Ryland Craze

I was looking through my Power Point and thought I'd give a head's up to anyone who is likely to build this kit. (and at all interested, haha).
There is  a little bit of lettering missing on the CHAPERON stencil. Easy fix.
 
Len

I found the 'A' problem but missed the P and the R completely. I don't think I could correct it at this stage as it is too difficult to get to, never mind. Your wheel looks really good and just as scruffy as the rest of the boat. I don't know about anyone else but I think your aging is really clever.

The eyes are the second thing to go...and I don't remember the first.

Okay, here goes -
 
I apologize in advance for probably using the wrong nomenclature.  I don't know enough to call everything by it's actual name.
 
Question:  I was looking at the ratlines, and I noticed that a lot of ya'll use rope-colored (lighter-colored) rope on the deadeyes / blocks at the bottom of the shrouds.  I thought that standing rigging was usually black because it had been tarred to protect it from the elements.  Wouldn't the rope in the deadeyes / blocks be black?  Does it depend on the era? 
 
Just curious, and thanks for the education.
 
Rob

Congratulations. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine.

In conferring with an ex skipper( who commissioned the model build) of the Sloop Providence  (Same rig as the Armed  Virginia Sloop ) The " brace" pair intended for the spreader yard leading aft were not used to brace the yard. They were used as a "utility" line, like to board cargo or cat the anchor etc.
 

 
In the image one can see the utility in a stowed position not bracing the yard.
 
To brace the spreader yard, the pair leading to the bowsprit was used.  
 
I wonder if the Armed Virginia sloop skippers did the same ??
 
SOS

The past week has been spent making up, mounting and rigging the main yard. 
 
The first work was to make the yard. As usual, for me, I started with a dowel, filed the center portion to a square, added strip to the square section to build it up, then filed the built up square section to eight sided. The yard was then tapered by sanding. I then added the sling cleats, yard arm cleats and the PE boom iron yokes the yard arms. Lastly, I made up the inner and outer boom irons from wire and slices of styrene tube. I didn't add the boom irons until after I had added the blocks and rigging lines to the yard. The yard assembly was painted black. The stunsail booms were also made at this time . They are tapered dowel, stained golden oak and finished with wipe-on poly.
 
I then added the foot ropes and stirrups, the jeer blocks, the topsail sheet blocks, the clew blocks, the yardarm sheet and lift blocks, and the brace pendants and blocks. Next, the line for the jeers, clews and lifts were added. Finally, the parrel was made up and attached at one end. The parrel was made from line, beads for the trucks and ribs made from boxwood strip. Lacking a table saw, I made the ribs by gluing strips together, shaping the whole stack at once, then using isopropyl to separate the pieces. The boom irons and booms were then added.
 
The yard was then mounted on it's pin on the mast, the parrel was tied off and the rigging of the jeers, lifts and clews was done, but the clews were not tied off. The spritsail braces were also done at this time, but not tied off.
 
Next will be the wingsail gaff and the main topsail yard.
 
Bob
 
 
 
 

I am in a series of discussions and correspondence with a recently retired lawyer who specialised in such matters.
She is forthright in drawing the distinction between copyright, patent and intellectual property rights.
She also accepts that advances in technology make it hard for the law makers to keep up.
Straightforward copying of another's plans is an obvious infringement of copyright but, whilst still offensive, using the same plans to produce  3D prints of (say) a set of cannon it would be hard to prove that an infringement of intellectual property rights had taken place.
I am happy that this forum takes a hard line on such matters, but worry that there is a grey area in law and practice that is growing greater at quite some speed.

The only solution I personally have been able to do to fight this, is to specify "North America" only on my Ebay searches. Doesn't solve much of anything, but at least blocks them from one customer.

In the model railroad world, there is a standard, open source, program, universally used in programming the digital locomotive controllers, of all brands. Some SOB programmer copied the code, changed a couple areas, and copyrighted the whole thing under his name, then sued the open source group for infringment!!
 
it took a couple years and a lot of bucks, to get it overturned.

Beautiful work, Bill.  Your eye for detail is working overtime.

Hi Bill
 
Just looking at that last photo emphasises the amount of work you've put into the Eagle so far.
 
Mighty fine work!
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

Here is what the main mast looks like today. I have completed the lower main mast and fighting top. The Main Topmast is mostly done. A bit more clean up, then I will work on the cross trees. I have a question regarding the mast caps. My assumption is they need to be aligned perpendicular to the mast itself rather than aligned with the fighting top. Since the main mast is raked at 8 degrees it is more pronounced. The cap that is shown in the photos is a temporary cap which will be replaced.
 
The fighting top was based upon that shown in the Lee book and assembled following the Swan Series Vol 4. There will be a matching top in the fore mast.
 
Once the top mast was shaped I used the mill to cut the groove through for the sheave. The sheave was turned in brass and a brass pin through the mast as axle. Once the sections are complete the mast will be unstacked and restacked as it is rigged.
 
Also shown are the spanker mast hoops. I really wanted to make these out of wood shavings but found it beyond my skill to make rings that I liked. If I made them out of paper, I would have to paint them. If I was going to paint them I might as well make them out of brass. These were blackened after soldering and cleanup.
 
I still am debating a bit on how many rings to actually put on the mast. I believe a hoop would have been tied to each of the same places as a laced sail which would be every 27" to 3 feet. I have 15 on here which would represent about a 27" spacing.
 

 

 

 

Always a pleasure to see updates from your work Mike!
It looks excellent and as Nils says,acurate and clean..

The sling is now completed. It is made from Chuck's .035 Dark Brown rope and served its entire length with 50wt thread. Adding the thimble and seizing it was straight forward. The rope length was measured so the bottom of the hook falls about 3/16" below the gaff. A small eye was seized to one end of the rope, while being careful to maintain the proper rope length. This was all done off the ship. After feeding the sling around the mast, the remaining end was inserted through the eye and the last intertwined eye was made when the sling was in position. Seizing the last eye proved to be quite tricky. The sling is short, so holding onto it while seizing the eye proved to be awkward. It took several tries before I managed to do it.
 

 
Mike
 

To fix the warped hull, i decided to rebuild the hull. I carefully took apart the components.
 
Luckily it proved to go rather well, i think the former builder didn't use wood glue but a simple contact glue.
 

 

 
Once the parts got separated, the degree of warping became very obvious.
 

 

Haha, no it's not attached, I just put it up for a pic.......(or did I)?
 
Never the less thx for the heads up.
 
I have been checking out the various photos I have of the real Chaperon, it was configured quite differently over the years but one of the most interesting was the inclusion and omission of the Texas Deck. Does anyone know the reason for this?
 
Sorry wrong pic

I am a retired Horseshoer/ Blacksmith and finally got tired of using my 100 LB. anvil to make my small metal parts. 
 
I was at a flea market and picked up an old iron that they used before electricity. It looked perfect to use as a mini anvil to help make my small metal parts. I picked it up for $5.
 
I even constructed a small wooden box for it and it has worked quite well. You can even take it out of the box and use it as a weight when you glue to parts together. 
 

 

 
 

 
Now all I need is a little smaller hammer.
 

It has been a while since my last update (too many other projects going on ). I finally started with the rigging of the guns – first step the breech lines. After experimenting a little with different breech knots (img 1c) and different materials using a simple gun station jig (img 1a) I decided to go with the Syren rigging rope 0.025, a 100wt silk thread (img 1b), and the 3rd breech knot from the left in img 1c. It seems to be one of the most commonly used breech knots which I could find on images from carronades and naval guns of that period. Images 2 and 3 show the detailed steps of how to make the breech knot. In img 2d my ‘manual serving station’ can be seen. It comes in handy for small tasks. The finished knot is shown in img 3i. Img 4 lists the different steps for the 2nd knot of the breech line. The length of the line needs to be marked (img 4j) and the whole process described in img 2 and 3 repeated, only now with a gun ‘dangling’ on one end of the rope. The finished breech line is shown in img 5. Images 6-9 depict one half of the guns with breech lines – the other half still needs to be done . Img 10 shows the breech line for one of the long guns.
 
Thomas
 

Image 1
 

Image 2
 

Image 3
 

Image 4
 

Image 5
 

Image 6
 

Image 7
 

Image 8
 

Image 9
 

Image 10
 
 

So I won the Ebay auction and have the proportional dividers heading my way.  I paid a lot more than I should have but I realized the cost of buying new ones was very expensive.  They are made by Dietzgen so I know they are quality.  Hopefully I can put them to good use.

No, there will always be a fox in the hen house and thieving rogues running a muck.
 
mike   

Chuck, there will always be an 'audience' for a bargain.  I'm sure everybody knows the jerk who always has managed to buy a stove or a couch or a camera or a model kit that is 'just as good as' the one you bought from a reputable dealer or supplier for a tiny fraction of what you paid.  'Just as good as' doesn't usually include any support, longevity of the product or recognition of the rip off artist they're dealing with.  It's part of what makes that individual tick, a need to be seen as a better deal maker than anybody else.  All you can do is protect your own product as you have done and hope for the best.

This seriously sucks Chuck - sorry to hear the one of the "good guys" advancing the craft is getting ripped off.

Yes I know but the damage is done already.....I was too trusting and very naive.
 
Maybe I should partner with them as was mentioned in another thread by one of our members    .   That is why all future Syren parts and kits will no longer be sold with plans that include laser cut patterns.  For example...my new barge kit wont have any templates of parts....on the plans.  The plans will NOT be sold separately.  Because the parts are all included and laser cut in the kit, it isnt really needed.  I will use photographs of the parts in the instructions instead.  Its a shame really that it has come to this.  I have also removed the station lines from the body plan on the plan sheet so if they want to steal the barge design they will have to do some work to figure it out.  If they are even capable.  Live and learn.
 
I also no longer sell to Russia or China.  I do get orders but I simply cancel them.   Its a real shame I tell ya.   I am very close friends with two Russian model builders in the states.  They have family back home and brought this site to my attention last year and apologized on behalf of good Russian folks who dont condone the practice.  And they admit that the issue of piracy is as bad if not worse than in China.
 
They also pointed me to another Russian site which includes a free download of my Cheerful plans,  Syren Plans and Confederacy plans along with the practicum...which isnt even finished yet for Cheerful.  You can also download many books from Seawatch page by page in RAR format.  But those guys will end up with the nastiest of virus' on their computers after downloading anything.  Really bad stuff actually and they advised me not even to try it as it gives the site owners access to their computers afterwards.   So I do get a small bit of satisfaction in knowing that if anyone actually finds the site and downloads my plans they will have some serious problems......afterwards.
 
Some people say I get too upset over this stuff and its just the way it is and although they say publicly they dont condone it....they are not all that disturbed by it.  But I must tell you....its not a fortune lost but how much money have I lost because of folks like this.....and from those who are willing to use them?  Its very serious for the industry.   It makes me want to stop even trying and hang it up.....whats the point right?  At least that is what runs through my mind from time to time.  I could get a job at Home Depot and come home after a shift and make models just to relax like everyone else.   Working 12 hours a day in the shop seven days a week to make a living as a ship modeler pays about the same thing.....it will be far less stress.
 
Maybe some folks wouldnt take it so lightly or wouldnt buy from them if they were the ones trying to provide for their families by making a living at it.  I do wish they would think about that when they hit the buy button.

Yes indeed it is....that same scumbag company also pirated my lantern kits and other projects stolen from other MFGs....I removed the link.  The Russians are just as bad as the Chinese.   You would think with all of their master builders that they wouldnt have to steal other designs.   But yes that company is bad news.  They even use my assembly images taken from this site to help sell the lanterns.  I made the unfortunate mistake of including the parts diagram in the downloadable instructions.  Once again....You cant win!!!   I have known about this company for some time now.
 
When I first came across their site I had to laugh until I almost peed myself.   Written in russian it says "Dont buy from a foreign supplier.....we manufacture all of OUR products in our own facility"
 
 
If its out there they will find a way to steal it.  They have also stolen and pirated Jeff Staudt's Batteau because the Model ship builder site hasnt used any protections.....not that this stops them.  This company has already been added to the banned Kit makers list posted here.  I guess I should be flattered right?  Imitation the the greatest form of flattery or however that saying goes....
 
http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/181-banned-kit-manufacturers-on-msw-pirated-kits-prohibited/
 

 

 

 
 
 
Here is a link to the real thing.......buy the original and NOT the pirated Commie fakes
 
 
 
Chuck