VTHokiEE

Interesting on the color - I was not happy at all with the light beige color, but the very dark bark looked pretty good. I'm currently torn whether to continue testing other colors (I was interested in the ermine and the rope beige) or deal with the characteristics of Mara (currently leaning towards the latter).

I strive for this, but I've been told that the discoloration and crystallizing is with natural rigging lines and not applicable to polyester threads. That being said I've been so strongly advised previously against it with natural thread that I stick to a lacquer. I'm not certain how well PVA works with polyester being a plastic.

Unravel would be the term, from what I've read and experienced it is from the rope being a polyester instead of cotton. As you say, a drop of glue (CA or in my experience a fly tying lacquer) helps hold it all together. Your rigging is looking very nice!

Did you order by credit card? Given the lack of ability to validate the store I would seriously consider disputing the charge if possible. I’m not certain if you have to do that within a certain timeframe or not.

@pwog Thank you very much, I was too shy to log my first build a Chesapeake Bay Flattie (also by Midwest) but there are a few pictures in the gallery. I really learned a lot on both of these (and still learning tons more currently). I really like Midwest kits as a beginner model. They are pretty inexpensive and the instructions are pretty clear and straight forward - nothing is too complicated. They are also relatively quick builds that have plenty of room for detailing if one choose to. My biggest issue with them is the fittings. The Sharpie had plastic blocks 😬 so I replaced all of them on the Sharpie with rope, blocks, cleats, etc from Syren. It is unfortunate that they are no longer being manufactured so if any catch your eye watch eBay for it.

My mind is blown by the fact that Chris has developed and brought to market at least 4 ships in the time that that it has taken me to build about 1/2 (or so) of one of his less complex ones 😂...

Scratches and prying little fingers are to be considered but IMO the real enemy and reason for a case is dust accumulation. That being said my first two kits are not encased, but my current one will be.

Love it! Definitely a first build to be proud of!

Very nicely done, she looks very nice and I like all the little touches that you added, especially moving some of the hatch cover planks!

That’s really quite unfortunate about the kit. Stop if you must, but I feel like given what you have found (and that you plan on finishing the build) your log could be very useful to someone in the future trying to build the same kit. Either way, good luck with the rest of the build!

Ages of Sail distributes it in the US, Cornwall Model Boats in the UK is cheaper but I didn’t go through the checkout to see what shipping is. I’ve used both in the past and would recommend either.

No problem, and of course there was a used copy of this for sale here recently; I'll have to keep my eye out (or ask for one for Christmas 🙂). This I think is what I am envisioning, I'll have to do some practicing and see what happens, appreciate it!

I saw this in your build and was very thankful for it, the trestletrees are staying off until the shrouds are on. I plan on mainly following the kit rigging, but I will be adding "small" additions like serving the shrouds. I'm currently hoping that my calculations and observations are correct but I am starting to think that they might be slightly off. I had counted 9 loops around the masthead from the manual but now that I'm looking at the plan page with the stays more closely it seems like there may be 3 more loops that could potentially go here as well (The plans show these higher - on the cheeks 🤔). I'm also noticing that the shrouds are a thicker line than I realized as well which may through off my calculations further. I was calculating around .65mm line which when served was closer to .8mm (I may need to find thinner serving thread), but the shroud plans call for .75mm line before serving. Now I have plenty to think about and consider if I should move the stops lower; I currently have them at 10mm but I think I probably would be better served (no pun intended) with a little extra room. EDIT: I added around 4mm to the stop to give me some extra breathing room so I don't get made at myself in the future. I think what I'm looking for is referenced in your Speedy log on October 16, but I'll have to read through it a few times to see. Essentially, I have my lines served and complete as you described but I need to create a continuous loop like the two lower blocks in the second picture of my post above (connect the two served lines together to make a ring... boy the more I write the more I realize I am terrible at explaining things, thank goodness I'm not a teacher 😂).

Things have slowed down a little as I moved above the hull. Shaping the mast was quite the slow process but I think that it came out reasonably well. I have my eye on the yards and I hope that there is enough excess wood to allow for a chunk on each end to sit in my drill (not certain how to shape them otherwise without buying more tools 🙂). I did purchase mast hoops from Vanguard - I trimmed off the little tabs, sanded them up and applied some wipe on poly and I think they came out well. I believe that I'm going to use some 5mm cleats instead of the supplied belaying pins and ring as I get there. I also tried my hand at serving some rope and found out that I don't really know how to connect the ends into a circle, but I managed by removing some of the serving line and creating a false splice at the point of the connection. Here she is right now, the hull is really in storage to avoid getting dust on her while I work on the masts further and the yards but I wanted to dry fit the mast to get a feel for it.

No, but I was looking mainly for the fly line at the time so I purchased it all from “The Essential Fly” and it took about 3 weeks to get here. A quick google search showed at least one company in Canada that sells it though, I’ll have to do some more searching as so far I like it a lot and I may start using it more often with the poly rope. Ha! Yes, like a sane, normal person would 😂

That inside fairing looks quite impressive! I’m right with you about being nervous to drill holes and similar but I have a feeling they will come out quite nicely given the build to date.

Nice! That’s a small touch that’ll go a long way I think.

I wanted to place a note here as a complete novice to rope making. I purchased Syren’s Rope Rocket and some Mara thread and have been trying to get some nice rope. I think I’ve finally found the trick for me and that is to put a lot more initial twists in than you realize. Compared to my first batch I think I may be putting 10x the initial twists in and it has helped significantly with unraveling. There is definitely an art to it, but I think I’m heading in the right direction.

No need to apologize, life happens (sorry it sounds like a rough patch unfortunately). If you do end up with a 3D printer I would highly recommend investigating the resin printers. I have an inexpensive FDM and the layer lines would probably bother me (or be a pain to remove) for a nice model. Your work looks really nice and I look forward to seeing your updates!

Looks pretty nice; I was looking for a dark brown so I decided to order their "Very Dark Bark" and see if it can pass muster for standing rigging and their "Light Beige" to see what it looks like for running rigging.

Spackle is commonly used for drywall repair in homes - is there any sort of hardware store in your area that could maybe recommend an alternative? I'm out of my element, but maybe plaster of paris could work as well? There are some do it yourself recipes that I saw only that mentioned being able to be sanded with a fine grit sandpaper. I don't know the lifespan of it though, hopefully someone else will have some insight.

I believe you are looking for something called spackle (butI imagine there are alternatives). This is avery neat cardboard build that I have been following: and I think it shows what you are looking for on the second page.

Those samples look quite nice. I noticed the limited colors in my window shopping (I didn’t see anything remotely close to a standing rigging color). The search continues, but the Mara is working as well (simply fun to experiment).

A little nervous to offer suggestions, but could it be that the rear bulkheads need a little more fairing to get a better run? Also have you tried making the bend in multiple attempts (maybe using steam, instead of soaking)?

Did you ever give the Aurifil a try? I have some Mara that I have been happily experimenting with but I am interested in giving cotton thread a try as well.