qwerty2008

I certainly wouldn't change yours Alistair, this is a hobby in which we are constantly learning, and going back to completed projects just doesn't make any sense to me.  I've seen plenty of models with coils done like yours, and I've seen photo's of museum models with coils done both like yours, and in other ways that don't make any sense at all (like open coils laying all around the belaying points on the deck to the point where it would be impossible to get to the belaying points without crossing two rings of rope coils).
 
If I hadn't gone to the Festival of Sail in San Diego, I'd probably be more than happy to do them by hanging the top of the coils over the belaying points, but since I saw them on both working ships, and the museum ship (Surprise) done differently, that's what my new goal is.
 
Here are some of the photo's I took while in San Diego that I'm sort of trying to use as a reference while finishing this up.
 

 
The method that they hang the coils from the belaying points is actually really simple.  They make up the rope coil, then grab the line that remains between the belay point and the coil, pull it through the coil, twist the loop formed by that rope, and stick the end of that loop over the end of the belaying pin/cleat, and bam, the coil is hung!
 
I've been playing with methods of using the actual end of the line from the rigging to loop over the coil in the same way, but it's really difficult to get it to hang right, so I switched to making the 'hanging' loop from the coil itself.  This method works much easier, but I lose the detail of the rope loop coming from inside of the coil and over it, but it's pretty likely that the only person that would ever notice that detail would be me.  

Ok, so I made one coil on the latest iteration of the jig.
 
The brass is cut at a 45 degree angle at one end and just stabbed into the balsa block so adjusting the size of the coils is a simple matter of moving them to different spots on the block.
 

 
I put the scrap plank underneath to keep the rope off of the block for a couple of reasons.  So that the rope doesn't stick to the balsa since it's so soft, it's easy to pull up pieces of the balsa that need to be cleaned off.  The space underneath allows easy threading of the rope on coils that I want to tie off in the middle.  Finally, the space makes it much easier to push the rope off the brass from underneath without messing up the coil.  
 

 
This rope coil I made overly large on purpose to see how it would look sort of folded up against a bulkhead, as there were plenty of coils that were done like this on the ships I saw in San Diego, so I figured I'd try it.  Easy enough to pull it off if I decide I don't like it.
 

Thank you Mark, George, Pat, Druxey, Daniel, Grant and Bob.
 
 
That must be what those guys in white coats knocking at my door want .
 
Well, here are the final pics - she's all complete. Apart from the accident with the mast the whole build went according to plan, and I am very happy with the result. So is my partner - after all, I built it as a present for her :
 

 

 

 

 
  Danny

That's part of the fun of ship modelling . Don't you mean "outside the bottle thinking"?
 
Thank you David, Grant and Russell.
 
With all the fixes and adjustments done to my satisfaction (not quite perfect, but hardly noticeable) it was time to add the "sea"
 
I used Digger's two-part Ultra Clear Casting Resin. It looks a little yellowy when first mixed, but dries clear when it hardens. I used a squeeze bottle to which I glued a piece of Heat-shrink tubing to get the resin into the bottle without actually tipping it in which could have been very messy. Clear tubing would have been better, but I just used what I had on hand :
 

 

 

 
  Danny

Thanks Daniel, David, Russell and Greg.
 
 
Trust me Russell, this wasn't "manufactured". I'd have finished the whole thing a couple of days ago except for the accident .
 
 
We're only on the other side of the world, not on Mars Greg .
 
Well, so far so good. I've managed to get the jib stay back on and tightened. Also the forestay. The tip of the mast was a real bugger to get back on after doing the other two lines. It took some rather ingenious (if I say so myself ) special tools to help me do it.
 
From the top, a Q-Tip on a BBQ skewer used for cleaning off glue. A sliver of Scalpel blade super-glued to a skewer for trimming excess line. A piece of bent brass tubing on a handle used for applying glue. A pair of extra-long tweezers made from scrap wood :
 

 
Raising the forestay. Another tool I made was a piece of square wood with a "U" filed into the end, used as a push-stick. This holds the mast in position while I pull back on the fishing line attached to the stay. The hair clip holds the line while the glue dries :
 

 

 

 
I used the Q-tip to hold the top of the mast in position while the glue dried on the repair. The Blue-tack holds the push-stick in place :
 

 

 

 
And .... I also managed to get the Truck back onto the top of the mast :
 

 
  Danny

Hello,
 
thanks for your kind words, that supports my much. Today I finished the binnacle. Through my research in the NMM, I found this picture of a frigate from the Amazon class, ca. 1780. So I had something I could follow. Against this one, the binnacles from the Victory and Tricomarlee looking really modern.
 

 
And that is now my version
 

 

 
Regards,
Siggi

Ken, I painted the LEDs I have with some yellow and they look a lot better.
When loosely installed they do give about the right amount of light in the powder room. So, I am going with that.

I mentioned that I was thinking of adding a block of wood with holes to hold the LEDs. I did just that and bonded the block to the back of the rear wall where the holes line up with the 'portholes'. In addition the block has two holes on top that will line up with the slots in the orlop deck (the ones that Henry pointed out as being part of the light room) Hopefully that will cast some light in the sail-room.

The back is getting rather crowded but after I cut the mast hole and the light room slots in the orlop deck, I am ready to finally put it all together.

Once I decided to drill the hole through the keelson for the main connection below the stand, I figured that two of the LEDs for the powder room lights would also be right there. Hence having the connections where I put them. 
But then it occurred to me that having a 'bus bar' lead going underneath the floor and then out between the port frames was better than a bunch of individual LED wires. Just like you said. The connections there can be done anytime before I plank the outside hull.
 
It is awfully warm in my garage right now, so I played around in my office with the LEDs I have for the powder room. The type I bought are very bright and I may have to add some white paint to dim them. For now I will leave them until I have installed them in the wall (yet to come). However, I am also toying with ways to hold the two in the 'light room' so they shine through the porthole as well as up into the sail-room (through those two rectangular openings in the floor, as Henry pointed out).
 
Right now I am thinking a small block that can be bonded on top of the mast step block with a hole in the back for the LED wires and a slot on top for the sail-room opening. They would be aligned with the port holes in the wall. I would still be able to pull the LEDs out (straight back) if I have to exchange them for a different size.
 
Here are two pictures with the bright lights. Looking at the back it is not too bad, but a head on shot is glaring.
I need to order more LEDs and consider getting some of the nano lights with a soft white color.
  

Made a crew member who's ready to repel boarders. Also installed the bulkhead that supports the poop deck and the rail cap all around. Used ordinary cellophane to glaze the stern windows. It has just the right amount of wrinkle to look 1776 ish
 
S.O.S.

Stepping the mast
I first tapered the mast section that is below the gun deck. Then I milled the end as shown below.
Using a piece of birch, I milled a 1/4 inch wide slot that would fit across the keelson. Then I cut the key slot to fit the mast.
    
Finally I shaped the block so it would fit inside the frames. I had to do some trial and error machining to make it fit. Then I cut it to length.

Now that I look at the last picture, I realize that the block is too thick. No problem as long as I make the adjustments before it is glued in place. The mast will not be glued at all. It needs to be removed several times as the other decks go on.

I think that cancellation falls into the "oh crap" category....  you have my sympathies as I've run into things like that more than once.   NG should be good.   Take the tests and see where they'll place you. 
 
Byzantium is looking very ship-shape, Lextin. 

Patrick:
The Masters Comission is a 9-month discipleship program that my church does every year. Sadly it was canceled this year due to not enough interest, as only two people (including myself) signed up.
 
 
 
 
Lextin.

I just realized I had not posted the completed port side ratlines.
The Masters Comission was canceled for this year. My whole year was planned around that, I even canceled my college app to go. Now I have nothing planned for the next year so I decided to apply for the National guard instead. I am going to take the  ASVAB Wednesday.


 
 
 
Lextin.

Patrick:
The Masters Comission is a 9-month discipleship program that my church does every year. Sadly it was canceled this year due to not enough interest, as only two people (including myself) signed up.
 
 
 
 
Lextin.

I just realized I had not posted the completed port side ratlines.
The Masters Comission was canceled for this year. My whole year was planned around that, I even canceled my college app to go. Now I have nothing planned for the next year so I decided to apply for the National guard instead. I am going to take the  ASVAB Wednesday.


 
 
 
Lextin.

Hi Lextin
 
Nice job on the ratlines.
 
I have no idea what the "Master Commission" is, though. Can you explain?
 
Regardless of that, the National Guard sounds pretty darn exciting! Tough, but I'm sure you'll get through it all.
 
Most of all...Good luck!
 
Patrick

I just realized I had not posted the completed port side ratlines.
The Masters Comission was canceled for this year. My whole year was planned around that, I even canceled my college app to go. Now I have nothing planned for the next year so I decided to apply for the National guard instead. I am going to take the  ASVAB Wednesday.


 
 
 
Lextin.

Here’s the latest on the design process. I’ve changed the cross section in line with the discoveries at Yenikapi, and it’s made quite a difference in many areas. The underwater hull has a considerably flatter bottom than the previous reconstruction, and this means the underwater shape is different.
 
Effectively, the ship sits lower in the water, and this affects the height of the lower bank of oars – from what I’ve been able to find out, a freeboard of about 1 metre (3 feet) was usual between the water and the lower bank of oarports. So the oarsmen are going to be sitting higher in the ship. And as you need about a metre between the heads of the lower oarsmen and the upper benches, the upper guys move up too. And then the floor structure of the midships castle, which needs to clear the heads of the upper oarsmen, has to be higher. Everything affects everything else . . .
 
I’ve done about half the body plan -  from the bow to midships (attached) showing the assumed position of the oarsmen. But of course, how low in the water the ship actually sat is an imponderable as well, depending on the weight of the ship itself, plus that of the crew and cargo and equipment etc etc. I can only guess and hope I’m about right. What appears to be the upper part of the hull is very lightweight - just a rail (pavesade) to carry the shields of the upper oarsmen. But the midships castle would weigh a fair bit, so how far down the ship would sit is rather uncertain.
 
I’ve also changed a few details. The ship is “leaner” in sheer view, and I’ve altered the shape of the  “tail” and that of the side rudders to be more in line with illustrations contemporary with a dromon of the period of the Macedonian Emperors of the 10th and 11th centuries AD.
 
The spur at the bow is fixed higher and is horizontal rather than angled upward, to avoid the tendency to pivot around its point of attachment on impact, with the danger of damage to the bow of the ship.
 
There’s more sheer, and the bow is wider and shallower to ride over the sea rather than cut through it, in line with the Yenikapi finds, as shown on the photo below of a 1:10 scale reconstruction done by TAMU . However, this is of a single-banked galea - no dromons were found at Yenikapi, so I've had to adapt this to a two-banked design and hope it's right.
 
Generally, however, it’s still very close to Prof Pryor’s original concept.
 
I’m still working at it, but it’s all rather slow. 

At least the backward method helps bring the mast tip to the bottle neck. Had you done it conventionally it would be much harder to fix.

Thank you Christian, Crackers, David and Johann. But not so fast with the praise just yet. I've had an Oopsie! It seems like I miscalculated the height of the mast by a couple of millimetres.
 
I squeezed the boat into the bottle and used Clear Epoxy to glue the hull to the bottom of the bottle:
 

 

 
When I tried to raise the mast it snapped off at the uppermost hole, which of course was the most vital one later as the Jib Halyard has to be pulled through it:
 

 
Next problem was how to cut the end off the mast to get it to the right height. I came up with this solution - a sliver of scalpel blade Super-glued into a pair of long-nose pliers. That worked beautifully :
 

 
Stay tuned for further fixes .
 
  Danny

The chicken was just right (according to the admiral) and the brussels sprouts ok, while the fresh string-bean salad with olives was marginal. Maybe some ice-cream later will help.
 
I have changed my mind about the LED terminal. I will still use the one I showed above for the two 'light rooms' (they are right next to this point). But for the others I added a line that ends up along the port side between frames. From there I can easily connect LEDs where I want them (rather than having all those little guys dangling as I proceed with the rest of this monstrosity). In either case the wires will not be visible. If some belong back or forward I can simply cut a small groove in the frames for the tiny wires.

Meanwhile I cut a template for the aft wall that has the two holes for the 'light room' -not yet cut out.
Will it work????? Will there be enough light??
Who knows? Maybe tomorrow.
 
BTW the three  posts you see are glued to the back of the cartridge shelf. This gives me a perfect reference and a nice 'resting place' for the center of the orlop deck.

I figured that there are two ways to provide more light below. One is to install LEDs, which I will do. The second is to open up the orlop deck.
The picture below shows how I used my mill to carve away some of the planking. I took it right up to the king plank at the center line. There will be posts on top and below this plank, so I did not want to go any further. By doing this the structure also becomes more visible.
  
The cable for the LEDs goes through a hole I drilled through the keelson. The various LED wires will come together here and the whole thing will be covered with the orlop deck. The wires to the LEDs will be buried underneath the powder floor and then down between the frames where needed. I will still have access to the terminal from behind. There is still room for the large block where the mast steps.
  
The hole through the keelson will line up with one of the two supports that will be made of mahogany dowel (just like I used on the full scale model).

Go for it George. It is a lot of fun learning, doing and seeing the results as you go along. 
I keep thinking about various aspects of this project as I take my morning walks or rowing routine.
Better than watching TV.
 
Here is an example of why I want to add some LED lights.

The problem is that this would not be visible when the walls below the orlop deck are added.
Here is the first of two walls between the front of this model and the powder room.
It still needs the cutouts for the passage in and out of the room. To show the rest, the wall will be cut away as needed.
All is still loosey-goosey.

My concept all along has been that (when finished) this thing would be displayed at an angle - not straight on.
Hence, the finished parts to port and the details along starboard. But I may cheat here and there.
 

Now that the inside planking is done, I was able to trim the orlop deck to fit where it is supposed to go. 
I also finished installing carlings and lodging knees. I had to remake the knees for the new beam sizes and spacing, but I left out two knees and carlings where the frames will be cut later on.

The floor of the gun powder room is supported by beams and is covered with copper. Here that is simulated with copper painted board. This now gives me the locations for the walls of the powder room.
  
Earlier I mentioned that I might have to lower the shelf that holds the cartridges. Now it looks like there will be plenty of headroom, even with copper sheeting on the ceiling of the powder room.