mtaylor

9 hours ago, cog said:

yups, but you are from Irish stock ... ah ... you don't have humour ...?  

Nah... no "humour" here in the States.  OTOH, we have "humor"...    I know... hat and coat..  

Just gobsmaking wonderful.   

Denis,

The Craftsman brand is in the process of being bought or maybe it has already been bought.  Google it, and you might find an online store.   You might also check out The Olson Saw Company and also SawBird (might be two words though).  I don't have a link but as we say.. Google is your friend.   

If they don't have the size blade, get the smallest size the have and if you can, cut the blade down to size.

That's actually a giant hand, right?   So much detail in such a tiny space.. unbelievable.

Just beyond amazing work and I agree with others, your models should be in a museum.  

Very interesting method on the step and a wonderful result,  Paul.

Excellent work and progress, Rob.  I think you have hit on a good method for rigging. 

Wonderful work, Gregor.  

Let it heal and don't push it, Hans.  Continue only when the doctor says you can.

Welcome to MSW, Andrea.   Once you decide which kit, do by all means open a build log.  It's the best way to get help and also to make friends.

As for which kit?  Let me ask this... which one interests you more?  There's an article in the Database which might help:  http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/plans_and_research/KitSelection.pdf.   I'm not one to talk as my first "purchased but not built kit" was the Billing Vasa.   Oops...  hasty retreat to a very basic model then a step up to a AI brig)....  Been a fun adventure.   Keep it fun and use MSW as a resource.

I have a small dremel like tool from WeCheer.   Very handy for those tight spots the big boys won't fit into.

Welcome to MSW, Kortes.    Feel free to open a build log of your latest here at MSW.  We'd love to follow along.

Welcome to MSW.   Indeed, define "Northern California"... 

Super fine work, Dave.  I never thought about scratch building a model car.  

Very nicely done, Sjors.  

Beautiful work on the  xylokastra.

Plastic sprue that's been heated and stretched?   Or use the Ez line but starch it or spray it with lacquer (hairspray works)?  Can you reinforce the davits with some wire in them?  Maybe I don't understand the problem....

I'm wondering if 8000 rpm would still be too fast for machining brass.  My mill and lathe both only hit about 2500-3000 rpm which works for wood and metal.

I'll add a suggestion to Spyglass's solution.   Use a foam filled sanding tool like a disposable nail fail (but cut it short so it only hits maybe 3 BH's at once) to go over several frames at once.  Slow and easy and if you get one frame finished first, move the sanding tool.  Check frequently with a piece of scrap wood planking.  

It's great to see an update, Sam.   Looks most excellent.

Nice work. Your builds fall into the tutorial class easily.   Well done builds and you show us how.  

I can't speak for others, but I never use just sandpaper and fingers.  I use sanding blocks from a beauty supply house, or rubber cement some to a piece of scrap wood wherein the shape I need to sand is roughly carved/sanded on the scrap wood before gluing on the paper.

My rule of thumb is the roughest I go is 100 grit, medium is around 200-300, fine is 400 and over.   But then, I don't keep a lot of different sizes as stock.

Size of mini files... length?  Width?  Number of teeth per inch?    Depends on the manufacturer really.   Usually they tell you how long it is overall and maybe some generic fine, medium, etc. for the teeth.  There are some that usually come from China that so miss shaped that they're unusable (looked like the metal was still too soft when they cut the teeth and were bent and distorted) even if the picture looked nice.   I bought to sets on Ebay and ended up just tossing them in the trash as it was too much money to send them back.