usedtosail

Thanks Al and Popeye - happy belated birthday. I hope you did something fun. Tim - I didn't look on the back before glueing the sandpaper to the drum, but from the front it looks like 100 or so. The paper on the shaft is finer, maybe 200 or so. I only tumbled the blocks, as the deadeyes look good out of the box.

She looks great Steven off the plug. Nice job!

So, I finished the fore topmast stay and fore topmast preventer stay. I started by making the two mice for the stays. I used my new lathe, which made the process much better than the mice I made for the lower stays. I was able to drill a hole precisely in the middle of a dowel for the line to go through, then rotate the lathe head slightly and cut a taper into the dowel for each mouse. After painting them black, I glued them to the line I had served for the stays. I then put them in the serving machine and served over the wood. This time, I used a diagonal pattern for the serving after coating the mouse in white glue, so it looks even more like the real thing then the first mice I made. Once the serving was dry, I wrapped the stays over the topmast and ran them through the bees on the bow sprit. I then seized a bullseye into each end and lashed them to bullseyes at the bow. I need to finish up the fore topmast shrouds and add the sheer poles, then I will move to the main topmast rigging (although you can see in the above picture that I have started adding the main topmast shrouds already).

Ken, congratulations on a very fine build. It has been a pleasure working along with you.

Thanks Popeye and the likes. I apologize for no update yet - I was on vacation all last week. I have started the fore topmast stay and preventer stay and will have pics when I have them in place. I would have been a lot closer if I didn't put the mice too close to the topmast last night. I really don't know how that happened. I was able to remove the serving line and reposition them, but I have to serve over them again before I can install them.

A very sad day. I will miss him a great deal.

Thanks popeye, Bill and Dave. It was a real pleasure meeting you too and your son. I am working on the topmast shrouds, backstays, and stays. I have the fore shrouds in place with their deadeyes and lanyards, but have not fully tightened them up yet until the fore topmast stays are in place. I didn't like the way the burton pennants were (not) hanging, so I threaded some line through them and clamped that to the mast, then coated them with slightly diluted white glue. They look much better now, as you can see in the last picture of the fore topmast.

You have enormous hands, Dan! Seriously that is very good work for so tiny a piece.

Joe, before you pull the trigger with another seller, try calling Kat at Sherline. I just got a 15% "senior" discount on a lathe package with milling column, although I am only 62. It should arrive Wed. next week.

Welcome back! I can't help you with the pictures but I hope you get that worked out so we can see your progress. Sounds like you have made a lot.

Thanks Rob and Michael. I appreciate the support. Well, the lower mast rigging is just about completed. I finished the ratlines on the futtock shrouds, added the breast backstays, and the sheer poles on them. I made the sheer poles from brass rod that I served in the serving machine, like the ones I made for the lower deadeyes. I also cleaned up a lot of the excess rigging line around the bow. Next up is the topmast rigging, so I made a few more thimbles for the topmast burton pennants and will start making up the shrouds tonight.

Congratulations on reaching that milestone. Someday I'll get there...

That is a great way to add the look of clinker planks. Bravo.

Yes, thank you for that great tutorial on building mutli-piece rails. Very well done.

Thanks Dave and Popeye, and for the likes. I haven't been in the workshop too much lately because of the holiday, but I did promise a few photos of the inside view of the futtock shroud extensions and Bentinck shrouds. So here they are: I am going to give those lashings a coat of stain when I do the topmast shroud deadeye lashings, so they won't be so stark. I have also added the mizzen shrouds and catherpins. The shrouds are wrapped around the futtock staves and lashed to the shroud underneath the stave. The plans show the catherpins straight from side to side, but the first shroud is even with the mast so unless the futtock staves stick way out forward there is no way I could see to get them straight, so they are angled back a little. I have also tied all of the ratlines to the fore and main futtock shrouds but have not fixed the knots yet. After that, I will finish up the breast stays and start on the topmast shrouds and deadeyes.

Looks great Popeye.

Are you kidding, JS. If you put half the effort into the big ship as you have in these boats, your model is going to be spectacular.

How civilized...except for all those cannons, ha ha.

Very nice rigging. I like your furled sails too.

The model looks fantastic so far. Very nice framing and planking.

Wow, it is really amazing what you have done with plastic, Popeye. You are a man of many mediums, I would say.

The new blocks look much better. Great job.

Had a great Father's Day weekend. My wife and I took a tour around Boston harbor Saturday afternoon to view the tall ships which are in town. Saw the Bluenose II and the Pride of Baltimore II, as well as about 20 other large and small sailing ships. Yesterday my son took me out for ice cream and mini golf. But, I did manage to get some time in the shop too, so here is what I have been working on. Bentinck shrouds - The futtock shrouds are usually wrapped around the futtock stave and seized to the lower shrouds on most ships of this period. On the Constitution, however, the futtock shrouds end in a loop that is lashed around the futtock stave and shroud, into a futtock extension on the other side of the shrouds. These extensions have loops on both ends and go through a bullseye at the top of the Bentinck shroud. The Bentinck shrouds have bullseyes on the lower ends that are lashed to a similar bullseye on the waterway. There are a lot of parts to these that require a lot of seizings to make. I think I can do a seizing blindfolded now. Also, all of these lines are served, so I started by serving a long length of black line for the shrouds and extensions. I then seized the bullseyes to the larger shroud lines, and then served them the whole length. I had to drill out the hole in the upper bullseyes so I could get three served lines to fit inside the hole. Note my large spool holder attachment for the Syren Serving Machine. I stropped the two lower bullseyes with hooks, seized in a lashing line, and hooked them into eyebolts I had placed in the waterways months ago: Here are the extensions being added to the shrouds. I made a loop on one end, threaded them through the bullseye, then seized the loop on the other end. I used some tick marks on the top of the card to get them the right length, or as close as I could get. The first picture shows them before I trimmed the loose ends of the seizings. I kind of cheated with the middle extension. it is supposed to be seized to the futtock stave, but instead I seized it to the bullseye, which was a lot easier, as I could do it off the model. The futtock shrouds have a hook on one end, to hook into the stropping of the deadeyes on the fore and main mast tops. The other end is a loop, and I seized a lashing line into each loop. Here are all the parts ready to install (except for the two bullseyes with hooks that I had already installed). Notice how there is a range of sizes for the futtock shrouds, so the loops end up at roughly the same distance from the futtock stave. I installed these by first lashing the center futtock shroud to the center extension, then lashing the two bullseyes at the bottom of the Bentinck shrouds. I adjusted the two lashings until I got the spacing right, then lashed the rest of the futtock shrouds to the other extensions. The lashings go diagonally across the futtock stave, which of course I did not do with the first set, and got to redo them. Once they were all lashed I did a final adjustment then tied off all the lashings. I have left the lashings uncut for now in case I need to redo these, but I will fix the knots with some glue at some point and cut off the excess. Here is the starboard main futtock shrouds and extensions. I didn't get a picture of the extensions from the other side of the shrouds, but I may include one in a future post. And the bottom of the Bentinck shrouds: I still have the port main side to do, but i have most of the pieces ready for them. I will then make and install the mizzen futtock shrouds, which are more traditional and do not use the Bentinck shrouds. As always, thanks for you interest.

I am glad you decided to add the gun deck too. When all is said and done, knowing that the details are there is very satisfying. Also, having complete cannons instead of the dummy gun barrels is so much better. Great job so far.