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drobinson02199

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Everything posted by drobinson02199

  1. Bowsprit now permanently mounted and gammoning completed. The gammoning on this model is more than decorative -- it performs the same function as it would have done on the real ship: locking down the bowsprit tight. Gammoning was tricky to thread behind the beak struts. Regards, David
  2. Finished the foremast topmast shrouds and ratlines, and THAT'S IT for ratlines on this model!😃 I looked back to when I started the shrouds, and removing the 6 weeks I was away on vacation, I was dong shrouds and ratlines for 4 1/2 months. That's as long as some other models I've built took overall. Not sure what it is about this model that makes things go so slow -- maybe the size? Regards, David
  3. Finished the shrouds on the main topmast and topgallant mast. And yes, for the sharp-eyed, the shroud attachments for the futtocks are not level with each other. That's just a goof. I find attaching those to the shrouds to be devilish, so my latest approach is to put glue on the bar and spray the shrouds with quick-set, then press the bar against the shrouds. Got them aligned on the mizzen, but missed here. I'm not worried about it because the ship on display will be viewed from one side (the one showing below), and the other futtock attachment won't be that noticeable. Regards, David
  4. Finally -- one mast completed. This is the mizzen, all shrouds and ratlines done. Regards, David
  5. The topgallant shrouds run down through the topmast crosstrees and become the topmast futtock shrouds in one continuous run. The instructions aren't terribly clear about this. This is still the mizzen. Regards, David
  6. Here are the upper mizzen shrouds. I inadvertantly pranged the mizzen and the second mast broke, so I glued it -- but as you can see (in the picture with the bad background, looking aft from the main mast), it was misaligned. So I used the shrouds to pull it back into alignment, and it came out pretty straight. Pretty well aligned with the main now. One of those few occasions when the rigging is functional, not just decorative. Regards, David
  7. Allan: No, your vision is spot on. The instructions say to paint the cleats black -- I haven't done that as yet, but brown would be interesting. As for the ties, they only look like monofilament because of the glue, but they are actually thin light rope. Regards, David
  8. Finished the lower mizzen ratlines, which means I have now finished the lower shrouds and ratlines for all three masts. Only took about 3 1/2 months 🥵 (subtracting my vacation time), and I have built some entire ships in that time. Not a reflection of difficulty per se, so much as my lack of appetite for ratlines. Now I get to repeat the process for the upper shrouds and ratlines, but fewer shrouds so may go faster. Regards, David
  9. Finished the Mizzen shrouds. Pictures include the futtock shrouds and the shroud cleats. I did the cleats by first gluing them to the shrouds, then lashing them. Regards,
  10. Back from my winter trip and dug back into the foremast ratlines. Finished off the port side. Now onto the mizzen shrouds. Regards, David
  11. One side of the foremast lower ratlines done. This took me 2 weeks, which is mostly because ratlines are BORING and REPETITIVE. About to leave for a long trip, so won't be posting again for a bit. Regards, David
  12. Chris: I'm set up to follow any of your logs, so I'll look for the pics in the gallery once you finish. At the rate I'm going on Victory, I'll finish her sometime late next year. Best regards, David
  13. Chris: Thanks for your comment. No, I didn't do that one. What are you working on now? Regards, David
  14. I see from my last post that it's been over a month since that one -- a reflection of a very busy November and early December. Also a reflection of the surprising difficulty I found in fitting the fore shroud cleats, pictured here (with a white paper towel background so you can see them). I suspect that my bottle of CA gel may be getting old and not setting as fast as usual, but I found it hard to get them glued to the shrouds so that I could then apply the lashings. Now to ratlines. Regards, David
  15. Main mast ratlines now done on the other side. Slow but steady. I put them against a black background since they are white, in order to see them better. You can't see it, but hanging behind the black baseboard is a tablet I bought that allows me to stream TV while I'm working on the model. Helps on the grindingly repetitive things like ratlines. Regards, David
  16. Pictures below of completed ratlines on ONE side of the main shrouds. I've kept them a bit dark because the ratlines are white and hard to see. I've been working on these for about 2 1/2 weeks, which is an indication of my motivation level when it comes to ratlines. Probably not alone in that regard. At this rate, I'll still be working on this ship at this time next year. Regards, David
  17. Chris: Here you go. It's really a rats nest. Except for the 11th shroud, this is all two-shroud loops, tied off at the top with black thread. The manual says to push the knots up, but that's not really practical, so I thread it and then tie it in position. I also use that to try to manage the alignment of the shrouds as they come up to the mast tie-off. I used to do one shroud at a time because it made the alignment easier, but the top was really a mess when I did that on earlier ships, so I mount one deadeye, thread it through the top, and then there is a fiendish alignment process for the second deadeye at the other end of the second shroud. Curious why you asked to see this. Regards, David
  18. Finished the main mast shrouds. While the instructions say to go on to the rest of the lower and upper shrouds, I'm going to do the ratlines on these first to inject some variety into the work. Regards, David
  19. Masts are now done and permanently mounted. Including the bowsprit, the masts have taken me just about a month. Now on to standing rigging. Regards, David
  20. Allan: Just rechecked, and they are correct to the millimeter according to the Caldercraft plan sheets. Regards, David
  21. Main mast done, so 2 out of 3 completed. I've found that the tapering on the topgallant masts makes them incredibly fragile where they taper back to 3.5mm in the middle. After two breaks on the main topgallant, I had to sink a pin in while re-gluing it. Regards, David
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