hamilton

Hi Hamilton, yes this kit will frustrate and annoy, I have made several changes and i dont think they are historically accurate changes I have made but I can live with them. The cat rails are nowhere near the shape they need to be but I found bending them cold was the best method of obtaining the best shape. They did crack in areas but i filled the cracks with a little filler and painted over. Believe me I nearly launched this model against the nearest wall several times it is that maddening. But persist with it. The ships boat is not brilliant but after several attempts I have acheived a reasonable result. You can always spend more time than I did on the ships boat. If you look at my build you will be able to improve in many areas on yours, but I am reasonably satisfied at the result so far. Get several bottles of decent single malt whisky and you will produce a very fine if frustrating model. If I was unsure of anything I just went for it and if I didnt like the results I'd take it off and try again. The shrouds and ratlines have been on and off more times than a brides nightie. Good look and I look forward to your build.   

Hamilton,
Greyhound and Blandford were both built at Deptford d/y by the same master shipwright Richard Stacey. Both were commissioned in 1720.
There was very little difference in the as built dimensions of the two ships, Blandford being 1 foot longer.
Greyhound was broken up in 1741 and Blandford was sold in 1742.
We have touched on the rigging aspect of a sixth rate in a separate thread, but personally I would not continue to confuse myself  by trying to make sense of the Corel rigging plans, which probably contain many errors. Clear them from your mind and work from the Blandford book.
James Lees (Masting and Rigging of English ships of war 1625-1860) also includes a belaying plan for a 1719 establishment sixth rate in his book.
 
B.E.

I have discovered what seems to me to be a simple technique for making mast hoops. I say discovered because I have not seen mast hoops made this way, and when I had to make some, I used the materials at hand. I cane a chair now and then and have an ample supply of cane strands hanging among the rafters of my workshop (pic1264).  The material is a natural woody plant of the Rattan family. It's strength is along it's length which makes it very durable. It's woody characteristics make it great for holding stain, paint and glue. it is processed in different widths which makes it useful in many different scales. There is an inner surface and an outer surface. the outer surface is shiny and should be scuffed for good stain, paint and glue adhesion. If you have a friend that does caning or a local furniture repair/upholsterer shop nearby, it is a great place to grab a couple of five foot strands. They will last a lifetime of model making. I have not experimented posting photos on the new MSW yet, so not quite sure how this will come out.
 
Step 1: Soak a length of cane (depends upon diameter and quantity of hoops needed) in warm water to soften.
 
Step 2: Wrap cane around a dowel of appropriate diameter and clamp until dry. This will set a nice curl in the cane. Pics, 1256 and 1257.
 
Step 3: Wrap length of cane around finished mast hoop diameter so that it overlaps perhaps 1/4 to 1/3 of diameter. Glue and clamp until it sets. Pics, 1258 and 1259.
 
Step 4: After glue has dried. Sand/file to taper ends of cane.
 
Finished product comes out pretty realistic, using minimal material and effort. Hope this is of use.
 

MSW 1 had a couple topics about making rope coils. I would like to review some of that and perhaps others can add to this.
There are at least two types of rope coils. The first is the spirally wrapped one that might lie on deck. The second is the coil that is part of belaying a line on a cleat or belaying pin. I'll cover them one at a time.
 
There is a fellow (help??) who made a fixture to make the flat coils. I took a similar approach with some materials on hand. I took a piece of plastic that is not kind to PVA glue, made a wooden block with a hole in it and a nail. I coated the line with a thinned bit of glue. Then using the nail I pushed the line through the hole of the plastic and into the hole of the wood. Now I have a sandwich with the line being the lunch meat. 
 
 
Instead of wrapping the line around, I turned the block while holding the sandwich loosely together so the meat does not fall out.
 
 
When I think I have about enough, I let the whole thing sit a while (but not too long!) You can see that some are not perfect, but good enough.
       
 
I'll cover the second type of coil in the next thread.

May be worth looking into RC Anderson's Seventeenth century rigging. Covers through about 1725.

Hi Hamilton,
 
In Lees Masting and Rigging Book there is belaying information for a 20 gun ship circa 1719. The only belaying pins called for are 3 per side on racks at the foot of the Mizzen Mast and 7 per side on racks attached to the Mizzen Shrouds. Re Staysails,Lees quotes Jib,Fore and Main Topmast Staysails,Main Topgallant and Mizzen Topmast Staysails.  
 
Hope this is of some help to you.
 
Dave

hamilton,
 
The drawings in the book are at different scales 1:96, 1:48 and 1:192 but no matter. all you need to do is multiply the sizes in the drawings by say 96 and divide by 100 and you will have the measurement relevant to your build, that is supposing the kit is a true 1:100 scale.
 
I wouldn't worry about the rigging at this point; the sizes of all the rigging lines are given in the book in inches circumference which is the norm.
 
To convert say the Main stay which is 101/2" circ.  to mm diameter which is the norm for scale line the calculation is:-
 
10.5" circ  divided by 3.142 = 3.342"(dia) x 25.4 = 84.88mm (dia) divided by 100 (your scale) = 0.85mm diameter line (or nearest)
 
Similarly the six pounder guns carried by Blandford are listed as being 7' 6" long, so at your scale  that is 90" x 25.4 = 2286mm divided by 100 = 22.86mm long.
 
I think the Blandford book will contain all you need to  improve your kit.
 
Hope this helps.
 
Cheers,
 
B.E.

Hamilton,
 
I think shroud cleats on the lower shrouds would be appropriate.
 
Have a look on www.Abebooks.com for a copy of Lees - you'll pick it up for a lot less than $100!
 
John

Yes John and Dave - very helpful - though with all this extra rigging I'm fast running out of potential places to put all the lines! I haven't been able to find Lees book at a local library and I'm afraid I'm unwilling to pay over $100 for it, which is the minimum I've been able to find.....if anyone has a copy I'll pay to have it shipped here and I'll ship it back to you nice and neat! I'm very good with books!
 
Another question - would a ship of this size/rate/era have had shroud cleats on either the lower or topmast shrouds? Or both? Or none? I know, I know - I should be waiting for all my literature to arrive, but the answers here have been so good and so fast! I can't help it!!
hamilton

Whoa! Jerome, I think I missed your post by seconds (I was typing mine) - what ship is that in the photo you posted? I'll take a look for Lees book as well, though if it's out of print that usually means $$$$ for any used copy....anyways, thanks for the pointer....always in the market for more books
hamilton

Thanks Chuck - a bit of prodding tells me that the Blandford was ordered at the same time as Greyhound....hard to say how similar they might have been but hopefully this will give some indication - I have the AOS Bellona and it's a very useful resource. Just ordered the Blandford from ebay anyhow...Thanks again
hamilton

Well I'm nearly finished the Glad Tidings, though the photos below do not represent the progress to date. I've fabricated the fore and main boom and completed the running rigging on the main boom as well as completing the anchors and anchor rigging (which you can see in the photos below). I still have to complete the running rigging on the fore boom, and make & rig the fore and main gaffs - which will take a few days. I'm pulled away from the workbench for the next few days so the build will likely be completed middle of next week.
 
All in all this has been a very enjoyable kit to put together. I love the large scale on this beautiful little working boat and as I think I said before, I wish there were more kits of this type available. This is one kit I would actually consider building again, though if I did I would modify the bulkheads under the cabins and include some interior detailing and leave the hatches off/skylight open and possible rig it with sails....anyway, it's one of those kits that I see on sale on ME every once in a while so who knows....maybe in a decade or so I'll return to it again....
 
Anyway, next time will be my last post on this log I think....here are some photos in the meanwhile
hamilton
 
 

Well I've made two attempts now at the mast coats and the second, while a bit out of scale, seems to have turned out ok...here's the story.
 
I had read on Dan B's Glad Tidings log on the old MSW about how he had constructed the mast coats. He provided a very detailed and helpful description of the process - I had planned on consulting it during the construction of these little features....alas!
 
Anyway, my first attempt (pictured below) was the result of me trying to construct from memory what Dan had done...you can see how that turned out! Sheesh!! I'm almost too embarrassed to share this...
 

 
Anyway, I thought I'd just live with this, but this idea came to be too deeply dissatisfying, so I decided to have another go, this time following the kit instructions and carving them from wood....
 
I found some 1/4" and 3/8" thick basswood and drilled some 3/8" holes in it. I quickly decided that the 1/4" was the better choice for scale...
 


 
I then sawed the 1/4" strip into small squares and trimmed them into circles...
 


 
I then bevelled the ring with a small sanding block as steeply as a dared...
 



 
Much better - though as I said probably not in scale....I suppose I could have spent a bit more time getting it down to a more reasonable size, but I had to run out for pizza! And then I guess I was just so happy that they didn't look like my first attempt that I put it out of my mind.
 
Anyway, here's a couple of shots of the build to this point - now I have to add fittings to the main mast and prep both masts for the standing rigging....
 


 
Bye for now!
hamilton

Well I've made two attempts now at the mast coats and the second, while a bit out of scale, seems to have turned out ok...here's the story.
 
I had read on Dan B's Glad Tidings log on the old MSW about how he had constructed the mast coats. He provided a very detailed and helpful description of the process - I had planned on consulting it during the construction of these little features....alas!
 
Anyway, my first attempt (pictured below) was the result of me trying to construct from memory what Dan had done...you can see how that turned out! Sheesh!! I'm almost too embarrassed to share this...
 

 
Anyway, I thought I'd just live with this, but this idea came to be too deeply dissatisfying, so I decided to have another go, this time following the kit instructions and carving them from wood....
 
I found some 1/4" and 3/8" thick basswood and drilled some 3/8" holes in it. I quickly decided that the 1/4" was the better choice for scale...
 


 
I then sawed the 1/4" strip into small squares and trimmed them into circles...
 


 
I then bevelled the ring with a small sanding block as steeply as a dared...
 



 
Much better - though as I said probably not in scale....I suppose I could have spent a bit more time getting it down to a more reasonable size, but I had to run out for pizza! And then I guess I was just so happy that they didn't look like my first attempt that I put it out of my mind.
 
Anyway, here's a couple of shots of the build to this point - now I have to add fittings to the main mast and prep both masts for the standing rigging....
 


 
Bye for now!
hamilton