Although I have been registered for quite a while, this is my first posting. I have been modeling ships since 1974 and have completed more than a dozen. Most are from kits but have been heavily expanded or modified. A kit is a convenient place from which to begin. A single source for many of the required parts including plans, wood, castings etc. Nevertheless, I usually spend an equal amount replacing materiel as I paid for the original kit. My first build was the Flying Fish, a solid hull model completed in 1975. I look at the model and wonder how I ever completed it as my first model. It is fully rigged and I doubt that, at the age of 82, that I could replicate it.
I have a couple of comments and a question for the forum: First of all, I have tried on each build to create a perfect model -- no mistakes! IMPOSSIBLE!! I may be the only one that knows where the mistakes are, but the do exist, especially with the more complex. Critical to the building process if thinking ones was through the process. The order of construction can either help you build or vastly hinder it. The order of masting is just one major example. My current problem stems from the fact that I have newer had to rip bentinck shrouds. My current build, the USS Constitution, has bentinck shrouds that cross over from one side of the ship to the other, termination at a heart or eyebolt on the deck, close to or on the waterway. I try to place all deck feature early in the build but I missed this attachment point. I am trying to figure out how to drill a hole in the the deck from one side to the other. For example, pin vises are way too short to span the distance through the starboard shrouds (no foot ropes yet) to the port waterway. My Dermal drill is way to bulky and my hands are way to big. Any idea as to how I can drill a #75 hole over a 6" span? Can I add an extention to my pin vise?
One final note is a problem that I suspect everyone has. I try to keep a neat work table, but can never find the right tool, the 6" rule, the glue, etc. even seconds after I had used them. They simply seem to "disappear". Any one else have this problem? Thanks for reading. Paul H.
I have a couple of comments and a question for the forum: First of all, I have tried on each build to create a perfect model -- no mistakes! IMPOSSIBLE!! I may be the only one that knows where the mistakes are, but the do exist, especially with the more complex. Critical to the building process if thinking ones was through the process. The order of construction can either help you build or vastly hinder it. The order of masting is just one major example. My current problem stems from the fact that I have newer had to rip bentinck shrouds. My current build, the USS Constitution, has bentinck shrouds that cross over from one side of the ship to the other, termination at a heart or eyebolt on the deck, close to or on the waterway. I try to place all deck feature early in the build but I missed this attachment point. I am trying to figure out how to drill a hole in the the deck from one side to the other. For example, pin vises are way too short to span the distance through the starboard shrouds (no foot ropes yet) to the port waterway. My Dermal drill is way to bulky and my hands are way to big. Any idea as to how I can drill a #75 hole over a 6" span? Can I add an extention to my pin vise?
One final note is a problem that I suspect everyone has. I try to keep a neat work table, but can never find the right tool, the 6" rule, the glue, etc. even seconds after I had used them. They simply seem to "disappear". Any one else have this problem? Thanks for reading. Paul H.