Bob Cleek

As an experienced woodworker for some 50 years I would strongly and I mean strongly recommend that the ripping and crosscut techniques demonstrated in this video not be practiced. This machine is as dangerous as a full size table saw. Always, always use push sticks. Never use the fence as your stop guide for continuous cutoffs! Always allow for any ripping or cross cutting "relief" prior to the infeed side of the blade by using clamped blocks to the fence.
 
I do not want to explain why I write this!
 
Joe

Why would you want to have vertical streaks on the copper plating ? There is no reason unless you are making a model of a dry-docked museum ship. Normally, the copper plating would have a fairly uniform dull brownish colour, with perhaps some whitish stains between the 'wind and the water'. If there were any streaks, this would be more likely plus or minus horizontal, following broadly the flow-lines around the hull. The greenish copper patina only forms, when the copper is exposed to the atmosphere, but not when it is immersed into seawater.

Thanks for your detailed explanation, Michael! 
 
Yes, Stirling and Sons' Integrity is a traditional pilot cutter design in hull and rig and well-respected. She's a beautiful boat. Her interior accommodations are not at all traditional, however. They've built the interior with period cabinetwork, but the layout is thoroughly present-day. This makes her far more marketable today of course. The number of berths is a dead give-away. These may please the owner who expects to be asked over and over again, "How many does she sleep," but the shortage of space for sail stowage, provisions, and other gear handicaps her as a truly practical cruising boat. Ironically, the traditional pilot cutter would have had close to the same number of berths, but these would have been the distinctive "pilot berths" to port and starboard above and behind the setees in the saloon. "De gustibus non disputandum est!"
 
I see where they've installed one of the somewhat rare and highly desirable bespoke Pascal Atkey and Sons (Cowes) "Pansy" charcoal cabin heaters, theirs being the copper version. (to the left in the photo below) That's a nice traditional touch, to be sure. (I've got a stainless steel one with all fittings, in excellent condition, sitting on a shelf in my workshop and for which I have no present use. If anybody's interested...  )
 

I'm not sure where you are going with this, Michael, whether you have construction plans for a specific vessel or you are presently building conjecturally, designing as you go along. I've had a fair amount of hands-on experience with this type of layout, owing a small British cutter for many years and having sailed on several larger British pilot cutter types, including one very similar to what you are building.  While I have no idea of your present intentions, I'll pass along the observation that the type of saloon door you are building here, in my experience, invariably is hung to swing forward, rather than aft into the saloon. This maximizes the sole space in the saloon, particularly if a table is set on the centerline. Frequently, there will be a second bulkhead with identical doors forward of the saloon bulkhead. The distance between the two bulkheads is the distance of width of the forward and aft bulkhead doors. The doors in the forward bulkhead swing aft, such that the edges of the forward and aft bulkhead doors meet when when opened all the way to right angles with the bulkheads, edge to edge, and form a short paneled companionway between the saloon and the forepeak.  (There are hooks or barrel bolts that hold them open in this position.) With the doors of both bulkheads closed, the space between the bulkheads will become the head compartment, with the commode to one side and a hanging locker or even a shower on the other, each being concealed when the doors are fastened in their open positions.
 
I don't know if this comment is helpful or not. It's not intended as a criticism, to be sure. The work you're doing is really beautiful and inspiring! Thanks for sharing it with us. I realize the time commitment involved in providing a build log of this magnitude and it's most appreciated.

A great review by Olha.  Shows all the capabilities of the saw well.
 
But don't copy Olha's technique for ripping!
 
The plank should follow the billet slowly off the end of the table but if you notice in Olha's demonstration of ripping a 2mm plank, the plank disappears backwards.  This is kick back, and could be dangerous.
 
Why is it happening?
 
Because we are ripping our planks between the fence and the blade we must impart some lateral pressure before the blade to keep the billet against the fence.  Many of us do this with a block of wood.  Olha uses her hands.   I don't have a problem with that but toward the end of the cut she uses her other hand to guide the billet through.  When you do this it is very difficult to avoid lateral pressure.  There is no riving knife on this saw (which minimises the chance of kick back) but Jim has cleverly built in an offset to the fence after the blade to negate kickback.  However, if you apply lateral pressure after the blade you override his engineering  and close up the cut which will always cause kickback.
 
The first thing to note about kick back is that it is fast (too fast for the camera here) and is probably 80 mph or so  with this saw.
 
Secondly, the plank may be going straight back but, in the classic case of kick back, the unsupported timber catches on a tooth on the back of the blade and rotates as it moves up the blade then flies off the top of the blade nearly upside down and, in this case, to the right because Olha is left handed.  So it could be flying towards where she is standing. Being small and light  it probably wont do much damage unless it hits her in the eye!  So wear your safety glasses Olha.
 
How can this situation be avoided?
 
Use a push stick close to the blade to push the billet straight through.  Don't apply any pressure aft of the blade.
 
Otherwise its a good video Olha/
 
John
 

Thank you very much Bob! Your comment was incredibly helpfull. I studied the instructions and now im rigging the whole ship!I will do a build log once its completed
 
Here is a photo of the bolsters i made following your instructions. I must add, i added a drop of transparent resin in order to secure the pin through the bolster into the mast. That way its almost imposible for it to move, as i found that with CA glue the joint was still a little bit brittle.
 
Again thanks for your help!
 
 

What you are asking about are called "bolsters." (See diagram below.) They are simply pieces of wood fastened to the side of the mast which keep the strop from sliding down the mast. You should fashion them from wood and glue them to the mast where you want them, but then drill two or three small holes through the bolster and into the mast and glue small wooden pegs (made with a draw plate) into the holes and sand the top of the peg flush with the face of the bolster, or, alternately, glue a brass pin in the drilled hole, set slightly deeper than the face of the bolster, and fill the top of the hole with a bit of putty and sand fair with the face of the bolster. The pins are necessary to make sure the bolster will be able to stand the load when the rigging is under tension.  Glue alone may not be sufficiently strong to do so. The strops are made up separate from the mast "on the bench" and then installed by sliding them over the top of the mast and down onto the bolster when the mast is rigged. This will require your planning the sequence of setting up the standing rigging so you can get the shrouds and stays over the mast in the correct order. It's generally easiest to rig as much of a mast or spar "on the bench" before installing it on the model, because it is far more difficult to do the work if one has to do so when the mast is erected.
 
 


 
 
Your kit may have provided the eye-bolts you have pictured on the mast about. The pictured eye-bolts are are grossly over-sized and out of scale. If your kit's eye-bolts are out of scale, as is often the case with kit parts, I would urge you to replace them with eye-bolts that are properly scaled. The ones pictured are at least two or three times as large as they ought to be. They also lack mast bands. (See diagrams, lower left, above.) In real life, these eyes would be part of a metal band set around the mast, not eye-bolts simply screwed into the mast. The mast band is a much stronger fitting. Mast bands can be simulated in modeling by gluing a thin strip of black paper around the mast, then drilling holes through the paper band and into the mast and gluing the eyes into those holes.
 
This video on making your own eye-bolts may be helpful to you.
 
 

"Powder horn values range widely depending on condition, type of carving, and market conditions. A simple piece containing a name and date could be worth a few thousand dollars, while intricate examples with historical engravings have been valued at $30,000 or more." https://www.invaluable.com/powder-horns/sc-UVH6H0R6BL/
 
See:  https://www.pbs.org/video/antiques-roadshow-appraisal-1849-ohio-carved-powder-horn/ 

I'd suggest you have that 1850's powder horn appraised if you haven't already.
 

First, the bulkheads or frames have to be sufficiently rigid to withstand sanding without moving. They must also be set up accurately, but that probably goes without saying. If they move too much, you can put temporary (or permanent if it won't ever be seen after planking) blocking between the bulkheads to give them more rigidity.
 
What works for me is to use a "sanding board." This is a batten of suitable size and width with sandpaper of a suitable grit (120 for rough shaping) glued to one face of the batten. If you want to get fancy, you can glue knob handles on the smooth side of the batten at each end of the batten. This flexible batten is then bent across a number of bulkhead edges or frames and the "high" end of the face of the bulkheads or frames are sanded down to the "low end," which defines the shape of the hull. I generally will mark the "low" edge face of the bulkheads or frames, if not the entire face, so that i can readily see what has been sanded and take care never to sand beyond the "low" edge of the bulkhead or frame. Using the "sanding board" will permit you to fair the bulkhead edges accurately from any direction across the faces of the bulkheads or frames. Where there are bulkheads or frames that require a significant removal of material, you can also carefully cut larger amounts of material using a small spokeshave or other edged tool, but taking great care not to remove too much. Always "work up to the line" with your sanding board. 

First, the bulkheads or frames have to be sufficiently rigid to withstand sanding without moving. They must also be set up accurately, but that probably goes without saying. If they move too much, you can put temporary (or permanent if it won't ever be seen after planking) blocking between the bulkheads to give them more rigidity.
 
What works for me is to use a "sanding board." This is a batten of suitable size and width with sandpaper of a suitable grit (120 for rough shaping) glued to one face of the batten. If you want to get fancy, you can glue knob handles on the smooth side of the batten at each end of the batten. This flexible batten is then bent across a number of bulkhead edges or frames and the "high" end of the face of the bulkheads or frames are sanded down to the "low end," which defines the shape of the hull. I generally will mark the "low" edge face of the bulkheads or frames, if not the entire face, so that i can readily see what has been sanded and take care never to sand beyond the "low" edge of the bulkhead or frame. Using the "sanding board" will permit you to fair the bulkhead edges accurately from any direction across the faces of the bulkheads or frames. Where there are bulkheads or frames that require a significant removal of material, you can also carefully cut larger amounts of material using a small spokeshave or other edged tool, but taking great care not to remove too much. Always "work up to the line" with your sanding board. 

First, the bulkheads or frames have to be sufficiently rigid to withstand sanding without moving. They must also be set up accurately, but that probably goes without saying. If they move too much, you can put temporary (or permanent if it won't ever be seen after planking) blocking between the bulkheads to give them more rigidity.
 
What works for me is to use a "sanding board." This is a batten of suitable size and width with sandpaper of a suitable grit (120 for rough shaping) glued to one face of the batten. If you want to get fancy, you can glue knob handles on the smooth side of the batten at each end of the batten. This flexible batten is then bent across a number of bulkhead edges or frames and the "high" end of the face of the bulkheads or frames are sanded down to the "low end," which defines the shape of the hull. I generally will mark the "low" edge face of the bulkheads or frames, if not the entire face, so that i can readily see what has been sanded and take care never to sand beyond the "low" edge of the bulkhead or frame. Using the "sanding board" will permit you to fair the bulkhead edges accurately from any direction across the faces of the bulkheads or frames. Where there are bulkheads or frames that require a significant removal of material, you can also carefully cut larger amounts of material using a small spokeshave or other edged tool, but taking great care not to remove too much. Always "work up to the line" with your sanding board. 

I can't speak to New Zealand, but here in the States the most desirable ebony is embargoed pursuant to the Lacey Act, 16 USC 3371-3378. 
 
"Gibson Guitar Corporation was raided twice by federal authorities, in 2009 and 2011. Federal prosecutors seized wood from Gibson facilities, alleging that Gibson had purchased smuggled Madagascar ebony and Indian rosewood.Gibson initially denied wrongdoing and insisted that the federal government was bullying them.  In August 2012, Gibson entered into a Criminal Enforcement Agreement with the Department of Justice, admitting to violating the Lacey Act. The terms of the agreement required Gibson to pay a fine of $300,000 in addition to a $50,000 community payment, and to abide by the terms of the Lacey Act in the future.
 
For violating the Lacey Act, Lumber Liquidators was sentenced in 2016 to $7.8 million in criminal fines, $969,175 in criminal forfeiture and more than $1.23 million in community service payments for illegal lumber trafficking. The sentence also included five years of probation, and additional government oversight. The U.S. Department of Justice said it was the largest financial penalty ever issued under the Lacey Act.
 
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacey_Act_of_1900

Nottingham, PA... Who'd a thunk it? Add me to the list of those who didn't read carefully!
 

First, the bulkheads or frames have to be sufficiently rigid to withstand sanding without moving. They must also be set up accurately, but that probably goes without saying. If they move too much, you can put temporary (or permanent if it won't ever be seen after planking) blocking between the bulkheads to give them more rigidity.
 
What works for me is to use a "sanding board." This is a batten of suitable size and width with sandpaper of a suitable grit (120 for rough shaping) glued to one face of the batten. If you want to get fancy, you can glue knob handles on the smooth side of the batten at each end of the batten. This flexible batten is then bent across a number of bulkhead edges or frames and the "high" end of the face of the bulkheads or frames are sanded down to the "low end," which defines the shape of the hull. I generally will mark the "low" edge face of the bulkheads or frames, if not the entire face, so that i can readily see what has been sanded and take care never to sand beyond the "low" edge of the bulkhead or frame. Using the "sanding board" will permit you to fair the bulkhead edges accurately from any direction across the faces of the bulkheads or frames. Where there are bulkheads or frames that require a significant removal of material, you can also carefully cut larger amounts of material using a small spokeshave or other edged tool, but taking great care not to remove too much. Always "work up to the line" with your sanding board. 

I can't speak to New Zealand, but here in the States the most desirable ebony is embargoed pursuant to the Lacey Act, 16 USC 3371-3378. 
 
"Gibson Guitar Corporation was raided twice by federal authorities, in 2009 and 2011. Federal prosecutors seized wood from Gibson facilities, alleging that Gibson had purchased smuggled Madagascar ebony and Indian rosewood.Gibson initially denied wrongdoing and insisted that the federal government was bullying them.  In August 2012, Gibson entered into a Criminal Enforcement Agreement with the Department of Justice, admitting to violating the Lacey Act. The terms of the agreement required Gibson to pay a fine of $300,000 in addition to a $50,000 community payment, and to abide by the terms of the Lacey Act in the future.
 
For violating the Lacey Act, Lumber Liquidators was sentenced in 2016 to $7.8 million in criminal fines, $969,175 in criminal forfeiture and more than $1.23 million in community service payments for illegal lumber trafficking. The sentence also included five years of probation, and additional government oversight. The U.S. Department of Justice said it was the largest financial penalty ever issued under the Lacey Act.
 
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacey_Act_of_1900

Excellent point! I failed to mention it. When I mix artists' oil paints for modeling, I keep a notebook of the final ratios I use. I measure the tubed paint by the inch or fraction thereof, as extruded from the tube. I put the artists' oil paint on a piece of brown paper bag and let it sit for a half hour or hour to let some of the oil leach out, thereby increasing the oil to pigment ration. I then transfer the oil paint with a palette knife to a small container. (I have a stash of 35mm plastic film cartridge containers, but these are getting more difficult to come by these days.) I add thinner and other conditioners to the bottle using a graduated hypodermic syringe and drop in few BBs (air rifle ammunition like small ball bearings.) I cap the container and shake it like a rattle can. I have a  stash of large hypodermic syringes and needles that I obtained from my veterinarian. Vets use the larger syringes for larger animals. This way, if I want to duplicate a color combination or conditioning, I can do so with pretty good consistency. I don't have much problem matching gloss levels because what I am aiming for in most instances is a totally flat finish.

No difference, really. Just remember you can paint oil-based paint on top of acrylics, but not acrylics on top of oils.
 
 
Paint manufacturers long ago discovered that if they created the impression that one had to use primer, they could sell twice as much paint to people who didn't know whether they needed to prime a piece before painting or not. The fewer coats of anything that you put on a model, the less detail is lost and the better the scale impression will be. (Ideally, you want the thickness of your paint coats to be "to scale" too!) I don't use primer unless I need it to make my finish coat cover with less coats or to make incompatible coatings adhere. If I don't need a primer, I don't use one.
 
The fellow in the video wasn't using primer on his plastic plane model because he was using oil-based enamel which sticks to plastic well. He probably would have used a primer on it if he were using water-based acrylic paint because the water would tend to bead up on the slick plastic surface. Oil doesn't bead up on slick impermeable surfaces like water does.
 
Primers have a variety of purposes. One essential purpose of a primer is to serve as an intermediate coating between two surfaces and/or coatings that aren't compatible. (Hence the market term: "Universal Primer," of which dewaxed shellac is one of the best.) When two non-compatible coatings must be applied one on top of the other (which one ought to avoid in the first place,) a "universal" primer compatible with both oil and water-based paints creates a common surface that "sticks" the two together. Primers are also useful for creating a uniform base color, particularly when successive colors aren't likely to cover as well as you'd like. A highly-pigmented primer coat in a neutral color is much easier to cover with a finish color coat than an unevenly colored surface. Finally, "sanding primers" contain chalk which makes them easy to sand. If you have a rough surface, a sanding primer or "basecoat" is easier to sand to perfect smoothness than finish coats.  Bare wood requires a "sealer," which some incorrectly call a "primer," although a first thinned coat of paint or varnish can often serve double duty as a sealer. The purpose of a sealer is to seal an absorbent surface, such as bare wood, that would otherwise soak up the finish coat paint unevenly, requiring additional finish coats and likely more sanding. I seal all my wood with thin shellac. ("Out of the can," which is two pound cut shellac, I'll add 25 to 50 percent alcohol to thin it well.) I keep the thinned shellac in a jar and often simply dip small pieces into the shellac and then shake off the excess. It soaks into the wood and dries very quickly. (And faster if you blow on it.) The alcohol evaporates quickly. This provides a "hardened" wood surface for final fine sanding and an impermeable surface for applying paint so the paint won't soak into the wood unevenly and leave "rough spots."  When you see close-up photos of models on the build logs that look like the parts were cut with scale-sized dull chainsaws and painted with a an old rag on a stick, they haven't been sealed and sanded before painting. (The unsightly finish is less noticeable when viewed with the naked eye, of course.)
 
 
Yes, artists' oils will take seemingly forever to dry because they contain no driers. Oil paint is made up of a pigment, the color material, and a binder, an oil that cures and hardens so the pigment adheres to the surface that's painted. The oil, often "raw" linseed oil (which can be purchased in food-grade as "flaxseed oil" in health food stores for much less than in art stores,) polymerizes over time and becomes hardened. Artists often blend color for various effects right on their canvases and a slow drying paint is desired by them. "Boiled" linseed oil (which isn't boiled at all) contains added driers, usually "Japan drier," which accelerates the polymerization of the oil binder. Adding boiled linseed oil to artists' oils will cause them to dry more quickly, or one can buy "Japan drier" and add small quantities of that to artists' oils (or any other oil paint) and that will cause it to dry more quickly. How quickly is a matter of "feel" and experiment and tests on scrap material should always be conducted before applying mixed paint to the model itself. 
 
Oil paint will dry with a glossy finish if there's enough oil in it. Thinning tends to dull the finish, but sometimes not enough to achieve the flat finish required on scale models. To achieve a flat finish, a small quantity of "flattening agent" may be added. This can be purchased wherever artists' oils are sold. Grumbacher makes the industry standard "flattener."
 
Japan drier is a mixture of 3% cobalt in naptha. Linseed oil is simply linseed oil, a natural vegetable oil. Gum turpentine is simply refined tree sap. While I am no fan of climate change, one unfortunate consequence of many environmental protective regulations is that they too often attack the "low hanging fruit" and not the larger causes of the problem. Despite the relatively limited environmental impact of releasing oil paint related organic solvents into the atmosphere, oil based paints and solvents which contain high amounts of "volatile organic compounds" or "VOCs," are no longer allowed to be sold in some jurisdictions, notably in the U.S. in California. (Hence the "Not available in California" notations in many mail order catalogs these days.) There are a few exceptions to these regulations, generally involving packaging amounts. Linseed oil, Japan drier, and gum turpentine can still be obtained in small amounts at ridiculously high prices when sold as art supplies, but you'll have a hard time in many areas finding quart cans, let along gallon cans, of stuff like turpentine, linseed oil, mineral spirits paint thinner, naptha, tolulene, and the like. In times past, these substances were staples for anybody who knew what they were doing and did any amount of painting. Now, if you find yourself in a area where they've become unobtainable, you have to resort to "smuggling" your supplies from outside the areas where they are banned or pay the huge premiums charged for the ounce-sized containers in the art stores.
 
For those who wish to use acrylic paint, tubed acrylic artist's paints are readily available, of course. They are, however, acrylic paint and, like just about everything that "mother" tells us is "safe and sane," they are no fun at all. Those of us who were building models before about 1980 mourn the loss of "real" model paint like the legendary Floquil, which was so "hot" (full of aromatic hydrocarbons) you could get a buzz on using them. They worked perfectly every time right out of the bottle. Sadly, with their demise, modelers wishing the same results today have to teach themselves how to mix and condition their own paint.
 

I suspect That Ebony is the subject of more misleading substitution than is Boxwood.   In any case, there is not the profit or social status with ship models as there is with guitars as far as the decoration.
My bias suggests that using one of the Ebony group on a kit upgrade is like doing a high class upgrade in a trailer park.  The quality is evident, but the environment makes the effort a misplaced one.
 
For a substitute, Holly is appropriate,  but the Wood Database lists other species that accept dyes.
This is a situation where slang shorthand can lead to misunderstandings.
A stain - the noun - is a form of semi transparent paint - surface only.  It is pore filling and this makes the product a problem with PVA bonding.  Actual black paint may as well be used.
To stain - the verb - includes the use of the semi transparent paint and also the effect of a dye.
Wood dyes are available from wood working vendors - there are two types - alcohol and water.  The alcohol does not raise the grain,  It also does not penetrate as deeply as water based dyes.
For black, I would think that two treatments should work, with a sanding step after the first treatment to repair the raised grain.  The dye can be used on the loose plank and it will PVA bond as well as if it were not treated.
I have it in mind to try a technique used by a traditional Carolina furniture makes (PBS).  He dissolved a steel wool pad in a quart of vinegar (5% acetic acid) .  He then wet pieces of Maple with a solution of tannic acid and
sanded /scraped the raised grain and then coated it with the iron acetate solution.  The effect was a dense black. 

Excellent point! I failed to mention it. When I mix artists' oil paints for modeling, I keep a notebook of the final ratios I use. I measure the tubed paint by the inch or fraction thereof, as extruded from the tube. I put the artists' oil paint on a piece of brown paper bag and let it sit for a half hour or hour to let some of the oil leach out, thereby increasing the oil to pigment ration. I then transfer the oil paint with a palette knife to a small container. (I have a stash of 35mm plastic film cartridge containers, but these are getting more difficult to come by these days.) I add thinner and other conditioners to the bottle using a graduated hypodermic syringe and drop in few BBs (air rifle ammunition like small ball bearings.) I cap the container and shake it like a rattle can. I have a  stash of large hypodermic syringes and needles that I obtained from my veterinarian. Vets use the larger syringes for larger animals. This way, if I want to duplicate a color combination or conditioning, I can do so with pretty good consistency. I don't have much problem matching gloss levels because what I am aiming for in most instances is a totally flat finish.

For cutting copper strips, I've found that a standard office paper cutter works fine. The strips curl as they are cut, but taking each end in a pair of pliers and pulling them straightens them out perfectly.
 

I agree with wefalck that heavy corrosion on the copper plate should be investigated, and the cause identified and eliminated. No ship ever had a shiny copper bottom. The actual appearance of coppered bottoms has been discussed at length in other posts with many photos posted. Some modelers do still cling to "shiny bottoms," along with other stylistic affectations. Every artist presents their work to the world and the world decides whether it's worthy of appreciation or not. It's a chance we all take. It's your call to make.
 
If you want to remove the green patina, oxalic acid crystals dissolved in warm water (sold in paint stores as "wood bleach") will remove it effectively. (Wear rubber gloves, as prolonged skin exposure to the solution, particularly under the fingernails, can produce extremely painful skin injury. Don't ask me how I know this.) Alternately, there is a product marketed in hardware stores for cleaning bathroom fixtures and coffee makers called "CLR," (which stands for "Calcium-Lime-Rust") which is very effective in removing copper oxidation, as well.

For cutting copper strips, I've found that a standard office paper cutter works fine. The strips curl as they are cut, but taking each end in a pair of pliers and pulling them straightens them out perfectly.
 

Excellent point! I failed to mention it. When I mix artists' oil paints for modeling, I keep a notebook of the final ratios I use. I measure the tubed paint by the inch or fraction thereof, as extruded from the tube. I put the artists' oil paint on a piece of brown paper bag and let it sit for a half hour or hour to let some of the oil leach out, thereby increasing the oil to pigment ration. I then transfer the oil paint with a palette knife to a small container. (I have a stash of 35mm plastic film cartridge containers, but these are getting more difficult to come by these days.) I add thinner and other conditioners to the bottle using a graduated hypodermic syringe and drop in few BBs (air rifle ammunition like small ball bearings.) I cap the container and shake it like a rattle can. I have a  stash of large hypodermic syringes and needles that I obtained from my veterinarian. Vets use the larger syringes for larger animals. This way, if I want to duplicate a color combination or conditioning, I can do so with pretty good consistency. I don't have much problem matching gloss levels because what I am aiming for in most instances is a totally flat finish.

No difference, really. Just remember you can paint oil-based paint on top of acrylics, but not acrylics on top of oils.
 
 
Paint manufacturers long ago discovered that if they created the impression that one had to use primer, they could sell twice as much paint to people who didn't know whether they needed to prime a piece before painting or not. The fewer coats of anything that you put on a model, the less detail is lost and the better the scale impression will be. (Ideally, you want the thickness of your paint coats to be "to scale" too!) I don't use primer unless I need it to make my finish coat cover with less coats or to make incompatible coatings adhere. If I don't need a primer, I don't use one.
 
The fellow in the video wasn't using primer on his plastic plane model because he was using oil-based enamel which sticks to plastic well. He probably would have used a primer on it if he were using water-based acrylic paint because the water would tend to bead up on the slick plastic surface. Oil doesn't bead up on slick impermeable surfaces like water does.
 
Primers have a variety of purposes. One essential purpose of a primer is to serve as an intermediate coating between two surfaces and/or coatings that aren't compatible. (Hence the market term: "Universal Primer," of which dewaxed shellac is one of the best.) When two non-compatible coatings must be applied one on top of the other (which one ought to avoid in the first place,) a "universal" primer compatible with both oil and water-based paints creates a common surface that "sticks" the two together. Primers are also useful for creating a uniform base color, particularly when successive colors aren't likely to cover as well as you'd like. A highly-pigmented primer coat in a neutral color is much easier to cover with a finish color coat than an unevenly colored surface. Finally, "sanding primers" contain chalk which makes them easy to sand. If you have a rough surface, a sanding primer or "basecoat" is easier to sand to perfect smoothness than finish coats.  Bare wood requires a "sealer," which some incorrectly call a "primer," although a first thinned coat of paint or varnish can often serve double duty as a sealer. The purpose of a sealer is to seal an absorbent surface, such as bare wood, that would otherwise soak up the finish coat paint unevenly, requiring additional finish coats and likely more sanding. I seal all my wood with thin shellac. ("Out of the can," which is two pound cut shellac, I'll add 25 to 50 percent alcohol to thin it well.) I keep the thinned shellac in a jar and often simply dip small pieces into the shellac and then shake off the excess. It soaks into the wood and dries very quickly. (And faster if you blow on it.) The alcohol evaporates quickly. This provides a "hardened" wood surface for final fine sanding and an impermeable surface for applying paint so the paint won't soak into the wood unevenly and leave "rough spots."  When you see close-up photos of models on the build logs that look like the parts were cut with scale-sized dull chainsaws and painted with a an old rag on a stick, they haven't been sealed and sanded before painting. (The unsightly finish is less noticeable when viewed with the naked eye, of course.)
 
 
Yes, artists' oils will take seemingly forever to dry because they contain no driers. Oil paint is made up of a pigment, the color material, and a binder, an oil that cures and hardens so the pigment adheres to the surface that's painted. The oil, often "raw" linseed oil (which can be purchased in food-grade as "flaxseed oil" in health food stores for much less than in art stores,) polymerizes over time and becomes hardened. Artists often blend color for various effects right on their canvases and a slow drying paint is desired by them. "Boiled" linseed oil (which isn't boiled at all) contains added driers, usually "Japan drier," which accelerates the polymerization of the oil binder. Adding boiled linseed oil to artists' oils will cause them to dry more quickly, or one can buy "Japan drier" and add small quantities of that to artists' oils (or any other oil paint) and that will cause it to dry more quickly. How quickly is a matter of "feel" and experiment and tests on scrap material should always be conducted before applying mixed paint to the model itself. 
 
Oil paint will dry with a glossy finish if there's enough oil in it. Thinning tends to dull the finish, but sometimes not enough to achieve the flat finish required on scale models. To achieve a flat finish, a small quantity of "flattening agent" may be added. This can be purchased wherever artists' oils are sold. Grumbacher makes the industry standard "flattener."
 
Japan drier is a mixture of 3% cobalt in naptha. Linseed oil is simply linseed oil, a natural vegetable oil. Gum turpentine is simply refined tree sap. While I am no fan of climate change, one unfortunate consequence of many environmental protective regulations is that they too often attack the "low hanging fruit" and not the larger causes of the problem. Despite the relatively limited environmental impact of releasing oil paint related organic solvents into the atmosphere, oil based paints and solvents which contain high amounts of "volatile organic compounds" or "VOCs," are no longer allowed to be sold in some jurisdictions, notably in the U.S. in California. (Hence the "Not available in California" notations in many mail order catalogs these days.) There are a few exceptions to these regulations, generally involving packaging amounts. Linseed oil, Japan drier, and gum turpentine can still be obtained in small amounts at ridiculously high prices when sold as art supplies, but you'll have a hard time in many areas finding quart cans, let along gallon cans, of stuff like turpentine, linseed oil, mineral spirits paint thinner, naptha, tolulene, and the like. In times past, these substances were staples for anybody who knew what they were doing and did any amount of painting. Now, if you find yourself in a area where they've become unobtainable, you have to resort to "smuggling" your supplies from outside the areas where they are banned or pay the huge premiums charged for the ounce-sized containers in the art stores.
 
For those who wish to use acrylic paint, tubed acrylic artist's paints are readily available, of course. They are, however, acrylic paint and, like just about everything that "mother" tells us is "safe and sane," they are no fun at all. Those of us who were building models before about 1980 mourn the loss of "real" model paint like the legendary Floquil, which was so "hot" (full of aromatic hydrocarbons) you could get a buzz on using them. They worked perfectly every time right out of the bottle. Sadly, with their demise, modelers wishing the same results today have to teach themselves how to mix and condition their own paint.