JSGerson

Another dry fit was performed and at this point I decided the roller needed to be a bit longer so another piece was cut. It ended up as 3mm long.

The U-shape served two purposes, first it obviously was part of the final structure but it also had a built-in second function – it held its shape so I didn’t have to fuss getting the vertical members with the holes lined up and soldered while keeping them in alignment. Having served its second purpose, the horizontal base was cut off and the excess solder was filed to shape. 

A fine brush was used to apply the flux at the joints and tiny pieces of solder were placed in position. I didn’t want the solder to flow and plug the holes I drilled earlier. Another surprise, it worked!

Now came the tricky part, I had to silver solder the U-shape to the ring. The ring was made like the first one but a gap was cut out and filed to fit the U-shape.

The hook, which had given me problems before was made from a 1mm (internal dia.) eyebolt using the tiny nails used for model railroads to wrap and shape the hook. My initial concern for strength went away because the eyebolt wire was stronger than my spool wire and the hook itself would not be put under any stress. The roller was simply a piece of 3/16” brass tube. A dry fitting was performed and surprisingly, everything fit.

Starting off with a small piece of copper plate, a strip was cut off approximately 1mm x 9mm. Using a #76 drill holes were made at either end. Then the strip was bent into a 3.5mm wide U-shape so that the holes where about the same height from the base of the “U.” The top of the vertical members were filed rounded over.

Dave and Martin, well, I see you two liked that bit of rigging...but as it turned out I didn't.

The Jib Traveler - Redo

it was pointed out to me by a friend, that I installed the jib traveler backwards (the hook should be pointing aft) and upon further investigation reading Lees’ The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War 1625 – 1860 and Lennarth Petersson’s Rigging Period Ship Models, it was realized (and in some cases contrary to the plans) that I also:

• Probably used the wrong style traveler
• Permanently attached the block that to the jib cap when it more than likely should have been hooked to the cap
• Use a double block that was part of the cap tackle when it  more than likely a fiddle block
• Incorrectly (but per the Mamoli plan) tied off the tackle at the jib cap which made no sense to me. The tie-off from the cap actually goes to a forecastle railing stanchion cleat per MS plans and inferred by other references.

First off the traveler had to be changed. The U-shaped hoop had to go and be replaced by a roller. The MS plans do show the jib traveler with a roller. I elected to use the roller traveler with hook shown in Lees’ but without the hoop. Second, I thought about modifying the existing traveler I made but because I didn’t like the traveler’s hook (too large), I decided to start fresh from square one. The below images show the travelers from Lees book, Model Shipways, and final my modified version.

The Jib Stay is looped over the Fore topmast using a mouse and passes through the jib traveler and into the jib sheave where it terminates at a double block. The tackle is constructed the same way as the termination tackle of the Fore Topmast Stay and Preventer Stay. In the last image, it’s hard to see, the jib traveler lines terminate at the belay pin rail. In this case the tie off at the pin is temporary and will be finalized later.

Once the pieces were made, they were assembled and the main ring was closed. It was at this point that I gave the assembly an acid bath and then blackened it. I figured there would be less chance of scrapping the blackened surface afterwards than before. The final touch was to paint most of the ring outside the shackle area brown to simulate leather. The rings were normally covered in leather to protect the jib from wear. It’s kind of difficult to see the brown color against the blackened metal so I guess I could have skipped that step. The next to last image compares the kit traveler and my version. The final image shows the lines used to pull the jib traveler towards the bow attached.

I wanted to make the shackle from thinner stock but as I stated I didn’t have any suitable brass rod, so I improvised and used a paper clip. I did not want to use too fine of wire because it would not have any strength. Because I did have suitable diameter music wire I had a fleeting thought of using that, but dismissed that idea as impractical as it would be too tough to bend to the required tight curves with the tools that I had. As pliable as paperclips are, at this scale, making tight loops was still tricky. I used a pair of closely nailed brads in a piece of wood to wrap the ends around to make the tight loops. Along with other instruments of mass destruction (hammers, needle nose pliers, etc.), the shackle was made…twice. The first one broke due to over manipulation of the metal – metal fatigue. The little hook was a problem. I just could have made it at the size shown with thinner wire but it would have bent too easily at the barest touch so I had to make it bigger.

As you can see, the real thing is a bit more complex than what was provided in the kit. For one, the little loop atop the ring is a moveable shackle and two, there is a little hook which according to Antscherl, is for the “jib sail tack cringle… [which] is a loop of rope formed at the lower forward corner of this sail”). Because my model won’t have sails, the hook will go unused.

As an aside, I don’t know what hardware Model Shipways provided in their kit, but their plans show a roller in lieu of the shackle and no hook. Lees does show that variation in his book.

To start, I used a 3/64” brass rod to make the initial ring. I wanted to use a 1/32” rod like Antscherl, but did not have one. The difference was within the tolerances provided in Lees’ book.

Having jumped in with both feet in fabricating most of the other components, I decided to give this a crack. I was in luck that both David Antscherl and James Lees agreed as to what it should look like. This illustration is from James Lees’ The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War 1625-1860.

Jib Traveler

The Mamoli kit provided a Jib Traveler. It is a ring component that fits over the Jib Boom and receives the Outer Foremast Stay from the Foremast Top Tree and directs it to a sheave at the tip of the Jib where it ends at the bowsprit cap. It is designed to slide along the Jib Boom adjusting the stay.

The Fore Topmast Backstay was constructed just like the Mizzen Topmast; the ends terminating to a pair of lashed rings coming off the aft deadeye.

The Fore Topmast Stay and Preventer Stay each looped around the topmast tree requiring a mouse and passed through the bees – the Stay through the forward opening on the Starboard side and the Preventer through the aft on the Port. From there they terminated at the bow using a pair of single and double blocks. Because the lines pass through the bees, the double block had to be attached to the rope on the model. The other half of the rigging, the single block, the rope, and eye ring were assembled off the model.

The Main Topmast Backstay was constructed the same as the Mizzen Backstay except instead of rings, deadeyes were required. The lower deadeyes were previously installed but unfortunately, the kit came up short by at least two for the backstays. Using the laser cut deadeye kit supplied by Syren Model Ship Company I then preceded to make-up the shortfall.

The deadeye kit consisted of two identical side framed layers and a centerpiece layer containing multiple deadeyes; in this case seven. They are to be assembled as a group. Making sure the outside layer had their outside faces facing outwards and the holes were all facing the same direction, the three layers were glued together with CA as directed. A few minutes later, I cut off two deadeyes. The downloaded instructions strongly suggested using a block tumbler but since I didn’t have one and at this stage only needed two deadeyes (so far), they were hand filed and sanded. The holes, which lined up very nicely, were drilled to remove any excess glue and then stained.

The Mizzen Topmast Stay was next. It started at the top of Mizzen Topmast and went to base of the Main Topmast. The backstay was fastened to the Mizzen Topmast with a simple loop through an eye. At the Main Mast, the line passed through a block attached under the mast cap and terminates to a 3mm blackened ring. Another blackened ring was threaded on a served line that wrapped under the fighting top tree. The two rings were lashed together. The stay was full constructed off the model and then installed. Note the lashings shown in the below images are not finalized.

Topmast Stays and Backstays

Working from the stern forward, the Mizzen Backstay was the first to be installed. The stay was split where it fits over the topmast and terminates at the sides of the hull. The bitter ends were served and looped through a blackened ring and seized. Another line, this one very short and fully served, came off the base of the most aft deadeye and also terminated to a ring like the backstay. These rings were then lashed together

Works for me

You'll have to show us the progress pictures of the display

Very, very nice, you should be proud, and you did it in under two years. I'm still at it, six years and counting. Now you need a nice case and a prominent spot to show it off.

Jonathan

Here's the cradle I made for the Evergreen

I think this is what Martin is referring to. Its a crude rendering but with a few added cross supports, taper the top edge, and maybe add a decoration or two, it would be simple to make, no gauge to buy, and most of all, do the job.

I too have my misgivings about those keel pedestals. Unless you built the hull to take the screws from the pedestal and hold them strong, I believe to cradle is the way to go, If you are referring to the type of stand shown in this Mamoli image, a simple way to get the shape of the hull is to use a contour gauge. The one shown is from Micro-Mark. Just transfer the contour to slabs of wood and use a jig-saw.

Thank you for the wonderful mini-tutorial. This is why I love reading your build log.

Jonathan

B.E. thanks for the soldering complement, especially from you. Also thanks for the tip on seizing the stays, it's greatly appreciated.

Jonathan