qwerty2008

Real bolt ropes are sewn on in a particular way to get the most strength via surface contact.  They aren't hanging on the edge of the cloth, but are laid on the cloth on one side of the sail and stitched between two strands of the rope and through a third strand.
 

 
On my sails, I cheat a little.  I use a bead of fabric glue to reenforce the attachment of the bolt rope to the sail and though it's stitched in the same manner, I skip 2 or 3 strands each stitch.  The fabric glue lets you get away with this, and the stiches almost disappear into the bolt rope's strands.
 
   
 
The sail itself is anchored at one end with a weighted line off the other end.  This keeps the edge taught without stretching the sail and allows you to work without it flopping all around uncontrollably.  I put about a 2 inch bead of glue down and stitch that much.  Nice thing is you can leave this, take a break, and come back to it later.  Yes, it is tedious, and I am not known for my patience.  Being able to walk away now and then got me through 7 sails so far on Constellation (10 more to go) and 8 sails on Pride without getting myself on the evening news.
 
 
 
I use DuPont Supplex cloth for sails.  It's made for outdoor wear and is water and UV resistant.  It's very light and forms nicely on the model.  It doesn't shrink or stretch excessively and is stain resistant.  A very nice thing about using a synthetic fabric is it melts.  I used a pointed soldering iron tip to make grommets for reef points, lacing holes, and any other holes needed in the sail.  This makes nice sealed edge holes that won't open up or cause a run in the sail.
 
   
 
I made cringles and eyes in the bolt rope by taking a turn around a round wooden toothpick to hold the eye open as I stitch past it.  Every eye is tightly lashed in it's opening and on either side as the bolt rope is stitched on.
 

 
I opted to draw on the sail cloth panel seams on my sails with a .003 permanent ink pen, so I'm not beyond cutting corners myself 

Victor Yancovitch also used Supplex for his sails on Royal William and sewed the panel seams.  It took a lot of trial and error over a couple of weeks, with a lot of wasted cloth before he and his wife finally got it sorted out.  He also machine stitched on his bolt ropes, and after the model was sailed he found several places where the bolt-rope had slipped through the stitching and had to be hand seized in various placed to prevent that happening again.
 

 
Again, I only offer you a view of the road some have been down already - the route you take is up to you.

I was dreading the hand sewing that would be required to attach the bolt ropes to the sails so I thought about it and decided it was worth trying to do them on the machine with a zig zag stitch.
 
I tried and failed a few times on scrap sail fabric, the main problem was that the machine process seems to stretch the fabric a little while the rope does not stretch, result, puckering right along the edge of the sail.
 
After some thought I decided to try a wider zig zag stitch that would reach completely across the rope without stitching through it. This worked beautifully and because the zig zag just encases the bolt rope I can just draw it through the stitching until the sail pucker is gone. It worked a treat.
 

 
Unfortunately I have ran out of cotton with two tops'ls to go and I have yet to stitch the guides for the lazy jacks into the sails. I figure I will pin a cord to the sail where I want the guides to be and stitch it to the sail with a tighter zig zag stitch. Then I can just pull a small amount through and create a loop at intervals up the sails for the lazy jacks to go through. Again I need more cotton to do this so the sail maker has gone home for the day.
 
I have also made the mast hoops.
 

 
I used up all the 0.5mm brass wire I had and got 16 hoops per mast which should put one every 22mm. I need more wire for the tops'ls.
 
 
I made the hoops by wrapping untempered wire around a steel bar of the correct diameter and then using pliers I twisted the ends of the wire together through 180 degrees and then cut the tails about 1.5mm outside the twist to form two interlocking hooks.
 
 

I haven't been working on the Byzantium as much as I would like lately because the Black Pearl but I will hopefully be getting back the Byzantium soon here are some pics of the progress since my last post. First I did some rearanging and made room in my closet for the Byzantium.
  I decided to go with bowsies for the shrouds instead of deadeyes but the bowsies were kinda ugly so I will be disguising them as deadeyes. I also have started making the sail templates from masking paper.



 
 
Lextin.

I've been invited to take Constellation to National Maritime Day on May 18th.  They're setting up a 56 x 24 foot "pond" for RC models at pier 13 where the NS Savannah is docked.
 
So, as I get Constellation ready for her second sail, I'll post updates here along with pictures and a report after the event.

For now I am going to move on, I will revisit the cannons later. In the mean time I will be working on miscellaneous other parts.
   Since my last post I made the chain plates and the cross trees for both mast. Oops looks like I forgot to take pictures of the cross trees, I will try to post some soon.

 
 
Lextin.

I haven't been working on the Byzantium as much as I would like lately because the Black Pearl but I will hopefully be getting back the Byzantium soon here are some pics of the progress since my last post. First I did some rearanging and made room in my closet for the Byzantium.
  I decided to go with bowsies for the shrouds instead of deadeyes but the bowsies were kinda ugly so I will be disguising them as deadeyes. I also have started making the sail templates from masking paper.



 
 
Lextin.

For now I am going to move on, I will revisit the cannons later. In the mean time I will be working on miscellaneous other parts.
   Since my last post I made the chain plates and the cross trees for both mast. Oops looks like I forgot to take pictures of the cross trees, I will try to post some soon.

 
 
Lextin.

I added the finishing touches to the Black Pearl and they made all the difference as the model now looks rather nice just as long as you don't look to closely. I will still finish the second one but I think that this one will be the getting a new home after all. 



 
 
 
Lextin.

I added the finishing touches to the Black Pearl and they made all the difference as the model now looks rather nice just as long as you don't look to closely. I will still finish the second one but I think that this one will be the getting a new home after all. 



 
 
 
Lextin.

I got it in the bottle but it didn't turn out to well, the main mast is skewed off at a weird angle, the sails are crooked, the shrouds are loose and to make matters worse I found that the inside of the bottle is severely scratched presumably from the last time I cleaned the bottle. I may end up restarting in a new bottle and make the model smaller so that it will be easier to get inside the bottle.








 
Here are some of the tools I used to bottle the model. Not shown are some aluminium rods that I bent into shapes to press the model into the clay also not shown are my CA applicators which are basically bamboo skewers with a thin wire with a loop attached to one end.



 
 
Lextin.
 

I added the finishing touches to the Black Pearl and they made all the difference as the model now looks rather nice just as long as you don't look to closely. I will still finish the second one but I think that this one will be the getting a new home after all. 



 
 
 
Lextin.

I started on the interceptor. Because I don't have blue or yellow paint I had to improvise and use crayon for the yellow and ink from a ballpoint pen for the blue.


 
 
 
Lextin.

Since my first attempt at making the Black Pearl in a bottle failed I decided to restart and this time I am making it smaller and will be making the chase scene between the Pearl and the Interceptor. I might have the Interceptor in the process of clubhauling as well as having miscellaneous barrels and crates floating in the water behind the Interceptor from when they were lightening the load.





 
 
 
Lextin.

I started on the interceptor. Because I don't have blue or yellow paint I had to improvise and use crayon for the yellow and ink from a ballpoint pen for the blue.


 
 
 
Lextin.

Since my first attempt at making the Black Pearl in a bottle failed I decided to restart and this time I am making it smaller and will be making the chase scene between the Pearl and the Interceptor. I might have the Interceptor in the process of clubhauling as well as having miscellaneous barrels and crates floating in the water behind the Interceptor from when they were lightening the load.





 
 
 
Lextin.

I have tried a few ideas and come up with a suitable chainplate that will look the part I reckon.
Mass production tomorrow.
 

 

Murphy takes a special interest in ship bottlers.

Don't you just hate it when Murphy decides to make a visit.
David B

I got it in the bottle but it didn't turn out to well, the main mast is skewed off at a weird angle, the sails are crooked, the shrouds are loose and to make matters worse I found that the inside of the bottle is severely scratched presumably from the last time I cleaned the bottle. I may end up restarting in a new bottle and make the model smaller so that it will be easier to get inside the bottle.








 
Here are some of the tools I used to bottle the model. Not shown are some aluminium rods that I bent into shapes to press the model into the clay also not shown are my CA applicators which are basically bamboo skewers with a thin wire with a loop attached to one end.



 
 
Lextin.
 

It is ready to bottle. I decided to run only an outer jib as far as staysails go and to treat the aft upper works as if it were its own model and will assemble it in the bottle first then set it at the back of the bottle while I assemble the rest of the model.
   The port side shrouds are a little wonky but its to late to fix them.

 
A close up of the flag.

 
Lextin.

It is ready to bottle. I decided to run only an outer jib as far as staysails go and to treat the aft upper works as if it were its own model and will assemble it in the bottle first then set it at the back of the bottle while I assemble the rest of the model.
   The port side shrouds are a little wonky but its to late to fix them.

 
A close up of the flag.

 
Lextin.

David: In the movie the Black pearl was painted black so that it could become nearly invisible at night when the lamps were dowsed. Here is an image of the second Black pearl that was built for the movie.

 
 
 
Lextin.

More progress pictures. Believe it or don't it should look OK when finished I'll do my best to do a good job of blending the wood to have an acceptable look. I have been on another website and picked up some ideas regarding connecting the oars that should make a simpler and better operation. I will be using links and balls from my spare helicopter parts collection to clip the oars on the rowing beam.

It is ready to bottle. I decided to run only an outer jib as far as staysails go and to treat the aft upper works as if it were its own model and will assemble it in the bottle first then set it at the back of the bottle while I assemble the rest of the model.
   The port side shrouds are a little wonky but its to late to fix them.

 
A close up of the flag.

 
Lextin.

It is ready to bottle. I decided to run only an outer jib as far as staysails go and to treat the aft upper works as if it were its own model and will assemble it in the bottle first then set it at the back of the bottle while I assemble the rest of the model.
   The port side shrouds are a little wonky but its to late to fix them.

 
A close up of the flag.

 
Lextin.