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rwiederrich
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Everything posted by rwiederrich
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She's looking wonderful...great job. Clean and well constructed. Rob
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Well, there you go Jared. she's coming along nicely...good work. Rob
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Gent’s. As far as the W/C’s go on McKay vessels….. you are missing one very large piece of the puzzle. British clippers were small clippers. C/S was only 901 tons. And so was most British clippers. American clippers were nearly twice as large, Many 2/3rds larger. They had to put their W/C’s outside their forecastles for design and space issues. Those little boats couldn’t house them along with the windless and crew. American clippers had size on their side. I feel since the C/S is the only clipper left to evaluate. Model designers simply used her arrangement as their example. Without doing real research. Rob
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Indeed, I fully agree. Rich, I suspect the companionway doors had a modest step up, to prevent water from easily pouring down the passageway. 6~10 inches....this offset allows the companion way slide roofs to nearly be resting on the forecastle deck...as you have depicted in your drawing. This is similar to the example I had shown you presented on that old Thermopylae model forecastle deck... Rob
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Rick, your Flying Fish is just wonderful. Clean, sharp, and very well executed. In our small groups 15 year study of McKay's final clipper, Glory of the Seas....we discovered many construction practices McKay employed in just about all of his clippers. His innovative designs were for the most part, heavily guarded secrets at the time. Rich is pointing out a simple overlooked detail, I discovered, that will make construction much easier when the time comes. We've made many of these discoveries and the intention is to pass along these observations, to aid future model builders....correct issues in plans that did not have the data we have uncovered with the great aid of our friend Michael Mjelde. Rob
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Well, well Rick. Interesting... I retired from Denturism over 10 years ago myself. I did notice a few hand instruments on your desk....that gave me a clue. Now I can see clearly as to where you got your attention to detail skills. I've been a dental lab tech for over 45 years and a Denturist for over 20, till I retired. We share much in common. Rob
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Two hours because I was reading it on my phone …………with a magnifying headset….🙄🤪👍
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Rich I just took about Two hours to finish reading your article. Wow! So much information and discovery. Great read. Thanks for the many kudos and also referencing Vlad’s wonderful build as well. A third article would do his build justice…… Good idea. It would be something if through this article a museum would materialize. 😏 Thanks again my friend. Great job. Rob
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Yeah …..tell me about it. Mine are 1/8”. 🤪 Rob
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Oh boy. Thanks Vlad. I’m so glad you are over the Covid. I’ve been on holiday(Anniversary) for the last 10 days …… Plus , I’ve been keeping busy with lots of mundane tasks. It will be exciting to begin on the hull soon. Again…. Thank you so much. Any book yet? Rob
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Did you include images of the finished model on display? I didn’t see any. Cept with Mike and me. Rob
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How fun. I can’t wait to see it in print in the NRJ. Very impressive work indeed Rob
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I took all those images bro. From hikes we took. Thanks for the fine comments Rich. We had a blast. Rob
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Started working on the metal sheet blocks. I’m following the same method I used for Glory of the Seas. I used metal record tabs. Bent them in half to form the block body. Marked and cut them. But first I drilled all the mounting holes on the mill. Here are some pics of the process. Short but sweet. Next, I’ll mount them on the yards when I get to that point and paint the entire thing then. Each block is 1/8” wide. Rob
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I’m back from the best getaway ever in Sedona Arizona.
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I built a 1956 version of the Cutty Sark. No problems with the blocks. If you expose any model to direct sun light it will deteriorate as well.
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Good eye Johnny. Each block is cleaned of flashing...drilled out and then painted an appropriate block color...then the eye and stropping is painted as well....using paint pens. I used many other kinds of wood blocks in the past...but found, for regularity, and consistency....not to mention expeditious, these premade blocks can be made to look very convincing. Plus, like all things...they are fast and easy to prepare. I'm generally a lazy modeler to begin with anyway. But if it works...it works. I have hundreds upon hundreds of those blocks...single and doubles.😉 Rob
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What I've Learned over the course of time is that, it is far easier to rig your yards on the mast...with the mast off hull. You are free 360deg around the mast to work. Secondly, if you start with the upper most yard...sky or royal...you can then easily run the rigging down through the mast structures far easier and with less opportunity to damage something. I perfected this method and building in this manner when I built the Great Republic. Then when you have all the yards mounted....except the main course...you leave that to add after the mast is glued in, you can go through your lines and belay them to the correct spot/pin. Now, in your case, if the masts are already glued in, you can still start from the top and work down. Again...because it is far easier to run the sheet and bunt lines this way. Then you move to the next yard and so forth. I always add the stays after each mast/yard section is done....so you have room to work around the mast, without bumping into the stay. I can't explain my entire method here in this short posting, but I assure you, you must look at your rigging 3 dimensionally.. Top to bottom and from the inside out. What rigging requires a block/s and where is that block/s located. As you go, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Rob
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This is one reason why I rig from the top down and I rig the yards on the mast OFF hull. Once I install the mast...I can easily trace out the lines and were they go. Sure it's a lot of them, but when you work down you can secure those lines first down through the mast rigging and when you arrive at the main course yard...you have just its lifts and bunt, sheet lines to belay at the fife and rail.
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Twisting of the block tackle is a real pain...that can be illiminated if you thread each block with the line straight. Cotton lines works best for staying off twisting. Especially when you're dealing with hundreds of lines.
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Jerad. There is one thing I can see that will give you more grief if not addressed first. You need to pay special attention to the installation of all your running rigging blocks....especially the ones at the foot of the mast. They should have been installed before you fixed the fife rail in place. They are way easier to get to once in place then if you have to add them after the fact. Running Rigging, unlike standing rigging requires a lot of preplanning. Your main course blocks should all be placed before hand. Before you get too far along..... Review your rigging charts and see your block layout. Place all the blocks needed for the rigging for the foremast on the mast and tops before you begin the rigging of lines. You still need to place the bunt line blocks under the tops. This would have been far easier with the masts still off the model. No real problem.....keep this as a learning experience. Rigging takes a lot of pre-thought.....so take your time. And undersized line is easier to use then over sized line. Plus is scales better. Keep up the good work. I posted an image of Glory of the Seas. Note: the larger lift lines and all the smaller bunt, leach and braces. Also notice the number of lines coming down the main mast to the fife rail. These lines have to be about an 1" diameter at scale to work with so many other lines. Now, mind you, I fully rigged Glory. Every line short the stunsail lifts and sheets.....cuz I didn't place stunsails or booms on Glory....she spent most of her time on the West coast, not in tropical seas where the light winds blow. Rob
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I typically use a fly fishing line for the standing rigging. It mimics hemp cable real well. I also use several sizes of cotton embroidery thread. Pretty much anything I can find in the right size and shade. I like to alternate shades to represent aged and younger lines. I don't use nylon for running rigging ....it has a memory and is tough to get to hang naturally. I do use small black nylon for the deadeye lanyards. It is more resilient to fraying. Rob
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I used line that represented about 3/4"~1" in diameter at scale. The smaller the better. Running rigging used for purchases and double blocks typically was smaller in diameter...especially if you were using the line for sheets and buntlines. It is easy to use over scaled lines...then they become over bearing on one another at the belay point. I use larger running rigging line for lifts...but the lines for purchases and blocks is smaller. If you ever look at real pics of sailing ships....you can hardly make out any of the lines....because they are so small in diameter. Personally, I would caution against using over sized rigging line. Rob
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Tool conversations are always circlic. Who doesn't like talking about tools...no matter how braud the conversation goes. The original question was, *Are there better tools for drilling tiny holes?* If you want all your holes parallel...a drill press is the best solution. If you're requirement is tiny holes in tight, places...finger drills or pin vices work well.😀 Rob
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