mikiek

Rowboat - thank you for the kind words. Niagara offered a lot of opportunity for many different types of construction and techniques. As far as how to for frapping, the 3rd hand tool will be your best bet. Just lace up your 2 blocks with rope then put the blocks in the alligator clips. Get the clips the distance you want the blocks to be - probably about 1". Take the rope as it comes out the last hole and pull it up to the opposite block. At that point tie a half hitch around the ropes right under the block and put a spot of CA to hold it there. Then just start winding the rope towards the other block. Not too tight. when you are done winding you can put in another half hitch the keep the rope from unwinding. The trick is having enough rope to wind almost back to the other block and dangle an inch or so to the deck without having too much throw away. So keep track of how much rope you use on the first few you do.  I'll try to find some pix tonite.

Hello Rowboat - regarding the gun tackles - the technique is called frapping. It is not something recently made up, they actually did that back in the day. The other option is to coil the excess rope on the deck - a look I don't really care for. There's lots of ways to do it. The easiest is to use some sort of third hand tool - something that can hold a few alligator clips. Assuming you already have two blocks laced up, clip  blocks in two alligator clips, get them the distance you want, take in the slack rope. At the block where the free end of the rope comes out, stretch the rope to the other block and tie a half hitch right at the block. You can put a dot of CA on the hitch to hold it. Then start winding the rope towards the other block. You might check my Niagara build log for details. I may have posted pix there.
 
I don't remember for sure, but I think I bought the sail upgrade kit for this model. I remember dreading having to hem all the sails and then being quite surprised that the hem was already there. If the hem is not in your sails you will want to add one. My Trajta build has some notes on that as those sails did need a hem and I did them all by hand. I'm not sure if it is possible with square rigged sails, but the lateen sails for my Arrow build I just double folded the edges and glued with CA. The I ironed the heck out them to smooth it out. Be careful, a hot iron can scorch the material.
 
Good luck...

Have still been trying to do some tidying up before putting in the fore mainsail. And I have come to one conclusion when doing rigging with sails. OK actually several. As I was bringing rig ropes down to the pins I glued some of the pins in place. VERY bad move!! Suggestion - take some time when making your pin rails. The holes for the pins should not be oversized. The holes need to allow the skinniest tip of the pin to fit in easily but should show some resistance when the fat part of the pin is inserted. If you do that you should not have to glue any of the pins in place.
 
The reason here is pretty simple - I have had the need to constantly adjust the tension of the running rigging as more is added. Big fat hands push against ropes already in place - and those will loosen. You need the ability to adjust the ropes all the way to the end of the build. I'm sure the more experienced of you are just going DUHH.
 
Another gotcha I just concluded tonite. The coils that hang on the pins are separate from the ropes that are actually pinned. As usual, I wanted to finish out sections as I worked on them so after I pinned a rope I would add the coil over the pin. IMO this is a terrible idea. The coils are only fluff, they serve no purpose for the build. And if you need to tighten/loosen a pinned rope you have to take the coil off to access the pin. I'm thinking those coils should be almost the last thing you do in the build. With those alligator forceps I mentioned earlier, adding the coils later is not too big of a task.
 
I did actually start to hang the fore mainsail tonite. That immediately pointed out several blocks that I did not install when making the mast. I did get them in tonite but with all the rig & sails in the way it was a real bear.

Geez no posts since April. With this stay at home thing I am completely losing track of time. Don't know what day it is most of the time. Or maybe that's old age setting in.
 
I have slowly been fastening up all the rigging loose ends. Still got the fore mainsail to hang but it was a very good idea not to do that until all the other running rig was pinned and coiled. It would have been awful trying to reach in around that sail.
 
Speaking of reaching in, I came across a tool I had never seen before, although apparently it is very common at the ear doctor. They are called alligator forceps. I won't even try to describe them. Just Goggle. If you are like me, the second I saw them I knew they could be very useful. They come in various sizes, I'm finding the longer ones are the most useful. They have helped with rigging quite a bit for reaching thru rigging and across deck to grab something on the far side. The beauty of them is the jaw is just at the tip so you are able to open them up without having to spread the other end 3-4". 
 
I'm really struggling with getting rope coils to hang over the pins. The rope just isn't heavy enough so that it hangs naturally - pulled down by gravity. I have tried putting Elmers at the loop end and then holding it bent until it dries. The idea being one end of the coil is angled slightly. That end goes over the pin and lays on the pinrail and then angles downward at the edge of the rail.  This sort of works but still doesn't look natural.
 
Sad thing is almost all the coils are in place and I'm liking the look less and less. Would hate to have to redo them all - would be a big waste of rope. If I do I may make a mock up pinrail to hang the ropes and get them shaped before they are installed. I think they do need some glue on them so that they will hold their shape over time.
 
Matter of fact I may head out and give that a go now.
 
No new pix. The last ones I posted are pretty much what she still looks like. Later.....

Have been caught in one of those Catch 22 situations. I'm down to the last sail but I wanted to shoot some pix before I put it in. Been trying for almost 3 weeks to get some shots but everything came out really crappy. So tonite I went back to the point & shoot and below is the results. Still pretty crappy. Anyway, here's the story.
I had to disagree with the manual on installing the sails. Don't know what common wisdom has to say, but the instructions wanted me to start with the lower sails and work up. This didn't make a lot of sense to me as all the ropes from the sails go down and many fasten to the pin rails on the masts. If the lower sails were there - with all their ropes installed - it would have made the upper sails a real bitch to do. Trying to take all those ropes down, working in between the lower ropes and sails. It made no sense to me. So I started at the tops and worked down. The main mast is all fore/aft sails so those went fairly easy. The fore mast has both fore/aft & square rigged. I am left with the main sail to do there. I'm planning on completing all sail rigging beforehand while there is still room to reach in.
You may see from the pix a lot of loose ropes and rope ends still around. I did not glue any of the masts in place, so I decided to leave all the seizings  loose until the very end so that I could adjust the masts & spars and tighten/loosen ropes as needed to keep everything straight. I like this approach and it paid off as masts & yards moved around quite a bit while putting up the sails.
As I have mentioned before, there is a minimal amount of paint on this build. While the color of materials do not give a realistic representation of a sailing ship, I found them to be very attractive so I'm going with not much more that lacquer on most surfaces.
So here's a few - well more than a few - pix of Enterprise before I put in the last sail.
 

 

 

 

 

I hate coiled up rope on the deck. Just looks too contrived for my taste. I worked on making neat piles of extra rope instead. Looks better in person.
 

 

 

 

These brass rings were a bitch to put into the sail and then close them around the stays. So I opened them up, stuffed them thru a small hole in the sail leaving the open ends pointing up. Then I put a dot of CA on the rings to hold them in place on the sail edge. It was then very easy to put each ring over the stay and close it up.
 

 

 

 
Now I can get on with finishing this thing up.........

Hello Elijah - it is an interesting game, but I have found (just as I always knew) the internet can bring out the worst in some people. Hiding behind their monitor with no accountability. No wonder it sometimes seems like the whole world is headed south.
As to your problem, sometimes you do need to walk away for a while. I have confidence that you will work things out.
 
Thanks for checking in.

Thank you Sam.  You know i started rigging - lower shrouds are done - but the order of rigging here is quite different than my last project. Seems to go against common wisdom. They want all masts stepped first. Then shrouds go in with the rats. Stays next, but everything done on the boat. '
 
I will say the rigging doesn't look too difficult, I guess the schooner rig was simpler than 3 sectioned masts square rigged. I'm gonna follow the guide as best I can and see how this method pans out.
 
I do have to say the kit rope is hideous, very frayed & fuzzy. So I'm going with a combination of Syren  and some leftovers. My next picture milestone will be after the deadeyes are all laced up. I'm figuring a week or so for that. Only holdup might be the channel deadeyes seem very loose - I didn't care for how the guide tells me to put them in but I went for it anyway. I'm hoping all those deadeyes don't have to be reinstalled.

Man this is gonna be a challenge. Been so long I dont remember how to post pix. Here goes....easy enough. Lets get them here...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
My pix have always sucked and I have told myself it must be the camera. Well these are from a brand new DSLR and I must say - they still suck! But I do see some things that might improve them.
 
Anyways here's Enterprise - hull & deck completed and dressed. I have started the shrouds (not shown here) so rigging has officially started. Hope it doesn't take another year to post pix of that 😜
 

Hey Sam - thanks for asking. I have been distracted by some other things and neglected Enterprise. That said, work has continued sporadically. The hull and all the trimmings are done except for the posts/webbing that mount to the handrail. This is in progress. Most of the spars are done and the main & fore masts have tops and shrouds.
 
I will post pix this weekend

Dang - almost 2 weeks since I posted. I haven't been goofing off - not too much. Came across this game Naval Action a while back. I find it almost mesmerizing and fun to play. A lot of time spent there lately.
 
Work is continuing since the completion of the hull. There are a few deck items and hull trim going in and the next step is the masts. I'm starting the channels and preparing do drill out the holes for the masts. That's always a troubling exercise for me. That and the hawsers. The plans show the main mast at no angle, flush with a frame piece. The foremast is angled although there is nothing stating how much. The manual - " drill mast holes per plan".  Well thank you.
 
This kit has had it's ups and downs. I've been shorted several more sizes of sticks but then there will be some good technique for doing something. I'll try to do a short eval when it's all over.
 
Here's a few shots:
 

I did an initial wipe down of the hull with linseed oil but all the pieces added afterwards are still unfinished.

Trim at the bow (head). Camera sure makes it look rough.
 

In the plans those rails are set almost 1/2" higher. Way too high. Took them down some.

 

 

 
In need of a cleanup for sure!   Thanks for reading......
 

i have been taking my time with the rest of the planking. Was  doing some of the other tasks and getting parts ready but all the pix in the manual show many of the parts contact the hull in one way or another. Of course that doesn't work until there is a hull to contact. So all of that is put aside until planking is done.
 
I've got about 1/3 from the top down finished and about 1/3 from the keel up done. That leaves the toughest part. Lots of stealers and that joint where the deadwood planking meets the transom planking. That has to be a real snug fit - no gaps. So far using 5mm planks as stealers seems to be working. It's just that it requires more stealers than when I used the 7mm sticks for stealers on layer one. Fortunately they are blending together well.
 

 
 

 
Also, it's obvious I have tapered the 2nd layer sticks differently (didn't plan it that way) as you can see layer one curving upwards in places where layer two is straight or curves down. Guess that doesn't matter as long as it all fits. And there's only 6 more strakes to make it all work out.
 

 

Hey Allan - This was not the only rigging diagram for the build. Instead of 1 drawing with everything, Constructo has about 8-9 separate drawings. Each with a small portion of the rigging. So it is possible that some of what you guys say are missing, may be on another drawing.
 
I kind of like that approach as I can tackle small portions of the rigging and I'm certain that I have overlooked something - assuming the drawings haven't overlooked something.
 
Unfortunately, none of the lines are labeled so it is difficult to follow along with what you guys are saying.
 
I think my original question is resolved - I will sieze a line to the yard, run it down the front to the corner, lace it thru the block at the corner then up the backside to the block on the yard. It just seemed weird that a rope would be stretched down in front of a sail, possibly keeping it from filling completely. Probably just me thinking too much.
 
Thanks to all for the feedback

Per & Allan - thank you for clearing that up. It's kinda what I thought but it just seems odd to have a rope laying on the front side of the sail. Seems like under a strong wind the ropes might keep the sail from filling completely.
 
Allan - the thing you describe with the tack block. That isn't shown on these plans is it?

Per - there is no indication of how the rope is tied off. I'm guessing a loop siezed around the yard?

This is Enterprise 1799. The rope pointed out in the diagram. If I read it correctly it would be siezed to the yard then run down the front side of the sail to the corner then under and back up the back side to the block? Or maybe under the sail into that block at the foot and then back up? Seems like a rope running down the front of a sail could keep it from filling properly.
 
Hope someone can set me straight....
 

Maybe my first real stumper. The rope pointed out in the pic - hope the pic will scroll . I I read it correctly it would be siezed to the yard then run down the front of the sail to the corner then under and back up the back side to the block? Seems like a rope running down the front of a sail could keep it from filling properly.
 
These dang instructions don't give you the names for the running rigging ropes. I will probably post this in the rigging forum too.
 

This is Enterprise 1799. The rope pointed out in the diagram. If I read it correctly it would be siezed to the yard then run down the front side of the sail to the corner then under and back up the back side to the block? Or maybe under the sail into that block at the foot and then back up? Seems like a rope running down the front of a sail could keep it from filling properly.
 
Hope someone can set me straight....
 

Have been caught in one of those Catch 22 situations. I'm down to the last sail but I wanted to shoot some pix before I put it in. Been trying for almost 3 weeks to get some shots but everything came out really crappy. So tonite I went back to the point & shoot and below is the results. Still pretty crappy. Anyway, here's the story.
I had to disagree with the manual on installing the sails. Don't know what common wisdom has to say, but the instructions wanted me to start with the lower sails and work up. This didn't make a lot of sense to me as all the ropes from the sails go down and many fasten to the pin rails on the masts. If the lower sails were there - with all their ropes installed - it would have made the upper sails a real bitch to do. Trying to take all those ropes down, working in between the lower ropes and sails. It made no sense to me. So I started at the tops and worked down. The main mast is all fore/aft sails so those went fairly easy. The fore mast has both fore/aft & square rigged. I am left with the main sail to do there. I'm planning on completing all sail rigging beforehand while there is still room to reach in.
You may see from the pix a lot of loose ropes and rope ends still around. I did not glue any of the masts in place, so I decided to leave all the seizings  loose until the very end so that I could adjust the masts & spars and tighten/loosen ropes as needed to keep everything straight. I like this approach and it paid off as masts & yards moved around quite a bit while putting up the sails.
As I have mentioned before, there is a minimal amount of paint on this build. While the color of materials do not give a realistic representation of a sailing ship, I found them to be very attractive so I'm going with not much more that lacquer on most surfaces.
So here's a few - well more than a few - pix of Enterprise before I put in the last sail.
 

 

 

 

 

I hate coiled up rope on the deck. Just looks too contrived for my taste. I worked on making neat piles of extra rope instead. Looks better in person.
 

 

 

 

These brass rings were a bitch to put into the sail and then close them around the stays. So I opened them up, stuffed them thru a small hole in the sail leaving the open ends pointing up. Then I put a dot of CA on the rings to hold them in place on the sail edge. It was then very easy to put each ring over the stay and close it up.
 

 

 

 
Now I can get on with finishing this thing up.........

Have been caught in one of those Catch 22 situations. I'm down to the last sail but I wanted to shoot some pix before I put it in. Been trying for almost 3 weeks to get some shots but everything came out really crappy. So tonite I went back to the point & shoot and below is the results. Still pretty crappy. Anyway, here's the story.
I had to disagree with the manual on installing the sails. Don't know what common wisdom has to say, but the instructions wanted me to start with the lower sails and work up. This didn't make a lot of sense to me as all the ropes from the sails go down and many fasten to the pin rails on the masts. If the lower sails were there - with all their ropes installed - it would have made the upper sails a real bitch to do. Trying to take all those ropes down, working in between the lower ropes and sails. It made no sense to me. So I started at the tops and worked down. The main mast is all fore/aft sails so those went fairly easy. The fore mast has both fore/aft & square rigged. I am left with the main sail to do there. I'm planning on completing all sail rigging beforehand while there is still room to reach in.
You may see from the pix a lot of loose ropes and rope ends still around. I did not glue any of the masts in place, so I decided to leave all the seizings  loose until the very end so that I could adjust the masts & spars and tighten/loosen ropes as needed to keep everything straight. I like this approach and it paid off as masts & yards moved around quite a bit while putting up the sails.
As I have mentioned before, there is a minimal amount of paint on this build. While the color of materials do not give a realistic representation of a sailing ship, I found them to be very attractive so I'm going with not much more that lacquer on most surfaces.
So here's a few - well more than a few - pix of Enterprise before I put in the last sail.
 

 

 

 

 

I hate coiled up rope on the deck. Just looks too contrived for my taste. I worked on making neat piles of extra rope instead. Looks better in person.
 

 

 

 

These brass rings were a bitch to put into the sail and then close them around the stays. So I opened them up, stuffed them thru a small hole in the sail leaving the open ends pointing up. Then I put a dot of CA on the rings to hold them in place on the sail edge. It was then very easy to put each ring over the stay and close it up.
 

 

 

 
Now I can get on with finishing this thing up.........

Changed the title to FINISHED yesterday. Must be a slow time of year at the plastics manufacturer - ordered the case Monday, picked it up today. Came out pretty nice. I may try a mirror backpiece for my next build. This is my second case from these guys. On both I had them build the black pedestal. Costs twice as much because they are really building 2 boxes. But I do like the look. I need to figure out the best way to do some sort of plaque with name & brief description. Maybe just some card stock in a laser printer with a nice font.
 

 

 

 

Ran into a bit of trouble last nite - was getting close to finishing the port hull and I realized I would be having a gap after the last plank was laid. The dividers told me this with about 4 planks left to go. The proportional width it was coming up with at the middle frames was wider than the plank. It turns out the plank widths are not terribly consistent. Guess I laid a few that were not quite 3mm. No real worry - just had to make a stealer. Once again the dividers helped out with shaping the last few planks. At the wider part of the gap I needed almost 3 planks (8.35mm). Out towards the bow & stern only 2 planks would fit. So I needed to lay 2 full length planks and a third stealer in between a part of them. I decided to make the transition at the third frame at each end. Here's what I did.
 
I'll assume you have read my previous post on basic divider usage. For the 2 full planks I set the dividers to 2 and measured the 3 frames at each end. With the small end of the dividers I made marks on the planks. Starting at the fourth frame I set the dividers to 3 and measured and marked the planks. Obviously the part of the plank with the '3 marks' were narrower than the ends with the '2 marks'
 

 

 

 
After cutting and sanding the 2 full planks they were glued in place. This left me with the gap I needed to fill with my stealer.
 

 
Another common use for dividers is transferring measurements. So after cutting the stealer to length I measured the gap at each frame and marked that width on the stealer. The stealer was then cut and sanded.
 

 
The stealer filled the gap perfectly.
 

 
I suspect I'll have the same problem on the other side. This is only the first planking so realistically I probably didn't have to do all this but it was a good exercise.
 
 
 

First planking is well under way and looking good. I'm starting to regret that I chose to do 2 plankings. I could be close to finishing now. Good practice I guess.
 
I'm into the middle band and I believe I will stop there and begin from the keel upwards.
 

 

 

 
I still can't decide whether Amati screwed up with the short planks or if there was a reason. The only thing I can think of is maybe they didn't want too much bulk right at the bow & stern.
 

 
Speaking of bow & stern, the instructions say to complete both plankings and THEN glue the bow cutwater and stern post in place. That seems weird. How will I know where the planks should end? There's also no rabbet, which will make the final planking more difficult. I may go ahead and add the bow & stern pieces and carve out a rabbet before the last planking.
 
NOTE: To anyone building this kit. Wait until the last possible moment to glue the frame tips to the deck. I have knocked most of them off at least once while planking and at this point in the build they serve no purpose.
 
 

Trying to spread my efforts across all my projects - so it's time for Arrow. I decided it was safe to begin hull planking. The kit has wood for 2 plankings. As Niagara was a single planking this is my first build with 2. Honestly, I still don't see the need - just do it right the first time . To each his own. I will do the 2 layers just for the experience this time.
 
So hull planking - time to break out the proportional dividers! There's an ongoing thread about these in one of the forums. Some like them. Some don't. I wouldn't plank without them. I decided to do another how-to so this post will be rather long. Hope it helps (or converts) someone. Arrow is a very easy hull, almost flat bottomed with a simple bow & stern.
 
I had already glued the wider wale plank at deck level and done 2 strakes below that when I realized (or woke up) I would need to thin down the ends of the strakes.
 

 
There is no real planking plan with this kit, so I had to calculate the bands on my own. At the frame piece with the longest distance between the keel and the last hull strake, I laid a strip of paper to determine that distance.
 

 

 
As luck would have it, that distance was 36mm and the planking sticks are 3mm wide - perfect! That's 12 planks to complete the side. I decided to break up the distance into 3 bands. Here's where it gets cool. Not sure what the part on the dividers is called but I set it to 3 (for 3 bands).
 

 
Then with the long end of the dividers span the distance between the keel edge and the strake edge.
 

 
The short end of the dividers is 1/3 of that span.
 

 
Using the short end, you walk the dividers over that same span and make a mark at each step.
 

 


 
Yes there is a slight space after the last step. Nothing done wrong, it's just the fact that I am doing a linear measurement on a curved surface. This is not a big enough discrepancy to worry about. You'll see why in a minute.
 
So here are the band marks for this frame.
 

 
From here it's just repetition. Move to next frame, measure the full distance, then make the marks for the bands. Lather, rinse, repeat. Usually you will find that the frames in the middle have the same span. As you move to the bow or stern the measurement will get smaller. Don't skip any frames - do them all.
 

 
Now get your plank, lay it where you will be gluing it and mark where it contacts each frame.

 
Now it's time to focus on a band. I'll do the one next to the existing strakes. If you remember the original calculation was 12 strakes / 3 bands = 4 strakes per band. So set the dividers to 4.
 

 
With the long end, measure the span between the band mark and the edge of the last strake. This is the total width of the band.
 

 
The short end of the dividers is that span divided by 4 (4 strakes in the band). I started on one of the middle frame pieces - the widest overall span. On this frame the strake should be full width (3mm) and by golly that's what the dividers tell me.
 

 
So there is no width adjustment needed on the strake where it crosses this frame. Continue this pattern, measure the band width on the frame, put the short end of the dividers across the plank and eventually you will hit  the  point where the distance on the short end is less than the width of the plank.
 

 

 
I just stab the divider pin into the plank to make a mark. NOTE: some of the cheaper dividers don't have pins on the ends. I would recommend getting some with pins if you can. Here's the plank afterwards. From the holes upwards will need to be removed.
 

 
You can cut with a knife or just file/sand. I'm almost done here. I've sanded the plank edge down to the holes. I left the holes just for demonstration. The trick is to sand the edge until the holes just disappear. Your plank will be the correct width at that point.

 
The finished strake. At this point if you were doing short planks to make up a strake you could cut them now. Since this is a first planking I will not.

 
I glue the strake 2 or more frames at a time. PVA along the long edge of the plank with CA at the frames. Be careful not to get them mixed - they don't play well together. Of course you can glue them any way you want.
 

 

 

 

 
So much for that strake. 3 strakes left in the band. For the next strake you go thru the same process except this time (and subsequent times) the span to measure will be the from the edge of the strake you just laid to the band mark AND before you start set the dividers to 3 since you have 3 strakes left. When done with this strake repeat again after setting the dividers to 2.
 

 
The beauty of this is that it doesn't matter if you screw up a strake - maybe a little too wide or narrow. Since you remeasure the remaining span after laying a strake the dividers will correct any errors.
 
 
I hope this makes sense. Once you do a few repetitions, hopefully you will see the pattern and understand the process. Essentially you are measuring some distance and letting the dividers divide that measurement into however many portions they are set to. The nice thing is you don't really care what that span measurement is. You just let the dividers do their thing.
 
 
Whew - good night all.....
 
 
 
 

I got after the frame tips this weekend. I destroyed several of them while trying to get them out of the laser cut sheet. They're too small and the sheet is too thick.. My plan for replacement was to use a dowel the same diameter as the parts when they are in the sheet. Then on the table saw, rip a piece of the dowel in half, rotate 90 degrees and rip again giving quarters. Then take those and slice to the proper thickness. They pieces came out OK. Given that I had the saw out anyway I used it to cut the remaining laser cut pieces out.
 

 
As you may notice - a lot of char around the edge. Sanding that off was not easy. Seems like walnut is always harder to get the char off.
 
My replacement pieces were too light colored (not sure what wood it was) so I stained them.
 

 
When I had enough pieces I glued them to the upper deck - doing a better job of lining them up this time.
 

 

 
Note to future builders - do this as late as possible!  I started in on my next task, the bench seats, and have already knocked off quite a few of the frame parts.