Sumpter,
I have corrected my ship propellers to screws where this was possible. And a short addition - the screw has a diameter of 60 millimeters, this are more than 17 feet, a really fat block.
(Sorry, before I have posted the German translation here.)
Reinhard,
I would like to write you a few arguments why I can’t miss wood in my work.
I assert that there is no another material than wood that also in a scale 1 to 87 looks like wood! All other things are imitations and in most cases I can see it on a first sight - latest with a second sight.
My question is should I use plastic when it should look like wood and if I can use wood without problems?
Look this picture. This a shot from the car body of my last gondola project - without each editing.
All planks are glued as single planks on the frame. I glued plank for plank and they have got very fine gaps by use of water while process of pressing the frame to an arched upward one and by the colouring with water-solvable paints and aging. Each plank has its own very specific surface and grain. And you can see my use of correct planks – without bevelling plank edges. Can you that all achieve by use of plastic? Planks in side walls of cars have grooves. And I'm sure that floor planks of railroad freight cars did never have them. Or I would like to see them – from the reality, not from models.Your last picture with Bavarian “brass wood planks” shows a very different look of “model wood” - planks with heavy grooves and all planks have an identical grain. I think that this is a very unnatural looking wood if you should use this "fine etched wood" for your modeling jobs.
And why should I use plastic instead of wood for a heavy pedestal that I need for this ship screw? Such a support is regularly built for a single use and for it new and fresh wood must be ordered from a local timber dealer. So I think that I must not age or weather this wood. And it should be raw timber.
After many discussions with my friend I have started my “White swan” reefer project with use of styrene – and it was a heavy decision for me switching from wood to plastic. However my friend was in right to say that a fine, smooth surfaces can built only with a material that has a smooth surface – and that will not be possible with use of wood strips or premilled sheets (from Northeastern). Wooden side wall sheets of passenger cars, reefers or also other (new) cars will have a well worked surface without a heavy grain and so I changed to styrene in this case. However each time I would prefer to use wood for an old and aged model where the original was built from or with wood. I’m sure that I never can get a typical old wood surface by use of plastic.
Sample in your link was done with a plastic model. Again, why should I build a wood model from plastic in order to give it a look of wood after? I would do is on other way. I would remove the plastic floor and add one made from wood - better yet by use of single planks. I’m sure that my result will be better!
And last yet a word about my technology and use of materials.
I use strip wood made by Kappler for walls and surfaces with a very fine and smooth surface. Each wood strip has absolute same dimensions like others. And these strips are smoothly with a very fine surface! However I use also Northeastern for frame work and especially for open floors of gondolas and flatcars. Northeastern strips have partially great differences in their dimension also in one pack. And you will see and also feel these differences at open floors, different changed by rain, by humidity or by pressure of loads! And this will be better than all what you can get with plastic. In a few cases you can’t see these differences but you can feel them by your fingertips. My gondolas deliver the proof.
Reinhard, can you understand my love to work with wood? And at last, I have seen pictures from O-scale models in highest price category and this company has inserted wood sheets for side walls to their extreme fine brass work. Also I was surprised!