JerseyCity Frankie

Regarding this common depiction of the hauling end of the tackle wrapped around and around the falls of the tackle: I don’t believe this represents real world use. This is my opinion based on my own experience-not with cannon but with tackle on ships in general. This laborious and unnecessary technique of tightly wrapping is bad for the rope and too time consuming to do and undo. Sure I could see a few frapping tuns used around the fall, which would keep the fall from fouling on stuff, but the entire line? No. Extra length would be gasket coiled, as extra line not intended for use for extended periods always is aboard ship. 
Im certain that the photos depicting this practice are all taken on museum ships which are open to the public. In the context of a museum display which can be accessed by the public it would make sense to isolate the entire length of the tackle falls under turns of the hauling part of the line as this prevents kids or miscreants from tugging on or  otherwise misusing the museum artifact. Believe me: if there was a free hauling part available on any tackle anywhere on any museum ship, hundreds of people each day would be doing their best to haul on it!  But on a real ship the tackle won’t need that kind of insurance represented by the elaborate wrapping. 

Most of us view plastic kits as being crude in terms of quality. The company Heller makes some very good plastic sailing ship kits -I'm building their HMS Victory- but even these nicer kits have shortcomings. The nice thing about even a very poor plastic kit is that you can throw away everything but the hull and build your own version on top, using the hull as a foundation. You have saved a lot of time not having to build the hull from scratch and can go right into masting and rigging. Another nice thing about using a plastic kit is that you can decide for yourself at which points to step in a manufacture your own components. Most people are going to agree that the molded-in-one-piece shrouds and ratlines should be tossed no matter what else you plan on doing. Those things are always ugly simplistic and out of scale.

I don't think I'm being too hard on anyone. I feel it's our place to point out mistakes or misunderstandings in the context of this website, and I hope MY mistakes and blunders will be pointed out too. I will be great full for it.i will also add that I very rarely say in effect " I know you're wrong", I always say, in effect, here is why I THINK your wrong and then I explain my point of view. >Edit< I have just had a look st the Niagara plans and the only reference to the burton pendants I could find was this sketch in the corner of the main rigging plan. The sketch could certainly have been more clear about how the pendant is made, they only illustrated half the bit of rigging the pendant is made of which as we see is creating confusion.

i use a couple of methods. In each case you should unspool all the line you will need since whatever preparation you use, it can't penetrate stuff still on the spool and you will only effect the outer layers. I use one of two methods: most often I wet the thread with water ( a lot of water the thread should be dripping almost), stretch it between two points then I rub a small rag with acrylic paint over the thread,running it back and forth. If the color is too dark remove some of the paint by rubbing the line again with a rag soaked liberally with water. You can, if you work quickly, remove most of the paint if that's what it takes. Let it dry stretched so kinks won't form then coming again if you want it darker. It's done and dry within an hour. The other method I use is diluted acrylic in a tin can and I soak the unspooled thread overnight. A pain in the futtocks to untangle and stretch to dry but maybe more consistent color throughout the thread. Also strong coffee will empart color on white thread this way but will never get very dark. The color of acrylic paint I use is Burnt Umber  or Raw Umber. Any brownish earth tone will work but black works too if thinned enough. In all honesty a brown magic marker can work but probably will age weirdly on the model.

She’s fine. Nothing looks as broken as a broken ship model, this may not be as bad as it looks. Try to save the shrouds if you can, otherwise I’d throw away all the rigging and sytematicaly re-rig her. If you can get her down to just the masts and the shrouds the rest is child’s play.

The basic principle is that Right Hand Laid strands (threads, in model rope making) will lay up into Left Hand Laid rope- also called Shroud Laid or "S" laid. Full size running rigging line is always Cable Laid -also called Right Hand laid or "S" laid. If you don't want to use Shroud Laid Rope (Left Laid or "Z"laid)  on your running rigging (which would be inaccurate difficult to notice) you have to start with strands that are Left Hand Laid. But you can never find Left Hand Laid thread.
What you can do though is make your own Left Laid thread. Its laborious but it is possible to UNLAY thread, spin it in the opposite direction of its lay. Maybe you can do that to three strands at once on your rope walk? If you cant, use a reversible electric drill, chuck a hook into it, tie one end of one strand of thread to a chair and put the other end on the hook on the drill. Stand in a place that keeps the thread tight but not too tight. Turn on the drill, reversing the lay. The thread gets longer as the twists come out. You will reach a point when the thread is entirely untwisted. Keep going and lay the thread up in the opposite direction. There is no good way to know when you are done twisting, this will take trial and error. Now you have gheto Shroud Laid thread and this can now go on your rope walk to lay up into Cable Laid Rope. There is a facbook group called "Ropemakers" which is worth a look see.

Hi Ian. Stunsails (spelled Studdingsails) are supplementary sails that can be set on either side of the square sails. The booms you mention could be slid outboard through iron rings attached to the yards well past the ends of the yardams. On these extensions smaller square sails could then be spread, giving the effect of more canvas on each yard.  Here is an excellent recently posted photo of them in use on the the Europa which makes their disposition plain. Studdingsails were only set in light airs with the wind abaft the beam.
Most of the time the booms were not in use and they were positioned inboard, which is how they are usually depicted on models. The canvas on them was "flown" up to them from the deck, not furled on them at all when not in use. The sails could be set as needed and not necessarily all at the same time nor even symmetrically- you could set the portside ones but not the starboard ones, or even set the ones to port on some yards and ones to starboard on others. All depending on the wind. 

They are regarded as difficult creatures. Studdingsail booms are almost thought of as disposable since they often break, as I have heard crew from Pride of Baltimore II report. They can only exist in light wind conditions and if the wind picks up they must be got in quickly. "Modern" square rigged ships seldom carried them, for instance none of the big steel hulled German barques had them.

The nice thing about a plastic kit is you can take it right into the shower with you and wash away every bit of dust, something you can’t do with wood. But I’d discard the plastic spars after using them as patterns to make wooden replacements.

1/48 scale! Many modelers have built (and are building) HMS Victories, but how many chose 1/48 scale? I remember the Longridge model is none feet long! Or maybe the case it resides in was nine feet? I wonder if you plan to rig the model? where this huge model go when it is completed?

I'm in awe of this project. I think everyone who starts building ship models will, within a year or two of getting into the hobby, consider the notion of building a huge 1/48 scale H.M.S. Victory. Very few people have the determination and will to start and cary through such a project! My hat is off to you. I am jealous on one level but on another level I am glad it is not me! It takes a special kind of person to do what you are doing.

Climbing in the rig is exhilarating! Its the best part about traditional sailing, in my opinion. Nearly EVERY modern ship has mandatory safety harness wearing policies and these will have a three foot long lanyard with a double locking snap hook or caribiner on its end which the climber can quickly and easily clip onto any convenient bit of standing rigging. Typically when going over the futtocks a climber pauses and clips in to a spot above their heads then climbs up with the secure knowledge that if they fall the harness will save them. The problem is that the larger the ship, the greater the distance you must cover. On a smaller ship one may stand at the highest ratline and be able to reach the top with your hand. On big ships you can't and must commit to climbing the futtocks WITHOUT being able to hold onto anything above the level of the top. This is disconcerting. And in situations like this, your safety lanyard becomes paradoxically dangerous since you want to clip into the futtocks, but as you climb up to this point you now are obliged to unclip and reposition your safety lanyard to a higher spot. This makes you more vulnerable than if you had not clipped on in the first place since now you're hanging on one-handed while you re-clip. To deal with this many modern ships have a dedicated safety line running from above the top down to the highest ratline level. Clipping into this allows you to use both hands for the climb but if you do fall, you fall the full length of the safety line + landyard length before you fetch up. I saw this happen to a guy once.

As much as I love wooden ships and tar and three stranded line I have to admit our hobby does not have enough modern sail vessels being represented. Dan I think yours is the ONLY fiberglass sloop on Model Ship World and I see no kits available for them out there either. Which is amazing since there is a WORLD of modern sailing vessels of every size and shape on ever lake river and sea the world over. There are kits and builds of modern motor vessels aplenty but where are the recreational sail models? I can see you have "invented the wheel" on this model, with no aftermarket parts available. For each part you had to invent the process then build the part, over and over again! I'm impressed with the whole project.

I’ve recently purchased two different types of silkspan, from two different sources. I’d never seen the stuff in the flesh before and I thought it’d be different. The first batch I got was thin and too transparent and would tear as easily as tissue paper, I didn’t see the advantage over tissue paper since tissue has no grain and this stuff had distinctly visible fibers. The next version of the stuff was slightly thicker but disappointed too, the same issues with the other stuff just slightly less transparent. I had imagined something more like drafting velum or paper. If there is a spectrum between Kleenex on one end and writing paper on the other, this stuff was far too close to the Kleenex end of the scale for me. As I looked at the material in my hands I wished there was a version of it that was twice as thick, this stuff was too insubstantial for me. 
Ill likely try working with it to see if it can be stained and maybe strengthened by painting it with acrylic medium? I haven’t written it off yet but my initial impression was that I didn’t like it for being too flimsy.

Found these shots on facebook:  

I don't think I'm being too hard on anyone. I feel it's our place to point out mistakes or misunderstandings in the context of this website, and I hope MY mistakes and blunders will be pointed out too. I will be great full for it.i will also add that I very rarely say in effect " I know you're wrong", I always say, in effect, here is why I THINK your wrong and then I explain my point of view. >Edit< I have just had a look st the Niagara plans and the only reference to the burton pendants I could find was this sketch in the corner of the main rigging plan. The sketch could certainly have been more clear about how the pendant is made, they only illustrated half the bit of rigging the pendant is made of which as we see is creating confusion.

Those are called Lizards. But I've never seen them as big metal rings before. A Lizard is used in the bight of a line that may otherwise foul or chafe on something. Usually it's just an eyesplice or bowline knot in the end of a bit of line that the other line passes through somewhere off the deck.The length and position of the Lizard holds the middle of the line in check so it won't whip around or get into some area it shouldn't. Often seen on docklines to keep the hanging portion of the line from snagging shoreside objects. It's a fairlead in general. 

Paper intended for max longevity is made of rag from fabric rather than wood pulp. It'll be labeled "100%rag". Wood pulp is full of acids that oxidize the paper and make it brittle and yellow. Some suggest that sealing paper on all sides with a varnish or coating of some kind will block oxygen from aiding the decomposition of the paper but I imagine it wouldn't guarantee immortality.

I have heard modern day square rig sailors jokingly refer to this stuff as the "Cadet Strainer".

I believe the topic was book recommendations? ....... the Neophyte  Shipmodelers Jackstay by GF Campbell is my recommendation. This slim volume is a good place to start if you want to invent the wheel for yourself and begin learning ship model building from the very beginning. The reason it’s perfect for the beginner is that it has some of the best clear uncomplicated illustrations you will ever see. Plus it doesn’t go down the rabbit hole in any one issue, it stays simple and covers the basics in a straightforward and efficient style. It covers all the necessary topics yet remains uncomplicated. Finally it’s inexpensive and easily obtainable in the secondhand market.

In modeling, the issue of " how do I display running rigging when I've chosen not to include sails" is a common issue. But including the running rigging without the sails is a state of affairs not found on actual ships, nobody has the clew, Sheet and tack hanging in space under a naked yard. On an actual ship, when the sails are taken off, the rigging comes off too.
looks like the Niagara uses their cat heads for the tacks since they have no boomkins? That is where I would put them anyway. I looked but could not find many shots with the Fore set but here are two. Unfortunately neither shows the lines perfectly. 

Yah the crew would have to keep the brails quite loose when underway or they would negatively effect the shape of the sail. But it's still going to be better having the brails since without them the furling would be quite tough. But check out this engraving of guys furling a lateen sail: 

Here’s some illustrations from the excellent Sailmakers Apprentice  by Emiliano Marino. 

This notion that you have to actually sew sails is false.in fact I usually advise against actual sewn seams due to the fact that the stitches are always grossly out of scale. If you think about the diameter of your running rigging-often represented by sewing thread on the model- then sail twine would have to be microscopic in order to be in scale with the running rigging. 
White Glue works fine on fabric. 

This is on my mind as a good candidate for a build, it's got a little of everything and the ship has a good long history with a varied career afloat. There is a pretty comprehensive Wikipedia article about her which I was just reading this morning. Good luck with the build!