in a model's material, particularly a cased model, the better. I avoid acid like... well... acid.

With the disclaimer that I'm no chemist at all (My lab partner and I passed chem in high school by building a still and distilling the alcohol from cheap wine and passing it around the class so everybody could have a taste. The teacher was a bit of a lush and loved it!)...
 
Decent models should always be cased, but cases need a bit of ventilation so the air circulates some because whatever acids that are in the materials will otherwise collect and concentrate in the atmosphere of the case. I'm not sure how this happens, actually, but as I understand it, the less acid in a model's material, particularly a cased model, the better. I avoid acid like... well... acid.

@mbp521
Hi Brian,
thank you for your nice comment and thank you to all the others for the many LIKES.
 
Here is the continuation of my report:
I imitated the leather lining of the caps accordingly.I use real leather with a thickness of approximately 0.25 mm. I split the thinnest leather I could buy with my own device.

 

 

 

For securing seizings, knots, splices, etc. perhaps shellac (pH 7 to 7.3) is the better way to go.  
 

I don't know about Basset-Lowke models, but Vickers has had some problems building full-sized submarines.
 
From their Wikipedia page: "In 1988, a mistake by senior management and changing shipbuilding methods meant that the Vickers shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness accidentally welded part of HMS Triumph (a nuclear submarine) in an upside-down position."
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_Shipbuilding_and_Engineering
 

I don't know about Basset-Lowke models, but Vickers has had some problems building full-sized submarines.
 
From their Wikipedia page: "In 1988, a mistake by senior management and changing shipbuilding methods meant that the Vickers shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness accidentally welded part of HMS Triumph (a nuclear submarine) in an upside-down position."
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_Shipbuilding_and_Engineering
 

From what I've seen over the years, the Basset-Lowke models were so inferior to the genuine in house builders models.
Do you have photo's Amy?

Actually, the diagonally layered planking such as in this boat had a layer of muslin or calico set in thick shellac or white lead between the planking layers. This created a sort of early cold-molded hull which resisted opening up when stored above a ship better than standard carvel planking did. This reduced, if not eliminated the need to launch and tow ("stream") the ship's boats regularly to keep them from leaking when dried out. It was very common on ship's launches and lifeboats and lifesaving boats stored ashore in this period.

The method of application isn't really the critical factor. There is much more to a successful finish than learning to use a paintbrush or an airbrush alone. What most of those who haven't been taught by professional painters don't understand is the art of conditioning their paint, as pros call it. "Thinning" is only one conditioning factor. Flow control is essential. Flow is basically "drying time." Drying time is a function of both simple evaporation of the water, alcohol, or hydrocarbon solvents that hold the pigment (solids) and binder (oil or acrylic) in suspension so they can be applied. Brush stokes can be minimized if the brushing is done well and if the paint is thinned, but it really takes conditioning the paint to eliminate brush strokes completely. Retarders slow the polymerization of the binder so that the binder and pigment "lay down" evenly on the painted surface. When your paint is properly conditioned, you don't have to worry about brush strokes because they will "lay down" and disappear of their own accord if you give the paint time enough to "lay down" before the carrier evaporates and the binder stiffens. Check out manufacturer's instructions (reading the labels on the bottles does help!) for conditioning and search YouTube for instructional videos. Once you get the hang of conditioning your paint, that is, balancing the amount of carrier and its evaporation rate to the speed of the binder's hardening using the materials for your type of coating, be it traditional oil paint or modern acrylics, you will be surprised how easy it is to get a great finish. I'm sorry, but it isn't something that lends itself to text instruction. You have to be shown, or experiment yourself until you get the hang of it. Part of that has to do with the other variable in the equation, the environmental factors. The ambient temperature and humidity will effect the drying and curing times, as well, so getting it right is an exercise in rubbing your stomach and patting your head at the same time.
 
I'm not a big fan of acrylics, although they do seem to be getting better over time. One tip I can share which may work for others is that  when I do use them, I use an acrylic coating that is soluble in alcohol, not water. There are two reasons for this. 1) Water will raise the grain on bare wood, while alcohol (and solvents when using oil based coatings) does not, and 2) alcohol evaporates much faster than water. A "hot" (fast evaporating) thinner will almost always produce a better finish. (This is why the old Floquil paints were so loved by those old enough to remember them. Their Dio-Sol proprietary solvent was extremely "hot.") So, if you feel the need to thin your acrylic and it's soluble in alcohol or water, try using alcohol and see how you like it. Similarly, when airbrushing oil paints, I will sometimes use acetone to thin oil paint because of its high rate of evaporation. 
 
 

I'm sure I'd have driven Stirling and Sons batty if they were building her for me. I'd make sure they provided for ventilation in the locker doors as well, whether that were a decorative cut-out scroll sawed into the face of the door, a row of holes along the top edge, or a panel of bronze wire or woven cane mesh to make sure things in the locker didn't get all musty and moldy, too. 
 
True, a disguised swinging latch handle could be done, but from a stress distribution standpoint, that would probably be considered some pretty poor engineering. If one was thrown off balance by a wave while holding on to such a moveable handle, I'd expect it would be pretty easy to bend the shaft of the handle. I'd file that idea under "If it's such a good idea, how come nobody else thought of it before?"  The options pictured in the Toplicht and Davey and Co. catalogs have been "state of the art" since at least the late 1800's. I've probably been aboard hundreds of fine (and not so fine) yachts over the years. I've never seen a disguised "grab and twist" locker handle. They do make one like this, though:
 
 

 

 
https://www.toplicht.de/en/shop/innenbeschlaege/vorreiber-und-riegel/vorreiber/vorreiber-1
 
These are the sorts of details that the great designers like Nathaniel and L. Francis Herreshoff, Fife, Camper and Nicholson's, and J. Laurent Giles so enjoyed inventing, many of which became trademarks of the yachts they designed.
 
There's a lot of room for artistic license in modeling, so go for it! It's such an amazingly beautiful build. Wouldn't it be wonderful when it's done to be able to walk into one of the premier yards with it in hand and tell them, "Build me one just like it full size!" 

Parenthetically, my own "dream yacht," which will forever remain just that, in this life, at least, is Giles' Dyarchy, a cutter quite similar to your model. I have copies of all Giles' original drawings and a license to build one model of her. One of these years, I hope to do so. Your build log is plowing the hard soil ahead of me!
 

 

 
Your model's saloon reminds me of a very similar old British cutter I crewed on close to fifty years ago in a classic yacht race. As is often the case, the owners had no racing experience, and so recruited a bunch of us "young bucks" thinking we'd bring home the silver for them. As it wasn't our boat, we weren't particularly concerned about "babying" her. The owners lived aboard and, unbeknownst to us, the wife had a big bowl of soured milk covered with a dish towel out of which she was trying to make her own cheese. (I kid you not!) She'd stowed it chocked in with towels and whatever else on the pilot berth above and behind the saloon settee. As we were plowing along, we had to cross the wake of a large ship and, when we did, that bowl of curds and whey became airborne with quite a bit of velocity, flying across the saloon and coming to rest on the sole after bouncing off the base of the settee on the opposite side. It wasn't pretty, but the worst thing about for the crew was trying to keep a straight face while we continued to race along despite the cries of dismay from below!  
 

Michael, I have to explain that I agonized about posting this comment. Your work on this model is nothing short of spectacular and a joy to behold. i realize the time it takes to maintain a log of this type and build a model at the same time. It probably nearly doubles the time involved, I'm sure. That said, because the level of your work is so high and your interest in accuracy so admirable, I dared post my thoughts, knowing that you may well have sound reasons for the subject of my comment. 
 
As lovely as the cabin sole you've glued up may be, in my not insignificant experience (I once worked for a yacht brokerage specializing in classic wooden vessels,) a cabin sole on a vessel such as yours would invariably be constructed of loose planks of perhaps six or eight inches in width, laid on top of the sole beams with their ends butting over a sole beam. The planks would usually have a finger hole drilled at each end and would be fitted loosely enough that they would not swell tightly and become difficult to lift. Sometimes, if there were a saloon table amidships, the plank or planks upon which the table rested were fastened to the sole beams with unplugged flush screws and the table screwed to those fastened planks. The purpose of leaving the sole planks loose was to afford easy access to the bilges below the sole to permit cleaning and to access the area for stowage. It was not uncommon, particularly in blue water cruising vessels, to take advantage of the bilge spaces to store canned provisions and other gear that didn't need to be immediately available.  The unplugged screws fastening the planks upon which a table was fastened were to permit the easy removal of the screw fastened sole plank to permit repainting the bilge on occasion. 
 
Additionally, one maxim of naval architecture is that the interior of vessels should to the greatest extent possible provide for ready access to the inside of the planking. If a serious leak develops, it is essential that the leak can be located and accessed quickly to control the damage, if possible. 
 
Again, thanks for sharing your build. It's one of the real gems of this forum!
 
 

If I may be so bold as to presume to make another recommendation...
 
Such grab handles would not likely be seen on any well-found seagoing vessel. All accommodation lockers require positive latching mechanisms to keep them from flying open when the vessel heels in a seaway, especially when a locker's weighty contents are thrown against the door. (Magnets, spring clips, and spring-loaded detent balls are sometimes seen on power boats, but simply won't cut it on a sailing vessel that will routinely be thrashing around at a significant angle of heel.) Given the period, these may be a finger-hole through the door with an elbow latch behind it, so the the finger can be inserted to press down on a spring-loaded latch to unlatch the door, which would latch when pushed shut, or a "button knob" which was a knob with a button in the middle which, when pressed, released the spring-loaded latch. Less complex latches were also used, such at the usual barrel bolts and sliding or swinging bars.
 
Elbow catch for finger-hole access: 

Push-button knob locker latch (also available with a keyed locking mechanism.
 

 

 

 

 

 
Alternate, larger wardrobe latch:
 

 

 
Or, in keeping with your "theme," there are flush spring catches with finger ring pulls:
 

 

 
See generally:  Toplicht (Hamburg) https://www.toplicht.de/en/shop/innenbeschlaege/schnappverschluss-und-schnaepper/?p=3 and Davey and Co. (London) http://davey.co.uk/pdf/interior_fittings.pdf my favorite go-to sources for fine traditional yacht fittings (and priced like Tiffany's jewelry, unfortunately.)
 
 
 

I'm not sure where you are going with this, Michael, whether you have construction plans for a specific vessel or you are presently building conjecturally, designing as you go along. I've had a fair amount of hands-on experience with this type of layout, owing a small British cutter for many years and having sailed on several larger British pilot cutter types, including one very similar to what you are building.  While I have no idea of your present intentions, I'll pass along the observation that the type of saloon door you are building here, in my experience, invariably is hung to swing forward, rather than aft into the saloon. This maximizes the sole space in the saloon, particularly if a table is set on the centerline. Frequently, there will be a second bulkhead with identical doors forward of the saloon bulkhead. The distance between the two bulkheads is the distance of width of the forward and aft bulkhead doors. The doors in the forward bulkhead swing aft, such that the edges of the forward and aft bulkhead doors meet when when opened all the way to right angles with the bulkheads, edge to edge, and form a short paneled companionway between the saloon and the forepeak.  (There are hooks or barrel bolts that hold them open in this position.) With the doors of both bulkheads closed, the space between the bulkheads will become the head compartment, with the commode to one side and a hanging locker or even a shower on the other, each being concealed when the doors are fastened in their open positions.
 
I don't know if this comment is helpful or not. It's not intended as a criticism, to be sure. The work you're doing is really beautiful and inspiring! Thanks for sharing it with us. I realize the time commitment involved in providing a build log of this magnitude and it's most appreciated.

Amazing as it sounds, today it is actually more cost-effective for them to throw the less expensive instruments out than to pay the labor-hours to wrap them up and put them in the autoclave for sterilization. And then there are the liability issues. From what I've heard lately, they aren't giving away unsterilized instruments anymore in many places because with HIV and other diseases in the environment, they consider anything that's been used "biohazardous material" and it goes into the "biowaste" trash. This is also why there is so much disposable medical equipment used these days. My mother was a surgical nurse, what is now called a "surgical assistant." We had all sorts of used surgical instruments in everyday use in our house when I was growing up, but that was in the days when they thought disposable scalpel blades were the greatest thing since sliced bread and surgical nurses spent a lot of their time washing, wrapping, sterilizing, and packing up surgical "trays." (And bedpans! Try as I might, I was never able to get my hands on one of the old fashioned stainless steel "ducks" they used to have, which I wanted for use on my boat. I had to settle for a plastic one.) 
 

Amazing as it sounds, today it is actually more cost-effective for them to throw the less expensive instruments out than to pay the labor-hours to wrap them up and put them in the autoclave for sterilization. And then there are the liability issues. From what I've heard lately, they aren't giving away unsterilized instruments anymore in many places because with HIV and other diseases in the environment, they consider anything that's been used "biohazardous material" and it goes into the "biowaste" trash. This is also why there is so much disposable medical equipment used these days. My mother was a surgical nurse, what is now called a "surgical assistant." We had all sorts of used surgical instruments in everyday use in our house when I was growing up, but that was in the days when they thought disposable scalpel blades were the greatest thing since sliced bread and surgical nurses spent a lot of their time washing, wrapping, sterilizing, and packing up surgical "trays." (And bedpans! Try as I might, I was never able to get my hands on one of the old fashioned stainless steel "ducks" they used to have, which I wanted for use on my boat. I had to settle for a plastic one.) 
 

Amazing as it sounds, today it is actually more cost-effective for them to throw the less expensive instruments out than to pay the labor-hours to wrap them up and put them in the autoclave for sterilization. And then there are the liability issues. From what I've heard lately, they aren't giving away unsterilized instruments anymore in many places because with HIV and other diseases in the environment, they consider anything that's been used "biohazardous material" and it goes into the "biowaste" trash. This is also why there is so much disposable medical equipment used these days. My mother was a surgical nurse, what is now called a "surgical assistant." We had all sorts of used surgical instruments in everyday use in our house when I was growing up, but that was in the days when they thought disposable scalpel blades were the greatest thing since sliced bread and surgical nurses spent a lot of their time washing, wrapping, sterilizing, and packing up surgical "trays." (And bedpans! Try as I might, I was never able to get my hands on one of the old fashioned stainless steel "ducks" they used to have, which I wanted for use on my boat. I had to settle for a plastic one.) 
 

Amazing as it sounds, today it is actually more cost-effective for them to throw the less expensive instruments out than to pay the labor-hours to wrap them up and put them in the autoclave for sterilization. And then there are the liability issues. From what I've heard lately, they aren't giving away unsterilized instruments anymore in many places because with HIV and other diseases in the environment, they consider anything that's been used "biohazardous material" and it goes into the "biowaste" trash. This is also why there is so much disposable medical equipment used these days. My mother was a surgical nurse, what is now called a "surgical assistant." We had all sorts of used surgical instruments in everyday use in our house when I was growing up, but that was in the days when they thought disposable scalpel blades were the greatest thing since sliced bread and surgical nurses spent a lot of their time washing, wrapping, sterilizing, and packing up surgical "trays." (And bedpans! Try as I might, I was never able to get my hands on one of the old fashioned stainless steel "ducks" they used to have, which I wanted for use on my boat. I had to settle for a plastic one.) 
 

Amazing as it sounds, today it is actually more cost-effective for them to throw the less expensive instruments out than to pay the labor-hours to wrap them up and put them in the autoclave for sterilization. And then there are the liability issues. From what I've heard lately, they aren't giving away unsterilized instruments anymore in many places because with HIV and other diseases in the environment, they consider anything that's been used "biohazardous material" and it goes into the "biowaste" trash. This is also why there is so much disposable medical equipment used these days. My mother was a surgical nurse, what is now called a "surgical assistant." We had all sorts of used surgical instruments in everyday use in our house when I was growing up, but that was in the days when they thought disposable scalpel blades were the greatest thing since sliced bread and surgical nurses spent a lot of their time washing, wrapping, sterilizing, and packing up surgical "trays." (And bedpans! Try as I might, I was never able to get my hands on one of the old fashioned stainless steel "ducks" they used to have, which I wanted for use on my boat. I had to settle for a plastic one.) 
 

Dumont indeed is one of the brands to go to. I have a small arsenal of watchmakers tweezers and also various biological ones that I inherited from my father. He had also a very good dentist one, but that got lost in a house move unfortunately.
 
Tweezers is one thing I would hesitate buying on-line. One really need to see how well they close. Good quality ones then will last for ever, if not mistreated or dropped to the floor. I've been using my favourite one for over 30 years on a daily basis.
 
BTW, don't junk your cheapo ones, use them, when you have to hold hot stuff, e.g. during soldering, as this my draw the temper from your good ones and you don't want to do that ...

Same old story - you get what you pay for. Please consider investing in the best you can afford. If you buy cheap , you will need to replace and junk the cheapy anyway.

There are lots of alternatives. Here's a couple that come to mind:
 
1) Seal the hull well with a liberal coating of white (clear) shellac, which is one of the best moisture barriers known to man. Then use Interlux surfacing putty (a chandlery item: https://www.interlux.com/en/us/boat-paint/filler-and-epoxy/surfacing-putty ), which can be thinned to any consistency with acetone, and use it to fill and build up the uneven surface. It will crack when it shrinks as it dries if you put it on too thick, but another application will fill the cracks, so not to worry.  It's better, however, to apply it in layers if the divots are deep. If they are more than 1/8" deep, I'd put it on in layers. When the worst of it is filled, then apply a thinned coat of it (like heavy cream consistency) and let it dry. (It dries very quickly, since the acetone is extremely volatile. Use in a well ventilated place, or better yet, outdoors.) Then sand your hull fair. Surfacing putty will sand like butter. Finish sand to 300 grit. Then apply a coat of thinned shellac over the surfacing putty. This will provide a good base for your finish paint coats. Interlux surfacing putty is made for marine applications. It will not act like a sponge, unlike many similar products like drywall "mud." Apply a base coat and finish coats on top of all that. If you take time to do the prep properly, and apply your finish coats properly, you should obtain a perfect finish.
 
2) If you don't mind working with serious VOCs, another approach is to use WEST System G/flex 650 epoxy resin and hardener (https://www.westsystem.com/specialty-epoxies/gflex-650-toughened-epoxy/)  mixed with WEST's 410 Microlight filler (https://www.westsystem.com/filler-selection-guide/) (or the equivalent) in varying consistencies as circumstances dictate, as with the surfacing putty above. (i.e. fill the big divots with thicker material, then give it an all-over thin coating of the stuff. Microlight filler (similar to "micro-balloons" ) will produce a cured epoxy that also sands extremely easily and can be finished to a very smooth surface. It's designed for use on full-size boats and is waterproof. You can also use WEST System 105 resin and hardener, but G/flex resin is specifically designed to be more waterproof and more flexible when cured than the regular 105 resin. If your planks shrink over time, the G/flex will be much less likely to crack along the plank seams that cured regular 105 resin. After the surface has been faired and sanded down to 300 grit (or even finer, if you feel it needs it,) you can apply base and finish paint coats in the usual fashion.
 
If it were my sailing model, I'd opt for the epoxy because the model will be in the water. The epoxy material are more expensive but you won't need much and epoxy resin, hardener, and fillers have decades-long shelf lives, so you can use it on later models. BTW, you can use the basic resin and hardener with any number of WEST fillers to create various properties and you can use this epoxy for a myriad of repairs requiring maximum strength adhesives. It's useful for a lot of modeling jobs. 
 
Downloadable WEST System manuals: https://www.westsystem.com/instruction-manuals/ and https://www.westsystem.com/the-gougeon-brothers-on-boat-construction/
 
The second URL above, The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction is "the Bible" of epoxy use in boatbuilding and all other uses, for that matter. It's treatment of surface glazing at page 158 should be helpful to you when finishing your hull. Those modelers who are considering "going over to the dark side" and scratch-building a model will also find Chapter 16 on lofting starting at page 165 of the book (179 of the free PDF) the best basic general treatment of the subject available for free anywhere.