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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.
 

ROYAL AND T’GALLANT HALLIARDS, LIFTS, CLEW LINES AND SHEETS
 
I worked on rigging the royal and t’gallant yards.
 
Royal Halliard/Tye:  I used .012 rope, tied one end to the yard, and routed the other end through a dumb sheave in the mast, and belayed the end to the lower shroud sheave per the plans.
 
Royal Lifts: I used .012 rope, tied them off to the ends of the yard, and tied them off at the top of the mast. (I still have to tie a knot and cut the excess).
 
Royal Clew lines. Since I have no sails, I elected to simply tie the end off on the yard and routed them through a 1/8 block seized to the yard and down to the lower shrouds where I belayed the end to the stave as per the plans.  I put some slack in the line and tied a simple square knot in the rope to keep it from pulling through the block.
 
T’gallant Halliard/Tye: I used .018 rope, tied one end to the yard, and routed the other end through a dumb sheave in the mast, and belayed it to a tackle rigged to the lower tree.
 
T’gallant Lifts: I used .012 rope, tied them off to the ends of the yard, and routed them through a 1/8 block mounted in the shrouds and belayed to the tackle rigged to the lower tree.
 
T’gallant Clew Lines: I used .012 rope. Like the royal, I tied the end off on the yard, and ran it through a DOUBLE 1/8 block seized to the yard. This will belay to the pin rail on the deck, so I made the rope extra long and it will remain free until I step the mast. I created some slack and tied a square knot against the block
 
T’gallant Sheets: I used .012 rope and tied the end to the yard.  I pulled this line tighter than the clew line.  I routed it through the same DOUBLE block using a square knot to keep it from pulling through.  It too belays to the pin rail on the deck.
 
I am not sure the clew lines and sheets are right or not. Just my landlubbers interpretation of the rigging plans.
​

FUTTOCK SHROUDS
For all of the planning, I forgot to install the futtock shrouds before raising the course yard. It was therefore a bit more taxing with the yard always in the way.
 
I used .025 black rope. I seized a blackened brass hook on the end, attached that to the bottom of the deadeye and wound the other end around the stave and lashed it to the shroud. This is not easy. I placed a small drop of CA on the shroud, and held the futtock line in place until it set.  That allowed me to then apply two lashings.
 
Once done, I dressed them up with ratlines.
 
​Once I install the catharpin, another daunting task, it should pull all of the shrouds together and tighten up the lines. It is quite amazing how everything "ties together." Rigging this model has proven the engineering prowess of the 19th century shipwright

FOREMAST MAIN STAY AND PREVENTER STAY
 
I served .045 rope for the main and .035 rope for the preventer stays.
 
I then measured them for length, and clamped in a closed heart.  I purchased 7mm closed hearts from Chuck and Syren. Great product again. After some assembly, I gave them a coat of cherry stain and finished with tung oil.
 
I was able to position my portable vice with a spring clamp close enough to insert the heart for lashing. The heavy served stay ropes were pretty stiff, so the whipping was a bit challenging. I weaved a section of .018 tan rope for the lanyard.
 
Once done, I threaded the lanyard and tied it off on the upper lashing of the heart. It turned out pretty good.

LOWER SHROUD SHEAR POLES, FAIRLEADS, AND RATLINES
 
I had previously lashed the deadeyes on my lower shrouds and threaded the lanyards.  It was time to tie of the lanyards, attach the lower and upper shear poles and fairleads and tie the dreaded ratlines.
 
I milled my shear poles and fairleads out of some cherry stripwood and finished them off with my tung oil. I initially secure them to the lines with a drop of CA.
 
On the lower shear pole, I used it to line up the deadeye and shroud lines to face forward since they tend to twist out of alignment without it.  I lashed it with .008 black rope. You can get away with a half hitch knot since it disappears in this small size. I tie the knot in the back and add a small drop of CA with the tip of a pin to finish it off.
 
The fairlead is a bit trickier. It is installed on the inside of the shrouds, and has 8 small holes to accept running lines that pass through on their way to the pin rail below. I measured out the holes, and drilled them with my pin vice. I lashed them with the .008 rope.
 
The upper shear pole is small and tucked close in under the top. I tied it off like the lower.
 
For the ratlines, I used my .008 tan rope.  I tie a half hitch knot on the ends and use a classic clove hitch on the middle lines. For the half hitch, I learned through experience to tie it such that the end leading to the shroud lines comes under the knot so that it creates a natural crescent shape. I do the same with the end knot.

ANCHORS AWAY….
Worked over the weekend rigging and attaching my anchors. I decided to bring the anchor cables through my forward hatch, and to do that, I had to so some surgery on the grate. The grating material supplied by Model Expo is a hardwood.  Trying to cut through that while placed on the bow of a crowded deck was a challenge. My exacto knife was not up to the call, so out came the Dremel. My original plan was to carve out a square in the front corners and insert a chafing block. While I was able to white knuckle the cutting, I could not get it square or clean enough to suit my taste, and decided to install the chafing blocks on top of the cut.
Obviously, this is another task that I should have done sooner. I could have easily added chafing blocks to the grates before installing them.
I also stropped the big triple blocks, and fabricated a hook with some coated black wire. The coating on the wire gives the surface some texture to simulate an iron look. It took me a while and about 10 tries to twist up a hook to look right.
I then rigged the block, and attached the anchor.  I ran into another snag. Realizing the anchor and cable weigh tons, I could not get the cable to lay flat on the deck, or get my lanyards on my triple blocks to tighten. The Brittania anchors just don’t weigh enough.  I therefore glued the cable to the deck. I stretched the lanyards on the triple blocks by attaching a small weight, and coated the ropes with a mixture of water and white glue. That froze the ropes straight.
I then tied off the haul ropes on a bulwark cleat and tied off the lanyards on pins.
My bow is just about complete.

CATHARPIN
 
One other task on the foremast that I should have done earlier was the installation of the catharpin on the lower shroud. That should have been done as soon as I did the lower shrouds and futtock shrouds. By waiting to do this after more of the rigging had been put in place made this harder than it needed to be.
 
I used a .025 rope and tied 2 small measured pieces, routed through a small blackened ring, on each side of the staves. Once set, I tied the two rings together to create the tension that tightened up the shrouds and futtock shrouds. A very nifty method to keep everything taut.

Joel,
 
I am not a surgeon, or a weaver,--- But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express ...... BAD JOKE.
 
Actually, the credit all goes to Chuck's wonderful Syren products. Using great rope and his laser cut hearts makes all the difference.  Also, a dogged persistence to do and redo everything until it looks right. And for that, you have to thank all of the incredible shipwrights on this forum. Every tip I use is borrowed from someone.
 
Thanks Mike and Mike.  Welcome in Steve. And Elijah, no greater compliment can be given to an amateur modeler than the kind words you sent along.

QUARTER BOAT DAVITS
The punch list is getting small.
I worked on the boat davits over the weekend.  As I have done for most of the build, I discarded the laser cut parts and made the davits out of cherry.  I traced the pattern on to a strip of cherry and cut them out with my band saw. I mounted a small drum sanding bit in the Dremel for initial shaping and used a series of files and sanding sticks to finish them up. It is a long and tedious procedure, but the end product, with sharp edges and perfect finish is well worth the effort.
I applied the yellow and flat black paint with the airbrush and installed the pieces to the ship.  I used card stock blackened with a Sharpie for the metal bands. I am very pleased with the look of the card stock. It is easier to work with than brass, takes the color perfectly, and wraps around the davits very well.

WELCOME ABOARD!  - LADDERS AND SEA STEPS
The crew may now board their ship.
I finished the ladders with a coat of paint and attached them to the deck.  I had to move some rope coils.  It is pretty tight in there. I cut the sea steps out of some boxwood strips I had around. I applied some yellow and flat black paint and glued them to the hull.

FOREMAST HALLIARDS AND JIB OUTHAUL TACKLE
 
I continued working on the running rigging on the foremast. I added the 4 halliards used to haul the stay sails. That included attaching blocks on the foremast, which I had done earlier, and also adding blocks to the bowsprit and jib for the downhaul lines. For some reason, I missed those. Probably because when I built the bowsprit and jib many months ago, I did not know what a halliard even was.
 
In any case, I had to tie on 4 blocks to a very crowded bowsprit and jib.  The main halliard downhaul block had to be positioned under the main stay open heart. There was no way I was going to be able to lash that to the spar, so I opted to strop the block to an eyebolt. I was able to position my pin vice in between the jaws of the heart and drill a receiving hole, and carefully insert the eyebolt with a drop of CA.  The rest of the downhaul blocks were lashed.
 
All of the downhaul lines then traverse the length of the bowsprit and pass through fairlead holes in the chock rail and are tied off on the forward pin rail. The only problem is that I failed to drill the holes in the chock rail. Again, I had to do that in between the lines of spaghetti ropes and of course the spritsail yard was in the way of where I had to turn the drill. Niagara builders – DRILL THE HOLES BEFORE YOU INSTALL THE BOWSPRIT.
 
The loose end of the uphaul line had to be belayed, according to the plans, to the “stay throats.” That was not overly specific, so I used a best guess, based on what a 1/64 figurine standing on the tops would do with the loose end – tie it waist high in an easy access place that was out of the way.
 
I also added the jib outhaul tackle. I used a .018 tan rope with 1/8 blocks. The plans however did not specify where the loose end of the rope went to. I looked in the plans and the instruction book. Nothing.  I therefore assumed it passed along the bowsprit, through the fairlead holes and was tied to the forward pin rail.

LOWER SHROUDS
 
I decided to serve the forward mounted shroud. That would be the line that the course yard would rub against at times, and based on my research, would likely be served for added strength and wear protection. On the Niagara, the forward mounted shroud is a single line with a burton pendant. It took me a couple of days to figure this one out.
 
I decided to use the kit provided .075mm (.035 inch) line and covered it with a basic black sewing thread on the Syren Serve-o-matic. A pretty good machine.
 
I then tied an eye hole and tied the throat collar. I did two of them.

REMAINING LOWER SHROUDS
 
The remaining shrouds, done in pairs, were done with .035" inch rope from Syren.
 
[As an aside, I tried to use the kit supplied rope.  Two complaints. I wish the supplier would mark the diameter on the spools, so that we would not have to guess what the size is. Also, the plans call for at least 8 different sizes that I have noted so far. I only received 5 unmarked sizes. Also, the nylon rope is too stiff, and even when stretched and soaked in hot water, sometimes shows the kinks. Unless I serve it, I have abandoned the kit supplied rope.]
 
I decided to serve the section of rope that wrapped around the mast. After some trial and error, that ended up to be exactly 2 inches of the rope.
 
I then folded over the served section and measured over ½ inches to start my throat wrap. I used my black sewing thread, and started it by running the end through with a sewing needle. A small drop of CA, and then began wrapping back to the end of the served sections.

I spent some quality time in the shipyard this weekend and finished all of the hammock rails and stations.
Before I install them, I have to clean up all of the pin rails. When I did my rigging, I simply fastened the ropes in the pinrails by wedging the ropes in the holes.  I did not want to tie anything off in case I had to tighten lines.  I am sure glad I made that decision because I had to make a lot of adjustments. The only detriment is that it is very crowded on deck, forcing me to go double fisted with the tweezers.
Working from the bow, going back, I have started to tighten lines and tie off the tails. this should take a while. I spent all day Sunday working on the bow pin rails and Foremast rails. Once I get done, I will be making some rope coils for the pins that carry lines.
Final thoughts on the hammock rails, I thought I had made a mistake by not building them when the deck was clear of masts and rigging. In the end, if I had added them then, and built them from the ground up on the ship rail as the plans suggest, it would have been more difficult, and in the end, they would have been the way when I did get around to rigging.  They cover all of the major pin rails. Doing them on the bench and sliding them in after all of the rigging and deck work is done to me seems to be the better play.

HAMMOCK STANTIONS
It has been quite a while since I posted to my build log. Since I moved, I have been working on a complete remodeling of my kitchen, so my carpenter skills have been focusing on the Macro rather than the Micro.
I have finally got time to get back to the Niagara, and am dedicated to the stretch run to get her done.
A while back, as I was rigging the ship, and encasing the deck and railing with ropes and stays, I realized that I had not built the hammock railings. When I realized that it would be nearly impossible to build them with all of the rigging lines in the way, I therefore decided to skip the process.
Overtime, I felt that was a cop out and decided to come up with a strategy to install them.  Following the plans, I surmised I could accomplish this only one way – to build them on the bench as a total component, and then slip them between the rigging lines and stays and glue them down. Necessity is the mother of invention.  In the end, It actually was a good way to tackle this part of the build.  Here is how I did it.

Further work on Bowsprit
 
I spent the last few days rigging bullseyes and hearts to the bowsprit and jib boom.
 
I tied on the brace and spritsail yard lift blocks. I tied on the bobstay bullseye. I also created the bowsprit shroud collar with bullseyes and attached that. I would suggest that you do that BEFORE you attach the jib boom to the bowsprit.
 
I also prepared the open hearts for the forestay and fore preventer stays. I created the grove with a micro-file and stained the laser cut plart with some cherry stain. After seeing photos, I decided to serve the rope for the collars.  This gave me a chance to try out my Syren Serving Machine. I'll be darned but the simple machine works great. Making the rope was one thing, but wrapping it around the bowsprit and lashing it together was a test in patience and dexterity- something that I don't have enough of. I am getting better though.
 
Once done, a came across a signature part of the build- installing the bowsprit assembly.  I think I did everything I could do before attaching it, and if not, at least it is now secured to the ship instead of a vice.  I then lashed the timber to the bow.  Another tedious job.
 
And yes, mywork table is big enough.
 
I will be working on the lower fore mast next to get it prepared for stepping and begin the rigging process in earnest.

FINISHED!
I spent the weekend cleaning off dust and touching up paint in preparation of placing the Niagara in its glass enclosure. While I designed the case with an option of removing the ship, it will not be an easy process, and I don’t have plans on doing so. So sealing it away knowing I will not be able to work on it, or tweak something, was a tough moment.
This was a great project. I give credit to the folks at Model Shipways for putting together a great kit. This was my first wooden ship build, and I would recommend the Niagara for any first timer.  There are easier kits out there (and a lot more harder ones) to cut your teeth on, but the Niagara is a good choice. It is reasonably priced (I bought mine at a half off sale). The instructions and plan sheets are good overall, and if followed, will produce an end product you will be proud of..
The kit lacks expensive wood, and some critical parts, but again, for the price, it is still a good purchase. With the exception of the hull planking, I swapped out all of the basswood lumber and laser cut parts with hardwoods (cherry and holly mostly). Those parts that the kit requires the builder to engineer and produce tested my model skills and have made me a better builder. I have seen the term kit “bashing” when someone “goes off the plan.” I guess I did this with this kit, but I can’t say I bashed it, I would rather say I enhanced it. Thanks Model Shipways.
I also have to give credit to Chuck Passaro and his Syren products. I used his rope, blocks, hooks, and hearts for all of the rigging. These products make any ship look great, even for us amateurs.
I also give credit to Model Ship World and my fellow Niagara builders. I would never have purchased this kit, let alone make the effort to build it, without the wealth of information and full color pictures available on this site. Builders like Bahamas Diver, Xken, Patrickmil, Greatgalleons, Mikiek, and others who sailed the lakes with their Niagara Builds were inspirations and great teachers. My project would have sunk to the bottom of Lake Erie without their guidance. They had my back.
I can't forget my fellow members of the Shipwrights of the Central Ohio modelling club. The long drive to our monthly meetings is always worth the trip. Great knowledge, experience and fellowship. Thanks Bill for everything you do for our club
And finally, to those of you out there that stopped in to see this project and lent advice and words of encouragement. As I am sure you all know, getting an “atta boy” from an experienced shipwright is energizing.
Here are some final photos as I mark my build log officially FINISHED.

NAMEPLATE
 
I put the nameplate together. I scanned the image from the original rebuild plans from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, manipulated it on my computer and added my name, scale and date. I sent it to a trophy shop who burned the stainless steel plate. I made the base from some tiger maple I had in my scrap pile.

APPLYING THE SHIP'S NAME AND RIGGING THE SHIP'S BOATS
 
I spent the last couple of days experimenting with "painting" the ships name on the stern and bow. Thought about decals and letter stencils but in the end, took the simple way out. Since the hull is painted flat black, I printed out the name in gold letters on a black field from my computer. I used Book Antique font. It turned out ok.
 
Then I rigged the ships boats to the davits. That was terribly tedious.... of course so is everything else I have done on this build.
 
Here are some photos.
 

BRACES
Moving along to completion. The last major rigging task is the braces, and boy was this more difficult than it needed to be. Sixteen blocks needed to be seized, most to the shrouds, some to the tops on both masts, and SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE BEFORE I DID ANY RIGGING.
**** WARNING**** TO ALL NIAGARA BUILDERS – SEIZE THE BRACES BLOCKS EARLY.
All of the blocks on the upper shrouds could have been attached while my masts were still on the bench. It would have been so easy!
Instead, I had to strop a set of 1/8 and 5/32 blocks with long lines, seize the lines to the block, snake the line through a mess of rigging to wrap around the shroud or bar on the tops, pull it through away from the model, tie a seizing, then pull the tail and with tweezers snake the block back through the rigging lines up against the shroud, then reach through to tighten the seizing lines, apply a spot of glue to freeze the knot, and if that is not hard enough (or stressful), then insert an x-acto knife and cut the ends off as close to the knot as possible, without cutting something else.
This took me the entire weekend. I kept smacking yards, back stays, and shrouds with my hands, my tweezers, my pliers, my knife, my kitchen sink…. You get the picture. Thankfully, everything except a couple of ratlines held up.  The 4 blocks seized under the lower top on the foremast were by far the hardest. There were at least 8 rigging lines and back stays to work around.
As soon as I get everything done on deck, and insert the hammock stanchions, I will rig the braces, (last thing) since that will completely encapsulate the space between the masts. 
Here are some photos. The knots are not up to par, but only in close up pictures. From afar, you can hardly see the blocks.

Hey Steve,
I had a chance to catch up on your build log. Great work! It brings back warm memories. 

Tom,
 
I finally had a chance to catch up on your build log. Great Progress indeed. Your spaghetti masts bring back fond memories. Good luck on the rigging. 

​Rope Coils
 
​I decided to clean up the deck of all of the loose tackle ropes and create rope coils.  I perused this forum for techniques and found a bunch of different approaches.  I pretty easily discarded the notion of rolling the existing lines on the deck. They will not stay rolled without a solution of water and glue, and the deck is not the place for that mess.  Besides, the intricate locations for the lines made it nearly impossible anyway.
 
I therefore decided to roll them off the ship.  I used a 50/50 solution of white glue and water.  I thoroughly submerged a 3 inch piece of rope, using inverted sharp point tweezers to grip the very end.  I rolled the rope on a glass plate.  I found that as long as the rope stayed in the small puddle of glue solution, it would stay down on the glass, and it would allow me to roll the rope and stay flat.
 
Extracting the tweezers without pulling the inside rope end out of the coil was a challenge. I accomplished it by using the back end of an x-acto knife and slipping it gently between the two ends of the tweezers and holding the coil down as I pulled the tweezers away.
 
I also learned that you CANNOT touch the coil until it is completely dry - and I mean 5 hours dry. The watered down solution takes forever to dry, and it is so sticky, any attempt to touch it before so simply ruins it. Patience, patience, patience.
 
By the way, I will say again that the Syren rope is an outstanding product. It rolled very well.  The kit supplied rope was too stiff and would not stay rolled, even when soaked with the glue/water. Of course, I ran out of rope again, and will be placing another order to replenish my shipyard stores.
 
Laying them on the deck wasn't easy either. I placed a medium drop of medium CA on the deck, and carefully positioned the end rope of the tackle in such a place that made it look like it merged into the coil.  I then dropped the coil down on the end of the rope. Not always an easy task with all of the enclosed places.
 
What I reasonable thought would take an afternoon took most of three days. Here are some photos of the finished product.

Mike,
 
It looks like you are using single blocks on both ends.  I am using single and doubles. I seize the looped rigging rope to my single blocks when I strop the hook (see the photos on post 99). The photos just above are from the double blocks that don't get the rigging rope.
 
I start my rigging by attaching the single block to the gun, then run the rigging rope to the double block hooked to the bulwark, then back to the sheave hole in the single block, then back to the double, then loose to be coiled.
 
I ran out of rigging rope after making 50 looped strands.  I am waiting on a new supply from Syren.
 
With this process, I am getting 25 blocks done in just over an hour.  However, the most important advice I can give is that after I work my way through a set of 25 blocks, I take a break and strop my favorite cold one and rest my eyes and brain. I finally see some light at the end of the tunnel.
 
One consolation - the end products are really neat looking. Syren makes an incredibly great product, and since I understand that they are each made by hand, who am I to complain how hard they are to strop.

Stropping a 3mm block
 
I thought I would post a practicum on how I stropped the 3mm blocks with a 3mm hook.  Not because I am an experienced modeler - far from it - but because when you have to do something 180 times, you figure out some things. Everything I did, I learned from the masters on the site.  I combined some things and used techniques that worked for me.
 
A list first and some annotated photos.
 
1. I work on 25 at a time. I purchased my blocks from Syren, and the packs come in groups of 25.
 
2. Cut 25 strands of .008 black rope in about 3 inch lengths. Don't worry about how long they are because you will be reusing them. The longer the easier they will be to handle.
 
3. Place a drop of super thin CA on a plastic top and role one side of the rope (about 5mm) to freeze the end.  You are going to use this end to thread through the hook. Do all 25 at the same time.  It saves on your glue.
 
4. Place your block in a jig.  I use the ends of two small pins embedded in a block of hardwood.
 
5. Place a drop of medium CA on your plastic and role the tip (about 1mm) of the other end of your rope in the glue, making sure you don't pick up too much.
 
6.Apply the glued end in the groove of the block placing it half up the bottom end of the block. Tap it lightly with an exacto blade enough to seat it. It will only take a second or two for the glue to hold the end in place then let go and let it hang.
 
7. After a few more seconds, press a metal flat surface against the glued end to push it more into the groove.  I use the butt end of my exacto knife.
 
8. I then immediately pinch the rope against the bottom of the block.  If you don't, some of the glue may straighten out the rope and make it harder to wrap it around the block later on when it fully dries.
 
9. I then remove the block from the jig to let dry.  I do this 25 times.
 
10. I then reinsert the block with the rope tail hanging straight down back into the jig.
 
11. I pull the rope around the back and up the block holding it in my right hand and with the tweezers in my left, thread the frozen rope through a hook.
 
12. I then pull the rope tight positioning the hook to the top of the block with the tweezers.
 
13. I then lift up the rope slightly and apply a drop of medium CS with a push pin.
 
14. I pull the rope down into the groove while repositioning the hook in the proper position. I then squeeze the rope in the groove with the tweezers.
 
15. After at least 15 seconds of drying, I then firmly press the sharp edge of a new exacto knife blade (this has to be very sharp) against the union position on the block and pull the rope straight up against the knife and cut off the end.  If the blade is sharp enough, just raising the rope against the blade will cut it.
 
16. keep the cut ends.  You are going to reuse them for the next 25 and the next 25 and the... you get the picture.
 
16. Then do this another 179 more times.
 
Here are some photos.