BillLib

Hi,
 
I've been using heat shrink tubing whenever I need a band of some type.  Just cut to length required, install where needed and shrink using a hot air gun.
 
Bill

Hi,
I had a similar issue with a pond yacht.  A work associate asked me to see what I could do about restoring one that belonged to his father.  I've never worked with pond yachts so I just did some research and came up with what I thought was the best representation of what it may have looked like.
 
My first thought is that you may want to leave that model as it is now.  Maybe that it how it was intended to be.
 
Hopefully this link works;
https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/13265-need-some-help-with-pond-yacht-restoration/&tab=comments#comment-405544
 
Hope it helps.
 
Bill

Hi,
I had a similar issue with a pond yacht.  A work associate asked me to see what I could do about restoring one that belonged to his father.  I've never worked with pond yachts so I just did some research and came up with what I thought was the best representation of what it may have looked like.
 
My first thought is that you may want to leave that model as it is now.  Maybe that it how it was intended to be.
 
Hopefully this link works;
https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/13265-need-some-help-with-pond-yacht-restoration/&tab=comments#comment-405544
 
Hope it helps.
 
Bill

I've never had an issue with them.  I've placed 4 orders in the last 3 years and they've always come through.  When I did have an inquiry about my order, my email was answered.  Mind you, my last order was in February of 2017.  If something has happened with the business since then I wouldn't know.  I've been a happy customer of theirs to this point.  And their close by to me as well.  Keeps the shipping cost reasonable.
 
Bill

I finished all of the foremast running rigging that could be done at this point in the build. That was a lot of rigging. The plans are vague in some areas as to the belay points for some of the rigging. I had to rely on books from R.L. Anderson, Keith Julier, and the photo gallery from Euromodels for some information. Having experience in rigging these types of ships with full sails also helped. Having to do all this research makes this project all the more fun.
 
Next up is the standing rigging for the foremast and the bowsprit running rigging.
 
Vince P. 

OK, the foremast is stepped into the ship. Now comes the fun part of completing all of the associated rigging. Unlike most builders, I actually enjoy the rigging the most.
 
Vince P. 

I have completed the construction of the foremast off ship. This includes the spars, sails, and almost all of the running rigging. It will now be stepped into the ship and the standing rigging completed as well as the lower shrouds and attaching all of the running rigging to the deck. With addition of the sails, the amount of running rigging increases substantially.
Like I mentioned before, I prefer to complete the masts off ship so I don't have to rotate the ship continuously to attach the rigging and sew the sails. This method works well for me.
 
Vince P. 

Well,my Royal William is finally done after adding the lower yard braces,sheets,tacks, & flags.  The flags are really nice - printed on silk with great colors. The flags were simply wetted down & pinned to a board with some folds & when dry they held their shape.This has been quite a journey with all the interaction with Pete & others. My sincere gratitude to Pete for helping me out on some of the areas that I was not that knowledgeable about - I don`t think I could have finished it without his help. Thanks also to all those who commented,hit the like button,or just silently followed along.Despite some of the mistakes, I am happy at the way it turned out. I will try to get some more pics in the gallery in a day or two. 
Now what shall I do next......................................................................................................
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Mark

I am almost embarrassed to show my meager progress with Ken and Mark so far ahead of me on this build, but here is where I am. The foremast is fully constructed. My methods are different from most other builders in that I fully construct the masts off ship. This includes the spars, running rigging, and sails . I find it much easier to move around the mast for the rigging without having to rotate the whole ship. I still have to stitch the sails on, but my seamstress has not completed all of the sails yet. Once the sails are on and all of the running rigging attached I will place the stunsail booms. When sewing on the sails the booms will get in the way.
Once the mast has all of the sails and rigging, it will be stepped into the ship. All of the stays and running rigging will be finished and lastly the lower shrouds. By adding sails, the amount of running rigging increases considerably.
 
Vince P. 

A little more progress - The ship`s boat which was built earlier is now in place along with the anchors. The pulley hanging from the cathead was made by using a 7mm triple block with a copper strip bent around it & soldered shut. Then I soldered a hook to the copper strip to hang the anchor on. Also got all the upper yard braces on. Next will be the fore & main yard braces,sheets,& tacks.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Mark
 
 
 
 

Hello Everyone,
 
Just some pictures of the finished model.
 
Ken

Hi Again,
 
I just have to show you my first flag, I'm actually excited by it and must share the moment.
 
I ran out of styrene strip and need to order some more so the boat build came to a stop. In the meantime I opened the packet of flags, I can only say wow! I was instantly impressed. They were wrapped around some very nice sailcloth which I didn't know was there, I'm pleased that they were rolled and not folded, it's difficult to get creases out. The flags are something else, bright, vibrantly printed on both sides not the usual one side, there are five of the best quality flags that I have seen, I just had to put one on.
 
I used a 2mm block at the staff head, glued the flag to some thin cord, using contact glue and a small fold over the cord. To get it to hang naturally I used my wife's spray on starch, I soaked it well until it was quite limp, put some clips on the lower corner to keep it weighed down, arranged the folds then let it dry. The end result is I think a natural looking hang rather than it sticking out looking rigid. Only another four to do.
 
Ken

Hello Everyone,
 
Thanks for your likes and kind comments, much appreciated.
 
I've got a bit more light in my room today, enough for my compact to get some close ups, so as promised here are some better pictures of the rigging. You'll see that I've trimmed the ropes right back, I found that there were just too many to keep neat for the scale, I'll add the rope ends and coils separately, easier to keep track of them that way. I'm making up the anchor buoys at the moment so they'll go on next.
 
ken

Hello Again,
 
Yes Dillbert I know what you mean. I used to hate doing the tapering of the masts and spars, this was my first build using my small lathe and I found that it's actually fun now and it's done in no time.
 
The building of the masts went smoothly without any of the difficulties that I had imagined. I made all the separate pieces as shown on the plan and then assembled them. The only thing that I needed to get right was the alignment of the mast sections.
 
I mounted them loosely in the ship and they appear ok to me.
 
Next I'll paint and varnish them before fitting them out with the necessary blocks. I'll need to put some blocks and eyelets on the deck prior to fitting them permanently.
 
 
Ken
 

I decided to fix an error - the cleats on the fore & main masts for the preventer stays should have been just one on the forward surface of the mast instead of two on the sides,so I removed the ones on the sides & added the ones on the forward sides of the masts.
 

 

 
Mark

Another little update - I have got the fore stay & preventer  stay done & snaked.I should be further along,but I am fighting a nasty cold,so not getting a whole lot done right now.
 

 

 

 
Mark

I have constructed most of the bowsprit and mounted it on the ship. The jib boom will not be placed until the foremast is completed and stepped. This way I can move the ship around without snapping the long bowsprit. I still have to install the bobstays and gammonings.
 
Vince P. 

Another little update - after re-doing the bowsprit mast ratlines,the bowsprit was set in place. The gammoning was then done & the rack blocks were made from some walnut strips & set in place. Finally,the bobstays were rigged to the stem & bowsprit.
 

 

 

 
Mark

Hello Everyone,
 
Again thanks for all your likes and for some very complimentary comments on my build, as I've said before it really does motivate me and does  make the effort I'm putting into my log worthwhile.
 
The re supply of hinges from Euromodel arrived and pretty quick too, I was sent enough and with quite a few spare. These were put on the lids and attached to the ports, all the lids were then roped and varnished. The hull is now finished.
 
I'm not sure what part to do next. Before I continue though I'd like to fix as many of the blocks and eyelets in place that are on the decks whilst I still have easy access. I've looked at the rigging plans and I'm finding that without a good deal of study they are difficult to determine, if anyone can help me out on this I'd really appreciate it
 
The shipyard will now be closing for a few weeks. I promised my wife that when the hull was finished I would do some decorating and renovate my bathroom. We're also taking a holiday to Madeira for a couple of weeks.
 
Life does get in the way of modelling so that's it for now folks see you late September.
 
Ken
 

Hi mates & thanks for looking in. A little more progress  made - I have finished installing the main & mizzen mast back stays & the mizzen stays. The crowsfeet at the mizzen top are also done. The shroud cleats provided  are really nice,but looked a little large on the mizzen stay,so I had one a little smaller that I used. I will use the kit ones on the other areas where they are needed. Just about time to install that fragile bowsprit & hope I don`t snap it off while turning the ship back & forth.
 

 

 

 

 

 
Mark

I have completed the boat cradles and placed the boat on the deck along with all of the accessories stored top side. I cut a small piece of white tissue paper and wrapped it around the mast and booms to simulate the sails being stowed as well.
 
I don't have any idea what comes next but I will think about it.
 
Vince P. 

Thanks Pete & everyone else looking in. One more picture of the topmast & futtock shrouds -
 

 
Mark
 
 

Update - 
  All the ratlines are now done. A real test of eyesight & patience. Next up will be the stays.
 

 

 

 
Mark
 
 

Hello All,
 
Another small update on RW.
 
Today I made up and fitted the dead eyes. The material supplied with the kit was pretty good stuff, the dead eyes were very good quality ones, the ready made strops were nice to use, they were made from a very malleable copper wire and were a nice colour, the eyelet straps were perhaps too thick if you were concerned about scale, I used them and thought that once in place they looked ok. I found that not all the strops cleared the gun ports and I had to fill in a few holes that I had made in the channels and drill new ones to get a better fit. This was I think my fault, a little out with the ports plus a little out with the channel adds up. I think that if I were to do it again I would wait until the channels were in place before drilling the holes for the strops, or improve the accuracy of my building.
 
My next job will be to start making up the port lids.
 
Ken
 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello everyone.
 
Another good day at the shipyard, the curved staircases are completed and just need varnishing.
 
These were something that I wasn't looking forward to building and approached with great trepidation. Again as with much of the RW build it's reputation for being overly difficult did not bear out in practice, I think that it's as difficult as you want to make it with options open to all levels of experience and ability.
 
I looked at several methods for making them and thought that Marks was the right one for me. I cut the steps from 3 x 5mm strip, I found that seven gave me the correct height. Using a dowel to get a uniform curve I glued the steps on top of each other, I used a double width one at the top to form a small platform.The most difficult and time consuming part was making the 32 spindles, I didn't have a thin enough walnut dowel so I had to reduce the thickness of one that I had and add some shape to each spindle. I did this using my recently acquired Proxxon lathe. Isn't it fun when you can play with your new toys.
 
I glued each spindle in place using cyno, I used an accelerator to set them quicker so that I wouldn't nudge them out of place as I fixed others. I then sanded the sides and underneath to get an even curve having used squared pieces for steps. I bent well soaked 1.5 x 1.5mm strip for the rail with my solder iron. I glued the rail on one spindle at a time, again with cyno, when set I glued and held it onto the next and so on until all were attached. I sanded, stained and sealed them before attaching. Job done, it took a day, not accurate or historically correct but as with other none accurate parts of my build they look ok to me and at least the captain can now get onto his quarter deck.
 
Ken
 
All photos were taken with my Panasonic Lumix G1  20mm 1.7 lens.  Hand held indoors