JSGerson

Those catharpins are a real bugger to install especially trying to get the tension consistent on all of them. Would you mind elaborating how you accomplished it?

Beautiful work. I sure hope my disc with pictures and plans arrives before you finish the tops. When you get it, if you will check the folder under Photos, Masts, Fighting Tops you will find a bunch of photos taken from above as well as from below. Hopefully they will show you the eyebolts you are looking for. The Navy Plans "masts,21162" folder has a sheet of plans (21162 - Tops for Masts) for the tops which shows eyebolts.There are also a couple of miscellaneous documents related to the tops in "mast" folder.

Ken, you might want to try wetransfer.com. For no cost, you can transfer 20 GB of files. You submit your files to the site. The site notifies the recipient so they can download. After 30 days the stored files will vanish from the site. It worked great when my sister had send me a bunch of stuff. Jon

Once the glue has set, the pins are removed and the coil pops off the plastic with a little coaxing from an X-acto knife. The short loop at the center of the coil is pulled through the coil. The excess line is trimmed and the loop is then hung on the belay pin with the coil hanging straight down. Ta-da!!

On a model, this is done in two parts; the line terminates at the pin/cleat and then a separate coil is attached hiding the excess free ends of the line. To make a pin coil that looks like the real thing a jig is required; mine consists of three pins in a piece of wood. The block of wood has a piece of plastic on it so the line won’t stick to the wood block. It makes the hanging loop and the coil from one piece of line. First the line is soaked in water for a few minutes. A dab of PVC glue is placed on my fore finger and thumb. The wet line is pulled through my pinched fingers coating the line and drawing off any excess glue. Using the jig, the line comes in, loops around the middle pin, crosses over itself and rounds the top pin, then down to the bottom pin. It continues around the top and bottom pins a couple of times.

I’ve started to clean-up the “spaghetti” and add pin rail rope coils. The coils that hang on the belay pins are not just coiled around the pin; many times the pin is just not large enough to hold all the rope. The coil his hung from the side of the pin. The same is true for cleats. I found this diagram some time back (don’t remember where) which hopefully is self-explanatory. I also added my own crude drawing.

Thought you might want this picture of the center balustrades where the arches meet. Jon

"Soon" is a relative term. I've been working on this model since 2009. I do however see the the light at the end of the tunnel. When I pop out of the tunnel depends on Mr. Murphy and his laws. 8-) Jon

I thought I had seen a master craftsman make brass stanchions before when I saw Blues Ensign make them for his Pegasus, but I believe you sir, will surpass that standard. Beautiful work! Jon

The best I can come up with are these photos...and you have to look real close. Jon

I don't have any other images of the brackets. I didn't realize the center one was different. I did however have some 1929 US Nay plans showing what the brackets looked like prior to the restoration. Believe it or not, they look like the bracket you already made! I also had some plans for the studding sail end and quarter irons. I guess the choice is yours Jon 25351-.pdf 25527 - Boom, Studding Sail, End and Quarter Irons.pdf

I just located an image of the studding sail boom bracket and I noticed that my image shows the two most external eyeloops are horizontal in orientation as opposed to the vertical ones you just made. Is that the way the plans show it? You are so meticulous, I wouldn't want you to make a mistake. Jon

When making the goose-neck brackets, you stated: "Layers separated and CA removed from both sides and surfaces sanded smooth." How exactly did you dissolve the CA? Did you soak them in acetone? If so, how did the solvent penetrate between the metal layers? BTY, have I mentioned before that I really enjoy your build log? Jon

At this point all that is left is sheet 9 of the Mamoli plans which is the rigging between the masts. But before I jump into that, I have to tighten up the existing rigging, clean up all the spaghetti, and add a bazillion rope coils. If I don’t do that now, the additional rigging between the masts will interfere getting to the inner spaces of the model.

The only thing worthy of note was that the top gallant halyards on the Main and Foremasts required a block in the mast tops as well as one on the deck. The lines go from the center of the yard, through the mast, and terminate at a block. The block starts a line which goes to a block on the top, back up again to the halyard block and then down to the deck block and finally belays on a mast cleat. Luckily, I had the forethought to pre-drill the holes for the eyebolt stropped blocks prior to installing the masts and the tops. The blocks were stropped to the eye bolt and then strung onto the line. It was just a matter of pushing the eyebolt stems into the pre-drilled holes.

Another milestone: the last stick of wood (as far as I know), the fore top gallant yard has finally been installed. All of the rigging lines for the individual masts and yards have also been installed. Thank goodness because right now my model looks like a spaghetti factory run amok due to the fact that I left all the belayed lines with excess rope for finally adjustment.

Your model is looking real nice. At the beginning of your build log, you stated that you used my build log for the ship's boat so I assume you have also been following my Rattlesnake build log as well because I see you have anticipated some of the problems I've encountered and provided for them, A case in point are the shroud cleats - they are a lot easier to put on now then later. The Mamoli plans did not mention them. When I started my build, I had no experience with POB sailing ships, I had no reference books, I did not have the MS plans for clarifying details, among other things. I just plodded along using Hunt's practicum (which I highly recommend for newbies), learning as I went. I'm glad my errors, mistakes, and solutions have helped you. Jon

Where are you going to use Balsa strips? I'm curious, have you tried it on hard wood like boxwood or basswood? Jon

Scott - Those cleats were a bit tricky initially. I found that if I applied just a tiny bit of PVC into the grove I made on the backside of the cleat, it would hold the cleat in place. Because the cleats face inward, the PVC glue allowed me to maneuver cleat into position before the glue dried. Then I was able to tie fine thread through the center notch of the cleat and around the stay a couple of times. This would hold the cleat tight against the stay. No additional tying was necessary for mechanical strength at this point. But, since in the real world the cleats were also tied to the stays at their base "wings," I added those as well. Jon

I know absolutely nothing about fly fishing tools and therefore not a clue as to how they are used to make flies, let alone how to adapt them to ship building. Ken, if and when you obtain these "unusual" tools, please show us ignorant souls how it is done with your usual excellent flair for show and tell images. Thanks Jon

I'm not really complaining, just venting a bit. This is all new to me so each step is a step into the unknown. If I knew what I was doing, rigging wouldn't be so bad...tedious but not bad...I think. 8-)

Other than going nearly blind trying to follow a single line as I install it through the mass of lines accumulating on the model, pulling out lines because they got twisted in some other line, or I terminated it at the wrong spot, progress is being made. I even took time off to visit Mom in Florida for a week. I won’t mention my fumble fingers bumbling into unseen lines and in some cases breaking them, trying to get some light into an area only to have my hands cast a shadow where I need to work. You know, the usual stuff… Oh, I guess I did. The sheet and clue lines above and for the main yards for the Main and Fore mast were completed once the topsail yards were installed. The sheet lines couldn’t be installed because blocks needed for them were suspended from topsail yards. Note: The Practicum called those clue lines but as I read it, according to Petersson’s Rigging Period Ship Models they are identified as sheet lines.

What I liked about the Mamoli rigging plans is that it breaks up the rigging so that you can see the different types of lines. One sheet shows the stays, another shows just the lines that hold and manipulate the yards, etc. as opposed to the MS plans which shows everything at once albeit the running lines are in red. I found the MS very hard to read with all the overlapping lines. Be that as it may, as hard as it is to understand what the lines are for, what they do, and where they go, plus how they terminate so I can install them properly (I’m a novice remember), the Mamoli plans threw me a few curve balls. On sheet 8 I found a least three errors. Now I am a very visual person, I tend to look at a diagram and build from that as opposed to reading the instructions (yes, I’ve gotten in trouble for that). Looking at the Mamoli rigging diagram seemed pretty much straight forward but the some of the items were mislabeled. After intense cross checking I think I’ve got it straight. The first one I’ve already mentioned, a kevel marked as 89A should have been No. 121 (This was also caught by Mr. Hunt in his practicum). The Main topsail sheet line was marked to terminate on shroud 326A. I could not figure out what the “A” stood for because Mamoli uses the nomenclature “Shroud Group # / line #” (e.g. 326/2°, shroud group 326 2nd line counting front to back)). As it turned, the line is supposed to terminate at bit No. 98A. Then I spotted the line for the Main Topgallant Sheet which was marked to terminate at shroud 326 / 1°. It should be shroud 326 / 4°. As it turns out, the printed rigging instructions detailing each line’s path on the plans was correct and was corroborated by the detail diagrams found on the detail diagrams. I wasn’t totally ignoring the printed instructions, but using them as a check list mostly to insure I installed all the lines. I guess I will have pay a bit more attention to those. If however, you look real close to the MS plans, one finds details not shown in Mamoli plans. One of these is some of the lines now being installed are required to terminate on the stays. On some of those stays, the Mamoli plans just indicate the shroud number and line as I just mentioned no explanation as to how they are tied off there. The MS plans indicted that shroud cleats were required. I used Syren’s 5 mm shroud cleats. They had to be finalized by carving the final shape and putting a concave groove along the back of the cleat. They were first glued into place with a very little dab of PVC glue and the tied at the side wings and at the center pre-cut groove.

Very well done!!! Jon

Glad to be of help. Your mini tutorials are going to be a great help to me when I start my attempt at the model. Jon