Bob Cleek

Current post on the Model Machines website:
 
We are in the process of personal and corporate recovery after the loss of Jim ...
We will not be accepting orders for machines until further notice, but you may still order accessories. We need to complete an inventory and business reorganization, which we hope to accomplish in the next few weeks.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support ...
Donna Byrnes
 
Word on the MSW forum also reported a conversation with Donna Byrnes confirming they would be back to filling orders shortly. Keep an eye on their website for a formal announcement. 

Current post on the Model Machines website:
 
We are in the process of personal and corporate recovery after the loss of Jim ...
We will not be accepting orders for machines until further notice, but you may still order accessories. We need to complete an inventory and business reorganization, which we hope to accomplish in the next few weeks.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support ...
Donna Byrnes
 
Word on the MSW forum also reported a conversation with Donna Byrnes confirming they would be back to filling orders shortly. Keep an eye on their website for a formal announcement. 

GK Modellbau
 
https://www.gk-modellbau-shop.de/epages/61220080.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/61220080/Products/3000
 
I have the 3003 tip, and it works great.

Don't be led astray by generalist statements about the colors of naval vessels in WW2...🙂  LCTs (like most USN vessels) were painted in a variety of Measures (camouflage schemes).  If you know the number of your Dad's boat, go to www.navsource.org, select the AMPHIBIOUS button, select LCT, and find it in the list.  Hopefully, there will be a photo of her, which will display the pattern.  After that, you can look for a camouflage measure sheet which will list the appropriate colors by official designation (5-HG, 20B, etc.).  I'd be happy to assist you with this process, if you like.

Linen/flax   Egyptian mummies were wrapped in linen.
The currently available linen yarn seems to come from Estonia and the Baltic region around it.  They could use a much better QA system to avoid the stem junk inclusions that break the yarn during twist up.  It comes as bleached (white), half bleached (off white) and natural - which is olive green .  Natural is probably more authentic than white for running rigging.  
Linen yarn is thicker than cotton thread.
fibers -> yarn -> thread -> line ->rope        -> = "multiples twist up to produce"
 
The values for gauge are  tar pit 
Lea   yds/lb / 300
Nm  # 1000m/kg
Nec  # 840yd/lb
for all  the larger the number the smaller the diameter
The commercially available material is tricky to decipher.   Yarn sold as 40/2 Lea  is not what we hope it would be.  Instead of being two 80 Lea lines twisted to make a final line that is 40 Lea dia. , it is two 40 Lea lines making a final that is 20 Lea dia.   Except that twisting two lines does not double the the diameter - far from it - but the point is that it is not a way to get smaller diameter yarn
 
Preservative   (which is not actually what is the function)  There is too much surface area for any preservative to actually succeed in doing that.
 
Shellac
Renaissance Wax -pH neutral and devoid of traces of insect GI enzymes.
Lineco neutral pH bookbinders PVA
 
Man made synthetics will vary with what chemical chain the polymer is, but all will probably be subject to  embrittlement  by chemical reactions internal to the material - light and oxygen will speed it. 

Hi, Al.
 
I have a couple of suggestions. I have passed these on to other manufacturers in the past, but you know how it goes -- every company has their preferred niche, and man hours for development aren't unlimited. I know BlueJacket has a passion for subjects from the Northeast, but the West Coast has no comparable modeling enterprise bringing their indigenous designs to market, so it'd be nice if someone did something about that. Here are some ideas, in no particular order:
 
1. A West Coast salmon troller.

 
2. The motor launch Madaket. Last surviving vessel of the Coggeshall Launch & Tow Company and one of the few surviving vessels of her type.

 
3. The lumber schooner C A Thayer -- last surviving lumber schooner. Currently berthed at San Francisco Maritime NHP. She was recently completely overhauled, so someone has good plans of her somewhere.

 
4. A scow schooner, e.g. Alma. Midwest Products used to make one, but it's been off the market for many years now.

 
5. Any three-masted barkentine. A lovely rig IMO, and under-represented in the hobby.

 
6. For an East Coast subject, how about the schooner yacht Coronet? Schooner yachts are another under-represented segment of the hobby, and Coronet has been undergoing restoration at the International Yacht Restoration School since 1995 (soon to be transferred to Mystic Seaport, if not there already).

 
Anyways, that's my short list.
 

I have a lot of old, used rigging line (for the real sailboat) lying around the house too. It's been suggested that I learn to make rope fenders and bow pudding. . . .

Great job! An interesting vessel and a model that is truly a work of art. By that I mean that it's details, particularly the figures, convey a sense of warmth and charm, a sense of "life," if you will, that doesn't seem possible to achieve with our highly accurate, but, frankly, "lifeless and antiseptic," "as built" technical modeling masterpieces. This model demonstrates how a viewer can indeed be "drawn into the reality" of a ship; by viewing a model of it. This isn't a criticism of technical "as built" models at all. They are a different thing entirely and magnificent in their own right. This model, though, really exemplifies that quality that distinguishes art from craftsmanship in ship modeling, two equally respectable qualities, which I've tried with only limited success to explain to others from time to time. 
 
What I'm talking about here is exemplified by the photo below. Nobody who's ever been to sea can fail to recall the feeling of facing into the wind that this tableau conveys:
 

An extensive build log in images and much more may be viewed at my web site geneberger-models.com

😂🤣!!!   In their  defense they use it for two purposes. 🤔🤔🤔
 
thanks for the tips! 

Consider wrapping it on a larger diameter cylindrical shapes. This avoids the line taking a set at the sharp edges when wrapped around square shapes and a curved shape tends to keep the tension in the line equally distributed while stored for long periods. I've used empty cans sometimes as big around as coffee cans. Tape one end of the line to the can and wrap it neatly without overlaps and then tape the other end to the can. You can put a fair amount on a single can and see at a glance how much you have if you don't overlap the turns on top of each other. Even smaller cylindrical shapes work fine. Empty toilet paper rolls work really well. They are easy to write on to note the size of the line wrapped on them and easier to store than coffee cans. (If you have a lady or two living in your home, there should never be any shortage of empty toilet paper rolls. When I once worked part-time as a school janitor, we used to figure as a rule of thumb a ratio of three to one between the girls' and the boys' lavatories when filling the toilet paper dispensers and despite decades of living with a wife and three daughters, I've never unraveled the mystery of why this is so, but it seems to be one of life's immutable truths. ) I've also seen some guys who have used longer cylinders such as empty paper towel rolls mounted on a row of horizontal spindles in the same manner as a single paper towel roll holder. From this arrangement, they can at a glance choose which type of line in their stock supply they wish to use, measure off a length and cut it from the roll.

Thanks Bob! Haha! Ever since I used the kit thread!
😎👍

I would pay extra if it came on spools. A bad example below of how I used to wrap it on my own spools.

…below is the wax I’m using.  I’m betting paraffin from the color.  The yellowish color is from my shop light. (Plus I live in dusty Texas.)

I’m fixing to shop for the material you recommend. 
Thanks for the advice.  I’m buying from the Syren shop. 

Re: your first posting
As per the second posting - Yes you are correct.

Great job! An interesting vessel and a model that is truly a work of art. By that I mean that it's details, particularly the figures, convey a sense of warmth and charm, a sense of "life," if you will, that doesn't seem possible to achieve with our highly accurate, but, frankly, "lifeless and antiseptic," "as built" technical modeling masterpieces. This model demonstrates how a viewer can indeed be "drawn into the reality" of a ship; by viewing a model of it. This isn't a criticism of technical "as built" models at all. They are a different thing entirely and magnificent in their own right. This model, though, really exemplifies that quality that distinguishes art from craftsmanship in ship modeling, two equally respectable qualities, which I've tried with only limited success to explain to others from time to time. 
 
What I'm talking about here is exemplified by the photo below. Nobody who's ever been to sea can fail to recall the feeling of facing into the wind that this tableau conveys:
 

Well, actually, your "bees wax" looks more like paraffin wax, the stuff they use for pouring over the top a jam and jelly in canning jars. There is a white beeswax, but I've never seen it in the flesh, as it were. All the beeswax I've ever seen is yellowish brown.
 
Using beeswax on model ship rigging is questioned these days due to concern regarding the acidity of it contributing to the deterioration of models over time and beeswax's propensity for collecting dust. The general opinion among professional museum curators seems to be that microcrystalline "conservator's wax" is the better option.  Many still use beeswax, though. You might find this thread of interest: 
 
 
Speaking of thread, the recent acceptance of Dacron and Dacron-blend thread for model ship rigging cordage, which has been "blessed" as acceptably archival for museum use by some of the major museums, has gone a long way to solve the problem of "the fuzzies." Formerly, line had to be "flamed" (passed through a flame) to remove this fuzz and wax used to keep it from reappearing, but the synthetic thread cordage doesn't seem to have the problem, the synthetic fibers being much longer than the natural ones. (Finally! No split ends!  ) I know you are a way along with some of your rigging, but what they have provided in the kit is really junk and way oversized and out of scale from all appearances. It's your call, but before you start getting into the rigging with a vengeance, you may want to consider getting into spinning your own properly scaled rope or purchasing aftermarket rope from Syren Ship Model Company (an MSW sponsor.) Syren rope has no fuzz and doesn't unravel. It's easily "stiffened" and knots secured with a touch of thinned PVA or clear shellac. (The shellac is easier to remove with alcohol if you want to undo a knot if a mistake is made or an adjustment necessary.) (See the pictures and URL below.) This is what correctly made scale rope should look like in the correct sizes. It is also so much easier to work with. When I looked at what they gave you for gun tackle line, I thought, "Oh, the poor guy!" You did a lot better job with what you had to work with than I ever could, but how you got that loose, oversized stuff through your blocks is beyond me!  Your rigging skills look fine. It's the quality of the line you are using that's holding you back from achieving a much better result and with a lot less work! Poor rigging line is a common frustrating defect with kits. If you've decided to go with photoetched detail (finestkind!) you may as well match that quality with good rigging line. In for a penny, in for a pound. 

 
 


See: Scale Miniature rope for Rigging Ship Models - Hand made rigging line for ship model builders (syrenshipmodelcompany.com)
 
 
 

Looking forward to your review!

I came across this mini drill press the other day, It isn't as elegant looking as the one above, but it's rated at 120W/450 RPM as compared to the one above at 30W/4800 RPM, has a drilling depth (quill stroke) of 42mm (1.65") versus 13mm on the above one, and it has an adjustable depth stop on it.  $67.00 (w/ free shipping from Los Angeles) Mini Bench Drill Press Precision Table Milling Machine Portable Driller DIY 120W | eBay

I would suggest that anybody who is thinking of a mini drill press and an x/y table might want to consider Vanda Lay Industries' offerings. They started with a CNC'd aluminum mini drill press that holds a Dremel moto-tool (or any other rotary tool including the 1" Foredom flex shaft handpieces (which I'd consider a much better alternative than the Dremel) and their "system" has grown now to include a milling machine that doubles as a drill press and has x, y, and z tables, as well as a mini lathe option. I have their drill press with a Dremel in it and it is a high-quality piece of equipment, perhaps more than the Dremel moto-tool deserves. The Foredom handpieces would provide more accuracy and torque at lower speeds than the Dremel. See: HOME (vanda-layindustries.com)

Just messing with it seeing actually how small a piece I can do.  Dam good to me anyway.
 

I came across this mini drill press the other day, It isn't as elegant looking as the one above, but it's rated at 120W/450 RPM as compared to the one above at 30W/4800 RPM, has a drilling depth (quill stroke) of 42mm (1.65") versus 13mm on the above one, and it has an adjustable depth stop on it.  $67.00 (w/ free shipping from Los Angeles) Mini Bench Drill Press Precision Table Milling Machine Portable Driller DIY 120W | eBay

I would suggest that anybody who is thinking of a mini drill press and an x/y table might want to consider Vanda Lay Industries' offerings. They started with a CNC'd aluminum mini drill press that holds a Dremel moto-tool (or any other rotary tool including the 1" Foredom flex shaft handpieces (which I'd consider a much better alternative than the Dremel) and their "system" has grown now to include a milling machine that doubles as a drill press and has x, y, and z tables, as well as a mini lathe option. I have their drill press with a Dremel in it and it is a high-quality piece of equipment, perhaps more than the Dremel moto-tool deserves. The Foredom handpieces would provide more accuracy and torque at lower speeds than the Dremel. See: HOME (vanda-layindustries.com)

I am content with the fixed 90 degrees.  The complexity and error potential that comes with the tilt function does not balance with very slight need for an angled cut with what I do. 
 
No.  It has been passing my notice.   The tooth count on that blade has me cringing at the thought of using it to cut a shallow slot.   I have a bunch of fine tooth - zero set blades that I bought over the years that can be stacked to do the same.  I bought them before I knew that they are not the proper blades for ripping.   Thurston and Martindale  - back from when Martindale kept them in inventory.  Jim was a stock recovery savior with the bushings that get 1" ID blades adapted to fit his 1/2" arbor.
I am thinking that the MM system would skew the blade at a fixed off center angle.  A wobble means to me that the blade would move freely along the arbor as it rotated.  That might be a very bad idea to do on purpose.   A loose nut on the arbor would produce that effect.

I would stack the four of them onto a thin piece of plywood for working on. When starting the 'crossing-out', as the watchmakers call the process of making the spokes, I would drill appropriately sized holes in the respective corners. This gives you the directions for sawing out the rest using a jeweller's piercing saw. As material I would use hard brass, not soft copper. Alternatively, styrene would allow you to easily add the reenforcement ribs by glueing, rather than soldering.

I occasionally need to be able to make a precision metal part for my modeling work. For very small parts it's hard to keep the precision needed by the scale when doing hand work. I looked at available lathe and mill and combination machines such as the popular Sherline. This is a fine and versatile tool but the $3000 price tag is high for occasional hobby work. A cheaper alternative is the Unimat system. That's still $800 with tax and shipping. Parts and accessories are also expensive from the vendor. I did find an unused one on Ebay for $400. It was open box and who knows what might be missing. Also, while the Unimat is capable of being configured as many machine tools, it's only one at a time and needs reconfiguration to go from a mill to a lathe.

Another consideration is whether such a cheap tool is capable of the precision I would like to achieve. For my purposes a resolution of 0.1 mm(.004") is sufficient. This seems a lot to expect from a cheap machine tool.
 
I did a lot of searching online. I kept hitting upon really cheap machines that looked almost identical to the Unimat. Some were in other colors but they were all the same construction and the actual parts were identical. I also found I could purchase parts and accessories very cheaply for these. I decided to purchase a micro mill and micro lathe of this type and see what could be done to improve them. I found a lathe and a mill for $200 each. Along with accessories, tax and shipping the cost of two machines came to ~$500. The machines as delivered were actually better than expected. They were surprisingly robust and ridged for their size and cost. The brand was "First Tool".  A search for parts found most items available from GK Tool. Because these all use the same parts I was able to download manuals and parts lists from the Unimat site. Interestingly, these were labeled "Cool Tool" and said "Made in Austria". Perhaps "Assembled" in Austria is more accurate as the ones purchased are identical except for the labels and they were definitely made in China.
 
I spent considerable time adjusting the machines. In the end I was able to align them to my needed specifications. The worst part is the cross slides which use a nylon gib shim and are very difficult to adjust. The X axis slide that's on the base is much better. The design of sub parts such as the tail stock and motor carrier use dovetail clamps that do a really good job of keeping everything in alignment and make configuration easy. There are flat plates that provide additional rigidity. You can see these features in the Unimat pictures. The motor on the lathe is a bit wimpy(looks just like the Unimat one) but the mill has a robust motor. The spindle speed is ~150 rpm. That's too low for some metals and too high for other jobs. There are no speed controls or gear adjustments. Here's a picture of the mill as delivered. The vise is a separate purchase. The supplied one was complete junk. There was a plastic base plate supplied. I recommend replacing that with metal or hardwood. The supplied tool rest was simply a dovetail clamp. I replaced that with the same tool rest shown on the Unimat. The throat height of the lathe was too small for a lot of work. I added centering blocks as shown in the Unimat lathe.

I did find accessory gears and different size belts to accommodate them available. It takes a lot of searching though. These are DC motors so a variable DC supply should be able to control the speed. Remember though, these are cheap motors and they may not do well at higher voltages and currents needed to get higher speeds. It's probably better to figure out gear ratios and purchase them.
 
The first thing I did after alignment was turn the mill motor 90 degrees. As configured it extends so far over the work area that you can't see the work.
 
The cheap lead screws and indicator wheels were not consistent enough for my target resolution. The slides stayed aligned in their plane(as determined by a dial indicator) as long as too much force was not used. They will wiggle if much side pressure is applied. Probably the nylon gib shims. The backlash was pretty awful. Part of this was a size mismatch between the indicator wheels D shape and the lead screw's D shape. I applied a shim to the flat of the D which helped a great deal. The lead screw itself is slightly inconsistent. I was able to achieve good results by careful measurements while machining and sneaking up on the dimension needed. During this trial and error period I found and tightened parts to make things more ridged. 
 
The backlash could not be controlled consistently. I determined to add X-Y DRO(Digital Read Out) for the lathe and X-Y-Z DRO for the mill. While shopping for the machines I ran across very inexpensive digital calipers and dial Indicators. These all have zero setting capability and dual inch/metric readout. Some will even read out fractional inches.

The fractional capability is impressive in such an inexpensive tool, but I'd be happy if I never see another fraction.
 
I found a DRO specific indicator with mounts in stainless steel that was the right size for my machines. Amazingly, 0.01 mm resolution and +/-  0.02 mm accuracy for $15! Mounting was simply a matter of using the dovetail in the side of the X axis slide to mount the brackets. I then made a small block to connect the moving part to the X slide. My first precision part! It was necessary to drill and tap a hole in the slide to mount the connector.

That worked for the X axis but the Y axis is much smaller with limited space for mounting. I bought a plastic digital caliper for $2 to cut down for the Y axis. The plastic was easy to machine but the accuracy was only 0.1 mm. This turned out to not work well. To get 0.1 mm on my work I really need to read 0.01. Otherwise the reading is +/- 0.09 and you don't know how close you are to 0.1 mm. I went back to shopping and found calipers with 0.01 mm resolution and 0.02 mm accuracy for $11 in stainless steel. Unfortunately there are none available in plastic with that resolution. That made for great difficulty in machining. Here's the plastic part mounted:

Here's the stainless replacement I bought for $11 with the required accuracy:
 

Here it's disassembled and marked for grinding. Grinding because it's hardened stainless and my little machine can't handle that.

 
Note the hole. That's for the mounting. That hole was the most difficult part. I had to use a carbide PC board drill to start the hole and then use successive drills to ream it out in increments of a couple tenths of a mm. Ordinary drill bits just go dull on this stuff. Same with the 3mm hole in the other part. Matching holes were made and tapped into the slides. Here it is ready for installation:

It discolored a bit on the scale due to the heat from grinding. That's not important though as the scale is not going to be used. The silver part is simply a tape that's applied over the etched pattern the readout unit uses. Here's a picture of what that looks like where I had a misalignment that scraped part of the silver tape off:

The Z axis for the milling machine is simply mounting a dial indicator at the top:

 
Future improvements might be upgrading the motor or changing gear ratios, sturdy base plate, change the existing gib shims to copper.
 
Some useful accessories:
 

Micro square, drill chuck for tail stock, 4 jaw chuck(Comes with auto centering 3 Jaw), rotation adapter, face plate, centering blocks, mills, tool bits, Collets in various sizes, brass or wood rod for taping out collets, center drills, etc.
 
There are good machining tutorials on YouTube. I particularly like Blondihacks. You can find books on machining at your hobby store and the library.
 
Here's some pictures of the finished product:

 
 

I came across this mini drill press the other day, It isn't as elegant looking as the one above, but it's rated at 120W/450 RPM as compared to the one above at 30W/4800 RPM, has a drilling depth (quill stroke) of 42mm (1.65") versus 13mm on the above one, and it has an adjustable depth stop on it.  $67.00 (w/ free shipping from Los Angeles) Mini Bench Drill Press Precision Table Milling Machine Portable Driller DIY 120W | eBay

I would suggest that anybody who is thinking of a mini drill press and an x/y table might want to consider Vanda Lay Industries' offerings. They started with a CNC'd aluminum mini drill press that holds a Dremel moto-tool (or any other rotary tool including the 1" Foredom flex shaft handpieces (which I'd consider a much better alternative than the Dremel) and their "system" has grown now to include a milling machine that doubles as a drill press and has x, y, and z tables, as well as a mini lathe option. I have their drill press with a Dremel in it and it is a high-quality piece of equipment, perhaps more than the Dremel moto-tool deserves. The Foredom handpieces would provide more accuracy and torque at lower speeds than the Dremel. See: HOME (vanda-layindustries.com)

Ok, time for a wee update!
 
I have not gone into hibernation and have done a bit of work, just did not have the time to take photos and post the progress. A lot of head scratching though, it's been a long time since I did the 3D plans and I had forgotten how everything come together. I also had forgotten that I ve used beech for the hull and generally cut a few corners in this boat. Now these are biting back! I simply cannot understand why I used for the frames the cheapest, nastiest plywood ever made!
 
So, first I had to deal with the hull and the dancing/shrinking beech wood. I filled the cracks but brought the boat inside as it was freezing cold in the garage. Yep, the wood contracted again and the sims opened once again!





I filled again, sanded, filled, sanded... I have now settled with Osmo water based filler and Decoart water based sealer - excellent products.



So, after lots of filling, sanding, scraping etc, the hull looks decent, is sanded to 400 grit and is sealed inside and out. This took time, effort, a few lungfuls of dust and lots of cursing.





Ok, time to free the boat from its cradle!

Now, the boat needs inside planking, bulkheads a bit of deck fore and aft, floor boards, the engine box, the fish well, a rudder, and this elusive vertical rudder. So here it goes:
 
I could not remember how all were supposed to come together and it took me a long time to figure the boat out again. I am still not sure how the floor boards and inner planking should be arranged. In any case, I installed the sheer clamps and the two bulkheads fore and aft. I had to deviate a bit from the plans due to my corner cutting. I also cut several of the frame extensions and made two braces to make sure the hull does not loose its shape.






I also bought a new water stone 1000/6000 and honed again all my chisels - they are now truly razor sharp. I also did all the kitchen knives including the serrated bread knives - all now very sharp!
 
Much to do and at some point I must paint the hull. I have no doubt the beech will find a new moisture equilibrium and the sims will open up again so it needs to be done asap but it is -2C in England currently so painting will have to wait. I 've decided to use enamels and top it up with enamel varnish - all brush painted. Have not used enamels in many years!
 
Till next time, my very best wishes for the New Year!
 
Vaddoc

Great job! An interesting vessel and a model that is truly a work of art. By that I mean that it's details, particularly the figures, convey a sense of warmth and charm, a sense of "life," if you will, that doesn't seem possible to achieve with our highly accurate, but, frankly, "lifeless and antiseptic," "as built" technical modeling masterpieces. This model demonstrates how a viewer can indeed be "drawn into the reality" of a ship; by viewing a model of it. This isn't a criticism of technical "as built" models at all. They are a different thing entirely and magnificent in their own right. This model, though, really exemplifies that quality that distinguishes art from craftsmanship in ship modeling, two equally respectable qualities, which I've tried with only limited success to explain to others from time to time. 
 
What I'm talking about here is exemplified by the photo below. Nobody who's ever been to sea can fail to recall the feeling of facing into the wind that this tableau conveys: