donrobinson

It was brought to my attention by a good friend of mine, Zoran, that I did the rigging on the rudder a little wrong. I went back to the plans and sure enough what I have done is not the same as what is shown
 

 
 As you can see the plans show only a rope on the port side tied to the rudder and on mine I have blocking on both sides. Now I know my way is wrong and not historically correct, however, I'm thinking in real life this rudder is almost 17 feet long, 4 feet at it's widest point and 6 inches thick. Given these dimensions this rudder would have weighed a ton (figure of speech) and raising it in shallow waters would have been some feat of strength. I'm thinking why not give this crew all the advantage possible and let them have a four block system Or should it be done the right way? Given the temperature today and this problem I am considering a trip to the refreshment fridge. Please help, or better yet come over for a cool one
 

It was brought to my attention by a good friend of mine, Zoran, that I did the rigging on the rudder a little wrong. I went back to the plans and sure enough what I have done is not the same as what is shown
 

 
 As you can see the plans show only a rope on the port side tied to the rudder and on mine I have blocking on both sides. Now I know my way is wrong and not historically correct, however, I'm thinking in real life this rudder is almost 17 feet long, 4 feet at it's widest point and 6 inches thick. Given these dimensions this rudder would have weighed a ton (figure of speech) and raising it in shallow waters would have been some feat of strength. I'm thinking why not give this crew all the advantage possible and let them have a four block system Or should it be done the right way? Given the temperature today and this problem I am considering a trip to the refreshment fridge. Please help, or better yet come over for a cool one
 

Thanks Popeye for the compliment and joining in the log, always lots of room and never too late. These MarisStella kits have lots of cool features like the planked decks. One of the problems with the sails is that I don't put my models in cases ( the price of a case could easily buy another kit ) so I am concerned with the cleaning of the sails. I am still hashing this out. I suppose I could hire a sail cleaner once a year .

It was brought to my attention by a good friend of mine, Zoran, that I did the rigging on the rudder a little wrong. I went back to the plans and sure enough what I have done is not the same as what is shown
 

 
 As you can see the plans show only a rope on the port side tied to the rudder and on mine I have blocking on both sides. Now I know my way is wrong and not historically correct, however, I'm thinking in real life this rudder is almost 17 feet long, 4 feet at it's widest point and 6 inches thick. Given these dimensions this rudder would have weighed a ton (figure of speech) and raising it in shallow waters would have been some feat of strength. I'm thinking why not give this crew all the advantage possible and let them have a four block system Or should it be done the right way? Given the temperature today and this problem I am considering a trip to the refreshment fridge. Please help, or better yet come over for a cool one
 

Thanks Rafine, Blighty, EJ, Mike and Dave for your comments. This is overwhelming. Thanks also for all the likes

It was brought to my attention by a good friend of mine, Zoran, that I did the rigging on the rudder a little wrong. I went back to the plans and sure enough what I have done is not the same as what is shown
 

 
 As you can see the plans show only a rope on the port side tied to the rudder and on mine I have blocking on both sides. Now I know my way is wrong and not historically correct, however, I'm thinking in real life this rudder is almost 17 feet long, 4 feet at it's widest point and 6 inches thick. Given these dimensions this rudder would have weighed a ton (figure of speech) and raising it in shallow waters would have been some feat of strength. I'm thinking why not give this crew all the advantage possible and let them have a four block system Or should it be done the right way? Given the temperature today and this problem I am considering a trip to the refreshment fridge. Please help, or better yet come over for a cool one
 

Today I gave myself a big list of things to do including dentist, grocery shopping, 5 acres of grass to cut then finish with completing and installing the rudder. If successful I promised myself a bbq steak and a trip to the liqueur cabinet( trying to follow EJ's footsteps) Well steak is still the fridge yet but there have been a couple of trips to the infamous cabinet, all jobs completed!!!!! 
 I realise there is a little overkill with pictures on this post, I feel there is never too many pictures when it comes to the rigging aspect of a build so please bear with me.
 


 
 This what the task was for today. Top picture showing the rudder and the next picture showing the rigging for the tiller.

Pieces for the rudder, straps made from 3 mm copper strip
 

 
Still needs painting, this is showing the bottom bracket and bar mounted on hull the top bracket and bar is then mounted on the rudder. Receiving bracket is then mounted on hull at top and on rudder at the bottom. A much easier process, I love it!!
 
 The tiller being rigged with 4 mm double blocks. Seizing is done using Gutermann thread readily available, wide assortment of colours and measures approximately .18 mm
 
 
Blocks and rope for rudder, 4mm blocks .5 mm rope and eyebolts all kit supplied, used approx 50 mm of rope for each. It is the same set up for the tiller with the exception of the eyebolt, a hook is used instead.
 


 
Showing rigging of the tiller, the use of hooks helps so much. Here I am showing running the rope through the blocks before attaching the hook to eyebolt in bulwark.
 

 

 
I will adjust that block after I'm done here. The plans do not show any sort of belaying point so I am assuming  coils of rope will be needed below the tiller later on. I have read the rope was wrapped around the tiller first to allow the helmsman to make adjustments??????
 

 
This is what the ship's cat might see. 
 
You all Take Care,  
Thanks for stopping in. 
 
 
 

Today I gave myself a big list of things to do including dentist, grocery shopping, 5 acres of grass to cut then finish with completing and installing the rudder. If successful I promised myself a bbq steak and a trip to the liqueur cabinet( trying to follow EJ's footsteps) Well steak is still the fridge yet but there have been a couple of trips to the infamous cabinet, all jobs completed!!!!! 
 I realise there is a little overkill with pictures on this post, I feel there is never too many pictures when it comes to the rigging aspect of a build so please bear with me.
 


 
 This what the task was for today. Top picture showing the rudder and the next picture showing the rigging for the tiller.

Pieces for the rudder, straps made from 3 mm copper strip
 

 
Still needs painting, this is showing the bottom bracket and bar mounted on hull the top bracket and bar is then mounted on the rudder. Receiving bracket is then mounted on hull at top and on rudder at the bottom. A much easier process, I love it!!
 
 The tiller being rigged with 4 mm double blocks. Seizing is done using Gutermann thread readily available, wide assortment of colours and measures approximately .18 mm
 
 
Blocks and rope for rudder, 4mm blocks .5 mm rope and eyebolts all kit supplied, used approx 50 mm of rope for each. It is the same set up for the tiller with the exception of the eyebolt, a hook is used instead.
 


 
Showing rigging of the tiller, the use of hooks helps so much. Here I am showing running the rope through the blocks before attaching the hook to eyebolt in bulwark.
 

 

 
I will adjust that block after I'm done here. The plans do not show any sort of belaying point so I am assuming  coils of rope will be needed below the tiller later on. I have read the rope was wrapped around the tiller first to allow the helmsman to make adjustments??????
 

 
This is what the ship's cat might see. 
 
You all Take Care,  
Thanks for stopping in. 
 
 
 

Today I gave myself a big list of things to do including dentist, grocery shopping, 5 acres of grass to cut then finish with completing and installing the rudder. If successful I promised myself a bbq steak and a trip to the liqueur cabinet( trying to follow EJ's footsteps) Well steak is still the fridge yet but there have been a couple of trips to the infamous cabinet, all jobs completed!!!!! 
 I realise there is a little overkill with pictures on this post, I feel there is never too many pictures when it comes to the rigging aspect of a build so please bear with me.
 


 
 This what the task was for today. Top picture showing the rudder and the next picture showing the rigging for the tiller.

Pieces for the rudder, straps made from 3 mm copper strip
 

 
Still needs painting, this is showing the bottom bracket and bar mounted on hull the top bracket and bar is then mounted on the rudder. Receiving bracket is then mounted on hull at top and on rudder at the bottom. A much easier process, I love it!!
 
 The tiller being rigged with 4 mm double blocks. Seizing is done using Gutermann thread readily available, wide assortment of colours and measures approximately .18 mm
 
 
Blocks and rope for rudder, 4mm blocks .5 mm rope and eyebolts all kit supplied, used approx 50 mm of rope for each. It is the same set up for the tiller with the exception of the eyebolt, a hook is used instead.
 


 
Showing rigging of the tiller, the use of hooks helps so much. Here I am showing running the rope through the blocks before attaching the hook to eyebolt in bulwark.
 

 

 
I will adjust that block after I'm done here. The plans do not show any sort of belaying point so I am assuming  coils of rope will be needed below the tiller later on. I have read the rope was wrapped around the tiller first to allow the helmsman to make adjustments??????
 

 
This is what the ship's cat might see. 
 
You all Take Care,  
Thanks for stopping in. 
 
 
 

Frank: Thanks so much for stopping in, really good to hear from you again. How is the Red Dragon coming along?
 
Zoran: Hello, Thanks for the compliment, much appreciated
 
Doug: Thanks, it was a hot day here yesterday. In the pictures clouds had just started rolling in and a short time later we had a pretty good rain storm. The rain was much needed as the mosquitoes were starting to suffer
 
Mike: Hey, how are things with you? Thanks for dropping in

Thanks to all for stopping in, for your comments and for all the likes. Got a little more done in the last two days mainly the ship's stove is now installed complete with a stockpile of firewood and an axe. The pump was also made and installed, this is a little kit included with the package, I think it looks pretty good. It came with 3 mm copper strapping for the bands, however, I replaced that with some card stock
 

 
 Hope you enjoy, have a good evening

Hello all, here is a quick update on the Trabaccolo not much has happened but I'll show what little there is:
 


 
Making chainplates, these were soldered afterwords. Then holes punched using a broken 1mm end mill bit
 

 
Brackets were made for channels, plans did not ask for them but I thought they would be a nice addition these and the channels are made from rosewood
 


 
Making of the oars
 

 
Brackets for the back stays
 


 
A couple of shots showing channels with dead eyes installed and also the back stay brackets. Brackets and chain plates still need to be touched up with some paint, I 'm waiting until all metal work is done to do it all at once.
 


 
Just a couple of fun shots
 

 
Made these yesterday not fancy or pretty but they will soon be filled with rope made on my new Domanoff ropewalk The one on the right in the front row is the one I copied from
 

Today I gave myself a big list of things to do including dentist, grocery shopping, 5 acres of grass to cut then finish with completing and installing the rudder. If successful I promised myself a bbq steak and a trip to the liqueur cabinet( trying to follow EJ's footsteps) Well steak is still the fridge yet but there have been a couple of trips to the infamous cabinet, all jobs completed!!!!! 
 I realise there is a little overkill with pictures on this post, I feel there is never too many pictures when it comes to the rigging aspect of a build so please bear with me.
 


 
 This what the task was for today. Top picture showing the rudder and the next picture showing the rigging for the tiller.

Pieces for the rudder, straps made from 3 mm copper strip
 

 
Still needs painting, this is showing the bottom bracket and bar mounted on hull the top bracket and bar is then mounted on the rudder. Receiving bracket is then mounted on hull at top and on rudder at the bottom. A much easier process, I love it!!
 
 The tiller being rigged with 4 mm double blocks. Seizing is done using Gutermann thread readily available, wide assortment of colours and measures approximately .18 mm
 
 
Blocks and rope for rudder, 4mm blocks .5 mm rope and eyebolts all kit supplied, used approx 50 mm of rope for each. It is the same set up for the tiller with the exception of the eyebolt, a hook is used instead.
 


 
Showing rigging of the tiller, the use of hooks helps so much. Here I am showing running the rope through the blocks before attaching the hook to eyebolt in bulwark.
 

 

 
I will adjust that block after I'm done here. The plans do not show any sort of belaying point so I am assuming  coils of rope will be needed below the tiller later on. I have read the rope was wrapped around the tiller first to allow the helmsman to make adjustments??????
 

 
This is what the ship's cat might see. 
 
You all Take Care,  
Thanks for stopping in. 
 
 
 

Thanks to all for stopping in, for your comments and for all the likes. Got a little more done in the last two days mainly the ship's stove is now installed complete with a stockpile of firewood and an axe. The pump was also made and installed, this is a little kit included with the package, I think it looks pretty good. It came with 3 mm copper strapping for the bands, however, I replaced that with some card stock
 

 
 Hope you enjoy, have a good evening

Thanks to everyone for stooping in, for your likes and of course all the great comments even You(Mike Shanks). Today is going to be a beautiful day outside so this is just going to be a quick update before I head out side to work up a thirst. Actually it is so nice I'm thirsty already!! So lets get this going
 
First up is just another way of stropping/seizing a block with a becket, here I am using the Domanoff serving machine.
 

 
As this was just for demonstration purposes I will make another one with a 7mm triple that I can actually use 
 
This is the mizzen mast with various rigging, not yet permanently attached
 
 
 
This the fore mast
 
One of the trestle trees, notice how my nails turned brown in the blackening solution. Only me and my crazy luck
 

 
I apologise for the poor picture but I was just trying to show my plumb bob for truing the masts and the proper use of a can of mushrooms, magnet and square
 

 
Here are some outside shots showing the masts stepped. Top mast is not on permanent. Checkout the rope at the bottom of the mast, I'm not sure if this is something exclusive to the Trabaccolo but it is kind of cool. I should have taken pictures of this process but it is three separate coils of 1.25 mm rope followed by two more on top of that then one more at the very top
 

 
As you can see it is beautiful day here so I am going for a shower then grabbing a cool one getting on the golf cart with some tunes and get to work watching the leaves grow. Fridge is full so come on over, supposed to be 28 today that spells cold beer in Celsius or Fahrenheit
You all have a great day and an awesome weekend
 
See You Later 

And finally the last of my updates, this first one is showing block and bracket installed for bowsprit
 

 
This one is showing a piece I missed on the plans, rather important as it supports the rudder
 

 
All the masts (full length is not in picture), bowsprit and spars are made.Some of the rigging is complete, the lower spars have a bit of a complicated rigging with a traveller and also a mouse of sorts
 

 
A close up of the aft lower spar showing the rigging
 

 
Masts are just temporally put together for picture 

 
That's about it for this update, all plans for being outside are on hold as we are getting snow today so I'm hoping to have a productive day in shipyard, after laundry and dishes are done
 You all Have a good day and Thanks so much for stopping in

Nothing too exciting here, I just thought I would show how I seize a block to a hook.
 

Thanks to all for stopping by, for your likes and gracious comments. Almost a month since last update and I have accomplished some.
First up is making some oar locks:
 

 
From left to right: kit supplied one, outline on rosewood board, initial cutting on mill, after sanding on disc sander and final product
 

 
Pins installed in bottoms and a coat of WOP (two extra to cover breakage)
 

 
The Trabaccolo has two fittings unique to herself and the Brazzera. These are both belaying points, one style for the halyards and the other for the stays
 


 
The finished product
 

 
For the stays
 

 
And for the halyards, one at the mizzen and one at fore mast
 

Here is the process for making eyebolts and hooks, please remember this not my idea but one I found here and I don't remember the gentleman's name:
 

Lay wire on jig insert drill bit and pull down on the bit
 

Keep bending and turning the wire over the bit leaving a slight overlap
 

move the wire around and bend it down on the bevelled edge, this lines the eye up with the shaft of the bolt
 

sorry for blurry picture, my left hand was a little shaky today. This a finished eyebolt
 

to make a hook lay the eyebolt flat on the jig
 

insert bit and bend the wire up
 

turn bolt back around to bevelled edge of jig and make a slight bend
 

cut the excess wire off and you have a eyebolt. 
 

 This picture shows the hook we just made(on the left) and some other sizes I've made. The bronze hooks and eyebolts are for the gun carriages on my Pegasus
 

 a clearer picture of the jig, easy to make and easy to use
 
Hope this is useful
 
Mike: I forgot to answer your question about the rigging rope The rope does not compare to Syren, nothing does,but the rope supplied is quite adequate and I won't be exchanging it out. I used the Syren rope for the anchor as it was a little bigger, which I thought looked better.

Hey everyone, I hope you are all enjoying the weekend. Thanks to all for stopping, for your likes and comments.
 Today's update is showing the catheads and anchors. I realise it is a bit early for the anchors but I couldn't resist the urge to see how they would look, they can be easily removed if required.
 

This is a practice cathead, just to get the fit, angles and dimensions right. This is just 6 x 6 mm basswood, the final product is made from 6 x 6 mm rosewood. The holes and simulated sheaves were made on the mill using a 1 mm end mill cutter.
 

 
I am just showing for those who haven't done this before how I install the anchors. A line is put through the eye on the cathead pulled through, doubled over itself forming a loop, wrapped around itself(three times in this case) and then fed through the loop 
 

Pull both ends to tighten seizing 
 

 Then move seizing up into place
 

 There is a hook stropped to the double block. The line is then fed through block and sheave in cathead and finally belayed to a cleat. The rope around the anchor shaft has a thimble seized in it. Rope is wrapped around the shaft and belayed to the kinighthead.
 

I didn't care for how loose the line through the cathead and block was so I painted the line with diluted pva glue and added the tweezers for weight
 

This is the final result. The anchor rope is from Syren that has been dyed from tan to brown. All other rope used is kit supplied, The hook on the block needs some touching up...as does some of the other some of the other paint by looking at these close ups
 

And a shot from inboard
 

 Finally a picture of the tool I use to make hooks with. I found this here on MSW some time ago and I can't remember the fellow's name but I surely thank him as it works great.

Good morning all, Thanks to all those who have stopped by, left likes and/or comments.
 Just a small update. Some progress such as nailing the main rail(with .4 nylon fishing line) was a bit of a waste of time. I was so happy with the results on the companion way I thought I would do more of it not realising it would be lost in the dark grain of the walnut. Although it may look like what a house fly may have left behind the nails can be seen(if you really look close) on some of the close ups. Breast hooks, knightheads and the aft rail were also completed, I replaced the kit supplied walnut with rosewood for these. Another detail that is hard to notice is the rope used to tie the hatch lids together. I finally put my Syren serving machine together and decided to serve some line for the first time and give it a try. The line served is just normal sewing thread and I used the same thread for the serving, the final rope measures approximately .5 mm and again you have to look real close. 
 

An eye was seized in one end of rope then the other end pulled through and tied off with a couple of half hitches 
 
Take Care and Thanks for stopping in.

Good Morning All, Thanks to everyone for stopping in, for your likes and comments. This a new one for me, two updates in a week, but without my vehicle(another story) shipyard time has increased. I have completed the back rails which I will show in my next post as they aren't attached yet and will complete the breast hooks today as Mike is on edge waiting to see them. For now I have nailed the companion way and made some cleats from rosewood.
 

Here I am showing how I mask it to try and get a relatively straight line.
 

Here are a couple of shots showing holes drilled and nails in place. I used .4 mm nylon fishing line. First side I cut these off using flush cutters then sanded smooth, this side I used a sharp blade to cut off then sanded. The blade worked much better and very little sanding was required, just enough to remove excess glue. Should be noted the companion way had several coats of poly on it to prevent any stains from the ca glue.
 

 Here are the results, I think the .4 mm fishing line is the right scale and looks good. With a little more practice I may do a deck someday. I also found some light brown .3 mm fishing line that I may do a test section on my Pegasus with. 
 

Here I'm just showing the steps of making cleats. As you can see they are fairly large about 10 mm so they were fairly easy to make, that's one of the beauties of working at this scale.  The first one is after rough shaping on the Byrnes disc sander and the middle one is after some fine tuning with riffler file the cleat on the right is the kit supplied one. I would not normally spend twenty minutes making a cleat but I only need two so I thought what the heck. As you can see I have two extra ones that I am willing to offer to members here before I list them on ebay 
 

Here I'm rough shaping it on the disc sander.The thing off to the right in the picture is a crepe block used to clean the sanding disc, this helps prolong the life of your disc or belt if you have a thickness sander. You can get these at Lee Valley they are cheap and last forever.
 Thanks once more for stopping in and have a good one.
 

Well it's been a month and I don't have much to show for it. Thanks to all for stopping in, for your likes and great comments. I bought an android box for my TV and have been wasting too much time watching that, great device but be careful!!. Here are some pictures of what little I have accomplished:
These are the completed demizanas and their rack
 

 
This is a before and after shot of the pedestals for the new stand I built. These are some sort of pistons that my favourite son-in-law(my only one) gave to me. I just turned them on the lathe to clean them up and size them, nothing to technical here.
 

Milling the slot for the keel, this is a piece of rosewood
 

This is all the pieces, the base is cherry. I drilled out the brass pedestals and epoxied some 1/8" brass pins in
 

And here it is assembled with four coats of poly. The brass pedestals were given two coats of spray lacquer 
 

These two pictures are showing the railing installed and the demizanas/rack installed
 

Here is a shot of one of the supporting posts down in the hold, complete with dust. lol
 

And this is how she looks this morning
 
Next up are some breast plates(I think that's what they are called) at the bow and stern then a top rail at the stern. Sorry no bow shots, there is some re-contruction going on that I am really not too proud of
Thanks for stopping in and enjoy your day

Good Morning All, Thanks to all who have visited, for the likes and the gracious comments. Much appreciated.
 Not a heck of a lot going on but having fun doing it, just a few pictures showing what';s going on:
 
The windless with it's poles(is there a proper name for these?)

 
The next few pictures are showing the process I used to make some demizanas

 
 
This one is showing the tools I used

 
This is showing what I have been mainly busy at this week, making shooter glasses. Normally I wouldn't show this but being we are drinking rum out of these so I thought it was a little nautical. It is a 60th birthday party with a Jamaican theme, hence the colors and Appeltons rum.
 

 
Here is the final demizanas, the small one still needs some refinement. They are about 30 and 10 mm tall.
 

 
And to end with, I have the port side deck rail installed and the top timbers re-installed. Now onto the starboard side
 

 
Thanks again for stopping in and have a Good One

And some more:
 
Installing knightheads( 3 x 3 mm) and top timbers
 

 
There are waterways to be installed, mine kept splitting on me so I spread some ca on them to strengthen them, and as you can see it bled though to the good side. Time to make new ones.
 

 
Then I decided rather than cutting out notches for all the top timbers in the waterway and going through more frustration I will install them on top of the waterway so..............
 

 
then I decided it was time for a change...the windlass. This was made from cherry turned on the lathe what you see here is the fourth attempt, I also replaced the supports and made them from cherry also.
 
This showing the filed down nail used to make the holes square. This is an idea I got from DocBlake.
 

 
Gluing .5 x 1 mm strips onto drum
 

 
The finished product, still needs one or two more coats of wipe on poly. The fancy ends are inspired by B.E.'s cathead decoration on his Pegasus

 
Thanks for stopping by