Piet

Week 19 - 21
 
after finishing off the painting of all the tiny parts of week 16- 18 its now time to place them in the ship
 
I have also worked on fitting the lanterns (with LEDs) and only one remains to be done
 
all the parts of the lower deck are glued in place and I have checked to make sure they are sturdy as the ship will be on the side when planking starts and I don't want any bits falling off
 
once the final lantern is in place I can glue the 4 parts of the next deck in place tomorrow.
 
I have modified two of those parts for the wiring so that all will be hidden

Thanks John
 
me and the family have been on a road trip to Melbourne to catch some Australian  Open tennis and now I have 1 week before going back to work and I intend to catch up on the Pearl

Thank you, thank you, thank you - - - he says with a deep bow and a big smile   Very much appreciated!
 
Well, we have arrived at the end of this build.  There is actually one more detail left to do, Amateur Jan's lobster    But he'll have to wait till I catch a few 
 
I haven't made the final pictures yet for the Gallery, I'll do that tomorrow and post a few here.
 
I finally decided on a name for this special build.  It came to me Thursday night as was in bed waiting for the sandman to come.  I didn't want a "sissy" name or something mundane and how can I tie the name in with the purpose of this endeavor, Wounded Warrior?  There it was, Warrior!  Not Wounded anything, just Warrior.  
 
I cheated - - - I typed it up in green and 14 point and printed it out.  So, Friday morning I cut the name tags out and glued them to the hull using Liquitex medium.  
 
Just for fun, I made a coke bottle and two glasses to toast the successful completion of the build    In the second picture I put that bottle and glasses on the sliding hatch.  Any one for more will have to go into the cabin and raid the wet bar.  Sjors on the dock with the popcorn machine 
 
Then I thought, hey, we need an anchor.  I Googled anchors and found a nice simple one that was used on landing craft during WW II.  So, I cut some metal and made an anchor.  The blades are 0.1 mm brass shim, the post is 1 mm square brass stock that I soldered to a small piece of 1 mm brass tubing.  Put a piece of 0.5 mm brass rod through is and then soldered the blades to the rod, one on each side of the tube.  The blades can actually rotate to grab the sea floor.  Then a brass eyelet on the end of the post for the anchor rope.  Who would have thunk it, an honest to goodness workable anchor 
 
I hope I can post the final pics to the Gallery, have to read up on it.
 
Alright folks, here are a few pics of the last details.
 

This bottle was used for the "christening" of the boat. 
 

We are ready for a toast, cheers to all.
 

 

 

 

This shows the completed anchor on my work bench. 
 

This shows the anchor ready to be dropped and lashed to the samson post.
 
Cheers, 

Thank you, thank you, thank you - - - he says with a deep bow and a big smile   Very much appreciated!
 
Well, we have arrived at the end of this build.  There is actually one more detail left to do, Amateur Jan's lobster    But he'll have to wait till I catch a few 
 
I haven't made the final pictures yet for the Gallery, I'll do that tomorrow and post a few here.
 
I finally decided on a name for this special build.  It came to me Thursday night as was in bed waiting for the sandman to come.  I didn't want a "sissy" name or something mundane and how can I tie the name in with the purpose of this endeavor, Wounded Warrior?  There it was, Warrior!  Not Wounded anything, just Warrior.  
 
I cheated - - - I typed it up in green and 14 point and printed it out.  So, Friday morning I cut the name tags out and glued them to the hull using Liquitex medium.  
 
Just for fun, I made a coke bottle and two glasses to toast the successful completion of the build    In the second picture I put that bottle and glasses on the sliding hatch.  Any one for more will have to go into the cabin and raid the wet bar.  Sjors on the dock with the popcorn machine 
 
Then I thought, hey, we need an anchor.  I Googled anchors and found a nice simple one that was used on landing craft during WW II.  So, I cut some metal and made an anchor.  The blades are 0.1 mm brass shim, the post is 1 mm square brass stock that I soldered to a small piece of 1 mm brass tubing.  Put a piece of 0.5 mm brass rod through is and then soldered the blades to the rod, one on each side of the tube.  The blades can actually rotate to grab the sea floor.  Then a brass eyelet on the end of the post for the anchor rope.  Who would have thunk it, an honest to goodness workable anchor 
 
I hope I can post the final pics to the Gallery, have to read up on it.
 
Alright folks, here are a few pics of the last details.
 

This bottle was used for the "christening" of the boat. 
 

We are ready for a toast, cheers to all.
 

 

 

 

This shows the completed anchor on my work bench. 
 

This shows the anchor ready to be dropped and lashed to the samson post.
 
Cheers, 

Very nice Piet !
 
Sjors

Here she is ready to rig.

I managed to go through several different types of materials to construct the Lookout Rings. In this configuration I am going with using 2 Lookout Rings on the Formast and the Mainmast. In reality they are round iron rings, but I wasn't happy with my wire rings I attempted to make. I finally found a plastic container that holds small drill bits and it was the right thickness and diameter, so I cut these the right thickness to simulate an iron strip. Then painted them white and dryfit them back together and set them on deck. At this stage I am now completed with the Masts. Yea!

Jack,
Thank you for stopping by.  I'm happy to see you back in your boat yard!  Your Mother is a wise woman.  I'm in no hurry to build, so I'll continue to build at my glacial pace.  God grant me patience and I wanted it 20 minutes ago........    
 
Eamonn,
Your Ballahoo is lovely and should take pride of place!  Let me know what you found for the brass.  I updated my last post with a photo of the cleaned up P&G's and added link to EdT's Young America build log and how Ed made his P & G's.  
 
Nils,
Thanks for stopping by!  I enjoy reading your build logs and have learned a lot from them.     
 
Canute,
Thanks for stopping by and following my build!
My avatar is my cat "Tuxedo".  'Tux' has a white bib and stomach and four white spats.  He has a white moustache, one side is ala 'Clark Gable / Rhett Butler' and the other side is ala Groucho Marks.  Yep, Tuxedo is a romantic comedienne. 
 
Steve,
Thank you for stopping by!  This kit hull was supposed to be double planked, but I challenged myself to build it with only one layer of planking.  It was a challenge, but I took my time to make sure every plank was sized to fit.  I've been fortunate to find numerous photos online of the Shepherdess from Domremy to base my build on.  It's a lot of fun making all the changes and having a 'model' for my model. 
 
Mike,
Thanks for stopping by! 
YEAH!!!!  Another Sloup build!  I'm doing the happy dance!  At 1:12.5, you will have lots of room to add detail!  
The sharp turn in the hull is what made this hull a challenge to single plank.  If I were to redo the planking again, I would make two adjustments to my planking process:
Bevel both the top and bottom of all planks
Starting with the 4th or 5th plank, heat set the edge bending.  Here's a photo of the 17th port side plank after I did the edge bending.  This plank was a breeze to add.

Mike, you'll do fine with the planking and I'm looking forward to following your Sloup build.
~~~~~~~
I'm continuing to work on all of the little fiddly parts, I have a list of 15 items to do before I can start working on the rigging.  Hopefully I can get these done in a couple / few weeks and start working on the rigging. 
 
Thank You to all who stopped by and the likes. 
 
Dee Dee

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 108 – Sheathing plates/Deck members
 
Well, those brass plates I showed in the last post certainly sparked a lot of interest – and helpful comments.  Even as I posted those photos I was thinking about improvements.  The comments convinced me and provided some good ideas.   One of the final plates is shown in the first picture – an ultra- closeup. 
 

 
This has a very close duplicate of the original nailing pattern.  The sheets would have been pre-punched – perhaps like this one – then simply placed in position and nailed over a tarred felt covering.  In the lower row, the indentations are about 3” apart, so you can see that the dimples themselves are less than an inch I diameter – just about right.  This plate is 48” x 14” (about 0.67” x 0.195”).  The model plates are .002” thick brass.
 
The next picture shows the stamping fixture – sitting on the block of hardwood used to stamp the brass.
 

 
The top piece is drilled to accept .018” straight pins – a sliding fit.  A fence is added to align the plates.  The top row of holes is extended so the “dress course” (top row) can be stamped a second time so those plates will have nail rows top and bottom.  A brass plate is sandwiched beneath the top piece and a lower piece as a hard support at the bottom of the pins.
 
After drilling the nailing pattern the two blocks and the brass plate were bolted together.  Pins were inserted and clipped off.  These were then machine ground down to a few thousandths above the wood surface to make them a uniform length – as shown below.
 
 

 
With the pins still in the holes, the parts were disassembled and reassembled with the plate under the ground off ends of the pins.  After testing on some plates, the pins were wetted with thin CA to keep them from falling out.  The fence was then added.  The lower block is held in a vise for stamping.  Small dimples are best achieved with a hardwood block tapped lightly over the plate.  I expect to describe this process step by step in the book.
 
All of this was a bit of a side show because I am not yet ready to sheath the hull.  The main event this week has been the installation of the waterways and binding strakes on the main deck.  The first picture shows the starboard waterway being glued against the frames in between the beams and the planksheer rail.
 

 
After forming these pieces and fitting the scarph joints, they were painted light blue before being installed to avoid have to “cut in” the painted line by hand – too shaky for that. 
 
The next picture shows the two 10” wide binding strakes and the “nib strake” being installed on the starboard side.
 

 
The top of the outer binding strake is about 6” above the beams, the inner binding strake is tapered so the inside edge is the height of the common planking – 3 ½”.  The nib strake is that thickness and 8” wide.  The planking at the side will be limited to these three strakes.  There will be central planking between the hatchways.  The next picture shows the starboard side complete and work in progress on the port side.
 

 
Some of the starboard scuppers can just be seen in the above picture.  The next picture shows these being fitted through the outer planking. 
 

 
These will be filed off flush and blackened before final installation.  The remaining hull planking can then be painted and the sheathing installed on the starboard side.  The pencil  lines in the picture define the height of the dress course.
 
The last picture shows a pin rail drilled and shaped but not yet installed.
 

 
These rails will fit right under the main rail.  Paint has been filed off of the top timbers under the rail so the pin rail can be glued.
  
Ed

... the stern at the moment...
 
Dražen

... few photos of the progress
 
Dražen

Topmast Ratlines
 
Nothing real different here, just more ratlines. At this stage I only have most of the ratlines on the main topmast left to do.
 
Here are the foremast ones :
 

 
And the mizzen topmast :
 

 
  Danny

Thank you Aldo, and thank you too Greg .
 
 
Yeah, I noticed ...... every morning there were at least 30 "Greg the Pegleg Sailor liked a post in HMS Vulture" notifications. I'm glad you like her .
 
Just for you (oh, OK the rest of you too ) here's an update. Sorry it's been so long coming but my computer's been playing up again. Today it's having a rare "good" day.
 
Topmast Futtock Staves
 
The topmast shrouds have futtock staves that are similar to the lower mast ones :
 

 

 
Fore Stay and Preventer Stay
 
Both stays are attached to the topmast head in similar fashion to the main topmast stays, with the exception that the preventer stay is above the stay :
 

 
The running ends of the stays are fed through the sheaves in the bee blocks, with the preventer stay going through the port side forward sheave and the stay going through the aft starboard sheave :
 

 
The ends of the stays have violin blocks fitted. Two 7" single blocks are stropped to the eyebolts in the knightheads, and are connected to the violin blocks by lanyards :
 

 

 
Topsail Yard Tyes
 
TFFM suggests that now is a good time to fit the Topsail Yard Tye blocks. This would be very difficult to do after the topgallant masts are fitted.
 
I made the two pairs of 14" blocks for the main and fore masts (only) from English Box in a similar fashion to all the other blocks I made previously. They seem to be getting better as I go . The two blocks are stropped with enough length to allow them to hang about a block length below the trestle trees :
 

 

 
  Danny

She's about ready for action Piet! Let's see-------Lobster on the Half-Shell and a Cocktail chaser!  Beautiful!!! 
 
Cheers 

Hi Lawrence, Matija and everyone for their Likes! Greatly appreciated.
 
Lawrence, I'm with you on that score. I always believe that adding life to a model, especially through detail, adds so much character and realism; which I guess explains why I love doing the interiors of models.
 
Here are a few more shots, just for the sake of it!
 
Hope you all have a nice week.
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

Hello friends and thank you all for visiting and your likes!!!!
 
I spend all day in the shipyard (garage) to work on the dinghy.  I fabricated the gudgeons and pintles for the rudder.  Believe it or not but that took me three and a half hours to do.  One wouldn't believe that something that simple can take so much time.  
 
I used 0.2 mm brass shim stock and 1 mm brass tubes with 0.5 mm brass pins for them.  No reason to draw a picture, all of you know how they look like.
 
The brass shim was cut to 1 mm wide and so were the brass tubes.  I bend the brass strips into a U shape to fit the keel and rudder.  The toughest part was soldering these small pieces of tube to the bend up strips.  I placed a picture of my soldering jig below.  I used a steel sewing pin to hold the tube to the gudgeon with my left hand while soldering with the right.  Oh yeah, I used a rosin core silver solder, feeding that with my third hand    Actually, I pretinned the parts.
 
For the pintles I used the same method except that I first soldered the brass rod in the tubes and then holding that to the bend-up strips I soldered i all together.  
 
This doesn't sound like 3 1/2 hours worth of work but that includes a few remakes, naturally    
 
The pictures below were taken before I cleaned everything up by CAREFULLY filing extra solder away.  The nowy look presentable and I am happy.  Gwen also liked them, she said it looks rather spiffy. 
 
I cemented the gudgeons and pintles to their assigned locations with CA.
 
Next I shaved some wood away from the oarsmen seats but I think that the forward one can still use to loose some more wood..
 
I also made an eye bold for the bow frame where the mooring ting will be.  This I glued into the top of the bow frame with CA.
 
After lunch I started on making the oar locks.  Hmmmm - - - not having much success with them.  Spend almost 3 hours on them and managed to make only one, which I will have to reject.  They are supposed to be 0.5 mm wide from some 0.2 mm brass ship and then drilling a 0.5 mm hole in it for a bras pin.  They'l be bend into a U shape to fit the 0.8 mm oar shaft.  They'll be slightly smaller the on version 1.0 but it seems to give me more trouble tat way.  
Soooooh, I'm back at square one with them.  Well, tomorrow is another day and I can start out fresh.
 
That's it for today and here are a few pics of today's efforts.
 

I put the gudgeon over a piece of scrap wood with the same thickness as the keel.  You can see the sowing straight pin in the 1 mm tube and yes, it does get hot 
 

Here are all the pieces completed but still in the rough state.  After I cleaned them up and filed the excess solder away they do look presentable.  I also filed the ship pieces even to 1 mm wide,
 

 

 
Cheers, 

Thank you all for visiting and your like votes, it's much appreciated and encouraging. 
 
In between working a few chores around the house and the lobster smack kit I managed to do some more work on the dinghy.
 
I made and installed the bow "platform," the helm's man seat and two oarsmen seats.
Due to the gunnel on top of the ribs I had to make the bow thingy in two peaces.  I tried to make it in one piece but that turned out to be impossible and after two tries I gave up and just split them.  I supported it in the center though with a narrow strip and super glued it in.  
 
I had better luck with the helm's man seat though.  It is wide enough to be able to bend it enough and it popped right in.  I had to remove and install it several times for the fit but it finally worked out kinda okay.  
 
I had to add just a little wood filler in spots but after it's painted dark grey all those blemishes will be hidden.
 
The oarsmen seats were rather easy, also because I could bend them to pop them in.  But - - - when I closed shop this afternoon and taking a last peek I realized that the oarsmen seats are too far aft.  Too much weight in the aft end of the dinghy.  No problem, we'll just tear them out and make two new ones and move them up one rib, they'll look even better 
 
I also made the rudder and the helm stick and that was all she rode today.  Next up, after the oarsmen seats are replaced, is to make the oar locks, rudder gudgeons and pintles.  Then a fitting to the upper bow beam for a mooring / lifting ring.  
 
Coming close to completion.  But I still need to make the cradle on the sub.
 

 

 
Cheers,
 

Today was rather productive.  As mentioned yesterday I needed to tidy up the loose hanging sheets.  So, that's what I did.  This sounds like a simple job but I had to muster up some patience wrestling these springy "ropes."
 
I made double sticky tape from masking tape so the cords could be stuck to it as I tried to bend them to my will and not theirs.  I have some clear all purpose glue and dabbed some on the coils to keep them in shape.
After the glue had cured I peeled the coils off the tape and with a small dap of the same glue I tacked them to the deck.  For a static model that's not meant to be a toy I figured it would be best to secure them.  
 
The jib sheets are just wrapped around the cleats in the cockpit with one loop hanging loose to make it look ready for action.  Everything is secured with a dab of glue.
 
Well, that was it for today and now it's time for a few more details to finish her.  One of the main things is the name board that'll be placed on the display board.  I don't know yet how I'll do that.  The other detail thingy's will be announced and shown in due time.
 
It doesn't look like a lot I did but I took this afternoon off.  Actually, it was rather cold in the garage and I was not very comfortable, even with a jacket on.  It was my lower legs that felt like icicles.
 
Okay, here are a few more pics.
 

This shows how I coiled the sheets.
 

Here are the jib and gaff halyards neatly coiled after being secured to the cleats on the mast.
 

Here is the main sheet cleated and then coiled on the aft deck.
 

This shows the jib sheets cleated and just looped over the cleat.  I also stuck the oar thingies in.  The oars are fastened under the deck overhang and out of sight 
 

One more profile pic with all the rope work neated up and the flag tied to the sail, can't go without the flag.
 
Cheers, 

Today was rather productive.  As mentioned yesterday I needed to tidy up the loose hanging sheets.  So, that's what I did.  This sounds like a simple job but I had to muster up some patience wrestling these springy "ropes."
 
I made double sticky tape from masking tape so the cords could be stuck to it as I tried to bend them to my will and not theirs.  I have some clear all purpose glue and dabbed some on the coils to keep them in shape.
After the glue had cured I peeled the coils off the tape and with a small dap of the same glue I tacked them to the deck.  For a static model that's not meant to be a toy I figured it would be best to secure them.  
 
The jib sheets are just wrapped around the cleats in the cockpit with one loop hanging loose to make it look ready for action.  Everything is secured with a dab of glue.
 
Well, that was it for today and now it's time for a few more details to finish her.  One of the main things is the name board that'll be placed on the display board.  I don't know yet how I'll do that.  The other detail thingy's will be announced and shown in due time.
 
It doesn't look like a lot I did but I took this afternoon off.  Actually, it was rather cold in the garage and I was not very comfortable, even with a jacket on.  It was my lower legs that felt like icicles.
 
Okay, here are a few more pics.
 

This shows how I coiled the sheets.
 

Here are the jib and gaff halyards neatly coiled after being secured to the cleats on the mast.
 

Here is the main sheet cleated and then coiled on the aft deck.
 

This shows the jib sheets cleated and just looped over the cleat.  I also stuck the oar thingies in.  The oars are fastened under the deck overhang and out of sight 
 

One more profile pic with all the rope work neated up and the flag tied to the sail, can't go without the flag.
 
Cheers, 

Thanks everyone for dropping in and clicking the like button, I truly appreciate it very much!
 
Let's see, Sunday midmorning I started to prep for a special dinner for Gwen and spend the rest of the day in the kitchen.  I wanted to treat her to something she's been talking about, on and off.  So I made Tournedos a la Bearnaise with Dutch style potato croquettes, glazed carrots and asparagus.   I made my own bearnaise sauce, a lot of work but delish!  She was impressed and liked everything.  I would have done this on Monday, our 52 wedding anniversary, but figuring she wanted to go out for dinner to celebrate.  But, no, she'd rather stay home and enjoy my cooking left-overs   So we enjoyed our company home instead.
 
So then, yesterday I started with the sails.  I cut tem out per the sail plan drawings and stained the white cloth supplied with the kit in coffee.  They look slightly tanned and weathered.  First i wanted to fold the edges over and glue a thin thread in the crease, glue corner reinforcing patches on but ran into a gluing problem.  So instead I pencil lined all the seams in.  Then I sprayed the sails with flat poly spray to stiffen the fabric instead of using the diluted wood glue.   Worked out okay.  
Put the reefing ropes in the mainsail.
 
Next I made the mainsail mast hoops from brass rod.  Yeah, nothing like doing this after the mast is installed with all the hardware on it.  To get them onto the mast I bend them apart enough to slip over the mast and then bent them back again.  Worked fine.  i also soldered the ends shut and painted them flat black.  I wrapped some masking tape around the mast for the painting.
 
I also made a bunch of small brass rings to attach the jib to the forestay and installed the sail.  
 
Today I installed the mainsail.  I found that I could have made both sails slightly larger but at the stage in the build I'll have to leave it as is.  
Tomorrow I'll fiddle with the jib and main sheets, coil the ends and lay them nicely on the deck.  
 
Then I'll check things over and fiddle some more with details before calling it done.
 
Here is a picture as she is as of this moment.
 

 
Cheers,

Yesterday was an okay day.  I took that pesky display board inside the house Thursday evening and yesterday morning the stain and poly had cured just fine.  It came out nice and smooth, like velvet.  
 
I also cemented the centerboard to the keel last Thursday and cemented the trail boards to the bow.  I decided to just paint a simple design on them using gold paint.  They don't look bad at all this way.  
 
So, yesterday, Friday, I could finally mount the little sloop to the display stand.  I did make bamboo pins to help secure the sloop to the posts and used Titebond glue.  Everything worked great. I could now attach the boom holding rope as Dee_Dee suggests.  I did raise the boom somewhat to allow some slack in that rope so the boom can swing.  I am leaving the parrels on it for my convenience in rigging and fastening the sail. 
 
I also moved the lanyard cleats a little higher on the mast because they may get hooked into the boom fork.  
 
So, it looks like I'm ready for the sails and that's another can of worms.
 
Here is the boom to mast detail in how my hold down rope looks.  It's not completely finished yet but yuns get the idea.
 

This shows that hold down rope.  It may allow the boom to lift up more then we really want but so be it.  As you can see i have temporarily tied the boom up a little.  The boom will be lower when the sail is attached.  That little eyebolt on top of the boom is to tie the sail lacing cord to.
 
Cheers,  

I decided to make the display board today.  I took a 3/8 inch by 6 inch basswood plank and routed the edges with my Proxxon hand tool.  I put the tool in the Poxxon drill press thingy and routed the edges.  Came out okay. 
 
I sanded the board with worn out 300 gritI sandpaper so as not to raise up the nap.  An old trick I learned from a furniture finisher.  Sometimes he would wet the surface to raise the nap and then sand it.  I then prepped it with a pre-stain conditioner and let it do its thing while I primed the centerboard.  Yeah, that thing has yet to be cemented to the keel and now that the model is raised on the pedestals I can finely install it.  After the stain has dried I'll rub the board with a soft cloth and then a piece of hardwood.  Another trick I learned when in aviation tech school.
 
I also modded both pedestals for the display board, making one a little shorter and the other a little longer by adding a wooden washer below it to make the waterline of the model close to to be parallel with the display board. 
 
When all that was done I figured that the pre-stain stuff had done its work and stained the board and the posts with white oak stain.  It came out surprisingly nice, even though it was basswood.  
 
Tomorrow I'll paint the centerboard white and cement it to the keel.  I'll also made two bamboo pins that'll go into the posts and keel to make it a sturdier on its legs so to speak.  
 
After the model is permanently mounted to the display board I can begin with the rigging and sails.
 
Here are a pics.
 

The display board - still fresh and sticky from the stain.  In real life it's a lot lighter in color.
 

This shows the model temporally mounted to the board. I put the mast on yesterday and when you squint real hard you can also see the forestay.  
 

This is a little closer up.  Oh yeah, I also made the centerboard puller upper cable with a handle on the end.  You can barely make it out but in this pic it's draped over one of the fish bin hatches.  
 
Cheers,

Today - - - what did I do today - - - oh yeah, in the morning after my morning coffee I decided to make the trail boards.  Wont cement them on yet because I'm not sure yet how to finish them.  Yes, they'll be painted green but what kind of decorative motief to put on it.
Then there is the question of a name and where to put it.
 
I needed to scrape some of the white off  at the places where the trail boards are to be cemented.
 
I installed the bowsprit with my previously made hardware and also installed the lower stay. 
 
Then it was time for me to drive down to see my urologist / oncologist for the 3 month visual check.  I got a little scare last week.  His assistant called me and told me that the lab found questionable stuff in the urine sample.  Well, when the doc looked inside the bladder he was very pleased and told me that it looked perfect, better then three years ago when the cancer was found, not to worry about the lab findings.  This was good news and I'm a very happy camper  
 
After I came back I had to get my passport pics taken and complete my passport renewal forms.  Gwen wants to mail them out tomorrow.  Passports, did he say passports?  Yup, Gwen and ur daughter Marianne cooked up a plan to go to the Netherlands this June for three weeks!!!!!!          
 
Okay, I had some extra time and installed the mast.  I also installed the fore stay.  I used 0.1 mm brass wire for both the bowsprit and fore stay instead of the kit suggested black thread.  
 
To simulate turnbuckles I used small pieces of 1 mm brass tube.  I had to drill these out with a #72 drill bit so I could double the wire  back through them to secure it and then a touch of solder.
 
I think that I really need to make the display / mounting board for this little thing to give me a steady base for the rest of the rigging.  The kit suggested one is a joke and this little boat deserves something nicer.  I have a small plank of basswood that I can shape on my mini router and then stain it in oak, walnut or something like that.  I have two nice looking pillars for the keel to rest in.  We'll see how this basswood idea works out.  I looked in the craft sore but they had nothing I could use that looked anywhere near decent.
 
Okay, here are a few pics of today's efforts. 
 

This is a close-up pic taken with my Canon 100 mm macro lens.  I was too lazy to get my tripod and set the aperture smaller for better depth of field.  Here you can see the bolt I made a few days ago with two washers and a nut.  You can also the fuzzies from that #*^%@( boxwood on the samson post.  Looks like I need to take care of that too.  
 

Same camera setup.  Here we have a washer and the nut "screwed" on.  I secured it with a dab of CA.  I don't think that bowsprit is going anywhere soon 
 

Same camera setup.  Here you see the backstay installation.  You can also see where I scraped off some of the paint for the trail boards.
 

 
Cheers,

Well, it's been a few days but I was not sitting on my hands.  Had to do other things that took priority over model building.  Yes, there are a few more important things - - - when the Admiral suggests that something REALLY needs taken care of - - - 
 
In any case, I painted the trim work green and put some poly on the decks.  Looking okay but the trim needs some touching up.  That'll be an ongoing thing with me I'm afraid.  I keep seeing things that could be just a tad better.
 
While the paint was drying I started making the cabin door hinges from 0.1 mm brass shim, 1 mm brass tube with 0.5 mm brass rod for the hinge pins.  All very fiddling work but it went off like clock work, no problems.
 
Next came the job cementing these little parts to the doors and then the frame parts to the door frames.  First I cemented the door parts to the doors with CA. Okay, now to cement the frame parts.  I taped booth doors together front and back with masking tape and then set them int the door opening.  As the pics show I also secured the doors to the bulkhead.  Hey, my mommy didn't raise a dummy 
 
I then clamped the model into my small Proxxon vice by the cutwater so she stands bow down.  This way the door bulkhead is now horizontal.  The small fame parts could now be placed on the frames and slid into the hinge pins.  So far so good.  A little touch of CA and holding them tight against the frames till te CA had done its grasping job and presto, job done.
 
Now I had to give it the hingeing test and wouldn't you know it, one of the tubes was not soldered on correctly.  So, that one had to be redone and reinstalled.  No problem, just another 15 minutes and it was back on.
 
The only problem is that the doors won't open all the way when the fish bin hatches are on.  They'll just have to squeeze through a narrower opening, sorry guys     
 
I could now finish with paint touch-up on the door bulkhead.  I'll have Gwen, the Admiral, look at it tomorrow and let me know where else I need to touch-up.  
 
If the paint job is satisfactory then I can start with putting the bowsprit on and rigging that.  Then the mast and rigging it.  Hmmm, we are slowly getting there.  The sails will be a challenge for me 
 
Here are a few pics of my efforts of the last few days.
 

This shows the three parts that make up the door parts for the hinge.  A similar setup applies for the frame parts, except that I made them smaller as shown in the next picture.
 

This shows the completed door hinge assembly.  
 

This shows how I jigged the doors so I can cement the frame ends to the frames.  Sorry, I didn't take a pic with the boat bow down in the vice but it worked like a charm.
 

This is another shot of jigging the doors.
 

This shows the completion of the door hinge installation.  I think it looks a little better then the paper hinges I had on previously.  This is taken before I repainted the bulkhead.   
 

This is how my little sloop looks like as of today.
 
Cheers,

Now she can really be called a "Tall Ship"