Richvee

Thanks Bill, Ryland. Appreciate the kind words. Ryland-I think my knack for realism stems from my modeling background with model railroading. it's always the goal in model railroading to make things look as real as possible. Next model I want to try to give up a little realism for a cleaner, more polished, "like new" look.

I have spent the past month experimenting with different methods of rope hanks. The two I ended up using are Tom Lauria's method which makes a wider loop of rope. I used these on the main rail, and sparingly on the fore rail where things are real tight. On the fore rail, the hanks are almost all made using this method I ran across on youtube. One thing I changes from the way these are made in the video is, I needed to coat the whole hank in diluted white glue. Not just the top and bottom as shown. It gave the hank stability as I worked on getting the upper loop back through the hank. It was easy enough to make the hank flexible when installing them by wetting them with some more diluted white glue. Here's a shot of the main rail, with Tom's method. For the fore rails, with many more lines, I used the second method for more of the hanks for thinner, compacts coils. Rigging is almost complete. I have added the braces for the top 3 yards, and the clew, tack and fore sheets. The only thing left is the brace for the lower yard. That runs from the main shroud, the the end of the yard, and back through a block on the main shroud. Thys will severely limit access to the deck, so I need to fabricate a few tryworks tools and install them before adding these last braces. Hopefully I can make a few that look something like these on display at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. I can't seem to flip these right side up. Whatever I do, they load upside down? I hope you get the idea of the tools. After the tryworks tools, it will be on to fabricating oars, masts, line tubs, harpoons, and maybe a few other items for the whaleboats. I want to try to furl some sail cloth around the whaleboat masts. We'll see how that works. The end is near, but still a lot of work to go.

Lol. Yes. Just the modeler, and other modelers. Those details are lost on the casual viewer. But we don’t model for the casual viewer. We model for our own self satisfaction. ( well, at least I do).

I used a combination of methods. On some I was able to get good angles and wrapping twice under and over in a figure eight pattern was easy. These lines held nice by themselves, and I was able to dab some diluted white glue on them, let it dry then cut the excess. Others, either because of access angles, or whatever other reasons, didn't behave so well and gave me a hard time. On those, I put a spot of white glue on the underside of the pin, worked the line around the bottom of the pin, through the glue, and let it dry thoroughly before attempting to wrap it over the top. On the stubborn ones, there's only one wrap, and the wrap around the top is sometimes held in place with a small spot of CA glue. In the event I need to re tension any lines, water does a good job releasing the white glue, and a drop of Model Expo's CA remover works to loosen the ones with CA holding them down. Overall I think it was worth the effort. The lines look much better coming down in front or to the side of the coils. I'm hoping the few on the fore rail I just couldn't get to are not obvious and hidden beneath all the coils when they are in place. Here's a closeup look at the main rail with a few more coils in place.

I’m at this exact point on my KC build. I too had the lines fed through the holes and then the pin put in holding the line in place. After making a few rope coils I was real unhappy with the look of the coil with the line seemingly going through the coil. I chose to rework the lines and hitch them under and over and dab them with a spot of diluted white glue. You can see the 5th line from the left that’s still through the hole. I’m causing more damage trying to extend and wrap that line than it’s worth. That one is staying through the hole and hopefully after all the coils are in place it will be less noticeable. Now I think the line and lay of the coils looks better.

Thanks Chuck. Rope coils, yard braces, and a few lines off the lower yard, a few flags, and that should wrap up the rigging. Some whaleboat and tryworks hardware, and hanging the boats and that should do it! The end is close, but a lot of detail still to go. I’ll try to get in our zoom meeting tomorrow night if I can get out of work early enough. Hopefully soon after the holidays we can get back to some kind of normal and have in person meetings again.

Work is moving along. All yards have been completed and hung! Each is complete with all reef, bunt, leach, lifts, and sheets. The braces have not been added yet. They will wait until I make the rope coils for the pin rails. The braces, along with the fore tack/clew garnet/and fore sheet rig would inhibit access to the deck. I'm happy to report there were only a few minor setbacks in the process. I knocked the boom's main topping lift, and had to re-rig that whole thing. I also managed to burn part of the topgallant halyard tackle trying to "de- fuzz" the royal clew line. I used a different thread for the royal clew...a .005 white line from Bluejacket dyed to match Chuck's light brown line. Brown Rit dye did the trick, but the line was way "fuzzier" than Chuck's superb line. So I tried to pass a lighter over the .005 line, and the topgallant halyard caught fire. I spliced it by using a little CA on the ends, slicing both end on a diagonal, then a dab a CA, and rolled the two lines together in my thumb and forefinger. Came out OK. I can't even tell exactly where the slice is in the maze of rigging under the fore top. Next up is making all the rope coils. I'll be experimenting with different methods, but as of right now I'm leaning towards following Tom Lauria's method on You tube. So that brings me to here.... A look at the tryworks and some running rigging at the pinrails. Some hanging threads on the backstay that have to be trimmed off. I had to re-tension the backstay after knocking the bowsprit and the forestays numerous times during rigging. Luckily tightening up the backstays took care of the forestay's sag.

Looks like a fun kit. I've got my eyes on a clipper somewhere down the road. I'll be following along. For anyone modeling a clipper, I highly suggest a read through the amazing bulidlog of EdT's Young America.

Topsail yard in place. It sure is getting crowded under the top with all those lines running through the fairlead holes. I used a row of 2.5mm wooden bulls eyes to serve as the fairleads under the top, and on the shrouds. The fore tac, and clew line, and the braces are left off to allow a little better access to the rails on the deck to belay all these lines. For now, they are run through the belaying pin holes with extra length, and the pin in each hole to hold the lines there.

Great stuff! Love the realism of your work. I'll be using these photos when I get around to the whaleboat hardware on my Kate Cory. Even for my 1/64 ship, I agree the line tubs are a must in each of my boats. Other than oars, mast, and a harpoon or two, I'm not sure how many more details I can stuff into my little boats.

Nice work. I agree learning the history of the whaling industry is half the fun. You work looks far beyond beginner level.

Did as much detail on the lower yard off the model as I could. Lift and brace blocks, reef tackle blocks and line, bunt and leech line, chain sheets, footropes and flemish horses. Everything went pretty smooth. I fastened the blocks to the sheet chain, and added the tackle line, then I rove the tackle through the lower blocks that I had strapped, but left a long piece of wire still on the blocks, so I could thread the wire through the deck eyes next to the mast and secure the block after the tackle was rove through the blocks. . I figured it would be easier to fasten the lower blocks to the deck eyes with the tackle already rigged through the block. That worked out real well. I was able to fit the pin through the truss to secure the yard to the mast with minimal trouble. Had a little trouble with the sling chain. I was a little off when I cut it to length when I test fitted the yard. I had to undo the ring bolt under the mast, remove the chain, clip two links off it and re attach it under the top. While the sling chain was off the model, and after resizing, I soaked it in acetone for a few minutes, dried it and blackened it. The original plan was to just paint it once it was in, but since I had it off the model, I went with the blackening. It took a very nice black color, as did the sheet chain. None of the lines a permanently belayed yet. Some are wrapped around their pins just to keep some order. Tensioning all these lines is going to be interesting, given that fact that the yard swivels on the truss. I'm not sure if I should level the yard, and add a drop of CA on the truss, or let swing and let the lines actually hold it in place. Here you can see the sling chain tight, and in place AHHHHH!!😱 The bunt and leech lines are through the wrong hole in the blocks! Looks like they'll be getting re done. Chain sheet and block

Perfect. That’s what I was thinking today as I went about business at work. I’m a little surprised it’s not mentioned it in the wonderfully detailed rigging spec booklet written by Erik Romberg Jr. Every line, size, belaying point, tackle, etc. is written about in detail. A little note on the plans next to the yard detail saying “ notch in batten for halyard hitch” would have been nice😊 Thanks for your help.

Beautiful work. So, I see what you’re saying, however, I have a single tye, and, as you can see in the plans above call for timber battens, not rope slings/truss. So how would I get that strap around the center of my yard if it calls for timber battens? Maybe 2 straps around the yard similar to yours, on either side of the batten, then lashed together and the tye secured in the center of the two straps?

Thanks Allen. The Kate Cory had wooden battens as shown in the plans below. Note the topsail yard has a halyard band and and eye for attaching the halyard tye. The topgallant and royal do not have that band and eye. How was the halyard tye attached to these two yards?

My plans and instructions for the Kate Cory say the topgallant and royal yard halyards do not have a halyard band and an eye for securing the halyard. The directions simply say.. "The tye is hitched to the yards centerline and not to a metal band like the topsail yard". While the rigging specs booklet states "Tarred manila, 2 1/2"c. Sling end seized around yard in a bight. " There are no pictures of this in the plans or instructions. My question is, how was this slung around the yard with a timber batten mounted to the yard to fit it to the mast? My only guess is there a space between the batten and the yard to slip the halyard though to get around the yard? Yet I see no evidence of such a space on the kit's plans, nor in the detailed plans from New Bedford. Can anyone explain to me what kind of knot/sling was used on these yards? Thanks

Thanks Bill. I’ll be on the meeting call as soon as I can. Working til 6:30. Unless I can sneak out early😁

Thanks for the likes guys. A little update on the progress of the fore course. After drilling the sheet sheaves, painting, and adding the iron straps, and multiple eyes, it was time to work on how this truss was going to hold on. Small plastic discs with pilot holes proved to be a futile endeavor. I decided to try making 4 eyes with 24 gauge steel wire, and the truss could slip in between them, and get secured with a brass pin through it and clipped flush. I made another half a dozen before finding 4 I liked and the brass pin slipped through easily. Next was to drill pilot holes for these eyes. I put the yard in a vice, and taped 1/32" square strip of wood on the yard to keep an even spacing between the eyes. This ended up working OK, and it was time to test fit the yard. To my amazement, it seems this will work! I added an eye at the end of the sling chain which I cut to it's proper length, and drilled a corresponding hole on the top side of the yard on the center band that will hold the sling chain. I took the yard off, and added the blocks for the reef tackle, lifts, braces and clew lines. Then it was time to attempt that sheet block for the chain topsail sheet. I cut the rough shape out of a piece of styrene plastic, and then another to make the front and back plates. Then I took 2 - 2.5mm metal bullseyes I had laying around, filed them real thin, and glued them to the plastic to resemble the pulleys in the block. I let that dry, and then filed the plastic to it's final shape, as best as I could. Then I added two very thin strips of wood to the front plate to get the look like the one on the Lagoda. It's very small. It measures 10mm across, 7 mm deep, and about 2mm thick. I drilled a small hole top center of the block, and added an eye on the bottom side of the yard. A pin will be inserted through the front plate, through the eye in the yard, and through the back plate to hold the block in place. I tested it's fit on the yard to make sure I had the eye on the yard the popper distance away from the yard so the block holes for the pin and the eye on the yard lined up. It's looks a little rough, as the camera picks up every little detail, but I'm happy with the result. Once again the "real block" I blackened the sheet chain, and wove it through the block. And here it is pinned to a piece of Styrofoam, waiting to get installed on the yard. It will go on last, after the lines I need to put on like reef lines, footropes, stirrups and flemish horses. Added the jackstay, bunt line and leach line blocks, and stirrups. Coated the stirrups in diluted white glue, and they're hanging straight to dry. I again tried to replicate some detail I saw on the Logada. The stirrups were lashed to the jackstays with manila rope. ..And my attempt. Not exact, but I think a decent facsimile of it...🙂 A few more details and it will be time to get this yard on the ship.

A little thinking out loud as I get ready to start the yards. These are "new" for me. I made the Model Shipways Taurus and Benjamin W Latham eons ago when Model Shipways was in Bogota, NJ near where I grew up. So I'm trying to lay out a plan in my head for the yards. Rig as much as possible off the ship first. I want to add the reef tackles. Again, I want to get as much on here as I can. A block with a stopper knot at the ends of the yard run to the mast and down will suffice. The sheet for the lower yard is chain. I want to have this trough the sheave, with the clew line block attached to the upper end, and the bottom rove through the sheet blocks under the yard at the mast and single block with the standing end of the topsail sheet tackle all together before the yard gets attached. The plans say the sheet went though blocks at the mast. I've seen the iron sheet blocks that EdT made for the Young America, and I saw a similar sheet block on the lovely 1/2 scale Lagoda in New Bedford. I don't think one would look out of place on the KC. I'm not ready to try and make one out of metal as Edt did, but I think I can fashion one out out of a combination of styrene and wood. The Truss holding the lower yard is also something I need to figure out. Right now I have the truss pinned to the mast, between two syrene plates with holes in them epoxied to the mast band. Here's what the truss looks like on the Lagoda. You can see it below, in the upper right of the picture. Here's mine, pinned to the mast. I'm hoping I can make the same sort of fixture with syrene on the yard bands and wedge the truss between them and pin it. Attaching that sling chain to the mast is going to be a challenge as well. That's straight forward, but it sure is a small space to be working in. Jackstays, lift and brace eyes and blocks, reef tackle eyes and blocks, Flemish horse eye in the ends of the yard, stirrups, footrope, bunt and leech line blocks attached to the jackstay...I think that about covers everything needed on the lower yard. Time to get busy. I guess I'll start with some sheave holes and all the eyebolts. Then the jackstay and then some paint.

A few looks at the gaff and boom now complete. Special thanks to @michaelmys for explaining how that peak halyard rig works. Both ends belay to the pin rail on opposite sides, starboard side directly the the pin rail, port side with a take up tackle. It appears that the hauling end was used to raise the gaff to certain point, then made fast, and then the take up tackle side was used to further raise the gaff to position, the tackle giving it that added power needed. If you look closely at the above photo, you can see somehow I managed to rig the throat halyard and bring the hauling end down on the wrong side. 😣. I don't think it will bother me enough to go in and re-rig it. It will probably cause more harm than good trying to get in that tight space now. At the end of the gaff, you can see I hooked the sheet to the gaff topsail halyard. Completed boom and gaff That brings me to here.... Long way to go, but it's starting to feel like I can see the finish line. On to the yards!!

Thanks John. I wish my work was a clean as yours. Plus I have zero photography skills as all these shots are just from my i phone. Your photography is always top notch. As for the whaleboats, it was fun deciding on the color scheme. I've looked at so many pictures, trips to Mystic, and New Bedford...The only constant seems to be pick any color scheme you want! Want to paint the rail a different color than the topsides? go ahead. Want to paint the cuddy board the same as the rail. or the maybe the bulwarks? I've seen both. Paint the thwarts, or leave them wood stained? Go right ahead. The hardware will come last. Right now it's time to move on to the yards. I've been doing a lot of contemplating on how I'm going to secure that fore yard truss and sling to the yard. The gaff is up and rigged. I'll get some pictures up soon.

Thanks Michael for the great explanation. It's fun for me to learn the workings of this ship as I build it. So, by dumb luck, and just liking the position I achieved for the upper block , I ended up with the block just about halfway up. Fairly close to accurate. Sometimes even a blind squirrel finds a nut. 😎

Thanks. That makes sense. After rigging the contraption, and playing with the lines a bit, the two ends seem to work in conjunction with each other. Pull down the hauling end, Starboard side, and the take up tackle, port side simultaneously, (along with the throat halyard) and the gaff would raise, decreasing the distance between the tackle blocks as the gaff rises. That said, since I'm rigging the gaff in the raised position without a sail ...and that's not very realistic to begin with, why fret over the distance between the tackle blocks? So I took a little artistic licence and kept a rather large of space between the blocks. I think it looks a little more dramatic.

I'm in the process of rigging the main gaff on the Kate Cory. I have a question regarding the peak halyard, in particular, the take up tackle. The Peak Halyard is rove through the two single blocks on the gaff, through the triple block on the mast as shown. The hauling end simple belays to the pin rail, starboard side. The take up fall runs through single block at the rail, and through the double upper block and belays in the rail, port side. So, I'm having a little difficulty working the mechanics of this through rig in my head. Do you "pull" the hauling end down to raise the gaff?? And in turn, does raising the gaff bring the take up tackle blocks closer together, or farther apart? Another way to ask what I'm looking to find out....If I rig the gaff in the raised position, should there be a big distance between the take up tackle blocks as shown in the plans, or should the upper block be down closer to the pin rial block?

Thanks Kurt. I do not have a case yet. I need to start thinking about it. Not sure if I have the skills and tools to make a nice one, or if I should order one. Still plenty work to go with the yard arms, and assorted details, but there is light at the end of the tunnel 😊