Silent Mary by Mellpapa

mellpapa · Aug 20, 2025

Namabiiru said:
I'm guessing it's to keep the bowsprit over the base, and thus better protected from getting snagged by a passing sweater of set of golf clubs.

Hello Namabiiru,
You're right.

GIG1810 · Aug 20, 2025

Hey Mellpapa,

I understand now. Thumbsup

That makes sense. Thanks for explaining.

Cheers, Günther! Ship-1

ConsNZ · Aug 20, 2025

mellpapa said:
Hello, ConsNZ.
Here, people who are skilled at crafts are called “Goats.”
I see, thank you for letting me know.

Hey mellpapa, "G.o.a.t" = Greatest Of All Time.

mellpapa · Aug 20, 2025

ConsNZ said:
Hey mellpapa, "G.o.a.t" = Greatest Of All Time.

Hey, ConsNZ!
Thank you for saying I'm the “G.o.a.t”!

I live in the northernmost part of Japan, but due to abnormal weather conditions, it's so hot that I'm making display stands wearing only my underpants. Speechless

I guess I'm a pervert after all! ROTF

mellpapa · Friday at 3:57 AM

The weather was good, so the light clay hardened nicely.
Then I applied gesso and spray-painted it a sea-like color.

I immediately floated the Silent Mary on the sea.
Well, that's about it.
The sea is pretty poorly made.
The main focus is on the Silent Mary, so the sea is just adequate.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The vertical lines of the sail have been sewn together, so we can start making the sail.
We are attaching the lining (reinforcing fabric) with craft glue.
We are also attaching the band line cross (reinforcing fabric).

This image shows the lining (reinforcing fabric), banding line cross (reinforcing fabric), and reinforcing fabric at the four corners being attached, and the bolt rope being glued with craft glue.

This image also shows the bolt rope being bonded.

For now, I have made the main lower sail, main top sail, and main top gallant sail.
I will experiment with hardening them with clear lacquer spray.

I will do the hardening tomorrow.
Once they are hardened, I will paint them in sail colors, apply a weathered finish, and make and apply a double-headed eagle decal.

If this goes well, I plan to make the foresail and mizzen sail in the same way.

Namabiiru · Friday at 5:03 AM

Mellpapa, your ocean and sails look wonderful. Do you intend to die the sails? Maybe with tea or coffee?

mellpapa · Friday at 6:25 AM

Namabiiru said:
Mellpapa, your ocean and sails look wonderful. Do you intend to die the sails? Maybe with tea or coffee?

Hey, Namabiiru.
The sailcloth has been dyed with coffee once. Coffee

It looks white, but it's actually a light cream color.

The craft glue is water-soluble, so it seems impossible to dye it further.

I'll use clear lacquer spray to stiffen the sail and dilute the lacquer paint to make it look dirty.

GIG1810 · Friday at 10:07 AM

Hey Mellpapa,

that looks very good. The sails too. But if you use the clear varnish, you have to be careful when you spray it on the fabric. It may come off again partially if you move or press it. It won't look so nice. Unfortunately, I experienced this once and the piece of fabric could no longer be used. That's why it's better to use textile spray paint. That's better!

Best regards

Günther Ship-1

mellpapa · Friday at 6:06 PM

GIG1810 said:
Hey Mellpapa,

that looks very good. The sails too. But if you use the clear varnish, you have to be careful when you spray it on the fabric. It may come off again partially if you move or press it. It won't look so nice. Unfortunately, I experienced this once and the piece of fabric could no longer be used. That's why it's better to use textile spray paint. That's better!

Best regards

Günther

Hello, GIG1810.
Thank you for sharing your past failures with us.

I will try not to make the same mistakes.
I am very grateful for your advice.

mellpapa · Saturday at 12:24 AM

When I sew vertical lines with a sewing machine, it creates fine wrinkles.
I want to fix this somehow.

I'll try using clear lacquer spray.

I'm shooting with a strobe, so the wrinkles and bumps are flying off white.

This is the main top gallant. It is wrinkled and bumpy like this.
Spray it with clear lacquer spray and let it dry.
Repeat this two or three times, and once the clear lacquer spray has dried and hardened...

Place the main top gallant sail between two sheets of Construction paper and iron it.

Surprisingly, the wrinkles and bumps disappeared.
I had predicted that this would eliminate the wrinkles, but I wasn't sure.
So, I decided to try it out.
It worked.

This is the main top.
This is also wrinkled and bumpy, but if you put it between two sheets of paper and iron it...

As you can see, the wrinkles and bumps disappeared as if by magic.

This is the main lower part.
The red line indicates where I ironed it.
The unevenness is gone.

I ironed the entire main lower surface.
The unevenness disappeared.
I am going to apply a decal of a fierce double-headed eagle to the main lower surface, and if the base is uneven, I won't be able to apply the decal neatly.
As expected, you never know until you try things like this.
I'm glad the unevenness of the sail is gone.

The three sails are now smooth and crisp, with no wrinkles or bumps.

It's as if they've been ironed with starch. I will apply a thin coat of Mr. COLOR's Sale Color and Neutral Gray/German Gray to give them a weathered look, but I will do that tomorrow.
I need to purchase Mr. COLOR's Sale Color No. 45.
Now, it's off to the model shop! ROTF

Namabiiru · Saturday at 4:25 AM

mellpapa said:
View attachment 539379
When I sew vertical lines with a sewing machine, it creates fine wrinkles.
I want to fix this somehow.

View attachment 539380
I'll try using clear lacquer spray.

View attachment 539381
I'm shooting with a strobe, so the wrinkles and bumps are flying off white.

View attachment 539382
This is the main top gallant. It is wrinkled and bumpy like this.
Spray it with clear lacquer spray and let it dry.
Repeat this two or three times, and once the clear lacquer spray has dried and hardened...

View attachment 539383
Place the main top gallant sail between two sheets of Construction paper and iron it.

View attachment 539384
Surprisingly, the wrinkles and bumps disappeared.
I had predicted that this would eliminate the wrinkles, but I wasn't sure.
So, I decided to try it out.
It worked.

View attachment 539385
This is the main top.
This is also wrinkled and bumpy, but if you put it between two sheets of paper and iron it...

View attachment 539386
As you can see, the wrinkles and bumps disappeared as if by magic.

View attachment 539387
This is the main lower part.
The red line indicates where I ironed it.
The unevenness is gone.

View attachment 539388
I ironed the entire main lower surface.
The unevenness disappeared.
I am going to apply a decal of a fierce double-headed eagle to the main lower surface, and if the base is uneven, I won't be able to apply the decal neatly.
As expected, you never know until you try things like this.
I'm glad the unevenness of the sail is gone.

View attachment 539390
The three sails are now smooth and crisp, with no wrinkles or bumps.
It's as if they've been ironed with starch. I will apply a thin coat of Mr. COLOR's Sale Color and Neutral Gray/German Gray to give them a weathered look, but I will do that tomorrow.
I need to purchase Mr. COLOR's Sale Color No. 45.
Now, it's off to the model shop!

I wish I knew about this technique before! My St Gildas would have turned out much better. Thank you for sharing it!

mellpapa · Saturday at 4:51 AM

Namabiiru said:
I wish I knew about this technique before! My St Gildas would have turned out much better. Thank you for sharing it!

Hey, Namabiiru!
If you're planning to make a model sailboat, sew the vertical lines of the sail with a sewing machine, and if it gets wrinkled and bumpy, use clear lacquer spray and an iron to fix it.

Today's experiment was really useful. ROTF

If you want, you can try it yourself, but do it at your own risk.

Namabiiru · Saturday at 5:00 AM

mellpapa said:
Hey, Namabiiru!
If you're planning to make a model sailboat, sew the vertical lines of the sail with a sewing machine, and if it gets wrinkled and bumpy, use clear lacquer spray and an iron to fix it.
Today's experiment was really useful.
If you want, you can try it yourself, but do it at your own risk.

The next time I make ship with sails I will try it! I don’t plan on sails for the Fair American

Steef66 · Saturday at 6:26 AM

An old lady nearby who makes bridal wear by hand. Who told me that you should always iron the fabric before sewing, this prevents the fabric from wrinkling while sewing. Also setting your sewing machine to the fabric you are using is important.

mellpapa · Saturday at 6:44 AM

Steef66 said:
An old lady nearby who makes bridal wear by hand. Who told me that you should always iron the fabric before sewing, this prevents the fabric from wrinkling while sewing. Also setting your sewing machine to the fabric you are using is important.

Hey, Steef66.
Thanks for teaching me how to prepare the fabric before sewing.

I dyed the fabric lightly with coffee, let it dry, and then ironed it. Cautious

I didn't know that you had to adjust the sewing machine to the fabric.
I've never used a sewing machine before, so I asked my wife to do it for me. ROTF

My wife won't let me use the sewing machine.

Namabiiru · Saturday at 6:47 AM

Steef66 said:
An old lady nearby who makes bridal wear by hand. Who told me that you should always iron the fabric before sewing, this prevents the fabric from wrinkling while sewing. Also setting your sewing machine to the fabric you are using is important.

I agree with Mellpapa that the issue seems to be thread tension, which I have yet to master. I ironed mine multiple times before sewing, but still got the wavy effect Mellpapa showed.

Steef66 · Saturday at 7:04 AM

Yeah, you have to be a professional to use that machine. That's why I use paper now for sails.

ConsNZ · Saturday at 3:55 PM

mellpapa said:
Hey, Steef66.
Thanks for teaching me how to prepare the fabric before sewing.
I dyed the fabric lightly with coffee, let it dry, and then ironed it.
I didn't know that you had to adjust the sewing machine to the fabric.
I've never used a sewing machine before, so I asked my wife to do it for me.
My wife won't let me use the sewing machine.

To my wife her sewing machine was precious. I asked her to sew the sails for La Nina. She agreed then saw what had to be done and said 'I'm gifting you the sewing machine'

mellpapa · Saturday at 8:33 PM

Steef66 said:
Yeah, you have to be a professional to use that machine. That's why I use paper now for sails.

Hey, Steef66!
My wife uses a Janome electric sewing machine.

She won't let me use it because she says it might get messed up if someone else uses it, and it would be a pain if it broke.

I've never used a sewing machine before, so I don't really know much about them. Speechless

But I'm glad I was able to get rid of the bumps on the sail.
Steef66's idea of making sails out of paper is also a great one.

mellpapa · Saturday at 8:36 PM

ConsNZ said:
To my wife her sewing machine was precious. I asked her to sew the sails for La Nina. She agreed then saw what had to be done and said 'I'm gifting you the sewing machine'

Hey, ConsNZ!
What a wonderful wife you have, giving you a sewing machine as a gift!