Bob Cleek

Bob,  a picky quibble.  The longboat model on sale is the larger 1:24 scale model sold directly by Syren, not the 1 :48 scale model sold by Model Shipways.
 
Roger

Yep. And then some. Get a Byrnes saw, a Byrnes thickness sander, a bandsaw, and a perhaps a decent hand plane if you don't want to spring for a jointer. That will enable you to mill whatever you need from billets cut from many species of excellent modeling woods that can be had for nothing. Box, pear, and the other commercially sold species are great, but you have so much more to chose from once you become self-sufficient. Even some woods from old discarded furniture can be turned into fine modeling stock. The machines do cost money, but you get a good return on them if you ever sell them used and the savings over buying milled wood pays for them in short order. One of the biggest benefits is that you can always cut the sizes you want, rather than hunting for hard to find dimensions.
 

Yep. And then some. Get a Byrnes saw, a Byrnes thickness sander, a bandsaw, and a perhaps a decent hand plane if you don't want to spring for a jointer. That will enable you to mill whatever you need from billets cut from many species of excellent modeling woods that can be had for nothing. Box, pear, and the other commercially sold species are great, but you have so much more to chose from once you become self-sufficient. Even some woods from old discarded furniture can be turned into fine modeling stock. The machines do cost money, but you get a good return on them if you ever sell them used and the savings over buying milled wood pays for them in short order. One of the biggest benefits is that you can always cut the sizes you want, rather than hunting for hard to find dimensions.
 

Yep. And then some. Get a Byrnes saw, a Byrnes thickness sander, a bandsaw, and a perhaps a decent hand plane if you don't want to spring for a jointer. That will enable you to mill whatever you need from billets cut from many species of excellent modeling woods that can be had for nothing. Box, pear, and the other commercially sold species are great, but you have so much more to chose from once you become self-sufficient. Even some woods from old discarded furniture can be turned into fine modeling stock. The machines do cost money, but you get a good return on them if you ever sell them used and the savings over buying milled wood pays for them in short order. One of the biggest benefits is that you can always cut the sizes you want, rather than hunting for hard to find dimensions.
 

Yep. And then some. Get a Byrnes saw, a Byrnes thickness sander, a bandsaw, and a perhaps a decent hand plane if you don't want to spring for a jointer. That will enable you to mill whatever you need from billets cut from many species of excellent modeling woods that can be had for nothing. Box, pear, and the other commercially sold species are great, but you have so much more to chose from once you become self-sufficient. Even some woods from old discarded furniture can be turned into fine modeling stock. The machines do cost money, but you get a good return on them if you ever sell them used and the savings over buying milled wood pays for them in short order. One of the biggest benefits is that you can always cut the sizes you want, rather than hunting for hard to find dimensions.
 

Yep. And then some. Get a Byrnes saw, a Byrnes thickness sander, a bandsaw, and a perhaps a decent hand plane if you don't want to spring for a jointer. That will enable you to mill whatever you need from billets cut from many species of excellent modeling woods that can be had for nothing. Box, pear, and the other commercially sold species are great, but you have so much more to chose from once you become self-sufficient. Even some woods from old discarded furniture can be turned into fine modeling stock. The machines do cost money, but you get a good return on them if you ever sell them used and the savings over buying milled wood pays for them in short order. One of the biggest benefits is that you can always cut the sizes you want, rather than hunting for hard to find dimensions.
 

I’m buying billets of precut thickness and ripping what I need with my Byrnes saw.  It’s kind of rewarding to mill your own.  But even the billets are getting harder to find. You won’t regret buying the saw, it’s a great tool for more than milling planks. 

Well, crap.  What is everyone doing, then?  I guess I need to get a Byrnes saw.

No unfortunately in the USA there are no longer sources for milled strips of Boxwood,  holly or Swiss Pear.   There are only a few businesses left and they are all outside of the USA.  I am afraid that the only way folks are going to get stripwood like this moving forward is to invest in a good hobby saw like the Byrnes and buy sheets to mill your own strips.  Not only is it cheaper but after a short time you will get really good at it.
 
you can find domestic stuff like basswood or cherry but the sizes are limited.  Taking your models to the next level means learning how to use a saw like the Byrnes saw to rip your own strips.  Its not a good business to be in and it is unlikely that anyone will jump into this space to replace hobbymill.   

Hi
 
I am fairly new to the ship modelling hobby. I was "tricked" into this as my 6 year old son insisted we visited a hobby shop to buy a plastic viking ship. I am Danish after all. But I couldn't believe all the wonderful boxes of wood model ships on the shelves, and I was instantly transported back to my early teens, where my dad had a Wasa kit (incomplete) lying around which I fruitlessly started to build. All the daydreaming of a mighty warship just came back.
 
So I started with the beginners ship Polaris from Occre just to see if I could do it. And I was pretty satisfied and more importantly more hooked. It was actually doable.
 
I am now in the process of doing the Beagle from Occre, and I think it is going good. I have started a build log here: 
 
Let see where this takes me.
 
My son asks me daily, when I am finished 🙂 and what ship I will build next. He also likes to sit with me while doing a little building, although he is a bit annoyed that there isn't many moving parts. Only the rudder moves a little.
 
Regards,
Lars
 

They're offering what looks like a Model Shipways armed longboat for around $2,000. Good price if you can get it! https://www.modelships.de/Longboat_1750/Longboat_eng.htm
 
It looks like some sort of cooperative website where modelers sell their work. It would be interesting to know if they are really getting the prices that they are asking. I'm not saying the models aren't worth every penny of what's asked in most instances, considering the work that went into them, but we sure don't see a market that strong over here for built kit models.  
 
 

Surely somebody from the UK can confirm this. My exposure to Thames barges is limited to checking out a couple of them twenty-five years ago.
 
Generally speaking, if she were built of steel in 1925, I'd say she almost certainly would have wire cable stays and shrouds. If she had turnbuckles, the shrouds and stays would definitely have been wire. By 1940, I'd be surprised if any Thames barge had cordage standing rigging. Wire was pretty much in universal use at that point. (Although today's synthetic cordage is now replacing weaker metal standing rigging, so it's all coming full circle!)
 
If she had deadeyes and lanyards, she could have had wire cable nonetheless, but I can't imagine why anybody would put deadeyes and lanyards on a working cargo vessel in 1925. Earlier barges could have had fiber shrouds and stays and deadeyes and lanyards and later have been fitted with wire shrouds and stays and they kept the deadeyes and lanyards, or the deadeyes and lanyards could even have replaced turnbuckles in recent times if the vessel was "restored" to look like an older one.
 
Keep in mind that in the pre-stainless steel rigging era, particularly on a larger vessel, odds are good that the wire cable would likely have been wormed, parcelled and served to prevent rust. From a modeling standpoint, that would make it indistinguishable from served cordage, save for the terminal details. Cordage would be bent around the deadeye in the usual manner. Wire would have likely had a Liverpool splice worked around the deadeye, or a terminal on the end which would attach to a metal shackle-like yoke around the deadeye (see photo below,) or to the turnbuckle (or bottle screw.)
 
 
 
This sort of "shackle" can be used on an upper turnbuckle and a wire terminal fastened through the eyes.
 

They're offering what looks like a Model Shipways armed longboat for around $2,000. Good price if you can get it! https://www.modelships.de/Longboat_1750/Longboat_eng.htm
 
It looks like some sort of cooperative website where modelers sell their work. It would be interesting to know if they are really getting the prices that they are asking. I'm not saying the models aren't worth every penny of what's asked in most instances, considering the work that went into them, but we sure don't see a market that strong over here for built kit models.  
 
 

Yes, tack cloths are great, I use them as well. The alcohol rub is to remove any residual from the tack cloth, fingers or the mayo sandwich😁. Probably an overkill but painting a large hull is an equally big job, bit of a set back if it fails...

I have never been a fan of edge bending, but that has changed for some situations in the past few weeks.    Follow Chuck Passaro's tutorial and you should be pleased with the results.   A lot depends on the wood.  Walnut in most kits is really miserable wood to work with and often very porous and prone to cracking and splitting so be careful if that is the wood you have to work with.   Castello, bass, pear, poplar, and fruitwoods are good candidates for edge bending.   Chuck uses dry heat with his heating iron which works, but I found some scorching on a cherry cap rail so added water to the iron and used the steam setting and I was pleased with the results.   
Allan   

After "rough dusting," generally with compressed air, I use a tack cloth to remove all residual dust immediately before applying finish coats. 
 
  (Wow! I didn't expect a picture this big!  )    Tack cloths are cheesecloth impregnated with a long-lasting "tacky" coating. Dust sticks to them, rather than simply being "moved around" by other dusting methods. They are designed to remove all residual dust before painting finely finished surfaces. They are sold at paint and hardware stores and are inexpensive "consumables." If one folds the cloth to expose a clean square of the surface when a previously exposed square surface becomes full of dust and no longer tacky, a considerable area can be cleaned with them. They will dry out if left exposed to the air for long periods of time. Storing them in a zip-lock plastic bag will keep them tacky for a long while. There is nothing as effective for dusting surfaces prior to finish coating. 

That's the stuff. Grumbacher Cobalt Drier. It will run you between $12.00 and $23.00 with about $8.00 for shipping online for a 2.5 ounce bottle.
 
https://www.dickblick.com/products/grumbacher-japan-drier/?clickTracking=true&wmcp=pla&wmcid=items&wmckw=01520-1004&gclid=CjwKCAjw5p_8BRBUEiwAPpJO614iBw4gljtxANJjIeVltpKBLRyNkW24AsN0NpP7NgPCMS8zKS4qzxoCkIoQAvD_BwE
 
Cobalt drier doesn't tend to darken colors as they age, which occurs with Japan drier, but I've never found the "darkening" to be particularly noticeable.
 
Grumbacher Japan drier in a 2.5 ounce bottle runs around $8.50, considerably less than the cobalt drier.
 
https://www.dickblick.com/products/grumbacher-japan-drier/?clickTracking=true&wmcp=pla&wmcid=items&wmckw=01520-1004&gclid=CjwKCAjw5p_8BRBUEiwAPpJO614iBw4gljtxANJjIeVltpKBLRyNkW24AsN0NpP7NgPCMS8zKS4qzxoCkIoQAvD_BwE
 
However, for about the same price as the 2.5 ounce bottle of Grumbacher Japan drier in the arts and crafts stores, you can buy 16 ounces, a whole pint of the stuff in your local hardware store.
 
https://www.eastcoasthardware.com/161201-wm-barr-sunnyside-japan-drier-72416.html?utm_campaign=google&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=CjwKCAjw5p_8BRBUEiwAPpJO63e3G7RlSbI9SQZHncg2D1bXofQFlK0FYhSAfw5mSyS4HfhlJiSdMRoCR7sQAvD_BwE
 

 
 

That's the stuff. Grumbacher Cobalt Drier. It will run you between $12.00 and $23.00 with about $8.00 for shipping online for a 2.5 ounce bottle.
 
https://www.dickblick.com/products/grumbacher-japan-drier/?clickTracking=true&wmcp=pla&wmcid=items&wmckw=01520-1004&gclid=CjwKCAjw5p_8BRBUEiwAPpJO614iBw4gljtxANJjIeVltpKBLRyNkW24AsN0NpP7NgPCMS8zKS4qzxoCkIoQAvD_BwE
 
Cobalt drier doesn't tend to darken colors as they age, which occurs with Japan drier, but I've never found the "darkening" to be particularly noticeable.
 
Grumbacher Japan drier in a 2.5 ounce bottle runs around $8.50, considerably less than the cobalt drier.
 
https://www.dickblick.com/products/grumbacher-japan-drier/?clickTracking=true&wmcp=pla&wmcid=items&wmckw=01520-1004&gclid=CjwKCAjw5p_8BRBUEiwAPpJO614iBw4gljtxANJjIeVltpKBLRyNkW24AsN0NpP7NgPCMS8zKS4qzxoCkIoQAvD_BwE
 
However, for about the same price as the 2.5 ounce bottle of Grumbacher Japan drier in the arts and crafts stores, you can buy 16 ounces, a whole pint of the stuff in your local hardware store.
 
https://www.eastcoasthardware.com/161201-wm-barr-sunnyside-japan-drier-72416.html?utm_campaign=google&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=CjwKCAjw5p_8BRBUEiwAPpJO63e3G7RlSbI9SQZHncg2D1bXofQFlK0FYhSAfw5mSyS4HfhlJiSdMRoCR7sQAvD_BwE
 

 
 

Adding a little of Cobalt Drier will dry oil paint in about 1 hour.  It tends to opaque the paint but I find that to be a good quality for ship models.  Mate finishes look much better to scale to my eye.
My 25 cents,
G
 

I'm not sure if this link has been posted before. The Introduction and Use of Copper Sheathing - A History, by Mark Staniforth, Academia.EDU PDF first published in 1985, bulletin of the Australian Institute of Maritime Archaeology (28 pages.)
 
This is a very interesting academic work on the history and technology of copper sheathing. https://www.academia.edu/358814/The_Introduction_and_Use_of_Copper_Sheathing_A_History?email_work_card=view-paper
 

Guys, I'm not saying that the Veritas miniature tools, for what they are, aren't well made or won't do the job within the limits of their sizes. Owning one, if you didn't have something better to do with your money, would, I'm sure, be satisfying. They're very cool. However, my point, perhaps stated more artfully here, is that they are "collectables" and, for the price, there are many other options which are designed to work wood in small sizes and better suited for those tasks than simply a miniature version of a much larger tool.
 
Two hands versus one hand. Capice?
 

 
.https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/hand-tools/miniature-tools/planes/75057-veritas-miniature-bench-plane?item=05P8222
 

 
https://www.lie-nielsen.com/products/Model Maker's Block Plane?path=block-planes&node=4072
 
The Lie-Neilsen model maker's block plane above, at around $100, costs twice as much as the Veritas miniature bench plane, but is engineered for a full sized hand. It is a knock-off of the original Stanley #101 model maker's plane. Used original Stanley #101's and other makers' new copies of the original Stanley #101 can be had for around twenty bucks.
 

 
 
http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan12.htm

https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/kunzpalmplanewithhandle.aspx
 
And the current folded metal (not cast) Stanley version without the beaver-tail palm handle retails new for about seven bucks.
 

https://www.zoro.com/stanley-small-trimming-plane-12-101/i/G9174277/
 
 
And if you really want to go first class on such tools, consider the "finger planes" made for luthiers. The Ibex line will make a dent in your wallet, but they're finestkind.
 

 
https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/finger-planes.aspx
 


 

Any time your push stick gets bit by the blade, it's time to do some serious analysis to identify why that happened. Better a "sacrificial" push stick gets bit than your flesh, but even so, it ain't supposed to happen.  

I'd do some testing before going that route. I've not seen one of those plastic Revell Connies in a long while, but, plastic being what it is, you may find that drilling the pin holes in the pin rails may weaken them to the point that they snap clean off when the total rigging tension is applied. You'd be perforating them in a line down their entire length. They might not be able to handle that.
 
 
Check your scale and make sure whatever pins you use are the correct size and shape. While not as bad as many, the ones pictured in the link are, IMHO, butt-ugly. They are way too fat and have an odd-ball shape. There is a relatively standard shape for a belaying pin and I don't know about anybody else, but incorrect belaying pins hit me like a poke in the eye every time I look at a model with them. 
 

 
(Note that the bottom of the pin is truncated in the above drawing. It should be 2/3 the length of the entire pin, with the handle the other third. See real pin pictured below.)
 
 

 

I've read this here and there a time or two, but I've never encountered a pin with a line belayed to it that could have been pulled out of a rail as described. Neither have I ever seen it done aboard a sailing vessel in my half-century plus of belaying lines to pins. Just sayin'. Maybe there's a trick to it that I haven't learned, but I've never encountered a pin that was going anywhere with a line belayed around it.

I'm not sure if this link has been posted before. The Introduction and Use of Copper Sheathing - A History, by Mark Staniforth, Academia.EDU PDF first published in 1985, bulletin of the Australian Institute of Maritime Archaeology (28 pages.)
 
This is a very interesting academic work on the history and technology of copper sheathing. https://www.academia.edu/358814/The_Introduction_and_Use_of_Copper_Sheathing_A_History?email_work_card=view-paper