gjdale

Thanks Kevin - nice to see you over for a visit; I'm looking forward to seeing your new workshop in a few weeks time, and of course your re-commencement of work on your Vic.

Hi all,

Hooray!!!!  I have just tied the last ratline.  

380 ratlines; 2,682 clove hitches (all tied with tweezers and Optivisor magnifier).  

And yes, I counted them............

Just to keep Sjors happy, here's a few overall pics to mark the completion of this milestone:

On reflection:

I prevaricated about the ratline colour, but I'm glad I settled on black.  Danny's tip about tying the outer clove hitches with their "tails" pointing inwards is well worth pursuing - it's not difficult once you get your head around it, and looks much neater.  Using a card template is a must - both for eveness of spacing and also as an aid to actually tying the lines.  Your Optivisor and your bent nose tweezers are you best friends.  Your elbows are your worst enemies. 

Now it's on to the yards and running rigging.  Fortunately Gil is a little ways ahead of me, so I'll be able to draw on his experience and pinch all his good ideas! 

Looking great Andy. Not long now until you'll be among the joys of ratlines!

Wow Nico! Those last interior shots could be the "real thing"!!!

Another interesting one to follow Rusty!  Like you, I couldn't resist this one and ordered the plans a couple of weeks ago.  Not sure when I'll get around to it, or whether I'll stick with the 1:24 or go to 1:48, but it sure looks like a nice build.  Can't wait to see your progress on this.

Very nice work on that anchor Bob. Mast looks great too.

Hi Mobbsie,

Looks like you've done your usual good work on the planking, even if it did seem to take forever! Shame about the gunport damage, but I'm sure you'll recover nicely. Looking forward to seeing this stage complete.

Augie,

As I recall, they didn't back off before firing.  The torpedo would have just bobbed around a bit.  I think John hit it right... "suicide spear".  Reference the Hunley...

And a concept still used today....recall USS Cole a few years ago.....

Thank you Keel Hauled and Ship Shape for stopping by and for your kind remarks. I can't help smiling at that "Keel Hauled and Ship Shape" - perhaps one of you is the evil twin brother of the other?

I hope to be able to celebrate completion of ratlines this weekend - stay tuned!

Nice crisp work there Bob - looking great!

Gee Augie, I don't know about this! No photographic evidence of the alleged disaster...... I think you might be spinning us a yarn here.....

Seriously though, excellent work on the fix - we really can't tell what happened.

Cheers,

Your work is as lovely as always Remco. A delight to watch.

Hi Danny,

Re-building this log is a massive undertaking for you, but one appreciated by your many followers I'm sure. When you get time to draw breath, a "tutorial" on making clamps would be great to see, and I'm sure would be an instant hit!

Cheers,

More amazing work Paul. Really enjoying following this one again!

Kevin,

I don't know about others, but I think the creation of your workshop is every bit as relevant as details of the build itself.  Please keep posting updates and photos.

Thanks for that tip Ed - an easy trap to fall into!

Nice to see your Longboat log back Toni.  I have this kit sitting in the cupboard waiting for a "rainy day", so your log will be a good reference when I finally get around to it.

Ingenious Mark. Thanks for the link to the article too. And I'm still drooling over your big workbench!

I'd certainly like to build this one Jeff - one day......  It's on my "to-do"list, but not until I have developed a few more skills and experience through some other scratch builds first.

I've recently acquired this book from SeaWatch books - basically because I love modelling books, but also because this looks like a beautiful model from a period a little earlier than most of the builds here at MSW. I don't see any build logs for this ship on MSW 2.0 and was wondering if anyone had actually built this, or was in the process of building it?

It's a lovely book, by the way, and the colour photo section is gorgeous.

Very nicely done Bob. I have no idea as to correctness of the gun rigging, but it looks good and seems appropriate. I agree that an anchor would also be expected.

Thanks Aldo,

Still plugging away. Maybe next weekend will see the last of the ratlines done......

Sjors,

Nice work on the head. If you're not happy with the gratings, then re-do them now, before you add any more detail - it'll only be more difficult to do later on.

Oh, and I prefer your avatar with your bus!

Thanks Finisterre. Looks like I need to get a dial indicator.

 

Hi Alexandru,

Thank you for taking the time and effort to repost your log of this magnificent build. I had forgotten how truly stunning it all was. Re-reading from the beginning has been a real delight.

My Vol 2 arrived today

Excellent piece of work Allan and Wayne! A very useful reference book and some great plans as well.