Bob Cleek

Thanks! That certainly makes it perfectly clear.   I was in chemistry class in 1967, too. Unfortunately, I failed to apply myself the the study of that subject any more than was necessary to achieve a "gentleman's C."  I had a bad habit of only studying the subjects in which I had a current interest during my college years and every so often in my later life I've been reminded of the costs of that. I had no appreciation for trigonometry until I had to teach myself celestial navigation, for example!

I'm surprised none of you eagle-eyed reviewers mentioned that the word, "CAPT" is reversed on his helmet. Somebody must have laid the stencil on it upside down!

In real life, particularly in the Age of Sail when pine tar was liberally applied to everything, decks ended up black and covered in tow in short order. Even naval vessels minimized holy-stoning to preserve their decks, save for special occasions when an inspection was to occur. (Frequent holy-stoning would wear the decks down to the fastening heads in no time.) Out of scale (color and size) deck seams and black "nails" in deck planks, like protruding out of scale "rivets" on  bottom coppering, seem to be faddish affectations of present day modeling, but, as they say, "each to his own." I've found simply laying deck planks, applying a light coat of varnish, and then a light coat of thin stain or paint of the appropriate color, then wiped off, leaves a suitably darkened area between the deck seams that yields a realistic impression of what decks should look like at scale. Your mileage may vary, of course. 

Thanks! That certainly makes it perfectly clear.   I was in chemistry class in 1967, too. Unfortunately, I failed to apply myself the the study of that subject any more than was necessary to achieve a "gentleman's C."  I had a bad habit of only studying the subjects in which I had a current interest during my college years and every so often in my later life I've been reminded of the costs of that. I had no appreciation for trigonometry until I had to teach myself celestial navigation, for example!

As a game of speculation - not the result of experimental testing:
1- acrylic paint will leave a smooth surface with few or no pores or irregularities.  In the situation of wood-acrylic-PVA-wood, The strength of the bond of the acrylic with wood is one limiting factor.  The bond of the PVA with acrylic will probably have very little of a physical component.  I see the chains as a flat layer across the face of the paint.  The bond will be a weak electrostatic one instead of the usual mechanical one.  The large size of the chains probably makes for a wavy, knotty, interface on a microscopic level.  The electrostatic bond is likely significantly weaker than that formed by the type of glue that uses electrostatic attraction for a bonding mechanism.  The fix is to seriously abrade or scrape the acrylic at the bond interface.
2- paper   -   is porous.  This situation of wood-PVA-paper-PVA-wood,  The weakest point is paper-paper.  Depending on the type of paper used, the PVA may penetrate enough that there is a PVA-PVA bond inside the paper.  I would not risk my life on the strength of that bond, but if may be close (or at least closer) to a normal PVA bond. 
 
The hint:  I see this as two techniques for simulating caulking in a laid deck. 
Gloves off!
The bond between planks on a model deck does not need to be strong.  The needed strength is at the deck to beam ( and if your OCD is off the scale - the carlings, ledges, edges of hanging knees and face of lodging knees).  My perspective is scratch and POF,  so for me plywood is for tool bases and housing.
Using paint to simulate the caulking - a really bad idea.
Most models - to my eye - place way too much emphasis on the caulking seams.  Even exactly replicating the scale width is probably too much because of scale effect.
The modern "repairs"  done on the decks of saved vessels such as USS Constitution and HMS Trincomalee  look like cartoons of what was done 200 years ago.  Perhaps if the deck was originally laid in the tropics in the Summer and it was sailed to the North polar region in Winter and allows to dry and shrink, the seams might be that wide.  As it is, I suspect it is a combination of lesser carpentry skills and giving the customer what he expects to see.
Paper is a time tested method suggested in at least one of the original core texts for our hobby.  Depending on scale, the paper might be over doing it.  Using black paper is the wrong color for pre-1860.
Consider adding Black Walnut dye crystals to some PVA instead.  It is closer to Pine tar in color.  The bulk can be used to dye rigging - intense for standing and dilute for running rigging.

Bob,
To poke at this a bit.  !967 was a long time ago, but seeing if I can remember=
By denatured,  it would be ethanol.  Two carbons and an -OH.  Carbon holds its H's more tightly than oxygen, so the H bonded to the carbons can be ignored.  There is possible partial ionization of the H from the oxygen - which has an effect of polarity - and affinity for the polyvinyl acetate matrix. and its ability the fit between the chains.
 
Propanol  is three carbons in a chain with an -OH  on an end one.  I am guessing that whatever the effect of a two carbon chain on H polarity would be greater from a 3 carbon chain.
 
2-propanol (isopropyl alcohol) is also 3 carbons, but the -OH is on the middle carbon.  The outside two carbons might - flap like wings - and have the opposite effect on the H polarity because the the electron clouds are working against each other rather than being a reinforcing chain.   The shape is more like a ball?  It must be able to get inside the space between the chains and straighten them out, or weaken the attraction between the chains.  
 
 

Shellac is one of the best water barriers available. It's sold pre-mixed in cans, usually at "two pound cut." The "cut" is how the dilution of the shellac flakes is indicated. "Two pound cut" means  "two pounds of shellac flakes to every gallon of alcohol." This is usually fine for sealing wood. It is the consistency of water and won't build up if a single heavy coat is applied. If you want to thin it, simply add more alcohol. The alcohol evaporates quickly. The shellac soaks into bare wood, permeating the surface and hardening it. Sand your wood smooth, shellac it, and when the shellac is dry, you can sand it again with fine sandpaper or buff it with steel wool, and it can easily be smoothed perfectly. Just don't sand so much that you remove the layer of wood on the surface which has been impregnated with the shellac. What raises the grain is the water soaking into the bare wood. Acrylic paints are water-based, generally, so they raise the grain when applied to unsealed wood. (Another reason why oil-based paints are generally preferred by those who know the difference between oil and water based paints.) Shellac is the only sealer you need. It's cheap. There are lots of products on the market sold as "sealers." There's no need to pay more for them. Anything can be applied over shellac. It's compatible with everything. It cleans up easily with alcohol.

Shellac is a decent enough adhesive for such purposes, but I'd opt for a dot or two of Duco or CA adhesive. I would not "drill and pin them." While barrel and bucket hoops were sometimes riveted and then driven on, I believe most were forge-welded hoops. They are driven down onto the barrel or bucket with a mallet and a "hoop driver." If they were nailed into the barrel, the barrel would likely leak in time, or at least have weak spot in the stave.
 
Hoop driver:
 

 
See: https://cooperstoolmuseum.com/coopers-tool/
 
While others' mileage may vary, I'm of the opinion that models are better off left with as little coating as possible. Paints and varnishes are necessary, of course, but I prefer a light rubbing with a 50/50 mixture of boiled linseed oil and turpentine or a coating of thin shellac for unpainted wood and a coating of thin shellac and paint for painted areas. Frankly, I think the plethora of proprietary varnishes, clear coats, and other gunk on the market today is really just a lot of marketing hype. At the end of the day, the first thing that seems to "weather" on a model is the paint and varnish and the thicker it's applied, the faster and worse it goes to pot, not to mention that the thicker the coatings applied, the more fine detail is lost. Scale is important in paints and varnishes as much as in anything else, and perhaps even more so. In judging model quality, poor painting and varnishing is perhaps the most frequent demerit.

A piece of scrap light sheet metal (an old advertising sign, actually) and a few  rare earth magnets work for me. 

Stephen,
 
I have had good success with a non-bleed fabric marker "FabricMate" from Jo Ann Fabrics.
 
Regards from the shipyard,
Pete


 

This is only my opinion:  While deck plank seams on real ships were filled with jet-black tar - at model scale - I think the jet-black appearance created by ink or black paper draws the eye; it's "too black".  I always prefer the appearance of plank edges darkened with pencil.  

Shellac is one of the best water barriers available. It's sold pre-mixed in cans, usually at "two pound cut." The "cut" is how the dilution of the shellac flakes is indicated. "Two pound cut" means  "two pounds of shellac flakes to every gallon of alcohol." This is usually fine for sealing wood. It is the consistency of water and won't build up if a single heavy coat is applied. If you want to thin it, simply add more alcohol. The alcohol evaporates quickly. The shellac soaks into bare wood, permeating the surface and hardening it. Sand your wood smooth, shellac it, and when the shellac is dry, you can sand it again with fine sandpaper or buff it with steel wool, and it can easily be smoothed perfectly. Just don't sand so much that you remove the layer of wood on the surface which has been impregnated with the shellac. What raises the grain is the water soaking into the bare wood. Acrylic paints are water-based, generally, so they raise the grain when applied to unsealed wood. (Another reason why oil-based paints are generally preferred by those who know the difference between oil and water based paints.) Shellac is the only sealer you need. It's cheap. There are lots of products on the market sold as "sealers." There's no need to pay more for them. Anything can be applied over shellac. It's compatible with everything. It cleans up easily with alcohol.

I'm surprised none of you eagle-eyed reviewers mentioned that the word, "CAPT" is reversed on his helmet. Somebody must have laid the stencil on it upside down!

I'm surprised none of you eagle-eyed reviewers mentioned that the word, "CAPT" is reversed on his helmet. Somebody must have laid the stencil on it upside down!

Even with a lot of winches and wire cable, there were multiple sheave blocks in various applications in a J-boat's rigging, certainly with the earlier models. The story is told that when one of the first J-boats was being outfitted after launch, a painter was in a bosun's chair at the top of the mast, about to lay on a coat of varnish on his way down the mast. His helper sent up a bucket of varnish shackled to the end of a halyard. After the bucket was hoisted a ways up the mast, it suddenly took off, accelerating upward on its own, out of control, when the weight of the fall exceeded the weight of the bucket of varnish and the hoist. When bucket hit the block, it drenched the painter in varnish!  
 
 
Here's Endeavor with Sopwith at the helm. she has a double sheave mainsheet traveler block. The double-ended mainsheet is led forward, port and starboard, presumably to winches, although in the foreground is what appears to be some sort of moveable "nipper" on the mainsheet with two blocks attached which may have provided purchase for the mainsheet. They did carry quite large crews and had a fair amount of manpower available. (Hold down your "control" button and turn the wheel on your mouse to enlarge the photo for detail considerably.)
 

 
Then, again, with the winches Endeavor carries, a lot of double blocking, and hence weight aloft, is eliminated.
 

 
 
 
 

I am not familiar with Admiralty paints and I'm not aware of any color conversion charts for Model Shipways paints, which I expect are manufactured by one of the other paint companies and simply packaged under the Model Shipways name. There is one color conversion chart for the now-discontinued (but really great... sigh...) Floquil paints and it provides Humbrol equivalents. It may give you a good start. The colors should be close enough. Keep in mind that nothing comes out the same color on a computer screen.
 
https://www.microscale.com/Floquil Color Chart.pdf

I am not familiar with Admiralty paints and I'm not aware of any color conversion charts for Model Shipways paints, which I expect are manufactured by one of the other paint companies and simply packaged under the Model Shipways name. There is one color conversion chart for the now-discontinued (but really great... sigh...) Floquil paints and it provides Humbrol equivalents. It may give you a good start. The colors should be close enough. Keep in mind that nothing comes out the same color on a computer screen.
 
https://www.microscale.com/Floquil Color Chart.pdf

Allowing for the load of gear aft, she floats on her designed lines very well. That's not an easy trick! Nice job!
 

I am with Mark,  you can make a variety of custom sized sanding sticks to meet your needs, from scrap wood,  at no cost other than the sandpaper.  Inside and outside radiuses are easily cut on a scroll saw or band saw.   Soft holders are good for some surfaces to be sure, but not really necessary.   I have a rubber block that I use on the hull for final sanding, otherwise, wooden sticks are better suited in many, if not most, cases because they can be custom sized.   As to the finger nail sanding blocks, I tried these as well, but she was very upset when she went to look for hers and it was on my workbench.  Be aware!!
Allan

Finally got around to posting pictures of finished model! I used historical photos of working dories, to postion the lifting loops, different from the instruction manual. Am happy with the finished model boat. This was my first wooden boat model, and my first from Blue Jacket. I enjoyed it very much, no frustration at all, I liked the kit. I look forward to starting another. Highly recommend.    

I strongly suspect that the British Admiralty dockyard models were shellacked, not varnished. Shellac will outlast varnish by orders of magnitude. "Orange" shellac (natural colored,) will darken, and its gloss increase, with each successive coat. It's easily thinned with denatured alcohol. It's also easily removed with denatured alcohol. The darkening and gloss rate of increase will depend on how thick it is. This is referred to as the "cut," expressed in pounds, e.g. "two pound cut," which would be two pounds of shellac flakes to a gallon of alcohol. Most prepared canned shellac ("Bullseye" is a good brand found nearly everywhere) is sold in "two pound cut." Thinning it 50-50 yields "one pound cut," and so on. Multiple thinned coats are the best approach. Applied to thickly will fill in detail, as might paint.  It dries quickly, about as fast as the alcohol evaporates. Shellac on ship models has lasted for somewhere around 5,500 years, so far, if models found in the Egyptian tombs are any indication.
 
Some top end woodworking catalogs sell shellac in "flake" form, which is the crushed excretions of the female lac bug. You have to add your own alcohol. Mixed shellac supposedly has a "shelf life," and hence the sale of the crushed flakes alone. I've never had any problem with the premixed canned shellac going bad on the shelf over a period of years, though. Other's mileage may vary, but I've never found the higher price, shipping cost, and hassle of ordering flakes by mail and mixing my own worth the trouble and I've used a lot of it over the years. It's a stock item in my paint locker.
 
Varnish is more difficult to work with, primarily because of extended drying time and the need to resort to chemical strippers, heat guns, or scrapers and sandpaper to remove "goofs." Thinned shellac has the consistency of water and will penetrate bare wood easily. Not so much so varnish. If too much shellac is applied, it won't have brush strokes, runs, and sags ("curtains" in the trade). it tends to soak into the wood and dries quickly. Too much varnish and you end up with brush strokes, runs and sags, much like enamel paint. This is less of a problem with thinned varnish for "model scales," but varnish is finicky. Sometimes the gloss is dulled when it's thinned too much, especially if mineral spirits are mistakenly used instead of pure spirits of gum turpentine, and other times, it can refuse to dry and remains sticky. A capful of Flood's "Penetrol" in a quart of varnish will improve its ability to "lay down" and a teaspoon of Japan drier will improve drying ability. Like oil paint, varnish does require something of a "learning curve" to master the art of conditioning it as required to get a perfect "Steinway piano" finish. (Steinways are actually French polished, I believe... with shellac!) Most quality marine varnishes are adequate, Z-Spar brand "Captain's" varnish is a good one, as is the European and pricier Epiphanes brand (which requires the use of their proprietary thinner.)

Truer words were never spoken! 
 
Anyone in the market for a scroll saw should google "scroll saw ratings" and read what the woodworking magazines say about what's on the market at the various price points. There are many scroll saws on the market and their quality runs from exquisite to complete junk, but the prices don't always correspond to the quality. Always buy the best tool you can possibly afford unless it's a tool you expect to use but once and forget about. Also, don't over look the used  market. Craigslist and the like sometimes have high quality and high priced scroll saws selling for a fraction of the original retail price.

Thanks, wefalck! That adds some more information to it all.  Every bit counts. One of the interesting things about modeling boats, and building full-sized ones, is that so many different crafts and technologies have to be explored and, to one extent or another, mastered. I find it fascinating. (Other's don't and buy kits. There's no accounting for taste.)

I don't see why one couldn't use the process for brass as well, although I think it might be faster to build up thickness with copper and then brass, nickel, or gold plate the copper. In the days of real chrome trim on autos, I believe they plated the iron with copper and then the copper with chrome.  The plating process is the same for any metal, although the electrolyte mixtures may vary, I think. All the brass and copper fixtures on the old "boardroom models" of the great ocean liners were gold plated. It wasn't "realistic," as they were all painted on the prototypes, but it was a style in modeling at the time. 
 

3D printing may revolutionize modeling, but it somehow lacks the "organic" qualities of traditional materials and, perhaps, their archival qualities. There does seem to be a way, however, to get the accuracy and detail of 3D printing and the tradition and archival quality of noble metal parts. I think.
 
I'm curious if anybody has ever made metal parts by copper electroplating or electroforming? I've never done it, yet, but I've been checking it out on YouTube, which has a lot of information on what is a common jewelry-making process. Parts can be made with other metals, such as nickel or zinc. It would seem that one could make a part like a ventilator funnel out of dental wax (or a 3D printed part,) or a lot of them out of a mold made from a master pattern, and coat the wax pattern with a metal conductor, such as rattle-can spray zinc paint or India ink and graphite, and let the metal, say copper, build up on the outside. When a desired thickness is achieved, the wax can be melted away in boiling water or however one's creativity dictates and a hollow copper part is yielded. 
 
At least that's my fantasy for the moment. If anybody knows anything about the process, I'm all ears.