thomaslambo

Amazing Bob! 
Those windows are looking very good! I hope I can get mine so good as yours.

Mark,
 
My first try was with canopy cement. Seems I cut too big a hole in the end, and didn't expect it to blast out. Clutz on the loose! Just part of the fun and learning curve. By the way, it doesn't taste like much, and cleans off glasses well.
 
 
Matt.ss,
 
The squirrels are always welcome here.

Sharp looking rigging on the pivot gun, Matt!     Kudoes to your crew.

Sorry Brian. I know you said you were working with Boxwood, and for some stupid reason, when I saw the reddish color of the wood, Pear stuck in my mind.  (Sometimes, a mind is just a terrible thing)   
 
Cheers

Thanks all, appreciate the encouragement.
 
 
I have no idea what it's like working with Pear, I'm using Boxwood.  

Hi Brian
 
Very clean cuts on the mast.  I'm impressed (as usual(.

Nice work, Brian!

Tom,
 
Sure looks great.
 
Dan

You're doing an awesome job on her Tom, and she looks splendid!  
 
Cheers

Sweeeeeet!  

Good idea George.

Nice work on the sheaves Brian, and the mast. First crack on that is great. Must be a pure pleasure working with Pear. 
 
Cheers

Fantastic job.
David B

Thanks for the continued likes and comments everyone.  Feel free to jump in with suggestions for improvement or telling me I'm making errors at any time.  This is only my 2nd ship, so I've got plenty to learn still.
 
Instead of finishing the chain plates and dead-eyes on the other side of the boat, I decided to play with power tools. The plans show a sheave in both the bowsprit, and the jib-boom, but the kit doesn't provide it, and both the plans and instructions say to just drill a hole for the line to run through. Well, the heck with that, I'm an idiot and decided to risk wrecking my bowsprit by building in the sheave!  I am pretty happy with how the one for the bowsprit came out, I used a small piece of dowel with a hole drilled through it and sanded down to size for the pulley.   Not super happy with how the one in the jib-boom came out, it's just so small that I had a hard time getting a clean slot cut. I didn't even try to insert a pulley. I'm hoping that with rope run through this it won't look bad.   And here is a shot of the bowsprit and jib-boom together. They aren't actually glued together, I have a bunch of work left to do adding little cleats and stuff to them. Notice the length of this assembly is slightly longer than the length of the hull of the ship it will be attached to!     Then I made the main mast. This is the longest piece of wood on the ship, and was somewhat challenging to shape because it was so long. Pictured here next to the remainder of the 1/2" square boxwood that it was carved from. The other pictures are close ups of the top and foot of the mast. Pretty happy that I pretty much nailed the shapes and size on my first go at it. I do have 1 spare piece of boxwood if I had totally messed it up, but glad I shouldn't need to use it.

Hi Denis,
 
Simply beautiful work/detail....I look forward to following your log.

Arrr ...
He be on to me !!

Elder Scrolls
Now I remember where I have seen that face before. Wicked, mean, nasty and ugly. 
But he swings a mean club.
And probably holds his beer, whiskey, rum and gin pretty well.

Thomas - yes that little lathe really comes in handy. I am using it more and more.
 
I continued cutting planks for between the coamings. I used a small round file to notch the planks around the U shaped pin rail supports. I lucked out that I didn't have a plank with the support right in the middle. I used wider planks for the two center planks, but now I am going to replace them with three regular width planks, because they look too different. I also measured the widest portion of the spar deck to determine that there will be 41 planks across the width of the deck, so I have to fit all 41 into the 8.4 cm at the transom, since these planks are tapered at the transom. That means each plank at the transom needs to be 2.04 mm wide. I have to figure out the best way to taper these planks, since this area will be very visible and not painted, so I can't hide my flaws. I recently bought the tapering jig for the Byrnes saw, so this may be the time to break it out/in. I am open to other suggestions too. For hull planking I have been cutting the planks with an X-Acto knife and sanding them afterwards, but I don't always get nice flat edges that way. Here are some pics of the planking progress. None of the planks are glued down yet, and I have yet to mark the edges of these, for which I have been using a Black Sharpie on one edge.
 

 

Wow the blocks look great Matt. Very fine details at such a small scale. Impressive...

Tom she sure looks grand with the bow sprit on She's starting to take on that sailing ship look

Mark,
Thanks for the advice.  I will most likely build the most of the masts on the bench and then as you said put the lower ratlines in last.  I will probably do a lot of just staring at it too    .  It is pretty obvious to me now that there really is no "right" way to do most of the build.  There are definitely easier ways but if it all comes out looking like you want it in the end then that is the "right" way.      This being my first build, it is exciting to be working on something other than the hull.  She is starting to take on a third dimension.   Patience is more important than ever now that I have so much time invested.  Its look is changing quickly and I want to see it progress but there is much to learn before the light at the end of the tunnel becomes bright.
Tom

Tom,
Do it the way you are most comfortable with.  Many of us build the mast up as much as possible (all sections, some do yards at this point, some don't, tops) and then install.  Others do that and add as much rigging (carefully labeled, of course) then install the mast.  Others build it one piece at a time, on the ship.
 
I find it's easier to build the mast up as much as possible on the bench first.  Including the upper shrouds and ratlines.  I save the lower ones for after installation but I hold off on the ratlines and they are the last thing done.

Did my first mast work this past weekend.  Bow sprit seems to match the plans. Now on to the Mizzen.  I am assuming from the rigging pics that the masts are built and rigged (shrouds) in sections.  I mean that the bottom section of the mast is mounted to the deck and then the shroud lines are tied and then slipped over the mast post.  Once those are fixed then the next section of mast is attached.  Otherwise it would be a nightmare to get the lines looped, tied and seized.  I am learning as I go.

Maybe putting small hooks on each end of the tackle would show the capability of moving them to any position. 

Thank you Bob, George and everyone for the likes.
 
George, yeah I have four 4mm double blocks to secure to the deck. The four 4mm double blocks on the corners of the slide will attach to them. I used a T-shaped piece of brass to make cleats to secure the lines to. What I still haven't determined is how/where to put the tails of the cordage.
 
The other decision to be made is the placement of the blocks and which way to connect to the slide. The diagrams I have for the rigging show them crisscrossing each other. Is this the way it's done, or can the positions be changed?