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Thanks for stopping in Dave.

Jerry, Ill be darned. That is clearly a bumpkin. Thanks for that photo. It appears that there is a block seized on the end of the short bumpkin, and the single tack line passes through the block and then a sheave in the planking and then I assume is tied off on a cleat. I am going to have to poor over the plans to see if I missed this somehow. I can't imagine that this would not be included. Looks like I will be doing some construction work. Will we be seeing you at 155 Gettysburg?

Thanks Jerry, Your eloquent description put's my landlubberness to shame. Then again, the Niagara is not designed with a Bumpkin, or at least my plans don't show one. Based on discussions with fellow members, I am going to use the backside of the cathead, or may simply tie off on a cleat. BTW, have you had your Constellation in the water lately?

Henry, A thousand thanks. Your description on the mechanics is exactly what I needed to understand how and why this is done this way. I will take my single fore tack to a cleat, which is a better fit (along side of the bulwark) than pinning it in the chock rail, which moves it too much to the center of the bow. Thanks for the heads up on the dimension of the rope. I plan on rigging the main tack as a double, and already chose a heavy line (just luck) assuming the heft of the course sails would require a heavy line.

This is a question I posted on my Niagara build log. Gents, HELP! I need some guidance on a rigging question. I decided early on to include cluelines and sheets to all of my yards, even though I am not adding sails. For the royal and topgallant, I simply tied the sheet lines to the yards, and ran the cluelines down through a block to the deck (as per the Niagara narrative instructions). The Niagara plans were pretty vague on how to handle the Topsail, so I turned to my Petersson rigging book and used his design. I am now faced with the Course Yards. Again, I have turned to Petersson. Following his diagram for the Foremast, I tied two blocks together with a single tack line as seen in the photo I have attached. My question though is this ok for the Niagara, and more specifically, where would I belay the end of the tack line? In the diagram, the tack line runs through a block extended beyond the bow on a rod. There is no such apparatus on the Niagara, so where to belay the tack line. The Niagara plans seem to indicate that the tack line should belay to the chock rail. In my photo of the ship, you will find my prototype. I ran the tack to the chock rail and one end of the sheet will be belayed to an eyebolt on the outside of the hull and the other will run through a hole and tied to a cleet inside the bulwark. Does this make any sense? I also have a general question that will show my landlubberness. I believe the sheet and clueline attach to the bottom corner of the sail. If that is correct, why would Petersson pull the blocks so close to the mast, rather than out at the end of the yard. The last photo is from the Niagara plans. It is hard for me to fully understand this. Petersson is a lot easier to understand. Any suggestions?

Gents, HELP! I need some guidance on a rigging question. I decided early on to include cluelines and sheets to all of my yards, even though I am not adding sails. For the royal and topgallant, I simply tied the sheet lines to the yards, and ran the cluelines down through a block to the deck (as per the Niagara narrative instructions). The Niagara plans were pretty vague on how to handle the Topsail, so I turned to my Petersson rigging book and used his design. I am now faced with the Course Yards. Again, I have turned to Petersson. Following his diagram for the Foremast, I tied two blocks together with a single tack line as seen in the photo I have attached. My question though is this ok for the Niagara, and more specifically, where would I belay the end of the tack line? In the diagram, the tack line runs through a block extended beyond the bow on a rod. There is no such apparatus on the Niagara, so where to belay the tack line. The Niagara plans seem to indicate that the tack line should belay to the chock rail. In my photo of the ship, you will find my prototype. I ran the tack to the chock rail and one end of the sheet will be belayed to an eyebolt on the outside of the hull and the other will run through a hole and tied to a cleet inside the bulwark. Does this make any sense? I also have a general question that will show my landlubberness. I believe the sheet and clueline attach to the bottom corner of the sail. If that is correct, why would Petersson pull the blocks so close to the mast, rather than out at the end of the yard. The first photo is from the Niagara plans. It is hard for me to fully understand this. Petersson is a lot easier to understand. Any suggestions?

Mike, Here is your answer. The topmast stay runs through the forward hole in the Bee. I attached a deadeye to an eyebolt on the starboard side of the hull and attached the end with a lanyard. The Inner Jib Stay runs through the other hole and is attached to the port side the same way. At least that is how I did it.

Mike, If I understand your question, I believe the course sling indeed runs through the square hole in front of the tree. My opinion on that is from a review of multiple places in the plan, and really comes into play by looking at the diagram of the tree and the reference to the sling bolster (a small rounded off length of timber that the sling runs over) and the sling hole. I attached a photo. I also attached a photo of the plans that indicates, unclearly, that the sling runs UNDER the shrouds. The last photo is of the diagram you speak of, and it clearly indicates that the sling wraps around the mast head. Taken all together, I assumed the sling wrapped around the masthead above the tree and ran through the square hole in front. Considering the placement of the Course yard on my model, that makes perfect sense from a mechanical perspective.

Mike, You can clearly not glue the masts in. As long as the slots are snug, you will be good to go. By the way, I installed all of the upper shrouds and the royal and topgallant yards on the masts BEFORE I attached the masts to the deck. Doing that in a vice seemed easier to me. It was definitely better on my back. Just a thought. I am also sending you a photo on how I rigged the course sling. The sling goes underneath the shrouds. IF you are installing any of the Burton Pendants, those have to wrap around the mast as well. Hope this helps some. The ship looks great.

Don, I have been a way for a while and am just catching up on this wonderful build. Love the ship's boat. I will be following along more closely as you enter the stretch run. Your ship is exquisite.

Mike Wow. I have been away for a while, and am just catching up on your build. My hat is off to you my friend for your incredible perseverance. The challenges that you have overcome would sink most of us. I love your India dyed wales and commend your courage for cutting them in those authentic triangular shapes. This truly could be classified as a scratch build for all of the milling you have done. I am going to watch more closely going forward. I have a Mamoli Victory on the shelf staring at me for when I finally knock out the Niagara.

Elijah, No sweat. I just took a 4 month lay-off to move, and am now glad to be back. I just caught up with your build log. SUPERB work! I will be following along.

Bob, I feel guilty to even say this. I purchased all three racks, two of which came with Craftsman metal benches, all for $35 at an estate auction. I will never use it all, so if there is anything you need, send me a private note. I might just have it.

SPANKER BOOM TOPPING LIFTS I had previously seized the topping lift lines to the spanker boom. I just need to weave them through the blocks under the tree and attach them to the deck.Not as easy as I had anticipated. I had to seize a double block to end of the lift lines.... and then seize a lanyard to the same block.... I stropped another double block with an eye bolt and attached that to the deck. Then weaved the lanyard and tightened the whole assemble. AND..... after looking at this picture, realized that I rigged the lanyard in the upper holes of the block, and will have to redo it all over again. What the camera finds.

MAIN MAST STAY SAIL HALLIARDS When I got back to the workshop, I was able to finish off the halliards for the main mast stay sails. Here are some photos of the final product.

I was planning on placing my coils directly on the pins. I have used all gauges of rope for my rigging and will be replicating it with the appropriate coils. I will be following your examples for suggestions on methodology.

OHIO STATE FAIR FINE ARTS DISPLAY I am proud member of the Shipwrights of Central Ohio model club. Each year, the club reserves a table at the Ohio State Fair in the Fine Arts Building, to promote ship building and to display member projects. I attended this past Friday and brought my Niagara and some rigging tools and spent the afternoon rigging the ship for interested Fair Patrons. We had a number of folks come through the building. For anyone that has done something like this, the predominate comment we receive from the public is that they don’t have the patience to do something like that. However, I was lucky to attract two young boys, about 12 years old, who watched me rig the Topmast Staysail Halliard. They hung out for over a half hour. They watched me strop the block, tie it to the Main topmast stay (I should have done that before I mounted the yards) and then run the lines through the blocks and tie them off to the pin rails. They asked a number of questions, and watched with genuine interest in the project. I gave them some suggestions on some styrene model kits, and may get one of them to join the modeling club with his father. I have seen many posts on how we need to get younger people interested in our hobby. I never had a good answer to that question, but now I do. Getting out and doing some “field” work may have inspired some young boys to pick up this great hobby. If you ever get a chance to do something like this, please consider it. It is not easy to transport a work in progress (I spent the first hour fixing the block I knocked off of the spanker boom), and it does take some time. But from experience, it is the best way to get folks interested in this hobby. It was great to get back to working on the Niagara. The road trip gave me some well needed inspiration to forge ahead. Here are a few photos.

Mike, I believe the plans provide separate diagrams for the topgallant and royal lifts. I am not at my workshop, but will check tonight and send you a photo. I may regret not placing my coils in earlier. My deck is getting crowded with lines. I am also going to have some problems when I set the hammock rails. Moreplavac, I am using my vice just for rigging, so I don't need the suction bottom. With a spring clamp in one end, and my block stropping jig in the other end, I am constantly using this vice. It is a very instrumental tool. When I did need the suction bottom (for 8 months, I clamped the entire hull in the vice), is set it on a marble tile I had left over from a remodeling project. The super smooth surface great for suction. Never had a problem. I found an old photo.

Welcome to the Niagara clan. Like yourself, this was and still is (not quite done yet) my first build. Posting a log will serve you well. There are many experienced eyes out there willing to proffer advice. As an amateur, I found it absolutely necessary to help conquer the various challenges you are about to face. Don't hesitate to ask questions. Good luck on your journey. You are not alone. PS. It is hard to remember that my Niagara once not too long ago, looked so bare. It has put on a little "weight" since then.

LATEST PHOTOS OF THE NIAGARA. And here are some updated photos of the Niagara in its new shipyard.

I'M BACK After a 3 month hiatus, I am back in the shipyard. A lot has happened since then. My wife and I bought a new house in January. It needed a new kitchen and bathrooms. So I put my micro amateur talents on the shelf and dusted off my macro carpentry skills and gutted and rebuilt the entire 1st floor. We were able to move in on June 1. For all of the diversionary work, I was rewarded with a new indoor workshop in the basement. It is a great space, with 13 course block walls, that opens out into the backyard onto a cement deck. I spent the last month setting up the new workshop. Then another diversion of sorts. My wife saw a notice in the local auction guide showing an estate sale that had a large HMS Victory model in a showcase on the listed items. There was a woodshop with power tools for sale. That of course caught my eye. The flyer indicated that the deceased owner was a violin maker. I headed over to the sale. To my delight, I realized that the owner also built model ships, and that he had probably built the Victory in the case. While I ultimately did not purchase the cased Victory, I did purchase a number of micro tools, including a Proxxon mini mill, Micro Lux thickness sander, table saw and chop saw. I also purchase two complete Mamoli 1/98 Victory Kits, a Model Expo Rope walk kit, and Sergai ship base kit. I bought two huge racks of strip wood, dowels, etc, made mostly of poplar, but some of boxwood, cherry, walnut and mahogany. I picked up a small rack of styrene plastic strips and brass and aluminum stock. I bought a homemade rack full of paint brushes, paints, carving tools, forceps, and assorted modelling tools. I also purchased a large showcase with lexan plates. And then finally I purchased a skeleton of a Corell Victory model (keel, bulkheads and false decks). The house was full of stuff, and the auctioneer was selling whole cabinets and shelf racks. As fellow patrons realized I was the “ship” guy, they began to give me anything ship related that ended up in their cabinets. I therefore walked out of the sale with a full set of plans for the Corell Victory, a full set of plans for a Mantua Victory, a three ring binder of 8x11 color pictures of the HMS Victory taken in Portsmouth England, probably taken by the owner, that focus on important details for someone that wants to build a model. THIS WAS AN INCREDIBLE SALE FOR A SHIPBUILDER. In the end, I walked out of there with all of this wonderful stuff for hundreds less than the going retail price of just one of the Mamoli Victory Kits. So, when I set up my workshop, I was able to add all of my new toys. I am attaching some photos of the items I picked up at the sale and the new workshop….. And YES, I will be turning my attention to finishing my Niagara. Here are some photos of the ship. It survived the move, with only one small knot giving way on the jib boom. I have to finish up the rigging on the main mast, mostly halliards, and the bracing. I need to work on the anchors and then figure out what to do with the hammock rails. I am really getting close to finishing her up, and I now have a great display case waiting for her. THEN??? Do I tackle the HMS Victory? I never planned on doing that, but I now have a kit sitting in the workshop that I will have to look at. While I will ponder that monumental decision, I do know that I won’t be building TWO Victories, so if anyone is interested in the second Mamoli Kit, send me a private e-mail. Glad to be back! I will be trying to catch up on everyone’s build logs.

Great progress Mike! Love the jury rigged sander. I will remember that set up.

Mike, I use that figure 8 seizing a lot. That is especially useful for seizing blocks to yards. Just be careful when you cut the tails off. Make sure you always have a sharp blade. You want the cut to be quick with as little pressure as possible. If the blade is not sharp, and you have to start pressing down on the seizing and start sawing, you can pull the knot loose. Good luck.

Looking good Mike. Not adding the stern post and stem will greatly help you to sand the planking ends and shape the curves. I think that was a good call. I wish I had waited to add my stern post until after I planked my Niagara. It was in the way and I nicked it repeatedly when I was sanding the end of the stern planks. Rabbit or not, I think I could have done a cleaner job by adding it after planking.

Mike, Just catching up with your new project. This looks great, and I love your "first" planking. It is almost too bad you have to cover it up. I will be following along on this wonderful project. Happy planking my friend.