Bob Cleek

I have found that light cotton material or the equivalent is quite suitable for sails at as small as 3/4" to the foot. At this scale, a fine stitch in thin thread on a sewing machine is properly scaled for representing the sailcloth panels. It's tedious hand-stitching, but boltropes, reinforcing patches, and other "real-life" sail details are all possible.  Actually cutting and sewing panels cut to shape the sail, as in full-size practice is a level of sophistication I have yet to attempt, but this also is theoretically possible. However, once a sail is bent onto the model, it tends to take the same shape as a real sail, and can be "filled" and shaped with a hair dryer in one hand and a can of spray starch in the other, right on the model. (Masking all but the sail before spraying the starch is advised, of course.) The below photos are of a yet-to-be-starched machine-stitched and hand-worked gaff sail of cotton in 3/4" to the foot scale. The photos weren't taken for the purpose of showing the sail work and the sail wasn't made with the lightest fabric available, but should provide some idea of what real cloth sails look like in larger scale models.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Ditto to what's been said about "sets." I'd add that, once opened, those expensive little bottles of paint have a nasty habit of drying up in the bottle no matter how carefully you seal them after use. You'll be amazed and dismayed at how often you will be tossing an expensive little bottle of paint that's gone bad over time. Another option, if you don't mind the learning curve if you haven't mastered the color wheel as yet, is to use tubed artists' oils and acrylics, suitably thinned and conditioned as necessary for each use. The tubed paint has a long shelf-life and small batches of thinned paint can be saved in your own bottles, if need be. If you teach yourself to mix colors (YouTube is your friend here,) you probably won't need more than a half dozen or so tubes of artists' oils or acrylics to satisfy the needs of a modeler's pallette. Small tubes can be purchased for colors rarely used, while larger tubes are available for colors you will use frequently. The cost of tubes vary depending on the color, the variable being the expense of the quality pigments involved, unlike prepared modeling paint, which is priced according to amount. In the long run, however, tubed artists' oils and acrylics are far more economical to use and generally are of a somewhat higher quality than premixed model paints. When you become comfortable mixing your own colors, those photos of guys with hundreds of expensive bottles of various modeling paint colors all displayed on little shelves in their shops, and drying up to uselessness over time, will leave you wondering, "What are they thinking?"  (See: https://figurementors.com/limitted-palette/the-science-of-oil-paints-with-kyle-kolbe/) 

To avoid confusion for the uninitiated, 'reef knots' are called 'square knots' in America.
 
John

Ditto to what's been said about "sets." I'd add that, once opened, those expensive little bottles of paint have a nasty habit of drying up in the bottle no matter how carefully you seal them after use. You'll be amazed and dismayed at how often you will be tossing an expensive little bottle of paint that's gone bad over time. Another option, if you don't mind the learning curve if you haven't mastered the color wheel as yet, is to use tubed artists' oils and acrylics, suitably thinned and conditioned as necessary for each use. The tubed paint has a long shelf-life and small batches of thinned paint can be saved in your own bottles, if need be. If you teach yourself to mix colors (YouTube is your friend here,) you probably won't need more than a half dozen or so tubes of artists' oils or acrylics to satisfy the needs of a modeler's pallette. Small tubes can be purchased for colors rarely used, while larger tubes are available for colors you will use frequently. The cost of tubes vary depending on the color, the variable being the expense of the quality pigments involved, unlike prepared modeling paint, which is priced according to amount. In the long run, however, tubed artists' oils and acrylics are far more economical to use and generally are of a somewhat higher quality than premixed model paints. When you become comfortable mixing your own colors, those photos of guys with hundreds of expensive bottles of various modeling paint colors all displayed on little shelves in their shops, and drying up to uselessness over time, will leave you wondering, "What are they thinking?"  (See: https://figurementors.com/limitted-palette/the-science-of-oil-paints-with-kyle-kolbe/) 

If I understand correctly what you want to use it for, the proper tool for that job is a machinist's square. The come in many different sizes and prices, but are all perfectly accurate, or should be, unless you drop them. The beam (wide leg) is designed to lay on the flat surface, such as a saw table, and the blade is designed to stand perfectly normal (at a right angle) to the flat surface. 
 
 
https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-4-pc-Machinist-s-Square-Set/H2993?iparcelcountry=US&msclkid=41db45718134178ed1d01a2934507070&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=%5BADL%5D%20%5BPLA%5D%20%5BShopping%5D%20-%20%7BGeneric%7D%20-%20Desktop&utm_term=4585925561291301&utm_content=%7BGeneric%7D&adlclid=ADL-5c1f93f0-705f-4049-88ab-150c3be7bf86
 

Ditto to what's been said about "sets." I'd add that, once opened, those expensive little bottles of paint have a nasty habit of drying up in the bottle no matter how carefully you seal them after use. You'll be amazed and dismayed at how often you will be tossing an expensive little bottle of paint that's gone bad over time. Another option, if you don't mind the learning curve if you haven't mastered the color wheel as yet, is to use tubed artists' oils and acrylics, suitably thinned and conditioned as necessary for each use. The tubed paint has a long shelf-life and small batches of thinned paint can be saved in your own bottles, if need be. If you teach yourself to mix colors (YouTube is your friend here,) you probably won't need more than a half dozen or so tubes of artists' oils or acrylics to satisfy the needs of a modeler's pallette. Small tubes can be purchased for colors rarely used, while larger tubes are available for colors you will use frequently. The cost of tubes vary depending on the color, the variable being the expense of the quality pigments involved, unlike prepared modeling paint, which is priced according to amount. In the long run, however, tubed artists' oils and acrylics are far more economical to use and generally are of a somewhat higher quality than premixed model paints. When you become comfortable mixing your own colors, those photos of guys with hundreds of expensive bottles of various modeling paint colors all displayed on little shelves in their shops, and drying up to uselessness over time, will leave you wondering, "What are they thinking?"  (See: https://figurementors.com/limitted-palette/the-science-of-oil-paints-with-kyle-kolbe/) 

In this day and age of CNC manufacturing, I'm amazed! It's easy enough to check the accuracy of a square by laying it on a T-square or other straight edge and drawing a perpendicular line, then flipping the square over and lining up the edge with the perpendicular line. If the edge perfectly aligns with the drawn perpendicular line, it's accurate. Darn it! Now your report is going to get me checking all my squares as I have occasion to use each of them, just to make sure their true!  

Ditto to what's been said about "sets." I'd add that, once opened, those expensive little bottles of paint have a nasty habit of drying up in the bottle no matter how carefully you seal them after use. You'll be amazed and dismayed at how often you will be tossing an expensive little bottle of paint that's gone bad over time. Another option, if you don't mind the learning curve if you haven't mastered the color wheel as yet, is to use tubed artists' oils and acrylics, suitably thinned and conditioned as necessary for each use. The tubed paint has a long shelf-life and small batches of thinned paint can be saved in your own bottles, if need be. If you teach yourself to mix colors (YouTube is your friend here,) you probably won't need more than a half dozen or so tubes of artists' oils or acrylics to satisfy the needs of a modeler's pallette. Small tubes can be purchased for colors rarely used, while larger tubes are available for colors you will use frequently. The cost of tubes vary depending on the color, the variable being the expense of the quality pigments involved, unlike prepared modeling paint, which is priced according to amount. In the long run, however, tubed artists' oils and acrylics are far more economical to use and generally are of a somewhat higher quality than premixed model paints. When you become comfortable mixing your own colors, those photos of guys with hundreds of expensive bottles of various modeling paint colors all displayed on little shelves in their shops, and drying up to uselessness over time, will leave you wondering, "What are they thinking?"  (See: https://figurementors.com/limitted-palette/the-science-of-oil-paints-with-kyle-kolbe/) 

Ditto to what's been said about "sets." I'd add that, once opened, those expensive little bottles of paint have a nasty habit of drying up in the bottle no matter how carefully you seal them after use. You'll be amazed and dismayed at how often you will be tossing an expensive little bottle of paint that's gone bad over time. Another option, if you don't mind the learning curve if you haven't mastered the color wheel as yet, is to use tubed artists' oils and acrylics, suitably thinned and conditioned as necessary for each use. The tubed paint has a long shelf-life and small batches of thinned paint can be saved in your own bottles, if need be. If you teach yourself to mix colors (YouTube is your friend here,) you probably won't need more than a half dozen or so tubes of artists' oils or acrylics to satisfy the needs of a modeler's pallette. Small tubes can be purchased for colors rarely used, while larger tubes are available for colors you will use frequently. The cost of tubes vary depending on the color, the variable being the expense of the quality pigments involved, unlike prepared modeling paint, which is priced according to amount. In the long run, however, tubed artists' oils and acrylics are far more economical to use and generally are of a somewhat higher quality than premixed model paints. When you become comfortable mixing your own colors, those photos of guys with hundreds of expensive bottles of various modeling paint colors all displayed on little shelves in their shops, and drying up to uselessness over time, will leave you wondering, "What are they thinking?"  (See: https://figurementors.com/limitted-palette/the-science-of-oil-paints-with-kyle-kolbe/) 

I'd be curious to see the bad reviews on Amazon. I've been using squares for sixty years or so now and in all that time I've never seen or heard of anyone complaining about a commercially made square of any material being out of square or otherwise "inaccurate." (The rivets in a machinist's square can sometimes be loosened and the blade be out of true if the square has been dropped, but that's another matter entirely.) 

Hello Bob. I have had a ground steel 200mm engineers square that was out by a whole degree: it happens. Fortunately, that amount of 'slop' doesn't happen very often but it is wise to check carefully especially if buying budget tools.
 

Is it possible that these staysails were actually "set flying?" That is what the drawing suggests to me. Sails weren't always hanked to stays, and particularly so with lighter air sails. The head and tack were fastened to head and tack halyards and hoisted and the clew sheeted in, all from the deck with the sail unfurled or "flying." (Alternately, the sail could be sent aloft "in stops," tied sausage-fashion with light stuff which would break free when the head and tack were made fast and the sheet was hauled in.)  When those sails were struck, the halyards were set go and the sail pulled down from the sheet(s.) Somebody with specific knowledge of this vessel can give you a much more reliable answer than I can, though.
 

Tom,
 
Those paint sets always look attractive but may prove to be a false economy. I’d be more inclined to buy the individual paints that you need at the time, or for a given project. You’ll soon end up with a large selection anyway, but they will all be colours that you will actually use. You may also find that you use different brands for different purposes too.

Is it possible that these staysails were actually "set flying?" That is what the drawing suggests to me. Sails weren't always hanked to stays, and particularly so with lighter air sails. The head and tack were fastened to head and tack halyards and hoisted and the clew sheeted in, all from the deck with the sail unfurled or "flying." (Alternately, the sail could be sent aloft "in stops," tied sausage-fashion with light stuff which would break free when the head and tack were made fast and the sheet was hauled in.)  When those sails were struck, the halyards were set go and the sail pulled down from the sheet(s.) Somebody with specific knowledge of this vessel can give you a much more reliable answer than I can, though.
 

Thank you , 
i prefer the flat ones but like i wrote before i dont know why but there is a lot of bad comments in AMAZON about different company who making this ruler 
im still keeping searching for a good one 
so if someone hear has a accurate one i will be more than happy to know hat company is it..

JM,
You can try to simulate treenails, but at a scale of 1:75 and assumption of 1 or even 1 1/2" diameter  these will only be 0.013 or 0.02" diameter.   You can make them this small if you use bamboo and a drawplate, but even so, they may appear to give the hull the measles especially if they provided walnut planking which is darker than bamboo.  The smallest hole on a Byrnes draw plate, which is a GREAT piece to use, only goes to 0.016.  It is not so easy to make these that small even with bamboo.  Just one opinion here, but I would forget treenailing at this scale.
Allan

Thanks to the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, everything will crumble away eventually ... just a question of time.
 
Not all modern materials are bad and deteriorate quickly - otherwise we wouldn't need to worry about plastics in the environment. The problem are plastics that contain plasticisers. They gas out with time and the remaining material becomes brittle. There is also the problem of UV-exposure that can brake bonds and cross-links in plastics, leading to their degradation.
 
Certain quality plastics on the other hand are very stable, such as phenolic resins ('bakelite') and methacrylates ('Plexiglas'). We have bakelite artefacts that are well over a hundred years old by now and that are as good as new. Plexiglas has been around only since the 1930s, but we have still a lot of unaltered artefacts from WW2 and before.
 
Often it is not the material itself that is a problem, but their combinations. We generally credit the artisans and artists of old to have been better in choices, but this is not always true - keeps the art restorers and conservators busy. Think of silk for sails and threads, certain dyes and inks (e.g. iron gallus ink) that corrode the paper, etc. Virtually all natural organic materials are biodegradable ... A big problem are post-1960s artworks, when 'artists' began to experiment with new materials and techniques and combinations thereof. Such works can be a real headache for the conservators - from the aesthetic point of view perhaps they shouldn't worry too much
 
 

If I understand correctly what you want to use it for, the proper tool for that job is a machinist's square. The come in many different sizes and prices, but are all perfectly accurate, or should be, unless you drop them. The beam (wide leg) is designed to lay on the flat surface, such as a saw table, and the blade is designed to stand perfectly normal (at a right angle) to the flat surface. 
 
 
https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-4-pc-Machinist-s-Square-Set/H2993?iparcelcountry=US&msclkid=41db45718134178ed1d01a2934507070&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=%5BADL%5D%20%5BPLA%5D%20%5BShopping%5D%20-%20%7BGeneric%7D%20-%20Desktop&utm_term=4585925561291301&utm_content=%7BGeneric%7D&adlclid=ADL-5c1f93f0-705f-4049-88ab-150c3be7bf86
 

If I understand correctly what you want to use it for, the proper tool for that job is a machinist's square. The come in many different sizes and prices, but are all perfectly accurate, or should be, unless you drop them. The beam (wide leg) is designed to lay on the flat surface, such as a saw table, and the blade is designed to stand perfectly normal (at a right angle) to the flat surface. 
 
 
https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-4-pc-Machinist-s-Square-Set/H2993?iparcelcountry=US&msclkid=41db45718134178ed1d01a2934507070&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=%5BADL%5D%20%5BPLA%5D%20%5BShopping%5D%20-%20%7BGeneric%7D%20-%20Desktop&utm_term=4585925561291301&utm_content=%7BGeneric%7D&adlclid=ADL-5c1f93f0-705f-4049-88ab-150c3be7bf86
 

The Theodore Alteneder and Sons drafting instrument company made stainless steel drafting triangles years ago. They came in various sizes. Alteneder made some of he highest quality drafting instruments in their day.  https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/drafting-triangle-with-handle-theo-alteneder  You'll have to track the eBay "drafting instruments" offerings for a while before you come across one these days. (In the last few years, high quality manual drafting instruments have become very collectible and can be surprisingly expensive, although there are still a few bargains to be found by the knowledgeable buyer.) Metal triangles can also be sometimes found on eBay in the machinist's tools section.
 
I'm somewhat confused by your report of accuracy problems on internet reviews. It's not rocket science to produce a 12" 90 degree triangle out of sheet metal. I'd expect most sheet metal shops worth their salt would be able to turn one out for you in a few minutes. What kind of accuracy are you talking about? A Starrett or Brown and Sharpe (these are identical products) draftsman's protractor is accurate to five minutes of arc. (It was Starrett's catalog item No. 362.) This is the instrument that would have been used by a draftsman who wanted the most accurate instrument available. They were frequently used to replace triangles. They come up on eBay with some frequency, or used to. They sold for $75 bucks in the 1960's. A mint example in a good condition velvet lined fitted case may now set you back $100+, but who knows on any given day on eBay. It's a lovely instrument with classic Starrett aand Brown and Sharpe "finestkind" quality.
 

 

Thank you ! 
i need it to be a perfect straight without any bend and also to be a perfect 90 degrees 
for caliber my proxxon machines like a table saw scroll saw disc sand act.. so your beautiful tool cant help with that because it not has a sharp corner
but thank you anyway ! 
 

A machinist square?

The Theodore Alteneder and Sons drafting instrument company made stainless steel drafting triangles years ago. They came in various sizes. Alteneder made some of he highest quality drafting instruments in their day.  https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/drafting-triangle-with-handle-theo-alteneder  You'll have to track the eBay "drafting instruments" offerings for a while before you come across one these days. (In the last few years, high quality manual drafting instruments have become very collectible and can be surprisingly expensive, although there are still a few bargains to be found by the knowledgeable buyer.) Metal triangles can also be sometimes found on eBay in the machinist's tools section.
 
I'm somewhat confused by your report of accuracy problems on internet reviews. It's not rocket science to produce a 12" 90 degree triangle out of sheet metal. I'd expect most sheet metal shops worth their salt would be able to turn one out for you in a few minutes. What kind of accuracy are you talking about? A Starrett or Brown and Sharpe (these are identical products) draftsman's protractor is accurate to five minutes of arc. (It was Starrett's catalog item No. 362.) This is the instrument that would have been used by a draftsman who wanted the most accurate instrument available. They were frequently used to replace triangles. They come up on eBay with some frequency, or used to. They sold for $75 bucks in the 1960's. A mint example in a good condition velvet lined fitted case may now set you back $100+, but who knows on any given day on eBay. It's a lovely instrument with classic Starrett aand Brown and Sharpe "finestkind" quality.
 

 

Yes it was there and still is.  It can be read off the NRG website or downloaded as a PDF.  The link is below:
https://thenrg.org/resource/articles/materials-in-ship-models

Does it have to be metal?  There's still very accurate plastic ones available.