hamilton

Hi Hamilton.
In my below suggestion (this is what I do…) you will need at least one false (zip) seizing.
You seize one block at the end of a thread (a), you make a cow hitch knot (d), through which you pass the bowsprit,
you make a loop and adjust the false seizing (b.) and the second block.
By pulling the free end of the thread (c.) you bring together the two blocks while you fasten them on the bowsprit.
You finish with a drop of glue at the false seizing.
Thanks

 
 

Update time.
 
A series of laser cut 'fillers' is supplied.  Here are the bulkhead fillers which bolster the bulkhead former between the bulkheads:
 

 
If you look at the column on the left, these are 'extra' fillers that were supplied and labeled as mast fillers.  They are not in the practicum or depicted on the plans.  In discussing this with Ben (Trussben), I decided to install these at the appropriate locations.  I believe that they would be essential for a model that was to be fully rigged.
 
Additional fillers are supplied for the bow and stern:
 

 
Here, the bulkhead fillers (including the mast fillers) have been installed.  They were very accurately sized and needed only light sanding to remove laser burn:
 

 
Here's a closeup of the mast fillers which were installed at Fr 2, 7 and 13
 

 
Now for the stern and bow fillers:
 

 

 
Finally, just an overview:
 

 
There will be additional fillers added at the stern later on.  I don't believe the bow will require more.  The overall frame now is pretty stiff ---- and straight.  The bulkhead uprights are quite high and fragile.  I may brace these before continuing.
 
Next, we will be building three sub-gun deck platforms from basswood planks before we break out the sanding blocks for the ever popular hull fairing.
 
So far, so good
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I promised you a side by side photo of the after market items I ordered from Chuck.  Well, they're HERE!  I think they are terrific but you can judge for yourselves.
 
First, the cannons.  There are 2 sizes:
 

 
I'm sure you can appreciate the difference between the brass guns (and trunions) and the cast brittania metal.  They look so good I'm already getting comments from the Admiral that I should forget the 20 coats of paint (thanks BEN) and leave them as is !!!!
 
Then we have the figurehead:
 

 
Again, just much finer all around. 
 
The bottom line ---- well worth the investment.  I'm a happy puppy    :)  

OK time for another update.
 
I've begun the masting with the bowsprit, which is now outfitted with most of the necessary rigging elements and installed on the model. I think I have more or less worked through the confusion over mast & spar lengths - thanks to the help of BE - and have come up with what I think is a good compromise between information provided in Lees and Goodwin and what looks pleasing to my eye. The lengths of the bowsprit and lower masts will be a bit longer than the scale calculations taken from Goodwin - like BE the scale lengths that I arrived at from Goodwin seemed a little short to my eye....all other mast and spar measurements will be derived from the scale measurement of the main mast as given by Goodwin, using Lees as the guide to calculation.
 
The bowsprit was cut and shaped from a 6mm dowel to a length of 111mm. This is longer than Goodwin's measurement by about 10mm, but I think it will look better on the model. 
 

 

 
Goodwin shows the bowsprit outfitted with bee blocks and though at 1:100 these are very small, I decided to give it a try. I shaped the bees from a 1/32 x 3/16" strip of lime. I filed a section of the top of the bowsprit to accept the bees and then installed the bee blocks underneath - these were 1mm x 1mm strips of light walnut. Turned out ok.
 

 

 
I used the same 1mm x 1mm strip to make the gammoning cleats and the stop chocks for the collars.
 

 
I couldn't get a good photo of it, but I also installed a sling cleat for the spritsail yard, including a 1/16" bit of pinstripe tape as an iron buffering bar on which the sling will lie.
 
I'll continue this in another post since for some reason I'm not allowed to upload many photos in a single post...
hamilton

If you have a serving machine, here's how I did mine:
 
First serve about 8 to 10 mm of rigging line. Pull this line off the serving machine and form your first eye splice. Next measure off the required amount line needed to encompass your heart block or deadeye. Serve another equal length of line this distance away from your first eye. Now form your second eye splice. Now serve from eye splice to eye splice. Centre your heart of deadeye in between the eye splices and seize in place. You should now have a fully served and seized collar. Have a look at my log for some collars. And as soon as I get back to my rigging, after I've finished the fore shrouds I'll be making a few collars, I'll share some photos for you as I go.
 
Andy

Most collars have eyes spliced into their ends and these ends are lashed around the spar. Start with a longer length of line than needed and start seizing the various blocks/hearts/eyes into it. Then form the eye splices at the ends of the collar.

Hamilton,
 
Bit of a pain to do, but you probably will need to make a grommet (continuous loop like a quoit) considerably larger than the diameter of the bowsprit and then seize the four eyes into it.  If you form each eye in turn with your fingers and then clamp the eye while you seize it, it should be doable.
 
John

I'm a bit struggling with the info you're looking for (probably a translation issue )
 
I think you can do it llike the original: spllice an eye in one end, attach the deadeye block in to the line (pace a seizing under it), feed the other end of the rigging line under the bowsprit, and take it upwards again thruogh the spliced eye, and fix it onto itself using a seizing.
 
Or is that not what you want?
See pic below, Dutch did it slightly different: the used two spliced eyes and a lashing in between.
The line is going from the mast upwards, around the block (attached with a seizing), down round the other side of the mast, under the bowsprit, and upwards again, ending either in a spliced eye, fixed twith a lashing,
or fed through the first eye, and seized to itself.

 
 
 
Jan

It seems I have to split this into two posts....here are the rest of the photos....
hamilton
 

 

 

 

Deadeyes for foremast...

A little progress to report (need to stay ahead of the buffalo herd  ).
 
The 16 bulkheads were removed from the laser cut sheets:
 

 
Note the cutouts on the starboard side of the two near the top center.  This will be an opening in the finished hull where the 'framing' will be exposed.  The laser cutting on these pieces was quite intense.  I lightly sanded them all around but have left some laser char as I find this helps me  later during the fairing process.  However, the slots on these bulkheads and also the bulkhead former were completely cleaned in order to obtain a secure glue bond.  The slots were also just a tad 'tight'.
 
Here, the bulkheads have been dry fit into the former:
 

 

 
The last photo shows that the alignment is pretty good for a dry fit:
 

 
Now we will square and level everything as we permanently glue in the bulkheads.  But the fish are calling so we'll be back in a day or so.  In the meanwhile ----
 
STAY THE COURSE     
 
 

At this point I decided a bit of light relief was required. So I turned to the flue. This will remain detachable until the stove is in its final place. Construction was straightforward since it only consists of four pieces soldered together in a square.
 
These parts were cut from 0.4mm N.S strip 13.7mm wide (the height of the flue). I cut a length of this strip long enough to make one side and an end piece. This was soldered on to the rest of the strip so that both sides and ends could be cut together. The sides were 5mm wide at the bottom and 4mm wide at the top. The ends were 4.5mm at the bottom and 3.5mm at the top. The ends go inside the sides.
 
I soldered an end to each side using a simple jig shewn in the photo below - two bits of wood, a modified hair clip  a thumb tack! 
 

 
The two halves of the flue were tacked together, then when I was happy that all was square I soldered up the joints completely.
 
 
After that relaxing session it was time to solder the cosmetic nuts and the lifting brackets in place. These were a bit tricky.I had to use small shaped bits of wood to hold them in place while I ran solder underneath them. They have a nasty habit of moving when you don't want them to.
 
The next photo shows the nuts in place on the rear and one side of the stove. I have another 5 to add to the other side. The brackets are in place on one side. I have also added the two small handles on the rear of the boilers.The flue is sat in its final place but not fixed.
 
The piece of metal in front of the stove is the bit of scrap with the other two brackets still attached. They have been shaped but I will leave them attached until it is time to fit them to the stove.
 
The next challenge is the rail that runs around the top of the oven. That requires some careful thought. Then it is on to the rotissary!   
 

Back to the stove......
 
Looking at the replica stove on the Victory it has large square bolt heads around the angle iron. Rex Boocock's plan suggests large square nuts with bolt thread showing in the middle. I decided to have go at simulating the nuts.
 
To start with I cut a strip of 0.1mm thickness brass just under 1mm wide. The photo below shows the tools I used to cut the strip. Brass this thickness can be cut with a sharp knife or scalpel. The strip produced had slightly raised edges which I corrected using some fine wet and dry paper (1500 grit). 
 
The resultant strip is under the long straight edgw in the photo.
 

 
Next I wanted to simulate the bolt thread. I have a riveting tool to do this but very small strip tends to flop around. So I soldered the strip to a frame made of scrap as in the next photo. The strip is held taught like the cat gut in a violin bow. I was able to impress a series of indentations at 1.5mm pitch. I also tinned the reverse of the strip at this stage ready for later assembly on to the stove.
 

 
Then the strip was removed from the frame and the individual squares, each with an indentation in the centre, was cut using the scalpel to 1mm square (well almost) pieces. The small block of steel was used as a cutting surface. Trying to cut on the green mat would tend to crease the strip.
 
The squares produced are in the second container from the right.
 

 
 
In the top corners will be 4 lifting rings.Normally I would hold these in place by split pins soldered in to holes in the platework. In this case the holes required would have to go in to the corner joint which would probably snap the bit. So I milled up some small brackets in stead to be surface mounted.
 
Unfortunately I didn't take any photos at this stage.
 
The brackets I produced from 1mm thick N/S strip about 20mm wide. I drilled a row of 0.5mm holes at 1.5mm pitch along the end of the strip centred 0.8mm from the edge. Using a jewelers saw I cut slots between each of the holes to a depth of 2mm. Next I mounted the strip in the machine vice on the miller with the holes horizontal. I made sure the strip was in line with the table's X axis. I then milled the strip equaly on both sides down 1mm from the top edge reducing the thickness containg the holes to 0.3mm. Then at the same setting I replaced the millimg bit with a slitting disk and cut through the strip about 0.3mm below the milled section. As the slitting disk passed each of the previously sawed slots the corresponding "T" section bracket, complete with hole, pinged off. 
 
To save them getting lost I threaded thin wire through all the holes before using the slitting saw. So I ended up with a bracelet of tiny brackets.
 
The brackets were then soldered on to the end of a piece of 1mm scrap to allow final shaping.

Timmo, Ferit - cheers!
 
Pete - have done nothing at all to the pins
 
Alistair - thanks for the detailed guidance, I love the suggestion, I think BE also took a similar approach to what you describe and now after re-reading its all making a bit more sense - learn by doing I suppose.  Your picture is really tremendous, a work of art in of itself!  What kind of line are you using, it looks so much better than anything I've seen elsewhere - on my next kit if I get that far I definitely want to upgrade the thread.  I'm going to ponder the cannon rigging question for a bit, mainly because I'm not going to have time do anything in near future, but definitely think that your suggestion is the way to go.  I've also been quietly checking out your Fly (that sounds bad!), you've got a wonderful build going there that I'm certainly learning from.
 
Managed to finish off one of the carronades after much experimentation.  Far from perfect, but pretty pleased with how it turned out compared to the look I was going for.  Would have been nice to have had smaller blocks as they are definitely a little overscale, but I can live with it.  No more updates until I'm done with carronade rigging!
 

 
 

Hi Jason
I've been looking at your log without reply. You are doing fantastic work - crisp, clean and precise. I like it very much!
 
As for your tackle problem: consider fixing the rope to the blocks without a separate hook. This saves a lot of room but does give you an iron bound block rather than a rope bound one. I did this on my AVS which I reckon is a tighter rig than yours and got good separation between the blocks. I use a very thin blackened jewellery wire for the process. The same process is used for the double block but without the rope seizing. Here is a diagram I did a while ago and a picture of the roped tackle with 3mm blocks. You can also look at my AVS log for the results. I reckon you'll gain all the space you need but it will look slightly different than your carronade rig. I also have no idea what that eye bolt standing up from the rear of your cannon carriage is for - haven't ever seen one there...
 
Really great work - I'll keep following.
 
Cheers
Alistair

Robert, John - thanks for kind words
 
Hamilton - interesting you say that, even though the cost is not trivial, I'm taking the view that I'm spending longer building this kit by doing these things and therefore saving the expense of buying another kit so therefore cost neutral....I think that logic works  
 
Anyway, I seem to have got myself into a bit of pickle. After finally managing to get one of the bow chaser cannons installed, I decided to have a quick check to see how these could be rigged.  The problem is that the eyebolts that I believe the tackles are attached to are not far enough away from the bulwark to prevent the blocks touching (I'm using 3mm singles to be consistent with what I'm using on the carronades).  After a few choice words I thought that maybe these could be attached to the eyebolts attached to the far end of the carriage (although I have no idea what these were actually used for).  At least then I can keep some consistency and I'm not too sure that it looks significantly different from more than a few inches away.  I'm also not sure what my options would be as the carriage is now firmly attached to be deck....
 

I worked out all the upper masts  and yards relative to the correct proportions, as given in Steel, it all starts with the Main topmast relative to the overall true length of the mainmast.
 
For the Main mast I then allowed an extra length at the presumed partners where all the quartering and tapering starts, and then added the actual length of dowel below decks to fit the kit arrangement. The Fore and Mizen masts followed the same  procedure and proportions relative to the Mainmast.
 
This gave me the leeway to make final adjustments from the bottom of the masts to suit my eye. From the one reference I had in the Swan book relating to the Foremast the drawing would suggest from an overall length of mast of 56' with just over 19' below the partners to the keel.
 
This left 36.75' or 175mm at scale, looking far too short in relation to the model. My actual length which sits well with my eye is 242mm which has it happens is only 6mm longer than the kit plan! rather annoying really.
 
B.E.

Hamilton -
 
you may want to check out the Masting & rigging spreadsheet that Danny Vadas developed which takes your input based on the specific establishment and class then calculates the spars etc.  it is available here: http://modelshipworldforum.com/ship-model-masts-and-yards.php
 
Main mast (from step) is 210 mm (scale) 68.9 ' (1:1)
Main top mast - 126.1 mm
Bowsprit - 124 mm
Fore lower yard - 161.4 mm
Main t'gallant yard - 66.4 mm
 
EDIT - fixed my silly typo on the yards.

My edition of Lees is the 1984 revised edition and runs to 212 pages. No matter all the relevant information is in the Goodwin book.
 
The main problem I had, in relation to Steel in my case, was working out the below decks lengths, which in the kit are not true as the masts sit in the false keel and bear no relation to actual lengths between the keel and partners at the Upper deck level. When I took a scale deduction from the one drawing given in the Swan ffm book the mast seemed to come up far too short above decks so for this reason I left the masts over long to start with, and used mock ups to judge the final height.
 
B.E.

season went well for her, its her first experience of a full international team and the fitness level goes up several notches, but its made me train with her too so the old bones are wondering what the hell is going on. The first planking on Bellona is progressing well, i'll post some pics in the coming days.
 
How did you get on with the dead eye strops/chains? on my Greyhound the were forever snapping. If you remember I redid my ratlines 3 times before I was happy with them.....drove me to drink..........Your build is looking brilliant and I think we can each pat each other on the back for turning an awkward model into something we can both be proud of. I imagine several Greyhounds get started and never completed. Anyway more press-ups are looming and .........a large malt whisky too.

Hi hamilton, the dimensions given by Goodwin in his Blandford book are the same as given in Table 5 of Lees relating to the 1719 Establishment (p196) ie 68' 6".
 
The figures given on Table 8 relating to the 1773 establishment (p198) are 67' 11". as near as makes no matter.
 
If you look at Section G in the Goodwin book you will see he gives the length of the masts below the partners (taken at the Upper deck level for single decked ships) in the case of the mainmast this is 14' 6" equivalent to 44mm at scale. You are really interested in the height above the partners which is easily calculated. To this you only need add the actual below decks length on your model to get the overall scale length.
 
I would suggest you mock up  the lower masts and see how they look to your eye before  before committing to the real thing.
 
B.E.

I vote for Goodwin - down the middle, easier and no one is going to measure your masts and say "Oh no! You didn't follow Lees'".
 
My opinion and I admire your research - another dimension to our obsession...
 
Cheers
Alistair

Hi there:
 
It seems I've had to divide this post in two - I was having trouble uploading some of the photos in the last post - not sure why....let's try again
hamilton
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seems like a lot of progress to me!! She's looking great
hamilton

really a nice build Hamilton.