BobG

....and the rigging continues... Today was rope coil day on my build. I secured the boom, peak halliard, throat halliard, and the jib halliard lines to the belaying pins and made rope coils for them. I also secured the forestay halliard to the mast thwart since no more belaying pins were open and made a rope coil for it. Then I secured the outhaul to the bow thwart and made a flat deck coil for that rope and I did the same for the main sheet line. I always seem to underestimate how long a task in model ship building will take. I didn't think it would take be very long to secure the lines and make the rope coils but it was time consuming. It can be fiddly since there were so many shrouds and various lines to work around. I ended up using tweezers a lot. I took my time trying to make the coils look natural and not too perfect. I still have to make the coils for the backstay tackles. I also still have the flag to make and the flag halliards to rig and make coils for them plus I still need to make the grapnel too. I wasn't sure how to make the flat deck coils so here's what I ended up doing. I took a piece of blue painter's tape and laid the rope down in a circle on the sticky side of the tape while pinching it lightly with tweezers. I just kept coiling the the rope down starting from the outside and working towards the center. I left a bit of space in the center because I wanted a more natural look to the coils. Then I painted them with a thin coat of diluted white glue and let it set up for a few minutes before using an Xacto knife to lift the coil off the painter's tape before it got fully dry. It worked out pretty well. Here's a photo of how I made the flat rope coils: These are the coils I made for the lines secured to the belaying pins:

Welcome to MSW. The Jolie Brise is a beautiful boat and you're off to a very nice start. She'll be solid as a rock using a solid block of oak for the hull. I'll be following along as you build her. Good luck!

Thanks vey much, Bob. I really love my workspace with a view of our backyard although it's just a small work table from IKEA with a 5 drawer filing cabinet for tool storage. I have a portable, SONOS bluetooth speaker in the room and I stream music on Spotify while I work...a lot of jazz and a whole lot from the every-changing, eclectic playlist of Radio Paradise. We live in an older house, built in 1942, near downtown Sacramento. It's a typical, smaller home of that era but, back then, families raised 2 or 3 kids in 2 bedroom one bath homes. We love the older neighborhoods in Sacramento with all of their mature trees and parks. Sacramento is a designated national tree city and the density of trees is very much valued for shade during our hot, dry summers. My wife and I enjoy landscaping and gardening and, even though our property is not very big, we've made it into a very nice little oasis for us. Over the years we've remodeled the house and have completely redone all of the landscaping including planting 15 trees: 3 birches, 4 flowering cherries, two maples, 4 Japanese maples, a dogwood and a dwarf flowering crabapple. We also have 3 very large, flowering camellias and many flowering shrubs like azaleas, dwarf crepe myrtles, gardenias and others, plus perennial flowers and many potted plants and succulents. It keeps us busy and something is nearly always blooming. I have relatives who live near you in Florida. My brother lives in Largo and my nephew lives in Dunedin. They are both into gardening too. I really enjoy your build log and appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge with all of us on the forum. Best regards,

Thanks, Alan, does the black color stay on well and not rub off when handled?

Well done, Jean-Paul, you are making the definitive, reference build log for future builders of this model.

Very creative idea!

Alan, what is the effect you are referring to? Blackening? Do you have a photo you can post?

What cleaning method has worked well for you, Eric?

😂😂😂

She's looking great, bolin!

Nice scraper, Michael. I tried to make a scraper like that on the same type of blade but I couldn't get it to scape very well for the moulding on the Medway Longboat. I ended up using the AL scraper like you showed in a previous post but I found it pretty difficult to use and hard on the fingers too. It took me a long time to get it done.

Good to see your progress on this kit, Dave.

I think I just taped them in place if I remember correctly. They were a tight fit to begin with so I just taped them.

Thanks Michael and Chris. I got it! I was getting tripped up because I couldn't get my build log link to open while in I was in the signature set up box. Of course, since I hadn't saved the changes to my signature yet...well, of course, it wouldn't be active yet....duh!! 🥴

I would like to add a link to my build log under my signature but I can't seem to figure out how to do it. Many forum members have links that look like this, for example: Medway Longboat and all you have to do is click on it and it takes you to their build log. Thanks very much.

Stunning and inspirational as usual! Your rigging is beautifully done also. What kind of glue do you use on your ropes and seizings? Thank you.

Thanks, Bob, great explanation. Maybe I have been going too fast with Jax Pewter Black but I'll look into the Birchwood Casey Brass Black that you use always.

Beautifully crafted model, Justin!

Bob, I've been using Jax Pewter Black for blackening brass and I have had problems with it flaking off and rubbing off in places exposing the brass. I've followed the directions carefully and have cleaned the parts thoroughly and rinsed and dried them before applying the blackening solution and it still happens. I've resorted to painting the brass parts with Vallejo Black Acrylic and then weathering them with Doc O'Brien's Rusty Brown Weathering Powder. They look pretty good afterwards but I like the blackened brass better but I can't seem to get the brass parts to stay permanently blackened without rubbing off when handled. What blackening agent are you using and how well has it worked for you? Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

Simply awesome detail and weathering! This is one of my favorite builds that I'm currently following.

Just a slight touch of medium viscosity CA will keep those rope ends from unraveling too. The whipping looks good but you might want to touch a tiny spot of CA on those ends and then you can pinch them lightly to help them form a nice shape. The CA will darken lighter colored rope so I use just the smallest amount and it's practically unnoticeable.

Beautifully done!

Thanks very much, Eric. The only thing that was frustrating today was using the Jax Blackening Agent. I spent quite a bit of time blackening the brass only to have it flake off. I'm not sure why it keeps doing this and I have tried several ways of cleaning the brass and applying the blackening solution. Other than that, I had a lot of fun today and the finish line is in sight!

I really enjoy making the small metal and wire parts so I had fun today forming the traveler ring, the hook and the shakle for the bowsprit and rigging the jib halliard and the outhaul. The rigging really makes this boat so cool! I think I'm done with Jax Blackening Agent because, no matter what I do to clean the brass and follow the directions, the black coating rubs off when the brass piece is handled. I ended up painting the traveler ring with Vallejo Black Acrylic paint and weathering it with Doc O'Briens's Rusty Brown Weathering Powder.

Nice fix. Looks good!