Bob Cleek

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!"  
 
 

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!"  
 
 

Now that's one I've never thought of. It sounds like a great idea. I'll have to do some experimenting. 
 
As for solvents in apartments... "I love the smell of VOCs in the morning. it smells like... like victory!"  Seriously, though, for the amounts used in modeling, I've never had any problems with fumes if I work near a window with a big fan in front of it, blowing outwards, and a window open somewhere at the other side of the room. (My kid has the right number of fingers and toes.) Ventilation is something of a old fashioned thing these days. The norm seems to be becoming to hermetically seal everything up and run the HVAC all the time. I am so glad I no longer have to work in office buildings with windows that won't open! The watchword here is common sense.

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 purchased this on a whim and now rely on it constantly.
 
Fiskars Finger Tip Art Knife
 

 

 

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 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 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.

Beautiful!
 
 

This particular adage is an expression of philosophical relativism which is another way of saying that it has no objective validity. From a relativist perspective, it is only true if you believe it to be true; the truth of the adage is itself in the eye of the beholder. From a realist perspective, it is simply untrue; its so-called “truth” being the usual relativist error of confusing and conflating goodness, truth and beauty with preference, prejudice and opinion. Oddly enough, unlike beauty, it seems there's a general consensus about what's ugly.  
 
Seriously, though, beauty doesn't have much to do with it at all. Acrylics have gotten better since they first came on the market and are now quite good, but their present limitations make them inferior to oil based paints for use as serious fine arts and modeling applications. They have not been around long enough to say with unqualified certainty that they can be considered archival. We just don't know yet.  Having experience with both oil and acrylics in modeling applications, these are my concerns with acrylics:
 
They pose challenges when applied with an airbrush. Water dries much more slowly than volatile solvents and makes it difficult to spray water-based acrylics continuously. Slow drying paint makes it much more likely that curtains and runs will occur and waiting for the longer drying time is inconvenient.
 
Some acrylic paints tend to form a grey veil on their surface or develop yellow discoloration with aging.
 
Acrylic paintings attract and gather dirt easily.  Acrylic emulsion paints used in the fine arts have glass-transition temperature (Tg) near or below room temperature.   This means that acrylic emulsion films will always be soft at room temperature and that the paint surface will hold onto dust and dirt and even unite them into the film. The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that acrylic resins are non-conductors and tend to have electrostatic charges on their surface which attracts dirt.
 
The soft film formed by acrylic paint will easily abrade or dent with just fingernail pressure.  This type of damage can ruin the perfectly smooth surface of
a model which must display a perfect surface to be true to scale. This is particularly so with topsides, which are subjected to considerable handling stress during the building process.
 
Mold growth has been noted on acrylic paintings and has become an increasing concern among artists and collectors.  Unfortunately, there is no ideal treatment that does not cause some degree of damage to the original paint.  Mold growth tends to become apparent when humidity and temperature rise. Mold growth on a model which is viewed closely is seriously damaging to the overall impression of the model.
 
There are many trade acrylic paints that have been used by artists and the range in their quality is broad.  "Small bottle" premixed acrylic "hobby paints," as opposed to the expensive high quality fine arts tubed paste acrylics, tend to be at the lower end of the quality range, primarily for price considerations. The lesser quality paints tend to have cheaper colorants which fade easily under ultraviolet light.  Thus, fading colors which change the tonal balance of the work may be due to the intrinsic nature of the materials and cannot be reversed by conservation.
 
As they say, "Your mileage may vary." Surely, there are many ship models being built today which are of a quality that doesn't warrant worrying about the concerns I've noted. 
 
 
 
 
 

The fingers are more reliable "blemish detectors" than the eyes in any event. If it feels smooth, it is smooth. Sealing wood with shellac prior to a final fine-grit sanding, and then the use of a tack rag before painting, will go a long way to avoiding specks and blemishes that the eye cannot detect.

What Canute said. Stain penetrates the wood, so if shellac seals the wood, stain can't penetrate it. One of the problems to note about staining is that the stain has to be compatible with whatever coating you apply over it, as well. 
 
I don't want to start a big controversy here, but I can't resist offering my two cents' worth. I'm not a fan of staining on models. There are some times when it might be indicated, on spars, perhaps, or possibly laid decks, but the simple fact is that the real purpose of stain is to make one wood look like another and, like most faux finishes, it may come close, but never hits the mark completely. Stain enhances the figuring of some woods, which is good for furniture, but since there aren't any woods that have grain features that are to the scale of most any model, enhancing the grain of wood on a model is the last thing a modeler should want to do. Some like to portray their models "au natural," without any paint. This style best exhibits the exact construction features of the prototype and the skill of the modeler, with each faying surface highlighted in black and every fastening in its proper place. In that case, the best approach is to use a fine finish wood species that serves the purpose and looks well clearly sealed or lightly oiled or waxed. If it's the beauty of bare wood you want, there's so little wood in a model that there's no reason not to buy the good stuff and show it off. Staining basswood is like trying to polish a turd.
 
And I'll mention in passing that "wipe on poly" is a rip off. It's just polyurethane varnish that's been thinned, canned, and marketed to consumers who don't know the difference. Thinner is relatively cheap. Buying thinned varnish and paint for the same price as the thick stuff is a waste of money. Thin your coatings yourself and save a bundle.

Just what Thunder said. Today's bottled modeling paints, particularly the acrylic "water based" types, are the result of complex chemistry and there is a lot that can go wrong with them, especially when they are combined with other types and brands. Acrylic water based paint often does not adhere well, if at all, over oil based paints, while oil based paints will adhere to acrylics. Under coats are sometimes incompatible with finish coats. While dried pigment generally appears darker than wet pigment, colors may, upon drying, appear different in unanticipated ways. If paint ages in the bottle, it sometimes won't perform as expected. Using the wrong thinner or conditioner, which works for one brand and not another can cause problems, too.  A common malfunction occurs when paint doesn't dry, or in the case of acrylics, "cure" fully and remains tacky to the touch. The only cure for this problem is to remove the paint completely and start over. That's a terrible, nasty, messy job. You don't want to have to go there ever. 
 
So, the moral of the story, at least until you are completely certain and comfortable with a particular coating, is to test it first on a piece of scrap material or, as the professional painters call them, a "chip." That "paint chip" gives you a preview of how that paint will perform. If it doesn't perform as you require on the chip, you've lost nothing. On the model, it's another matter entirely. These chips are also worth saving, with any helpful information written on the back with a Sharpie pen, such as the brand and color and they type of thinner and/or conditioner used. Other colors can be applied over a section of a chip as well, and this will provide information on how well that color "covers" and what it will look like when dried on top of the earlier coat. This practice comes in very handy if and when you graduate to painting with an airbrush, which is more demanding of properly conditioned paint than brushes are.
 
I'll pass on writing an entire dissertation here on conditioning paint, but suffice it to say that it is a rare bottle of paint that contains paint ready for use "right out of the bottle" or can. Environmental factors such as temperature and humidity affect the behavior of paint to greater or lesser degrees depending upon the paint, oil or water based. (You will probably end up preferring one or the other. I prefer oil based paints and often use fine arts artists' oil paints sold in "toothpaste" tubes from art supply stores, which I condition to my own taste. Your mileage may vary. "Dance with the gal ya brought.") These conditioners create the characteristics of the paint. Thinners simply are solvents (or water or alcohol with water based acrylics) that make the paint thinner. Thinners can also contribute to the "flattening" of glossy paint, a desired effect for models, which should not be finished glossy because gloss is out of scale. "Flatteners" will also flatten glossy paint. The more you add, the flatter the paint gets. Other conditioners will improve the "flow" of the paint, basically slowing its drying time, so a brush won't "drag" and a "wet edge" can be maintained more easily. Paint that "flows" well will also "lay down" easily and brush strokes will disappear as the paint "levels." Too much, on the other hand, can cause paint to sag and create drips and "curtains." Driers, often sold as "Japan Drier" in the case of oil paints, contain heavy metals which speed the drying of the paint, the opposite of conditioners that improve flow. On hot days with low humidity, you will add conditioners to slow the rate of drying, while on cold days with high humidity, you'll add conditioners to speed up drying. These skills become even more important when airbrushing and spray painting because the atomized sprayed paint has to hit the piece before the solvents kick off, and then lay down before drying to achieve a perfectly smooth finish, yet not be so thin or retarded (slowed down) that they run or "curtain" after being sprayed. (And if you are of a mind to spray paint, forget the rattle cans and go for an airbrush. It will pay for itself over the rattle cans, which always seem to crap out while they're half full and never really give the same control or results.)
 
You need to also remember that wood has to be sealed before painting so the paint won't soak into the wood and produce an uneven coating. I use shellac for this because it is easy to work with, dries fast, is economical, soaks into the bare wood well, is compatible with all other coatings when dry, and sands very nicely to a very fine smooth finish. 
 
This may all sound a bit overwhelming at first, but it's not rocket science. If you're lucky, you'll find somebody who can show you how it's done and you'll be on your way. It's a lot easier to learn by watching somebody do it than it is to learn it out of a book. Experiment a little and get the hang of it, but, most importantly, practice and learn on scrap pieces before starting to slap paint on a model you've spent a lot of time on. That will save you a lot of grief. 
 
This fellow seems to have a pretty good video on the subject.painting miniatures. 
 
 

Now that's one I've never thought of. It sounds like a great idea. I'll have to do some experimenting. 
 
As for solvents in apartments... "I love the smell of VOCs in the morning. it smells like... like victory!"  Seriously, though, for the amounts used in modeling, I've never had any problems with fumes if I work near a window with a big fan in front of it, blowing outwards, and a window open somewhere at the other side of the room. (My kid has the right number of fingers and toes.) Ventilation is something of a old fashioned thing these days. The norm seems to be becoming to hermetically seal everything up and run the HVAC all the time. I am so glad I no longer have to work in office buildings with windows that won't open! The watchword here is common sense.

Beautiful!
 
 

Now that's one I've never thought of. It sounds like a great idea. I'll have to do some experimenting. 
 
As for solvents in apartments... "I love the smell of VOCs in the morning. it smells like... like victory!"  Seriously, though, for the amounts used in modeling, I've never had any problems with fumes if I work near a window with a big fan in front of it, blowing outwards, and a window open somewhere at the other side of the room. (My kid has the right number of fingers and toes.) Ventilation is something of a old fashioned thing these days. The norm seems to be becoming to hermetically seal everything up and run the HVAC all the time. I am so glad I no longer have to work in office buildings with windows that won't open! The watchword here is common sense.

Oh, I absolutely agree. Epoxy glue in restorations is a complete no-no. However, this isn't the epoxy you're thinking of, it's as thin as water.  And it's quite flexible when dry.
 
As Bob says, CPES is a well-known example available in North America, but there are plenty of others and they are all pretty similar in my experience. It's pretty easy to mix up a dab of epoxy and then thin it with methylated spirits (aka denatured alcohol) to try out on a test piece.  I think it might work well for making paper sails, too.

One item we can't overlook...and it appears we have.  Is perception.  All the images you provided only permit perception to be made from a limited aspect of the hulls entirety.  This can give the false perspective that the rake of the bow is swifter then she may otherwise be.  but if you place the entire hull, above and below the waterline, to include the entire length of the hull.  Just a snippet of the bow cannot place it into the entire perspective.
The example I created was taken from the corrections I made on the 1/8" drawing.  I corrected the 7degree incline of the stem and I induced greater forward ark above the cutwater of the stem...lengthening the naval hood and *beak*.   Taking just a small piece of the picture, doesn't place it correctly within the entirety of the hull....which can cause us to see it in a different light...and even make it appear larger or smaller dependent on our perspective.
 
I cut out a waterline portion of my 1/8" redraw to demonstrate how singling out just a small portion of the hull can overaccentuate it dimensions.  
 
The beached image that Mike gave us demonstrates how powerful perception is and it makes the bow look nearly flat/vertical at the stem, which caused us to think the image was somehow distorted...because the other images at San Pedro make it look far more raked or sweeping.
 
Something to think about.
 
Rob
 
 

Beautiful!
 
 

Beautiful!
 
 

Beautiful!