Jack12477

Small progress update: Installed main and mizzen mast. rigged the deadeyes and main mast forestay. Installed the boat rack amidships. Started bending the sails to the upper spars. Still experimenting with the color dye technique - not getting consistent results - some hues cause a build-up of pigment on the surface of the cloth while others actually dye the cloth. Have to consult with my paint expert (son) when he comes over. Still researching how I want to color the sails. Progress photos: Mizzen Gaff topsail Main Mast Gaff topsail Overall Model

Henry, thanks - that makes it a lot clearer.

Thanks, Dave, that does help.

I'm looking at the plans for my AL Marie Jeanne and it shows the sails being lashed to the spar in a sort of circular loop stitch. However it does not show how the top two bolt rope loops are attached. My thinking is that the spar goes through the loop and the remainder of the sail/bolt rope is lashed. See attached photos: Plans depict the attachment as shown below. Note the bottom corner loop attaches to the end of the gaff of the lower sail. But nothing is shown for the two upper corner loops This is the other spar In most of the models I've built with pre-made sails with bolt ropes there has been some attachment point for the loops either to a lower level gaff/yard or some point (pulley block) on an adjacent mast. What is the correct way?

Looks good to me Piet. I agree with Remco about the shark's nose.

Ken, I'm finding a long soak time helps deepen the color. I will definitely be making a duplicate sail for the dyeing process and leave the kit supplied sails as a pristine backup. Right now I'm using small scrap pieces of the same cloth to get the dyeing process down. I'm experimenting with a different color combo other than the blue and red. From pictures I found of actual boats it seems they color the mizzen and foresail (one immediately aft of the jib) and not the mainsail.

Small update: I found some sail cloth remnants left over from a build I did with a friend. There is a large enough single piece from which I can cut the mizzen spanker sail and one of the top sails, but I don't think the piece is large enough to get a mizzen and main sail from it. In addition to the large remnant I found some 1 inch and 2 inch wide scraps of sail which I had saved to use as hammocks or whatever. So with the cloth in hand I started experimenting with the dyeing process. Following my son's (the artist) suggestion I took some of those small cups you get with store bought yogurt filled them 3/4 full of water and took Michaels store brand acrylic paint, added about a dozen drops of each color to two separate cups, mixed it until I had a very dilute paint mixture. Then I placed a short strip of cloth into each cup and let it soak for probably 3 hours, removed it and let it dry. The blue is not too bad but the red came out way to light. For the red color I used a Red Burgandy but I'm not pleased with the results. More experimenting is required. Here's some photos of my setup and the results (I should add the photo of the cloth was taken next to a large window with sunlight as the light source).

Mobbsie, Ofencer29350, my dilemma at the moment is there is only one set of very well crafted kit supplied sails for the model. There are, of course, templates in the plans from which one can make a set of sails. However, I am not that good a sailmaker and finding the right material for the sails may be an issue. So if I mess up the coloring of the kit sails I've just ruined a good build. Hence, my hesitations. However, the suggestion of colored sails does pique my modeling interest, so the door is not closed yet. I just have to figure out my alternatives in case I mess up.

Thanks for the info Mobbsie. Very interesting !

what is the significance of the colors red and blue ? Is one sail dyed one color and the other sail the second color ? (Last sail is called Mizzen Spanker)

Ken, it works well on the ropes, blocks, lashings, etc. It's slow drying, stays flexible and the needle point applicator is really good. I only use it for the "ropes" to secure the knots, etc. nothing else. For metal to wood or metal to metal I use Medium CA, otherwise it is all PVA - Elmer's yellow carpenter glue.

Ofencer29350, why red and blue? And which sails ? All or just some ?

Thanks George. Small update Here's some pictures of the kit supplied sails - nicely sewn

Bug, I too am glad to see you completing Augie's build.

Thanks Frank for the compliment and all who clicked the LIKE button. Continuing on: Finally completed all the masts, spars, booms, fishing poles, and the like. For the first time ever, AL shorted me material (I think). Since there is no itemized parts list (like some kits have) only the balloons with numbers which reference a parts list by number which in turn only gives the finished dimensions, I couldn't detect it till I got near the end. The fishing poles are two parts and there are two of them. The parts lists calls out the longest piece as 335 mm in length, the actual plans measure 328 mm in length; however all I had left were 3 - pieces measuring 300 mm in length. In an offline (PM) discussion with George (GLAKIE) we decided to substitute 1/8 inch dowels and use English Chestnut to try to match the walnut kit supplied dowels. Found 4 ft lengths of 1/8 inch Poplar dowels in Lowes for 55 cents each - good ! Cut the 2 parts of each fishing pole to their respective lengths from the Poplar dowels and stained them as George suggested and it's a near perfect match. Thank you again, George for the suggestion. The fishing poles are equipped with 2 mm rings lashed with rope to the poles at intervals along the length. The plans called for 0.015 mm thread for the lashings. I decided the easiest way to lash them was to form a clove hitch thru the center of the rings such that the overlapping of the clove hitch occurred inside the ring; I followed this up by doing a half-hitch with one tail of the lashing above the ring and another half-hitch with the other tail belong the ring. Worked pretty good and locked the ring in place. Sealed the ends with a drop of G-S Hypo Cement. Completed spars, poles, etc Fishing Poles Remaining Spars and booms Next up is attaching them and the sails to the model.

Mark, just catching up. The liquid glass in the windows came out nice. I like the effect, very old and wavy looking.

Gesso ? Ken ? Brush application - no airbrush - it's used by artists to prep their canvas for painting

Did you try using artists Gesso to prime the wood first before applying the paint? Works well for me regardless of color or paint brand. You can get Gesso in any Michaels store or any art supply store. It's water based.

Sal, thanks for the tip. I had not thought of using a gin pole to brace them. Will use that on my model. Model is looking great. BTW What mess ? Looks very well organized to me

Thanks George, Mark, Pete, Nigel, Sal, and Michael for the comments and all those who clicked the LIKE button. George, yes, they are very tiny compared to their big brother but they work amazingly well. The masts etc are all walnut dowels and the plane cuts very thin ribbons with ease. Actually I have less trouble using the micro plane that I do with the full size one - never can get the blade exposure set right on the big one. Took me less than 2 minutes to get the micro plane working right. And I used it straight out of the box, no honing or anything. I'm very impressed with them, it was a good investment for me. Michael, yes, I'm slowly mastering the metal work. I've been substituting craft beading wire for the kit wire in some instances as it is easier to shape. Next to do is teach myself how to solder and blacken the brass, but for now I'll leave it shiny. Sal, I borrowed that design from someone here on MSW way back when I first joined so I can't claim credit for it - I picked up a couple of miniature wooden crates (decorative craft item I guess) in our local Michaels craft store, epoxied them together, ditto the clothespins which I took apart and reversed. I have another one with the "crates" epoxied end to end to make it taller. I can either clamp the crates down or weight them.

Me too. I have the book also. Bill's right

Moving right along I started working on the masts, gaffs, booms, and spars. Working with the picture book (steps 24 - main mast - and 25 -mizzen mast) and the plan diagram shown in post #113 (bottom left photo) as a reference I shaped the main mast using my Veritas miniature plane Picture book steps 24 - 27 - sorry they are not rotated - blame the scanner software Steps 24-27.pdf size comparison between full size and miniature plane finished main mast before adding blocks etc The pile of shavings left behind by the main mast Main Mast - the mystery barrel - flag pole "lanyard" Main and Mizzen shrouds Mizzen mast After looking at the photos of Brittany boats supplied by Ofencer29350 in a previous post I decided to add a boarding ladder. I had to guess at the dimensions based on the photos but I think it is pretty much in scale Deadeyes - port and starboard and stern Overall shot of model to date - some deck structures have been left off to avoid damaging them Now on to the remaining spars, gaffs, booms, etc.

Marc, my 2 cents on rigging thread - until I found Chuck's Syren thread, I was replacing the horrible thread in your kits with thread I got from Artesania Latina via Tower Hobbies in Chicago. It's cotton I believe but much easier to work with than that which comes in MS kits. Find out who supplies AL with their thread, is my suggestion. Now I use both Chuck's Syren and AL's, depending on the model, until my AL supply is exhausted then it will be Chuck's for sure.

Guess I'm the 1st to pull up a crate to watch - looking forward to following your build, Bob.

Send me a PM if you decide to venture north