David Lester

Good Morning -
I'm into the rigging in earnest now. In the past I have always tended to start with the bowsprit and work my way to the stern. The instructions for this kit however suggest installing the bowsprit and then moving the the mizzen mast and working forward, so I decided to try that and see how I like it. So far, so good.
 
The instructions suggest starting with the mizzen shrouds and then adding the mizzen stay before adding the lower main shrouds, so that's what I did. The logic makes sense - this way you can fix the stay to the main mast without the main shrouds getting in the way.
 
One problem I did encounter however is due to how small and flexible the mizzen mast is. It isn't very robust. In order to get the slack out of the lanyard on the stay where it meets the main mast, it tended to pull the mizzen mast too far forward and, of course, there is no backstay on the mizzen mast to counteract this. I ended up undoing all the lanyards on the mizzen shrouds, securing the lanyard on the stay where I was happy with it and then redoing the shrouds, starting with the aftmost one and pulling it taut, then finally, the other two shrouds. This seemed to solve the problem and the mizzen mast is now stable and in (more or less) the right position.
 


Moving on to the main mast, the instructions suggest first adding the tackles before doing the shrouds -
 

The main tackles are now in place and next up are the main shrouds. I don't anticipate the same problem with the main stay as I had with the mizzen as there is back pressure on the main mast and it's considerable more robust than the mizzen.
That's all for now.
David
 
 

Good Morning -
I'm into the rigging in earnest now. In the past I have always tended to start with the bowsprit and work my way to the stern. The instructions for this kit however suggest installing the bowsprit and then moving the the mizzen mast and working forward, so I decided to try that and see how I like it. So far, so good.
 
The instructions suggest starting with the mizzen shrouds and then adding the mizzen stay before adding the lower main shrouds, so that's what I did. The logic makes sense - this way you can fix the stay to the main mast without the main shrouds getting in the way.
 
One problem I did encounter however is due to how small and flexible the mizzen mast is. It isn't very robust. In order to get the slack out of the lanyard on the stay where it meets the main mast, it tended to pull the mizzen mast too far forward and, of course, there is no backstay on the mizzen mast to counteract this. I ended up undoing all the lanyards on the mizzen shrouds, securing the lanyard on the stay where I was happy with it and then redoing the shrouds, starting with the aftmost one and pulling it taut, then finally, the other two shrouds. This seemed to solve the problem and the mizzen mast is now stable and in (more or less) the right position.
 


Moving on to the main mast, the instructions suggest first adding the tackles before doing the shrouds -
 

The main tackles are now in place and next up are the main shrouds. I don't anticipate the same problem with the main stay as I had with the mizzen as there is back pressure on the main mast and it's considerable more robust than the mizzen.
That's all for now.
David
 
 

Good Morning -
I'm into the rigging in earnest now. In the past I have always tended to start with the bowsprit and work my way to the stern. The instructions for this kit however suggest installing the bowsprit and then moving the the mizzen mast and working forward, so I decided to try that and see how I like it. So far, so good.
 
The instructions suggest starting with the mizzen shrouds and then adding the mizzen stay before adding the lower main shrouds, so that's what I did. The logic makes sense - this way you can fix the stay to the main mast without the main shrouds getting in the way.
 
One problem I did encounter however is due to how small and flexible the mizzen mast is. It isn't very robust. In order to get the slack out of the lanyard on the stay where it meets the main mast, it tended to pull the mizzen mast too far forward and, of course, there is no backstay on the mizzen mast to counteract this. I ended up undoing all the lanyards on the mizzen shrouds, securing the lanyard on the stay where I was happy with it and then redoing the shrouds, starting with the aftmost one and pulling it taut, then finally, the other two shrouds. This seemed to solve the problem and the mizzen mast is now stable and in (more or less) the right position.
 


Moving on to the main mast, the instructions suggest first adding the tackles before doing the shrouds -
 

The main tackles are now in place and next up are the main shrouds. I don't anticipate the same problem with the main stay as I had with the mizzen as there is back pressure on the main mast and it's considerable more robust than the mizzen.
That's all for now.
David
 
 

Good Morning -
I'm into the rigging in earnest now. In the past I have always tended to start with the bowsprit and work my way to the stern. The instructions for this kit however suggest installing the bowsprit and then moving the the mizzen mast and working forward, so I decided to try that and see how I like it. So far, so good.
 
The instructions suggest starting with the mizzen shrouds and then adding the mizzen stay before adding the lower main shrouds, so that's what I did. The logic makes sense - this way you can fix the stay to the main mast without the main shrouds getting in the way.
 
One problem I did encounter however is due to how small and flexible the mizzen mast is. It isn't very robust. In order to get the slack out of the lanyard on the stay where it meets the main mast, it tended to pull the mizzen mast too far forward and, of course, there is no backstay on the mizzen mast to counteract this. I ended up undoing all the lanyards on the mizzen shrouds, securing the lanyard on the stay where I was happy with it and then redoing the shrouds, starting with the aftmost one and pulling it taut, then finally, the other two shrouds. This seemed to solve the problem and the mizzen mast is now stable and in (more or less) the right position.
 


Moving on to the main mast, the instructions suggest first adding the tackles before doing the shrouds -
 

The main tackles are now in place and next up are the main shrouds. I don't anticipate the same problem with the main stay as I had with the mizzen as there is back pressure on the main mast and it's considerable more robust than the mizzen.
That's all for now.
David
 
 

Good Morning -
I'm into the rigging in earnest now. In the past I have always tended to start with the bowsprit and work my way to the stern. The instructions for this kit however suggest installing the bowsprit and then moving the the mizzen mast and working forward, so I decided to try that and see how I like it. So far, so good.
 
The instructions suggest starting with the mizzen shrouds and then adding the mizzen stay before adding the lower main shrouds, so that's what I did. The logic makes sense - this way you can fix the stay to the main mast without the main shrouds getting in the way.
 
One problem I did encounter however is due to how small and flexible the mizzen mast is. It isn't very robust. In order to get the slack out of the lanyard on the stay where it meets the main mast, it tended to pull the mizzen mast too far forward and, of course, there is no backstay on the mizzen mast to counteract this. I ended up undoing all the lanyards on the mizzen shrouds, securing the lanyard on the stay where I was happy with it and then redoing the shrouds, starting with the aftmost one and pulling it taut, then finally, the other two shrouds. This seemed to solve the problem and the mizzen mast is now stable and in (more or less) the right position.
 


Moving on to the main mast, the instructions suggest first adding the tackles before doing the shrouds -
 

The main tackles are now in place and next up are the main shrouds. I don't anticipate the same problem with the main stay as I had with the mizzen as there is back pressure on the main mast and it's considerable more robust than the mizzen.
That's all for now.
David
 
 

Good Morning -
I'm into the rigging in earnest now. In the past I have always tended to start with the bowsprit and work my way to the stern. The instructions for this kit however suggest installing the bowsprit and then moving the the mizzen mast and working forward, so I decided to try that and see how I like it. So far, so good.
 
The instructions suggest starting with the mizzen shrouds and then adding the mizzen stay before adding the lower main shrouds, so that's what I did. The logic makes sense - this way you can fix the stay to the main mast without the main shrouds getting in the way.
 
One problem I did encounter however is due to how small and flexible the mizzen mast is. It isn't very robust. In order to get the slack out of the lanyard on the stay where it meets the main mast, it tended to pull the mizzen mast too far forward and, of course, there is no backstay on the mizzen mast to counteract this. I ended up undoing all the lanyards on the mizzen shrouds, securing the lanyard on the stay where I was happy with it and then redoing the shrouds, starting with the aftmost one and pulling it taut, then finally, the other two shrouds. This seemed to solve the problem and the mizzen mast is now stable and in (more or less) the right position.
 


Moving on to the main mast, the instructions suggest first adding the tackles before doing the shrouds -
 

The main tackles are now in place and next up are the main shrouds. I don't anticipate the same problem with the main stay as I had with the mizzen as there is back pressure on the main mast and it's considerable more robust than the mizzen.
That's all for now.
David
 
 

I brief update.
 
I've added the bowsprit and the deadeye/chainplate assemblies.


I've also added the boat. I don't actually take any pictures of its progress. It's built using the standard MS approach and building it proved to be as unpleasant as all of the others I have done over the years. So I have done nothing to immortalize the experience. At least there was only one of them. The Charles Morgan had seven! I don't know why I dislike building these little boats so much, but I just do.
 
The shrouds are attached to the masts and are ready to be finished. For such a small vessel there seem to be a lot of them - five on the foremast, seven on the main mast and three on the mizzen.
 



Thanks again for checking in, likes etc.
Much appreciated.
 
David

Good Morning -
I'm into the rigging in earnest now. In the past I have always tended to start with the bowsprit and work my way to the stern. The instructions for this kit however suggest installing the bowsprit and then moving the the mizzen mast and working forward, so I decided to try that and see how I like it. So far, so good.
 
The instructions suggest starting with the mizzen shrouds and then adding the mizzen stay before adding the lower main shrouds, so that's what I did. The logic makes sense - this way you can fix the stay to the main mast without the main shrouds getting in the way.
 
One problem I did encounter however is due to how small and flexible the mizzen mast is. It isn't very robust. In order to get the slack out of the lanyard on the stay where it meets the main mast, it tended to pull the mizzen mast too far forward and, of course, there is no backstay on the mizzen mast to counteract this. I ended up undoing all the lanyards on the mizzen shrouds, securing the lanyard on the stay where I was happy with it and then redoing the shrouds, starting with the aftmost one and pulling it taut, then finally, the other two shrouds. This seemed to solve the problem and the mizzen mast is now stable and in (more or less) the right position.
 


Moving on to the main mast, the instructions suggest first adding the tackles before doing the shrouds -
 

The main tackles are now in place and next up are the main shrouds. I don't anticipate the same problem with the main stay as I had with the mizzen as there is back pressure on the main mast and it's considerable more robust than the mizzen.
That's all for now.
David
 
 

Good Morning -
I'm into the rigging in earnest now. In the past I have always tended to start with the bowsprit and work my way to the stern. The instructions for this kit however suggest installing the bowsprit and then moving the the mizzen mast and working forward, so I decided to try that and see how I like it. So far, so good.
 
The instructions suggest starting with the mizzen shrouds and then adding the mizzen stay before adding the lower main shrouds, so that's what I did. The logic makes sense - this way you can fix the stay to the main mast without the main shrouds getting in the way.
 
One problem I did encounter however is due to how small and flexible the mizzen mast is. It isn't very robust. In order to get the slack out of the lanyard on the stay where it meets the main mast, it tended to pull the mizzen mast too far forward and, of course, there is no backstay on the mizzen mast to counteract this. I ended up undoing all the lanyards on the mizzen shrouds, securing the lanyard on the stay where I was happy with it and then redoing the shrouds, starting with the aftmost one and pulling it taut, then finally, the other two shrouds. This seemed to solve the problem and the mizzen mast is now stable and in (more or less) the right position.
 


Moving on to the main mast, the instructions suggest first adding the tackles before doing the shrouds -
 

The main tackles are now in place and next up are the main shrouds. I don't anticipate the same problem with the main stay as I had with the mizzen as there is back pressure on the main mast and it's considerable more robust than the mizzen.
That's all for now.
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

Good Morning Everyone,
I've been hopping all over the place, working away at various bits and pieces.
 
I finished planking the hull and had quite a bit of trouble getting a satisfactory finish on that basswood planking. What I have is far from perfect, but I think it will be acceptable. I'm banking on most of its flaws being hidden once all the details are added. I've attached the wales and started in on the decorative painting. I know it's looking rough at this point -




I also started in on some of the spars. There aren't too many of them for this vessel and they are all pretty straightforward. In addition to the wooldings on the lower masts, the instructions call for "wood hoops" around the masts; immediately above and below the wooldings. It suggested using strips cut from a manila file folder. I tried that and a couple of other types of paper as well, but I just couldn't get them painted to blend in with the mast. They always looked too distracting, so I have opted to omit them.
 
I'm not exactly sure what the correct method of attaching the wooldings is, but I chose to seize them to the mast, just as you would when seizing a line. It works really well and gives a very tidy result, even at the points where the line enters and exits the seizing. A small dab of glue at each point is all it takes to hold them in place -
 



The decorative moldings proved to be more time consuming than I would have guessed. There are several different ones - natural colour, white, red, green/white and red/white.
 
For the green/white and red/white ones, I painted them all white first, then added masking tape and painted the green and red portions. While this worked really well, it was pretty tiresome and in retrospect, I'm not sure that it wouldn't have been faster and perhaps with as good a result to have painted the red and green bits by eye and without the masking tape -




I've been working on the gun port lids, although I won't add them to the hull until almost the very end. My initial though was to show them closed which you can see in one of the photos above. However, my thinking changed for a couple of reasons. I'm building this model specifically for someone and I think it likely that they will find the model to be more interesting if the gun ports are open and secondly, as the flaws in my hull finish became apparent, I decided that the gun port details would be one more thing to attract the eye and help distract from the hull finish. I don't know if there is any validity to this line of reasoning, but I'm hoping there is -
 
I'm using a single piece of fine wire to secure each one to the hull, with a hole drilled between the two layers of the lid. the metal straps are ones I found in my stash of supplies.
The one in the picture is just in place temporarily to see if it works and it seems to work just fine. I'll add some glue as well when I'm ready to actually install them.
 



Most of the deck details are now in place - the railings, which were straightforward to build as well as the capstan, the pumps, the knights, ladders and hatches. This kit has some very poorly cast parts, including the capstan and the knights, so I made those from wood. I forgot to take a picture of the capstan before I installed it, but you can get a glimpse of it in one of the photos below.
 
The knights have sheaves in them. You would think that it would be very easy to drill two rows of three sheave holes in straight lines and evenly spaced, wouldn't you? I don't have a drill press or mill and I'm working in basswood, so it proved to be very difficult for me to do. My oddball solution was to take a triple block from my supplies and build the knight around it. It looks a lot better than my other poor attempts.
 
There are no pumps included in the kit at all, so these had to be scratch built. The instructions suggest taking a 3/16" dowel and flattening it so that it has eight sides. Again, without a mill, this is pretty hard to do free hand, so I opted to start with a smaller dowel, (1/8" I think it was) and apply strips to it. This also allowed me to more easily create the large depression in the top, by extending the strips above the top of the dowel. It would have been almost impossible for me to drill a large diameter hole in the top of the dowel without a drill press. The bracket holding the handle is 1/16" thick, and I found it impossible to cut a groove in it to hold a 1/32" handle, so I pawed through my supplies and found a billet of material thinner than 1/32" and I found it not too hard to cut a groove to accept this thinner material. (I sometimes wonder why I hang on to so many old billets, but it's surprising how often they come in handy.)
 



 
So that's where I'm at so far. Next up is applying the moldings to the hull and painting the decorative mayflower on the stern. The kit includes a cast piece, but I don't think I'm going to use it, but rather paint the decorations directly onto the stern.
 
This is not exactly on topic, but I thought I'd share it anyway. I tend to keep a very messy workspace and I've come to accept the fact that that will never change. However, I do find it annoying when I accumulate a number of various pieces of wood strips which I have retrieved from my storage area. Before I know it I have a variety of sizes all mixed up with my tools and I can't tell what I've got. I sometimes find myself heading back to my storage for a new 2' piece to cut a small bit off of, when I actually have plenty of small bits all mixed up with other sizes and my various tools.
 
So, in an effort to help with this problem, I'm trying this idea. I bought some mailing tubes and cut them in half lengthwise to make troughs and then joined them together with masking tape. It's probably a bit too soon to tell how well this will really work, but so far it's promising. To the left in the picture below is my usual utter chaos. but at least I can see at a glance what wood I currently have out.

 
Thanks again for checking it.
David
 
 
 
 

I've been working on various aspects of this build, in no particular logical order. This morning I turned my attention to the kevels.
 
There are eight kevels on this ship and I don't really care for the cast kit-supplied ones, so I set out to make some wooden ones. Here's how I approached it.
 

I could see that there are two ways to do this. One would be to create two holes or slots in the cross member at the right angle and then slide the uprights through. Since I don't have a mill or a drill press and I'm working with basswood, I knew that would be an exercise in frustration, so I decided to try a second method, which is to laminate the cross member on the uprights.
 
I drew some lines establishing the dimensions on a piece of paper and covered them with double-sided tape.
 

I placed the first upright in position and trimmed the bottom of it along the pencil line -
 

I then added the second upright and the three pieces of the cross member. There's no glue at this point; only the tape is holding everything in place.
These pieces are all 1/32" x 1/16".
 

I then glued a piece across the cross member (1/16" x 1/16")
 

Peeling the assembly off of the tape. It's quite rigid by this point.
 

Then I added a second piece across the back of the cross member -
 

After some trimming and sanding. There may be some more sanding yet to do. I'm not sure if the cross member is still a bit too thick.
 

 
I think this method is going to work. Once they are all completely covered with rope coils, they should look just fine.😁
 
Thanks for checking in, much appreciated.
 
David
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I've been working away at my Mayflower on a number of different fronts at the same time.
 
I've finished the first layer of planking on the lower hull. Despite having a very blunt round bow, this isn't a very hard hull to plank. This kit actually includes a template to use to help "spile" the planks at the bow. I used it along with an iron and it worked like a charm. I have the lower hull sanded and filled. I happened to have some mahogany wood filler kicking around, so that's why it looks a bit odd, but it doesn't matter as it will all be covered up.




I started the boat, using my usual approach of cutting it in half in order to more easily carve out the interior. I read about this technique in another build log somewhere and have used it ever since. I recommend it for this type of boat. It works really well.

Once the interior's carved out, I just glue it back together.

Here's how I'm doing the windows. There are a number of very small windows on the Mayflower with a diamond pattern. This detail is just far too small for me to model, so another approach is needed. The instructions with the kit indicate that there is narrow white tape provided to be placed on a piece of acetate. I received the acetate, but there certainly was no white tape included, so I needed another solution.
 
My first thought was to get an extra fine white paint pen and draw the white lines on the acetate, but then another idea occurred to me. There is an image of the white lines on a black background in the instruction book which I photocopied, with the idea of just framing it into the window openings. The resulting image on regular paper didn't seem quite crisp enough to me, so I created a new image, using a graphics program on the computer. Then I printed in on a piece of photographic paper with a glossy finish. The result is very crisp and I think it will work just fine. To make the white frame around the window I placed some tape and painted it white.
 
Lest you think I'm brilliant for coming up with this, let me share with you how long it took me to figure one aspect of this out. I tried making the lines on the computer diagonally, but they wouldn't come out right; they had a small "stepped" effect which ruined the look. I had pretty much abandoned the idea altogether when days later, I awoke in the night and realized I could create the lines straight and then just cut the windows out on the diagonal! Duh!



This isn't a very difficult model, but there is one big challenge and that is the finish. Much of this model is shown as having a natural, rather than painted finish. This isn't too big a problem when working with nice wood, but in my experience, it can be a nightmare when working with basswood and this model is all basswood. It just never wants to take a stain evenly and I have never been happy with the results whenever I've used Minwax stain or something similar. So, I've been experimenting with paint to give a stained effect. I'm convinced this is the better way to go.
 
I just buy inexpensive acrylic paint - Americana Decoart -  and it works well. I water it down and then experiment with different applications of different viscosities. I sand in between applications and if I've applied it too thickly, I sand it off almost completely. It's just a matter of trial and error.
 
Here I've used burnt umber, watered down with several coats applied, attempting to even out any huge differences in the boards. I then sealed it with a coat of amber shellac and gave it a light rubbing with steel wool, which knocked the sheen back. I'm happy with the result and for sure it's better than anything I could have done with stain.
 

 
These bulwark pieces get planked on the inside prior to being installed on the hull.
 

I used a similar approach for the deck, this time going for that sort of grey-taupe colour that decks often have. This time I won't seal it with shellac or poly, but use Tom Lauria's suggestion of just burnishing it with a piece of paper towel.
 

So that's where I'm at so far. Thanks for checking in.
David

Good Morning -
I'm into the rigging in earnest now. In the past I have always tended to start with the bowsprit and work my way to the stern. The instructions for this kit however suggest installing the bowsprit and then moving the the mizzen mast and working forward, so I decided to try that and see how I like it. So far, so good.
 
The instructions suggest starting with the mizzen shrouds and then adding the mizzen stay before adding the lower main shrouds, so that's what I did. The logic makes sense - this way you can fix the stay to the main mast without the main shrouds getting in the way.
 
One problem I did encounter however is due to how small and flexible the mizzen mast is. It isn't very robust. In order to get the slack out of the lanyard on the stay where it meets the main mast, it tended to pull the mizzen mast too far forward and, of course, there is no backstay on the mizzen mast to counteract this. I ended up undoing all the lanyards on the mizzen shrouds, securing the lanyard on the stay where I was happy with it and then redoing the shrouds, starting with the aftmost one and pulling it taut, then finally, the other two shrouds. This seemed to solve the problem and the mizzen mast is now stable and in (more or less) the right position.
 


Moving on to the main mast, the instructions suggest first adding the tackles before doing the shrouds -
 

The main tackles are now in place and next up are the main shrouds. I don't anticipate the same problem with the main stay as I had with the mizzen as there is back pressure on the main mast and it's considerable more robust than the mizzen.
That's all for now.
David
 
 

Hull Planking continued…

Hull planked, let the sanding begin. 🍻

I brief update.
 
I've added the bowsprit and the deadeye/chainplate assemblies.


I've also added the boat. I don't actually take any pictures of its progress. It's built using the standard MS approach and building it proved to be as unpleasant as all of the others I have done over the years. So I have done nothing to immortalize the experience. At least there was only one of them. The Charles Morgan had seven! I don't know why I dislike building these little boats so much, but I just do.
 
The shrouds are attached to the masts and are ready to be finished. For such a small vessel there seem to be a lot of them - five on the foremast, seven on the main mast and three on the mizzen.
 



Thanks again for checking in, likes etc.
Much appreciated.
 
David

I brief update.
 
I've added the bowsprit and the deadeye/chainplate assemblies.


I've also added the boat. I don't actually take any pictures of its progress. It's built using the standard MS approach and building it proved to be as unpleasant as all of the others I have done over the years. So I have done nothing to immortalize the experience. At least there was only one of them. The Charles Morgan had seven! I don't know why I dislike building these little boats so much, but I just do.
 
The shrouds are attached to the masts and are ready to be finished. For such a small vessel there seem to be a lot of them - five on the foremast, seven on the main mast and three on the mizzen.
 



Thanks again for checking in, likes etc.
Much appreciated.
 
David

I brief update.
 
I've added the bowsprit and the deadeye/chainplate assemblies.


I've also added the boat. I don't actually take any pictures of its progress. It's built using the standard MS approach and building it proved to be as unpleasant as all of the others I have done over the years. So I have done nothing to immortalize the experience. At least there was only one of them. The Charles Morgan had seven! I don't know why I dislike building these little boats so much, but I just do.
 
The shrouds are attached to the masts and are ready to be finished. For such a small vessel there seem to be a lot of them - five on the foremast, seven on the main mast and three on the mizzen.
 



Thanks again for checking in, likes etc.
Much appreciated.
 
David

I brief update.
 
I've added the bowsprit and the deadeye/chainplate assemblies.


I've also added the boat. I don't actually take any pictures of its progress. It's built using the standard MS approach and building it proved to be as unpleasant as all of the others I have done over the years. So I have done nothing to immortalize the experience. At least there was only one of them. The Charles Morgan had seven! I don't know why I dislike building these little boats so much, but I just do.
 
The shrouds are attached to the masts and are ready to be finished. For such a small vessel there seem to be a lot of them - five on the foremast, seven on the main mast and three on the mizzen.
 



Thanks again for checking in, likes etc.
Much appreciated.
 
David

I brief update.
 
I've added the bowsprit and the deadeye/chainplate assemblies.


I've also added the boat. I don't actually take any pictures of its progress. It's built using the standard MS approach and building it proved to be as unpleasant as all of the others I have done over the years. So I have done nothing to immortalize the experience. At least there was only one of them. The Charles Morgan had seven! I don't know why I dislike building these little boats so much, but I just do.
 
The shrouds are attached to the masts and are ready to be finished. For such a small vessel there seem to be a lot of them - five on the foremast, seven on the main mast and three on the mizzen.
 



Thanks again for checking in, likes etc.
Much appreciated.
 
David

I brief update.
 
I've added the bowsprit and the deadeye/chainplate assemblies.


I've also added the boat. I don't actually take any pictures of its progress. It's built using the standard MS approach and building it proved to be as unpleasant as all of the others I have done over the years. So I have done nothing to immortalize the experience. At least there was only one of them. The Charles Morgan had seven! I don't know why I dislike building these little boats so much, but I just do.
 
The shrouds are attached to the masts and are ready to be finished. For such a small vessel there seem to be a lot of them - five on the foremast, seven on the main mast and three on the mizzen.
 



Thanks again for checking in, likes etc.
Much appreciated.
 
David

I brief update.
 
I've added the bowsprit and the deadeye/chainplate assemblies.


I've also added the boat. I don't actually take any pictures of its progress. It's built using the standard MS approach and building it proved to be as unpleasant as all of the others I have done over the years. So I have done nothing to immortalize the experience. At least there was only one of them. The Charles Morgan had seven! I don't know why I dislike building these little boats so much, but I just do.
 
The shrouds are attached to the masts and are ready to be finished. For such a small vessel there seem to be a lot of them - five on the foremast, seven on the main mast and three on the mizzen.
 



Thanks again for checking in, likes etc.
Much appreciated.
 
David

I brief update.
 
I've added the bowsprit and the deadeye/chainplate assemblies.


I've also added the boat. I don't actually take any pictures of its progress. It's built using the standard MS approach and building it proved to be as unpleasant as all of the others I have done over the years. So I have done nothing to immortalize the experience. At least there was only one of them. The Charles Morgan had seven! I don't know why I dislike building these little boats so much, but I just do.
 
The shrouds are attached to the masts and are ready to be finished. For such a small vessel there seem to be a lot of them - five on the foremast, seven on the main mast and three on the mizzen.
 



Thanks again for checking in, likes etc.
Much appreciated.
 
David

Been awhile since I’ve posted an update on my build. Life just gets busy sometimes and of course its summer so a week long fishing trip to northern Minnesota was in order as well. But I’m back in the shipyard and making some progress.
 
Collected all the pieces needed for the guy plates. All the necessary parts for all these plates were made before hand.
 

 
Then installed the Bobstay plates with links, Guy plates with staple and shackle and Backrope plates with link and turnbuckles. Got both port and starboard done.
 

 
Lots of paint touchup to do now as I wanted the plates glued directly to the wood and not just the paint. Plan is to mask and use the airbrush but might brush it, still trying to decide on that. Then I think I will be ready to rig the bowsprit but have to order the needed lines as I don’t want to use those that came with the kit.
Dave

Decided to wait on the nibbing strakes until later and worked on the hawse timbers, knights head per the instruction sequence.  I constructed the hawse timbers per the instructions as they were on the real ship.   First I cut 1/8 square pieces for each side to the proper angle and just a bit longer than the plan and glued together along a straight edge as a guide.  I then cut the fake stanchion and triangle piece and glued them in place.  Lastly, I made the knights head and glued in place.  Once the glue had dried, I measured and drew a line across the top of the finished piece to the match the plans and then cut along the line to get everything even across the top.  Last step was to bevel the knights head.

I built the whole piece as one to keep everything lined up appropriately and then cut out middle stanchion section and glued the two pieces in place

After gluing in place I notice that the bulkhead "A" stanchions were short by almost 1/8 of an inch, so I added 1/8 square stock to extend them to the top of the hawse timbers.  I checked the rest of the stanchions on the fore deck and they were all short to varying degrees, so I added stock and sanded them all to the correct height.  Looks like the quarter deck stanchion are short as well, so I will deal with those before moving on to the main rail.

 
After gluing both sides in place I worked on the hawse holes.  using a small drill bit in a pin vise, I drilled several holes through the hawse timber at an angle around the inside of the oval I drew from the plans.  Once I was able to open up the hole, I used a round file to finish shaping it out to the edges of the line, trying to maintain the offset angle.  When that was complete, I added the chafe blocks and shaped them to match the hole.

Next, I moved to the stern and finished out the inside. 

I am going to work on the main rail next and have traced the pattern for the section between the bow and stern laser cut pieces.  I will likely cut this into 4 pieces per the instructions to keep each to about 6".

That's all for now!
Tim