dunnock

Moving on to the Main and fore course sheets and tacks. Steel says sheets are 3”, Tacks 4” and clews 2” ropes. I have used 0.45, 0.35 and 0.25 respectively as the nearest that I have available. All the 5 mm needed were stropped with a becket the lines prepared and threaded in one go. I tried to make a tack knot rather than use a toggle shown on the plan but couldn’t quite get the interlacing right but have ended up with a reasonable approximation that looks OK to me when rigged. The clew line is tied to the yard with a timber hitch and feeds through the block on the yard down to the already overcrowded bitts. The fore tacks lead through the blocks on the boomkins and are tied off at the knightheads at the bow and the sheets lead aft through the fixed blocks and tie of to the large cleats. The main clews were threaded in a similar way to the fore course. The tacks lead through the fixed blocks just behind the forward stools but there was no provision for the main sheets to tie off. The cleat is shown on the rigging plan but not shown on the drawings of the inner bulwarks nor could I see a slot provided for it in the inner bulwark patterns. However, it was a simple matter to modify a cleat and pin and glue in place just forward of the aftmost 6 pounder. I am now faced with more lines trailing around the ship that need tidying before completing the rigging with the braces and bowlines. Thanks to everyone for the like and for continuing to follow my build. David

Lees has saved me from the tricing lines. He says that they were usually removed once the tackles were in place – that’s good enough for me. Before access is made even more difficult, I fix the ship’s boat in place. Although I had marked up the cheek blocks on the plans, I had forgotten to add them so had to make them now. I used some 2x2 boxwood reduced to 1.5mm and cut two notches to represent the sheaves. They were painted black before being glued to the topmast heads. The jib and flying jib stays and outhaulers are added, using 0.25mm rope. I think I have attached them to the travellers the opposite way round but I have trimmed them off and now am short of rope to replace them. I hope that no one will notice. Thanks for the comments and likes David

I have made enough hanks and coils to clear the decks sufficiently to carry on rigging. While doing so I found some of the lines were not running as freely as they should so changed them. I found that 18 (boom topping lift) and 44 (main top gallant clew) occupied the same pin so I moved the topping lift to the bitts, which seemed to be a more natural line. I have also moved the shifting back stay which was belayed to the pin rail. I was always unclear where the fall should tie off since the plan didn’t show any clear belay point. I have now tied it off to the lower deadeye which releases the pin for the top gallant sheets. After all this realigning, I decided to have a break from rigging and turned to the anchors. The stocks required some filing of the notch to accommodate the anchor shaft. There should be a gap between the two halves of the stock to allow for expansion and contraction of the anchor. I also tapered the ends of the stock and rounded them off. The 3D-printed anchors are cleaned before painting with Iron Black from Admiralty Paints. I have used 0.7mm brass rod for the rings, blackened in the usual way, rather than the PE etched parts. For the puddening I used 0.35mm rope. I tried wrapping straight rod and bending into a ring afterwards as suggested by (I think) @Thukydides but I made a mess of the wrappings when I tried to make the ring. I think maybe I should have used much longer pieces of rod to leave more room for bending pliers. I resorted to my previous method of fitting the rings then wrapping them afterwards. I decided not to add servings to each ring because it is hardly noticeable when the anchors are mounted and they have tended to look oversized. The rings are easier to do without the stocks in place which can now be added. I use heat-shrink tubing rather than black card for the bands. I have made two anchor bouys. I couldn’t find exact measurements for the bouys so starting with 8mm dowel, I made them 15mm long. They are roughly shaped using a scalpel and then sanded to final shape. I covered them with strapping painted dark brown to represent the tarred cloth wrappings. The ropes are 0.35mm. I start by cutting two lengths and serve the centre section and form it into an eye to give four ‘legs’ or slings. The sling assembly is glued to one end of the bouy with pva. The hoop is also made from 0.35m with a mock splice. Each sling is wrapped around the hoop and tied in place with a three wraps of thread. The process is repeated for the other end of the bouy. One finished and one shell - the shell has the remains of tape which I had to redo. The two finished bouys Anchors and bouys are put away until needed as one of the final parts of the build. And now it’s back to rigging. Thanks for looking in and and the encouraging likes David

I began to add sheets and clew lines starting with the fore topgallant. Threading through the myriad of lines now going down the masts is challenging as is balancing port and starboard to get the tacks to be at equal heights. When it came to tying off the lines at the belay pins, I realised that the spaghetti of lines waiting to be finished off couldn’t be ignored any longer so I’ve started to tidy them up. Making hanks for the belay pins is straightforward (although when getting in close I snagged the topgallant stay with my Optivisor) but what to do with all those ropes coming down to the bitts? For the moment, I’ve decided to make coils for some and to hank others. David

Thanks everyone for the likes. Looking at the jib traveller, I realised that I’d not left room for the flying jib to be accommodated within the ring. Thankfully I was able to fit a new enlarged version without having to de-rig the topgallant and jib stay. I used a piece of foil to protect jib and rigging from damage when I soldered the ring and painted it. The finished traveller looks over-sized in the following pic but with the flying jib fitted I think it will be fine. I've also added the jib hand ropes. I've tied figure-of-8 knots every 9mm or so. The original jib traveller has been cut down and will serve for the flying jib. Moving on to the topgallant yards. I felt the parral beads looked slightly oversized against the yards. I have some smaller beads but they are bronze coloured and I couldn't get a decent finish so I decided to fit parrel ropes. Lees says that they weren’t in use until 1805 but Cochrane was always and innovator and may have adopted their use before others caught on 😊 The ropes are made from 0.35 rope An eye is spliced tight to the yard on one side of the mast and an eye on a long strop on the other. I pinned and glued the yard to the mast and lashed the two eyes of the parrel together. The tie is made from 0.45mm with a loop siezed in to fit around the middle of the yard. The pendant of the tie feeds through the sheave in the head of the mast and finishes in a 4mm double block. A 3mm single block is hooked into the starboard eye on the top and the fall leads through the double block and down to the aft pin rail. Now all the yards are fitted. Still spritsail yards to re-fit which I keep knocking so I'm leaving them off for the moment. Most of the standing rigging is complete apart from tidying stray ends. And this is how she looks... Thanks again for looking in David

Topgallant and royal backstays are added. I decided to follow Lees for the royal backstays who says that in small ships, the royal backstay ended in a thimble which was attached by a lanyard to a thimble and eyebolt in the stool. The main topgallant and royal stays lead through blocks on the fore topmast head and end in thimbles and lanyards hooked to the foremast top. I’ve delayed extending the length of Speedy for as long as possible but to complete the foremast stays I need to add the jib and while the bowsprit is still accessible I decided to add the spritsail yard. The spritsail sling is made from 0.45mm rope. An eye is spliced in one end, turned around the yard and seized to itself. The rope is led around bowsprit and yard, passes through the eye and turned back on itself. It is secured by a seizing. I made a jib traveller from some 0.7mm brass wire bent into a ring. A hook is added and the attachment for the outhaul is made from some 0.3mm copper wire. Finally the ring is closed with a spot of solder. The assembly is blackened although the copper wire didn’t take and was painted with iron black colour. With the traveller on the jib, it can be lashed to the bowsprit. I used 0.45 mm rope and gave it 6 turns finished with 4 binding turns. Next to add is the jibstay. The rigging plan says it is tied off to the bowsprit gammoning but for the moment I have tied it off to the starboard knighthead. With the jib secure I can fit the fore topgallant stay which has yet to be tied in with its lanyard There is already enough opportunity for me to catch protruding yards and masts so the royal stay will wait until the flying jib is added later. Thanks for looking in and for the likes David

I've had a few days in Dorset but before I went away I did make some further progress on the topsail yards and topgallant masts. The topsail ties consist of a long a 5mm block seized to a pendant. The standing end is spliced to the crosstrees and passes through one side of the double block on the yard, up through the 3mm block on opposite side and hangs just below the lower yard. A second 5mm block is spliced into a long strop and hooked to the aftermost eyebolt in the channels. I used 0.35mm rope for the falls which I thought looked better for scale than the 0.25 mm recommended in the plans. They are tied into the pendant block, run down to the block at the channels back up through the pendant block and belayed at the pin rack. I wasn’t sure whether the strop on the channel should run in front or behind the shrouds. I opted for behind which seems to give the cleanest line. They are tied into the pendant block, run down to the block at the channels back up through the pendant block and belayed at the pin rack. I wasn’t sure whether the strop on the channel should run in front or behind the shrouds. I opted for behind which seems to give the cleanest line. Before I can go any further with rigging the topsail yards, I add the topgallant masts which required some further preparation. The spans on the mast caps for the topsail yard lifts are more easily added off model. An eye is splice in each end of a long strop and clove-hitched around the cap. The topgallant lift blocks are also added. The block and thimbles for the main topgallant and royal stays are seized on long strops and spliced round the fore topmast head. With preparation complete the topgallant masts are fitted. The shrouds are made from 0.25mm rope. There is one pair on each side plus a swifter. For this single shroud which runs both port and starboard, a loop is spliced in to go over the mast. I’ve then added seizings over the splice to secure it. The instructions have the shrouds tied off at the deadeyes on the tops which concurs with Lees. However the book of 'The Brig Irene' says that the shrouds ended in a thimble and were connected by a lanyard to a thimble tied to the deadeye straps on the tops. I wonder was this a Dutch arrangement? I have gone for the simpler arrangement given by Lees and the plans. David

I’ve not had much time in the shipyard recently – I’ve been in Scotland for a week walking and got back to gardening and other household tasks, however I have finished the rigging on the lower yards for now. As expected the bitts are already looking quite crowded and it’s a bit of a fiddle getting the lines through the blocks under the tops. Chuck’s 3D printed blocks @Chuck are easy to thread, often without the need to stiffen the ends of the line with CA which making the task easier. I removed the grating from the forward hatch to make tying off easier. I’ve moved on to the topmast yards. These are pinned in but not glued. The parrels are made from the brass etched ribs but I’ve used some 2mm beads that have more of a barrel shape. I could only get them in a greeny-gold colour and the shapes are variable but as you can see there are plenty to select from. but they have painted up with Valejo matt black without a problem. The parrel ropes are 0.25mm line with an eye spliced in one end. Thanks for the likes and for looking in. David

I’ve been working on a few different parts to Speedy over the last 10 days or so, trying to get to a more ordered approach to the remaining rigging. First I decided it was time to finish rigging the remaining yards and spars. I have largely followed the plans but made rope (instead of brass PE) stirrups using 0.45mm rope. The horses are also made from 0.45mm. They look a bit untidy at the moment but this will be sorted out with some matt varnish and small weights at the end. Next I finished the boat cradles by adding 2mm pear strip cut from spare sheets to lift the boat above the hatch coamings. The boat is lashed to the cradles and is then removed while rigging proceeds. I have added the tackles to the main stay while access to the centre line is still relatively free. The tackle above the main hatch is made from a long block seized to 0.45mm pendant. The falls are 0.25mm with a single 3mm block and hook. The forward hatch tackle siezes directly to the stay and uses the same set up for the fall. They will belay to wherever is convenient when all the other ropes are in place. I made life difficult by not adding the long lift blocks before fitting the lower mast caps. Thankfully neither masts nor caps are glued so I was able to lift the caps off to make them more accessible. The blocks are seized to a long strop of 0.4mm and clove-hitched around the cap. Getting the length of the strops right takes a bit of fiddling and would have been better to have done it earlier before setting the topmasts. In a similar vein, I ought to have fitted the jeer blocks before now. Again it’s tricky getting the strops to the correct length. It’s made slightly easier by using false splices so the lengths of each part can be adjusted in situ before using a dab of CA to fix. The blocks hang from the cleats on the mast head crossing to the opposite side of the mast. With the lift and jeer blocks in place, I can continue adding the rigging that runs down the centre line. The jeers are first and I used 0.35mm rope, a little heavier than specified in the plan but nearer to the 2 ½” rope given by Steel. They are tied off at the bitts For the lifts I used 0.25mm rope spliced to the yard arm and then run through the blocks and down to the forward belay rack for each mast. I’m continuing with the leech and buntlines using 0.2mm line. Since I'm not adding sails, I have knotted the ends before threading them through the yard blocks. Threading the lines through the blocks under the tops is a fiddly job being so crowded together but after a few attempts I get there. When both sides of the yard are threaded I will run them down to be tied off once again at the bitts. Will there be enough room I wonder? Thanks for looking in and for the continuing likes and useful comments David

Thanks to all for the likes and to @Thukydides and @TBlack for comments and feedback. I've reworked the preventer stays, reducing the size of the mouse and using a fabric from a pair of tights to cover them which is less bulky than self-adhesive fabric strapping. I have used 0.45mm rope for the stay. I'm happier with the reworked preventer stays but now I'm not so sure about the stays. David

Hi Daniel, I have tried using fly-tying thread for siezings before but not for serving. I struggled with it because I couldn't control the static and the filaments were always flying apart. What is the meaning of the 10/0 specification? I'm not adding sails but I will add running rigging following references from Lees, Petersson and others ... including buntlines. As for where to belay them, on Diana they were tied off at the rails but from Chris's rigging plan, I think they attach at the bitts which will become pretty crowded so we shall see. David

Topmast Stays and Preventer Stays I made a mouse for each stay from some 2mm dowel first drilling a hole for the stay, shaping one end, cutting off 4mm from the dowel and then shaping the other end. The dowel is covered in fabric strapping. The stays are made from 0.45mm rope served to 20mm below the position of the mouse. The preventer stays are 0.35mm rope which I decided was too fine to serve. Once set up and on reflection, I think that the mouse is oversized and it may have been better to use unserved 0.45mm rope for the preventer stay which would still give sufficient differential in size between stay and preventer stay. I may yet change the preventer stay and mouse. In the meantime I’ve finished the ratlines on the topmast shrouds and finished off the backstays. David

Thanks Al. I'm sure that you'll enjoy building Speedy. It makes a fine model and there is scope to make it your own.

I like your Idea Richard and may follow. I'm not sure that I could trust myself to make a clean cut of the excess plank below the wale. David

Great build and log with lots of useful tips and ideas I'll be interested to see the results of your CA and Superphatic tests BE David