Cathead

Well, as I was looking over the frames last night, I saw that I had to redo one, due to a crack right in the bend. No way I could sand it up and make it work. Redid that frame and began transferring the plank lines from the mold bulkheads onto the outer faces of the frames.Skinny marking square works well for that.
 
This morning, I boiled up my port garboard and sheet planks. I think I have a good bend on the garboard; lines up with my pencil lines on the stem. I had a little problem holding the sheer plank to the stem. Seems the clamp I was trying to use had a taper on the tip, so I grabbed a metal binder clip to hold the plank.
 

Bending the garboard and sheer.
 

Faulty clamp. It has a taper reversed to what I needed. Not really a bad clamp.
 

The fix. You can see the pencil ticks for the hood ends in the rabbet on the stem.
 
I think I'm going to get and make up more of those little binder clips before I launch off into actually gluing my planks up.
 
My driveway may defrost by Sunday night and I won't have to do a slalom course to get down.

Progress: the end is in sight!
 
The sails are sewed with a basic hem around the edges (thank you, Mrs Cathead!); nothing else will show in the finished furled form. I did lay a line within the foot seam, with loops at each end, to allow for attaching the clew and tack lines. I realize the real thing had rope sewn along the outer edge, instead of within the seam, but that is too much for me on this project. Furled, it is hard to tell the difference.
 
Below is one sail stained and hanging to dry. I used a cup of water, with drops of oak stain (the yellow color of my thwarts) and black model paint added until test swatches came out the way I wanted them. Then the sails were dipped in, swished around until evenly absorbed, and hung to dry. I did the same with long stretches of line, to darken the natural white down to a similar color; you can see these hanging to dry as well. In a wood-heated house, things dry very quickly! I did not bother ironing the sails as they will be furled anyway and the creases will not show.
 

 
The foresail is attached and mostly rigged, as shown below. I bound it to the yard, using a process I will illustrate when I do the mainsail later today, then carefully furled it and used lengths of line with reef knots to roughly bind it up. I encountered an unexpected quirk, when finding that the wider foot of the sail ended up with a long, odd-looking projection past the yard ends when furled. After some thought, I simply folded these extensions back under the yard and tucked them under the furling lines, as that seemed like something a tired crew might do (h/t/ Steve).
 
Despite intending to use Matt's advice to display the yard mostly vertical, the square lash I used to bind this assembly to the mast did not allow for this, but did allow for a cocked angle, which I find pleasing. So I just chose a height partially down the mast, high enough to show the interior but low enough not to unbalance the appearance of the model, and went with it. Clew and tack lines are belayed to pins. i have not yet added the foremast halyard (through the block at top of mast) as I needed to stain more line overnight. I also have not yet neatly coiled the extra line. But this progress approximates my final layout.
 

 
I have also finished my metalwork, attaching the tiller and simulating nailheads by nipping them off the nails and gluing the heads onto the strip before repainting. I think it looks well, and has the benefit of both sides looking the same (rather than a bent or nipped off nail on one side as the instructions say). The rudder swings nicely through about 150 degrees and I have had to be careful not to catch it on anything.
 
Left to do this weekend:
 
- Attach mainsail to yard, furl, and lash to mainmast. 
- Run both yard halyards through blocks and belay.
- Add stays to both masts.
- Trim and coil all lines.
 
Optional: I may or may not get to the details like chest & barrels. These can be done later and do not directly affect the display of the finished boat. 
 
Oh yes, I forgot: a significant reason for posting this now, before completion, is for any last feedback on the appearance of sails and such. Anything I should do different or that I have not thought of? I have not glued any rigging, only tied and lashed, so everything can be readjusted if necessary or desired.

Progress: the end is in sight!
 
The sails are sewed with a basic hem around the edges (thank you, Mrs Cathead!); nothing else will show in the finished furled form. I did lay a line within the foot seam, with loops at each end, to allow for attaching the clew and tack lines. I realize the real thing had rope sewn along the outer edge, instead of within the seam, but that is too much for me on this project. Furled, it is hard to tell the difference.
 
Below is one sail stained and hanging to dry. I used a cup of water, with drops of oak stain (the yellow color of my thwarts) and black model paint added until test swatches came out the way I wanted them. Then the sails were dipped in, swished around until evenly absorbed, and hung to dry. I did the same with long stretches of line, to darken the natural white down to a similar color; you can see these hanging to dry as well. In a wood-heated house, things dry very quickly! I did not bother ironing the sails as they will be furled anyway and the creases will not show.
 

 
The foresail is attached and mostly rigged, as shown below. I bound it to the yard, using a process I will illustrate when I do the mainsail later today, then carefully furled it and used lengths of line with reef knots to roughly bind it up. I encountered an unexpected quirk, when finding that the wider foot of the sail ended up with a long, odd-looking projection past the yard ends when furled. After some thought, I simply folded these extensions back under the yard and tucked them under the furling lines, as that seemed like something a tired crew might do (h/t/ Steve).
 
Despite intending to use Matt's advice to display the yard mostly vertical, the square lash I used to bind this assembly to the mast did not allow for this, but did allow for a cocked angle, which I find pleasing. So I just chose a height partially down the mast, high enough to show the interior but low enough not to unbalance the appearance of the model, and went with it. Clew and tack lines are belayed to pins. i have not yet added the foremast halyard (through the block at top of mast) as I needed to stain more line overnight. I also have not yet neatly coiled the extra line. But this progress approximates my final layout.
 

 
I have also finished my metalwork, attaching the tiller and simulating nailheads by nipping them off the nails and gluing the heads onto the strip before repainting. I think it looks well, and has the benefit of both sides looking the same (rather than a bent or nipped off nail on one side as the instructions say). The rudder swings nicely through about 150 degrees and I have had to be careful not to catch it on anything.
 
Left to do this weekend:
 
- Attach mainsail to yard, furl, and lash to mainmast. 
- Run both yard halyards through blocks and belay.
- Add stays to both masts.
- Trim and coil all lines.
 
Optional: I may or may not get to the details like chest & barrels. These can be done later and do not directly affect the display of the finished boat. 
 
Oh yes, I forgot: a significant reason for posting this now, before completion, is for any last feedback on the appearance of sails and such. Anything I should do different or that I have not thought of? I have not glued any rigging, only tied and lashed, so everything can be readjusted if necessary or desired.

Progress: the end is in sight!
 
The sails are sewed with a basic hem around the edges (thank you, Mrs Cathead!); nothing else will show in the finished furled form. I did lay a line within the foot seam, with loops at each end, to allow for attaching the clew and tack lines. I realize the real thing had rope sewn along the outer edge, instead of within the seam, but that is too much for me on this project. Furled, it is hard to tell the difference.
 
Below is one sail stained and hanging to dry. I used a cup of water, with drops of oak stain (the yellow color of my thwarts) and black model paint added until test swatches came out the way I wanted them. Then the sails were dipped in, swished around until evenly absorbed, and hung to dry. I did the same with long stretches of line, to darken the natural white down to a similar color; you can see these hanging to dry as well. In a wood-heated house, things dry very quickly! I did not bother ironing the sails as they will be furled anyway and the creases will not show.
 

 
The foresail is attached and mostly rigged, as shown below. I bound it to the yard, using a process I will illustrate when I do the mainsail later today, then carefully furled it and used lengths of line with reef knots to roughly bind it up. I encountered an unexpected quirk, when finding that the wider foot of the sail ended up with a long, odd-looking projection past the yard ends when furled. After some thought, I simply folded these extensions back under the yard and tucked them under the furling lines, as that seemed like something a tired crew might do (h/t/ Steve).
 
Despite intending to use Matt's advice to display the yard mostly vertical, the square lash I used to bind this assembly to the mast did not allow for this, but did allow for a cocked angle, which I find pleasing. So I just chose a height partially down the mast, high enough to show the interior but low enough not to unbalance the appearance of the model, and went with it. Clew and tack lines are belayed to pins. i have not yet added the foremast halyard (through the block at top of mast) as I needed to stain more line overnight. I also have not yet neatly coiled the extra line. But this progress approximates my final layout.
 

 
I have also finished my metalwork, attaching the tiller and simulating nailheads by nipping them off the nails and gluing the heads onto the strip before repainting. I think it looks well, and has the benefit of both sides looking the same (rather than a bent or nipped off nail on one side as the instructions say). The rudder swings nicely through about 150 degrees and I have had to be careful not to catch it on anything.
 
Left to do this weekend:
 
- Attach mainsail to yard, furl, and lash to mainmast. 
- Run both yard halyards through blocks and belay.
- Add stays to both masts.
- Trim and coil all lines.
 
Optional: I may or may not get to the details like chest & barrels. These can be done later and do not directly affect the display of the finished boat. 
 
Oh yes, I forgot: a significant reason for posting this now, before completion, is for any last feedback on the appearance of sails and such. Anything I should do different or that I have not thought of? I have not glued any rigging, only tied and lashed, so everything can be readjusted if necessary or desired.

CH,
I do hope that you and MrsCH will be listening to Bach at the same time.

I finished a froe and an adze. I also finished one side of my boat with the cargo netting. So, between the two sides, I should be able to store most of my barrels. After all they needed more room to stretch out.

An observation, then a question:
 
 
In planning to wrap my oars, I developed a concern. As shown in the plans, I thought the wrapping would be too far down the oar; it did not not look proportioned. Recalling that Milton Roth's "Ship Modelling from Stem to Stern" had a diagram on oar proportions, I went to page 145 and found that, sure enough, the wrapping location here was noticeably further from the blade. 
 
In the image below, the "true" oar is wrapped at the Roth location. The yellowish scrap is wrapped at the plan's location. Note that if wrapped to the plan, the oars will set between the pins so far in as to catch against the mast, whereas Roth's location allows for free movement.
 

 
So I wrapped all my oars at this location instead, and am happy with the result.
 
On to the question. I have decided to display the model with yards lowered and sails furled, partly to save work & time, partly because it is a different look than I have seen elsewhere, and partly because I just do not find the full sails attractive. So I am experimenting with furling while Mrs Cathead does the basic sail sewing (bless her!).
 
I have been surprised to find little information on proper furling, especially for simple sails like these rather than full ship-rigged square sails. Below is a test run with scrap fabric and dowels. I am curious of folks' opinion as to whether something like this approximates the right look. Two notes: this scrap is not tied onto the dowel, so the head wraps over the upper edge of the yard more than it would in the final product, and I did this quickly so that the folds in the furl are larger than I would work carefully to achieve in the real thing. Oh, and as there are no lines attached to the clew and tack, those also look slightly different.
 

 
All diagrams of furling I have seen apply to large sails with lines running up to blocks along the mast, etc, producing a different and more complicated pattern. It seems to me, after reading the research done by Matt and Steve, that this very simply rigged boat would simply have had its sails folded up under the lowered yard and lashed onto the yard. 
 
What think you all?

Work was interrupted by a visit to the in-laws last weekend, but I am moving forward. I have a deadline; I would very much like to complete this model by the end of February, as we will be travelling for most of the month of March and I would hate to leave this log, and project, hanging unfinished.
 
Unfortunately, following the work CaptainSteve and Matt has influenced me to do more than I initially intended, so we will see. I have gone from not even intending to include masts, to now wanting sails and wrapped oars. This is not good for my agenda.
 
Here is where the launch stands today.
 

 
Oars are carved with first staining. I think I will do one more coat, then wrap them. These took less time than I expected, perhaps two hours for all of them. Masts are carved and stained, with brackets attached. They are not glued in, though.
 
The metal work I was so agitated over is done, to my acceptance if not my satisfaction.

I found that the small drill bits I purchased for this project from ModelExpo do not drill through brass, even chucked into my cordless drill. This threw me for a loop as I could not pin/nail anything in place. So for the mast partners, I shaped the brass strip, then nipped off the heads of four nails (viva la France!) and glued them in place to simulate the effect. I then painted the partners with black model paint and weathered them with brown pastels. I glued them in place, and they look well enough to me.
 
As for the pintles/gudgeons, I went to a hardware store and bought compatible lengths of brass tubing and rod, then used these to make the basic structure by wrapping brass sheet carefully around the tubing using pliers. It is not perfect, but it represents the form well enough for me. They ended up slightly oversized from the plans, but I can live with that. I painted them as I did the mast partners.
 
Again because of the drill problem, I glued these onto the model. This meant I needed a good flat surface to clamp onto, so I did not add the nail heads as I did the mast partners. Now that they are solidly attached, I will scrape some paint off to provide a good gluing surface for nail heads, then carefully repaint the final result and weather with pastels. Again, good enough for me if not for a real craftsman. I do not like metal and am glad to be past this part.
 
Okay, not quite. The tiller is shaped and stained, and I will soon be attaching it with brass strip handled as for the mast partners.
 
Next up: 
- Staining and wrapping oars
- Shaping & staining spars
- Cutting & finishing sails. I am leaning toward displaying spars lowered, with furled sails, as I do not find the shape of the raised sails very attractive. This lets me show detail and full rigging without full sails.
 
I have no idea if I can complete all this in the next two weeks, but deadlines can be marvelous things for focusing one's attention.

My first ship was also an AL - Morgan's Whale boat. Since then I have built 4 more and I have 2 more waiting to be built. All in all I have had no problems. As Keith said above the wood is very good, the laser cuts parts are accurate, and the finished model looks great. The first 2 models I did the English instructions were good, but I think in some of their more recent kits they have outsourced the Spanish to English translation to someone who is not that proficient in English because some of the wording makes no sense.
 
As to historical accuracy or whether the model is fictitious, well that all depends on what you expect from the kit. If you want to build a really nice looking model of an "old" sailing ship, and want the challenge of planking and rigging them, and is somewhat accurate to the period,then they make some really nice models. But on the other hand, if you are a stickler for historical accuracy, accurately rigged and/or configured, or want a ship that actually existed, then maybe some of AL's kits aren't for you.
 
Personally I've had more trouble with Model Shipways kits and cursed them (kits) the whole time I was building  - notably the Sultana, Phantom, Morgan and Niagara, than I ever had with AL or Amati. I like AL and Amati kits, but that's my personal taste. The one exception to Model Shipways kits are the ones designed by Chuck (Passaro) with instructions written by him, those I've enjoyed building.
 
I think both Keith and Mark summed it up quite succinctly

I'm nearing completion of my first wooden kit, having scratchbuilt a few relatively simple craft before that. I've found the MS Bounty Launch to be an excellent intro kit. In general the instructions are clear, the kit is well-made, and there are only minor pitfalls and quirks that reading a few of the abundant build logs here will alert you to. 
 
It's simple enough to not be overwhelming, but as an open boat has some unique challenges that seem like they'll prepare you for many future projects. As long as you do some homework first about principles of constructing wooden boat/ship kits, I can't imagine you'd have much difficulty with the Bounty Launch. Just my experience as a first-timer.

An observation, then a question:
 
 
In planning to wrap my oars, I developed a concern. As shown in the plans, I thought the wrapping would be too far down the oar; it did not not look proportioned. Recalling that Milton Roth's "Ship Modelling from Stem to Stern" had a diagram on oar proportions, I went to page 145 and found that, sure enough, the wrapping location here was noticeably further from the blade. 
 
In the image below, the "true" oar is wrapped at the Roth location. The yellowish scrap is wrapped at the plan's location. Note that if wrapped to the plan, the oars will set between the pins so far in as to catch against the mast, whereas Roth's location allows for free movement.
 

 
So I wrapped all my oars at this location instead, and am happy with the result.
 
On to the question. I have decided to display the model with yards lowered and sails furled, partly to save work & time, partly because it is a different look than I have seen elsewhere, and partly because I just do not find the full sails attractive. So I am experimenting with furling while Mrs Cathead does the basic sail sewing (bless her!).
 
I have been surprised to find little information on proper furling, especially for simple sails like these rather than full ship-rigged square sails. Below is a test run with scrap fabric and dowels. I am curious of folks' opinion as to whether something like this approximates the right look. Two notes: this scrap is not tied onto the dowel, so the head wraps over the upper edge of the yard more than it would in the final product, and I did this quickly so that the folds in the furl are larger than I would work carefully to achieve in the real thing. Oh, and as there are no lines attached to the clew and tack, those also look slightly different.
 

 
All diagrams of furling I have seen apply to large sails with lines running up to blocks along the mast, etc, producing a different and more complicated pattern. It seems to me, after reading the research done by Matt and Steve, that this very simply rigged boat would simply have had its sails folded up under the lowered yard and lashed onto the yard. 
 
What think you all?

An observation, then a question:
 
 
In planning to wrap my oars, I developed a concern. As shown in the plans, I thought the wrapping would be too far down the oar; it did not not look proportioned. Recalling that Milton Roth's "Ship Modelling from Stem to Stern" had a diagram on oar proportions, I went to page 145 and found that, sure enough, the wrapping location here was noticeably further from the blade. 
 
In the image below, the "true" oar is wrapped at the Roth location. The yellowish scrap is wrapped at the plan's location. Note that if wrapped to the plan, the oars will set between the pins so far in as to catch against the mast, whereas Roth's location allows for free movement.
 

 
So I wrapped all my oars at this location instead, and am happy with the result.
 
On to the question. I have decided to display the model with yards lowered and sails furled, partly to save work & time, partly because it is a different look than I have seen elsewhere, and partly because I just do not find the full sails attractive. So I am experimenting with furling while Mrs Cathead does the basic sail sewing (bless her!).
 
I have been surprised to find little information on proper furling, especially for simple sails like these rather than full ship-rigged square sails. Below is a test run with scrap fabric and dowels. I am curious of folks' opinion as to whether something like this approximates the right look. Two notes: this scrap is not tied onto the dowel, so the head wraps over the upper edge of the yard more than it would in the final product, and I did this quickly so that the folds in the furl are larger than I would work carefully to achieve in the real thing. Oh, and as there are no lines attached to the clew and tack, those also look slightly different.
 

 
All diagrams of furling I have seen apply to large sails with lines running up to blocks along the mast, etc, producing a different and more complicated pattern. It seems to me, after reading the research done by Matt and Steve, that this very simply rigged boat would simply have had its sails folded up under the lowered yard and lashed onto the yard. 
 
What think you all?

Work was interrupted by a visit to the in-laws last weekend, but I am moving forward. I have a deadline; I would very much like to complete this model by the end of February, as we will be travelling for most of the month of March and I would hate to leave this log, and project, hanging unfinished.
 
Unfortunately, following the work CaptainSteve and Matt has influenced me to do more than I initially intended, so we will see. I have gone from not even intending to include masts, to now wanting sails and wrapped oars. This is not good for my agenda.
 
Here is where the launch stands today.
 

 
Oars are carved with first staining. I think I will do one more coat, then wrap them. These took less time than I expected, perhaps two hours for all of them. Masts are carved and stained, with brackets attached. They are not glued in, though.
 
The metal work I was so agitated over is done, to my acceptance if not my satisfaction.

I found that the small drill bits I purchased for this project from ModelExpo do not drill through brass, even chucked into my cordless drill. This threw me for a loop as I could not pin/nail anything in place. So for the mast partners, I shaped the brass strip, then nipped off the heads of four nails (viva la France!) and glued them in place to simulate the effect. I then painted the partners with black model paint and weathered them with brown pastels. I glued them in place, and they look well enough to me.
 
As for the pintles/gudgeons, I went to a hardware store and bought compatible lengths of brass tubing and rod, then used these to make the basic structure by wrapping brass sheet carefully around the tubing using pliers. It is not perfect, but it represents the form well enough for me. They ended up slightly oversized from the plans, but I can live with that. I painted them as I did the mast partners.
 
Again because of the drill problem, I glued these onto the model. This meant I needed a good flat surface to clamp onto, so I did not add the nail heads as I did the mast partners. Now that they are solidly attached, I will scrape some paint off to provide a good gluing surface for nail heads, then carefully repaint the final result and weather with pastels. Again, good enough for me if not for a real craftsman. I do not like metal and am glad to be past this part.
 
Okay, not quite. The tiller is shaped and stained, and I will soon be attaching it with brass strip handled as for the mast partners.
 
Next up: 
- Staining and wrapping oars
- Shaping & staining spars
- Cutting & finishing sails. I am leaning toward displaying spars lowered, with furled sails, as I do not find the shape of the raised sails very attractive. This lets me show detail and full rigging without full sails.
 
I have no idea if I can complete all this in the next two weeks, but deadlines can be marvelous things for focusing one's attention.

Points well taken, folks. I like Matt's idea of displaying the furled sail raised partly out of the way, I had intended to place it lower on the mast, as if it had just been gotten ready to raise or had just been furled. Your idea will help display the interior without the yard in the way.I was intended to furl onto the yard before installation, thinking this would be easier than fussing with it over the hull.
 
Steve, as for the crew's condition, I thought that test batch above looked pretty sloppy, but if it looks too neat to you, perhaps I don't need to practice further! In addition, I am not necessarily envisioning this model as the launch while Bligh & co. were using it, just as a representation of the launch overall. So I am ok with it being a bit neater than, say, halfway through the voyage, for display purposes.
 
Matt, as for the sails, don't praise yet, what you see above is just a scrap piece of cloth with no stitching. I (she) am (is) only hemming the edges, not bothering with the interior bracing or reef points, since as you note, they will be hidden in the furled sail and save a lot of unnecessary work. Mrs. Cathead had asked if I could make the whole assembly operational (i..e yard could be raised & lowered, etc.) but I have managed to fend off that temptation. Perhaps the next time I build a small boat. I am mostly holding to my goal of building the kit solely with the materials provided, so adding the extra tackle needed for more complicated maneuvres is out.
 
If the tack and clew lines are wrapped around the furled sail, ending up in the middle, where do they go from there? One presumes they should still have quite a bit left over; does that leftover then get drawn down and belayed to a pin? 

Points well taken, folks. I like Matt's idea of displaying the furled sail raised partly out of the way, I had intended to place it lower on the mast, as if it had just been gotten ready to raise or had just been furled. Your idea will help display the interior without the yard in the way.I was intended to furl onto the yard before installation, thinking this would be easier than fussing with it over the hull.
 
Steve, as for the crew's condition, I thought that test batch above looked pretty sloppy, but if it looks too neat to you, perhaps I don't need to practice further! In addition, I am not necessarily envisioning this model as the launch while Bligh & co. were using it, just as a representation of the launch overall. So I am ok with it being a bit neater than, say, halfway through the voyage, for display purposes.
 
Matt, as for the sails, don't praise yet, what you see above is just a scrap piece of cloth with no stitching. I (she) am (is) only hemming the edges, not bothering with the interior bracing or reef points, since as you note, they will be hidden in the furled sail and save a lot of unnecessary work. Mrs. Cathead had asked if I could make the whole assembly operational (i..e yard could be raised & lowered, etc.) but I have managed to fend off that temptation. Perhaps the next time I build a small boat. I am mostly holding to my goal of building the kit solely with the materials provided, so adding the extra tackle needed for more complicated maneuvres is out.
 
If the tack and clew lines are wrapped around the furled sail, ending up in the middle, where do they go from there? One presumes they should still have quite a bit left over; does that leftover then get drawn down and belayed to a pin? 

Nice job on the sails(hats off to Mrs Cathead) and on your oar with added research. Since you want your sails furled, CaptainSteve's point on the crews physical condition makes sence.
 
One idea, toss it if it doesn't work/look good, is complete the sails and rigging first. Then allow the spar and sail to lower, with careful assistance. The men were most likely ill, so they would furl as best as they could, yet somewhat sloppy. I've seen many of the furled sails be placed in the boat, however space was critical. My thought would be that they would raise the furled sail and draw the lower end of spar and belay to pin at base of the mast. It would be out of the way for the men and still show off your sails.
 
On the furling, the model placed reef points are accurate(they change around 1800 to point on the lower part of the sails). At that time the reef points were only used to reef the sails. To furl, the tack and clew lines were used to wrap(furl). This way the reef point will just be bunched with the rest of the sails and unseen. The finished look is a spiraled wrap from ends into the middle(no reef points used or showing). This would also help in your schedule because you wouldn't need to spend too much time on the sails and spars since they're largely unseen.

Dang, CH !! After reading your observation above, I went a-running for my modelling room ... and, sure enough, you are spot-on !!
 
As to furling your sails, I think it's a great idea. As you mentioned, it's a look that not many go with. I'm still to get to the installation of masts and spars and the rigging, but I was thinking of going for mostly unfurled with bunt-lines lifting the sails up just slightly to show off the interior and details. O'course, any rigging gear added will have to be of my own design (with thanks to help from Matt), due to MS providing very little insofar as actual rigging instructions (beyond clew-lines & lifts) for the Launch.
 
My one comment, and feel free to ignore it completely, is that I would think it difficult for the weakened, under-nourished and sickly crew to furl the sails as perfectly folded as yours looks to be, bearing in mind that this Launch was extremely over-crowded.  

An observation, then a question:
 
 
In planning to wrap my oars, I developed a concern. As shown in the plans, I thought the wrapping would be too far down the oar; it did not not look proportioned. Recalling that Milton Roth's "Ship Modelling from Stem to Stern" had a diagram on oar proportions, I went to page 145 and found that, sure enough, the wrapping location here was noticeably further from the blade. 
 
In the image below, the "true" oar is wrapped at the Roth location. The yellowish scrap is wrapped at the plan's location. Note that if wrapped to the plan, the oars will set between the pins so far in as to catch against the mast, whereas Roth's location allows for free movement.
 

 
So I wrapped all my oars at this location instead, and am happy with the result.
 
On to the question. I have decided to display the model with yards lowered and sails furled, partly to save work & time, partly because it is a different look than I have seen elsewhere, and partly because I just do not find the full sails attractive. So I am experimenting with furling while Mrs Cathead does the basic sail sewing (bless her!).
 
I have been surprised to find little information on proper furling, especially for simple sails like these rather than full ship-rigged square sails. Below is a test run with scrap fabric and dowels. I am curious of folks' opinion as to whether something like this approximates the right look. Two notes: this scrap is not tied onto the dowel, so the head wraps over the upper edge of the yard more than it would in the final product, and I did this quickly so that the folds in the furl are larger than I would work carefully to achieve in the real thing. Oh, and as there are no lines attached to the clew and tack, those also look slightly different.
 

 
All diagrams of furling I have seen apply to large sails with lines running up to blocks along the mast, etc, producing a different and more complicated pattern. It seems to me, after reading the research done by Matt and Steve, that this very simply rigged boat would simply have had its sails folded up under the lowered yard and lashed onto the yard. 
 
What think you all?

Work was interrupted by a visit to the in-laws last weekend, but I am moving forward. I have a deadline; I would very much like to complete this model by the end of February, as we will be travelling for most of the month of March and I would hate to leave this log, and project, hanging unfinished.
 
Unfortunately, following the work CaptainSteve and Matt has influenced me to do more than I initially intended, so we will see. I have gone from not even intending to include masts, to now wanting sails and wrapped oars. This is not good for my agenda.
 
Here is where the launch stands today.
 

 
Oars are carved with first staining. I think I will do one more coat, then wrap them. These took less time than I expected, perhaps two hours for all of them. Masts are carved and stained, with brackets attached. They are not glued in, though.
 
The metal work I was so agitated over is done, to my acceptance if not my satisfaction.

I found that the small drill bits I purchased for this project from ModelExpo do not drill through brass, even chucked into my cordless drill. This threw me for a loop as I could not pin/nail anything in place. So for the mast partners, I shaped the brass strip, then nipped off the heads of four nails (viva la France!) and glued them in place to simulate the effect. I then painted the partners with black model paint and weathered them with brown pastels. I glued them in place, and they look well enough to me.
 
As for the pintles/gudgeons, I went to a hardware store and bought compatible lengths of brass tubing and rod, then used these to make the basic structure by wrapping brass sheet carefully around the tubing using pliers. It is not perfect, but it represents the form well enough for me. They ended up slightly oversized from the plans, but I can live with that. I painted them as I did the mast partners.
 
Again because of the drill problem, I glued these onto the model. This meant I needed a good flat surface to clamp onto, so I did not add the nail heads as I did the mast partners. Now that they are solidly attached, I will scrape some paint off to provide a good gluing surface for nail heads, then carefully repaint the final result and weather with pastels. Again, good enough for me if not for a real craftsman. I do not like metal and am glad to be past this part.
 
Okay, not quite. The tiller is shaped and stained, and I will soon be attaching it with brass strip handled as for the mast partners.
 
Next up: 
- Staining and wrapping oars
- Shaping & staining spars
- Cutting & finishing sails. I am leaning toward displaying spars lowered, with furled sails, as I do not find the shape of the raised sails very attractive. This lets me show detail and full rigging without full sails.
 
I have no idea if I can complete all this in the next two weeks, but deadlines can be marvelous things for focusing one's attention.

An observation, then a question:
 
 
In planning to wrap my oars, I developed a concern. As shown in the plans, I thought the wrapping would be too far down the oar; it did not not look proportioned. Recalling that Milton Roth's "Ship Modelling from Stem to Stern" had a diagram on oar proportions, I went to page 145 and found that, sure enough, the wrapping location here was noticeably further from the blade. 
 
In the image below, the "true" oar is wrapped at the Roth location. The yellowish scrap is wrapped at the plan's location. Note that if wrapped to the plan, the oars will set between the pins so far in as to catch against the mast, whereas Roth's location allows for free movement.
 

 
So I wrapped all my oars at this location instead, and am happy with the result.
 
On to the question. I have decided to display the model with yards lowered and sails furled, partly to save work & time, partly because it is a different look than I have seen elsewhere, and partly because I just do not find the full sails attractive. So I am experimenting with furling while Mrs Cathead does the basic sail sewing (bless her!).
 
I have been surprised to find little information on proper furling, especially for simple sails like these rather than full ship-rigged square sails. Below is a test run with scrap fabric and dowels. I am curious of folks' opinion as to whether something like this approximates the right look. Two notes: this scrap is not tied onto the dowel, so the head wraps over the upper edge of the yard more than it would in the final product, and I did this quickly so that the folds in the furl are larger than I would work carefully to achieve in the real thing. Oh, and as there are no lines attached to the clew and tack, those also look slightly different.
 

 
All diagrams of furling I have seen apply to large sails with lines running up to blocks along the mast, etc, producing a different and more complicated pattern. It seems to me, after reading the research done by Matt and Steve, that this very simply rigged boat would simply have had its sails folded up under the lowered yard and lashed onto the yard. 
 
What think you all?

Work was interrupted by a visit to the in-laws last weekend, but I am moving forward. I have a deadline; I would very much like to complete this model by the end of February, as we will be travelling for most of the month of March and I would hate to leave this log, and project, hanging unfinished.
 
Unfortunately, following the work CaptainSteve and Matt has influenced me to do more than I initially intended, so we will see. I have gone from not even intending to include masts, to now wanting sails and wrapped oars. This is not good for my agenda.
 
Here is where the launch stands today.
 

 
Oars are carved with first staining. I think I will do one more coat, then wrap them. These took less time than I expected, perhaps two hours for all of them. Masts are carved and stained, with brackets attached. They are not glued in, though.
 
The metal work I was so agitated over is done, to my acceptance if not my satisfaction.

I found that the small drill bits I purchased for this project from ModelExpo do not drill through brass, even chucked into my cordless drill. This threw me for a loop as I could not pin/nail anything in place. So for the mast partners, I shaped the brass strip, then nipped off the heads of four nails (viva la France!) and glued them in place to simulate the effect. I then painted the partners with black model paint and weathered them with brown pastels. I glued them in place, and they look well enough to me.
 
As for the pintles/gudgeons, I went to a hardware store and bought compatible lengths of brass tubing and rod, then used these to make the basic structure by wrapping brass sheet carefully around the tubing using pliers. It is not perfect, but it represents the form well enough for me. They ended up slightly oversized from the plans, but I can live with that. I painted them as I did the mast partners.
 
Again because of the drill problem, I glued these onto the model. This meant I needed a good flat surface to clamp onto, so I did not add the nail heads as I did the mast partners. Now that they are solidly attached, I will scrape some paint off to provide a good gluing surface for nail heads, then carefully repaint the final result and weather with pastels. Again, good enough for me if not for a real craftsman. I do not like metal and am glad to be past this part.
 
Okay, not quite. The tiller is shaped and stained, and I will soon be attaching it with brass strip handled as for the mast partners.
 
Next up: 
- Staining and wrapping oars
- Shaping & staining spars
- Cutting & finishing sails. I am leaning toward displaying spars lowered, with furled sails, as I do not find the shape of the raised sails very attractive. This lets me show detail and full rigging without full sails.
 
I have no idea if I can complete all this in the next two weeks, but deadlines can be marvelous things for focusing one's attention.

An observation, then a question:
 
 
In planning to wrap my oars, I developed a concern. As shown in the plans, I thought the wrapping would be too far down the oar; it did not not look proportioned. Recalling that Milton Roth's "Ship Modelling from Stem to Stern" had a diagram on oar proportions, I went to page 145 and found that, sure enough, the wrapping location here was noticeably further from the blade. 
 
In the image below, the "true" oar is wrapped at the Roth location. The yellowish scrap is wrapped at the plan's location. Note that if wrapped to the plan, the oars will set between the pins so far in as to catch against the mast, whereas Roth's location allows for free movement.
 

 
So I wrapped all my oars at this location instead, and am happy with the result.
 
On to the question. I have decided to display the model with yards lowered and sails furled, partly to save work & time, partly because it is a different look than I have seen elsewhere, and partly because I just do not find the full sails attractive. So I am experimenting with furling while Mrs Cathead does the basic sail sewing (bless her!).
 
I have been surprised to find little information on proper furling, especially for simple sails like these rather than full ship-rigged square sails. Below is a test run with scrap fabric and dowels. I am curious of folks' opinion as to whether something like this approximates the right look. Two notes: this scrap is not tied onto the dowel, so the head wraps over the upper edge of the yard more than it would in the final product, and I did this quickly so that the folds in the furl are larger than I would work carefully to achieve in the real thing. Oh, and as there are no lines attached to the clew and tack, those also look slightly different.
 

 
All diagrams of furling I have seen apply to large sails with lines running up to blocks along the mast, etc, producing a different and more complicated pattern. It seems to me, after reading the research done by Matt and Steve, that this very simply rigged boat would simply have had its sails folded up under the lowered yard and lashed onto the yard. 
 
What think you all?

An observation, then a question:
 
 
In planning to wrap my oars, I developed a concern. As shown in the plans, I thought the wrapping would be too far down the oar; it did not not look proportioned. Recalling that Milton Roth's "Ship Modelling from Stem to Stern" had a diagram on oar proportions, I went to page 145 and found that, sure enough, the wrapping location here was noticeably further from the blade. 
 
In the image below, the "true" oar is wrapped at the Roth location. The yellowish scrap is wrapped at the plan's location. Note that if wrapped to the plan, the oars will set between the pins so far in as to catch against the mast, whereas Roth's location allows for free movement.
 

 
So I wrapped all my oars at this location instead, and am happy with the result.
 
On to the question. I have decided to display the model with yards lowered and sails furled, partly to save work & time, partly because it is a different look than I have seen elsewhere, and partly because I just do not find the full sails attractive. So I am experimenting with furling while Mrs Cathead does the basic sail sewing (bless her!).
 
I have been surprised to find little information on proper furling, especially for simple sails like these rather than full ship-rigged square sails. Below is a test run with scrap fabric and dowels. I am curious of folks' opinion as to whether something like this approximates the right look. Two notes: this scrap is not tied onto the dowel, so the head wraps over the upper edge of the yard more than it would in the final product, and I did this quickly so that the folds in the furl are larger than I would work carefully to achieve in the real thing. Oh, and as there are no lines attached to the clew and tack, those also look slightly different.
 

 
All diagrams of furling I have seen apply to large sails with lines running up to blocks along the mast, etc, producing a different and more complicated pattern. It seems to me, after reading the research done by Matt and Steve, that this very simply rigged boat would simply have had its sails folded up under the lowered yard and lashed onto the yard. 
 
What think you all?

An observation, then a question:
 
 
In planning to wrap my oars, I developed a concern. As shown in the plans, I thought the wrapping would be too far down the oar; it did not not look proportioned. Recalling that Milton Roth's "Ship Modelling from Stem to Stern" had a diagram on oar proportions, I went to page 145 and found that, sure enough, the wrapping location here was noticeably further from the blade. 
 
In the image below, the "true" oar is wrapped at the Roth location. The yellowish scrap is wrapped at the plan's location. Note that if wrapped to the plan, the oars will set between the pins so far in as to catch against the mast, whereas Roth's location allows for free movement.
 

 
So I wrapped all my oars at this location instead, and am happy with the result.
 
On to the question. I have decided to display the model with yards lowered and sails furled, partly to save work & time, partly because it is a different look than I have seen elsewhere, and partly because I just do not find the full sails attractive. So I am experimenting with furling while Mrs Cathead does the basic sail sewing (bless her!).
 
I have been surprised to find little information on proper furling, especially for simple sails like these rather than full ship-rigged square sails. Below is a test run with scrap fabric and dowels. I am curious of folks' opinion as to whether something like this approximates the right look. Two notes: this scrap is not tied onto the dowel, so the head wraps over the upper edge of the yard more than it would in the final product, and I did this quickly so that the folds in the furl are larger than I would work carefully to achieve in the real thing. Oh, and as there are no lines attached to the clew and tack, those also look slightly different.
 

 
All diagrams of furling I have seen apply to large sails with lines running up to blocks along the mast, etc, producing a different and more complicated pattern. It seems to me, after reading the research done by Matt and Steve, that this very simply rigged boat would simply have had its sails folded up under the lowered yard and lashed onto the yard. 
 
What think you all?

Thanks, lads. I was attempting to further answer last night, but we lost power due to the gale force winds. Sounded like I had a freight train outside my window. The interweb connection crashed.
 
Anyway, the initial frames soaked in hot water, just under a full boil, for 15-20 min. Guess I'll add a wee bit more soak time. Looks like I need to do 4 frames over. I did flex the frames to see which was the best flex direction, but admit I was rushing things. Must remember "Patience, grasshopper".