albergman

OK, this one's done (again). Not much to show of the process but i did do the following: Made all new stanchions, tapered ends with a ball (drilled for lifelines). Wire used was salvaged from an old computer mouse cable ... remember, back before wireless mice. New bow and stern pulpits with lifeline attachments (shown above). Made a propeller from a brass toilet bolt and an old brass fixture (?) Since it's a half hull model only 2 blades needed. Last thing was to make a new backing board. For this I bought an 8' plank of rough-cut teak ($$) which I dressed and cut it into 3 sections. I also had a long strip of cocobolo wood that I planed down and placed strategically between 2 of the teak planks to create a "horizon" of sorts. The whole thing was then screwed together with "pocket holes" (tapered down at a steep angle between 2 boards). Sanded the whole thing flat and then routed a 45 around the edge. The teak has much stronger figuring than I would have preferred and to date I have no finish on it. (Not actually as dark as the photo shows) ... From here I'm moving back to working on my Flying Scotsman ... more renovations! Thanks for looking in. Frank Other Scratch builds ... Lancia D50 Sport Fishing Boat Flying Scotsman A3 Lola T70 Mk 1 Dragon Sailboat Mahogany Ferrari More wooden cars

Time for a bit of an update. Been busy with mostly car projects for the past couple of years but now returning to do some much needed updates on the half hull model of our own Alberg 37 sloop (since sold). I mentioned at the beginning of this thread that I wasn't happy with the metal work on this model as it was done back in the days when I was using plain steel rod and ordinary solder. This has now tarnished and blackened so it's time to replace all that with stainless steel and S/S solder. Have taken the model out to my shed and have it mounted on a work board which itself is screwed to a cabinet near my workbench. This lets me easily reach the model while reducing its handling. It was pretty dirty after several years on the wall so after a wash down with Q-tips and soft, wetted rags I gave it a polish with the automotive stuff (Meguires polishing compound) I use on my car models. Gave it a shine it never had. I've glued a couple chunks of Renshape together to give me a surface on which to build the new bow and stern pulpits. Drilled a few holes where needed and start bending stainless rod to the shapes. This rod is actually sold as stainless steel welding rods and is lovely to work with. Solder in the extra rails then remove from the Ren. File down the excess solder. wet sand it and finally polish with a metal polish. Here's my 2 new rails ... There are tiny tabs that need to be added to the rails where the lifelines will attach. These I cut from a tin can lid and soldered in place. I use a large piece for ease of holding then grind it to size with a Dremel grinding disk. Tabs seen here on the bow pulpit. That's about as far as I've got. Need to make a few stanchions and the 2 special ones for the "gate". Back later. Frank Other scratch Builds ... Ferrari TR in wood Lancia D50 Sport Fishing Boat Flying Scotsman A3 Lola T70 Mk 1 Dragon Sailboat

Not bad at all ... especially for a 13 year old. Looks like you still have it too. Thanks for that. Frank

Brian I meant to ask you what kind of woodworking you do. Models, furniture or ???

Thanks KP. There's a finished log posted with a few pics here.

I think I just caught on to your "talent with wood" comment. Naughty but OK. I'm old and slow. Frank

Thanks fellas! Very kind. Shaun ... I went to look at your postings but I see you've become a victim of PhotoBucket's greed. Sorry. KiwiDave ... Glad you like my approach to these models. I've often been tempted to simulate windows or add details to the GTO but have managed to restrain myself so far. I too like the simplified look of that one particularly. Less is more. I should go back and finish posting my build pictures someday! Frank Other Scratch builds ... Lancia D50 Sport Fishing Boat Half Hull Boats Flying Scotsman A3 Lola T70 Mk 1 Dragon Sailboat

Thanks guys. Appreciate your comments. No varnish used at all just clear lacquer ... which ended up being just rattle can from a hardware store. Many coats over several weeks, dried on top of my hot water tank. Wet sanded with 1000 grit until (almost) no grain hollows are left. Then polished it with a good quality ultra fine automotive polishing compound ... Meguires to be precise. It just makes the dull, wet sanding spring to life. Coops: yes, the cover was made separately from a 1/2" "block" that was glued up from the same 3 woods. Sculpted to fit down onto the car then, when a good fit achieved, ground the top surface down till only a thin overlap was left. It is now tacked to the finished car to keep it in place. I posted a few pics of that process on the build log. Recently used that polishing compound to buff up a couple of earlier cars ... Here's a different mahogany piece. Very old lacquer so it's good and hard ... And a GTO done in padauk wood ... Frank

Hi all Haven't posted much in the way of build photos as this one just didn't seem to appeal to many. It may still be that way but it is what it is and I enjoy doing them. So, this is a hand carved Ferrari (the eighth I've done of this model), but this time I wanted to hack it from nice woods ... mahogany and padauk ... with some light coloured veneer, then give everything a highly polished lacquer finish. Decided to do a matching pattern on the base just for fun. Not highly detailed as I like my wooden models mostly to emphasize and concentrate on the beautiful shapes of these early cars. OK, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Enjoy (I hope) Frank Other Scratch builds ... Lancia D50 Sport Fishing Boat Half Hull Boats Flying Scotsman A3 Lola T70 Mk 1 Dragon Sailboat

Laurie Martin and I both use Renshape and it is a wonderful medium for scartchbuilding parts. It is, however, VERY expensive so I'm going to suggest an alternative that is quite similar. There are several companies now making a synthetic wood for use in decking or docks ... impervious to water, UV radiation and every other scourge known to man ... if you believe the advertising. Here's the best bit, many of these companies offer free samples of their products. I suggest you Google synthetic/composite wood and see if you can source some samples for yourself. FYI ... this boat hull is entirely made from glued and screwed together planks left over from a neighbour's deck project! became ... Cheers Frank

Thanks for the suggestion "elderly" but I think I'll pass You're quite right of course that it isn't "realistic" so it's maybe hard for other modellers to relate to it. Thanks! Glad you're a fan of these cars Shawn ... wonderful design aren't they? Thanks to you too Pouln. Ummm, I'm afraid I don't build to any scale On average all my models are around 9" long (32 cms?) plus or minus. I only build for myself or to give away to friends and when I started doing this I just decided to build the first model to the 9" length of the block of wood I started with ... why waste any? After that it just made sense to me to keep them all about the same size but I'm not religious about that. Martin ... behave!! Thanks for the support.

Spent a bit of time perusing your submissions before garden duties called me away. Looks like the PhotoBucket virus is sporadically creeping into your posts too ... very irregularly. In the "New slot car masters" post about half the pictures are visible. Strange how random it is. Frank PS by and large you come across as a very pleasant chap!!

MARTIN!! Small world. I've been 'outed". Thank you for the very kind comments mate. Now my hat doesn't fit! You've been on here since 2011 ... and you're still here ... you've been a good boy. Frank Now I'm going to see what you've been posting all these years. Finished Scratch Builds ... Trojan Sport Fisherman Flying Scotsman Modern Yacht half hulls Triumph TR-6 Wooden Cars

Thanks Will. Know nothing about racehorses so I don't get the connection ... may they get "glossy" when they work up a sweat? I do understand the filler comment of course. When you want a natural finish that's a real challenge not to remove too much in the shaping. Any added wood just catched the eye "Look here!! He went too far!"" Steve! Oh goody, I'm going to charge admission for my club and we'll get jackets and ... and .... Glad to have you along. And MBD ... from the "Rhubarb Triangle" ... that's a good one. Glad you appreciate my work. For my tiny band of followers who like this kind of stuff ... there's more in a post I did a couple of years ago ... "Artsy Fartsy cars". Frank

Thanks guys. I appreciate you looking in and leaving a comment. It's a pretty small fan club LOL.