David Lester

I have always struggled making rope hanks. I've tried every method I can find on this forum and on YouTube, but it always boils down to the same problem. Every method seems to work for me until that point at the end when it calls for "a small dab of glue." Well, for me diluted PVA glue never seems to hold and a small dab of CA glue never seems to hold the whole thing together either. So I end up using enough glue to hold everything together, but the result is usually the glue wicking into the line, darkening and hardening it and it generally looking terrible. The best I have ever been able to do is to try to minimize this effect, which means that at least half of the hanks I make for every model end up in the garbage and I'm only somewhat happy with the ones I do use.
 
So here is the result of my experimenting yesterday and I think it just might be a good solution to my problem. I was trying (for the umpteenth time) the method outlined by Tom Lauria in his YouTube video. I was having the best luck with this method of any of the others I've tried, but still having the glue problem at the end, so here's how I adapted his method to try to avoid the glue problem.
 
I wrapped the line five times around three nails - two at the top, with a narrow space between them and one at the bottom. The distance apart is the length I need excluding the loop that goes over the belaying pin; in this case 3/8".
 
Tom outlines a perfect oval with a series of closely spaced nails, but I found it's not necessary to do that. The hank comes out more or less the same with the three nails as it does with several. Many methods only use two nails anyway, one top and bottom. However I found it necessary to have a space at the top, hence two nails at the top.
 

Then I wrapped a length of matching sewing thread around the coils at the top and tied a knot. I'm not worrying about the loop for the belaying pin at this point. This knot around the coils ensures that they will not come apart and it's actually easy to get a small dab of CA glue on this knot without touching the main line. The glue only has to hold the knot; the thread is holding the coils.

When the CA glue was set in a couple of moments, I trimmed the threads off, leaving just the knot.
 
Then I pulled one of the long ends of the line underneath the coil at the top and up through the centre -
 

Made a loop out of it and pulled the end back through underneath the coil at the top -

And then, just like Tom Lauria did, I secured the loop with a drill bit in a previously drilled hole and pulled the loop snug against the drill bit -

Here I took a length of matching sewing thread in a needle and stuck in down through the middle of the line on one side of the loop and through, at least part of, the coil below -
 

Then I transferred the needle to the other end of the sewing thread and did the same thing on the other side of the loop -
 

This ensures that when I tie the two ends together, the knot will be on the back of the hank -

Then I just tied the sewing thread into a knot on the back side of the hank. Just like before it's easy to put a small dab of CA glue on this knot without touching the main line.
 

When the CA glue sets, it's just a matter of trimming off all the lines -
 

This hank cannot come apart because the coils are tied together in a bundle and the loop for the belaying pin is sewn directly to the hank. There's no glue visible on the surface and the sewing thread is completely invisible. I think this is the best hank I've ever made and the process didn't end up with the garbage men wondering  "what's with all the gluey coiled thread coming out of this house?"
 
So that's my good news for this weekend.
 
Happy Thanksgiving to the Canadians out there! ( or should I say "Happy Hanksgiving?")
David

I have always struggled making rope hanks. I've tried every method I can find on this forum and on YouTube, but it always boils down to the same problem. Every method seems to work for me until that point at the end when it calls for "a small dab of glue." Well, for me diluted PVA glue never seems to hold and a small dab of CA glue never seems to hold the whole thing together either. So I end up using enough glue to hold everything together, but the result is usually the glue wicking into the line, darkening and hardening it and it generally looking terrible. The best I have ever been able to do is to try to minimize this effect, which means that at least half of the hanks I make for every model end up in the garbage and I'm only somewhat happy with the ones I do use.
 
So here is the result of my experimenting yesterday and I think it just might be a good solution to my problem. I was trying (for the umpteenth time) the method outlined by Tom Lauria in his YouTube video. I was having the best luck with this method of any of the others I've tried, but still having the glue problem at the end, so here's how I adapted his method to try to avoid the glue problem.
 
I wrapped the line five times around three nails - two at the top, with a narrow space between them and one at the bottom. The distance apart is the length I need excluding the loop that goes over the belaying pin; in this case 3/8".
 
Tom outlines a perfect oval with a series of closely spaced nails, but I found it's not necessary to do that. The hank comes out more or less the same with the three nails as it does with several. Many methods only use two nails anyway, one top and bottom. However I found it necessary to have a space at the top, hence two nails at the top.
 

Then I wrapped a length of matching sewing thread around the coils at the top and tied a knot. I'm not worrying about the loop for the belaying pin at this point. This knot around the coils ensures that they will not come apart and it's actually easy to get a small dab of CA glue on this knot without touching the main line. The glue only has to hold the knot; the thread is holding the coils.

When the CA glue was set in a couple of moments, I trimmed the threads off, leaving just the knot.
 
Then I pulled one of the long ends of the line underneath the coil at the top and up through the centre -
 

Made a loop out of it and pulled the end back through underneath the coil at the top -

And then, just like Tom Lauria did, I secured the loop with a drill bit in a previously drilled hole and pulled the loop snug against the drill bit -

Here I took a length of matching sewing thread in a needle and stuck in down through the middle of the line on one side of the loop and through, at least part of, the coil below -
 

Then I transferred the needle to the other end of the sewing thread and did the same thing on the other side of the loop -
 

This ensures that when I tie the two ends together, the knot will be on the back of the hank -

Then I just tied the sewing thread into a knot on the back side of the hank. Just like before it's easy to put a small dab of CA glue on this knot without touching the main line.
 

When the CA glue sets, it's just a matter of trimming off all the lines -
 

This hank cannot come apart because the coils are tied together in a bundle and the loop for the belaying pin is sewn directly to the hank. There's no glue visible on the surface and the sewing thread is completely invisible. I think this is the best hank I've ever made and the process didn't end up with the garbage men wondering  "what's with all the gluey coiled thread coming out of this house?"
 
So that's my good news for this weekend.
 
Happy Thanksgiving to the Canadians out there! ( or should I say "Happy Hanksgiving?")
David

Hi All,
I'm working away on the Mayflower. I've pretty much finished up the hull. I've added the moldings and completed the bow section.


The bow section is a bit tricky to get started. It would have helped if I had three hands. It's one of those situations where you can't glue one piece on until another is in place and you can't glue that one in place until the other one is in place. Nevertheless once the positions of the side pieces are established and they're tentatively glued in place, it becomes easier and easier and in the end (as the manual suggests) the whole structure is surprisingly robust.



I've also finished up the deadeye/chainplate assemblies and attached them to the channels. They aren't actually glued to the hull yet, just positioned there for the picture. I've used wire to help secure them to the hull.
 
I have left the chainplates all about one or two links long and will adjust and attache them later when I establish their correct location by the angles of the shrouds.
 



So, I now have a number of details to add to the deck, as well as some paint touch ups and then I will be ready to add the masts.
 
Thanks for looking in.
 
David

Hi All -
Standing rigging is finished:




For the deadeyes on the fore and main stays, the kit provides large standard three-hole deadeyes, but the instructions indicate that five-hole deadeyes with a tear drop shape would be correct and suggests making them. I tried that but had trouble getting them to look good enough. No matter what, they still looked too rough to my eye, so in the end I opted to use the less correct, but better looking standard deadeyes.
 
I did add serving to the lines in the usual places. I wasn't completely sure it it's correct for a ship of this period, but the pictures of the Mayflower II replica appear to have it and I had the the serving machine and decided to include it.
 
I made a mouse from wood for each of the stays. I always find them pretty easy to do. I drill a hole about 1/4" deep into the end of a small dowel and then shape the mouse on the dowel with an xacto knife and sand it smooth. Then I just cut it off the dowel. 
 
Now it's on to the ratlines:

Thanks again for your comments and "likes."
David
 

Good Morning,
I've been working on the rigging and here is the halyard for the main yard tie.
 
On rare occasions, I've been known to demonstrate forethought and I'm happy to report that this was one of those occasions. I threaded the lanyard through the ram's head block and the knight before I glued the knight in place! It would have been much more difficult to do after the knight was in place. Then with the line loosely in place, I glued the knight to the deck and snugged up the lanyard.


I notice that as I get older, it's taking less and less to delight me!
 
David

Finished the hawes pipes and the Lead & Chafing blocks.  Using the Hull Planking Profile as a guide, I determined the location of the outboard hawes pipe and punched a hole just above the joint between the two strakes using an awl. I drilled the inboard and outboard holes starting with a small bit and working up to a 1/8” bit. Note: I did not use a power drill for fear of tearing the planks. Not having the bulwark planks in-place made it easy to see the alignment of the holes, so I recommend drilling the holes for the hawes pipe before adding the bulwark planks.  With the hawes pipes and Lead & Chafing blocks done, I started to look into what size rope is to be used for the cable. The Anchor Stowage detail on Sheet 4 calls for .047” cable. The kit isn’t furnished with this size rope. It does come with .051” black rope. Neither of my prior builds (Syren, Fair American, Rattlesnake) used black rope for the anchor cable. I'll have to find some tan line. As another build did (I don’t recall which one) I plan to order hawse holes from Bluejackets (F0452 - 7/32" Pair) to add a little more detail.

Started the port side bulwark planks at the bow. I primed and painted (ModelExpo Hull Yellow Occre MS4829) the blanks before installing them. I think the paint is a good match to the actual ship (see photo). Installed the 1/64 Doubler as shown on the Hull Planking Profile – the Doubler was painted black to match the actual ship. Note: There is a drilled hole in the bulwark plank just above the Doubler as shown on the Outboard Profile. This hole aligns with a hole on the inboard ceiling as shown on the Port Bulwark on Sheet 3. These holes are for passage of the Royal Stay backrope. A note on the Rigging Profile on Sheet 5 says the backrope is eyespliced to an eyebolt on the port side and passes through the hole on the starboard side, but Sheet 3 shows a hole on the port side as well as the starboard side - huh. The tricky part will be passing the .010 line thru the two holes - some CA on the end of the line should facilitate this.
 

Completed the port side bulwark planking at the bow and the stern. I decided this would be a good time to drill the 1/32” holes for the scuppers. There are 5 scuppers P&S as shown and noted on Sheet 3. They are located midway of the gun ports and in the center of the second strake below the gun ports. I laid a strip of 1/16" x 3/32" deck plank down as a guide for drilling the holes in the waterway. I marked the locations of the scuppers with an awl before drilling them. It was easier to align the drills without the bulwark planks installed. If you don’t want the scupper holes to line up, then not having the bulwark planks installed doesn’t matter.
 

Continuing with the bulwark planking, I decided to look into the location of the sheaves for the main and fore sheets. There are two sheaves port and starboard as noted and shown on the Outboard Profile on Sheet 3. On my previous builds I simply drilled holes in the bulwark to pass the rigging line through. On this build I decided to make faux sheaves from a 3/32”x 3/16” strip. It's better to do this now rather than latter. I made two drill holes on each side of the sheave and alternated drilling each side until the holes met. I then cut the strip to the dimension scaled on the outboard profile. The scary part was cutting out the ceiling plank without damaging it. This went better than anticipated. A sharp x-acto knife blade and a little filing did the trick (see photo). I have the port side stern most sheave installed (see photos). I plan to continue with the rest of the sheaves. More progress to follow.
 

Finished the bulwarks planking. Even with much sanding and some wood filler, the planks are not even and some of the plank effect was lost in the filling and sanding process, but I’m satisfied with how it turned out. I decide to drill the holes for the eyebolts and breech tackle rings at the gun ports. There are 4 eyebolts and 2 split rings per gun port. I used a 0.6mm drill bit. I used a cut out from the Port Bulwark on Sheet 3 as a template to mark the locations of the drill holes. I made up one set of small eyebolts (0.75 mm x 6mm) and split rings (1/8”) and inserted them into the drilled holes for effect (see photo). I will need to make up another 38 small eyebolts with split rings. In addition to the gun port eyebolts, there are 9 other eyebolts located in the port and starboard planksheer/waterway. Eight (8) of these are located in the waterway, shown as a circle (o) on Port Bulwark on Sheet 3. One eyebolt is located in the planksheer, shown thus (-).

Received the hawse holes from Bluejackets and installed them on the exterior of the hull. These are a nice added detail. I painted them gray to resemble lead. I also painted the inboard hawes pipe gray for added effect, although most it won’t be seen whence the anchor cable is installed.

I started to look at the locations of the cleats and read that they are to be “Bright.” According to the Color Notes on Sheet 3, Bright is natural wood varnish finish. The kit is furnished with lead cleats, and I don’t know how to get a natural wood finish on lead. I’ll have to research some other build logs. Well, in my research I didn’t find much discussion on cleats. However, I did find that TomE used Model Master Wood paint for the cleats, and lb0190 used Model Expo buff color after first trying Tamiya buff. I’ve decided to use Model expo Deck Light House Buff (MS4821). Stay tuned for more progress.

Working at it on and off I finally  got through the tryworks. Bricks were a bit tedious but worth the effort… at least I think so. 
 
The top is copper leaf and will tarnish in time similar to the copper sheathing on the hull. 
I wasn’t sure how I was going to make the cast iron boiling kettles. I ended up making them out of Sculpy clay. First I filed down a wooden pattern to the inside dimensions of the pot. Then I formed the clay around it leaving the wall thickness about .060” thick. It was a bit tricky getting the clay off the form without destroying the shape of the pot. The clay had a tendency to stick to the wood. To help alleviate the sticking, I covered the mold with baby powder. That was enough to get the clay off the mold reasonably well. After a bit of touching up the shape I baked the pair. 
 
Here is the hand filed wooden mold. Sometimes low tech is the way to go especially when that is all you have. 😜

And the baked product. 

After a bit of filing and sanding, I managed to get them to fit into the tryworks structure. Next step was to take them back out and paint the inside black. Finally, insert them back into the framework and glue them in place. Here is what they look like after gluing. 

The sliding doors were then attached to the front with eyes and a blackened brass wire. 
 
Last but not least I fabricated 2 smoke stacks. Again, following the mold pattern idea I folded ordinary 20# copy paper around a piece of wood with the correct dimensions for the stacks. I overlapped one edge and glued. Cut to length and a little black paint and we are ready to start cooking!
 

Here is what it looks like dry fit onto the deck. 

Time to make all the peripheral benches and things. The key is finding the time to do it. 😜
 
Tom

John
here are a few more pics to better show how it is put together. There are many ways to make the mounting bracket for the drill but this was the easiest for me with what I had on hand for materials. 

Here is another view of the hose clamp holding the drill. I shaped the bottom on a belt sander so the clamp did not have to go around sharp corners on the wooden block. 

This is the tailstock. The center pin is just a finishing nail that is tightly fit so it does not slide in and out. To locate the correct position that aligns with the drill chuck, put the nail in the chuck and then slide the tailstock into it to place a mark where the nail needs to go.

The underside of the tailstock has one of those barbed threaded inserts used in a lot of shelving a new furniture that you put together yourself. I happened to have a few laying around in a junk draw. Gluing a hex nut in with epoxy will do the same.   Note the dovetail between the gibs and tailstock base. This keeps the tailstock in position vertically when tightening. 
To tight the tailstock in position I had an eye hook that just happened to have the same thread as the barbed fitting. Sometimes I get lucky. 😁 A thumb screw would work too  I did not want to use a screw because then you would need a wrench and those always end up growing legs and walking away. 

As for the high tech speed control device, it is just a wing nut, threaded rod and hex nut. I did not have any epoxy to affix the nut so I built a little enclosure to keep it in place. Just loosen the wing nut and turn the rod to adjust the speed of the drill. 
 
I don’t think it is ready for mass production yet but I have been using this prototype for a few years now. 👍
 
hope this helps, anything else just ask,
 
Tom
 

Good Morning,
I've been working on the rigging and here is the halyard for the main yard tie.
 
On rare occasions, I've been known to demonstrate forethought and I'm happy to report that this was one of those occasions. I threaded the lanyard through the ram's head block and the knight before I glued the knight in place! It would have been much more difficult to do after the knight was in place. Then with the line loosely in place, I glued the knight to the deck and snugged up the lanyard.


I notice that as I get older, it's taking less and less to delight me!
 
David

Anchor cables and lower ratlines
 
After a considerable break occasioned by holidays, visitors and other distractions I'm finally back in the workshop. 
 
As mentioned in my last update, I brushed some dilute (50:50) PVA on the anchor ropes and held them to the deck with small weights while they dried. I think the result has them lying more naturally:
 


Next, it was on to the lower ratlines. The less said about these the better. This is the fifth fully rigged model I've tackled and I would have hoped to improve my ratlines over that series. To my critical eye the Duchess is marginally better than my first model, but no better than the other three. In fact in some ways it's worse, as I found it very difficult to span the very wide gaps in the fore and main shrouds neatly.
 
Using Mara #100 line I started off rigging every fifth 'rung' as well as I could...

...but then found it impossible to maintain this level of neatness as I filled in the gaps:

I just hope the ratlines won't catch the eye quite as much when the rest of the rigging is in place.
 
One of these days I'll get it right - as the song says, "Things can only get better"! Despite being somewhat disappointed with the ratlines, I'm enjoying getting back to the workshop.
 
Derek
 
 

Good Morning,
I've been working on the rigging and here is the halyard for the main yard tie.
 
On rare occasions, I've been known to demonstrate forethought and I'm happy to report that this was one of those occasions. I threaded the lanyard through the ram's head block and the knight before I glued the knight in place! It would have been much more difficult to do after the knight was in place. Then with the line loosely in place, I glued the knight to the deck and snugged up the lanyard.


I notice that as I get older, it's taking less and less to delight me!
 
David

I expected to be now concentrating on my Agamemnon, but it seems the ship modelling gods had something else in store for me. I have been asked by someone to build a Mayflower for them.
 
This is not a model that I would have chosen for myself, as I'm not particularly interested in 17th century vessels. My favourites are late 18th century. Nevertheless I'm happy enough to build it for someone else. Keeps me off the streets.
 
There are several Mayflowers available, but I settled on the Model Shipways version, as I tend to like their kits generally and Chuck Passaro designed this one, so it seemed to me to be the best option.
 
I don't tend to complain too much about cast metal parts. Usually I find they can be made to be acceptable with a little filing, paint etc. But I don't think I've ever seen anything as bad as these cast metal crow's nests that came with the kit. In the instructions, it shows wooden components which appear to be quite acceptable and which I assume is how the kit originally shipped. However, I was surprised by what I found which look like something my grandmother would have baked tarts in. These just won't do.
 

Not only do they look horrendous, but I don't know how I would be able to use them. It's difficult to see in the picture, but there is almost no lip or overhang on the upper rim, yet it's necessary to mount deadeyes and futtock shrouds. I just don't see how I could do that. Also, much of this ship has a natural finish, so painting these things to blend in would be almost impossible.
 
So rather than starting at the beginning, I decided to get this problem behind me first and I set out to design and build something that I could live with.
Here is what I have come up with:
 





I simplified them slightly. The plans show 16 brackets of about 1/32" wide. I was having quite a bit of trouble with that, so I reduced the number to 12 and made them 1/16" and I found that worked better for me and still looks ok.
 
The crow's nests on the replica Mayflower II have closed sides, and I believe it was the idea for this model too. However, I'm going to leave them open. I experimented with closing them in and wasn't happy with the look. Also, all of the other kit versions of the Mayflower have open sides, as do many other ships of this period.
 
There isn't a lot of glue surface on the upper ring and there's going to be a bit of tension on it, so I added four pieces of brass rod that run through to the bottom, which should give it a bit more structural integrity. You can see one of them in the picture above, but I don't think they will show up when all the bits and pieces are in place.
 
So, now I can relax, knowing that I have that little problem solved and go back to the beginning.
 
David
 
 

Good Morning,
I've been working on the rigging and here is the halyard for the main yard tie.
 
On rare occasions, I've been known to demonstrate forethought and I'm happy to report that this was one of those occasions. I threaded the lanyard through the ram's head block and the knight before I glued the knight in place! It would have been much more difficult to do after the knight was in place. Then with the line loosely in place, I glued the knight to the deck and snugged up the lanyard.


I notice that as I get older, it's taking less and less to delight me!
 
David

Good Morning,
I've been working on the rigging and here is the halyard for the main yard tie.
 
On rare occasions, I've been known to demonstrate forethought and I'm happy to report that this was one of those occasions. I threaded the lanyard through the ram's head block and the knight before I glued the knight in place! It would have been much more difficult to do after the knight was in place. Then with the line loosely in place, I glued the knight to the deck and snugged up the lanyard.


I notice that as I get older, it's taking less and less to delight me!
 
David

Completed assembling the main rail.  Needs a little more sanding, but trying to be careful not to over do it.

Added all of the fake stanchions to the fore deck and shaped to the hull.  I tried to cut them all to the same length with a kerf saw and mitre box, but there was some minor variation.  So, I sanded across the tops to make sure everything was even so the main rail will sit flush.
 

r
Tim

Good afternoon,
I appreciate all the likes and look in's, thank you!
 
Taking a break from the Saturday afternoon chores, Red Sox are playing the Yankees on TV, will Aaron Judge hit #61?........
Back in the day, Pedro Martinez would have just drilled him in his backside....old school.  
Fresh cup of coffee in hand, Niagara could use an update.
 
On to the Fore and Main Course yards.
They look naked compared to the other yards without its blocks yet.

As I've done with all the yards, I start with a small pin in the back and a corresponding hole in the mast.
Helps with grip/stability...maybe.......in my head kinda stuff.....my goblins. 
All ropes and blocks are fitted after I've established that contact point. 

All essential blocks are stropped.
Think I've become a master in the art of CA glue. Not perfect by no means but serves its purpose. 
These do get a light brushing of black paint once attached to the yard to try and hide any glue shine. 
Don't get me wrong, not using gobs of the stuff. Just feels like I'm cheating, hide my shame. 

Easy enough, following the plans as towards placement. 
All blocks and rope are from Syren. 

Below are my attempts at making a cluster block. 
I wrestled with these. I really focused on keeping these lined up with each other. Keep them straight with each other and the yard itself. 
It took a "one step at a time" approach and took most of a weekend to make the eight sets needed. 
These get brush with black paint as well once attached. 

Looking ahead.
Once the course yards are done, I'm looking at stepping the masts.   Never thought I'd say that!!!!!! 
But before that, I want to look over the super structure one more time. 
There are a few things I want to get done before I start attaching ropes. 
Anchors, davits...the like.

We're getting there. 
Be good
 
Tom E 
 
 
 
 
 

I have been working to fix the stern issue that was pointed out by @Retired guy.  I truly appreciate the keen eye and willingness to offer constructive feedback!  As I started to assess the problem and develop a solution, I determined it was best to just remove everything and start from scratch.  I learned a valuable lesson to measure all the parts and compare to multiple points on the plans.  It turns out that the bulkhead outlines on the Laser Cut Wood Pattern Plan do not match the bulkheads on the Plank on Bulkhead Construction Plan.  I built the stern off of the ship, as I had broken off the tail piece of the keel earlier.  I used the Plank on Bulkhead Construction Plan for all of the dimensions and when I reattached the stern, it turned out to be wider than bulkhead N, causing the flair out toward the stern.
 
So, I ended up adding strips to bulkheads L, M and N to bring them to plan dimensions.  

I cut a new tail piece and bulkhead O from a 3/16 thick sheet and then glued in the stern blocks.  After shaping to the plans and adding the transom pieces, I reattached the assembly to the ship with a little different reiforcement than I had originally used.  I had removed the waterways back to bulkhead L, so I recut and installed those.  Finally, I cutout and shaped new side pieces and added the stern fake stanchions.

After all that was done I double check that the hull was faired from front to back and made some minor adjustments with sanding or adding strips where needed.  Had I done that earlier in the process I would have realized the mistake with the stern!  So many lessons learned and much happier with the results!  On to the the main rail...
 
Tim 

Apparently, all of the deadeyes on the original Mayflower were elongated ones, which they appear to have used on the Mayflower II as well. It's the ones on the main and fore stays that I was referring to; they're quite a bit bigger and have five holes, like in this picture below. I didn't even contemplate making the smaller elongated ones for the shrouds from scratch. But I did experiment with the larger five-hole ones for the stays, but as I mentioned abandoned that plan.
 
There don't seem to be many options to buy such deadeyes either. I haven't seen any of the five-hole ones anywhere. Both Cornwall Model Boats and Ages of Sail have some three-hole ones, but they're too triangular and don't look quite right for the Mayflower. Bluejacket does have elongated three-hole deadeyes, which look pretty good. I could have used them, but instead I just chose to use the kit supplied ones all around.
David

Yeah, I noticed that they're black on the Mayflower II. The colour of these lines always confuses me. For example when I visited the Constitution I noticed that those ones are black too. I may be wrong, but the rope didn't look tarred to me - it just looked like black rope. So were the originals left natural, or were they natural then tarred, and are the current ones simply black rope in an effort to simulate tarred ropes. Similarly, I have the same questions about the Mayflower. On the Victory, however, they're currently all natural.
 
So I'm not really sure what's the "correct" way to do it. I've done them both ways on my various models, but for the Mayflower, I think I'll leave them natural.
David 

Bulwark Stanchions…
 


Cheers 🍻 
 
 

Hi All -
Standing rigging is finished:




For the deadeyes on the fore and main stays, the kit provides large standard three-hole deadeyes, but the instructions indicate that five-hole deadeyes with a tear drop shape would be correct and suggests making them. I tried that but had trouble getting them to look good enough. No matter what, they still looked too rough to my eye, so in the end I opted to use the less correct, but better looking standard deadeyes.
 
I did add serving to the lines in the usual places. I wasn't completely sure it it's correct for a ship of this period, but the pictures of the Mayflower II replica appear to have it and I had the the serving machine and decided to include it.
 
I made a mouse from wood for each of the stays. I always find them pretty easy to do. I drill a hole about 1/4" deep into the end of a small dowel and then shape the mouse on the dowel with an xacto knife and sand it smooth. Then I just cut it off the dowel. 
 
Now it's on to the ratlines:

Thanks again for your comments and "likes."
David
 

Hi All -
Standing rigging is finished:




For the deadeyes on the fore and main stays, the kit provides large standard three-hole deadeyes, but the instructions indicate that five-hole deadeyes with a tear drop shape would be correct and suggests making them. I tried that but had trouble getting them to look good enough. No matter what, they still looked too rough to my eye, so in the end I opted to use the less correct, but better looking standard deadeyes.
 
I did add serving to the lines in the usual places. I wasn't completely sure it it's correct for a ship of this period, but the pictures of the Mayflower II replica appear to have it and I had the the serving machine and decided to include it.
 
I made a mouse from wood for each of the stays. I always find them pretty easy to do. I drill a hole about 1/4" deep into the end of a small dowel and then shape the mouse on the dowel with an xacto knife and sand it smooth. Then I just cut it off the dowel. 
 
Now it's on to the ratlines:

Thanks again for your comments and "likes."
David
 

Hi All -
Standing rigging is finished:




For the deadeyes on the fore and main stays, the kit provides large standard three-hole deadeyes, but the instructions indicate that five-hole deadeyes with a tear drop shape would be correct and suggests making them. I tried that but had trouble getting them to look good enough. No matter what, they still looked too rough to my eye, so in the end I opted to use the less correct, but better looking standard deadeyes.
 
I did add serving to the lines in the usual places. I wasn't completely sure it it's correct for a ship of this period, but the pictures of the Mayflower II replica appear to have it and I had the the serving machine and decided to include it.
 
I made a mouse from wood for each of the stays. I always find them pretty easy to do. I drill a hole about 1/4" deep into the end of a small dowel and then shape the mouse on the dowel with an xacto knife and sand it smooth. Then I just cut it off the dowel. 
 
Now it's on to the ratlines:

Thanks again for your comments and "likes."
David
 

Hi All -
Standing rigging is finished:




For the deadeyes on the fore and main stays, the kit provides large standard three-hole deadeyes, but the instructions indicate that five-hole deadeyes with a tear drop shape would be correct and suggests making them. I tried that but had trouble getting them to look good enough. No matter what, they still looked too rough to my eye, so in the end I opted to use the less correct, but better looking standard deadeyes.
 
I did add serving to the lines in the usual places. I wasn't completely sure it it's correct for a ship of this period, but the pictures of the Mayflower II replica appear to have it and I had the the serving machine and decided to include it.
 
I made a mouse from wood for each of the stays. I always find them pretty easy to do. I drill a hole about 1/4" deep into the end of a small dowel and then shape the mouse on the dowel with an xacto knife and sand it smooth. Then I just cut it off the dowel. 
 
Now it's on to the ratlines:

Thanks again for your comments and "likes."
David