dunnock

Rattling Away I followed my usual approach to the ratlines. I printed out a series of gridlines at 5mm spacing from a spreadsheet and marked every 5 lines. I use 0.1mm Gutterman dark brown thread and first tie every 5th ratline. I begin with a half hitch with an extra wrap which helps the thread emerge straighter from the knot, then its clove hitches and a final half hitch. Dabs of dilute pva hold everything in place. Nearly 800 knots later, including the futtocks, and it’s all done. Not much more to say so here are some pics... Moving on to to the main boom and gaff David

Thanks Ross. No the hooks are bought. They come as ready- blackened PE hooks from HiS Models. David

I've got a bit behind with my log but I thought that the next bit of work would be better described in a separate entry. Futtocks And All That I have made the futtock staves from 1.0mm brass rod and blackened in the normal way. They are tied to each shroud beginning with the two outer ones. According to Longridge they are fitted ‘as much below the upper edge of the trestle trees as the top of the cap is below’ Catharpins are made from 0.35mm rope and there are two per mast. I begin by seizing around one stave and then threading it aft of the mast. I tension the first catharpin and seize it to the stave. The second is tensioned to match the first before being seized to the stave. The futtock plates are blackened before fitting the 3mm deadeyes (they measure at 3.5mm) There is an excess of deadeyes supplied, necessary because the reject rate is high. The plates will need a bit of touching up to repair damage to the blackening The futtock shrouds are 0.45mm rope. They were all prepared with a 3.5mm hook seized in one end. They are hooked into the plates and tensioned while two seizings tie them to the lower shroud. I used 0.1mm thread for the seizings rather than 0.25mm suggested on the plan. Next up is everyone's favourite job - ratlines... David

Bowsprit Rigging The bobstays are formed from a length of 0.7mm rope served for the whole of its length. The served rope is thread through the holes in the knee of the head and spliced into a loop. A 3.5mm dead eye is seized into the bight and two seizings are used to secure the stay at the prow. I had great difficulty in getting the length of the loop correct before splicing the two ends together. I also should have realised that fixing the boomkins first was going to make rigging the bobstays more awkward. There is a bit of a twist on the upper deadeye which I hope I can improve by wetting out and weighting. The shrouds are a simpler arrangement although I was unsure whether they should be hooked into the eyebolts at the bow. In end I decided to seize them directly. The shrouds are made up off model using 0.6mm rope and 3.5mm deadeyes. Anchor Lining The anchor lining protects the sides of the ship from damage when the anchor is shipped. It’s not shown on the plans but it’s a simple matter to add. I made it from 5mm boxwood strip glued together edge to edge. The general shape is standard as far as I know and I simply drew one of the correct size on tracing paper and transferred it to the glued strips. A piece of the sheer rail is cut away before gluing the lining in place. The position just forward of the fore channel is determined by the position of the anchor when shipped. David

Thanks Maurice. Yes she is and I'm enjoying the build but I can't decide whether to fully rig her or take an approach similar to yours (if you don't mind) David

Tidying Loose Ends There seems to be a shortage of the particular colour (1712) of Gutterman cotton thread that I use for serving and seizing standing rigging. It has not been available in shops locally so while I wait for more supplies from that well-known on-line supplier, there’s some tidying up of the shrouds and the addition of the boomkins to keep me going. I check the tension of the shrouds, tightening the lanyards where necessary before tying hem off with a couple of rounds of thread. The shrouds themselves are finished of with a ‘seizing’ using the last remains of dark thread that I have: a simple clove hitch around the tail before trimming them. The boomkins are 3mm dowel tapered to 2.5mm on the lathe and a 2mmwide groove added at the end to accommodate the boomkin stays and the forecourse sheet block. A brass pin is glued in the end of the completed boomkins and located in the holes drilled in the bow. Stays are 0.5mm rope. I have 0.45 or 0.6mm. I prefer to go heavier and use 0.6mm. The 5mm single block is added to complete them David

The Stays I began by removing the deadeyes from bowsprit and foremast which according to Lees had been superceded by hearts from the late 17th century. For the mainstay I used 6.5mm closed hearts and the preventer 5mm closed hearts, all from Vanguard Models. For the foremast stays I have used open hearts on the bowsprit and closed hearts on the stays. The strops are all served 0.6mm rope. The open hearts are double stropped. I had to widen the groove in the heart with a file to accommodate them. The mainstay hearts are fitted with served single strops. It would have been much easier to do all this before the bowsprit was fixed in place when I should have checked whether to use deadeyes or hearts. It also meant that I had to redo one of the 3mm deadeyes for the bobstays. The reworking completed, I could turn to the stays. The main stay is 1.35mm cabled rope and the preventer 0.8mm. They are served to about 30mm below the position of the mouse. Once served, an eye is seized into one end and the position of the mouse marked with the stay in position on the model. The mouse is made from styrene tube; 3.5mm outside diameter for the main and 2.5 for the preventer stay. Once shaped with file and sandpaper, I cover them with some nylon mesh using CA to fix it. At this scale, it’s difficult to get a good profile but I think they will be acceptable on the model. Foremast stays The stays are completed with lanyards: 0.35 for the main and 0.25mm for the foremast stays. The lanyard is tied on and given five wraps around each heart. The grooves in the hearts are pretty small, so the tricky part is preventing the wraps from overlapping and keeping them separate. Once completed and tensioned the lanyard is tied off and fixed with some dilute PVA. I'll leave the ends unfinished in case the tensions change. David

The Shrouds I used 0.8mm dark brown rope. The foremast has two pairs of shrouds each side plus one that is spliced across the masthead. The spliced shroud is treated in the same way as described for the pendents. The foremost shroud is served completely and the others to about 8 feet (scale 38mm) below the top. After serving, the shrouds are prepared on a mocked up masthead and then slipped over the real mast when completed. The mainmast shrouds are treated in the same way. There are three pairs each side so there is no need for a spliced shroud. I left the shrouds under tension overnight to remove any stretch, a step that may be unnecessary since they are put under quite a tension during serving I use the normal technique of a scrap of wood with a pair of pins top and bottom at the required distance (15mm in my case) for spacing the deadeyes. Even with a jig, I still find turning in deadeyes a fraught experience. A cross seizing of the shroud holds the deadeye. Lanyards are 0.25mm rope and needed a hefty knot to prevent them pulling through the over-large holes in the deadeyes. I will leave the lanyards and shrouds unfinished for now in case further adjustment is necessary. Thanks for looking in and for the likes David

Pendents of Tackles First over the mastheads are the tackle pendents. They are spliced over the masthead and are served for their entire length. Using some spare thread, I estimate the length of the spliced section, 18mm in my case and spliced these short lengths. The total lengths of each pair of tackles is 136mm and will fall to just below the hounds. The first part of the tackle is served then the short length is spliced in. I separate the three strands and splice in two and then one strand to achieve a more gradual merge. Serving continues to the other side of the splice, the other end is spliced in then serving is completed to the end. 2mm wooden thimbles are seized into each end. The completed pendents are fitted over the masthead. This turned up under my tree on December 25th... I've had a look inside the box and I think it's going to be a challenge. I'll be doing a lot of thinking and planning before I start but I have plenty of time, there's still a way to go with Harpy. David

Completing the Bowsprit The cap has been cut to size. A groove is formed on the starboard side of the cap for the jack stay. The blocks and eyebolts are added to complete the cap. The cap and staff won’t be fixed in place until I’m ready to add the jib boom. With the blocks added and the jibboom made, I fix the bowsprit in place with the gammoning. I estimate how much rope I will need by making five wraps with some thread. It works out at about 1100mm so I cut 1200mm of 0.7mm rope to be sure. I begin by making an eye splice in one end and thread the other end through passing the resulting loop over the bowsprit. The eye sits on the port side. Wraps run forward on the ‘sprit and aft-wards through the gammoning slot, putting a twist in the wraps. Ten wraps fills the slot. In theory I should take ten frapping turns around the wraps but nine fills the space. Finally the end is seized to the first wrap using 0.1mm thread. I can now move on to rigging the lower masts, beginning with the tackle pendants. David

Bowsprit The maximum diameter of the bowsprit is at the bed: where it sits on the stem and according to Lee’s, is about the same as the main mast at the gun deck. I have settled for a compromise of just under 7mm with a taper to 6mm at the step and 5mm at the cap. I have temporarily removed the knightheads to sand back the hole for the bowsprit at the stem. The gammoning cleats, jib saddle and various cleats are added and then the variety of blocks and deadeyes. I have made bee blocks to go under the bees using some 2mm pear fret. First and most straightforward is the main preventer stay deadeye. I measure the length of rope needed to go around the deadeye and bowsprit and the required length is served. In reality I can serve three strops in one length on my machine. I’m using 0.4mm polyester thread served with Gutterman cotton. The deadeye is siezed in to the bight of served rope and the tails of unserved polyester are threaded into each other around the bowsprit to form a false splice. Each single or pair of blocks is secured in similar fashion (life is hard enough without attempting to fit more than two blocks on one strop). Jibboom The inner part of the jibboom up to the cap is an octagonal section. I used an 8mm dowel which I first planed square and then formed the octagonal. After further planing and sanding, the round section taper was finished on the lathe. This basic form of the jibboom is now used to check the measurements for the bowsprit cap. Bowsprit Cap The cap is scratched from some spare 4mm pear wood. I have made it 20 x 10mm: wide enough to accommodate the flying jib and jack staff. The holes for bowsprit and jibboom are formed at an angle so that the cap sits at right angles to the waterline. The cap will be cut to final size with top and bottom cut to follow the angle of the bowsprit before adding eyebolts and blocks. David

Thanks for that Geordie. Good of you to say so and glad that the log is of some help

Topmasts Cont’d The top-rope sheaves and hole for the fid are cut. I needed a bit of a fiddle to make the block fit through the hole in the top by filing it back up to the fid. I then had to re cut the octagon. The ramin is stained as before with a mix of antique pine and teak. I couldn’t use the caps provided in the kit so made them anew from the spare 4mm fret. They are a little larger than supplied at 24x11mm and correspond more closely to dimensions given by Lee’s. I cut a square 3.5mm for the main mast tenon and a 6mm round hole for the topmast. There are a pair of cheek blocks fixed to the head of each mast. The 2mm pear bolsters supplied for the main mast top, which I haven’t used, seem to be the ideal size. I cut two sheaves in each and will glue them to the mast once the cap has gone over and the mast is in place. The top pair are the topmasts that I rejected earlier but have finished them as good enough for spares to sit on the deck. Top Gallants These an easier proposition than the topmasts. According to Lees and to Petrejus's Irene there are options of octagonal or round sections at the base but either way, a square block is required. I have taken the simple option of a round pole. The masts are cut from 5mm dowel and a 3.5 x 9mm square section is formed first at the heel. A further tapered 4mm square section at the hounds is also cut before sanding in the taper on the lathe. The hounds are finished to an octagonal section. A hole is cut athwartships for the fid and a sheave cut fore and aft just below the hounds for the yard tie. I was able to adapt the topmast caps to accommodate the square section tenon on the topmast. Oddly the holes for the eyebolts on the underside of the cap are pre-cut but run through the cap. A bit of acrylic filler soon fixed that. With all the masts in place Harpy is now quite tall. I hope there's enough headroom on my shelf! Thanks for the likes David

Topmasts The plans are a simplification of the base of the mast with no block or octagonal sections and I redrew them to the proportions given in Lee’s. I start with 8mm ramin dowel and squared off the section between main mast top and cap at 6mm and then cut the octagonal sections using the 7:10:7 rule. This done, I use my lathe to reduce the main part of the mast to 6mm and then taper to 4mm at the hounds. I wasn't happy with the results, especially the main topmast so decided to remake them using a different route. I began with the same 8mm dowel but using a plane and sanding sticks, made the entire length 6mm square. I marked out the octagonal and square sections of the block and heeling using the 7:10:7 rule and cut the octagonal sections with chisel and sanding stick. It's difficult to measure such small faces accurately and the diagonal was coming out oversized. The face of a 6mm octagon is 2.48. I set this on my calipers and score down the partially cut diagonal faces and then sand back to the correct width. I cut the hounds into a square section of 4mm at the base increasing to 6mm at the beginning of the head. The bulk of the mast is prepared for the lathe by roughly sanding it from square to octagon and then to a hexadecagon before finally sanding it round on the lathe. The hounds are finished to an octagonal cross section as before and the head cut square with a taper from 4 to 3.5mm at the cap. Finally the cap tenon is cut at 3mm square. It's left slightly long to allow for the final trimming. I have marked the rough positions of the fid and also the top and bottom top rope sheaves. I'll remove the waste wood at the base of the masts after these have been cut. This is much longer process than trying to work with a round section but I’m much happier with the results. With a bit of extra work, my previous efforts might serve as spare masts on the deck. David

Thanks Geordie