MEDDO

Finished fairing port and starboard sides. Made fairing strip 1/16" by 1/32" to verify rough fairing. Spent 2 days checking the fairing with the strips using 320 grit sandpaper until getting the fairing so each bulkhead had complete coverage. The bow was the hardest to get the fair into the stem rabbit. I tried to use 1/8" by 1/16" boxwood to verify the gunports but the boxwood split when a pin was pushed through and into the bulkhead making a uneven surface with bumps at the pin locations. Then decided to use basswood and ripped and milled two strips 1/8" by 3/64". I used 3/64" thick as that will be the planking thickness. Pinning the strips using the laser marks showed only very minor adjustment to 3 locations on the port side and 2 locations on the starboard. Viewed the strips from front, back, top and bottom when satisfied marked the outside face of the bulkheads.
 

 
Next on the gunports sills and sides and I will also keep checking my lines before the gunports.
 
Make it a good day
Will 

The eyebolts and split rings for the bulwarks and gun deck are done. Boy! I just love making those🤥 I made them as small as I could. The ID the bolts are around .025" which conforms to the smallest round nose pliar that I have. Just enough to get the 24ga rings through. Be careful not to drill too deep into the bulwarks against the plywood bulkheads. It wouldn't be hard to snap a bit if you did.

 

 
Mike

Well, the past three days have been quite challenging. I realized that I needed to add other structures at the bow before adding the inwales.
First was a small fore deck. The plans did not show the plank layout, but one of Eberhard's photos helpfully did. The deck is supported by several narrow beams.
 
Next was the challenge: a massive breasthook in three parts. The two arms are over 5' 0" long and it has a separate cross-chock. The port arm went easily and fitted around the toptimbers nicely. However, the starboard one took six attempts before I finally got an acceptable one. As the cross-chock was let down over the arms I made this in two layers. 
 
Now finally on to the inwales!
 

Post 61: Faking Down
 
Before the ratlines get in the way I decided to at least attach some rope coils.  I use the method of Tom Lauria.  I find that that his oval jig produces coils that are a little too symmetrical for my taste so I slightly modify the shape of the jig to make it a little more pointed at one end.  After painting with diluted acrylic medium the coils are allowed to dry and then cut from the jig.
 
  
 
and here are some attached to belaying pins
 

 

 
 
I am not entirely happy with how the look, but the more I make the better I get.  The only trouble is they use up more rope than you would think and  my light brown rope is fast running out!
 
John
 

Now it is time to put everything together.  Glue the step onto the deck assembly and insert the bolts.  Temporarily install the capstan onto its step.  Position the brakes to their free ends fit between the whelps and the bolted ends are on the beams.  Remove the capstan, drill holes for the brakes and install them, making sure they can rotate.  Install the hatch and its grating.  Insert the bolts into the chocks and whelps.  Finally place the capstan back on the step and insert the retaining pin below the step, making sure the capstan can turn.  Install the drumhead onto the capstan barrel and insert the bars into the holes.  
 
I hope some of you will give this project a try.  In a few weeks, I will start the build log for the advanced capstan project.



 
 

The cap is glued to the top of the upper drumhead.  The edge is rounded over prior to installation.  The iron ring is actually made from paper painted with black marker.  Before gluing the iron ring onto the drumhead, make sure the ink is color-fast with whatever finish you plan to use.  In this case, I used an archival marker and Watco's Danish Wood Oil Natural.  These pictures are taken before applying the finish.


The holes have been drilled for the bolts, eyebolts and pins.  Use a pin to prick the iron ring before drilling to prevent tear out.  The bolts are brass pins that were filed flat.  In these pictures, the finish has been applied.  The color contrast of the various wood species stands out now.

The eyebolts, capstan bar pins and chain have been installed.  The bar pins go all the way through the drumhead, securing the capstan bars during use.

There are six capstan bars. The picture shows the sequence of construction from left to right.  Cut the capstan bar blanks from square stock.  Using a razor saw, cut in the shoulder.  The part of the bar that inserts into the drumhead was removed with a chisel.  The bars were then tapered and the edges rounded off.  The hole for the swifter was drilled next.  Finally, insert the bar into the drumhead. Drill the hole for the bar pin by drilling through the previously drilled hole in the drumhead. 

 
 

The last step is to shape the chocks.  The upper chocks are convex and the lower ones are concave.  This is actually the capstan barrel from the advanced version but they are done the same way.

The next part to build is the drumhead.  Again, this is simplified to allow use of only hand tools.  There are five wood components to the drumhead:  two upper drumhead halves, two lower drumhead halves and the cap.  Other components include the iron ring, and miscellaneous bolts, ringbolts, pins and chain.  The two halves for the upper and lower drumheads are glued together.  They will be oriented 90 degrees to each other when the drumhead is assembled.  Draw the drumhead on the wood, using the glue line as the center point.  A compass works best for this.  I used a jeweler's saw to cut out the drumheads.

 
This capstan has openings in the drumhead for six capstan bars.  Mark the location for the bars on both parts, taking care that they line up with each other.  Using a razor saw, the outer edges of the slots were cut.  The rest of the wood was removed with a chisel.
  

The square top of the barrel fits into the lower drumhead.  Mark this opening on the lower drumhead and cut it out.  The easiest way to do this is to drill a hole just large enough to allow the blade from the jeweler's saw through it.  Detach the blade from one side of the saw, thread the blade through the hole, re-attach the blade to the saw, tension the blade, and cut the opening.  

Glue the two halves together, remembering to align them at 90 degrees to each other.  Clean up the openings for the bars.  Now that the two halves are glued up, finish sand the perimeter.

I spent a fun couple of days building Syren Ship Model Company's Winchelsea capstan. Having preciously built one for my Swan class model many years ago which took me a couple of weeks to do on the mill and lathe I was curious to see how Chuck's version compared. As expected it is amazingly good. Chuck has mastered the laser cutter and has figured out how to incorporate every detail of the real version, including the rings which are made of fiberboard and include all the perfectly spaced holes. My build sequence was slightly different as I wanted to paint mine red. If this wish to do this I suggest you use Tamiya tape to mask the "iron" bands between the capstans before painting. As well I found that placing the capstan drum assemblies in a slow speed rotary tool and turning for a couple of seconds on 320 grit sandpaper completely removed the char. Attached are a couple of photos. I need to de-dust the capstan and apply a coat of flat varnish but that's it. It'll end up in one of my cross-section cases.
 
Even if you've never scratch built a fitting I'd recommend you give this a try. It's almost fail-proof and priced very reasonably for the quality of the wood and laser cutting.
 

 

 

Having successfully trimmed back the futtock tops, the blanks for the inwales were cut. These posed several challenges. They are 2½" thick and wide, but their cross-section is a parallelogram, the angles changing constantly along the boat's side. I cut each out wider than the final width, bevelled the outer edge first, then fitted it to the boat. 
 
The next challenge was to locate stub toptimbers that support the tholes and wash strake. These pass through the inwale and have to be spaced correctly to 'miss' the futtocks. They are now marked and ready for cutting. Once the slots are cut, the inwale will be glued in and the inner edge shaped correctly.
 

The next step after adding the risers is to prepare for the inwales. For this, the tops of all the futtocks have to be cut down by 2". To do this without splitting the plank is tricky. A very sharp small chisel is used and the waste wood removed incrementally. It's a slow process!
 

You have probably seen this Contemp model.  But anyway...the Queen is prob a replacement because the original was lost.
 

 

 

Post Twenty-nine
 
Still in attendance to the Queen
 
Before I put paste to Royal head, I had a trial on a spare figure to get a feel of the how the paste worked, and its working and drying times.
 
The Queen will be wearing a small crown or coronet and I need to establish how this will fit on her hair.

1838(2)
Having made a brass ring to form the base of the crown, I could start to form the hair and when the paste had started to set, the ring was placed on the head leaving an impression for the final fit.
 
I then had the task of making up the crown, a tiny thing of 5mm diameter by 5mm high.
 

1823
The fit looks ok.

1833(2)
The parts were silver soldered together and gemstones added in the form of seed beads.

1846

1847

1850

1854

1857

1853

1856(2)
Still some tweaking to do, I think the hairline across the forehead needs softening, but I feel that she will now make a credible 18thc figure.
 
I will leave it there now and return to fitting out the barge.
 
B.E.
14/05/21

Making the Chain Pumps...
 
As mentioned all of the wood parts are laser cut from boxwood.  You will get all the parts for the port side on one sheet and the starboard on another.  So just build one at a time.  The first part that needs our attention is the 7/32" thick core.
 
Step one-
 
Sand the laser char from all of the edges.   Take your time and keep the edges straight.   Dont bother sanding the front or back face as these will be covered up.  They will remain nice and flat if you dont touch them.  In addition....dont clean the char from the bottom of the piece.  Keep that flat as well.  But all of the edges including those two pump tubes at the bottom should be clean of char.  You can see one core that has not been cleaned of char yet.  Note the arrow...this will be important.
 

 
REALLY IMPORTANT:  For this mini kit you will see me call only for certain areas to be sanded free of laser char.  This is important for many reasons.   It has to do with the build sequence and keeping the parts properly sized and shaped.   Keep that in mind when you read through this and dont jump ahead and clean off all the char on every piece.  I will let you know when you can do so.  The results will be much better.
 
STEP 2 - 
 
Glue the bottom base of the pump into position.  Note that the extended, curved side is on the end of the pump where the arrow points.  Also note that I have NOT cleaned the char off of any of the edges yet.  That will come later.  But if you want...you can sand the top surface clean before gluing it in position.  
 

STEP 3 ...Glue the larger side panels onto the core.  Sit the bottom edge of these side pieces right down on the base.  Dont sand the char from the edges yet.  Make sure the arrows are pointing in the right direction.   They follow the arrow on the core.  The important thing with this step is to line up the center hole for the crank shaft.  That is crucial.
 
Because these layers are so thin they will bend and warp with titebond.   I used titebond so I can slide these pieces into position.  One side layer at a time.  Use clamps to prevent the layer warping....trust me it will lift up if you dont clamp it.  It is slightly over-sized all around except the bottom edge.  Just line up that hole!!
 

After both first layers are in position you can sand the char from certain edges.  Allow me to explain.  The photo below shows the sides sanded FLUSH with the core and clean from char.   But leave the rounded edges of the top and dont sand that at all.   But the little edges on either side should be sanded flush with the top of the core.  Note the back edge of the floor or base is now sanded as well as the back side is all flush with the core.
 
In that same photo you can see the next layer added to the back face of the pump.  This is there to show you why you must sand the ends flush with that first layer in position.  This next outer layer wont be flush and you will never get clean and neat otherwise.
 

The same is true for the other side....Note  how the first layer you put on is sanded flush with the edge of the core.  AND the top is also sanded flush but the rounded section is left alone.  Dont remove the char on that.  You want the rounded hood to be perfectly shaped.  Leave the char on it.  This is important again because the next layer will extend forward.  You can see it also added in the photo below.
 
You can also see that the floor or base is still not cleaned of char except for that one side which is all flush with the core.

STEP 4...
 
That next layer you saw in the previous photos can now be glued on the model.  But you should absolutely clean the char from edges of these before you do so.  Clean the edges before gluing.
 
  But as you can see....only clean the side edges and the top edge.   But leave the clamp in the center with the shaft hole alone.  Dont bother cleaning the char from the edges.  It is fragile and leaving it as is will look great.  Dont sand the bottom edge either because then the hole wont line up with the other layers. It will sit too low.   You can see how the back end of the pump is all flush....but this last layer will extend forward on the other side.   Start with the layer showing the cut-out for the plug first.  That should help you get alignment correct.
 
You can see the other sides layer ready for gluing.....all the edges you need to clean are sanded nicely.
 
STEP 5...I think...
 

As the photo above shows....now you can sand the edges of the base all around to clean up the char.   The front and back edges are sanded flush....nice and clean.
 
The extended side of the floor is also finally sanded clean.  Its starting to look like a chain pump now.  Now the fun parts...just a few little details to add.
 
STEP 6...
 
In this step you will be adding the two legs.  The fancy legs are cleaned of char and glued to the bottom side of the base.  Just remember to put it on the correct side.  One side is longer because of the mast partners.   The fancy legs go on the side shown.  Then do the other side which is sanded flush all around.  You can also glue the drain plug into position.  I left the char in place as it looks good that way.  It will stand proud of the chain pump box.
 
Then there are two long skinny pieces that are glued on the inside where the outside layers extend beyond the core.  You can see them on the chain pump plans.   Just clean them up and glue them on.  
 


 
Step 7...in that same photo you can see that the round hood for the chain pump has many thin boards that need to be glued in position.   This isnt difficult but they are small pieces.   You should bevel the edges slightly so they fit tightly.  If you dont bevel the edges the seams between each plank will be too wide.  I just lightly sanded a bevel by eye.  No need to measure and obsess about the angles.
 
Now if you are afraid the math wont work out and when you get to the other side you will be left with a space....fear not.  I also included two wider planks just for this occasion.  When you get close to planking the whole top of the hood....test a few dry fit planks to see how much space needs to be filled.  I did this when I had four remaining planks to add.   Turns out I only needed to adjust and use one wider plank.  You cant even notice it.  Sand the sides of the hood flush so its nice and neat when they are all added.  They are initially just a hair longer than needed.
 
To finish up the chain pumps....add a tiny length of 28 gauge black wire for the drain plug handle.   The add the tongue.  Thats the long metal piece on the front end of the pump.  I used a small length of 1/32" x 1/64" brass strip.  Just bend the end and round them off.  I blackened it and glued it in position.
 
Apply a coat of Wipe on Poly to bring out the nail patterns and you are good to go!!!!

It is time to glue the whelps onto the recessed wedges on the spindle.  After the assembly has dried, sand the top and bottom flush.  Test fit the upper and lower parts of the spindle but do not glue them yet.  The next two pictures are before and after sanding.  The wedge design makes it difficult to misalign the whelps.



Slide the chocks onto the whelps.  You can see how much extra material I have protruding from the barrel.

Just for fun, put everything together that has been completed.  To allow the capstan to turn without rubbing against the step, I have placed a gasket on the spindle just below the whelps.

Well, finally new progress to report! It took three tries before I was satisfied with the risers. I rubber cemented two layers of 1" thick (scale!) stock, cut and sanded the convex curve, ran the beading on both sides of the assembly and then milled the concave side so that the pieces were of uniform width. They are now being glued in.
 

Five whelps are required.  In real life, the whelp became wider from top to bottom.  For simplicity, these whelps are the same width throughout.  The picture shows the sequence of construction.  I glued a template of the whelp onto the blank.  Using a razor saw, the outer face was cut out.  The whelps were then glued together and the top and bottom sanded to ensure they were the same height.  I also used this as the opportunity to mark the locations of the chocks and drill the bolt holes.  The glue was dissolved in isopropanol.  A bevel was sanded into the back of the whelp to fit against the recessed barrel wedges.  Cuts were made for the top of the mortices and a chisel was used to remove the wood from the mortice.
 
  
There are two sizes of chocks.  These were cut oversized because they all require some custom fitting. 

Well I got the bulkheads glued followings Chucks advice to simply let the glue ooze out and wipe extreme excess. Everything worked as planned all square, level and even. That done its time to cheerfully fair Cheerful. Taped the stem and keel to protect them so I'm ready to start. I think I'll go outside to do the sanding mess but since its 100 degrees I'll wait until this evening while sitting on the patio listening to the waterfall fountain.
 
Bulkheads and fillers glued

 
I use a piece of dense upholstery foam cut to fit between the bulkheads extensions. I started this on a previous model and it made handling the model easier and safer for the extensions as they are supported.

 
All taped up and ready 

 
Tonight we make sanding dust
 
Make it a good day
Will  
 
 
 

Getting back to the Winnie....I have been designing and tweaking the mini-kit for the chain pumps.   I think I have it where I want it now.
 
This mini-kit is all boxwood.  Every part of the this pump is laser cut.  The nail details are laser etched.  These were a challenge because they are the smallest nails I have simulated with the laser.   It took plenty of attempts before I got it right.  This is the Starboard side chain pump.   When I make the other I will take pictures at every step.  But I thought I would share my efforts.  This is actually the very first time I have built one of these as no models I have ever made showed them.   So it was a treat.  Greg Herbert's chain pumps were the inspiration for these.  There are still some details that could be added if you wanted to....I think you will like making these.  I still have to add the handle for the plug.  Compare the detail with any other chain pump made for a kit.   I really tried hard to make it look as detailed as any scratch effort but with everything laser cut.
 
I will also be making these in 3/16" scale and offering them as stand alone mini-kits in both scales.    But these will come as part of chapter 7 so no need to buy the mini-kit when you see it posted..
 
Chuck
 

The monograph goes into detail how I made the gratings.  If you are building at larger scale, consider adding the grating fastenings.  On the left, the fastenings are 0.25" trunnels and on the right are simulated fastenings made with the point of a compass.

The capstan barrel is made in a rather unconventional manner.  The requirements were that it needed be perfectly round, not elliptical, and that it could be made with just a saw and hand tools. 
 
The top of the barrel is square and fits into the drumhead.  The lower part is round and passes through the hole in the step.  The middle part of the barrel is built up using a series of alternating wedges. This will allow for exact alignment of the whelps without the need for a lathe and mill.  The following is my method for making the barrel wedges.  Make a V-jig from scrap wood.  The angle that the strips make with each other is not critical; on this jig it is 90 degrees.  A piece of wood is glued to the end of the “V” to prevent the stock from sliding off the jig.  Cut two strips of wood, one 7.25” square and the other 6.00” square and long enough to make at least five wedges.  Cut the strip into pieces a little longer than needed for the barrel and draw the shape of the wedge on both ends of the strips.  

Using a sharp chisel, carefully remove the excess wood. The keys to success are take your time, remove only a little bit of wood with each pass and keep your chisel sharp. If you find that the chisel is not cutting smoothly, you are probably cutting against the grain.  Reversing the strip in the jig usually solves the problem. The final shaping can be done with a sanding block.

And the final result.  I was able to shape all ten pieces in a few hours.  The wedges on the left are the final result.  The ones on the right show before and after pictures.  Because the barrel is mostly invisible, a softer wood can be used as long at there is no appreciable grain to catch the chisel (such as basswood).  You can also laminate the square blanks as I did with the two wedges on the right.

The barrel is now assembled, alternating the two sized wedges.  Since this is hand work, there will be slight discrepancies among the wedges.  I sanded off the tip of the wedges for that reason.  You can also see the two wedges made from laminated wood.

The rest of the parts for the barrel can now be made and trial fitted.  Dowels are used to align and secure the top and bottom spindle.  The spindle is made up from wedges that were sanded into a cylinder.  Also seen in the picture is the retaining pin.  This will be located under the capstan step, securing the capstan onto the step.  Nothing is glued together at this point except the ten wedges.


 

Tidying Up the rigging.
 
Now that the shrouds are on, its time for a final tightening and trimming off some of those "dangly bits".
 
Here is the for'ard region tidied up a bit.
 
\
 
John

The Rigging Continues
 

 
I had never served a rope on any of my previous models I’m sad to say. In fact as I was starting Cheerful last year I wasn’t sure I would on it either, I wasn’t sure I wanted to get into it. During this phase of the construction I served a LOT of rope in multiple lengths. The @Chuck Serv-O-Matic makes what I thought would be complicated really not any more difficult than loading it up and turning the crank, and turning the crank some more and then some more turning of the crank. If you’re not sure about serving rope, I highly recommend you get this machine and serve away. It’s easy and, so far, none of my served ropes have sprung into an uncoiled mess, he said hopefully.
 
I also prefer the now historic Syren Dark Brown rope instead of black for standing rigging, I determined Guterman 100% polyester #593 (Seal Brown I think) is a good match and is what I loaded on the server. Also, I discovered a sewing machine needle (vs. regular sewing needle) comes in handy for starting the thread through the rope with the threading done on the pointy instead of at the back of the needle.
 
Shrouds
 
Right up front let me say there are many other ways to set shrouds, many of them likely better than mine. My method is an amalgamation of what I’ve learned from the many great builders on this site, my own experience in having done a few on nine prior models, and limited patience. I doubt my method is the best choice for many, I’ll share it here nonetheless.
 

 
With the able Quad Hands on my bench I decided to install the shrouds after the mast was stepped. I followed the common practice of alternating sides by pair: fore starboard, fore port, stern starboard, stern port. The forward shroud on both sides is served its entire length, the other shrouds are served to just below the cheeks. Many cranks of the serving machine were enjoyed.
 

 
I used the same seizing at the masthead and the deadeyes. I chose .012 dark brown rope instead of thread because I wanted the shrouds to show a bit of heft. After 10 turns and tightening my "fishing lure" I crossed the two running ends to the back side of the seizing and tied them in a square knot then sealed the knot with a drop of CA.
 

 
I really enjoy building models of sailing ships, I do not however enjoy installing deadeyes  (or worse the still to come ratlines). As I mentioned many modelers have many methods and I wish you all well in whatever manner you choose. I start with a jig that includes a sacrificial deadeye glued on and two brass pins at the required distance below inserted into the deadeyes already on the hull. A piece of tan thread is tied by clove hitch onto the shroud and used to mark the bottom center of the loop made by the jig (after a lot of fumbling about).
 

 
That loop is transferred to the closely located Quad Hands and the shroud dead eye (temporarily upside down in the photo) turned in by crossing from back across the front and then seized with a clove hitch.
 

 
With the running length temporarily seized with another piece of tan rope with another clove hitch the shroud is tested with another jig, this one with brass pins on both ends at the required distance.
 

 
Once the length is confirmed and set, the clove hitch is glued at the dead eye and three seizings, as described above except four turns instead of ten, are added, the running length is trimmed at the top of the third seizing. The distance between seizings is established by the plans.
 

 
The lanyard is added and temporarily tied by half hitches just above the first seizing. That’s one done, seven more to go.
 
I’d like to say it's as smooth as I described it, but for me it isn’t. Getting all eight the right length is a lot of fumbling and fiddling about and very time consuming. How did I ever do 74 of these on the 1:64 Pegasus...
 

 
Eventually though it gets done and I can finally move on. I’ll do a little twisting about to clean them up more when I permanently tie off the lanyards.
 
Burton Pendants
 

 
The two Burton Pendants were actually the first item installed over the mast head, before the shroud lines. The standing portion is fully served and runs about a fourth of the distance down to the deck. The tackle is hooked to the cap rail and belayed to the pin rack. The challenge was having the each pendant equal distance from the masthead and deck. No cranes on these ships, the pendants did all the heavy lifting.
 
Lower Backstays
 

 
On to more fun rigging beginning with constructing two fiddle blocks from Syren. They consist of three layers, I squared them up using their frames and glued the three together,  I trimmed away the frames and did some sanding, removing the char and shaping them a bit by rounding the edges.
 

 
The fiddle blocks look pretty cool rigged up, Yet another clove hitch wrapped the center, glued and the ends trimmed away. I sorta wish there were more than just the two as part of the rigging.
 

 
After installing some long pendants, served around the mast head equal to the shrouds at just below the cheeks ending in a block, tackle was added using the fiddle block, two hooks and another block. These are terminated using two of the metal straps added so long ago on the side of the hull and belayed to a cleat next to the ladder. The plans show the two hooks facing each other, I’m not sure why so I just followed the plans. The third strap is for the upper back stays I’ll add later.
 
After the chore of the shrouds the backstays were a bit of fun, like the Burton Pendants the main challenge getting both port and starboard stays to match in length with placement of the block and fiddle block.
 

 
The ship now has a lot of blocks and strings running about. Of course the mess on the deck and the alignment and tension of the lines will be adjusted later. How long ago did I plank that deck…
 
Lower Yard Sling
 
This was a fun little project in and of itself, routed around the masthead and terminating in a thimble with a hook, it will hold up the lower yard.
 

 

 
I described this brass tube cutting tool in a previous post, Out it came again to cut some tube for the sling thimble. I cut a couple of different sizes as I wasn’t exactly sure which I’d use (I settled on 1.75mm). I learned to hold the brass down using the knurled knob with one finger and covering the cutting area with another so the cut piece doesn’t fly off somewhere. With the right tension adjustment in the spring loaded punch I created the thimbles and then blackened them. I was having too much fun and so made a bunch, I’ll need them someday.
 
The sling rope is served its entire length with the thimble seized at the center. I made a hook with a larger eye to fit into the thimble. Here I had to make a decision. The monograph has the the sling meeting in the back center of the mast head, but notes many ships instead had them meeting on the port side. I opted for port, the main reason being it’s getting pretty tight back there with all the served lines needing to be below the throat halyard eyebolt, there is more room to work on the side of the shroud gang.
 

 
I seized an eye on one end off the ship after measuring the distance with a prototype sling seen here (not served and with a temporary thimble). The plan is to have the hook just below the parrels of the gaff. The first eye I could then do with the sling off the ship.
 

 
Then the fun begins, determing the location of the second interlocking eye. I did this by looping the loose end through the completed eye and settling the center of the hook on the mast. A clip removed from the quad hands provided a little weight to hold the hook at the bottom center while I adjusted the length. Yet another piece of tan rope tied in a clove hitch held it all in place until I had the right length. Notice my served line is extra long, more than needed but a few more cranks on the serving machine was better than coming up short (though it didn't need to be quite this long).
 

 
Then it’s working in the tops to seize the second eye interlocked in the first eye so that the completed the hook hangs at the right length and lays nicely on top of the port shroud gang. Though it took some fine work to do this without breaking anything, it proved the be rewarding when, as a result of careful planning, it came out right the first time (not everything I do does).
 

 
Working on the ship up high in the tops is made possible by the Quad Hands, the old third hand I had is a joke compared to this tool. I like the middle size plate augmented with a third 16” hand (for a total of five) bought separately. Here it is assisted by a box - one I got in a bit of trouble for when my wife walked by and asked what I was doing with her nice linen covered box from her sewing room. Fortunately both the box and I came out unscathed.
 

 
The completed sling came out just right for me, the lower yard will be happy to fine it supportive of its position on the ship, or so it would say if yards and slings could talk.
 

 
The mast head is getting crowded with just the main stay to add. I think here is where serving all that rope pays off, perhaps especially at 1:48. The shroud gang though packed in tight looks pretty cool to me. I’m also pleased with my decision to connect the sling on the port side, those eyes are better accented here than behind the mast in my opinion.
 
Now to the main stay and then see how long I procrastinate before starting the ratlines before finishing out the mast rigging.
 
Thanks for stopping by, your comments and likes are always appreciated.

What an interesting project!  Exactly the type of project to get started with scratch building. Very nice initiative!

Yesterday I received the book "The Sloops of the Hudson River" by Paul Fontenoy.
 
At first glance it appears that it is an excellent book for fans of these sloops or anyone wanting to model one, especially if their choice is one of the more refined designs in the early or mid 19th century. It has 16 foldout pages of plans and diagrams of various sloops with many of them containing enough information to allow the building of a model. It appears that a fairly large portion of the book is devoted just to the Experiment. If you don't already have it you might want to find a copy. It was not all that expensive for a practically new looking copy.
 
I have not read it yet so I cannot speak for Fontenoy's presentation or knowledge of the subject. Even if I had read it, I would probably not be able to comment on the latter anyway as my knowledge on Hudson River Sloops is also quite limited. The reason for the purchase in the first place.
  https://www.amazon.com/Sloops-Hudson-River-Historical-Maritime/dp/0913372714
 

I have not posted for awhile but I have been working on my Cheerful. I have been ill again as iI have been diagnosed with prostate cancer and the treatments have been …. well i should say , not great. But when i have better days I continue to work on the ship. Rather than take the time to post I have decided to just build. I will try to post my progress thus far.
 
You know, now that I approach the small parts I realize how stressful it becomes to build them properly spending hours to assemble the deck furniture, cannon parts, mast, bow sprit and all the associated parts and pieces. Difficult but not impossible. It just takes time. here are some pictures of what I have been working on.