Before we left on our road trip I thought I had finished the hull of my model of the 1795 Frigate Themis.  But when I came back it turned out I had just a few more details.  Here is a picture.

Still I believe it is now complete and I can turn my effort to the rigging and masts.

I spent 4 afternoons this last week bending and soldering brass wire to simulate the chain brackets that go on the hull.  These would be normally cast iron but I have found over the years that I can simulate them very nicely with a loop of copper wire, soldering and then clamping for the small end.  I had to make 46 of these brackets but it is fun as I listen to recordings of old Mayday episodes on the TV.  I chose brass instead of copper for some reason that I cannot remember now.

I had the idea to soak them when they were finished in an acid to try and blacken them to make them look more like cast iron.   I have done this many times before but for some reason the brass did not blacken so I left them in the acid for longer than I intended.  Did not turn black.  Started to hook up the dead eyes and chains to connect to these brackets and all the solder connections failed as the acid ate the solder away.  Had to throw them all out.  The picture just shows a few but you can clearly see the failed joints.

Big mistake.  I will have to spend the next week making new ones (this time from copper).  Good thing I do not do this to make money.