overdale

I read the O'Brian series over a period of 5 years. Dragged out to last as long as possible. I gave them to my wife and she read them all finishing the last one a year ago with much regret that there were no more. We decided to put them all in a box and hide them away for five years and then start again..Only four more years to go..!
 
I am particularly impressed with O'Brian's grasp of the period. I'm a bit of a collector and I have a letter written in 1808 by a Royal Navy officer on the 38 gun 5th rate HMS Lively (which was briefly one of Aubrey's ships in the series.) The letter was written to the man's father in Scotland while the ship was docked in Lisbon. It's a long handwritten letter and amongst many other things, mentions politics, prize money, pirates and even a fire in the coal hold. I understand O'Brian used a lot of contemporary ship's logs and letters to frame his stories, reading this letter one could certainly see why.
 
Here's exactly what's written about the fire. 
 
"On Friday last, a dinner and ball were given on board, a day a little remarkable also on account of the risk we ran of being blown up: for as we were at breakfast the drum beat to quarters and we understood there was a fire forward. It was discovered by the smoke bursting from the coal hole and was immediately messaged to the 1st Lt. and was soon extinguished, having burned through the thickness of one stanchion. The coal hole is divided from the fore magazine only by a thin partition. After flogging the man who had been down there last and thro whose carelessness the accident had happened, the captain expressed his satisfaction at the general reliance and alertship with which every man attended to his duty and provided against accidents of the sort happening again by forbidding any man going down without a midshipman present."   
 
 
It's a fascinating read and sometime when I'm not so busy I'll do some research into the writer.
 
Dan.

I am very fortunate to own two original ship paintings by Geoff Hunt, the artist that painted the book covers of the original series. 

I generally paint the waterline color onto the hull first in a broad area either side of the waterline area, then lay the correct width of masking tape where I want the waterline to be. I spray the bottom color, then I mask that off leaving the waterline tape in place and masking on top of it. After that I just spray the topside color. Remove all the masking and you'll have a perfect hull and waterline without worrying about the pin striping tape peeling away at some inconvenient point in the future or having to build up a large layer of paint to camouflage the thickness. 

Ian,
if the stern of your model is black, then you could look at printing the lettering out on your computer.  You choose the font you like, size etc. then type it onto a page from notepad or similar program. Then in the 'tools' heading you can reverse the color so it's white lettering on black, define a 1/4" boundary round your lettering so the whole page isn't printed out in black and you can print and cut it out. I have used yellow lettering as well with this technique and it works very well especially after a coat or two of matt varnish when it's in place.
 
 
Dan.

If you are uncomfortable with steaming wood you could try a plank 'nipper' (Amati makes a very good one) that crimps a curve into the plank from the rear. For thicker planks I sometimes soak it first and then use the nipper. I find I have much more control over the whole process than bending a wet plank and then putting it in place hoping it's been steamed enough and won't break.
 
A nipper is a lot quicker too, but in the end, it's what works best for you. Worth a try though.

Ian,
if the stern of your model is black, then you could look at printing the lettering out on your computer.  You choose the font you like, size etc. then type it onto a page from notepad or similar program. Then in the 'tools' heading you can reverse the color so it's white lettering on black, define a 1/4" boundary round your lettering so the whole page isn't printed out in black and you can print and cut it out. I have used yellow lettering as well with this technique and it works very well especially after a coat or two of matt varnish when it's in place.
 
 
Dan.

One item I can't do without is a slab of granite from a refurbished kitchen. It's a piece about 20 inches square and I use it for smaller glueing operations and assembly work where I want to be sure what I'm working on is absolutely flat. 
It does get covered in glue now and again but as it's granite it's simple to scrape off everything with an old chisel and start again.
Check with worktop supplier/installers they often have offcuts lying around that they want to get rid of.

One item I can't do without is a slab of granite from a refurbished kitchen. It's a piece about 20 inches square and I use it for smaller glueing operations and assembly work where I want to be sure what I'm working on is absolutely flat. 
It does get covered in glue now and again but as it's granite it's simple to scrape off everything with an old chisel and start again.
Check with worktop supplier/installers they often have offcuts lying around that they want to get rid of.

I can't remember if I posted this on the old site but there is a manufacturer in Croatia called Maristella that produces kits of some very interesting subjects. They don't look too difficult and are certainly a little more unusual.
 
the address is,
 
http://www.marisstella.hr/marisstella_modeli.php?lang=eng

I read the O'Brian series over a period of 5 years. Dragged out to last as long as possible. I gave them to my wife and she read them all finishing the last one a year ago with much regret that there were no more. We decided to put them all in a box and hide them away for five years and then start again..Only four more years to go..!
 
I am particularly impressed with O'Brian's grasp of the period. I'm a bit of a collector and I have a letter written in 1808 by a Royal Navy officer on the 38 gun 5th rate HMS Lively (which was briefly one of Aubrey's ships in the series.) The letter was written to the man's father in Scotland while the ship was docked in Lisbon. It's a long handwritten letter and amongst many other things, mentions politics, prize money, pirates and even a fire in the coal hold. I understand O'Brian used a lot of contemporary ship's logs and letters to frame his stories, reading this letter one could certainly see why.
 
Here's exactly what's written about the fire. 
 
"On Friday last, a dinner and ball were given on board, a day a little remarkable also on account of the risk we ran of being blown up: for as we were at breakfast the drum beat to quarters and we understood there was a fire forward. It was discovered by the smoke bursting from the coal hole and was immediately messaged to the 1st Lt. and was soon extinguished, having burned through the thickness of one stanchion. The coal hole is divided from the fore magazine only by a thin partition. After flogging the man who had been down there last and thro whose carelessness the accident had happened, the captain expressed his satisfaction at the general reliance and alertship with which every man attended to his duty and provided against accidents of the sort happening again by forbidding any man going down without a midshipman present."   
 
 
It's a fascinating read and sometime when I'm not so busy I'll do some research into the writer.
 
Dan.

UPDATE COMING END OF THIS WEEK AFTER DISCUSSION WITH EXPO
 
SAM

Vivian, 
here are a few more photos of the junk as requested. It's about 20% larger than the AL red dragon kit.
The last two are of another model of a similar junk set in a storm. It was an inch and a half long. The rigging was stretched contact adhesive, the sails were paper and the sea was clay.  The porcelain fragments next to the sea are Ming dynasty, recovered from the wreck of a junk that sank in the China Sea.
 
Hope the pictures are of use, any questions please feel free to ask..
 
Kind regards,
 
Dan.

There are commercially made inexpensive patinating solutions for copper available. They are used by people who make stained glass lampshades. (Which is what the copper tape is actually for)
 
I used one on a brass statue of a fish in my garden and it turned it a fabulous green/brown overnight.
 
 
If you look up 'patinating solution' on Amazon you'll find them, but here's a link. 
 

There are commercially made inexpensive patinating solutions for copper available. They are used by people who make stained glass lampshades. (Which is what the copper tape is actually for)
 
I used one on a brass statue of a fish in my garden and it turned it a fabulous green/brown overnight.
 
 
If you look up 'patinating solution' on Amazon you'll find them, but here's a link. 
 

Hi all
per description panels in the museum, the boat I showed above was part of a small flottille owned by Marco Vipsanio Agrippa, general, admiral of the sixth fleet and brother-in-law of Emperor Ottavianus Augustus.
It has been dated to 12 b.C. thanks to several inscriptions found in the cargo.
It was designed to sail along the sandy shores of the upper western Adriatic Sea and upstream the Po river, that's the reason for the flat bottom and shallow hull.
It sunk during a storm (probably it was unsuitable to heavy sea conditions) and was almost immediatly covered with very fine sand and mud, that explains the perfect status of conservation of wood, vegetal fibers, leather and food found in the relict.
It was descovered in 1981 during the maintenance works of the Valli di Comacchio channels (Valli di Comacchio is a preserved natural area with lot of swamps and channels, famous for the flamingos).
Her name was 'Fortuna Marii'.
 
The cargo was more than 200 amphors, containing oil, wine and wheat and several tenths of lead ingots (from Agrippa's property mines in Hibernia - Spain: Agrippa's name is carved on them) used as ship ballast, but intended to be sold along the river trip to be melted and reused for lead water plumbing.
 
The hull is built with two techniques: below the waterline the planks were "sewn" to the frames with vegetal fibers ropes, and made waterproof with tar; above the waterline the tenon-pin technique was used to join the planks. All these parts have been found, are still present in the conserved relict but are not visible to the public because the relict is conserved into a bed of demineralized water, at constante temperature and protected from sun light.
The building technique started from the keel laying, then the first planks (garboard?) were joined to the keel, the frames pieces added above the planks and sewn to them and to the keel. The frames were built at the same time as the planks were joined creating the shape of the hull, which is the opposite of the technique we are accustomed to.
She had one mast and a squared sail (parts of it have been found!) and twin side rudders. There is an open cargo compartment and a sort of enclosed cabin for the crew (covered with cotto tiles). The anchors and several blocks were also found in situ.
 
I have several pictures taken at the museum, should anyone be interested in.
 
Here is the link to the city webpage, with some infos, directions and pictures:
http://195.62.166.245/comacchio/common/AmvSezione.do?MVPD=0&MVSZ=42
 
Ciao
Fam

Hi Dan
are you meaning something like this?
It's the reconstruction of a late roman trade ship (empire age, end of 1st century b.C.), the original is in quite good state of conservation in a dedicated museum in Comacchio city, close to Ferrara.
The museum shows all what was found during the excavation of the relict, including the full load, the ballast, crew personal belongins, etc., and also shows a recostruction model of the whole ship and a recostruction model of the relict (that is not visitable by the public) with lot of fantastic details (see second picture).
 
Regards
Fam

Vivian, 
here are a few more photos of the junk as requested. It's about 20% larger than the AL red dragon kit.
The last two are of another model of a similar junk set in a storm. It was an inch and a half long. The rigging was stretched contact adhesive, the sails were paper and the sea was clay.  The porcelain fragments next to the sea are Ming dynasty, recovered from the wreck of a junk that sank in the China Sea.
 
Hope the pictures are of use, any questions please feel free to ask..
 
Kind regards,
 
Dan.

Dan,
 
   Loved your pictures and your junk. Great you enlarged the hatches, since AL gives us a junk with no compartments, lol. As you aged your deck, I did with mine. Can´t stand that clean look. I intend on doing some rustic crates. Thanks a lot for posting the pics and for your care in showing your work. =*

Vivian, 
here are a few more photos of the junk as requested. It's about 20% larger than the AL red dragon kit.
The last two are of another model of a similar junk set in a storm. It was an inch and a half long. The rigging was stretched contact adhesive, the sails were paper and the sea was clay.  The porcelain fragments next to the sea are Ming dynasty, recovered from the wreck of a junk that sank in the China Sea.
 
Hope the pictures are of use, any questions please feel free to ask..
 
Kind regards,
 
Dan.

Vivian, 
here are a few more photos of the junk as requested. It's about 20% larger than the AL red dragon kit.
The last two are of another model of a similar junk set in a storm. It was an inch and a half long. The rigging was stretched contact adhesive, the sails were paper and the sea was clay.  The porcelain fragments next to the sea are Ming dynasty, recovered from the wreck of a junk that sank in the China Sea.
 
Hope the pictures are of use, any questions please feel free to ask..
 
Kind regards,
 
Dan.

Hi Vivian,
I built a Ming Dynasty junk some years ago. As there weren't many drawings of Junk hull shapes around, I based the hull on the plan from the Amati Red Dragon kit.  I enlarged the lines to give me the hull shape at 1/48 and built it on bulkheads as per the kit but everything else was scratch built.  After the Caravel, I'm sure you won't have any trouble building it, but if you need any advice about deck fittings traditional colors and designs, or how to make the sails don't hesitate to ask.
 
Kind regards,
 
Dan.

Vivian, 
here are a few more photos of the junk as requested. It's about 20% larger than the AL red dragon kit.
The last two are of another model of a similar junk set in a storm. It was an inch and a half long. The rigging was stretched contact adhesive, the sails were paper and the sea was clay.  The porcelain fragments next to the sea are Ming dynasty, recovered from the wreck of a junk that sank in the China Sea.
 
Hope the pictures are of use, any questions please feel free to ask..
 
Kind regards,
 
Dan.

Vivian, 
here are a few more photos of the junk as requested. It's about 20% larger than the AL red dragon kit.
The last two are of another model of a similar junk set in a storm. It was an inch and a half long. The rigging was stretched contact adhesive, the sails were paper and the sea was clay.  The porcelain fragments next to the sea are Ming dynasty, recovered from the wreck of a junk that sank in the China Sea.
 
Hope the pictures are of use, any questions please feel free to ask..
 
Kind regards,
 
Dan.

Vivian, 
here are a few more photos of the junk as requested. It's about 20% larger than the AL red dragon kit.
The last two are of another model of a similar junk set in a storm. It was an inch and a half long. The rigging was stretched contact adhesive, the sails were paper and the sea was clay.  The porcelain fragments next to the sea are Ming dynasty, recovered from the wreck of a junk that sank in the China Sea.
 
Hope the pictures are of use, any questions please feel free to ask..
 
Kind regards,
 
Dan.

"Now I'm going to figure a way to soot up the furled sail, like smoke from the try works got on it."
 
Get yourself a black pastel crayon and a piece of fine glass paper. Rub the pastel against the glass paper over the furled sail about six inches above the sail and allow the dust to drop onto it, enough that it's just noticeable, not too much. Then get a soft brush and rub it gently all over the sail to smudge the black out . It looks just like soot.