mort stoll

Hope everything works out exactly the way you want it to and you have a great recovery.

Mort

I used it 5 years ago on my Mamoli Connie quarter galleries. It worked out fine and still looks great.

Mort

Enjoy Jason, enjoy.

Mort

Same here.

Mort

and to you my friend. hope to have you back soon.

mort

Hi Ray,

Great job. You should be very proud. She is beautiful. I cannot wait to start my build.

I am in the process of making a list of what I may need in order to upgrade and replace  any potential part shortages for my Diana and Victory kits and am going to order from CMB.

A fellow NJ club member feels that I should use my existing spare parts as on the real ships not all of the blocks or cleats would match due to wear and battle losses. He's probably right but I want everything to match, not that anyone might notice.

A serving machine is the way to go.  A friend made me one from a few gears and a crank. It is really simple not that I could ever make one.

Mort  

Hi Ray,

I plan on starting the Diana upon completion of my Snake, in about 6 months or so. I replaced the Snakes wheel. It is the same as the one in my Diana kit. Interesting everyone raves about Caldercraft's customer service but it took about a month for them to replace the cleats that the Snake kit was missing and I mailed them 6 weeks ago and emailed them 2 weeks ago asking for more blocks also missing from the kit and I have yet to hear from them. It is frustrating. After dealing with Model Expos customer service one gets spoiled.

I am going to take your advice, upgrade and order extra fittings and so forth from Cornwall Model Boats and not have to concern myself with Caldercraft  ever again. I have dealt with them in the past - Cornwall - and their response time is great.

Mort

It is less than that. I had no problem with it.

Mort

Hi Ray,

Great job on the netting. I have a few questions. Do not remember if I asked you this earlier but have you considered mounting swivel guns on her tops, bow, and or the stern?  Are you satisfied with the kit supplied double wheels? They look somewhat thin.

Thanks,

Mort 

Enjoy the vacation.

Mort

Hi Craig,

Here is what I did. To use plan #15 diagram #7 as an example......look at block #276. It looks like it is a single block. Check the table at the bottom right of the plans. Look for #276. The first # is a 4. That means you need 4 blocks to rig the boats 2 per boat. The 1x4 means it is a 4mm single block.

For Block #356 in Diagram #242 - bottom left -  on Plan #15 look on the tables at the right of the plan sheet until you find the sheet with #356 listed. In this case it is sheet # 10. A 3mm single block.

What I also do on my plans is to label each and every block and line on each sheet. I find it saves me time when I have to rig the line or spar and gives a me a mental picture of the rigging and really does not take that long.

Hope this helps. If not do not hesitate.

Mort

very nice. very very nice.

Mort

Thanks Ray,

I agree the kits bell has to be replaced.

Thanks,

Mort

Forgot to include in my last post that when you attach the blocks and eyebolts to the deck make sure that any standing rigging schrouds  and running rigging lines are attached to them  before they are glued onto the deck.

Rigging is like hull planking and coppering. It is one day at a time and just try to do a little each day.

I also had my copies of Lever and Peterssen at my side for reference.

Once you finish rigging this ship there will be no ship you will not be able to rig.

Mort

Hi Ray,

Great job as always. where did you get the brass bell?

Mort

Hi Bill,

I completely assembled all of the masts - bow sperit, fore, main and mizzen - with  all of the attached yards with their blocks off of the ship. I also attached as much of the standing and running rigging as I could - lifts, hallards, sheets, etc... whatever I could and labeled each line so I could attach them to the proper belaying pins after the masts were stepted. 

The rigging plans I thought were clear and easy to follow, and I did.  I labeled each and every one of the blocks and lines with their dimensions on all the various plans diagrams as this I felt was easier than looking at the part numbers and referring back to the glossary for their sizes, This also helped to familiarize me with the actual rigging and really took no time at all to accomplish.

I installed the ratlines last as this enables one to access the deck easier than if they were installed earlier. I prefer to work from bow to stern - another of my NJ Club members swares by stern to bow - and bottom to top.

Hope this helps, if not do not hesitate to contact me,

Mort  

PS

Call me crazy but I thoroughly enjoyed rigging this ship, as I am sure you will.

Hang in there big guy. One step, one day at a time. You are going to  be amazed at the finished product. 

Mort  

Ger,

I plan to experiment when I build my own Connie - in probably 3-4 years from now by getting a  piece of wood and shaping it to resemble - very much easier said than done - the stern and try to build my own quarter galleries. In about 6 months I should complete my Snake and plan to build the Diana. Her quarter galleries are built entirely from wooden pieces included in the kit. I hope this will give me some insite into the Connies galleries.

You might try to PM Ray and Barbosa about their quarter galleries. They are both posting Diana build logs on this forum and doing a great job..

Mort

I envy the Captain being able to stand on that gorgeous deck in command of that beautiful  frigate.

Mort

Admiral Nelson would have been very proud of you.

Mort

Welcome to our world.  I too have the kit under my work table and will follow your build with great interest. I agree with you concerning the copper plates, hull planks and even the deck planks. I bought all of that from Bluejacket a month after I bought my kit at quite an expense. My Caldercraft  kits came complete with copper plates hull and deck planks, and the Diana cost less than the basic Bluejacket Connie kit. If I had my Byrnes saw I could have cut my own, but I bought the saw a few months later. I have used copper tape that I bought at a doll house store - for Mamoli Connie - and while I was satisfied with the results I prefer the copper plates. They look more realistic as far as I am concerned. 

  You are off to a great start. Concerning the quarter galleries and this is out of the box but you might want to consider removing the wood at the stern and building them from scratch,

I look forward to more posts,

Mort

Thanks very much and keep posting. Your build is wonderful.

Mort

Hi Jason,

Is the bullseye in the Blue Jacket Catalogue?

Thanks,

Mort

Welcome back. Glad you enjoyed the trip. I look forward to more posts.

Mort 

I agree. They have to be repositioned.

Mort