Bob Cleek

Growing up, we lived in a house with hardwood floors that required regular waxing with one of those "iron holystones," too. When I got old enough, that job fell to me. I was greatly relieved when Bissell came out with an electric floor waxer for home use! I have no idea whatever happened to that old hand buffer that I had to swing back and forth. It'd be good for a "What is this tool?" contest these days.  

True that, but the great models we see from the 17th and 18th centuries were built with human powered tools. They certainly had lathes and perhaps even pedal-pedal powered scroll saws. The Egyptians were using human-powered wood turning lathes in 1,300 BCE and fret saw blades were in use from the early 1500's. My comments regarding the POW bone models were in response to an assertion that, "Prisoners used to make accurate models of square riggers from bone with no tools at all."  

I believe so. I pulled the photos off of Google images, but they look like the POW bone models I've examined in various museums and these were made of bone, bovine, I believe. That would include the cannon and whatever other material is colored white. The rigging is sometimes made of horse hair, or so I've read.

So the story goes and I suppose stranger things have happened, but the fact of the matter was that the Eighteenth-Century prisoner of war handicrafts, including ship models, were in many instances a rather finely organized production operation with all the contemporary tools suited to the task available to the prisoners building the models. It's been written that many, if not most, of the prisoner of war ship models, bone and otherwise, were built on a "piecework" and "assembly line" basis in much the same fashion as are today's commercially built ship models from Vietnam and Madagascar. (See: Model ship workshop „Le Village“ - MADAMAGAZINE and " Sail into the World of Handmade Model Ships" – OMHVN (vietnamshipmodels.com) ) It behooved the captors to supply the prisoners with the tools and to some extent the materials to fabricate items for sale to the general public because the proceeds of their endeavors provided the prisoners with an income with which they could to some extent support themselves, thereby reducing the cost of their keep which otherwise would have had to have been paid by their captors.  This was and is a long-established prison industry business model still practiced today. (See e.g., : About » CALPIA Website )
 
Although some remarkably accurate POW bone models have survived from the Napoleonic period, in general, the term "accurate" as applied to them remains a relative concept. They presented quite a range in terms of visual and historical accuracy, although all are true folk art treasures today. Many were entirely fanciful... and then some!  
 

Growing up, we lived in a house with hardwood floors that required regular waxing with one of those "iron holystones," too. When I got old enough, that job fell to me. I was greatly relieved when Bissell came out with an electric floor waxer for home use! I have no idea whatever happened to that old hand buffer that I had to swing back and forth. It'd be good for a "What is this tool?" contest these days.  

Thanks for the video! These certainly look like quality tools. They aren't inexpensive, but money spent on a good tool is money well spent. I doubt that there is anything better than these on the market today that isn't electrically powered, and the powered tools are often overkill for the needs of many modelers. 

Growing up, we lived in a house with hardwood floors that required regular waxing with one of those "iron holystones," too. When I got old enough, that job fell to me. I was greatly relieved when Bissell came out with an electric floor waxer for home use! I have no idea whatever happened to that old hand buffer that I had to swing back and forth. It'd be good for a "What is this tool?" contest these days.  

Ah, but which color "bronze?"   Crescent Bronze, a leading powder-coating manufacturer, has a good bronze color chip card that is worth adding to one's collection of color chips: Crescent Bronze - Color Card Request

 
The standard option for obtaining painted metallic effects is the "real deal," actual colored bronze metal pigment-ground powder sold for the purpose of producing a bronze, brass, copper, gold, or silver metallic finish for painting. (I'm don't know exactly why they use bronze for all these other metals, except that perhaps bronze is easiest to manipulate the color by adjusting the alloy formula.) Schmincke Pigments is the leading manufacturer of ground metallic pigments which are sold in most all artists' supplies stores. They come in a range of shades, colors, and finishes as raw pigment (sold as "oil bronze"), as well as premixed in an oil base and tubed like artist's oil paint. They can be used like any pigment, either mixed in a carrier, e.g., clear varnish, to make a paint, or dusted onto a tacky surface after a sizing is applied and lightly burnished with a cotton ball after the sizing dries, in the same method used for gold leafing. The base metallic color can be thereafter "weathered" to tone it down to a desired appearance in the usual fashion if necessary. See: Schmincke's website for detailed information on their "oil bronze" product line: Bronzes: Schmincke Künstlerfarben (They also sell lines of premixed colored bronze powders in an acrylic medium and powders for use with watercolors. I've never used either of these, so you're on your own there.)

 
Of course, a lot depends upon what appearance you are seeking. In some instances, metallic colors wouldn't be required because standard colors would serve to produce the desired effect.  This video below demonstrates an easy and very effective way to create a convincing faux bronze patina finish using metallic bronze powder which is rubbed on using carnauba wax as the "carrier." The tone of the finish can be adjusted by modifying the background color from black to a flat "penny brown." "Verdigris (green)" weathering powders can thereafter be applied to achieve a very convincing weathered bronze patina appearance. This method can also be used to create a very convincing representation of a copper sheathed hull over a base of scale thickness paper "copper plates." 
 


 


 
 

Thanks to everyone.
Bob, I watched the video and will likely give it a try very soon.  Seeing the SC Johnson paste wax did bring back terrible memories from 1965 though.  As plebes at Kings Point we had to wax our dorm room floors with this stuff and buff it with ten pound hand buffers.   And heaven help the idiot that walked on your floor without great care before inspection by the upper classmen!  
Allan

This is a no brainer.   As there was no commonly available electricity, thus no electric power tools before the late 19th century, the beautiful models we see from the 17th and 18th century were done without electrically operated tools.   Team efforts or not, they produced better models than most of us will ever build.   
Allan

So the story goes and I suppose stranger things have happened, but the fact of the matter was that the Eighteenth-Century prisoner of war handicrafts, including ship models, were in many instances a rather finely organized production operation with all the contemporary tools suited to the task available to the prisoners building the models. It's been written that many, if not most, of the prisoner of war ship models, bone and otherwise, were built on a "piecework" and "assembly line" basis in much the same fashion as are today's commercially built ship models from Vietnam and Madagascar. (See: Model ship workshop „Le Village“ - MADAMAGAZINE and " Sail into the World of Handmade Model Ships" – OMHVN (vietnamshipmodels.com) ) It behooved the captors to supply the prisoners with the tools and to some extent the materials to fabricate items for sale to the general public because the proceeds of their endeavors provided the prisoners with an income with which they could to some extent support themselves, thereby reducing the cost of their keep which otherwise would have had to have been paid by their captors.  This was and is a long-established prison industry business model still practiced today. (See e.g., : About » CALPIA Website )
 
Although some remarkably accurate POW bone models have survived from the Napoleonic period, in general, the term "accurate" as applied to them remains a relative concept. They presented quite a range in terms of visual and historical accuracy, although all are true folk art treasures today. Many were entirely fanciful... and then some!  
 

Ah, but which color "bronze?"   Crescent Bronze, a leading powder-coating manufacturer, has a good bronze color chip card that is worth adding to one's collection of color chips: Crescent Bronze - Color Card Request

 
The standard option for obtaining painted metallic effects is the "real deal," actual colored bronze metal pigment-ground powder sold for the purpose of producing a bronze, brass, copper, gold, or silver metallic finish for painting. (I'm don't know exactly why they use bronze for all these other metals, except that perhaps bronze is easiest to manipulate the color by adjusting the alloy formula.) Schmincke Pigments is the leading manufacturer of ground metallic pigments which are sold in most all artists' supplies stores. They come in a range of shades, colors, and finishes as raw pigment (sold as "oil bronze"), as well as premixed in an oil base and tubed like artist's oil paint. They can be used like any pigment, either mixed in a carrier, e.g., clear varnish, to make a paint, or dusted onto a tacky surface after a sizing is applied and lightly burnished with a cotton ball after the sizing dries, in the same method used for gold leafing. The base metallic color can be thereafter "weathered" to tone it down to a desired appearance in the usual fashion if necessary. See: Schmincke's website for detailed information on their "oil bronze" product line: Bronzes: Schmincke Künstlerfarben (They also sell lines of premixed colored bronze powders in an acrylic medium and powders for use with watercolors. I've never used either of these, so you're on your own there.)

 
Of course, a lot depends upon what appearance you are seeking. In some instances, metallic colors wouldn't be required because standard colors would serve to produce the desired effect.  This video below demonstrates an easy and very effective way to create a convincing faux bronze patina finish using metallic bronze powder which is rubbed on using carnauba wax as the "carrier." The tone of the finish can be adjusted by modifying the background color from black to a flat "penny brown." "Verdigris (green)" weathering powders can thereafter be applied to achieve a very convincing weathered bronze patina appearance. This method can also be used to create a very convincing representation of a copper sheathed hull over a base of scale thickness paper "copper plates." 
 


 


 
 

I typically use the Army Painter brand metallics when I use metallics, otherwise I just use the faux metallic painting methods (a lot of variable dry brushing).
 
The faux metallic method is the most realistic.
 
Vallejo paint is better than Army Painter, but the Army Painter brand is pretty good.

My ship modeling club just had a member demo a "TrueMetal wax paint" (solvent-based) that was very intriguing. After application over a suitable primer the resulting surface is subsequently "burnished" and depending on the amount of burnishing, one can subtly change the hue. A wide range of metal tones, including bronze are available.
No weathering powders required.
 
This company's products (AK Interactive) are a staple in the plastic modeling community and can also be used on 3D-printed resins - like cannon.
Here's a link: https://ak-interactive.com/product/true-metal-old-bronze/
 
A tube of the AK paint runs $12 at this link: https://www.amazon.com/True-Metal-Gold-20ml-Tube/dp/B079VM2F22/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1U9ODWK479K4S&keywords=AK+Interactive+wax+paint&qid=1703819306&sprefix=ak+interactive+wax+paint%2Caps%2C108&sr=8-5
 
Ron

So the story goes and I suppose stranger things have happened, but the fact of the matter was that the Eighteenth-Century prisoner of war handicrafts, including ship models, were in many instances a rather finely organized production operation with all the contemporary tools suited to the task available to the prisoners building the models. It's been written that many, if not most, of the prisoner of war ship models, bone and otherwise, were built on a "piecework" and "assembly line" basis in much the same fashion as are today's commercially built ship models from Vietnam and Madagascar. (See: Model ship workshop „Le Village“ - MADAMAGAZINE and " Sail into the World of Handmade Model Ships" – OMHVN (vietnamshipmodels.com) ) It behooved the captors to supply the prisoners with the tools and to some extent the materials to fabricate items for sale to the general public because the proceeds of their endeavors provided the prisoners with an income with which they could to some extent support themselves, thereby reducing the cost of their keep which otherwise would have had to have been paid by their captors.  This was and is a long-established prison industry business model still practiced today. (See e.g., : About » CALPIA Website )
 
Although some remarkably accurate POW bone models have survived from the Napoleonic period, in general, the term "accurate" as applied to them remains a relative concept. They presented quite a range in terms of visual and historical accuracy, although all are true folk art treasures today. Many were entirely fanciful... and then some!  
 

Ah, but which color "bronze?"   Crescent Bronze, a leading powder-coating manufacturer, has a good bronze color chip card that is worth adding to one's collection of color chips: Crescent Bronze - Color Card Request

 
The standard option for obtaining painted metallic effects is the "real deal," actual colored bronze metal pigment-ground powder sold for the purpose of producing a bronze, brass, copper, gold, or silver metallic finish for painting. (I'm don't know exactly why they use bronze for all these other metals, except that perhaps bronze is easiest to manipulate the color by adjusting the alloy formula.) Schmincke Pigments is the leading manufacturer of ground metallic pigments which are sold in most all artists' supplies stores. They come in a range of shades, colors, and finishes as raw pigment (sold as "oil bronze"), as well as premixed in an oil base and tubed like artist's oil paint. They can be used like any pigment, either mixed in a carrier, e.g., clear varnish, to make a paint, or dusted onto a tacky surface after a sizing is applied and lightly burnished with a cotton ball after the sizing dries, in the same method used for gold leafing. The base metallic color can be thereafter "weathered" to tone it down to a desired appearance in the usual fashion if necessary. See: Schmincke's website for detailed information on their "oil bronze" product line: Bronzes: Schmincke Künstlerfarben (They also sell lines of premixed colored bronze powders in an acrylic medium and powders for use with watercolors. I've never used either of these, so you're on your own there.)

 
Of course, a lot depends upon what appearance you are seeking. In some instances, metallic colors wouldn't be required because standard colors would serve to produce the desired effect.  This video below demonstrates an easy and very effective way to create a convincing faux bronze patina finish using metallic bronze powder which is rubbed on using carnauba wax as the "carrier." The tone of the finish can be adjusted by modifying the background color from black to a flat "penny brown." "Verdigris (green)" weathering powders can thereafter be applied to achieve a very convincing weathered bronze patina appearance. This method can also be used to create a very convincing representation of a copper sheathed hull over a base of scale thickness paper "copper plates." 
 


 


 
 

Ah, but which color "bronze?"   Crescent Bronze, a leading powder-coating manufacturer, has a good bronze color chip card that is worth adding to one's collection of color chips: Crescent Bronze - Color Card Request

 
The standard option for obtaining painted metallic effects is the "real deal," actual colored bronze metal pigment-ground powder sold for the purpose of producing a bronze, brass, copper, gold, or silver metallic finish for painting. (I'm don't know exactly why they use bronze for all these other metals, except that perhaps bronze is easiest to manipulate the color by adjusting the alloy formula.) Schmincke Pigments is the leading manufacturer of ground metallic pigments which are sold in most all artists' supplies stores. They come in a range of shades, colors, and finishes as raw pigment (sold as "oil bronze"), as well as premixed in an oil base and tubed like artist's oil paint. They can be used like any pigment, either mixed in a carrier, e.g., clear varnish, to make a paint, or dusted onto a tacky surface after a sizing is applied and lightly burnished with a cotton ball after the sizing dries, in the same method used for gold leafing. The base metallic color can be thereafter "weathered" to tone it down to a desired appearance in the usual fashion if necessary. See: Schmincke's website for detailed information on their "oil bronze" product line: Bronzes: Schmincke Künstlerfarben (They also sell lines of premixed colored bronze powders in an acrylic medium and powders for use with watercolors. I've never used either of these, so you're on your own there.)

 
Of course, a lot depends upon what appearance you are seeking. In some instances, metallic colors wouldn't be required because standard colors would serve to produce the desired effect.  This video below demonstrates an easy and very effective way to create a convincing faux bronze patina finish using metallic bronze powder which is rubbed on using carnauba wax as the "carrier." The tone of the finish can be adjusted by modifying the background color from black to a flat "penny brown." "Verdigris (green)" weathering powders can thereafter be applied to achieve a very convincing weathered bronze patina appearance. This method can also be used to create a very convincing representation of a copper sheathed hull over a base of scale thickness paper "copper plates." 
 


 


 
 

So the story goes and I suppose stranger things have happened, but the fact of the matter was that the Eighteenth-Century prisoner of war handicrafts, including ship models, were in many instances a rather finely organized production operation with all the contemporary tools suited to the task available to the prisoners building the models. It's been written that many, if not most, of the prisoner of war ship models, bone and otherwise, were built on a "piecework" and "assembly line" basis in much the same fashion as are today's commercially built ship models from Vietnam and Madagascar. (See: Model ship workshop „Le Village“ - MADAMAGAZINE and " Sail into the World of Handmade Model Ships" – OMHVN (vietnamshipmodels.com) ) It behooved the captors to supply the prisoners with the tools and to some extent the materials to fabricate items for sale to the general public because the proceeds of their endeavors provided the prisoners with an income with which they could to some extent support themselves, thereby reducing the cost of their keep which otherwise would have had to have been paid by their captors.  This was and is a long-established prison industry business model still practiced today. (See e.g., : About » CALPIA Website )
 
Although some remarkably accurate POW bone models have survived from the Napoleonic period, in general, the term "accurate" as applied to them remains a relative concept. They presented quite a range in terms of visual and historical accuracy, although all are true folk art treasures today. Many were entirely fanciful... and then some!  
 

I used wargaming faux metallic painting techniques for my bronze cannon on the Revenge.
 
I base coated black, then built up successively lighter shades of brown, before finishing with a highlight coat.
 
If you don’t feel comfortable using those techniques, metallic bronze drybrushed onto a base coat of black yields pretty good results as well.

Drybrushing the metallic bronze color onto black is how I painted the armor on that elephant and rider.
 
That was 1/32 (54mm) scale for reference.

There are lots of 45 degree dental engine handpieces in different styles, as well as other angles. Take a look at Paul Budzig's YouTube video above. He explains how an air turbine dental drill can be run off of a shop air compressor, which was news to me. The turbine drills are high speed / low torque, of course, so they are available at much lower price points than the heavy-duty bench engines used for making bridges and dentures, etc. There's also now a whole generation of "micro-motor" motorized handpiece technology on the market now. The older-style belt-driven "dental engines," which are still used for lab work, can really put out the torque at slower speeds which is best for micro-carving with shaky old hands.
 

 
I scored my Buffalo Dental engine (picture below) on eBay for seventy-five bucks. Heavy Duty Bench Engines - Buffalo Dental Manufacturing Co. Inc.  It was described as "not running," but it looked brand new and it came with a handpiece that I knew was worth about $250, so I took a chance that it was something I might be able to fix. I checked it out when it arrived and, BINGO!, The motor brushes were gone and it was otherwise brand new! A phone call to the manufacturer and a new set of brushes and a drive belt arrived in the mail and it was good to go. My guess was that it was in stock in a large production dental lab and somebody's engine needed brushes and none were in stock, so they just cannibalized this new machine in the supply room to get the brushes and forgot to order replacements for the ones they took.  I got lucky on that one.  Must be my clean living.  
 
I just checked eBay out of curiosity, and somebody's got one listed as "buy it now" for $138.00 + $25.00 shipping.  BUFFALO DENTAL BENCH ENGINE NO 10 JEWELRY HOBBY POLISHER GRINDER ARTICULATED ARM | eBay  
 
Below is what my Model 16 looks like. It has a 1/5 HP motor. The one for sale on eBay is a Model 10 and has a 1/10 HP motor. The Model 16 which is currently in production retails for $800.00. The interchangeable handpieces are separately priced and retail for around $200.00 and up, but there's lots of them on the used market, as well. These are expensive, very high quality tools and because of changes in the dental lab technology these days (3D printing of custom dental prostheses) they are showing up on the second hand market with some regularity. If you can find a used one in decent shape, you can score a great modeling tool at really great savings. 
 

 

That was one of the reasons I wanted them.  Quality and as far as the slicer there is nothing out there that has the heft of a quality tool that this one does.  I’ve cut so far up to 1/4” thick poplar with it.   Cuts are excellent and yeah they’re expensive but like they say you get what you pay for.
 
 The sander I’m finding already that I go to it more than my little sanding block for touch ups.  It’s just really handy and everything stays square!!

Another word about expensive tools, for the most part and I’ll stand by this in my wood shop as well, buy the best you can afford.  In time you will be able to buy more accurate tools and better tools.   But as far as power tools,  you really don’t need them.  Many many great modelers (past and present) probably don’t have any power tools.  They are the true craftsman of their trade as far as I’m concerned.  Nothing beats doing things by hand and we all need to (world) just need to slow down just a bit and get your favorite beverage, put some easy listening music on and just slow down and build something by hand.  I’ll guarantee you, you will be proud of what you’ve done and it will be time well spent.
 
 May even find you like it, like many of us and it’s our escape from all the busyness is our lives.
 

Thanks for the video! These certainly look like quality tools. They aren't inexpensive, but money spent on a good tool is money well spent. I doubt that there is anything better than these on the market today that isn't electrically powered, and the powered tools are often overkill for the needs of many modelers. 

Byrnes Model Machines recently came out with an adjustable speed 4" disk sander with variable speed settings between 200 and 2,000 RPM and it also features reversible  disk rotation. Byrnes Model Machines - Variable Speed Disc Sander  It is otherwise similar to the earlier Byrnes 5" disk sander. Getting rave reviews. It's not shipping at the moment due to Jim Byrnes' sad passing, but I expect they will be up and running in due course. The price isn't listed on this unit at the moment, but, as one might expect, it's not inexpensive. That said, all of the Model Machines products are monuments to the principle that "you get what you pay for." They are the finest of their kind to be had anywhere. I'm not comparing the Byrnes disk sander to the Ultimation sander, of course. The Ultimation products are less expensive, being hand-powered, but still have earned an excellent reputation for quality. 

Thanks for the video! These certainly look like quality tools. They aren't inexpensive, but money spent on a good tool is money well spent. I doubt that there is anything better than these on the market today that isn't electrically powered, and the powered tools are often overkill for the needs of many modelers. 

Byrnes Model Machines recently came out with an adjustable speed 4" disk sander with variable speed settings between 200 and 2,000 RPM and it also features reversible  disk rotation. Byrnes Model Machines - Variable Speed Disc Sander  It is otherwise similar to the earlier Byrnes 5" disk sander. Getting rave reviews. It's not shipping at the moment due to Jim Byrnes' sad passing, but I expect they will be up and running in due course. The price isn't listed on this unit at the moment, but, as one might expect, it's not inexpensive. That said, all of the Model Machines products are monuments to the principle that "you get what you pay for." They are the finest of their kind to be had anywhere. I'm not comparing the Byrnes disk sander to the Ultimation sander, of course. The Ultimation products are less expensive, being hand-powered, but still have earned an excellent reputation for quality.