Capt.Bob

Ed,
 
Got it.  Made several concentrations in an attempt to find a workable minimum.  Somewhere between 40 & 50:1 got the job done and left no residual staining.  Moving on to the common planking.
 

Ed,
 
Got it.  Made several concentrations in an attempt to find a workable minimum.  Somewhere between 40 & 50:1 got the job done and left no residual staining.  Moving on to the common planking.
 

Ed,
 
Got it.  Made several concentrations in an attempt to find a workable minimum.  Somewhere between 40 & 50:1 got the job done and left no residual staining.  Moving on to the common planking.
 

Ed,
How do you blacken copper wire ends with LoS without staining the wood?  I'm finishing up the bilge ceiling.

Bob,
 
I have found that copper can be blackened with LOS without effecting surrounding wood.  The wood needs to be clean of any metal sanding dust and the LOS needs to be fairly dilute.  When leveling off boltheads, files produce less fine dust than sanding but the surface should be wiped clean before treating.  LOS solutions seem to neutralize to water and inert white solids and leave no reactive residues, unlike salt based blackeners like the blue selenium based solutions.  You may also wish to rinse with clean water.  While I have found this to be the case, some testing is always worthwhile to understand the right LOS dilution as well as the need for pre-cleaning.
 
Ed

Ed,
How do you blacken copper wire ends with LoS without staining the wood?  I'm finishing up the bilge ceiling.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 45 –Inboard members continued, Stern fairing and half-frame bolting continued.
 
American Clipper Historical Note: In 19th Century America, forest resources were plentiful, in fact they seemed limitless.  For these reasons, and due to the immaturity of the American iron industry, ships with wood structures continued to be built throughout the century and into the 20th.  Several domestic species found their way into American-built ships.  White oak, very similar in species to English oak was the primary material used for structural components.  However, the less plentiful but superior species, live oak from forests in the southeastern states, was often specified for critical components.  It was almost 50% stronger than white oak and the shape of the growth lent itself to knees and curved members.  Joshua Humphreys specified live oak for the original American 44-gun frigates and crews from the northern shipyards went south to harvest the requirements.  Another southern species that was widely used in American ships was hard pine, also known as longleaf pine.  This plentiful timber had 90% of the strength of white oak and was roughly the same weight.  Hard pine was used for beams, planking and knees.  White pine, the species most associated with the term “pine,” was lighter, softer and less strong – only about 50% in strength compared to white oak.  It was often used in planking weather decks.  Other species of pine – pitch pine, yellow pine, red pine – were also used.  Another important species was black locust.  Its hardness, straightness and strength – 35% stronger than white oak  - found wide use for treenails and often for pillars.  Various other structural woods were used, but these were the primary species.
 
Young America’s structure was largely white oak – most frames, central sections of the keel and keelson, stem, stern posts, hanging knees.  But it is very probable that a significant number of important members were of live oak – parts of keel and keelson, keelson riders, hooks, some frame timbers.  Hard pine was used for beams, inboard and outboard planking, waterways, deck clamps, binding strakes, lower deck  planking and deadwood.  Lodging knees would have been pitch pine.  Exposed decks were white pine.  Pillars and treenails were locust.  Other decorative works were of other species and will be described later.
 
For the model, I an using Swiss pear wherever oak – white or live – was used.  Hard and pitch pine members will be Castelo.  Weather decks may be holly – not decided.  Most of the work covered so far has been in pear, but Castelo has been evident in the last few posts in the bilge ceiling and deck clamp construction.
 
 
Work described in the last part continued.  In the first picture the deadwood near the sternpost is being smoothed with a #0 cut Grobet riffler after paring with gouges. 
 

 
When the fairing of the aft part of the lower hull was finished, the bolts securing the aft half and cant frames were installed.  The next picture shows this in progress.
 

 
Holes were drilled deep into the keelson/deadwood.  Copper wire dipped in epoxy was then inserted and moved in and out to distribute the glue internally.  The wire was then clipped off as shown.  The stains on the wood in the picture are  from isopropanol used to wash off excess epoxy and has not yet dried.  The heads of the bolts will be sanded off flush and blackened just before the final wood finish is applied.  They were iron.
 
The next picture shows the lower hull after this bolting.  Bolts will be much more visible when black.
 

 
Finish sanding and polishing of these areas will be done later.  The next picture shows the stern framing from directly aft.
 

 
Work inside the hull on the strapping, deck clamps and bilge ceiling continued.  In the next picture a strake is being glued on the upper side of the band.  Strapping below the bilge ceiling has been added.
 

 
One of the lower strakes is being glued in the next picture. 
 

 
After the glue has dried, all of these strakes are bolted through every frame with epoxy at both ends of each bolt.  These bolts, also iron, will be blackened later.
 
This internal work is going to take some time.  I switch between iron strapping and ceiling planks when I can - to battle the tedium of repetitive work – not my strong suit.
 
 
 Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 201 – Lower Mast Coats
 
When I decided to wedge the masts with pieced wedges, it was clear that some sort of mast coats would be required to cover the openings between wedges – not to keep out water as in real life practice, but to simulate the real coats and to improve the appearance at the bases of the masts.
 
Apart from terse descriptions, there was not a lot to go on in making these.  My usual search through photos gave some ideas, but ultimately the solution came from the question, "What would I do to make a watertight canvas 'flashing' over the mast wedges?"  I am comforted by the thought that many ships' carpenters asked similar questions – and came up with a variety of solutions - as the few pictures I have seen illustrate.
 
The canvas for the model coats is tissue and in the first picture a strip of this is being wound around the glue-coated main mast and its wedging.
 

 
Several strips were used with plenty of glue and not too much effort to smooth out the result.  Canvas would most definitely have wrinkles when forced into the required shape.  The next picture shows rope being tied around the top to clinch it tightly around the mast.
 

 
In practice the coat would have been caulked and tacked around the mast and deck, but rope cinches would keep it from tearing out from the nails and risking damage to the high-value cargo these ships often carried.
 
At the bottom, a flange was simulated using card and fitted around the mast at the base as shown in the next picture.
 

 
When this was glued in place and allowed to dry, a second rope cinch was added at the base.  The next picture shows the coat being "tarred" with fairly thick, dark grey, artists' acrylic paint,
 

 
After drying the coat was brushed with black, thinned, acrylic wash to highlight the wrinkles in the canvas and the ropes as shown below.
 

 
Those that have been following the project will note that the glistening brass pump wheels, by now well tarnished and lacking their original appeal, have been painted.  Next job for the painters, the equally tarnished poop monkey rail.
 
Other true followers may also notice in the picture that I have finally gotten around to adding the central posts to the fore and aft fife rails that were previously omitted.
 
 
Ed
 
 


 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 200 – Lower Masts Continued
 
It is hard to believe we are at the 200th post on Young America – almost 3 ½ years into the project.  Still as exciting as ever – for me at least.
 
Since beginning work on the lower masts, most of the reporting has been on the fore mast – the guinea pig for construction, finishing and rigging – and only one version in the scrap box.  However, though mostly unseen, work has been proceeding on the other two, so here are a few pics.  The first is the most recent, taken yesterday and showing the main mast ready for fitting the deadeyes and rigging the futtock shrouds. 
 

 
The mizzen mast to the left is almost to the same state, but needs its masthead detailing.  The next picture shows the main top before fitting the deadeyes.
 

 
At 18' 6" in breadth, this is somewhat larger than the 17' fore top.  The "pre-rigging on this top includes a pair of brace blocks for the mizzen lower yard, the crojack.  These may be seen dangling from shackles below the aft crosstree.  Because of the soldered shackles, any shackled connections, including eyebolts, need to be either fitted with their blocks or left off until later.
 
The next picture shows the forward chafing batten being glued to the mizzen mast.
 

 
The batten is concave on the mast face and was rounded on the forward face after gluing.  The top, with the 9" diameter spanker mast inserted, is to the lower left.  The below-deck rings have been blackened and the ring of wedges is in place.  After this step the above deck ironwork was buffed with a clean wheel and blackened as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The sanding stick in the picture was used to clean the glue off the batten's nail heads (not shown).  The next picture shows the mizzen at this stage.
 

 
The top and the spanker mast are permanently attached in this picture.  The picture also shows small brail blocks hanging from the mast.  These will be discussed later.
 
By this time, the foremast was complete and could, if desired, be permanently installed.  The last picture its base with a mast coat fitted over the wedges.
 

 
The mast coat simulates a tarred canvas cover with surrounding rope to pull it tight at the mast and at the base.  It would also have been nailed before tarring.   I could find no standard method for these – only brief and varied descriptions.
 
Ed

Rob,
 
The specified shroud size is now 5 1/4" (actually closer to 5.5" model rope) and the deadeye size is 9".  Rule of thumb is 1.5X, but sources show 9" up to 10" for these. The hooks are not adjustable.  The futtock shrouds are given an initial tension by the lashings at the mast, but the real tension in the futtocks will be applied when the lanyards on the topmast shrouds are are hauled up.  The lower shrouds will be paired 1&2, 3&4, 5&6, which I believe is standard.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 199 – Setting up Futtock Shrouds
 
The lower futtock shrouds are lashed to mast eyebolts as shown in the first picture.
 

 
The picture shows the first two secured.  Before lashing the lower ends, eyes and thimbles had to be worked into the shrouds with the lengths set to provide relatively consistent lengths to the lashings.  This was done by hooking each shroud to its deadeye strap and then grasping the rope at the desired length with round tipped pliers as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The rope was then looped over the jaw to set the position for the eye.  This picture demonstrates the problems caused by a lot of handling of the masts after blackening of the copper ironwork.  All the ironwork on the masts was retreated after all the pre-erection detailing – as will be seen in later pictures.
 
The next picture shows an eye with the thimble inserted with glue applied at the splice joint – as described in the previous post.
 

 
The next two pictures show the six futtock shrouds installed on the lower fore mast.
 

 

 
The ironwork has been mostly re-blackened in these pictures. 
 
The next two pictures show a test I felt compelled to make to satisfy myself that the lower shrouds would clear the futtocks.  I felt some trepidation about this, not knowing what I would do if there were interferences.  Fortunately there were none that miniscule movement of the collar could not cure.
 

 
The next picture shows the positioning of shrouds 3 and 4 that straddle the center futtock.
 

 
The white rope used in the picture is some reject 4-strand linen rope that approximates the size of the served 10 ½" shrouds.  The uneveness reflects the difficulty of making four-strand rope without a central core.
 
The foremast is now ready for installation and work is proceeding on the other two.  In the next to last picture a mast coat may be seen at the deck covering the wedges.  This will be described in the next part.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 199 – Setting up Futtock Shrouds
 
The lower futtock shrouds are lashed to mast eyebolts as shown in the first picture.
 

 
The picture shows the first two secured.  Before lashing the lower ends, eyes and thimbles had to be worked into the shrouds with the lengths set to provide relatively consistent lengths to the lashings.  This was done by hooking each shroud to its deadeye strap and then grasping the rope at the desired length with round tipped pliers as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The rope was then looped over the jaw to set the position for the eye.  This picture demonstrates the problems caused by a lot of handling of the masts after blackening of the copper ironwork.  All the ironwork on the masts was retreated after all the pre-erection detailing – as will be seen in later pictures.
 
The next picture shows an eye with the thimble inserted with glue applied at the splice joint – as described in the previous post.
 

 
The next two pictures show the six futtock shrouds installed on the lower fore mast.
 

 

 
The ironwork has been mostly re-blackened in these pictures. 
 
The next two pictures show a test I felt compelled to make to satisfy myself that the lower shrouds would clear the futtocks.  I felt some trepidation about this, not knowing what I would do if there were interferences.  Fortunately there were none that miniscule movement of the collar could not cure.
 

 
The next picture shows the positioning of shrouds 3 and 4 that straddle the center futtock.
 

 
The white rope used in the picture is some reject 4-strand linen rope that approximates the size of the served 10 ½" shrouds.  The uneveness reflects the difficulty of making four-strand rope without a central core.
 
The foremast is now ready for installation and work is proceeding on the other two.  In the next to last picture a mast coat may be seen at the deck covering the wedges.  This will be described in the next part.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 198 – Making Futtock Shrouds
 
The lower futtock shrouds on the fore and main masts are 5 1/4" rope (meaning the circumference is 5 1/4").  This equates to a rope diameter of about 1 ¾", about .024" at 1:72 scale.  The mizzen shrouds will be 4 ½".
 
I used rope made from three strands of (.012" dia.) Barbour Irish linen suture thread for this.  I hope to use linen for all of the standing rigging – if the sizes I have will work out and if my limited inventory of quality linen holds out.  I like the hardness of the linen and its resistance to stretching for the taut standing rigging, but quality has deteriorated in recent years.  I will forgo a discussion of rope making and sizing here, but expect to fully describe the process that I use in Volume III.  Rope making methods and hardware have been well described in many sources.  I find it to be more of an art than a science that can be described simply.
 
I will instead start with the serving process.  I made my serving machine ten or twelve years ago for my Victory model.  It is shown, with some modifications since then, in the first picture.
 

 
The machine consists of large crank-driven gears at each end connected with a jack-shaft as shown.  These gears drive smaller spur gears in synchronization and at stepped up rpm.  Rope is stretched between tubular shafts through the smaller gears.  The next picture shows one of the crude collets that hold the rope.
 

 
The rope passes through the tubular shaft, allowing long lengths to be fed through at the length needed.  The picture shows the method I use to start the serving thread.  A needle is passed between the strands and the thread pulled through.  The thread used here is Guterman quilting cotton, a long-staple, fine cotton thread with virtually no fluff.  It measures about .005" to .007" diameter, equal to about ½" at 1:72 scale.  A bit thick perhaps for serving yarn, but considering that the actual rope would have been wormed and parceled before serving, not far off.
 
After several turns are lapped over the short end, it is clipped off and the serving proceeds as shown below.
 

 
The rope length between collets is adjustable by pulling the shafts through the spur gears then retightening the set screws holding the gears.  The futtock shrouds are short.  A more complete description of the process may be found in my earlier Victory log, here: 
 
http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/316-hms-victory-by-edt-196-pob/&page=2
 
A number of served shrouds for the main and mizzen masts are shown below.
 

 
Served eyes of this large size are made from the served rope by wrapping it around the thimble and securing it with darkened Titebond glue.  It is held together until well bonded using the surgical clamp shown below. 
 

 
The jaws of the clamp have been filed to form a round opening.  The eye splice in the picture has been bonded through the serving by wetting the splice before applying glue.  When fully dry, the short end is shaved back to blend with the rope using either a razor blade or very sharp scalpel.  The joint from the thimble down to the end of the splice is then coated with glue and wrapped with serving thread as shown below.
 

 
The glued serving reinforces the splice.
 
Because of the (overnight) wait time for the Titebond to fully bond, I also tried CA on the splice with Titebond on the serving.  The CA joint with the linen does not seem to be as strong as the Titebonded joint.  I may need some more clamps.
 
The opposite ends of these futtocks are spliced in the same way, but without hooks.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 197 – Topmast Shroud Deadeyes
 
The last post showed the forward futtock shrouds installed, but was mainly concerned changes to rigging sizes, so I skipped over the work on the shrouds.  This work started with making straps for the deadeyes from copper wire.
 
The first picture shows wire wrapped around a dowel to make consistent-sized rings that will be formed into straps.
 

 
After some testing of ring size, a ¼" dowel was determined to be the right size for this – conveniently.  I was hoping to avoid turning a special size.  After wrapping tightly, the rings were parted as shown below.
 

 
The razor blade shown above makes a clean cut in the 22 gauge wire used for these – but only one or two at a time.  The next picture shows some rings before soldering as well as the test assembly fitted into the top.
 

 
The next picture shows the top with its six deadeyes fitted through slots in the iron reinforcing strip and the wood rim below.
 

 
A variety of futtock shroud materials and methods of fastening were used during the period.  Iron bars were coming into use.  Where rope was used, connections might be shackles, hooks or lashings.  Mast connections varied.  I decided on rope with hooks at the top and lashings at the mast eyes, typical of the early clipper years.  The next step was to make the hooked-thimbles.  Some are shown in the next picture.
 

 
These thimbles were cut from 1.5mm brass tube then flared by tapping with a shaped punch.  The thimbles shown happened to be blackened first – not necessary.  The eyes in the hooks must be large enough to pass the served shroud.  To ensure this, the brass rod shown was used as a gauge when forming the hooks.  In the last picture the hooked thimbles have been blackened and are shown suspended from the straps, awaiting connection of the shrouds,
 

 
Making the shrouds will be described in the next part.
 
Ed

As Michael requested, here's a photo of a small copper chain that was partially colored by dipping in the Flemish Gray-Black from JAX.  The photo doesn't show the color as well as I'd like.  The actual color is more silver than the photo shows.
 
 

Ten and a half inches is huge! But here is a comparison with a section of steel wire rope that came off the Main Topmast Preventer Stay of the iron ship Wavertree of 1885. The tape circle is ten and a half inches. But consider that the wire rope section is just HALF of the Wavertree Stay, which ran doubled. 

Great photo.  Yes, wire sizes were a lot smaller.  According to a table in S.B Luce, Seamanship 1868,  comparing relative sizes of hemp, iron and steel, a 10 1/2" hemp rope was equivalent to 4 1/2" iron wire cable  and 3 3/8" steel wire cable.  Wire was well along in adoption in Britain in the 1850's but probably slower in America, but it was in use and there will be some on the Young America model.
A 10 1/2" inch rope is quite large, but much smaller than Victory's 19" main stay!  Hemp at 10 1/2" circumference had a working load strength of about 10,000 lbs and a breaking strain of about 64,000 lbs, according to the table in Luce.
Merchant ships were not generally fitted with preventer stays so I assume Wavertree was a navy ship?  In any event, for comparison, the American Lloyds spec for 1200 ton ship topmast  was 9".  On YA this will be a doubled stay.  So, it is roughly in line with what you have shown.
 
Thanks for this input.
 
Ed

Hi Ed
 
I've found another way to turn brass and copper into what looks like steel, and I thought it might apply to some of YA's metalwork.  JAX Chemical company now sells a product named Flemish Gray-Black.  I painted some onto a brass bar and it colorized it to silver-grey and looks like a piece of shiny steel.  I dipped a small copper chain into the straight solution and after about 30 seconds it looked like a steel chain.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 196 – A Touch of Rework
 
This post was intended to be about topmast deadeyes and connection of those deadeyes to their futtock shrouds below the foretop.  However, some interesting discoveries caused some rework that has interfered with this – and other work that was proceeding.  Fixing mistakes is not all that interesting but in this case I learned some things that may be of interest and I'm not sure the term "mistake" applies.  In any case the rework is relatively minor, and the final model will certainly benefit – though the change may be fairly obscure and unnoticed.
 
The first picture shows the two forward futtock shrouds installed under the fore top.
 

 
The shrouds in the picture have eyes with thimbles at each end, hooks to the deadeye straps, lashings to the mast eyes, and are served all over.  After completing this work, I felt, perhaps intuitively, that the rope looked a bit heavy.  I keep thinking of the lacy rigging in the photos.
 
The specified size of the topmast shrouds on large merchant and Naval ships, and therefore the futtock shroud size, is 6 ½", a size that goes back in time at least to Steel, and probably earlier.  It is repeated in other early sources, probably copying Steel.  It is also listed in Underhill's work on clipper ship rigging that I have used for some line sizing.  Crothers rigging drawings follow suit.  Considering the slight exaggeration in diameter that serving at this scale causes, the final futtocks shown above measure about to the spec.
 
In pursuing this further, I learned that American underwriters, at least, had some different ideas about standing rigging sizes.  While they duplicate Steel for the most part, they part company in the way topmasts are supported.  It appears to me that they wanted stronger topmast backstays and were less concerned about the size and structural importance of the topmast shrouds.  Both the New York Marine Register of 1857 and the American Lloyds Register of 1867 required 10 1/2" backstays on the fore and main topmasts on ships of this class, against the 7" size found in Steel – and other derivative listings.  This is equal to the lower shroud and stay sizes – the largest lines in the ship.  Topmast shrouds and futtocks on the large masts go from 6 ½" down to 5 ¼".
 
The next picture shows a smaller, 5 ¼" replacement futtock on the left with the original 6 ½" on the right.  There is quite a difference, of course.
 

 
If this were the only fix needed, it would hardly bear mentioning, but the backstays are another matter. Upsizing these means changing out a dozen channel deadeyes and chains.  The fore and main deadeyes go from 13" to 16" and the mizzen from 9" to 13".  No fun for Ed.
 
The last check before deciding to proceed with these changes was to examine the photographs of the ship.  While they reveal little on the futtock sizes, they clearly show topmast backstays and deadeyes comparable in size to the lower shrouds as anticipated from the underwriters' specs.  Wow!
 
This would have been easy to miss and I am delighted to have discovered it at this stage.  The difference will certainly be noticeable on the model.  Other American clipper modelers take note.
 
So, I will probably spend a week on the channel deadeyes and backstays – on the model, on the drawings, on the rigging list, and on the channel deadeye chapter in Volume II.
 
Please do not comment on my sanity.
 
Ed

Here are a few suppliers:
 
http://www.harveytool.com
 
http://www.miniatureendmill.com/index2.html
 
http://www.microcutusa.com/index.php

Thanks everyone for the comments and likes.
 
Carl, theoretically glue would not be necessary, but relying on wedges alone on a model of this scale is risky, so as with many other attachments on the model, glue is the sensible choice.  The glue will not only keep the masts down, it will also prevent rotation.  
 
If the question is: why glue the wedges to the masts, it is to permit the masts to be withdrawn and replaced as necessary until they are permanently fixed.  If the wedges were glued instead to the partners, the mast rings below the deck would not pass through the opening.  Also, the mast coats would have to be applied in place, within the confines of the fife rails.
 
Cheers,
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 195 – Mast Wedges
 
So far, the masts have been temporarily stepped and placed in position through partners at the main deck level.  The openings at this level were centered so the masts would stand at roughly the correct rake, but were not sized precisely, nor were they cut perfectly round.  The next step in the mounting process was to fit wedges on to the mast at the partner level.  The wedges would secure the masts at the correct rake, but still allow them to be removed for the remaining bench work.
 
The first step was to size the openings, refine their position, and make them round – with a few inches of clearance around the mast.  The first picture shows this being done at the fore mast partners, using sandpaper mounted on one of the tapered mandrels described earlier.
 

 
When the opening was large enough to wedge the mast, the diameter was measured with dividers as shown in the next picture.
 

 
In the next picture a ring is being turned that will fit the mast diameter and the hole diameter below an enlarged and rounded section at the top.
 

 
The mast wedges were cut from this ring.  The next picture shows the turned ring cut in two and one half being checked for fit on the mast.
 

 
Each of these halves were cut into segments.  In the next picture a segment has been fitted to the mainmast mast and the mast positioned.
 

 
This allowed the mast rake to be measured and any corrections made before fitting the rest of the segments.  The next picture shows the main mast with all the segments glued to it.
 

 
Once wedged, the masts are held firmly in their final position but may be removed for further work.  This work includes final installation of the tops and the masthead trim.  It will also include installation of the deadeyes and futtocks for the topmast shrouds.  The last step before finally stepping the masts will be the fitting of mast coats over the wedges.  These will cover the woodwork shown above with simulated tarred canvas.  The masts will then be glued at the partners and the step and will be ready for the lower shrouds.
 
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 194 – Lower Masts continued
 
Previous posts showed the fore top completed and the other two constructed but not yet fitted with rigging connections.  None had yet been installed on the masts, which remain loose from the model.  The plan is to complete construction of the lower masts, then fit the tops with chains, deadeyes and futtock shrouds and then permanently step the masts.
 
The mizzen mast is lagging behind the larger two.  In the first picture the hounds have been fit and the mortises for the bibbs, have been roughed out,
 

 
The metal work is all left unblackened until the handling of construction is finished.  In the next picture one of the bibbs is being glued on.
 

 
The top of the hounds assembly will be filed off to the correct rake angle later.  The assembly will then be fitted with its 22 simulated bolts, rounded and sanded smooth.
 
In the next picture the completed fore top has been glued to the hounds.
 

 
Bolts and rigging connections may be seen in the picture. 
 
With the top fitted over, the next step was to trim out the masthead.  In the next picture the bolsters on either side of the mast have been installed and and excess glue is being washed from the newly fitted chafing battens.
 

 
The bolsters provided a rounded bed for the shrouds, but on the model they also strengthen the connection of the top.  The glued joints to the hounds under the trestletrees are end grain joints, so the added strength from the bolsters is helpful.  I avoided drilling bolt holes through the trestletrees astride the mast.
 
The last picture shows the completed fore top.  In addition to the bolsters and the chafing battens, thumb cleats have been fitted to each side of the head. 
 
 

 
The wood thumb cleats will support the strapping of a bullseye that will redirect the main topgallant stay downward to the eyebolt just behind the lower masthead.  The battens and the cleats are bolted with small-size (.014") monofilament.  The entire top, including the ironwork has been given a coat of thinned Tung oil.
 
 
Ed

Thank you all for your kind remarks.
 
Roger:  It is a neat trick for quick results.  I have used it on occasion in the past with softer woods like balsa.  Rather than boiling water, I would tightly wrap the pieces in a paper towel saturated with water.  The towel provided a sufficient supply of moisture and enough pressure to help force steam into the material. Hard woods may not be quite as easy.  I can tell you that without sufficient moisture you can set the piece on fire.  I'd rather not explain how I know this.
 
I ran several build threads on RC Universe while building large RC airplanes.  I would build one project a year, which usually took 6-8 months.  Progress on airplanes can be quite dramatic and very conducive to photo essays rather than dialogue.  The YA project, at least for me, is a very long term affair.  I have no illusions about ever completing it.  I not sure that I have enough years left.  However, it has become one of the most rewarding projects I have ever attempted.  It is truly the journey and not the destination that is of the most value.  In the meantime I have my books, music, woodshop, and time spent in the country club bar with friends lying about my golf game.  Honestly, I couldn't be happier than to sit and the feet of the Master and enjoy the beauty of his work.  With Ed's indulgence I will be happy to inject a brief update now and then.
 
For the Master: After resolving approximately 150 data points I have come to the conclusion that the correct dimension between the top surface of the three deck clamps is 84". Please confirm.   I have attributed any significant data variation to print distortion and measurement error.  As a means of eliminating as much error as possible I am designing a jig to set the middle and lower deck clamps using the main deck clamp as a datum.  These feature are so fundamental that it deserves extra effort.
 
I'm a little surprised that I appear to be the only one enjoying the build of such a great vessel.  Also, what man can pass up an excuse to buy more tools.  Just for prospective I've attached a photo of where the ship was born.  12 bdf of 8/4 Swiss pear.
 
Later,  Bob
 
 

We're good.
Bob