gjdale

Sam, You asked: Anybody have advice on getting rid of the fuzzies? My advice is to replace your kit supplied rigging thread with a selection of thread from Chuck (Syren Shipmodelling Company). His thread is fantastic and has no fuzziness at all. Well worth the investment in my opinion (and very moderately priced too). Cheers,

Thank you everyone for the kind comments and for the likes. John - the yard gantry is on pg 9, post #129.

Great project Adam - well done!

Thank you very much Kevin, Marc and Old Collingwood for your kind words. Marc - you asked for it, so here it is. I finally got some time today to start the long process of attaching all these blocks to the yards. I started with the Fore Lower Yard. My main guide for this has been Longridge and this diagram has been most helpful: In that diagram you can see the 26" Quarter Blocks with 9" Slabline blocks attached. You can also see that the Quarter Blocks are attached to the yard by the means of a collar with two eyes that are lashed together. For these large blocks, and indeed for the 26" Jeer Blocks, I decided to try to match the process. Here is a picture of the Quarter Block / Slabline Block assembly, complete with collar and eyes. The Quarter Blocks are represented by 9/32' (7mm) scale blocks and the Slabline by 3/32" (2.5mm) scale blocks. Here are a couple of pictures of it attached to the yard. I actually decided to put the lashing on the aft side of the yard instead of the fore side. Not absolutely correct, but I thought it might look neater, so "Captain's Choice" called on this one! The Clew Garnet Blocks are actually a "shouldered" block, so I improvised by adding a small piece of 1/64" thick boxwood to the outside and shaping it to match the block (a 5/32" (4mm) scale block). The photo is atrocious - I swear it actually looks pretty good I decided not to try to do the collars, eyes and lashings on the smaller blocks, so took a bit of a "cheat" with these. Having seized the blocks into their stropping (using my usual series of overhand knots), I simply tied these around the yard and did the best I could to hide the knots. Here's a few overall shots and some close-ups of the almost completed yard: This last one shows the yard mounted on my home-made "yard gantry" that I made quite some time ago in anticipation of this stage of the build. It works quite well. Oh, and there's a ship in the background too - that would be the final destination for this yard! I still need to add Stirrups and Horses (for which I need to order some more rigging line from Chuck) and then Truss Pendants, Nave Line and Studding Sail Booms. Then it will be ready to attach. Not sure yet if I will attach them one at a time as I go, or fit all the yards out first and then attach them. Plenty of time to consider that one. In the meantime, the above lot of pictures should keep even you-know-who happy for at least a week!

Great job Bob. But I agree that teeth extraction is a little bit of an extreme way to claim some modelling time!

Congratulations Ben - she looks great.

That's a shame John - the work you had done looks really nice. Do you have any dimensions available for the real thing, so that you can calculate the scale size of the components? I'd suggest trying Boxwood for your next attempt, and yes, Jeff can mill it for you to whatever size you want.

Fabulous Mike - a real stunner!

Now tell that to the nine year old John!

Hi John, I'm no expert on photography - far from it in fact - but I suggest you try taking your photos without flash. Either have some really good room lighting, natural daylight, or just a longer exposure time (might require a tripod). This might get rid of those disturbing white flecks. Worth a try anyway. Cheers,

Hi David, Your build is looking great. Just following your discussion on hammock netting, I think it does add a nice touch to the build. I have found that a material called Tulle does a nice job for the purpose, but you need to ensure you get the diamond pattern and not the honeycomb pattern. I found some in a local sewing/craft store (Spotlight over here). If you can't find any over there, I'd be happy to send you some - I've already done so for a couple of others. Just PM me with a mailing address if you'd like some.

Very nice work Mike.

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss Sherry. My sincere condolences to you and your family. You have certainly given your brother a place of honour here.

Thanks Lawrence, I make the blocks up in batches. The set-up is a little fiddly and time consuming, but once done, it is just as easy to make 200 as it is to make 20, so I just make as many as I can get out of a batch of stock. What I don't use for Victory will go into "inventory" for future builds. And definitely no intention of going into the block-selling business!!! Time has been a challenge for me lately, and likely to continue that way for a while. But I'll get to start attaching blocks to yards soon......I hope.

Very clever idea with the toothpicks Sherry! An Ark? Nothing could be farther from the truth!!!

Super work Mike. It's coming together very nicely indeed.

Exquisite - that's the word I was looking for Michael! Seeing the carronnade next to your hand really does highlight the intricacy of your work Johann. "Exquisite" seems to capture it nicely.

A really interesting project Rob. Looks like you've made a great start.

This looks really interesting Mike. Do you have any pictures/drawings of the ship itself that you can show us? Love your Gantry, especially the addition of the levels.

Mobbsie, Great description and pics of your set up. Think I'm gonna have to get me some of these!!!

Great photo Mark - really shows both how big she is, and how much work you've put into her already. Looking forward to some "serious" build time now - just as soon as the "honey-do" list is complete.

Gosh Mark, only one week off and the brain has gone to mush already! You'd better go get a job to keep the mind active.......

Happy Birthday Jim! Hope you spent the the day relaxing and doing something for yourself, instead of all of us demanding customers!

Good job John, she's looking great!

Welcome home again Sherry. Nice to see some more photos of your lovely model - you really are doing a super job on this.