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knightyo

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Everything posted by knightyo

  1. Hi Mark, We just purchased a home in Brownsville. I figured there'd be a group or two in the Portland area, but not sure about Eugene/Salem area. Alan
  2. It's great to see another Idahoan joining the group. It sounds like the local group Mercator mentioned is a good one. I'd join myself, but will be moving to Oregon in about a week due to my job. Alan
  3. Just a quick note about copper tape. This zoomed-in photo shows the copper tape I used for my Syren. The tape was applied around 2008 or 2009. In the middle section, you can see where "flaking" is taking place. I'm not sure if all copper tape is like this or not. Alan
  4. When I was around 40, I was visiting my parents over the holidays and was in "my" room working on one of the little quarter gallery pieces for my Syren. (I used to carry a small toolbox wherever I went with parts I could work on during downtime). My older sister happened to stick her head in at one point, observed what I was doing, and proclaimed "you won't be able to do that much longer". As you can imagine, my verbal reply to her was more polite than the reply in my head).... But, I blew off what she said, and didn't think anything of it. I'd always been able to hold small pieces in my hands without magnification and work on them with perfect clarity. Now that I'm in my 50's, I dearly wish I could have my 40's eyesight again! I think it is indeed important to encourage younger modelers to enjoy the hobby as much as possible in their free time, as our abilities decline incrementally over time. Alan
  5. Thanks Druxey, I really enjoyed the content on that page. Alan
  6. If you have time, check out Netsuke carving on YouTube. It's just unreal what some of those artists carve; I think they mostly all have to create their own tools tho. Alan
  7. The bottom-most pieces on each side give me the shivers on the difficulty scale. The carvings look great! Alan
  8. This is fantastic! I'm wondering if there should be an old oil can on the bench along with an old coffee can to hold misc bolts? Alan
  9. Welcome! I'll be joining you in the rain in a few months. Currently in Idaho, and moving to Salem "ish" area for a new job. Looking forward to your Swift log. If you are redoing sections of the older kits with higher quality wood, they should come out great. Alan
  10. Man those sails look fantastic. I've always shied away from incorporating sails because mine always looked like old undershirts. It would be great if Tom provided a tutorial. That's probably one of the least-understood skills (I think) in ship modeling. Alan
  11. Fascinating times. My aunt was a WASP in WWII, and may have flown these. I definitely remember hearing that she flew Mustangs. As a little kid, I was very intimidated by her. She was as tough as nails. Alan
  12. That detail is insane. Really, really great parts! Alan
  13. The HMS Queen Elizabeth with the newly arrived American F-35's would make an interesting project. That's an interesting joint multinational deployment about to take place. It could even be an international modeling project. One of you could do the air wing, one could do the ship, and it could then reside in my living room when finished. Everybody wins! Alan
  14. Below is a pic of an experiment I ran on my swiss pear. The left column is just unfinished, the middle column is pear with Formby's Tung Oil Finish (which I learned isn't actually Tung Oil), and in the right column are pieces which had Pentart Patina liquid (50/50 mix of mineral spirits/Pentart) applied over the top of dried Formby's. I'm going to keep experimenting to see if I can get something between the middle and right columns. Maybe starting out with a 90/10 mix of mineral spirits/Pentart; it was surprising how dark and strong that medium was. I'd love input on the combination of these two products or similar products, as stains/finishes is an area in which I have the least amount of knowledge. Will these products react with one another over time? Should either one not be used to begin with? My goal is to reproduce a fairly "aged" look to swiss pear with a finish that will last a long time. Alan
  15. I now realize that I have sinned. Mark, I'm sorry for derailing your log; I just wanted to provide a quick photo of my experiment since I knew you were using the same type of wood that I was. I'll post my experiment in the proper forum, as it really does seem like there could be some very robust and fascinating conversation on this topic! Alan
  16. Hi Bruce, According to the can, Formby's is comprised of tung oil and other "fine penetrating oils". The can also indicates that it contains aliphatic hydrocarbons. No, I have no idea what those are. The guy in the video below tipped me off about the tung oil finishes. He has a few other products on his bench, one or more of which might be available on your side of the pond as well. He indicates that most of them, unless they specifically state "100% tung oil" on the bottle/can, are usually only 5% actual tung oil, with the rest being resins, etc. Is this a bad thing however? It sounds like these products result in a finish which won't need to be reapplied periodically which tung oil apparently does. I can't fathom having to reapply a finish over a completed ship model, so I'm thinking these alternate products might be the way to go. I do wonder however, if the Pentart is ok to apply over the top of the Formby's and how that will hold up over time. It seems like we have a few chemists on the forum, so I might bring this up in the Finishes section to see if anyone has additional information on this point. With the amount of time we spend on our projects, it would be horrifying if the two products didn't interact nicely over time. Alan
  17. Another thing you can do is experiment with the type of finish to apply over your pear. Below is a pic of an experiment I ran on mine. The left column is just unfinished, the middle column is pear with Formby's Tung Oil Finish (which I learned isn't actually Tung Oil), and in the right column are pieces which had Pentart Patina liquid (50/50 mix of mineral spirits/Pentart) applied over the top of dried Formby's. I'm going to keep experimenting to see if I can get something between the middle and right columns. Maybe starting out with a 90/10 mix of mineral spirits/Pentart; it was surprising how dark and strong that medium was. Alan
  18. When it's time for me to make my rope, I'm going to purchase Chuck's rope making device. He published a tutorial for it, and it looks like it would be very satisfying to use. Alan
  19. Those mines look awesome. And thank heavens you have your models in a safe location now. Alan
  20. I agree regarding the walnut. I wish my walnut was that fine grained! Your build is looking great so far. I'm also an Alan S. I'm glad that this is actually your log, and not something I posted in a sleepwalking mode during the night. Alan
  21. Man I wish the photos on that site enlarged more. The detail on that model is insane! Just stunning detail when looking under the deck at the structures at the bow and stern. Alan
  22. I think this ship would be fantastic to see in unpainted wood. I also wouldn't worry about whether or not the plans are 100% accurate, as no one will be able to prove they are wrong anyway. Alan
  23. Your build looks great so far! And after looking up the book you mentioned by Hameichi Hara, I purchased said book, as it looks great. I've been "building" my Syren model since about 2008, so it's nice to see another modeler who is deliberate with his work. Alan
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