hollowneck

If you need to scratch pieces that are curved - like the small volutes, or the über-delicate half-section of plain rail that falls over a hawse opening - I'd suggest the obvious: use some of the pear laser sheets (1mm or 1.5mm) for this. I did this in one area for my rails. I'll try to remember to get a closeup photo. This part of the kit's design seems to me to be an experiment. I believe the better solution would have been to supply a few sticks of pear strip stock and a brass scraper (in one of the thicker P/E frets); this solution would have handled the straight sections just fine. For the curvy rail bits, some 3D printed resin parts would do the trick, not lasered. I'd be surprised if Chris isn't taking notes for a V2.0 kit. Despite some of these admittedly small issues (the Devil's in the details), the kit still comfortably sits at the pinnacle of high-end kits. However - the Master Korabel ones (from Russia) aren't very far behind. Cheers! Ron

No wireless ear monitors. No guitar transmitter rigs. Full-throated singing. The LSO. John Hurt narration. And more! A 1987 video production of a musical, inspired by the Lewis Carroll (Alice Through The Looking Glass) book of 1896. And 35 years after this London musical, a wholly new definition of "Snark" has emerged. The book, available on Amazon... ...If—and the thing is wildly possible—the charge of writing nonsense were ever brought against the author of this brief but instructive poem, it would be based, I feel convinced, on the line: “Then the bowsprit got mixed with the rudder sometimes.” Watch this video comrades. You know, in your spare time. An hour well-spent on YouTube. Ron

That's precisely what I did when I tackled this bit of the build, B.E. The char must be removed and it was a Royal PITA (pain in the ****) to get all these pattern pieces de-charred and subsequently mounted. One clever lasered rail turned into several fiddly pieces. Chop, chop. After doing this - per your illustration of a modification - I concluded (too late) that the best solution, which I didn't employ, was to scratch all of these bits. Nice 3mm pear stock. Nice new profiled scrapers. Voila'! Next time. Wait til' you get to the channel knees...🤨 Cheers, Ron

Thank You, TBlack. After reacquainting myself with the procedure (I've done this before, but it's been awhile), it just required patience to proceed slowly, methodically. The most difficult aspect is threading the line upward through the headrail slots and keeping the rope taught so it didn't slacken between turns. Hint: I used a small clamp on the edge of the stem to hold the rope taut as I fished the end through the slots. The gammon rope needs to be quite long ( for this build, about 48") which means it will inevitably want to tangle itself around something, typically one of the bumkins. Also, after I'd completed the turns around the bowsprit with all looking even and tight I took a break and clamped the still lengthy rope to the stem's edge. I returned a while later and did the horizontal frapping, with physically "fresh" fingers - and mentally, unencumbered! Like so many aspects of proper square-sailer rigging, proceed slowly for the best - and most satisfying- results. Haste really does make waste. And, I will add: anxiety if one is in a hurry. No swearing. Honest. Just holding my breathing every so often to steady my hands... which is also a good technique to employ when you do delicate, critical painting too. Ron

...good catch. I'm getting the impression that following Lees is a little like interpreting the Dead Sea Scrolls...I'll drop the knots on the manropes and add footropes along the jibboom. Yay! Ship modeler "tech talk!" Thanks, seriously. Thank you B.E. & tomganc, appreciate your comments. Ron

Details: Gammoning & Frapping. Now that all the masts are completed with topgallants - with their rigging blocks in-place - it's time to take care of business on the bowsprit before commencing other rigging work. A detail on gammoning of the bowsprit. I've used .5mm dark brown (tarred) rope for this rigging. There are eleven turns up against the cleats and down through the openings below the head rails to the stem slot. I pulled each rope turn tightly before threading the next turn. The gammoning rope turns will fill the stem slot; this looks straightforward to do. It is NOT. Below I've attached a photo from "Lees" rigging book to illustrate that the rope crosses over its previous turn with each successive one which results in a "twisting"arrangement. This entire procedure of rope wrapping also resembles "weaving" - of a sort. My completed "gammon lashing" of the bowsprit. These ropes were critical for securing not only the bowsprit (and its spritsails) but also the fore and main mast stay rigging ropes; the thick support ropes (standing rig) exerted tremendous upward strain on the bowsprit. In addition to "looping" each successive rope turn over the previous one and once the vertical threading was complete, the rope was then horizontally threaded tightly between and around the vertical rope turns. This second, contiguous rigging step is referred to as "frapping." The number of frap lacings were equal to the number of rope turns around the bowsprit, in this case: eleven. Gammon lashing and its frapping completed. The end of the rope is simply fed through a frapping turn as a hitch and tucked into the frapping and glued with a small drop of CA. I'm pretty confident 18th-C dockyard riggers didn't use CA to finish off this elaborate rigging process.🤪... A Lees book detail on gammon lashing. To the right, the cross section illustration shows a simple "eye splice" to START the gammon lashing. However, what the rigging "Bible" doesn't show is the critical step to alternately overlap each successive turn after its fed through the stem opening and back around for a successive turn. The illustration on the left does show the effect of crossing-over each rope turn: the forward-most turn is at the rear of the stem slot. Note that the stem slot is full. The next bowsprit rigging step; making-up and mounting the various stay collars and their deadeyes. There are lots of these blocks to make and mount. The cleats to support the collars are already in place from the earlier step to finish the bowsprit's woodworking (these small wooden cleats prevented the collars from slipping along the bowsprit). Once all the bowsprit's fore and main stay blocks are rigged (coming up soon), I'll mount some "manropes." This will be a hand-sized rope line from the bowsprit cap back to the fore timbers (both starboard and port). The ropes were for sailors to have a hand hold when they were at work on the bowsprit. Ron

Very nice work, B.E. The capping rail at the stern looms. I'll be interested to see how you approach finishing this tricky area - mainly, where to terminate the ends of the continuous capping piece - The roofline? The berthing rail? You did a much better job with your galleries than I did with mine. I'm tempted to rip-off both silly rail mouldings below the windows and scratch my own. Of course, this means ripping off the stern rails all the way across the counters in order to match the sections that will need to be mitered where they meet at the corners. Gulp. All this klugeing on my part is owing to the early misalignment of the stern pieces that shifted structural bits by a few silly millimeters. 😖 Instead of four rows of roof tiles (a very clever and nice use of the thin P/E), I could only fit three to make the top decoration align. BTW: I love the "light" that results from opening up the galleries with interior doorways. What a great hack for your open reveal. Ron

....a ship builder's PTSD: finishing your model. Pour yourself a wee dram o' scotch and congratulate yourself. Post-malaise, I run around the block three times and then peer into my stash. Ron

You are too kind, druxey. I will note - with great irony - that your avatar is an upside down clinker hulled ship's boat! Ron

A little more progress on mast work, finishing-off the topgallants, some tools I use to prep them. There is a .7mm hole at the support for the top gallant yard tie. This "bulge" also gets blackened. I like to break the edges of small holes with a chamfer tool since my most used, small drill bits don't have the sharpest cutting tips and leave some "fuzz." I know, I need to purchase some more small drill bits. Speaking of... a .7mm drill bit in a pin vise and my two chamfer(ing) tools. Just a couple twists with either of these eliminates most wood fuzz. I believe I purchased these from MicroMark years ago but not certain, though. Inexpensive I recall. I've had them for years. Diamond cutting surfaces too. AH...the joy of having the right tools for the right jobs. Here is Camilla's foremast trestle and crosstrees with rigging blocks lashed. The thimble is a nice wooden one, 2.5mm, and is for the main topgallant mast stay. The little chock that holds the mast stay thimble in place is tiny. If you can't read the last word in that sentence you probably should be thinking about not doing rigging. Seriously, these itsy-bitsy chocks - all 182 of them provided in the kit, lasered in pear - are so small that when I sneezed (I'm nursing a cold), several that I'd cut out to prep literally disappeared - Poof! - forever gone to that place to hang out with sock monster, a close cousin. I've glued the topgallant mast into position and I'll blacken up through the mast cap next. I can't emphasize how important it is to mount all these mast rigging blocks in- advance of the stay and shroud line rigging. One wants to be mainly "running rope" at that stage and not fiddling with tying these rigging elements into place after-the-fact! Nothing too surprising here, however, I've learned to insert a smaller alligator clip into the larger one in my "third hand" - which is indispensable for rigging. I have a "Quadhands" also, but this particular work only needs two grippers to accomplish the task successfully. The single sheave, Falkonet pearwood block is 3mm. I refuse to rig any block smaller than this and I have 20/40 close vision!... I use .15mm upholstery thread typically (the brown line around the block mounting rope) to tie-off my blocks. The block's mounting rope is Syren's new "Ultra" dark brown. This rope's diameter is .20mm or .30mm, depending on the size of block or thimble. Like I demonstrated earlier I also pre-drill my block holes with a small thumbdrill. This saves so much hassle later. Anyone who's done rigging knows the trick to apply CA to the end of the rope line so it pokes through the holes more easily. In most cases, just opening up the tiny holes allows the end of most thin rigging rope to slide right through (but I still will use CA on some rope ends). Another not too surprising photo of repetitive rigging work. However, I've unveiled my secret rigging tool: my Gingher stork embroidery scissors. Yes, they are designed to resemble the bird's long beak. They are beautifully crafted, stay razor sharp ( I do hone them, but infrequently, as they're only used for rigging). They have comfortable finger holes in the blade shanks. The tiny cutting tips speak for themselves. I have two pair, both within easy reach on my bench. A good close-up cameo for the mini alligator block holder. A Breaking News update! Be careful if you're thinking about getting these Gingher scissors. There are several cheesy knockoff's on Amazon. The real-deal are about $18- $20. And worth every penny. More sneezing. More tissues. More rigging to do....Ciao, Ron

I know that feeling, except for me, it's rigging. Your woodworking joinery and finishing is top drawer. My brother is a master cabinetmaker and fine furniture artisan: for years I've known good woodworking when I see it! Just catching-up to your nice log. Ron

Absolutely beautiful work. I could eat lunch (or dinner) served on that pristine deck! Someday I just might give it a shot and scratch build something in 1/4" scale. Ron

Thanks, druxey. Leftenant Python just demoted him. The bosun is now that tar carrying the officer's honey bucket to the head... I suspected there might be a quick answer to my ships' boats query! Ron

Thanks Glenn for the commentary, the compliment on the masts. Going full-scratch on the masts/yards is the only way to approach a model of this quality IMHO. If one pursues a fully-rigged version I believe it to be mandatory to toss the walnut (but keep the excellent laser- cut top hamper pieces). I also have Flirt "on the shelf" and will likely build her in pear (my favorite)....depending on when the Vanguard Indy kit launches! My second ship model (2012) was the Caldercraft/Watton HMS Diana and then it was on to the Amati/Victory dockyards... I'm still undecided but I'm now leaning toward dressing Camilla's yawl with pear - per B.E.'s thoughts here. Of course, in the event, I would then add the kit's crutches to secure her upright amidships. Back to the sticks n' strings bench: one SyrenShipModels or Ropes of Scale string at a time for me. Ron

Wow. This is an interesting approach and there is definitely some dystopian art going on here, a lot of attention to detail. A decrepit, abandoned Rolls in a barn: one wonders if this is a socio-political statement by the modeler? Going for $4,000 U.S. on eBay? Wow, again! Ron

Yep, Glenn. I agree with your last words: if druxey doesn't know... At the end of the day (and this thread) I hope Goodshipvenus is enlightened and has enough info to decide what to do. Ron

I'll go with your hunch, druxey. and... or ...perhaps nothing more than "breaking wind." 🤣 This unexplained anachronism persists even with the kit's designer. I had no reservations about deleting this door/screen arrangement on my build. Ironically, most everything else about this kit is very precise. The oven screen definitely obscures, especially when you're not opting to build an open reveal, quasi-Dockyard model. Perhaps in 1775 there was still a Ministry of Silly Doors at the Admiralty? Ron

Precisely. I get that they could be moved or opened. You and I still want to know WHY not HOW... Ron

Hey Grant, The photography trick gave me grass stains, but it was worth it to blow my good friend's mind with my texted photos of my birthday present. The car, the angle, the other car in the background- all are so distracting most people never notice how out of scale the asphalt bumps are! Ron

Good question! I'm also building the HMS Sphinx, but don't have the answer. Perhaps the purpose was to fool the ship's crew about where the food came from? I'm sure someone here will tell us. The little bricks are a good touch, but these doors - replete with hinges and doorknobs? After contemplating the same question and thinking that the answer was a Zen koan*, I discarded them. Ron * What is the sound of one hand clapping?

Yes, great tip, druxey. How do I know this? ...uh, by having to start over on a boxwood mast in the past! My experience is that pear grain and coloration is slightly more forgiving than box, but knifing-in a stop (ever so gently!) is still a good idea no matter the choice of hardwood. On more open grain woods I would suspect dye bleeding would be very problematical. I've never tried it and likely never will. "Testing. Testing...Yikes!" no dye here! Test on a scrap: always a good idea - like measuring twice and cutting once. Ron

Here is a close-up interior photo of Chris' 3D resin yawl I've chosen for my model. Very nice detail indeed, like the outside clinker hull that I'll display upside-down. For ya'll * who want to show it open like this, you'll need to scratch thwarts, knees, rudder, etc. and of course, appropriately paint it to resemble wood. The Vanguard site has details on the full range of these tasty little boats. *yes, a really bad pun. I may yet change my mind on Camilla's boat mounting. The detail is quite nice and would look even better with scratched pieces and then nicely painted and finished; another decision that doesn't need to be made quite yet. Three quick progress photos to show all the masts completed - up through their topmasts. The topmasts alone (four including a spare main) took a full week to accurately make. A 7-10-7 square-to-octagon template for shaping the masts can be seen on the bench. The final topgallant masts are next and compared with the topmasts are much easier and straightforward to scratch. All three final topgallants will begin with 3mm square stock and be shaped down to about a 1mm to 1.5mm taper to accept the top trucks. "She's got a hole in her bottom, Sir!"... Well, don't just stand there sailor, ..."Man the pumps!" She's starting to look like a sailing man o' war from the eighteenth century. I'll go to all the mast stays first, and then on to the shrouds and pendants soon after the final mast pieces are complete. The Build Manual has anchors next, but I think I can wait a month (or more) on making these... Some may note that I have some additional blackening (dye) to do on the mizzen top as well as some touch-up on the main mast bibbs n' hounds. Fore and bowsprit masts are properly aligned. With the Vanguard design, the tolerances to achieve this necessary alignment are notable. Follow the build directions on the basic hull and deck assembly and you'll end-up not having to struggle with this aspect later...it can be a tricky part of fully rigging a ship of this complexity. BTW: my solution for ready reference to large plans is right behind my main assembly workbench: the luxury of a big cork board. Next up for the pushpins? Standing rigging. As indicated earlier, there are several sheets supplied in the kit for all the normal model rigging. Ron

Heat-shrink tubing over the tip of the rudder to simulate the iron banding. Clever. Would never have thought about that as a solution. Black card and even ChartPak artist's tape, but not rubber tubes! I'm assuming you have a selection of tubing sizes to draw from. Your work is really informative, clever. I like it! For your stern columns will you paint these in a white or off-white color? I also decided to color my window sashes in a natural wood color rather than stark white. Restrained, sophisticated are a couple words that come to mind when it comes to these embellishments. The gold Vallejo painting overall - as indicated in the Vanguard build manual - is OTT (especially on the stern) IMHO and although I retained some of this color, I've reduced it significantly in the interest of visual moderation. Ditto the figurehead. I'll be anxious to see what solutions you come to for her presentation. I also like your decision to 'reduce the red' and extend your blue field shade to match the painted paper stern applique.´ I trust the Right Honourable Captain Grim is good with all this too. Sphinx's stern is looking great. It's going to be superb when it's completed. Ron

Ah-ha, Bob. I guess the seller liked to pet his fish with those sliding front doors on the stacked tanks, but for some reason they may have all died!😂 Ron

Bob, That's some serious $ on display... custom cabinet...kool. You gonna' make a bid? Check this link out: https://www.ebay.com/itm/265193437103?epid=13028312997&hash=item3dbec2b7af:g:cYwAAOSwgqJgb0Wq Ron PS If I can find it for considerably less than this eBay price, I'd love to build the Slime Green Huracan and place it alongside my Orange Lambo.