Bob Cleek

There are two reasons why the 17th Century is the most challenging period to model: 1) The large amount of "gingerbread" carved decoration on the vessels requiring a high level of miniature carving or sculptural skill and 2) the dearth of accurate contemporary historical data. Even where 17th Century contemporary written works are at all extant, they are written in archaic language and difficult to decipher. Good luck with your interest in the 17th Century period, but it's the steepest learning curve of all.
 
For someone starting out, I'd suggest the Dover quality paperback reprint of Anderson's 1927 volume The Rigging of Ships in the Days of he Spritsail Topmast - 1600-1720. It's cheap and comprehensive.  https://store.doverpublications.com/0486710653.html?gclid=CjwKCAiAg8OBBhA8EiwAlKw3kuLl6XqmoMX0RQa5JTiUTaJyXTUssJLT33eRP0YGPNx8yynW1eCU6xoCEsoQAvD_BwE
 
For general history and background, though not perhaps ship modeling "how to do it" details, one interested in the 17th Century period should also consider any or all of Richard Endsor's works, all of which are currently available:
 
 The Restoration Warship: The Design, Construction and Career of a Third Rate of Charles II's Navy. (2009)
https://www.amazon.com/Richard-Endsor/e/B0030INS44%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
 
The Master Shipwright's Secrets: How Charles II Built the Restoration Navy (2020)
https://www.amazon.com/Richard-Endsor/e/B0030INS44%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
 
Warships for the King: Ann Wyatt (1658-1757) Her Life and Her Ships (2012) (Contains 1:96 modeling plans set for Cumberland in pocket)
https://www.seawatchbooks.com/ItemDisplay.php?sku=112001
 
The Great Ordnance Survey of 1698, a fasimile (2013)
 https://www.seawatchbooks.com/ItemDisplay.php?sku=113003
 
and
 
The Warship Anne: An Illustrated History (2017)
https://www.amazon.com/Warship-Anne-illustrated-history/dp/1844864391
 
Not being a modeler of 17th Century vessels, I haven't laid my hands on any of Endsor's books, but they are very highly regarded by 17th Century period modelers and I plan to pick them up for my general research library. They seem to represent the current state of the art in terms of historical research and likely include all the information one would have to otherwise laboriously mine from the reprints of contemporary works. Perhaps somebody who has any of them can provide an eyewitness review of them.
 
(Library-building tip: google around and look for used or "remaindered" (publisher's close-outs) copies. These high quality specialty modeling volumes are often very expensive when first released to the relatively small modeler's market and, a year or three later, are "remaindered" for a fraction of their publication price. Used copies pop up at reasonable prices, as well, often when a deceased modeler's research library is sent off to the used book dealers. Prices for "classic" works remain high until reprints are available. Out-of-print and in demand volumes may require taking out a second mortgage, though.)
 
 

One more update: I finally made the trip down to the Missouri River for a photo shoot along Arabia's natural habitat. I had hoped to do this close to her actual sinking date of September 5, 1856, but this is only a few weeks off so conditions look pretty similar. I shot this at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, about 135 road miles downstream of her sinking location near Parkville, MO (just upriver from what is now downtown Kansas City); she would have passed this location many times in her service along the river.
 
First, a reminder of the iconic painting used by the museum:
 

 
And here are my two best attempts to recreate the setting and angle (try to ignore the stand):
 

 

 
A few other shots at different angles:
 

 

 
Me with the model:
 

 
And for fun, a black and white shot as a what-if (she was never photographed, or at least no known photograph survives):
 

 
The river itself looks very different than it would have in her time. Back then it would have been a broad, shallow, multi-channelled river full of sand bars and tree snags, carrying a lot of sediment and generally brown, always shifting across its mile-wide floodplain between bluffs several hundred feet tall. Now, it's been channelized for navigation into a single narrow deep channel that never moves, flows a lot faster, and carries far less sediment due to upstream dams. But the shape of the landscape hasn't changed much and she certainly saw that small bluff in the background. There are much larger and more dramatic bluffs in this stretch, but none that can easily be accessed for a photo shoot in this context. But I hope this gives at least a slight idea of how she might have looked churning her way up and downstream in service before finally hitting that snag in 1856,

Assuming there are suitable collects or chucks on the handpieces, and I'd expect there must be...
 
Have you checked out the units designed for dental lab and nail salon applications? There are some remarkably inexpensive units on the market these days. Not that I'd want my dentist cutting corners on the quality of his instruments, but for hobby work, they'd probably be fine.   The same goes for old fashioned dental engines.  I'd think there'd be a fair number of really good ones on the used market as air-driven and micro-motor-driven units replace them.
 
On FleaBay, for about  a hundred bucks  - the blue things are teeth polishing cups:
 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dental-Lab-Marathon-Polisher-Electric-Micromotor-Contra-angle-10-Prophy-Cups/143944111592?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20201210111314%26meid%3Decf7e111aad647b1985bed3d18e771b3%26pid%3D101195%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dpf%26sd%3D142686199499%26itm%3D143944111592%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv9PairwiseUnbiasedWeb&_trksid=p2047675.c101195.m1851
 
Refurbished-with-warranty lab dental engine with handpiece: $145 on FeaBay: 
 

 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/231467107100?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=231467107100&targetid=1068323857870&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9032112&poi=&campaignid=11612431353&mkgroupid=114626995633&rlsatarget=pla-1068323857870&abcId=9300456&merchantid=113796506&gclid=Cj0KCQiA1pyCBhCtARIsAHaY_5eye0YMcPhG8phlwV1UQO8AaFuou0qcn_IVcFcnFaS94NenfJQmR9YaAi3KEALw_wcB
 
 

At present there are several Sears Craftsman “Satin Thin Rip Veneer” blades for sale on EBay.  Harold Hahn used these blades to saw all of the wood for his 1:96 and 1:48 scale POF models.  This was before the Preac and Byrnes miniature table saws were available.  Based on his experience I bought a couple of these blades and used them to saw boxwood and pear for a POF model that I built. They worked fine.
 
I don’t understand the need for a tilting arbor or tilting table if the saw is to be limited to model shipbuilding. 90 percent of the sawing that I do is ripping and the rest crosscutting.

My father used one of these saws to build an L. Francis Herreshoff H-23 (Prudence) Sailboat)  fully framed and planked.  The boat was launched in 1950 and he continued to use the saw until he died in 1986.  I think that he modified it to use an 8in blade.  I passed it on to my Brother-in-law but doubt that he ever used it.  It was, and presumably is, indestructible.
 
Roger

Varnish will likely produce a gloss finish that is out of scale. You may want to hand-rub it to a mat or satin finish instead. Clear ("white") shellac is another option that is easier to apply than varnish, as well, and if wiped on, or applied thinly, won't result in a gloss finish. The same is true of thinned ("wipe on") varathane.
 
 

Thanks for all the likes and looks.
 
Just a small update regarding the design of the steps

The bottom set will be removable and held with a couple of simple latches, the upper set will have the middle two steps attached to the panel which is an access to the space under the cockpit and aft of the hull. Still working out the quarter berths.
 
Michael

Varnish will likely produce a gloss finish that is out of scale. You may want to hand-rub it to a mat or satin finish instead. Clear ("white") shellac is another option that is easier to apply than varnish, as well, and if wiped on, or applied thinly, won't result in a gloss finish. The same is true of thinned ("wipe on") varathane.
 
 

Varnish will likely produce a gloss finish that is out of scale. You may want to hand-rub it to a mat or satin finish instead. Clear ("white") shellac is another option that is easier to apply than varnish, as well, and if wiped on, or applied thinly, won't result in a gloss finish. The same is true of thinned ("wipe on") varathane.
 
 

Given the title of your post, I gather you mean, "Has anyone made a 2" or 3" sanding disk for use on their Dremel moto-tool?"   If so, I'd doubt that the Dremel tools would handle that, particularly in larger grit abrasives, without overloading the motor. I have a 3" sanding disk attachment for my Unimat SL, but i have no need for it, given that I have a Byrnes disk sander. It's easy enough to mount a homemade disk on anything that will spin, but the more complicated task is building the table and miter gauge for the disk sander.
 
A disk sander is a handy thing to have, but sanding as a method of shaping parts is less desirable than cutting parts to shape with edged tools, which produce a much cleaner cut surface than abrasives.

Given the title of your post, I gather you mean, "Has anyone made a 2" or 3" sanding disk for use on their Dremel moto-tool?"   If so, I'd doubt that the Dremel tools would handle that, particularly in larger grit abrasives, without overloading the motor. I have a 3" sanding disk attachment for my Unimat SL, but i have no need for it, given that I have a Byrnes disk sander. It's easy enough to mount a homemade disk on anything that will spin, but the more complicated task is building the table and miter gauge for the disk sander.
 
A disk sander is a handy thing to have, but sanding as a method of shaping parts is less desirable than cutting parts to shape with edged tools, which produce a much cleaner cut surface than abrasives.

I expect that including the manual drafting phase in a build-log would be of great educational value to the "younger generation." Fifty years ago, "mechanical drawing" was a staple of most boy's high school education. Today, the average high school kid doesn't even know what a tee-square and triangle are, let alone a batten and ducks. CAD has its strengths, to be sure, but for model lofting, I've yet to see a time, or cost, advantage to CAD over old fashioned lofting on a drawing board. Perhaps many would enjoy seeing how easily it is done.

I expect that including the manual drafting phase in a build-log would be of great educational value to the "younger generation." Fifty years ago, "mechanical drawing" was a staple of most boy's high school education. Today, the average high school kid doesn't even know what a tee-square and triangle are, let alone a batten and ducks. CAD has its strengths, to be sure, but for model lofting, I've yet to see a time, or cost, advantage to CAD over old fashioned lofting on a drawing board. Perhaps many would enjoy seeing how easily it is done.

I expect that including the manual drafting phase in a build-log would be of great educational value to the "younger generation." Fifty years ago, "mechanical drawing" was a staple of most boy's high school education. Today, the average high school kid doesn't even know what a tee-square and triangle are, let alone a batten and ducks. CAD has its strengths, to be sure, but for model lofting, I've yet to see a time, or cost, advantage to CAD over old fashioned lofting on a drawing board. Perhaps many would enjoy seeing how easily it is done.

I just received my copy of Ab Hoving's Message in a Model, his book about the ship model collection at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, from Seawatch. It took about two weeks, which was more than reasonable for USPS "Media Mail" (the cheap rate.) I really don't find that any imposition at all. Sure, Amazon can get you bestsellers in 48 hours, but for a price. 
 
Here's Chuck Passaro's review of Ab's book, by the way. 
I've only begun to page through it and it's spectacular! It's really going to be a great read and the color photographs on every page throughout are beautiful. I'd urge anybody to get a copy. (They're on sale now at a great savings over the price at the time of first release.)  have only one caveat to readers "of a certain age:" When you order a copy, expect to need a pair of "cheaters" (reading glasses) or a magnifying glass. The print is rather small. On the plus side, there's more to read on each page, so it's a great value if you figure it "by the word!"  
 
 

I don't doubt that, but the issue is, I believe, "compared to what?" Seawatch appears to me on first direct impression after a somewhat protracted chat with Cathy, to be a retirement online business run by a husband and wife. At present, Bob is incapacitated and Cathy is caring for him and keeping the business running. The "heavy lifting" of warehousing and shipping is outsourced. Their website needs to be rebuilt and the coding has been destroyed, so their son, who did the programming, has to start from scratch, this after losing his home in one of our firestorms. (Recovering from which is a near impossible task for many of the victims. "'Socialism' is when the fire department comes to put out the fire, 'Capitalism' is when you try to collect on your fire insurance policy.")
 
What doesn't seem fair to me, assuming one knows the circumstances, is to expect the speed and efficiency of an international online marketing and delivery conglomerate. I didn't get an immediate email response, either, but Cathy called me back right away when I left a phone voicemail message and was most helpful. In the olden days, we had to wait for "mail orders" and nobody complained. We've been spoiled by modern mega-technology. Seawatch provides a very small niche publishing service for a very narrow spectrum of customers. I'm sure that in order to have that business model "pencil out," they have to do it with relatively limited business resources. Given that fact, I don't think it is fair to complain when one doesn't get an immediate response from some fellow working in a customer service "boiler room" in Mumbai when they email an inquiry. As I said, Seawatch ain't Amazon. If it weren't for them, I doubt the titles they publish would be available to the hobby at all. I really appreciate their efforts on our behalves.
 
Everyone should appreciate the small entrepreneurs who provide the ship modeling fraternity access to parts, tools, information, and other products unique to the hobby. We are watching those sources dry up one by one because the smaller "one man band" businesses simply cannot compete with the likes of the huge online conglomerates. Scale wood is becoming increasingly hard to find as is amply demonstrated by the many posts lamenting the suppliers who have gone out of business. Chuck Passaro of Syren Ship Models has just stopped producing his line of scale rope because he can't keep up with the demand and maintain the quality control he feels he must. His posts concerning the abuse he has received from customers exhibiting "bad behavior," while sometimes related in humorous anecdotes, amply demonstrate what our suppliers have to put up with from spoiled and outrageously demanding consumers. I think we really need to take care of and respect the small businesses that are trying to survive by providing us what so many rely upon. When they are gone, there will be nothing but junky pirated Chinese kits, if that, and total scratch-building and that development doesn't bode well for the longevity of the model ship building hobby.
 

I spoke on the phone with Cathy, one of the Seawatch husband and wife team, a couple of days ago after encountering a problem with their ordering software when ordering a book from them. She got back to me by phone quickly. She's got a wonderful sense of humor and we had a nice chat. To keep the forumites up to date, the problem with their ordering software is "being worked on," but as it turns out, their son did the coding on the website for them and he, who conincidentally lives in my neck of the woods, was one of the many who lost his home and all of its contents in one of the firestorms that we've been having on, it seems, an annual basis, here in Northern CA. All of his data on maintaining the Seawatch website was lost in the fire and this has seriously hampered their website maintenance, so they are limping along at the moment. 
 
Bob, her husband, is presently not ambulatory due to a non-life-threatening health issue which should resolve in time, but that has left Cathy to "hold the fort" and pretty much handle the Seawatch business on her own. Seawatch is a small family operation. Jeff Bezos has spoiled a lot of us who now expect everything ordered on line to arrive in a day or two. Amazon they ain't. Yet, they are a valuable resource to our hobby. So, let's cut them a bit of slack. The shipping of their books is outsourced and shipping is indiscriminately impacted by the pandemic these days. They have no more control over how fast things come through the mail as we do.

I have used the pinstiping tape and it adheres quite well. However I am not aware that it can be found in flat sheen. If you locate such a product i would be interested to know.
 
I have used cresent paper with good success. Sharp cutting is required but it cuts well with little or no fuss. Gluing as you say can be problematical. I would think some diluted white glue painted on the back side might yield a good clean bond.
 
Joe

I expect that including the manual drafting phase in a build-log would be of great educational value to the "younger generation." Fifty years ago, "mechanical drawing" was a staple of most boy's high school education. Today, the average high school kid doesn't even know what a tee-square and triangle are, let alone a batten and ducks. CAD has its strengths, to be sure, but for model lofting, I've yet to see a time, or cost, advantage to CAD over old fashioned lofting on a drawing board. Perhaps many would enjoy seeing how easily it is done.

I expect that including the manual drafting phase in a build-log would be of great educational value to the "younger generation." Fifty years ago, "mechanical drawing" was a staple of most boy's high school education. Today, the average high school kid doesn't even know what a tee-square and triangle are, let alone a batten and ducks. CAD has its strengths, to be sure, but for model lofting, I've yet to see a time, or cost, advantage to CAD over old fashioned lofting on a drawing board. Perhaps many would enjoy seeing how easily it is done.

I expect that including the manual drafting phase in a build-log would be of great educational value to the "younger generation." Fifty years ago, "mechanical drawing" was a staple of most boy's high school education. Today, the average high school kid doesn't even know what a tee-square and triangle are, let alone a batten and ducks. CAD has its strengths, to be sure, but for model lofting, I've yet to see a time, or cost, advantage to CAD over old fashioned lofting on a drawing board. Perhaps many would enjoy seeing how easily it is done.

He does.
 
If you would like the phone number of his warehouse/shipping depot PM me. The ladies there are very helpful and will give you info and a tracking number.
 
Dave.

Take it from a 71 year old, you sure don't look 70 in your picture. Maybe there is something to avoiding VOC fumes. I've been exposed to them all my life, most of the time without regard to hazmat safety short of passing out. Perhaps I'd look like a thirty-five year old if I'd only have been more careful!  

I just received my copy of Ab Hoving's Message in a Model, his book about the ship model collection at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, from Seawatch. It took about two weeks, which was more than reasonable for USPS "Media Mail" (the cheap rate.) I really don't find that any imposition at all. Sure, Amazon can get you bestsellers in 48 hours, but for a price. 
 
Here's Chuck Passaro's review of Ab's book, by the way. 
I've only begun to page through it and it's spectacular! It's really going to be a great read and the color photographs on every page throughout are beautiful. I'd urge anybody to get a copy. (They're on sale now at a great savings over the price at the time of first release.)  have only one caveat to readers "of a certain age:" When you order a copy, expect to need a pair of "cheaters" (reading glasses) or a magnifying glass. The print is rather small. On the plus side, there's more to read on each page, so it's a great value if you figure it "by the word!"  
 
 

I just received my copy of Ab Hoving's Message in a Model, his book about the ship model collection at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, from Seawatch. It took about two weeks, which was more than reasonable for USPS "Media Mail" (the cheap rate.) I really don't find that any imposition at all. Sure, Amazon can get you bestsellers in 48 hours, but for a price. 
 
Here's Chuck Passaro's review of Ab's book, by the way. 
I've only begun to page through it and it's spectacular! It's really going to be a great read and the color photographs on every page throughout are beautiful. I'd urge anybody to get a copy. (They're on sale now at a great savings over the price at the time of first release.)  have only one caveat to readers "of a certain age:" When you order a copy, expect to need a pair of "cheaters" (reading glasses) or a magnifying glass. The print is rather small. On the plus side, there's more to read on each page, so it's a great value if you figure it "by the word!"