Thank you gents!
@ Marjinn
I had the choice on the bench of both 0.047 mm stainless steel wire (from Shelf Oddity )
as well as the 0.047mm Modell-kasten Nitinol wire.
Nitinol... interesting stuff, an alloy of Nickel and Titanium
quote from the net;
Nitinol is a metal alloy of nickel and titanium with unique properties,
including superelasticity or pseudoelasticity and �shape memory� properties.
That means Nitinol can remember its original shape and return to it when heated.
more here ;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_titanium
in our modelship-making rigging instance, it means that although it arrives with us in a small diameter roll,
when released it straightens out again. ( Bizarre! )
It is also very strong and stiff pro-rata for its diminutive diameter ,
and is quite hard to cut --I use baby Fiskar scissors, which cuts in a shearing motion,
more successfully I found than scalpel and Stanley blades.
Its main advantage is that for the use in for example Funnel stays, it can be 'propped' up,
and is very resistant to kinking whilst handling.
However... I can stretch 'Sprue' easily and reliably - to about half of the Nitinol wire, useful for halyards
and antenna.
@ Pascalmod... I do quite like the Nitinol wire from MK ... but don't like the shininess.....(!)
I colour it black --without paint build up -- using a 'Pentel' Permanent markers,
drawing the pen along the wire ( secured with tape at one end) on a piece of Kitchen towel--
==> the paper towel soaks up the excess ink and transfers it to the' underside' .
( warning--
don't use Sharpie pens for this--they bleed with adhesive, thinners and / or varnish)
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anyhow-- the Tug was almost finished-- but it still needed a name-
-as this Tug is an ' amalgam' of Dutch type tugs of that era .
rather than a specific vessel--I could also make up an amalgam name.
Someone at home commented to me that it was
Lunacy to spend so much time on a fictitious vessel. ...( Ha!
Lunacy was a bit strong as an observation,-- but hmnnn.... LunaR-SEA was fun,
LUNARZEE was more Dutch..!-- but too obvious....
However ... LUNAR SEA in Dutch... = MOONSEA-- turns into a neat name ...
MAANZEE.
So as to be able to make a home-brew , home-printed white decal-- The lettering was on the PC reversed as a black negative outline
that way when printed on white decal sheet in various sizes varying +/- by 0.01 mm I got my chosen white lettering
Once applied, and the letters separated and blended with a fine brush--
and the brightness ' knocked back 'somewhat , the overall effect was quite pleasing to the eye
The ship also needed an Ensign, surprisingly there are many images of Dutch Tugs of this era without any flags at all !!
I took advice from Dutch Tug Maestro Maarten Schoenfeld, , he found that the Ensign is often flown aft off a ( stowable) flag-staff,
when the vessel is towing , the ensign moves to a gaff|(if fitted) or a suitable aft halyard .
This was made by masking the white portion with vinyl tape, then using ( water-paintable ) Caran d'Ache coloured pencils.
The flag was the wrapped in paper and creased brutally using point tweezers to simulate movement;
--the secondary benefit was that it removed some of the colour and took away the intensity of of the colours
A staff was made of Fuse wire, a sprue halyard fitted and the effect was quite pleasing
an almost final inspection of the vessel led me to surmise that the PE " balls " omn the stanchions of the railings
( very thin and nice old WEM PE Koenig rails)
were just a bit too flat for my liking when viewed really close-up
I added some small droplets of thickish white ( enamel ) paint onto each 'ball'
, this gave it some 3-D plasticity.
I added the third lamp on the Fore-mast ( as advised...by MS..!
)
and then decided that enough was enough....
( apart from adding the abrasion from the contact areas of the towing hawser on the cross-spans ..!)
A coat of matt varnish , ==> my preferred type being the Windsor and Newton Galeria Artists Matt varnish
cut 50/50 with distilled water...
Really pulled the model together, removing all shiny bits ( Ninitol rigging as well
) and homogenising the surfaces.
even really close in it all looks quite acceptable on a 5 inch loa model ( 125 mm )
some ' proper ' photos, with proper depth of field ( SLR and tripod!)
will be taken in daylight in the near future
some pics here and they will also appear--in due course--in the permanent Gallery.
all in all is was VERY instructive, and a great practice primer for scratch-buiding the 2 x tugs Retter and Schelde
( using plans!) to be able to complete the Vulkan -picking-up-the-tow project.
More soon
JIM B