mtaylor

Lovely work on the guns, Pawel.   

Keith,

I do think that there would have been more than one cask.   One on each side would make sense.  My question about maybe being for coaling is that they seem rather small.... So maybe not water but something else?   Sand maybe?   I'm not that familiar with that era so everything's just a guess.   

Possibly a water cask.   I'm thinking it's not fixed though as in the last photo. if it weren't fixed I would think they would have moved it as there is a "handle" on the side of the one in the second photo.   The thing is, that there appears to be one on each side of the hatch and in same place in all the photos.  Maybe it is fixed.. water port for the boilers though the handle on that one pic throws a curve ball at that concept.

Mike,

Kits are kits and designed to make a profit.  Accuracy is often the first thing that gets ignored.  The gratings not only provided fresh air but also light down below.  Note that even the ladderways on the real ships have comings.  

7 hours ago, Jack12477 said:

Lou, I think you are right about the museums adding the nose art and campaign ribbons. The 2 museum ships in Buffalo have campaign ribbons painted on also. 

The "nose art" probably wasn't standard although it may have added by a bored crewman.  As for the ribbons.... from what I read these were added by the crew as they were awarded.  A point of pride.

The gratings would be in comings raised above the deck, Mike.   While what you say is true about water still going below the decks, by having them raised most of the water would have drained off through the scuppers.   The other thing is, that often tarp or sail material would have draped over the opening in the main deck.  From what I've read, it would have been supported either by the spare yards many frigates carried or rope or not covered at all.  It wouldn't have covered any openings for ladders.  There's no real agreement from what I've encountered.  

Beautiful work and the camera is showing it incredibly well.  

I think that would be a safe assumption.

Hello Bruce,

Welcome to MSW.  I'm looking forward to seeing your build log.

I note that with Master Korabel kits, that the laser cut (which has a slight angle like most laser cuts) is used as part of the design to show the calking as Spyglass points out.  True though that the planking could randomized on the sheet so different grain patterns emerge.. a bit fussy to design and also fussy for the builder to sort out.  

The other thing is that the deck furniture will break up much of the grain matches so it won't be apparent.

What's not to like?  It has an aura of the real thing knowing what we know about how they planked decks back then.  I do like the way it looks.

Mark,

Looking things over from a distance, a "suggestion" might be the best solution.  Cleaning up the cypher that's cast with the barrel might improve it, but given the whole model, the suggestion will work well.  Sometimes we go for too much detail of one tree that gets lost in the forest, so to speak.

Sweet work, Dan.  From here it looks like the camouflage is doing it's job and hiding the real shape.

Hi Steve,

Welcome to MSW.  Do open a build log as you'll find it's the best way to get help and also make some friends.

Those cannon look great form here and considering their size, they look very good.   My hat is off to you Keith.

I'm totally stunned at this work.  The carvings are amazing.

Boyd, 

I would buy as many as you can afford.  Volumes 1 and 2 will get you well underway, but the rest of the books are very informative and helpful and well worth the investment in my opinion.

Being uneducated in the ways of "split" keels, do they put or recommend positioning pins to align the keel pieces properly or is it random chance and skill of the builder?  If they don't do pins could they be incorporated early on say before anything else is done?   I'm just curious more than anything else as I can see a lot of issues doing the "two half model" thing.

You would have to very careful with a hot air gun .  I'm assuming it's the type for paint stripping?  Do some testing on scrap to see if it scorches the wood and if the wood bends easily.   It may be too hot.

Hi Josh,

For the most part, those usually appear in the scratch area.   However, there are some in the kit area.   Use this link, and then pick "Ships in Bottles" for a list of all the models.  

Mike, 

The grates look great.    

You might give some thought to just painting for "highlights" and not the whole hull.   I've seen many (my Vasa included) were the only thing painted was above the wales and even then it's more to highlight that area and also most viewers will think (not sure why) that more is painted than actually is.

Beautiful work going on there Pat.