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_SalD_

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Everything posted by _SalD_

  1. First Major Re-Do: While reading ahead in the instruction booklet on installing the ‘jib stay’ and ‘outer fore topmast stay’ I realized that I installed the starboard side martingale stays in the wrong place. I installed both the port side and starboard side stays at the same location on the jib boom (outer end). You can see this in my post #86, picture #6. I thought about just changing out the starboard side stay but since all the bow sprit rigging was done with the rope that came with the kit (brown) and all the rest of the rigging done after that (shrouds, main stay & fore stay) was done with non-kit rope (black) I decided to change out all the bow sprit rigging to black rope. Cutting all the lines All the lines were redone as before with black rope and now in their correct position.
  2. Thanks druxey, I'll give Barber a try. rcmdrvr that is not the rope provided with the kit, it was leftover from and older kit (~2013) I did but can't remember off hand what company it's from.
  3. Ratlines: I decided to tie the ratlines onto the shrouds instead of gluing them because I had glued them on one of my other ships and wasn’t happy with the way they looked. I used a 14” (scaled) spacing on the guideline card that I printed out and clipped it to the shrouds to hold it in place. I started with a simple overhand knot on the first shroud followed by clove hitch knots on the remaining shrouds. Once the ratline was in its final position I put a small drop of ca glue on the knots to hold them in place. When all the knots were tied and glued I went over them with a bit of black paint to knock the shine off from the ca glue. I don’t mind a little sag in the lines because imo it gives it a more realistic look. There is one new thing I learnt while doing these. I normally listen to music while working on my ships and change the style of music by how I feel that day. Well I happened to be in the mood for some classical music the day I was working on the ratlines and I can tell you now do not try and tie ratlines to Korsakov’s "Flight of the Bumblebee", unless you want to finish them in about ten minutes.🐝 New toy I bought for myself for for my birthday. Can't wait to try it out.
  4. well done Craig, ditto on all the previous comments. I can almost hear her now being staged at the line.
  5. druxey and rcmdrvr thank you both for the kind words, much appreciated. and thanks for all the likes.
  6. Moving right along the next few steps were pretty straight forward. Sheerpoles were glued in place. Main stay was served and installed around the masthead..... ....down to eyebolts on the deck Fore stay was served and installed. The futtock shrouds were also installed on the fore mast and I chose to make the these shrouds with 28 gauge wire glued to the crosstrees and set in a hole drilled in the mast. I'm not sure I would recommend doing this and just use thread as called for in the instructions because keeping the wire straight proved to be a challenge. Wire futtock shroud Overall state of the rigging to date.
  7. A blast from the past. I'm pulling up a seat an reminiscing.
  8. Thanks Jack and for the likes. This is the first kit that I've purchased that the cordage is not up to par and to top it off there really isn't that much of it required. I don't know if Model Shipways is tying to cut costs but even the eyebolts they supplied with this kit are inferior to the ones they use to provide. Personally, like I've mentioned before, I like to try and use the material that comes with the kit since these kits are not cheap and I am.😁
  9. Shrouds and deadeyes: I have a small serving machine so I decided I would serve the center of the shrouds where they wrap around the mast heads. Served shroud pairs I made a little jig, made up of twisted wire, that held the upper deadeye in position while the shroud was tied around it. After tying the first shroud I decided that I did not like the looks of the thread (rope) that was provided with the kit. Fortunately I had extra rope left over from a previous build that I was able to use. I served these lines and placed then around the mast heads. Four pairs around the fore mast head, and two pair and a single around the main mast head. After tying all the deadeyes into position the lanyards were threaded through them. I used a lighter thread for the lanyards to distinguish the standing rigging from the running rigging. Completed fore mast deadeyes Completed main mast deadeyes Personal opinion: I don’t know how much more this kit would have cost if a little better cordage was provided but imo it would have been worth it.
  10. Hi Chris, it's an HP 11C. The 11C was their scientific calculator, was the 15C for accounting? I can't remember. I always preferred HP's and their RPN.
  11. Stepping the masts: Personally I like to glue the masts into their final position so I don't have to worry about plumbing them with the shrouds. To help align the masts I find that a 45 degree drafting triangle comes in handy. I use the triangle to help me plumb the mast athwartship. First I scribe a line in the plastic triangle bisecting the 90 degree angle and perpendicular to the hypotenuse. Then I measure the overall distance athwartship from the outboard edge of each cap rail where the triangle will be placed. Dividing that distance in half I mark that distance on either side of the scribed line along the hypotenuse of the triangle. Then standing the triangle up against the mast and with the two marks at either edge of the cap rail the apex of the bisected 90 degree angle will be centered on the ship and 90 degrees to the deck. I use white glue to give me time to adjust the mast to it's final position. Side view. Both fore and main masts were done the same way. The advantage I find with this method is that the ship doesn’t need to be leveled. As long as the ship is built with a reasonable amount of symmetry and the triangle is properly placed across the rails then the apex of the triangle will always be at the center of the ship and 90 degrees to the cap rails (deck). Stepped masts
  12. Thanks druxey, I did finally use a small drop of ca glue at the pin location after tying the lines to keep them from coming off.
  13. The jibboom and striker were installed so now I have something to break off. I think I broke the striker off my Syren three times while I was building it. I added an additional gammoning strap made of card stock to secure the jibboom. For the bowsprit rigging I decided to try the super detail mentioned in the instructions to simulate the lanyards at the inner end of the stays and shrouds. To do this I first siezed an eye loop at the end of the stays and shrouds, stiffened with ca glue. After attaching the outer ends of the stays and shrouds to the jibboom and cap I connected the inner end to the eyebolts attached to the bow by lacing thread through them and the stiffened eye loop. (I think it's time to dust my ship) Completed bowsprit rigging Note: I found it very hard to keep the rigging for the martingale stays under the pin at the bottom of the striker while tying these lines. Maybe I didn't make the pin long enough.
  14. Thanks Snug Harbor Johnny, I try to use all the material that comes with the kit, since they do cost a lot, without spending more on after market parts. If I was to scratch build I would definitely use Chuck's products.
  15. The jibboom, gaff, boom and striker were all sanded down according to the plans as were all the yards. Eyebolts and card stock were added where called for. All the pieces were stained and the mast heads were painted white. I also made up two mast coats for the masts by cutting out little wooden donuts and then covering them with cloth from an old handkerchief, painted black to simulate tar. Blocks were added to the main mast. The traveler with its block was also added. The instructions mention that the looks of the blocks can be improved by filing the corners off making them more oval shaped. Sounds kind of hard for big fingers especially for those 3/32" blocks so I thought I would share how I do it. I have a small can that is lined with 180 grit sand paper. Into the can goes a wooden spool that I have attached four pieces of 220 grit sandpaper and a threaded rod. The blocks are placed inside the can, the top is put on and I spin it with an electric drill. You need to play around with it to know how long to go for but don't spin them too long or you'll end up with a pile of sawdust.
  16. rcmdrvr, many thanks for the kind words, and for all the likes.
  17. The two masts were temporarily assembled as per the instructions in order to position the fore and main chains and deadeyes. Trestle and cross trees Fore chains and deadeyes: The one deviation from the instructions was the spacing of the fore deadeyes. Instead of the 5/16" spacing called for I used 9/32". The 5/16" brought the last deadeye too far into the sponsons on my ship. Main chains and deadeyes: The mast hoops were also assembled but instead of using the card stock that came with the kit I used a manilla folder. The folder was stained to darken it a bit with varnish (hard to see in the photo). I used the manilla folded so I wouldn't need to paint the loops. To form the loops I used a 5/16" drill bit for the lower loops and a 3/16" bit for the upper.
  18. First, I would like to thank everyone for all the likes, comments and for following along. Finishing a few odds and ends before starting on the masts. Chain trusses for the sponson support were added. Aft chains: Fore chains: Funnel support guy wires were added. I had some gray thread left over from a model plane I had made that worked out fine. and the ship's bell. Added a pull cord into the cabin. Then there were a couple additions that I chose to add. First, to coverup the laser etch guide lines in the deck planking adjacent to the aft companion ways I decided to make a couple of brass monkeys for cannon ball storage. Cannon balls were made using the ends of straight pins painted black. Before: After Last but not least I added her name to the stern.
  19. Anchors and stocks: My kit came with two options for the anchor stocks, one wood the other britiannia metal. I chose to use the wooden stocks. I used some of the card stock painted black and glued to the wood stock to represent metal strapping. I also decided to use a smaller size block for the cathead block and tackle than the 7 mm block provided. I went a little rogue with the placement of the anchors and didn't follow the instructions too closely. On one side I decided to show the anchor in its raised position lashed to the cap rail. For this option I needed to add an additional cleat to the inside bulwark in order to secure the lashing to. On the other side I decided to show the anchor still being raised.
  20. She has her teeth! After installing the gun ports lids the cannons were added. I had the same problem as rcmdrvr had in his build that the cannons were too high for the port openings. I used a suggestion made by Snug Harbor Johnny in rcmdrvr's build to file down the carriage bottoms and the carriage wheels in order to gain some room. This worked out well and you can hardly notice the flattened wheels with the guns on deck. I had some 2mm blocks left over from another build so I decided that I would add the out haul rigging. Rope coils were made to be added later. I also decided on this build that I would show the in haul rigging as well. Aft cannons Forward cannons All her teeth
  21. Bowsprit & bowsprit cap: I shaped and fitted the bowsprit as called for in the instructions along with the bowsprit cap. The card bands and gammoning strap were added. I chose to paint the bands black instead of white as shown in the instructions. I like the contrast and how they show up better. Bobstays: The two bobstay chains were added. Bow fairlead: Things were going along well until I got to this step. As you can see in the picture below my two attempts at bending this piece ended up in failure. The two pieces were both soaked AND steamed but they still broke as I tried to bend them around the 1/8" dowel. I do believe however that the way the pieces are positioned on the wood sheet makes them almost impossible the bend without breaking. The piece is layout so you are bending it along the grain instead of across the grain (if that make sense). I made my own piece so the bend was across the grain and I had no problem bending it. Fairlead painted and installed.
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