Bob Cleek

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.

It's a lot like sex: Everyone shares your initial reaction the first time they see it, but most quickly figure out on their own that "Just viewing" can't hold a candle to actually doing it.    
 
The biggest differences between a kit and a scratch built model are that 1) Scratch built models are unique and 2) people react to them the way you just have. (And, of course, if it matters to one, they're generally worth a lot more money than assembled kits.) Beyond that, the challenges and skills required are really no different than building a high-quality kit.
 
Experience starts when you begin. Start small and work up to the more complex stuff. Start with a less challenging, but high-quality kit or three. The only difference between assembling a kit and building a model from scratch is starting with plans instead of starting with plans and an expensive box of unsuitable wood, useless string, and poorly cast parts. (Except, of course, for the exceptional modern laser-cut kits offered by some of the advertisers on this forum like Syren Ship Models and Vanguard Models. See: MSW's Ship Model Kit Database for what's available: http://mswshipkits.ampitcher.com/)
 
Don't let the pros intimidate you.  A lot of the builders posting great stuff on MSW have forty or fifty years of doing it under their belts and it shows. You don't need to play like Arnold Palmer to enjoy golf. Most MSW members posting incredibly good work started back in the pre-internet days when it was really hard to even learn the basics of ship modeling. Now, with a resource like MSW, the learning curve has accelerated immensely and the beginning modeler can learn in a few years what it took the older generation decades to acquire. You can do it, too. 

Aside from what is available in the literature, I'd mention that sometimes bead stores will have very small beads that can work, although that's purely a matter of chance. Also, you might consider making a mold and casting them out of some white metal or even FIMO (plasticine clay that can be baked hard.) 

There's a ton of different tweezers out there, as you've no doubt noticed. I got a new Micro-Mark catalog yesterday and they've got a lot of a new line of tweezers in pretty colors for a lot of money. The colors didn't do it for me. I've found that tweezers can often be found at the lowest prices in beauty supply shops and medical instrument supply houses. (Check eBay for the lowest priced stuff from Asia.) 
 
No matter which tweezer style you buy, you'll eventually pick up more and will find one that ends up being your favorite "go to" for whatever reason. You just have to try a few and see. Like clamps, you can never have too many "grabbers."
 
One thing I can share from experience is that I tend to use the longest tweezers the most because they provide the greatest flexibility when rigging. Short tweezers are fine for rigging until you need to get inboard, then the long ones really come into their own. I'm talking six, eight, and ten inchers. Another instrument, which isn't particularly cheap as tweezers go, is an ear polypus, but worth the price (unless you buy one from Micro Mark!)  You'll find them extremely handy for rigging. Like ordinary tweezers, the longer the better. https://www.pjtool.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=ear+polypus&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=ear polypus&utm_content=Ear Polypus&utm_campaign=Hemostats %26 Surgical&msclkid=f849c4255c0b1adc582ba4f7e196379e
 
There's lots of them on eBay as well.
 

There's a ton of different tweezers out there, as you've no doubt noticed. I got a new Micro-Mark catalog yesterday and they've got a lot of a new line of tweezers in pretty colors for a lot of money. The colors didn't do it for me. I've found that tweezers can often be found at the lowest prices in beauty supply shops and medical instrument supply houses. (Check eBay for the lowest priced stuff from Asia.) 
 
No matter which tweezer style you buy, you'll eventually pick up more and will find one that ends up being your favorite "go to" for whatever reason. You just have to try a few and see. Like clamps, you can never have too many "grabbers."
 
One thing I can share from experience is that I tend to use the longest tweezers the most because they provide the greatest flexibility when rigging. Short tweezers are fine for rigging until you need to get inboard, then the long ones really come into their own. I'm talking six, eight, and ten inchers. Another instrument, which isn't particularly cheap as tweezers go, is an ear polypus, but worth the price (unless you buy one from Micro Mark!)  You'll find them extremely handy for rigging. Like ordinary tweezers, the longer the better. https://www.pjtool.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=ear+polypus&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=ear polypus&utm_content=Ear Polypus&utm_campaign=Hemostats %26 Surgical&msclkid=f849c4255c0b1adc582ba4f7e196379e
 
There's lots of them on eBay as well.
 

Hi Rooster, 
 
Welcome to MSW! 
 
They're showing contact cement there, but I think it's better to use medium-cure, gap filling CA glue. I built this model and that's what I did, at least in part.
 
I used masking tape to hold the strip into place while adjusting the strip to get it aligned just right on both sides. Then, using a pin, apply tiny drops at various points along the strip. The tape can then be removed. Then you can hit it with a little thin CA at a few places. The thin CA will run all along the seam, completing the bond. 
 

 
Hope that helps!
 

There's a ton of different tweezers out there, as you've no doubt noticed. I got a new Micro-Mark catalog yesterday and they've got a lot of a new line of tweezers in pretty colors for a lot of money. The colors didn't do it for me. I've found that tweezers can often be found at the lowest prices in beauty supply shops and medical instrument supply houses. (Check eBay for the lowest priced stuff from Asia.) 
 
No matter which tweezer style you buy, you'll eventually pick up more and will find one that ends up being your favorite "go to" for whatever reason. You just have to try a few and see. Like clamps, you can never have too many "grabbers."
 
One thing I can share from experience is that I tend to use the longest tweezers the most because they provide the greatest flexibility when rigging. Short tweezers are fine for rigging until you need to get inboard, then the long ones really come into their own. I'm talking six, eight, and ten inchers. Another instrument, which isn't particularly cheap as tweezers go, is an ear polypus, but worth the price (unless you buy one from Micro Mark!)  You'll find them extremely handy for rigging. Like ordinary tweezers, the longer the better. https://www.pjtool.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=ear+polypus&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=ear polypus&utm_content=Ear Polypus&utm_campaign=Hemostats %26 Surgical&msclkid=f849c4255c0b1adc582ba4f7e196379e
 
There's lots of them on eBay as well.
 

There's a ton of different tweezers out there, as you've no doubt noticed. I got a new Micro-Mark catalog yesterday and they've got a lot of a new line of tweezers in pretty colors for a lot of money. The colors didn't do it for me. I've found that tweezers can often be found at the lowest prices in beauty supply shops and medical instrument supply houses. (Check eBay for the lowest priced stuff from Asia.) 
 
No matter which tweezer style you buy, you'll eventually pick up more and will find one that ends up being your favorite "go to" for whatever reason. You just have to try a few and see. Like clamps, you can never have too many "grabbers."
 
One thing I can share from experience is that I tend to use the longest tweezers the most because they provide the greatest flexibility when rigging. Short tweezers are fine for rigging until you need to get inboard, then the long ones really come into their own. I'm talking six, eight, and ten inchers. Another instrument, which isn't particularly cheap as tweezers go, is an ear polypus, but worth the price (unless you buy one from Micro Mark!)  You'll find them extremely handy for rigging. Like ordinary tweezers, the longer the better. https://www.pjtool.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=ear+polypus&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=ear polypus&utm_content=Ear Polypus&utm_campaign=Hemostats %26 Surgical&msclkid=f849c4255c0b1adc582ba4f7e196379e
 
There's lots of them on eBay as well.
 

I really MUST source some of those in the UK!

There's a ton of different tweezers out there, as you've no doubt noticed. I got a new Micro-Mark catalog yesterday and they've got a lot of a new line of tweezers in pretty colors for a lot of money. The colors didn't do it for me. I've found that tweezers can often be found at the lowest prices in beauty supply shops and medical instrument supply houses. (Check eBay for the lowest priced stuff from Asia.) 
 
No matter which tweezer style you buy, you'll eventually pick up more and will find one that ends up being your favorite "go to" for whatever reason. You just have to try a few and see. Like clamps, you can never have too many "grabbers."
 
One thing I can share from experience is that I tend to use the longest tweezers the most because they provide the greatest flexibility when rigging. Short tweezers are fine for rigging until you need to get inboard, then the long ones really come into their own. I'm talking six, eight, and ten inchers. Another instrument, which isn't particularly cheap as tweezers go, is an ear polypus, but worth the price (unless you buy one from Micro Mark!)  You'll find them extremely handy for rigging. Like ordinary tweezers, the longer the better. https://www.pjtool.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=ear+polypus&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=ear polypus&utm_content=Ear Polypus&utm_campaign=Hemostats %26 Surgical&msclkid=f849c4255c0b1adc582ba4f7e196379e
 
There's lots of them on eBay as well.
 

Thanks to all for stopping by and for the "likes".
 
 
 
Seems a bit scary to me also Mark.  Check this photo out.  This seems like a false sense of security to me.  The rear wheel doesn't even appear to be chocked to keep it from rolling backwards (or forwards.)  I wouldn't want to be under that thing if the chainfall let go and the weight shifted.  I wonder if this little house of cards arrangement has ever been tested?     
 

 
 
It works pretty well.  The most difficult part is keeping the drill straight and true when going through the rails. Thanks for the comment O.C.
 
 
I believe you're right Keith.  That's a great understanding of the times and one that I never stopped to consider.  All the years I worked in manufacturing the company always supplied uniforms and laundry service.  So yes, what would you do with oil soaked clothes on a modest salary?  Leave them hung over the fence at night? 
 
 
Yes those jacks would add some nice atmosphere and I particularly like the high lift bumper jack.  I don't know of anyone who casts or molds anything like them at this scale, so I'm going to try and scratch some.  Emphasis on try as the high lift would be right at 1/2" tall.  Thanks for the suggestion and photos Egilman.
 
 
Everyone would run for cover when OSHA would step out onto our manufacturing floor.  But when you see the dangerous work places of the "good old days", OSHA starts looking pretty good.  Thanks for the comment and nice words Ken.
 
 
Hello Allen, thanks for looking in.  I agree, especially the oil can as it would be easily identifiable - but crazy small.  I may just give it a try.
 
 
Some Pit Work

Everyday life choirs and activities has kept me from the workbench and little has gotten done.  So this update will be a short one.
 
I added back some electrical piping along the back wall that was pulled off to accommodate the pit installation.  Instead of running the conduit to the right as it was originally, it now runs to the left and up the corner and covers a nasty little gap where the two walls meet.
 
I then replaced some of the “angle iron” around the perimeter of the pit because it was out of square.  Looking at the photo below I can see the angle needs some attention as it doesn't look like iron (too silvery.)
  
Steps are added leading down into the pit.  They are 2' wide with a 8” rise and 10” run (like you really wanted to know that) and are made of stacked basswood pieces.  The hand rail is .022” brass which scales to just under 2” diameter.
 
The pit and steps were dirtied up with some blackish pigment powders and a wash of India ink mixed with water.  The wash brought forward the texture of the pit walls (which I now realize I failed to mention in the last post.)  The texture is straight white PVA dabbed on with a cosmetic sponge.  At first the glue keeps leveling itself out, but as it dries it starts to hold peaks.
 

 
 
I also added some oil stains to the lower center pit and a step down to it.
 


Arbor Press  
 
A break from working on the pit.
 
In the last post I showed a photo of four men in greasy coveralls.  Below is a crop of that photo and just behind the gentleman in the center is a mechanical arbor press.  It appears to be a 20 ton Weaver Hi-Speed Press or one very similar.
 

 
 
The Weaver 28 and 60 ton models have an extra leverage arm high up that the press shown above does not.
 

 
 
These presses had three levels of power vs speed.  The hand wheel could be turned for gentle precise work with little power.  The upper lever was a rack/pinion sort of affair that offered more speed and considerable power.  If that wasn't enough you could choose the nuclear option by using the lever on the left which provides the greatest force.  The photo below is a 20 ton press so it doesn't have the upper lever, but it's a good look at its simplicity and how it works.  Note that the arm (with the Weaver branding) has a choice of pivot points at its left end – three of them, where you can select how much leverage is required.  There are three holes in the pivot plate and the arm is currently occupying the center hole so the the other two holes are not visible.     
 

 
 
I made one of these Weaver presses for the dio, but much of the mechanical detail is not there - just too small.  Anyway, I began with a drawing based on photo scaling.

 
I gathered up some stuff.  The wheel is an injection molded HO scale boxcar brake wheel.  I pulled the styrene rod and tubing over heat to get the right diameters needed.  The brown sprue is nut/bolt heads.
     

 
 
Cut, glue and drill.
 

 
 
Enamel paint and powders.
 

 
The left side power mechanism is just two pieces of bent wire inserted into a styrene bit.  The angle iron that bolts to the floor is out of scale for sure but. . .
 
 
Now back to the pit.  Thanks for looking.
 
Gary
  
   

I use both, locking and non-locking tweezers and forceps.  There are times when I need to lock it, but most of the time I prefer unlocked.  It gives me better control.

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
 

Aside from what is available in the literature, I'd mention that sometimes bead stores will have very small beads that can work, although that's purely a matter of chance. Also, you might consider making a mold and casting them out of some white metal or even FIMO (plasticine clay that can be baked hard.) 

A lovely piece and a very nice presentation. Your ability to remain faithful to the relatively small scale in all aspects of the model masterfully communicates the essential lightness of this launch. Thanks for sharing your build!

Aside from what is available in the literature, I'd mention that sometimes bead stores will have very small beads that can work, although that's purely a matter of chance. Also, you might consider making a mold and casting them out of some white metal or even FIMO (plasticine clay that can be baked hard.) 

A lovely piece and a very nice presentation. Your ability to remain faithful to the relatively small scale in all aspects of the model masterfully communicates the essential lightness of this launch. Thanks for sharing your build!

A lovely piece and a very nice presentation. Your ability to remain faithful to the relatively small scale in all aspects of the model masterfully communicates the essential lightness of this launch. Thanks for sharing your build!

A lovely piece and a very nice presentation. Your ability to remain faithful to the relatively small scale in all aspects of the model masterfully communicates the essential lightness of this launch. Thanks for sharing your build!

A lovely piece and a very nice presentation. Your ability to remain faithful to the relatively small scale in all aspects of the model masterfully communicates the essential lightness of this launch. Thanks for sharing your build!

But when you throw them in the trash, they just dump them in the landfill and then when it rains they leach into the groundwater too. They really should be preserved for all posterity and never discarded if one is really serious about being responsible for their environment.
 
Vegetable oils are nothing like petrochemical oils and are relatively benign in the ecosystem. They come out of trees and they decompose like trees. They don't dilute in water and won't cause any significant environmental harm. 
 
On the other hand, human feces can contain many seriously damaging chemicals, particularly the by-products of digested pharmaceuticals like antibiotics. For this reason, people who are taking any sort of medication should never flush the toilet under any circumstances because this can pollute the rivers and oceans and cause serious harm to aquatic species. In some cases, such chemicals can cause mutations than can disrupt entire ecosystems. 
 
(Sorry, but they don't seem to have an emoji for "extreme sarcasm.")  

It depends on how your chuck is secured to the quill.
 
 If is is pressed onto a Morse Taper, repeated side loads can cause the chuck to come loose.  Don’t ask me why I know this!  If, however, your drill press quill is threaded above the Morse Taper, it is or at least was, possible to buy a collet chuck.  This has a threaded collar that screws onto the quill to lock it in place.  These are intended for use with router bits so would work for milling.
 
In the photo below, when the knurled piece above the chuck is removed, it exposes the threads that lock on the collet chuck.
 
Other drill presses such as those made by Delta had interchangeable quills that served this same purpose.
 
Roger
 

 

And bar counter tops and cheap hardwood floors.  

It's a lot like sex: Everyone shares your initial reaction the first time they see it, but most quickly figure out on their own that "Just viewing" can't hold a candle to actually doing it.    
 
The biggest differences between a kit and a scratch built model are that 1) Scratch built models are unique and 2) people react to them the way you just have. (And, of course, if it matters to one, they're generally worth a lot more money than assembled kits.) Beyond that, the challenges and skills required are really no different than building a high-quality kit.
 
Experience starts when you begin. Start small and work up to the more complex stuff. Start with a less challenging, but high-quality kit or three. The only difference between assembling a kit and building a model from scratch is starting with plans instead of starting with plans and an expensive box of unsuitable wood, useless string, and poorly cast parts. (Except, of course, for the exceptional modern laser-cut kits offered by some of the advertisers on this forum like Syren Ship Models and Vanguard Models. See: MSW's Ship Model Kit Database for what's available: http://mswshipkits.ampitcher.com/)
 
Don't let the pros intimidate you.  A lot of the builders posting great stuff on MSW have forty or fifty years of doing it under their belts and it shows. You don't need to play like Arnold Palmer to enjoy golf. Most MSW members posting incredibly good work started back in the pre-internet days when it was really hard to even learn the basics of ship modeling. Now, with a resource like MSW, the learning curve has accelerated immensely and the beginning modeler can learn in a few years what it took the older generation decades to acquire. You can do it, too. 

And bar counter tops and cheap hardwood floors.