Belco

I recently placed an order for some Hobby Zone Products with Hobby World USA. It was my first time dealing with Hobby World and I could not be happier. Ordering was easy, but I would call or email to check stock because their website is not always up to date. My entire order was shipped promptly and received within 1 week.
 
I ordered the following three items.
All arrived well packed and undamaged. As you can see in the picture my limited work area is becoming quite cluttered so it was time for some extra storage space.

 
I thought I would do a sort of review/build log of these products. The building slip has been pretty well covered in another thread so I won't rehash what has already been done. I started with the easiest one, the wall unit storage.
 
The illustrated instructions were very simple and easy to follow.

 

 
I started by laying out and checking all of the pieces. All were nicely router cut with no chips or marks that I could see. Overall the fit and finish of the parts was exceptional.
 

The only exception was the Logo oddly enough. However because this particular unit is symmetrical I was able to turn the back panel over and build it with out the logo showing. The fit on all of the parts is quite snug and required some light taps with a hammer in some cases. I decided to dry fit each assembly before actually gluing them.
 

The first step is to build three main sub assemblies. I used the back plate as a sort of jig for building these by gluing up the assembly then making sure that there was no glue on the back edges I "Plugged it into the back panel and let it dry. This way I was sure that when it came time for the final assembly everything would line up.
After assembling the three sub assemblies together the back panel is glued in place. This was kind of daunting as there were so many slots and tabs to apply and spread glue on. Then aligning them for assembly before the glue started to set up was a little tricky. This is where dry fitting at each step came in handy.
 

The three drawers were fairly straight forward.
 

I would say that this was a fun and useful little project. The assembly to this point was done in one afternoon. No doubt it could be hung up and used just as it is. But I will do some light sanding to ease some of the edges and apply a couple coats of oil based poly before loading it up.
 
I am guessing that the bench top unit will go together in much the same way. I will update when I get going on it.
 
Thanks for looking in.
 

Using a tool I shaped from the flattened non-hook end of a crochet hook, I was struggling mightily to belay lines in the tight spaces under my pin rails.  The tool was just too large and I couldn't maneuver the line easily.  I came up with the idea of inserting the pointed end of a sewing needle into a thin dowel (actually a throwaway chopstick from a Chinese restaurant) and threading the line to be belayed through the eye.  Here are the old and new tools:

Instant success!  The needle's eye easily gets the thread around the bottom end of the pin, and makes it easy to form and place the final locking loop.

Inspired by Michael Mott’s excellent tool (https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/14463-restoration-of-bassett-lowke-albertic-by-michael-mott-scale-1100/&page=5&tab=comments#comment-452268 and newer version further down in the thread as well as BANYAN’s review of it: https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/15249-michael-mott-designed-third-hand/&tab=comments#comment-473797), I decided to put into action something that I had planned to do for a long time. From my late father’s estate I inherited a cast-iron foot that presumably belonged to a some sort of chemical laboratory equipment. Not being impressed with the commercial ‘third-hand’ I kept this piece of cast-iron with the view of converting it into a tool with less and better controllable degrees of freedom. Also just having a pair of cheaply made alligator clamps didn’t add to the useability of that tool that, in consequence, spent most of its life on the shelf. I also inhereted a good quantity of pre-war quality alligator clamps.
 

Third hand with small hooks for rigging work
 
The cast-iron foot was de-rusted and a proper seat for the bar-clamp had to be filed – I could not find a way to clamp the piece to the table of my milling machine. The foot then was primed and painted in my favourite ‘bottle green’ (RAL 6007).
 

Third hand with small clamps in steel
 
Working predominantly in small scales with tiny parts, I sized the tool appropriately. The main bar is 6 mm steel and the two pillars are 10 mm aluminium. I actually prefer steel, but in this case working with aluminium was faster on my small machines. The arbors for all the clamps are 4 mm steel rod. The diameter of 4 mm was chosen, as the alligator-clamps have sleeves that are meant to be pushed over 4 mm-banana-plugs.
 

Third hand with alligator clamps
 
Thinking about the likely kind of applications, I made a pair of small sprung clamps from steel, a pair of larger toolmaker-style clamps (excellent idea by Michael, btw) in aluminium to be used for soldering, a pair of small hooks in 0.5 mm piano-wire for rigging tasks, and a pair of collect-chucks.
 

Third hand with toolmakers-style clamps in aluminium
 
The collet-chucks are a commercial products from China with ten collets that clamp from 0 to 3.2 mm. I thought this might be a good idea for clamping wires and perhaps ropes safely without distortion or marring. They were so cheap at 1.50€ for a chuck with ten collets that there was no point in makimng them myself.
 

Third hand with collet chucks to hold wires etc.
 
I also plan to make set of clamps from bakelite for soldering, but have not received the material yet.
The thumb-screws are also bought-in, as I have local source here in Paris that sells them for one Euro a piece, which is not exactly cheap, but good value considering how much time I would have spent making them myself.

Howdy all.  My modeling time is currently in short supply thanks to my three-month-old baby.  Even though I don’t have the time, energy or concentration to really dig into a model I’ve still had the urge to work on something.  ANYTHING.  I had recently purchased a Serv-O-Matic from Syren and the cherry it’s made of was so beautiful I decided to make it my project. 
I don’t think I need to do a review of the project as I see so many of them in use on various build logs, but I’ll just say to anyone debating about getting one – Get it!  The quality is terrific, and Chuck’s service can’t be beat.  Mine had a very minor issue when I received it and Chuck had it corrected wicked quick.
I followed Chuck’s instructions and spent a goodly amount of time removing all the char from the pieces.  Time consuming but worth it.  I used a true sander as much as possible to avoid rounding the edges too badly.  After sanding to 220 grit I assembled everything but did not affix the gears or end pieces.  Then I rubbed in by hand a coat of 100% pure Tung oil, wiped off the excess after an hour or so and then repeated the oil coat the next day. 
After that I allowed the unit and all the pieces to sit in the brightest window of the house for about a week turning the pieces each day to make sure they got even coverage.  As most of you probably know Cherry darkens and reddens naturally and that process can be sped up by exposing it to bright natural light.  Once I figured the Tung oil was as cured as it was going to get (not really at all but it’ll at least stop seeping) I applied two coats of semi-gloss water based polyurethane with a careful sanding between coats.  Lastly, after allowing the poly a week or so to cure I applied a coat of past wax to get that soft burnished look.
So below you see the result of me turning what most people would do in a few hours into a two or three week project.  In one of the pictures you can see an untreated piece of cherry which gives you an idea of just how much a little work will bring out the color and character of the wood. 

DRINK CAN RING-PULLS
After the above entries, taken from USS Constitution builds that I follow on MSW, this one comes from my own build.  I had noticed some iron-works marked on the plans. As this hull will eventually be copper-plated, I wanted to replicate these hull braces as an added detail.

 
To my eye, the horseshoe-shaped front brace looked a lot like a drink can ring-pull …

… so I salvaged a few for a trial. Holes were drilled to simulate the bolt-heads. The ring-pull ends were trimmed off.
 

… shaping the bow hull-brace around a pencil-tip.
 

Braces for the stern were cut from the rim of the drink can, annealed and straightened.
 

… grooving out a seat for the stern braces.
 

The horseshoe-shaped bow brace fitted into position ...
 

…. and the stern braces also placed. The surface of the braces sits slightly proud of the keel.
 

 
Since I am still a long way from planking and copper-plating my hull, a test was done to see how the braces would appear, once plated …

... NOTE TO SELF: Be more careful when coppering-over the holes.
 
 

SHOELACES
Browsing some of the logs that I follow recently, and I stumbled upon this idea by one of my favourite USS Constitution builders.

 
Thanks to Tom (UsedToSail) for this idea to reproduce more realistic slings for the boats on his build.
Over to Tom …
“I have been doing some thinking about how to stack the two cutters on the waist rails. The plans show only the large cutter with cradles underneath and strong backs over the tops to hold it down. I could use the same method and use cradles on the small cutter to sit on the strong backs, but I thought they might stick up too high. In the AOS book, they show the small cutter inside the large cutter, with fenders between them. I liked this method better, but was struggling how to make fenders until one day, as I was tying my shoes, it hit me to try pieces of shoe laces. I bought some white oval laces and after cutting the pieces, I browned them using brown shoe polish. I was quite happy with the look.”
 
Tom says that he first tried this with round laces, but it didn't look as good:

 
Better success was had using a flatter lace …

 
And a later pic from Tom’s build, showing the boats positioned on-deck …

 
 

Let's see if we can get this thread back on track ...
 
CHALK
Perhaps the best method of recreating small, carved details can be found in XKen’s USS Constitution build log. Wood carving is a skill-set that can take years to master. One slip-up can mean having to re-do hours of work. But Ken has found an easier way.

 
Here, he shows us how to use a piece of ordinary black-board chalk to carve the detail ends for his catheads. With Ken’s permission, I have lifted a few pictures from his log. I’m sure that his explanations speak for themselves …

 

 

 
And here's the final result, in position on Ken's Constitution build.

 
 
 

The beasty is finished! Made up into a nice little model I think, 1/24 scale. More of a kit than some where you would have to make up more parts yourself. OcCre castings up to there usual high standard. I have noted that their brittania metal is really quite hard and very strong unlike model trailways which is very soft and easily broken. OcCre's instruction books are brilliant with step by step instructions and excellent photos. I have done a lot of their models and this is amongst the best. Certainly a bit different from boat building.
 
Anyway, I hope you like the end result.
 
 

This is what I did waiting for shipments of DeAgostinis Vasa:
 
The lisboa Tram and the Diorama by Occre.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
My Iphone is not happy with the yellow color of the tram....

When making seizings for the breech ropes for the cannons of my Le Cerf model, I got frustrated with the loose ends of ropes. After thinking about making a fixture for this work, I finally made this. Very easy to make in about ten minutes, and fulfills it's task perfectly.
 

The making of an early 17th century ship lantern 
 
writing English texts is not my best side.
I hope that the photographs and the drawings are sufficient.
 
 
 
Here's the method of how I made my lantern for my Wasa Billing Boats.
A lantern of this type is also found on the Batavia replica.
 
 

 
I have attached a pdf with a drawing
Dimensions are in mm (1 millimeter = 0.0393700787 inches)
 schets lantaarn.pdf
(Extra small details in plastic strip are applied on the lantern)
Painting is gold and gun metal)
 
 
The base came from lantern From Billing Boats
 

 
eight volunteers from the 1/72 parts box

 
ready

 
Each question will be answered as good as possible
 
Groetjes
 
Greetings
 

Hi.
A update as promised.
 
The dragons head is now in place.. No its not by my hand.. its a resin cast one.

 
Tiles covering the roof are now finished.

 

 
This is a test piece to check on the tile fixings. i will be using the black bottom pins as I think they look better. some 2400 in total...Wish me luck and retained sanity. With cocktail sticks in the centres.

 
Close up of the tiling.

 
And another.

 
Yet another...

 
Cannons in there carriages or boxes. Need to be finished and put into place on model when finished.

 
Close up of the carriages..Now you can see that they need finishing. 

 
Thanks for looking in.
 
Many thanks Antony.

HI.
Again sorry for the lack of updates.
The captains cabin.. He is the only person to have his own sleeping and private area.

 
The crews head's Just a hole in the deck to the sea or river.. 2 handles to hold on too. Very basic.

 
Captains quarters and another head behind. Not sure I should be using the term "Head" as they has there toilets in the stern area.

 
View of the roof after planking and sanding. Will add the copper hexagonal plates after sealing the wood( Makes it better for the adhesive to stick).

 
Roof hatches and gun port hatches added. The gunports are add because if the reading that I have done and the fact that the upper deck would have no purpose. ( I have never known the Korean people do anything with out purpose).

 
View with the gunports opened.

 
The guns.. The carriage is very basic and just a box. The handles are much to long and will be trimmed before fitting.
Not sure on how the elevated there guns.. 

 
Just boxes of all the bits I have constructed.

 
View showing the cutaway area. Never done a cutaway before... But Im'e pleased with it. Might break the no paint rule and do the cutaway edges Red.

 
 and another of the cutaway.

 
Will add the hatches after I have given them the cutaway.

 
And the last one.. of the hatches. Have put them opening in the downward direction.. 
Some drawings show opening lateral. it it was me I would have then opening from the top. More defence for the crew.

 
Thats it for now.
Thanks for looking in.
Regards Antony.

Hi.
Sorry for the lack of updates.. 
Lots of progress .
 
The jig for making the oars. 16 in total . the angle is quite important.

 
My method of getting the angles spot on all the time. Helps with finishing the small bits.

 
Making the roof. The plywood is only there for positioning the 2 main beams

 
Roof beams now glued to second floor and bow and stern bulkheads.

 
Roof timbering in place. Ready to sand to profile. Plenty of weeds growing...no time for gardening... Ship building has priority.

 
Another view from stern.

 
Close up of roof timbers.

 
 

 
Bow area.

 
i have made the second deck and roof removal.. will make it easer to view the interior of the model. Took a little planning but the results are very good.

 
Another angle.

 
One of the 8 top hatches ready for fitting.

 
These are the gun ports for the second deck. there was guns on the second deck so where should the ports go ?? In the rood at the lower edge.

 
Hand rails fitted.

 
View into the stern doors.

 
View into the Bow doors.

 
View into the bow doors looking up a little.

 
 
Next task will be to plank the roof leaving a large area not planked. this will enable people to look inside the model.
I will be Turning the cannons from Acetel(Black) with blackened copper wire for the handles.
 
Thanks for looking in.
 
Regards Antony.

Hi.
Lots of work done and only a few photos.. Opps.
 
Ladders in place.

 
working Side doors with bar. Trial fit... Looks good.

 
Bow and Stern doors with working bolt.

 
Mast securing timbers. Temporary mast inserted while work in progress.

 
Funny block on the rudder. Allows the rudder to turn with ease.

 
Walls dry fitted.

 
View from the Stern of the ship.

 
Side walls from the outside.

 
 

 
Views from the Bow's

 
 
Time to clean up and start the fixing and cleaning up.
Next job after glueing the side walls in place will be fitting the second deck in place.
 
Regards Antony.

I thought I would share my little idea for plank bending.
 
 
I'm not sure how original it is, but I have never seen one just like it..
 
 
Basically, it is half the bottom of a large tin can, attached to a base board.
 

 
I place the end of my wet plank into the slot  and use a clamp to adjust the amount
of bend ..  ( I soak in plain water for a few of minutes, depending on the type of wood )
 
 

 
 
I direct a hot blow dryer onto the jig for about two minutes.  This is usually enough to dry the wood.
This picture does not show the wood, but it is there when the dryer is on.
 

 
I wait at least 5 minutes before taking the wood out of the jig.  It needs to cool before the bend is fully set.
 

As a new builder I didn't realize that I was using the bending heat tool incorrectly all along. This video demonstrates a method that really works very well. I wet the plank briefly and start bending and it is amazing how easily the plank forms to whatever shape you need.
 
Of course i learned this when I was 3/4 done. Aghhh! 
 
Hopefully this may help others new to building.
 

The simple inexpensive third hand is good but I just could not leave it there. I had to try a few more Ideas. A couple of different ways to clamp the parts together without marring any finishes, using split nuts etc.
 
Castello, Padouk, Ebony,  Fiddleback Maple, Brass, and Blued steel
 

 

 
This one is strictly for rope rigging tasks.
 
Michael

I have been making up small sanding pads on the ends of some small section sticks to get to some tight spots on the ship restoration. Perhaps it was reading Stunt Flyer's build log and seeing the control line model on the wall, but something clicked.
 
I went to the resource drawer and rummaged through the model airplane control bits and found just what I needed.
 

 
I had some nice steel 3/16 hex stock on the shelf tapered one end and reduced the diameter to thread for 4 x 40 so that I could attach the control end.
 
Then I pulled a length of Plastruct "T" section out of the plastic bin to make some pads
 

 
I drilled the tabs so that they would snap onto the bolt in the end of the control link, this way I can make a number of different lengths and stick different grits or polishing fabric to the pads
 

 
It seems to work well, I guess all that drywall sanding when I built this place stuck in the back of my mind.
 

 

 
Now sanding the side of the hull will be much easier for the little helpers.
 
Michael
 

I should have just posted this here.
 
Jim thanks for the compliment
 
 

 
The tool is made from stock wooden dowel 
1 x 3/4 x 3 1/2 long
2 x 3/4 x 2 1/2 long
1 x 1/2 x 8 long
2 x 1/2 x 2 1/2 long
2 x 3/8 x 2 long
6 off 8 x 32 x 3/4 long round head machine screws
1 off 8 x 32 x 1 long round head machine screws
7 off 8 x 32 brass thumb nuts
1 piece wood for base, mine is 8 x 4 1/2 x 3/4  oak
 
The top clamp arms do not have the second rotation but for most tasks this would not be an issue there is still lots of control, and on my one I ran out of brass thumb nuts so I had to use different nut on the base post, and the 8 x 32 round head screws are reversed on one side to show that it can be done without the brass thumb nuts.
 
basically the screws are threaded in from the bottom with the clearance hole on the top so that the brass thumb screw presses the top half of the dowel down.  without the thumb nuts the machine screw pulls down the wood.
 

 

 

 
 wood third hand tool.pdf   287.75KB   0 downloads
 
So I hope that this information is useful to those who want to make one for themselves The only machine tool I used was a drill press to drill all the holes, this could have been accomplished with a good hand drill
hand tools included a small back saw
a hack saw
a thin file
an 8 x 32 second tap
 
Michael

While completing my previous build, I was very unhappy with the anchor ropes supplied because they were completely out of scale. After some research I decided to build my own rope walker. It only cost me about $50 AU to make. The main cost was the motor and coupling. Perspex I had left over from another job and the variable speed/on off attachment from my Domanoff Serving Machine proved most useful. Mini bearings were very cheaply sourced from eBay. I have labelled each picture in an attempt to show how it was constructed. I intend to make as many ropes as possible for my current build - Caldercraft's Bounty when the time comes. Hope somebody gets some ideas from this post.
 
Cheers
Steve

the chess table cells 1х1м  

good day graduated from the big cabin remained small little things here that a coat of varnish to put the pen on the day lay out the process of construction and until ready option Anatoly
 
добрый день закончил большую каюту остались небольшие мелочи кое что покрыть лаком поставить ручки на днях выложу процесс постройки а пока готовый вариант Анатолий
 
 

continued
 

thank you all very much for the kind words. Decided to show the construction of a large cabin there is a small extension did parquet in size until you cut out the used such types of wood 1.Carpinus Decne black.
2.Betula pendula var. carelica (Merckl.) Hämet-Ahti (1984) 3.Platanus L., 1753 4.Microberlinia 5. pear garden 6.Guibourtia tessmannii 7.Juglans regia L.
many people say that on my ship should not be such a sex on the status of not supposed to but I wanted and I do because I do for the soul
 
всем огромное спасибо за добрые слова. Решил показывать строительство большой каюты здесь вот небольшое продолжение сделал паркет по размеру пока не вырезал использовал вот такие сорта дерева 1.Carpinus Decne  чёрный.
 2.Betula pendula var. carelica (Merckl.) Hämet-Ahti (1984) 3.Platanus L., 1753 4.Microberlinia 5. груша садовая 6.Guibourtia tessmannii 7.Juglans regia L.
многие говорят что на моём корабле не должно быть такого пола по статусу не положено но мне захотелось и я делаю потому что делаю для души