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Hi Guys Trying to find details of anchor buoys used on ships in the 1700's. What were there shapes,sizes,colors and rigging used to attach them to anchors and rigging. Thanks Keith

Hi I have the DJ Parkins PE sets for my Flower Class Corvette build also. After spending the amount on the PE sets,do yourself a favor by getting a resistance soldering outfit. You will need it with the large brass sections that you will be soldering to. Just using an iron will not work out very well for you. You need the direct area heating that the resistance soldering will provide you. As to annealing the PE. only anneal what you must have to. It's better to leave the brass as hard as you can,so that it is not easy to bend after you have it in place. Get a good PE bender setup,that will get you past 99% of the bends that you would need to anneal without one. I have been working off and on my Corvette for 12 years now. I have about 40 % of it completed. Adding rivets to all of the hull plates took most of the time. Play around with soldering brass BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT the PE ofr the kit. Become adept at small parts being soldered to large ones and use different melting point solder where you have multiple parts being soldered in a small area. Starting with the largest with the highest melting point first,then reduce the heat on the iron to just melt the next lower melting point solder. Again practice this before doing the kit parts. You have spent too much on these PE sets to not take your time. Be upset when practicing,not when you are working on the kit PE. I was there before I purchased my resistance soldering unit. I have soldering irons that now just gather dust,while my resistance unit gets the workout. Keith

Hi Dave When you want them pulled up tight to the bulkward in the out of action and ready for heavy seas. Saves 4 blocks and makes it easy to produce a very neat rig. But there will be one's who will want to keel haul you for not doing it as the real rigging. For those guy's I say-do it as you want,but just look at Dave's rigging,and tell me if you did not know just how it was done,could you realy tell the difference? I would rather do it Dave's way and have great looking rigging. I just did my Armed Virginis Sloop guns rigging a while back with the guns run out ready to fire. I would have used this way to rig a couple of guns to show the different ways that guns are rigged. On my USF Confederacy build in the future will be when I use this way of rigging some of my guns. In 1/64 scale,this will be a great help. Thanks for passing this rigging technique along to us. Keith

Hi Looking to replace my work table light.Need one that is very bright and one that is on an adjustable arm. My table is in a room that I cannot put a large light above it from the ceiling,only on a stand from the table top,or clamp on the edge. Thanks Keith

Hello Nigel I have the Caldercraft Mary Rose kit,I am not familar with who and what you are talking about for the Mary Rose. I would be interested in revising the kit to what would be a more accurate rendering if who's making it is delivering thier kits on time and at a reasonable price. Living in the States,I do not know who Black Pearl is and what thier reputaion is. Please educate me. Thanks Keith from Troutdale,Oregon USA

Hi Captin Al Try using Testors Dullcote Lacquer on a sample section made up of some scraps. I have used it on basswood and have liked the results. If it is too yellow for you,add some brown to tint it. I have used it on basswood decking on myMSW's Armed Virginia Sloop and it looks very nice. I used a Brown Gundam Marker paint pen to simulate the caulking between planks.Painted the edges of each side and end of the planks(the ends were sealed to prevent the end grain from wicking up the paint). The Dullcote did not have any effect on the Gundam paint. The Dullcote Lacquer doesn't leave a thick layer of paint either.I put down three thin coats with sanding between. Then let the deck cure for a week. Then I lightly sanded to even out the final coat,leaving it with a satin finish. If you want a glosseir finish,just rub it out with a polishing stick,it will gloss up with little effort. Remember-make up several deck samples with exactly what you have on your ship,and use different paints to find the combination that YOU LIKE and WANT!!! Remeber also that with the time we all spend on a ship doing the samples to find out what works and what you like is time well spent. Keith

It's the area where the real skills of one's patience is found out. If it's just looks you want-whatever way you can do it. But it is a right of passage of model ship building and rigging. The combined talents needed to ge all the deadeyes level is the goal of every builder. And once it is accomplished is like learning to ride a bike. Once done it is easyer every time. And if its a three masted ship,by the time you have the last set of deadeyes completed,you can now go back to the first and see how you have improved in each preceeding shroud. And if you can not stand it,it's time to redue the ones that bug you. The human eye can see diferences that are very small when things are side by side. Just think how skilled the riggers of full size ships are to get their deadeyes level. Then you realize that size doesn't realy matter-to get perfection is always a challange to the skills that you have. Keith

Hi Norman Found one in California and ordered it. I'm in Oregon so it will be here in a couple of days. Thanks for the recomendations. I'll let you know how I am doing on my search for material and my build. Thanks Keith

Hi Norman Thanks for the reference,I already have the book. His build is truely a gem. Keith

I will be starting an Admiralty Style ship build in 1/48 scale. My question is,if the wood used in building up of the seperate frames does not show much contrast,is it acceptable to lightly use the same method as used in showing caulking between planks on the deck,to show where the different parting lines are in the makeup of the frames? In just looking at photos in books and online of Admiralty Style models I do not see where the frames have been made of parts,but they look like they are just one solid piece of wood. Is it that that detail does not show up in the photos? With all of the work that will go into the seperate frames,I would like to be able to show others just how many parts go into the building of a real ship,and the frames that make them up. Is it a tradition to just depend on the color of the wood and the glue seam itself to show off the differences in parts? Or is it kosher to just do what looks good to the builder? If it comes out like I want it to,and if I were to enter it in a ship contest,would highlighting the parts that go into the frames be a very negative thing to have done? Are there any examples that you could direct me to to show the differnt types-ones that have highlighted the seams,and ones that show only the wood diferences. Looking forward to your advice and opinions. Thanks Keith

Hi Max Welcome to the Royal Caroline builders here . I have just purchased mine last month and have the frames on the keel. For reference I have the AOTS Royal Caroline book. Right now waiting to finish my other builds before realy getting into the Caroline build. And looking forward to getting castings of the carvings from Nigel in the future for it. Keith

When coiling the gun tackel rope,is it always done in a perfect coil when it's on a privateer vers an established naval vessel? I am coiling my tackel ropes for my Armed Virginia Sloop and wanted to know if they all should be perfect coils with no differences between them like on a naval ship,or would they have variations,with some rope laping over in a radom way,being coiled in a round,but not in a one layer perfect circle? Thanks Keith

Hello A must have is the" automatic flying parts catcher" . It's a cross between an NHL Champion goaly and a Frisbee catching dog,the Goaly talents for stopping a part from going off the table and the catching skills of the dog to catch the parts that get thru the first line of defence. OH- and most important is the Bloodhound searching skills to find the parts that get thru the first two lines of Parts Flying Away Defence. And to find them when you need them, and not after you have scratch made a replacement part and already used it in your build. I thought that I had seen the "Automatic Parts Catcher" on Youtube,but cannot find it now. Let me and all other model builders where they can get this valuable addition to the work bench. The real test is for the PE parts that you cut off of the fret, they have a will to fly that is only challanged by anEagle or Hawk! Good luck all. Keith

Hello Why not just paint and dry brush it the colors of green that it would be when it's oxidized? A lot simpler method and safer for you and the model. If you try to use acids to produce the result you want now,' it will continue to corode the copper on the surface and under it without any control on your part. So in the future you might end up with a real mess on your hands-like the copper falling off the model or worse. Leave the chemicals alone and be in control using paint to create the effect that you want. It's not like a bronze or copper casting that an artist uses acids on to give age to. By using heat along with the chemicals. You are talking about a model with wood under the copper and other materials and glues. Do you know how the chemicals that you use will migrait thru the wood and how will the vapors affect the rest of the model? Think lone and hard before you risk what you have spent hundreds of hours working on, on a method that you have no long time record of. Keith

Found out already,looked up the banned MFG's. Will not even look any further as to ZHL,sorry to take up space in this last posting. Keith

Hello Just want to know if anyone has this kit,or any experence with buying it from ZHL in China? Are they reputable to deal with? The photos look great,but is the real kit like the photos? Is there anyone outside of China that is reputable that handles this kit? Looks light years better than the Panart kit,but is it just to rip one off? Please let me know if they are on the up and up. Thanks Keith

Hi Try a croche hook's for a glue aplicator. They come in very small hook sizes. They work great for either Ca or PVA glues. Also can be used on glues for plastic models. I use a number 13 for small areas. Keith

Has anyone had experence using Tamiyas spray lacquer on wood? I have used it for years on plastic,and like their semi-gloss black for gun barrels and submarine hulls on plastic moedls and have used it after primmer on white metal. The thing I like most about this paint is that it shrinks down tight when it dries,and doesn't cover up small details. Unlike enamel and other paints. Have you used it on wood? I will be trying some tests in the next couple of days. On basswood,walnut,mahogany and other woods. With and without primmers,both Tamiya and others. Would like to know what your luck has been-either bad or great. I will let you know how my tests come out. Keith

I have seen lots of shades of red from pink to Ferrari type red used. What would be considered the "right" shade of red? And who makes it,so that I might not have to mix it? Looking for water based paint. I have the Model Expo MS4802-B Gun Red-which is to me on the pink side of red. Is this correct for the period and ship? Is there is a paint that I can buy thats correct for the color,or what mix combination would I use to get to the shade of red thats right.Just let me know. Ship that its for now will be the Model Shipways Armed Virginia Sloop,then their Fair American. As for the hull below the waterline,they call out a "tallow" shade of white. Would the classic racing white(which has a cream tint to it,be close to what is called out as "tallow"? Thanks Keith

Hi I have been following your build. It looks great. I also have the Amati kit and was able to also buy the engine kit. I did not start to build because I was unable at the time to find detailed photos of the engine and boat. That was about four years ago. That was before the real boat went up for sale,and then there were quite a lot of photos to work from. I am still looking to find details on the inner structure of the engine compartment and cockpit. Do you know of any? As for the cast metal engine kit,its nice,but doesn't hsave the Ferrari lettering on the valve covers due to copyright issues. It is vastly overpriced for the quality of the castings and the lack of piping details not included for the engine. But its the only game in town if you mwant to add the engine without making your own without any engine prints to go by,as far as I know. Again,if anyone out there has any drawings or other detailed info about either the boat or engine,PLEASE contact me and list for others who have this project to build. Great work,hope you are able to find an engine for it. I see that Armati in their Deluxe kit has plated parts for the rudder and other parts, does anyone know if they are avaliable for sale seperatly from the Delux kit? As for the vac plastic cowels,I plan to build the first version of the Arno without the tail fin and the simple rounded front out of brass or aluminum. Hope to hear from other Arno nuts! Keith Glueck

Just finished fairing in the frames. No problems,now I will put in the filler blocks in the stern and bow. Then I will go to the decking. Thanks Keith

Yes I am sure that they are in the right order. They are marked by the laser with the letter,and I also marked the keel with the coresponding letter. That was my first thought about the wrong order. I have a line up jig that I use that I check with a dial calipers along with dial indicators so that each frame is centered to the keel. I have them within .005 of exact center. And they are set for height to be even across from each other,with the center being even with the keel at the deck level. The most important being the deck level and the frame being centered to the keel CL. I then start out with the first and last frame being glued straight and true to the keel. And work from there. After setting all of the frames,thats when I find out where I need to remove material from the high frames and add material to the low areas.Thats what I have done over the last couple of hours since I last posted. Ther were three high frames- F,I and K. The low frames at the bearding line are F,G and H on the starboard side. And I also have had to add material to the inside of frames F and I in the bulwark area. This shows that these frames are consistant with being too wide from the start. About .030-.040 on each side. No problem,just wanted to get some feedback as to how others have found these and other kit frames,and what the standard for the industry is for ship kits. I find that the laser cut parts being that their sides are not straight,take a lot of hand work to get them to line up,which I enjoy doing. Along with making the frames line up to the keel. After years of lining up large progressive die's it's a nice challange dealing with parts that are not perfectly square. And I realy love to work with wood that can be seen after you finish the model. With the vintage gliders and other planes that I have been building and the plastic models,it's great to see the wood and work that goes into it. Keith

What I would like to know is which kit maker has frames that you do not have to correct the shapes when trying to get a smooth curve or shape to the hull? With the Model Shipways kits that I am building the Armed Virginia Sloop when you line up the frames level on the deck surface,the bearding line of the frames look like a mountain range-up and down along with the curvature of the frames looking like the frames are out of order. Is this a condition with the older Model Shipways kits? I then put some of the frames out of order,switching them around,which did not make the mismatches any better. So it's back to cutting down the high spots and adding to the low areas. After building planes for the last 54 years I guess that I have been spoiled with smooth frame shape transitions. So much for Cad. I have yet to start on my Caldercraft Mary Rose and my Euro Models Schooner Lyde. As a Tool and Diemaker,its not a great task to deal with this problem,just takes some of the enjoyment out of the build and puts it into how do I use my skills to correct the frame transitions. Thanks Keith