drobinson02199
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Everything posted by drobinson02199
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The lower shrouds are finally done (see picture). I think at this point I could tie ratlines in my sleep with both hands tied behind my back. Leaving tomorrow for a 2 week cruise with my wife -- then back to tackle the upper shrouds and the rigging beyond that. Best regards, David
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I finished the lower shrouds on the main mast, including the futtock shrouds. It took me a while to figure out the drawing on the rigging for that. The first picture is the block and deadeye assembly that goes between the shrouds at the top. The deadeyes are rigged to a piece of wire at the top of the shroud that runs parallel to the ratlines. Then the assembly is snugged up with the line you see here to create some tension on the shrouds and give support to the futtock shrouds. The second picture shows the assembly in place with the futtock shrouds done. I can't tell from the 3D picture of the Revenge if there is much tension drawing the shrouds in as I have done, but I thought it looked good, so I put the tension on them you see here. The futtock shrouds are also rigged to that piece of wire on each side. Now on to another mast and more shrouds and ratlines.
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I haven't had as much progress because I was away on vacation last week, but with that said, I'm into shrouds and ratlines, and ratline rigging is SLOW! Here's a picture of the ratlines on one side of the main mast, which is all I've been able to finish since I last posted almost two weeks ago. I have installed the 1mm wire at the top for the futtock shrouds. I found the drawings for that difficult to understand at first, but I think I have them now (with the help of the really terrific 3D rotating picture Amati supplies online). When I bought this model, I also bought the Amati Loom-a-Line, thinking that it would make the shrouds and ratlines easier and neater, but it's clear that these shrouds need to have the ratlines rigged on the boat given the deadeye setup, and I imagine that's true for most high end models. So a question for any of you who have been down this road a few times: when can the Loom-a-Line be used? Scratch builds only? Never for a kit model?
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For those of you who have been following this, I completed the main mast shrouds using the "one shroud at a time" approach I mentioned above, and in terms of getting the deadeyes nicely aligned, it worked well and was much easier to manage. See picture below. Steps: Attach deadeye to loose shroud Loosely rig deadeye to the one on the channel, and leave it maybe 3mm above where I want it. Wrap the shroud around the mast at the crow's nest, create moderate tension, and weight with rigging pliers to hold in place. Snug down the deadeye rigging until it's aligned. This puts additional tension on the shroud. I found that this approach allowed me to adjust up and down until I got the alignment where I wanted it. Glue the shroud at the crow's nest Check final deadeye alignment, dress the rigging around the shroud and glue. This goes fairly quickly. On the plans, Chris Watton ties the two strands on each shroud loop together up at the mast, so that the shrouds won't cross. I found that I had to wrap them around the mast in the same direction in order to avoid crossing. As the picture shows, I'm now doing the ratlines on these shrouds before moving to the other masts. I want to see how this "one at a time" approach works when I get up close to the crow's nest and when I have to rig the futtock shrouds. More on that when I get there, which may be when I get back from a week away. Best regards, David
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Having completed the mast rigging, I started on the shrouds today, and following the plans, used the approach of looping a shroud around the mast and attaching two deadeyes. The issue that arises is getting the upper deadeyes on the shrouds precisely aligned, so that they look really nice. I rigged the first deadeye, but found that if I left the loop around the mast loose, it was impossible to get the right length on the second one and maintain a good tension. So I tensioned the first one, and then fixed it to the mast with glue. That left the second one firmly fastened to the mast, and then I could line up the second deadeye and attach it to the shroud. Final alignment achieved by twisting the shroud and then tightening the deadeyes. The result of all that is in the picture below. But having done this, I think it will be simpler to eliminate the "two deadeye loop", and instead rig them one at a time without connecting the shrouds, by first rigging one deadeye on a shroud, and with tension on the shroud aligning and fastening the deadeye rigging to get the right height, and then pulling on the shroud at the mast to get the right tension, and then fixing that with glue. Then repeat with a separate, disconnected shroud for the next deadeye, and so forth. That, I think, will be a simpler and more reliable way to keep the deadeyes aligned and at the right height. All of this makes more sense when one is looking at the plans, but I think one of the points of these build logs is to pass on "here's what I tried", so that's what I'm doing here. Best regards, David
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I now have the yardarms up and the masts fixed. The yardarms have some play in them (particularly the lateen yards), and they will get aligned during rigging. Now on to that! Best regards, David
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On my computer, it looks like the pics above loaded out of sequence. The intended sequence is 1, 4, 3, 2.
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When I installed the first "parrel" on the main mast, it was really difficult because it's hard to keep the rib/bead assembly stable until you get some tension on the threads -- but it's hard to do that when the assembly isn't stable. The pictures below show a method that worked well. The number of ribs is odd, so I isolate the middle rib and glue it to the mast. That allows for the ribs/beads on each side to be snugged up and glued at the last rib. When that's done on both sides, the parrel assembly is stable and fixed to the mast, ready for tying on the yard. By the way, the drawings show an 11 rib assembly (two-tier) for the upper main mast yard, but that's too much for the diameter of the upper mast. I found that seven ribs worked well for that. Best regards, David
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Thanks, Ondras. The largest yard will also have two yard lifts attached, and those will be heavier thread. All of the yards will have lifts attached of varying sizes. Best regards, David
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Keith -- Thanks for the issue of "twanging" the yards -- I can see that! The rigging has good lifts, and the parrel is really holding it on well, so I think I'll try it your way. Best regards, David
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I decided to build and mount one yardarm all the way though -- shape, paint, varnish, rig, and mount. Now that I've done that, I can batch all of them in those stages. I posed a question above as to whether I should mount the yardarms now, or wait until the stage of the plans that shows all of the mounting rigging (like the yard lifts). Having done this one, there's no question that I'd have been in the deep stuff if I had waited. The parrel assembly is not easy to mount and I really needed to be able to manipulate the mast a lot as I did it. First picture below shows the parrel assembly (ribs and beads in three separately strung rows) after I strung it. I used small binder clips to hold it together. The second picture shows how the parrel sits on the main mast. The threads that run through it then wrap around the yardarm. The third picture shows the mounted yardarm. I need some advice from those of you with more experience doing rigging than I have. I decided to put a few dabs of CA glue on the parrel to fix it to the mast, but the only thing holding the yardarm right now is the rigging from the parrel. More will be added later with yard lifts and of course all of the rigging that attaches to the yardarm. But right now, there is play in the yardarm -- just a bit bow to stern, and a fair amount rotating back & forth like a clock hand. Question: am I better off carefully aligning the yardarms now and fixing them with glue so that they are stiff to the masts, or leaving them as is and rigging carefully to maintain proper alignment? Any and all advice would be appreciated. Thanks, David
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Thanks, Don. That's what I plan to do. The yardarm plans show the rigging to be installed on each yard. I've started on the main mast lower yard, and I have strung my first "parrel", awaiting installation. I don't think I'd want to try to install it on mounted masts, particularly with a lot of mast rigging already on the boat. After I get it done and installed, I'll post a pic.
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I've finished all of the masts now (see picture below). Some of the Amati pictures of the Revenge show the masts yellow, while others show them natural. I left mine natural, but I'll paint the yards black. Now on to the yards. One not so clear point is when they should be mounted. The instruction book stops when the hull is done, and everything else (masts and rigging) is done from an extensive set of plans. If I were to follow the plans in order, I'd make the yards now, but not mount them until after all of the mast stays and shrouds are done. But the main way the yards are fastened to the masts uses a parrel assembly that I think I'd really struggle with if the masts are already mounted and a lot of rigging is in place. So once I make and paint them, I'm going to mount the yards using the parrel assemblies, and then glue the masts in place before rigging. I've looked ahead on the plans, and I don't foresee any pitfalls here, but if anyone has experience from the Revenge or another model that suggests this could be a mistake, please let me know. Thanks, David Robinson
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Here is the second crow's nest for the foremast, and per my earlier post I departed from the instructions and built this one differently. Very difficult and took a lot of tries to get the first two rings done simultaneously, but as you can see, the result is a better finished product than my first one (a few posts up), as the spacing between rings is even all the way around. Best regards, David Robinson
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Finished the main mast. Lots of wood shaping involved, so getting this built took some time. Now on to the foremast, which is very similar. Best regards, David Robinson
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I started on the masts today, and got to the main mast crow's nest. It looked like it was going to be fun, but ended up a cross between an adventure and a nightmare. The problem is in the instructions: they have you glue four support brackets to the middle ring, let dry, and then fit to the bottom ring before adding more brackets. The problem with that is that there is a lot of play in the brackets, and even though they looked level, when I tried to fit the assembly to the lower ring, it wouldn't fit, and as I worked to see if I could get it to pop in, it broke. Before I was done, I had the delicate center ring in 5 pieces. So I started piecing it together, adding brackets as I went along, with the help of lots of BSI medium CA gel and Insta-set. You can see the end result (along with the liberal use of CA) in the first picture. It's painted black in the end, so it will look OK on the mast. If you look at picture 2, you can see more space between the first two rings than betwen rings 2 & 3 -- and they are supposed to be evenly spaced. Anyway, it was a more or less successful rescue of what was looking like a disaster. There is a second identical crow's nest on the fore mast, and when I get to that I'll build it differently -- installing the initial brackets simultaneously on rings 1 & 2 so that I get the alignment right. Regards, David Robinson
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Antony asked for more pictures, so here are a couple that show some interesting detail. I really like the bulkhead decoration and door detailing. The instructions say to paint the brass yellow, but I've left it natural brass. I also uploaded a picture of some of the deadeyes on the side. They sit on top of a platform the manual calls a "channel", and each one is individually fixed to the platform with a metal strap. Thanks, David Robinson
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Hi Christian -- I think you may have me confused with Don Robinson. I'm David Robinson, and this is the first build I've posted. I appreciate you following along. I'm glad you think it's clean. It's my fifth model, and I'm learning. Thanks, David Robinson
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Denis: I went through your build log when I was starting out on the Revenge, and it was really helpful to me. I saw that you had to pause for your health. I really hope you get better quickly. Thanks, David Robinson
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Christian: Thanks for your nice comment. This model requires precise placement of the "wale" planks, and that in turn requires intricate side-bending of the finish layer planks (some of mine had a "S" shape by the time I was finished bending them!). I used steam, clamps, and a hair dryer plus a plank bender. At the bow, I started with bow-to-stern planks, and then finally let the planks turn upward and worked out to the bow again. You can see it in the attached picture. The only place I used stealers was at the stern, where it really flares out. Thanks, David Robinson
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Antony -- Thanks for your comments. My name is David Robinson, and per the instructions I put that in the title of my post, but somehow the MSW system changed it to my user name. From now on, I'll sign my posts. I'm also not seeing any way to reply to your post, so I went back to my original to add this post, and I hope it works. Thanks, David Robinson
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I have benefited from others' posts about the Revenge, so I thought I'd post my status partway through the build, with the decks complete and ready to begin the masts. This is a fantastic kit, with wonderful quality and instructions. You'll notice that I have kept the hull natural vs. painting it white below the waterline. The videos in other Revenge logs on plank bending were a fantastic help, although I found that steam + hair dryer worked best and fastest for me. Happy to share my experiences up to this point with anyone who may be at an earlier stage.
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