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Finished up all the yard bracing, added the foot ropes and crane lines and cargo lifting hooks. For the benefit of novices that will follow building this I will share a couple of techniques used.
 
First in adding the lifting lines I found I had to add blocks to existing down lines. First I secured the lines with a little stretch to tighten the lines; then I added a touch of Gorilla Super Glue which is thicker and allowed the ability to position the blocks and tacky enough to hold onto the line. Once glue set then wrapped and seized in space.
 

 
I then added the foot ropes to the bowsprit and spanker boom. This required tying a series of knots on the line. First I did a test clove hitch on the ends to determine how much line needed to be able to use one line with the center area untreated with a mixture of 50/50 water and white glue. I then tied the knots for each side and only soaked the knots and one space at each end of the knot series. I allowed the glue mixture to set while weighted down overnight. I first tied the clove hitch to the end of the bowsprit and boom using the untreated center section; then tied the loose ends as needed and carefully formed the knotted areas to curves.

 

 

 
Next I added the cargo hooks and rigging. I formed the hooks using .020" brass rod and needle nose pliers around to hold the single block. Once cut from the rod I hammered the hook shape with a drift punch at a slight angle to allow for a taper to the hook shank. I then added solder to each side of the hooks to fill out the body of the hook.
 




 
I still do not have a good photo area so here are a few overview pictures of where I am at now with the above additions.
 




 
Next I will add the flag lines to each mast and then rig the anchors and down the road the hammock rails and stanchions.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Just a quick update on the ongoing addition of ratlines. I finished up the second level added the bars for the third level. I will need to order some more Black .008" line that I ran out of. One thing that I will share for newcomers like me to doing ratlines is how to deal with the short lines that have a mind of their own.
 
What I did was wrap the end of the line around a shroud before starting the clove hitch to hold the end while tying. I also tied a half hitch to hold the clove hitch from loosening while tying the rest.
 

 
Here is a view of the second level of ratlines in place.
 

 
I then added the ratlines to the futtock shrouds as well. These were a little tricky working on an angle.
 

 
Here is an overall so far.
 

 
Now to decide whether to use the brown .008" line that I have for the third level and paint them black or wait for the new order to arrive.
 

Finished the lower level of ratlines all 828 of them. Here is a closeup that shows the distinctive diagonal of the clove hitch with the outboard hitches being tied off with a half hitch. The real challenge was consistency of tension so as not to pull or distort the shroud lines while attaining a relatively straight section and a tight clove hitch.
Once each section was completed I painted them using Ultra Flat Black sprayed into a disposable 1 oz. cup and applied with a brush. This replicated the tarred finish which is hard to photograph up close with black on black.

Here is an overall looking down on the lines.

 
Now I am starting up the second level which will have .025" shroud lines and 3/32" deadeyes. A bit of advice for those new to ship building like myself; the kit deadeyes burst apart when trying to drill out for the .012" line because they were so dry so I added the shroud line first, seized it using black thread and then I oriented the holes as required and then added a drop of CA all around the deadeye. The CA wicked in the grain of the super dry wood and hardened it for drilling out.
Here is a view of the main mast upper shrouds minus the bar; in tightening the deadeyes I noticed they took a natural twist which I think is why the bars are added to keep them all oriented forward.

Back to the shrouds.
 

Back to building and added the 16 futtock shrouds. The shrouds required hooks that attached to the eyebolts and these I made from brass using looping pliers. Lines were first seized to the hooks and then indexed behind the wood bar and seized to the shroud.

I then started to add the ratlines using Chuck's .008" rope. I used the lower wood bar as the starting point and worked down and then up from the bar. I cut a 1/4" wide card stock strip as a spacing gauge. The gauge worked quite well being weaved in and out of the shroud lines to adjust the spacing much like a weaver using a loom.
Here is the gauge in place.

Here is the first section completed with the ends on each side only completed with a clove hitch and half hitch, while the middle lines having a clove hitch only. In total 207 clove hitches tied. Once the ends were tied a drop of CA was added to the ends only and once dried the ends were trimmed off. I then painted all the lines with the Ultra Flat Black to simulate the tarred effect.

Now back to finishing the other three sections.

Added these wood braces at the top of the shrouds (I do know know the name of them) they are shown on the replica ship but not shown on the plans. Then I added the catharpin using a small brass ring for the thimble. Here is a picture and it is a bit difficult seeing black on black especially doing the lashing with thread.

 
I used card stock with the lines drawn parallel and pressed between the top of the shrouds and mast to use to align the wood parts.
 

 
Next to add the catharpin to the foremast and the rest of the deadeyes then make the brass hooks needed for the futtock shrouds. Very good friends from Ohio stopped by so building will come to a halt while they are here.
 
 

Completed installation of the foremast and main mast stay rigging which required a bit of serving of the lines using thread and my lathe setup. Here are the anchor points based upon the plans and replica ship references. For the lower stays I used .045" line  and the upper stays were .035".

 

 

 

 
I thought it best to rig the mast stays first in case there was any movement of the masts that would impact the shrouds so now the ratlines can be added along with the fairlead bars.
The bars are lashed to the shrouds and here is an image of the first set so now I get to practice more lashing. 
 

 
Now to more lashing.
 
 
 

Jon, not really a diorama, just figures for a sense of scale and something for the grandsons to enjoy when they get older.
After cleaning up the figures the next thing I decided to do was drill holes in the hands of the two crewmen to be able to feed the ropes through. I used a .024" dill bit and angled carefully into the hands. The one with his hand on his chest required drilling form both top and bottom to create a tunnel for the rope. Here is the test fit of the rope.

 
Next came my first attempt at painting any kind of figures. I checked for the uniform colors of the period and here are the results; I used a gold marker stick to do the gold hat trim and buttons on the jacket. 
 

 

 
Here are the crew glued in place at their different activities.
 
 

 

 

 
This shows the overall bow section with the one man climbing the ratlines.

 
Simultaneously, while waiting for paint to dry on the figures I made the various flags and pennant for the main mast. First I flipped the artwork in Photoshop and then printed a copy on T-shirt transfer paper for Staples. I then carefully cut out each flag unit and folded them down the center lines making sure that the artwork aligned front and rear. Each was then added to the edge of the white fabric and carefully with the iron set on "Cotton" ironed each flag in place both on the front and the rear. All were ironed in place making sure they were hot enough for the ink to transfer and then allowed to cool before removing the backing paper. I cut them out along the inside edge of the black outline which I added in the artwork to differentiate the flag white from fabric white. Each flag was glued in place using thickened CA along the contact edge and allowed to set. Flags were then moistened with water on both sides and carefully formed slightly. Here are the results.
 

 

 

 

 
Next onto the last detail the cathead faces.    
 

Jonathan, it is easy just requires patience and the right tools. For example I cannot imagine building this ship without my lathe and mill setup.
Michael thanks and second Michael, if I had known grand kids were so much fun I would have had them first. 
 
I have completed the basic fabrication of all the yards and  booms identified on the plans with respective ironwork. When I got to the smaller yards I had to change to 3/32" rings soldered with .020" rod for the correct scale. The inner rings were soldered together with no post necessary due to size and end rings rod was just bent to fit the hole in the end strap.
 
I also used 3/32" tube to align the rings to the yards end to end as shown below. 
 

 

 

 

 
Here is a family portrait of the yards, studding sail booms and studding sail yards.
 

 
Now I will start rigging the yards do do as much as possible prior to mounting to the masts. I am also going to add a removable 1/32" locating pin to the center of the yard to index into the mast to aid in rigging.
 
I understand that the studding sail yards were attached to their respective sail and rigged to a block at the end of the studding sail boom.
 
Now for the magic question that I have searched for to no avail..."How are the studding sail booms rigged? I have no reference on the plans, or the Anatomy book on how these were rigged even though the plans show two holes drilled at 90 degrees in the inboard ends. Does anyone know how these were rigged or lashed or moved trough the rings on the yards, I cannot imagine that these were moved by hand?
 
I am hoping someone with more rigging knowledge or reference sources than I can help. 
 
 

Finished up all the yards with all the jackstays and used 28 gauge brass wire stretched and indexed through the jackstays. Then cut, tapered and stained the studding sail booms and yards. Not sure if I will need the yards because I think they may be attached to the sails themselves. 
I then made the first set of studding sail booms hardware. The brass rings needed to be both drilled and then turned down to the sizes need from rod. The inside ring was located and glued in place first so that the end rings could be sized and located using the booms themselves. The following pictures show the process. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Now that I have the first set sorted out on to making the rest. These will be stained/painted black once all are completed. 

Geoff, thanks but you should not slow down your build. 
 
I have been doing more yard work and have moved on. However, I took time to set up my x-y-z table using my lather motor to drill jackstay .020" holes after my bulk pack of jack stays arrived from M.E. I am using  a .020" micro drill bit which I found out quickly have no lateral strength and break extremely easily; hence supporting the end of the yard is a must. I made a quick support using a scrap piece of block and drilled a hole to slip on the end of the yard and shimmed with mixing sticks for different sizes of yards. I also realized that the vise has to be set off to one end to compensate for the travel of the table. This set up also will function as a mill with the lathe motor attached. The transfer of the motor takes less than a minute from one set up to the other. Now down the road to sneak another motor passed the admiral. Here are a couple of pictures of the set up.
 

Holes below drilled on 3/16" centers per the plans.

One thing that amazed me was how much more precise the collet set up is over a drill press at these small sizes. Now to find a source for end mills this small.
 
 
 

Jonathan,
After my experience on the Niagara making one piece yards from dowel the challenge was getting a clean transition from the center hex section to the tapers. I was not happy with the results and decided to do it this way instead with perfect transitions and is much faster to build. Of course having a lathe and a combination slide is required.
 
As for jackstays yes the stretched wire passes trough the eyebolt. Here is a link to the bulk pack needed from ME. http://www.modelexpo-online.com/product.asp?ITEMNO=MS0429B
 
Much easier to buy them than make them and they are great for other eyebolt applications as well like on the ends of the yards and saddles. 
After the holes are drilled I start in the middle of the yard and insert the jackstay after dipping the end into a small puddle of Gorilla glue which is a 20 second set so it allows for positioning using a small rod for visual aligning with the yard. I just work towards the ends adding one at a time. Also on bright yards blacken them first before using. 
 
Here is a quick picture for you.

I spent Memorial Day weekend helping the wife at her Art show so not too much building; however I did start some yard work. I started with the Royals and worked my way up in size. Here is a sequence of pictures showing various building steps. On the larger yards I build in sections to have a better transition from round to the hexagon center sections. One step on the larger yards I did change was once the center square was planned to size and ends drilled I then press fit the round sections, clamped them in my vise and drilled the jack stay holes starting from the center and working out drilling to the center depth so that once turned the holes would be in place. Much easier to index and drill while still round before cutting the tapers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Now back to the larger remaining yards and waiting for more jack stays to come from Model Expo.

Since I am still a rookie at ship building and still learning I thought I would go the extra step and learn about Crowfeet. It did take a little research but thanks to a post by Johnathan I was able to crack the code and sequence to rig them through the 10 holes at the fighting top. I did find that there are at least two different ways to rig them and this version does not have a line coming from the top of the euphroe to the top. Once done it was well worth the effort and really adds a nice detail for the eyes to explore.
 

 

 

 
Now to do the foremast.
 

Dan, Thank you for your kind words and do hope you get back to your Constitution soon.
 
Tom, there may be a solution in the near future for those !*#@! ratlines if all goes well.
 
I finished up the lateral lines on the bowsprit which was a little fun sorting out. Here is a picture of it completed.
 

 
While waiting for glue to set on lines I painted and located all the small belaying pins in their appropriate locations. For those following I would recommend doing these before stepping the masts. Why I did not recognize this myself is beyond me. 

 
One of the things I am doing is to make ropes as needed in the sizes needed as I go since I have space constraints. I modified the MS rope walk to be able to use a hand drill for rope turning and actually enjoy the rope making process now that I have it down pat. Here is a picture of the modifications and set up that works very slick especially with the socket drive.
 

 
Next I have moved on to the royal and top gallant stay lines; nothing real exciting but just pay attention to not pull the royals out of alignment when tying off at the eyebolts. They flex very easily. The eyebolts were made using the 26 gauge black beading wire.
 

 

Now to finish up the foremast stays.

Thank you all for your kind words and I am just glad to share what I can. I moved on and finished up the starboard side created the artwork for the shields and printed out two sets; one in color and one in gray scale which was used as a pattern to cut brass shields to mount the colored set on. Once out of the printer I sprayed them with an initial light coat of Clear Satin and then a second wet coat. This sets the ink and also makes the paper stiffer for easier cutting out.
 
While waiting for paint steps to dry I mounted the carved sections in place very carefully using CA applied with a broken jeweler's saw blade a drop at a time. When glue built up on the teeth I just broke the end off for a new set of saw teeth. Once the sections were glued in place then the shields were added.
 
After all the glues were set both boards were sprayed with Clear Satin for a uniform finish.m When dry then press fir in place. I will let them season for a while before permanently gluing in place.
 
Here are a couple a couple of pictures. The port side closeup and then a starboard side stand off. She now has a face.
 

 

 
Now to fiquire out the bow and stern bumpkins and work on the outer hull details.
 
I thought I would just share this for any who wish to follow later or try their hand at this technique.
 

 
 

Kits that I have designed to date are: Mountain Buckboard; Allerton Steam Pumper; Ladder Wagon; Hearse; Armed Longboat; USS Constitution Cross Section; Jail Wagon; Fokker EIV; Oberusel 14 Cylinder Rotary Engine; Wolsey Eight Cylinder “Viper” Engine; SE5a British Fighter; Beer Wagon; Horse Harness (pulling); Horse Hitches for Wagons- 1 Horse; 2 Horse; 4 Horse. They said that they have plenty more in the lineup; I will be 76 next month so who knows how many more. The BeerWagon and some others are at the Nuremberg International Toy Fair, Germany.   
Life is good.....I get paid to do my hobby what more can one ask for.
Amongst all of this I did these personal projects: the Niagara; USS Constitution; Maersk Detroit (WIP); Dirty Dozen; and 1961 Showboat a pet project. A couple of stained glass windows for local church.
Here are just a sampling of them.
 

awesome looking model!..............so clean and well detailed!  sweet! 🤩

Revell. I’ve got a copy in the stash.

I remember building the plastic kit back then; forget the brand.

Wow nice build Ken!

That's just awesome Ken. A work of art. Hot-rodding a Buick of any kind was always a challenge because just about any high performance item that wasn't stock had to be custom machined. Of course, back in the day when this particular dragster was built, most all high performance items were custom machined. This was a car I wish I had seen live and in person but I don't think it ever raced in my hometown area. Ivo probably did match races with it as a headline featured race on tours. That's how I saw a lot of the old famous dragsters, at match races.
 

Your work always amazes me.  When I look at this model I feel that I am looking at the actual dragster.

A definite jaw dropper, what a piece of excellent craftmanship, fantastic.
 
Cheers Rob

Fantastic model. scale?

Holy Cow!!!!!!!!!!!!! NICE!!!!!!