Louie da fly

Yes, I'd agree with your assessment. Your solution - fixing the stay to the beakhead knee - is better from a structural perspective.

Looking very good indeed. I like the "weathered" look, particularly of the castles. She looks like a ship that's a workhorse rather than a luxury yacht and has been worked hard.

Yes, I'd agree with your assessment. Your solution - fixing the stay to the beakhead knee - is better from a structural perspective.

Hmm, I'll have to do some thinking about that. I've already (unfortunately, as it now turns out) used beeswax on the shrouds. We'll just have to see how they last.
 
In the meantime,  I've made a flagpole,
 

 

 
cut a hole in the deck for it and installed it. Note that the flagpole had to go one side of the ship's "tail".
 
 
      
 
   
 
The flag is cotton fabric which I painted with acrylic, so thickly that it's been integrated into the fabric itself. That gave it the stiffness that allowed me to introduce some "flutter" into it. 
 
    
 

 
and some more work on the rigging. Coils of rope for the "free ends" of the shroud tackle (left) and the halyard tackle (right - hanging on the mast crutch)
 
     
 

 
Blocks for the halyard trusses (which hold the yard to the mast):
 

 
and I added an eyebolt to secure the tackle for it on the foremast.
 

 
But when I tried to make a hole for an eyebolt for the after mast . . . . !!!
 

 
I cut a new piece to fill the gap - allowing for a hole for the second eyebolt. I'm letting it dry then I'll put in the eyebolt.
 
In the meantime, here's the tackle for the fore halyard truss - the fixed end tied to the eyebolt and the free end attached to the cleat on the mast. Just waiting for the glue to dry.
 

 
And here's the upper end of the tackle, showing the block in place.
 

 
 
 

That's an elegant solution to the problem. 

Hmm, I'll have to do some thinking about that. I've already (unfortunately, as it now turns out) used beeswax on the shrouds. We'll just have to see how they last.
 
In the meantime,  I've made a flagpole,
 

 

 
cut a hole in the deck for it and installed it. Note that the flagpole had to go one side of the ship's "tail".
 
 
      
 
   
 
The flag is cotton fabric which I painted with acrylic, so thickly that it's been integrated into the fabric itself. That gave it the stiffness that allowed me to introduce some "flutter" into it. 
 
    
 

 
and some more work on the rigging. Coils of rope for the "free ends" of the shroud tackle (left) and the halyard tackle (right - hanging on the mast crutch)
 
     
 

 
Blocks for the halyard trusses (which hold the yard to the mast):
 

 
and I added an eyebolt to secure the tackle for it on the foremast.
 

 
But when I tried to make a hole for an eyebolt for the after mast . . . . !!!
 

 
I cut a new piece to fill the gap - allowing for a hole for the second eyebolt. I'm letting it dry then I'll put in the eyebolt.
 
In the meantime, here's the tackle for the fore halyard truss - the fixed end tied to the eyebolt and the free end attached to the cleat on the mast. Just waiting for the glue to dry.
 

 
And here's the upper end of the tackle, showing the block in place.
 

 
 
 

Hmm, I'll have to do some thinking about that. I've already (unfortunately, as it now turns out) used beeswax on the shrouds. We'll just have to see how they last.
 
In the meantime,  I've made a flagpole,
 

 

 
cut a hole in the deck for it and installed it. Note that the flagpole had to go one side of the ship's "tail".
 
 
      
 
   
 
The flag is cotton fabric which I painted with acrylic, so thickly that it's been integrated into the fabric itself. That gave it the stiffness that allowed me to introduce some "flutter" into it. 
 
    
 

 
and some more work on the rigging. Coils of rope for the "free ends" of the shroud tackle (left) and the halyard tackle (right - hanging on the mast crutch)
 
     
 

 
Blocks for the halyard trusses (which hold the yard to the mast):
 

 
and I added an eyebolt to secure the tackle for it on the foremast.
 

 
But when I tried to make a hole for an eyebolt for the after mast . . . . !!!
 

 
I cut a new piece to fill the gap - allowing for a hole for the second eyebolt. I'm letting it dry then I'll put in the eyebolt.
 
In the meantime, here's the tackle for the fore halyard truss - the fixed end tied to the eyebolt and the free end attached to the cleat on the mast. Just waiting for the glue to dry.
 

 
And here's the upper end of the tackle, showing the block in place.
 

 
 
 

I've been looking at what happens to the free end of the ropes for the blocks etc I've been working on so far. Normally there'd be a coil to take up the surplus rope at the end. I've tried making a coil copying a technique used by others on MSW but it's pretty difficult if I'm making it out of the surplus rope at the free end. I think it's probably better to just make separate coils and attach them to make it look like they're part of the main rope.
 
Wrapping the free end around the end of a pen and gluing the coils together (later I had to remove the grey hair that had somehow got itself mixed up with the coil).
 
         
 
Then I added an extra bit of cord to simulate the bit that winds around the coil to keep it in shape. And a clothes-peg to hold it all together till the glue dried.
 
          
 
 
        
 
And the coil in place next to the oarsman in green. Note also the free end of the vang being held by the standing crewman. My understanding is that it would just lie there on the deck until the operation was over, then be coiled up properly.
 

 
And another bit of housework - the free ends of the robands and gaskets were sticking out at all angles - a combination of the springiness of the cotton thread and the presence of random dabs of the glue I used to hold them to the yard. They should be hanging down under gravity. So I've started glueing them in a "natural" position. The left-hand photo is "before", the right-hand isn't so much "after" as "during". The 5th and 7th ties from the end of the yard show the difference. A lot to do here - it'll take a while.
 
   

I've been having a few problems with the rigging - particularly with belaying points, but I'm making slow but steady progress. My original idea for the foretacks was to run each one to a turn around a "bollard" on the forecastle which acted as a fairlead, to a point aft of the mast so the yard could be pulled back behind the mast when tacking.
 

 

 
Only problem was - it wouldn't have worked (which I realised when I was in bed, where all one's best ideas arrive - usually at some ungodly hour of the morning). I had run the tack under the benches would have made it impossible to pull the yard back.
 
So I re-ran the tacks, still with a turn around the "bollard", but then outside the shrouds. (The clothes-peg is just holding the rope in place while the glue dries on the bollard.)
 
 

 

 

 
Fixed the "bitter end" around an upright of the pavesade aft of the mast, and tied off the free end to the pavesade rail nearby.
 
Then the vangs. One end of the port vang is fixed around an oarbench, the other to the rail of the pavesade. The starboard vang is still loose:
 

 
And both fore-vangs tied off:
 
      
 
Now for the after yard. I added the crewmen hauling up the yard:
 
  
 
Unfortunately the rope they're all holding just couldn't be a straight line due to the one of the guys standing on the hatch cover. In the real world they would have adjusted their grip to allow for that. Not so easy with carved figures . . . However, it's a small issue and I'm not going to bother about it. I know about it, and now you do as well - but I doubt anyone else will ever notice . . .
 
Here all the ropes for the yard are loose - bosun very unhappy.
 

 
So I put the fellow in yellow to work, holding the port tack so the yard doesn't swing around as it's raised. Sorry about the picture quality.
 

 
The other tack will be loose, as will the vangs, as the yard is in the process of being raised. 
 
Now I'm trying to work out how to produce a natural catenary curve in the loose ropes. Cotton thread is "springy" and doesn't naturally fall into such a curve. I'm experimenting with wetting the thread and with soaking it with a weak solution of PVA (white) glue. But if anyone can make suggestions or has been in the same position I'd be grateful for advice.
 
 
 

Hmm, I'll have to do some thinking about that. I've already (unfortunately, as it now turns out) used beeswax on the shrouds. We'll just have to see how they last.
 
In the meantime,  I've made a flagpole,
 

 

 
cut a hole in the deck for it and installed it. Note that the flagpole had to go one side of the ship's "tail".
 
 
      
 
   
 
The flag is cotton fabric which I painted with acrylic, so thickly that it's been integrated into the fabric itself. That gave it the stiffness that allowed me to introduce some "flutter" into it. 
 
    
 

 
and some more work on the rigging. Coils of rope for the "free ends" of the shroud tackle (left) and the halyard tackle (right - hanging on the mast crutch)
 
     
 

 
Blocks for the halyard trusses (which hold the yard to the mast):
 

 
and I added an eyebolt to secure the tackle for it on the foremast.
 

 
But when I tried to make a hole for an eyebolt for the after mast . . . . !!!
 

 
I cut a new piece to fill the gap - allowing for a hole for the second eyebolt. I'm letting it dry then I'll put in the eyebolt.
 
In the meantime, here's the tackle for the fore halyard truss - the fixed end tied to the eyebolt and the free end attached to the cleat on the mast. Just waiting for the glue to dry.
 

 
And here's the upper end of the tackle, showing the block in place.
 

 
 
 

Hmm, I'll have to do some thinking about that. I've already (unfortunately, as it now turns out) used beeswax on the shrouds. We'll just have to see how they last.
 
In the meantime,  I've made a flagpole,
 

 

 
cut a hole in the deck for it and installed it. Note that the flagpole had to go one side of the ship's "tail".
 
 
      
 
   
 
The flag is cotton fabric which I painted with acrylic, so thickly that it's been integrated into the fabric itself. That gave it the stiffness that allowed me to introduce some "flutter" into it. 
 
    
 

 
and some more work on the rigging. Coils of rope for the "free ends" of the shroud tackle (left) and the halyard tackle (right - hanging on the mast crutch)
 
     
 

 
Blocks for the halyard trusses (which hold the yard to the mast):
 

 
and I added an eyebolt to secure the tackle for it on the foremast.
 

 
But when I tried to make a hole for an eyebolt for the after mast . . . . !!!
 

 
I cut a new piece to fill the gap - allowing for a hole for the second eyebolt. I'm letting it dry then I'll put in the eyebolt.
 
In the meantime, here's the tackle for the fore halyard truss - the fixed end tied to the eyebolt and the free end attached to the cleat on the mast. Just waiting for the glue to dry.
 

 
And here's the upper end of the tackle, showing the block in place.
 

 
 
 

That's an elegant solution to the problem. 

I've been having a few problems with the rigging - particularly with belaying points, but I'm making slow but steady progress. My original idea for the foretacks was to run each one to a turn around a "bollard" on the forecastle which acted as a fairlead, to a point aft of the mast so the yard could be pulled back behind the mast when tacking.
 

 

 
Only problem was - it wouldn't have worked (which I realised when I was in bed, where all one's best ideas arrive - usually at some ungodly hour of the morning). I had run the tack under the benches would have made it impossible to pull the yard back.
 
So I re-ran the tacks, still with a turn around the "bollard", but then outside the shrouds. (The clothes-peg is just holding the rope in place while the glue dries on the bollard.)
 
 

 

 

 
Fixed the "bitter end" around an upright of the pavesade aft of the mast, and tied off the free end to the pavesade rail nearby.
 
Then the vangs. One end of the port vang is fixed around an oarbench, the other to the rail of the pavesade. The starboard vang is still loose:
 

 
And both fore-vangs tied off:
 
      
 
Now for the after yard. I added the crewmen hauling up the yard:
 
  
 
Unfortunately the rope they're all holding just couldn't be a straight line due to the one of the guys standing on the hatch cover. In the real world they would have adjusted their grip to allow for that. Not so easy with carved figures . . . However, it's a small issue and I'm not going to bother about it. I know about it, and now you do as well - but I doubt anyone else will ever notice . . .
 
Here all the ropes for the yard are loose - bosun very unhappy.
 

 
So I put the fellow in yellow to work, holding the port tack so the yard doesn't swing around as it's raised. Sorry about the picture quality.
 

 
The other tack will be loose, as will the vangs, as the yard is in the process of being raised. 
 
Now I'm trying to work out how to produce a natural catenary curve in the loose ropes. Cotton thread is "springy" and doesn't naturally fall into such a curve. I'm experimenting with wetting the thread and with soaking it with a weak solution of PVA (white) glue. But if anyone can make suggestions or has been in the same position I'd be grateful for advice.
 
 
 

I've been having a few problems with the rigging - particularly with belaying points, but I'm making slow but steady progress. My original idea for the foretacks was to run each one to a turn around a "bollard" on the forecastle which acted as a fairlead, to a point aft of the mast so the yard could be pulled back behind the mast when tacking.
 

 

 
Only problem was - it wouldn't have worked (which I realised when I was in bed, where all one's best ideas arrive - usually at some ungodly hour of the morning). I had run the tack under the benches would have made it impossible to pull the yard back.
 
So I re-ran the tacks, still with a turn around the "bollard", but then outside the shrouds. (The clothes-peg is just holding the rope in place while the glue dries on the bollard.)
 
 

 

 

 
Fixed the "bitter end" around an upright of the pavesade aft of the mast, and tied off the free end to the pavesade rail nearby.
 
Then the vangs. One end of the port vang is fixed around an oarbench, the other to the rail of the pavesade. The starboard vang is still loose:
 

 
And both fore-vangs tied off:
 
      
 
Now for the after yard. I added the crewmen hauling up the yard:
 
  
 
Unfortunately the rope they're all holding just couldn't be a straight line due to the one of the guys standing on the hatch cover. In the real world they would have adjusted their grip to allow for that. Not so easy with carved figures . . . However, it's a small issue and I'm not going to bother about it. I know about it, and now you do as well - but I doubt anyone else will ever notice . . .
 
Here all the ropes for the yard are loose - bosun very unhappy.
 

 
So I put the fellow in yellow to work, holding the port tack so the yard doesn't swing around as it's raised. Sorry about the picture quality.
 

 
The other tack will be loose, as will the vangs, as the yard is in the process of being raised. 
 
Now I'm trying to work out how to produce a natural catenary curve in the loose ropes. Cotton thread is "springy" and doesn't naturally fall into such a curve. I'm experimenting with wetting the thread and with soaking it with a weak solution of PVA (white) glue. But if anyone can make suggestions or has been in the same position I'd be grateful for advice.
 
 
 

This resulted in the same problem.
But the solution is near.

not completely in order yet
but on the right track.

Nice realisation of a delicate piece of equipment (the boat's first thole-pin). What are its dimensions?

And this is a Turk's head  (for obvious reasons)
 

 
Very nice work so far. The mainstay problem is annoying, though. Is it supposed to be fixed to the foredeck? Maybe instead you could attach it to the lower end of the foremast? It should still do the same job (I think - not an expert with rigging).

I've been looking at what happens to the free end of the ropes for the blocks etc I've been working on so far. Normally there'd be a coil to take up the surplus rope at the end. I've tried making a coil copying a technique used by others on MSW but it's pretty difficult if I'm making it out of the surplus rope at the free end. I think it's probably better to just make separate coils and attach them to make it look like they're part of the main rope.
 
Wrapping the free end around the end of a pen and gluing the coils together (later I had to remove the grey hair that had somehow got itself mixed up with the coil).
 
         
 
Then I added an extra bit of cord to simulate the bit that winds around the coil to keep it in shape. And a clothes-peg to hold it all together till the glue dried.
 
          
 
 
        
 
And the coil in place next to the oarsman in green. Note also the free end of the vang being held by the standing crewman. My understanding is that it would just lie there on the deck until the operation was over, then be coiled up properly.
 

 
And another bit of housework - the free ends of the robands and gaskets were sticking out at all angles - a combination of the springiness of the cotton thread and the presence of random dabs of the glue I used to hold them to the yard. They should be hanging down under gravity. So I've started glueing them in a "natural" position. The left-hand photo is "before", the right-hand isn't so much "after" as "during". The 5th and 7th ties from the end of the yard show the difference. A lot to do here - it'll take a while.
 
   

This is beautiful work, and I'm impressed with the well thought-out solutions to problems of design.
 
I'm really enjoying following this build. And it looks like the solution to attaching the yard to the bipod mast is well under way, as well.

I fired a repro 17th century matchlock once (friends of mine re-enacted the Thirty Years War). I was told "lean in to the weapon - a true musketeer has no eyebrows".
 
A different time during a public display one of these guys (they were firing with powder only - not ball) forgot to take his wooden ramrod out of the barrel before he fired. It went into the chest of the guy on the other side and exploded into a thousand pieces within his chest. He was in hospital for a long time. The police put it down as "accidental". Both these guys were good friends of mine. The perpetrator was  devastated (of course so was the victim).

And this is a Turk's head  (for obvious reasons)
 

 
Very nice work so far. The mainstay problem is annoying, though. Is it supposed to be fixed to the foredeck? Maybe instead you could attach it to the lower end of the foremast? It should still do the same job (I think - not an expert with rigging).

Sorry to hear about all the difficulty you've been (still) having with the planking. Unfortunately I can't suggest any remedies. Is this a "thing" with kits of clinker-built (i.e. Viking) vessels? As you know, you're not the only one having trouble, though Balclutha's is a from different manufacturer. As I'd been considering making a (scratch-built) clinker vessel, it makes me very wary - though I suppose if I get to cut my own strakes to shape I've nobody to blame but myself if I get it wrong.
 
Regarding Ragnar's height, I wouldn't worry too much - Harald (Hardrada) Sigurdssen was reportedly 7 feet tall - according to the sagas, before the battle of Stamford Bridge his opponent  Harold Godwinson of England promised him a grave larger than usual because of his height. Harald had a mailshirt that reached to his ankles, known as Emma (the mailshirt, not the ankles).

I fired a repro 17th century matchlock once (friends of mine re-enacted the Thirty Years War). I was told "lean in to the weapon - a true musketeer has no eyebrows".
 
A different time during a public display one of these guys (they were firing with powder only - not ball) forgot to take his wooden ramrod out of the barrel before he fired. It went into the chest of the guy on the other side and exploded into a thousand pieces within his chest. He was in hospital for a long time. The police put it down as "accidental". Both these guys were good friends of mine. The perpetrator was  devastated (of course so was the victim).

I've been looking at what happens to the free end of the ropes for the blocks etc I've been working on so far. Normally there'd be a coil to take up the surplus rope at the end. I've tried making a coil copying a technique used by others on MSW but it's pretty difficult if I'm making it out of the surplus rope at the free end. I think it's probably better to just make separate coils and attach them to make it look like they're part of the main rope.
 
Wrapping the free end around the end of a pen and gluing the coils together (later I had to remove the grey hair that had somehow got itself mixed up with the coil).
 
         
 
Then I added an extra bit of cord to simulate the bit that winds around the coil to keep it in shape. And a clothes-peg to hold it all together till the glue dried.
 
          
 
 
        
 
And the coil in place next to the oarsman in green. Note also the free end of the vang being held by the standing crewman. My understanding is that it would just lie there on the deck until the operation was over, then be coiled up properly.
 

 
And another bit of housework - the free ends of the robands and gaskets were sticking out at all angles - a combination of the springiness of the cotton thread and the presence of random dabs of the glue I used to hold them to the yard. They should be hanging down under gravity. So I've started glueing them in a "natural" position. The left-hand photo is "before", the right-hand isn't so much "after" as "during". The 5th and 7th ties from the end of the yard show the difference. A lot to do here - it'll take a while.
 
   

New real tests (2 X brass 0.6 mm / 2 x iron 0.8 mm) :