Mike Dowling

OK matey, I get the picture ! Your scheme is fine as long as you have room to get one deadeye through the lubbers hole!!! I think to be honest, having had another look at my Bounty, that I am going to go back to my original 'twist and glue' method. It may not be politically correct but it works for me and in the end, by the time you have secured the final end of the lanyards by wrapping round, no-one except the perfectionists out there would know the difference !!!
 
None the less I am very grateful for your efforts and I am quite sure it will be very useful to other members who are more PC than I.
 
You have become far more of an expert than I, even if you profess to being a beginner. I would remind all budding boat builders out there that paddle steamers and stage coaches do not have any significant rigging to worry about !!!
 
You are an absolute Gent Boyd for your assistance, I just have to accept that you are a better model ship builder than I.

You're not the only one confused by the detail of these mast structures and finding no help in A.L.'s instructions.  Reading plans is very hard for me but I'm gradually getting better at it.   If you hold off a bit on adding those confusing details I will try to update my log specifically on that topic.  I'm going to take some pictures (my modelling is better than my photography) and hopefully they serve to show what I believe is each piece and where it goes.  Watch for this update in the next couple days.

Excellent demonstration my friend and very much what I had finally come up with. Now, this is fine for the 'free end' on the desk as it were but, how on earth do you manage that with the other end which is dangling from the mast ?

You are doing an incredible job with a bad kit. Making a silk purse out of a pigs ear.  Most Vics I have seen have been painted you are doing a fine job going natural keep having fun.
David B

Maybe I am just being a 'plank' about all this but, while we are here, what do you do with the ends of the lanyards ? I know the final end raps round the shroud but what about the other end ?
I am sure I am not the only one with problems about these beasties !

Excellent demonstration my friend and very much what I had finally come up with. Now, this is fine for the 'free end' on the desk as it were but, how on earth do you manage that with the other end which is dangling from the mast ?

GG,
 
As you continue on; be sure to check the alignment of anything (e.g. masts, bilge pipes, etc) that runs through the center of the ship from the main deck.
 
Now that you're getting ready to install the middle deck cross beams.  While you can easily access it, be sure to put notches for the bilge pipes in crossbeam 49 (frame 34). The notches will align with holes in the middle and main decks. I believe crossbeam 160 (main deck level) needs notches as well. 
 
FYI - I used the middle and main decks for testing alignment on a regular basis.  You might want to consider building your middle decks sooner than later.
 
One other heads up just in case you didn't notice, all but one of the main deck cross beams are precut with a curvature for water run off (unlike the lower level beams you must cut yourself). 
 
See the notches in cross beam 49 (I actually notched it before gluing it in)

Many thanks for all that Boyd. My remaining question is, how do you manage to keep the loop of thread around the top deadeye when you are doing the seizing? It may also be of interest to others that both the boat builds I have done/am doing have chain fastenings below the bottom dead eye rather than solid ones but the principal is the same.

Hello GG. Looking good.
For gluing bare wood to bare wood, nothing beats wood glue.  
Titebond, Elmer's and Gorilla have excellent wood glues.
As for the nails, it is up to you. The easiest way in my opinion, to simulate nails, is just punch a tiny hole on the wood. When you sand using a very fine grade of sandpaper, the dust fills the holes, and when you apply the varnish, they usually come darker. 
 
Hope this helps.

I rebuilt my deck with plywood from Michaels . Watt is the best glue for planking the cabins wall and do you put some nails like the photos in manuel?

This post was prompted by a request to further explain my rigging of deadeyes and i must admit when i looked back over my log my previous post on that stage where slightly confusing with my many wandering ideas . As i am at the rigging stage at present it seemed a good idea to explain more full my method and hope it may be usefull to others who like myself have not mastered soldering . Excuse the many pics but i find it the best way to explain .
 

 
this is .5 mm coated brass wire ,any finer may not hold it,s shape , any stronger is too hard to bend . once you have the correct length they are simple to mass produce .
 

 

 
the 2 ends are pushed past each other which leaves a double thickness at the bottom of the hook 
 


this then fits snugly into the slot in the channels 
 

I then drilled and put a very fine pin in to hold the deadeye in place and take the pressure of the chainplates 
 

the cap on the channels then covers everything 
 



the first link of the chainplates is then hooked in and the end closed in , No solder was used at this stage either as the pin inserted earlier will take the pressure of the chain , I hope .
 

The top deadeye was measured for length using the simple tool and then siezed in place 
I didn,t worry about leaving a small space at the top of the deadeye as it turned out usefull when finishing tieing the lanyards . 2 further seizings finished the process 
 


The 2 on the left have been trimed and are hopefully finished .When tieing off the lanyards i brought the line through the space between the deadeye end the first seizing on the shrouds , this kept it in line and ment the final tieing is on the back of the deadeye . Hope that makes sence ? I,m pleased to say that the solderless stroups held up under the strain of tightening the shrouds so i think i can safely say they work !!!!     Any further expanation needed i will gladly provide ?
 
last 2 pics show the mainstays from the missen mast ,i have been warned they are better fitted now than when the shrouds are on the mainmast .

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I gave up and bought a scroll saw that made the job easier.
David B

Beautiful job Mike.

I like the railing you added on the upper deck; looks like you added a stairway access as well since previous photos, so I'm sure the passengers will appreciate the rail, too.
 
Very nice model.

Not a dumb question at all my friend. I have been used to doing kits with laser cut pieces. Very easy to remove from the boards and, except maybe for the scorch marks, very easy to work with.
I have now completed two Constructo kits, the REL and Louise both of which I am pleased with in the end but, they don't use the same process for parts. As a result what you get are clearly marked sheets of pieces but not fully cut so you have to follow grooves with an xacto or similar. Also the quality of their plywood parts is certainly questionable when compared with other manufacturers.
I can't be too damning of Constructo because they do finish up being nice models but there are certainly better quality kits out there with better instructions.
 
I hope that is helpful to you in some way.

Thank you to everyone, Strangely enough after all this time I decided to put another row of railings on the wheelhouse deck because somehow the boat just didn't look finished. I reckon it was well worth the effort.
I really am very grateful for all the comments and especially glad that the unpainted approach is appreciated.
 
 
 

Thank you to everyone, Strangely enough after all this time I decided to put another row of railings on the wheelhouse deck because somehow the boat just didn't look finished. I reckon it was well worth the effort.
I really am very grateful for all the comments and especially glad that the unpainted approach is appreciated.
 
 
 

Thank you to everyone, Strangely enough after all this time I decided to put another row of railings on the wheelhouse deck because somehow the boat just didn't look finished. I reckon it was well worth the effort.
I really am very grateful for all the comments and especially glad that the unpainted approach is appreciated.
 
 
 

Thank you to everyone, Strangely enough after all this time I decided to put another row of railings on the wheelhouse deck because somehow the boat just didn't look finished. I reckon it was well worth the effort.
I really am very grateful for all the comments and especially glad that the unpainted approach is appreciated.
 
 
 

Thank you to everyone, Strangely enough after all this time I decided to put another row of railings on the wheelhouse deck because somehow the boat just didn't look finished. I reckon it was well worth the effort.
I really am very grateful for all the comments and especially glad that the unpainted approach is appreciated.
 
 
 

I've only built 2.5 kits so far. My first was a Constucto, and the second Model Shipways. I also did a side build of a Midwest kit.
 
Constructo - cheaper kit, the bulkheads were too few and too far apart in my opinion. Not a bad kit overall, but the material was thin and easily broken. The wood types included were nice, and it did build into a decent looking model, although I replaced the oversized and extremely fuzzy rigging line. Instructions were terrible, and I don't know if I could have finished it without finding MSW.
 
Midwest canoe - Simple kit with decent wood and good instructions. Still some issues, but nothing show stopping. Not a lot of extra material if you make major mistakes.
 
Model Shipways - Armed Virginia Sloop - Frame and bulkheads tightly spaced and good quality basswood. Lots of extra material included. Instructions are quite decent. Some of the cast parts are quite decent, others fairly bad. Rigging line is terrible, and blocks are also pretty bad, I replaced both. Excellent customer service and parts replacement support. Don't get their paint, it's pretty bad. Overall a good quality kit, in my opinion.

Thank you to everyone, Strangely enough after all this time I decided to put another row of railings on the wheelhouse deck because somehow the boat just didn't look finished. I reckon it was well worth the effort.
I really am very grateful for all the comments and especially glad that the unpainted approach is appreciated.
 
 
 

mike   I think she looks great   I cant see any of the warping   and the non paintage  looks great 

Well folks, here she is warts and all !! I can't say I am sorry that she is finished but I do think she looks better than I expected her to. I am very glad I put on the extra railings as I think they make a big difference. The rigging such as it is, is rather minimal but there has been a lot about this kit which has been like that from the start.
 
Despite my best efforts the decks have continued to warp even after gluing and even managed to break some of the glue joints. Without doing a complete rebuild there is absolutely nothing I could do about it so I just have to live with it.
 
I really love the wood finish because of the colours and it does make it very different from the other Robert E Lee builds I have seen. Apart from the lovely pre warped decks etc the biggest challenge of this build for me has been the really tight bending of various kinds of wood and I have learnt a few lessons from it. The only painted bits on her are the windows, doors, railings and funnels,  otherwise it is all varnish.
 
It will not surprise any of you to know that I couldn't recommend Constructo kits to anyone. Having done two now I share others opinions about the poor quality of supplied wood. I had to raid my 'stores' on several occasions. I know Constructo kits are at the cheaper end of the market and now I know why. I shall not be doing another kit from that stable !!
 
My next effort will be another kit from my tried and tested OcCre manufacturer.
 
 

Thank you to everyone, Strangely enough after all this time I decided to put another row of railings on the wheelhouse deck because somehow the boat just didn't look finished. I reckon it was well worth the effort.
I really am very grateful for all the comments and especially glad that the unpainted approach is appreciated.