WATERLINES , The easiest way ?

I bet I could make one of those from scratch for twice the money, a couple of hours and it probably would work about half as well. I LIKE.

Tanks, I mean on the as launched cargo ship. I need to look at the pictures again- they're on the other thread somewhere.

I've also been thinking ahead how to get "EVELYN" on the hull, three times. It occurs to me that all of the letters occur in the word Pennsylvania and decals with that word are pretty easy to come by in bulk. But the railroad used a super extended serif font, and didn't much dabble in sans serif until the sad, horrible period of the Penn Central. Dark days indeed.

For marking waterlines on hulls that don't already have them marked, check this out:

www.woodcraft.com/.../AccuScribe-Pro.aspx

I have the simpler (and slightly cheaper) version that preceded this one. It works great.

Gee;

   Now that's a good question . Maybe they didn't put them on to fool U-Boats ? I seem to remember all the ships I sailed on had them .The difference in salinity between the cold Atlantic and the Warm Pacific .

   A cold sea causes the ship to sit different so the " Plimsoll " device aided in loading for the voyage and thus seaworthiness ,  Warm water caused the ship to sit higher !         T.B.

Funny now that I think on it but in my collection of photos I don't see any draft markings. Is that (un)usual?

Take a look in the Q ship thread. She's a 1912 built medium sized freighter with a pretty constant center section and a level keel. I've got her on a temporary base that's got force fit mounting posts so she's adjustable to level.

Hey G;

What kind of ship is she ? Some had pretty straight bottoms that would allow you to sit it on the bench and create that line like I described  .I do like the idea of dots as to the line rather than a pencil line all the way around .

About to set the line for the red oxide on my SS Evelyn. I generally follow the idea of setting the model level and scribing a line- but.

its hard to do because models aren't all that well made to begin with, and after they get  glued together it's pretty much eyeball spec.

so I end up doing arms length eyeball set up.

tips: don't draw a line- mark little dots. Much easier to correct.

when you think you have an idea where the cut line is, do it with 3mm or 1/8" flexible tape. Move it around, get it right.

then double up with the cheap wide stuff. 

Ah Yes ;

      The thing is , most Waterlines are for the ship at full fuel and cargo, passengers etc . The Boot stripe keeps everything looking good .The " Boot Stripe " was intended to keep ships clean like in the harbor , at anchor and on a buoy .This way oil or coal dust didn't create a dirty line on the hulls .

   Many ships don't have them because they use the old Plimsoll method for knowing how deep or shallow the ship is sitting . The painted surfaces are based on a loaded waterline .

Well I Google Boot Topping and it comes up the area between the waterlines when the ship is empty or fully loaded.  Seems it would be an option for the builder to add it to the hull or not.

Don Stauffer

I got to wondering why they finish waterlines the way they do.  At first I don't think they painted above and below waterline differently.  But they applied a gloppy protective coating below waterline. Then came the chemically protective paints.  Paint line usually followed waterline, but not always.

I think it would make an interesting article on how today's painted and boot-topped finishes evolved.

I wonder if the introduction of fuel oil was a factor.  A dark coloring at the waterline would help hide oil stains, especially for a ship riding at anchor in a harbor.

I got to wondering why they finish waterlines the way they do.  At first I don't think they painted above and below waterline differently.  But they applied a gloppy protective coating below waterline. Then came the chemically protective paints.  Paint line usually followed waterline, but not always.

I think it would make an interesting article on how today's painted and boot-topped finishes evolved.

As many of us do, I am sure! ;-)

Bill

Ah ! My friend , can I interest you in some ancient artifacts ?

   I think it is very old .You can feel it after you apply it  .Not like the new stuff you get now all smooth and nice !

  Yes Bill , I DO use striping tape now and then .

Then, there is always black striping tape for the faint-hearted!

Bill