Bruma

Before moving on, I realized I still have to rig the spencer gaff and sail. 

Nice job!

On 5/10/2022 at 11:32 PM, Jim Lad said:

Bruma, while the fore staysails were a vital part of the ships sail plan and essential for balancing the rig and also for driving the ship's head through the wind when tacking, the main and mizzen staysails were an 'added extra' - light sails used for a bit of extra driving force when conditions were right.  I would assume that if they were set when the ship was going to tack they would simply be hauled down and then re-set after the tacking maneuver was completed.

 

John

Thank you, John, for the quick and precise answer! 

On 5/9/2022 at 6:24 PM, Kevin-the-lubber said:

That is pure quality. I would think twice about painting these, they are stunning as they stand. And you made all these by hand? 

Rob, you are doing a wonderful job! I like your furled sails, very well done! 

Hello everyone! 

Again a long time since my last update, sorry about that and thanks to wemattson and Joe100 for their recent comments. 

But now, it’s finally update time! 

Main and mizzen yards

After stepping and rigging the main mast, I have been working on the main and mizzen yard. Since the process is incredibly time consuming and, after a while, boring, I decided to build them all in one shot, hoping to be a little bit faster. 

Here you can see the making process of some of the metal parts.

And here they are almost finished, with the lower topsail crane fashioned with brass as well.

Here the mizzen’s yards tapered and prepared for the metal fitting:

In this is image you can see the making process of the parrel yoke for topgallant, royal and sky yard:

And the way I used to secure them to the yards:

Then I started with the metal stripes on the yards, a very long process, only surpassed by the eyebolts making and fitting. 

In order to better understand my mental disease, here you have some numbers. 

For the main and mizzen yard I have fashioned and fitted:

216 eyebolts, mainly in two different sizes;

197 metal stripes 

22 pulleys

22 jackstays 

And the best of all this is that, once painted in black and fitted, many of the small details will not be so easy to spot… But I know they are there and I hope they will make a good impression! 

Now enough talking, some images (I hope not too many), of the finished yards:

Here the main yards:

And here the mizzen yards:

I hope you like them! 

Next step will be the rigging of the mainstay sails. 

Here I still have some doubts about the sheets: for the jib there are two sheets, one for each side in order to allow the change in tack. For the main and mizzen stay sail there is only one sheet (at least according to Underhill). How can they manage the tacking process? You have to untie the sheet on the deck and pass it over the stays, which seems to me at least impractical if not impossible…

Any information about that is very welcome!

19 hours ago, Kevin-the-lubber said:

Bruma, all the way back on post #5 you showed your reworked pin rails. On the kit part, the aft-most one is slightly spaced away from the hull, now that you are much further along, is there any reason for that spacing or is it just a 'true to reality' detail, i.e. does something need to fit into the small gap?

I tried to place the pin rail holes in the position shown by Campell’s plan. They are correct on the fore-stern line, but, as you noticed, they should have been placed further away from the hull. The reasons are mainly two.

The first one is the deadeye size. Mine are slightly bigger than needed. 

At that time I didn’t have a resin 3d printer and I had to use what was available on the market but they interfere with the pins if placed correctly.

The second was to have a safer anchoring point for the backstays. Moving the deadeye holes  further away from the hull increases the leverage and the risk of detaching the pin rails once tension is applied.

Another point that should be considered is that the pin rails provided by revell are larger than the original, so the pins itselfs should be closer to the hull. 

There are so many things that I should have done better that looking back at the beginning of the build I am almost ashamed… 

What a great learning process it was and still is…

19 hours ago, Kevin-the-lubber said:

Right now (I'm remaking the rails completely) I'm placing the holes for the deadeyes  more or less in the centre of the rail depth, you placed yours much closer to the hull, similar to the kit placement. I thought that might make it even more difficult to rig; has that been the case or are they fine in that position?

The biggest issue I had was to find space for rigging the yard's halliards down to the pinrail itself. If you plan it from the beginning, you will have less headhake in the future.

2 hours ago, shipman said:

What a delight to see how far you have come with your inspiring model, which you have introduced detail way beyond what I envisaged. Very humbling.

 

Nice to see you found such fine chain; do you mind sharing where you bought it?

Thank you Shipman! 

The chain you see in the first picture of my previous post are from trumpeter master tools, article number 08010, “30 cm Universal Fine Chain” 2x 30 cm chain in each packet.

Hope this helps! 

@ Kirill and Snug Harbor Johnny:

Thank you both for the incredibly useful pictures and paintings! 

Meanwhile I did my homework and foun some great video on youtube, here you have one of them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft3EPJC-FtU&t=1072s

Starting from 15:07, the video shows seamen furing sails! 

Thank you all again for the help and support.

Thank you all for the kind comments and suggestions, I really appreciate all of them!

@Snug Harbor Johnny:

Thank you for the idea! It will surely come handy for my mizzen cro’jack: it will be furled. 

Talking about furled sails, if you or anybody else has some picture of real clipper-like sails furled, it will be really helpful. I’m struggling to find good pictures to use as reference. 

That being said, you mention:

On 1/6/2022 at 11:32 PM, Snug Harbor Johnny said:

.......

  There are several modeling advantages to having furled sails.  First, the jackstays are covered over - so one does not have to make them at all - which is rather fussy in 1:96 scale.  

.......

 

Well, I quite like this detail! Here it is my attempt to replicate the jackstay on the main course yard:

So that I can also answer to a question posed by Rwiederrich:

On 4/23/2021 at 2:20 PM, rwiederrich said:

 

One last question:  Did you add the jackstays to the yards then lash the sails to them....in your search for the *Finer* details?  (And what about those gin blocks?)

 

Yes indeed! And I hope the wires are visible in the previous picture.

I really like all those little details, they reveal the incredibly complex nature of those sailing pieces of art.

9 hours ago, rwiederrich said:

Like you Bruma, I wanted to hyper detail my Revell Kit.  I used wood deadeyes and detailed her out as much as possible.  I, however had a dioramic point...a true historical incident in CS life.  The replacement of her jury rigged rudder.  She was on the ways for repair, so her sails would have been removed and stowed for the duration of the repair.

 

I appreciate your attention to detail, in making this fine model even that more impressive.

 

Here is a pic of my award winning model. for your edification.

 

Rob

Thank you for posting your masterpiece. I already know your creature, they were part of the inspiration that brought me to the Cutty Sark, and I really like the diorama idea! 

Update time:

Main mast stepped and the standing rigging (of the main mast) almost completed! 

Since the process is almost the same as the fore mast, I will just put some pictures! 

Just a side note: royal and skysail back stays are still missing, as are some fairleads. 

Before stepping the mast, I prepared the tackles for the main course yard lift. They are in a quite tricky and crowded location. This area will be a lot more crowded, but all the other tackles have to be fitted once the yards are in place. 

I hope the job is visible from this pictures:

Talking about crowded areas, the foot of the main mast is one of them and to make things even worse, the mainstay and the main topmast stay needs to find her way in this intricate forest…

I already tied them on the port side, but the line needs to go up to the main mast and come back to the fore mast, starboard side, tied to the eye bolts on deck. 

In doing so, they have to pass between the mast and the tackles (tree for each side, one for the lift, another one for the lower topsail sheet and the last one for topgallant sheet). 

Well, long story short, it was not so relaxing. But I’m glad I did it. 

The result is barely visible, but I know I did it, and that’s enough. 

Here you can see the mainstay and the relative cleat: 

And here the whole (I hope ordered) mess:

Well, that’s all for today's update, please critique and point out errors or anything you don’t like, I really appreciate all your feedback!

Great to see another glorious revell kit coming to life! 

I also really like your 3d printed details! 

Thank you all, I’m really happy to see you are still with me! 

On 11/25/2021 at 3:33 PM, gak1965 said:

Quick question about the gaffs. How did you make the hinge? Is it articulated or rigid.

 

The hinges are all rigid. They are a simple piece of brass wire inserted in the boom and then bent. To mimic the real hinges, I just applied two small disks on both sides of the wire, pretending to simulate a cylindrical hinge.

I hope it’s clear enough, if not please write me, and I’ll try to take some more close-up pictures!

Hello everyone! 

It’s been a long time since my last update.

After completing the fore mast, I have experienced a lack of motivation and the will to move on something else.

Meanwhile, I have received from my wife a resin 3d printer, and so I started a side project: a small Italian steam locomotive, the Gr 835, in 1 to 87 scale

Here it is:

It is designed in Blender and printed on an elegoo mars 2 mono, more than 90 individual parts. 

But with the locomotive completed, I started to look again at the lonely Cutty Sark and the spark ignited again! 

So…. Update time! 

Spencer gaff and furled sail

This sail is one of the less documented and a bit of guessing is needed. 

The gaff provided by revell is not good enough, so I opted for building a new one. 

Since I was making the Spencer gaff, I decided to create the spanker boom and gaff as well. I will talk about them later on in the build.

Here you can see, from top to bottom, the spencer gaff, the spanker boom and gaff

All of them were airbrushed and weathered as usual. 

As far as I can tell, the spencer sail was rarely used, so I opted for a furled sail. 

As for all the other sails, the material is painted modelspan reinforced with metal wire. 

The flat sail has been wetted and then sculpted to mimic the furled shape. 

Here you can see some images of the process:

The brails are used to shape the sail and make it fast to the mast.

The pole visible in the previous images is just a placeholder used while shaping the sail. 

In the final arrangement, the sail is provided with hanks and fixed to the relative jackstay behind the main mast. 

With the sail still detached I added all the needed lines: two sheets with relative blocks, four brails (two for each side),  outhaul and inhaul beneath the gaff.

Alongside with the work on the sail, I added all the blocks on the main mast needed to rig the sail (four blocks for the brails on the jackstay and block below the main platform for the inhaul) and the eyebolt for the standing rigging of the gaff.

Once all the preparation work has been done, it’s time to attach the sail! 

I started with reeving each hank to the jackstay and the passing all the lines to the relative blocks, and this is the result:

The main mast is still not glued.

Finally, just to remember the long-term goal, two pictures of the ship as it is now:

Thank you all! 

Here I am again! 

Thank you both for taking time to help me! 

10 hours ago, SpyGlass said:

Can I ask what exactly you mean  by a "spencer"

Sure! You are right: it is another gaff sail on the main mast. 
It is called "spencer" in Campbell's plans, that's why I have used this name. 
It is visible here in this portion of the sail plan:

10 hours ago, SpyGlass said:

An outhaul on a gaff would be to take the sail to the end of the spar NOT to furl it.

Yes, you are right and I understand that. I was mentioning the outhaul because if there is an outhaul that take the sail to the end of the spar, there should be the relative "inhaul" to take the sail closer to the mast. 
In my understanding, the furled sail should be all along the mast and not also along the gaff as depicted in my picture. 
The main problem is exactly that picture, I started to ask myself if I was right  seeing part of the sail furled along the gaff, and I don't expect that. 

9 hours ago, DonSangria said:

Nevertheless I hope this helps.

Sure, thank you! It is the firs time I see this kind of sail furled and pictures such as this one are exactly what I was looking for! If you have some other one plaese share them! 
Again, thank you both! 

More than 70 views and no answer. 

Hello everyone. 

I’m building the Cutty Sark:

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/25323-cutty-sark-by-bruma-revell-196/page/7/

and I want to set almost all the sails, showing them under a moderate wind, something similar to this condition:

As you can see the spanker is set, but the  spencer is not.

And here I have the first question: how is the spencer sail furled? And in general, how is it rigged? It is not mentioned by Underhill and just lightly by Longridge, but I need more information.

The only source I was able to find is this picture:

But on the Campbell’s plans there is an indication for an out haul, meaning that the entire sail can be furled by sliding the head of the sail closer to the masts.  

And so we have the second question: are the spencer and spanker sails fitted with hanks also along the gaff or only along the mast? If so, there should be something similar to a jackstay on the lower end of the gaff, is that correct?

If the answer is no, how are they set to the gaff boom?

And lastly, the third one: let’s say I want to show the main royal staysail, the main topgalland staysail but not the main topmast staysail, are they set and furled, or they are removed from the respective stay and set only if needed? 

If they are furled, can you give me some advice on how to show them? It is clear when it comes to the jib, for instance, but not on this particular sail, at least to me.

Thank you all in advance!  

Thank you all for the likes and for taking some time to write comments, they are all really appreciated! 

I’ll try to answer to every questions: 

On 4/22/2021 at 8:23 AM, kirill4 said:

Lower sails ,looks a little bit small in heihgt,is it correct size?

I have taken all the sizes of the sail from the scaled Campbell’s plans. I have a master copy made of paper and then copied the shape on the silk span. 

All the sails are double checked so I suppose and hope that the size of the lower topsail is correct. Another cross check is the distance between the two yards: their positions are fixed and they fit with the plans. 

I have also checked the length of the yards: longer yards may change the aspect ratio of the sail. But again they are in accordance with Campbell's plans. 

So, long story short, I think I’m right

On 4/22/2021 at 8:23 AM, kirill4 said:

as seems to me You give sails too much belly...they became looks like on galleon :)))

I see your point and I can agree somehow. Thank you for pointing it out, it is a great argument of conversation and one of most interesting to me!  

Let me explain my point:

#1 If possible, I don’t want to use painting or other models as reference. The model you posted is wonderful, far better than mine, and the modeller who created it is surely a talented one, but still the model is his own interpretation of the real ship. 

When I started to think about my sails I collected some pictures of real ships under moderate wind and I tried to replicate the effect. 

Here you have two exples on the James Craig:

And one of the stad amsterdam:

When I saw them I realized that this was the look I wanted to achieve. 

Surely there are also other examples that show flatter sails, such as this one:

But I prefer the first one and that’s what I have tried to replicate. 

So, point #2

I think that sail shape can greatly depend on the skipper and the sea conditions, but both the shapes can be accurate. 

That being sail, I’m not completely satisfied with my result, there is surely a margin of improvement

On 4/22/2021 at 10:40 AM, kirill4 said:

Did You consider to turn all yard more sharp to the wind?

Yes, but I think I’ll stick with this angle.

A close hauled configuration might result with a heavier look of the ship (in my opinion) and it will occlude more the deck. With this angle and the corkscrew arrangement of the sails, if you look at the ship from starboard she is still light and elegant. But it is absolutely a subjective point. 

22 hours ago, rwiederrich said:

I see you fashioned the truss for the lower topsail instead of using the Revell solution.  Wonderful attention to detail.

 

Yes, and I’m glad you noticed. I didn’t mention it being afraid to bother too much, but there are many small details such as this one all over the place. They took a good deal of time and effort and they may get lost in the intricacy of the rigging, but I know they are there and now, thanks to you, I know that they can catch the attention of someone else. 

22 hours ago, rwiederrich said:

Will you be belaying all the sheets and bunt lines to their pins?

Yes they are all ready and easily detectable from their respective fairleads, but i’ll belay them only at the end. Once I wil brace all the yard properly I’ll be able to tighten them.

22 hours ago, rwiederrich said:

I am interested in your assembly approach....I constructed my Great Republic mast and yards off model for ease...did you do something similar?

Yes, all the sails are secured to the yards, with lines and blocks. Then I put the yarda on the mast completing the rigging on the mast itself and I move on the upper sail. 

21 hours ago, Snug Harbor Johnny said:

The Revell kits included some scale figures of crewmen.  Ever consider placing a few on the model to give the viewer an idea of her large size?  Most models of sailing ships under sail are devoid of crew - almost like 'flying dutchmen' ...

Maybe, but there is still a lot of work to be done. I can think about that later on. 

Surely I will put them only if I will be able to paint them properly. The toy effect is always there and I want to avoid it. 

19 hours ago, shipman said:

Bruma, your model is a delight and an education in so many ways.

Thank you Shipman, I’m really happy. Surely I’m not alone: without the support of the entire community I would not have been able to achieve this result and you are one of the most important members of the support team!

19 hours ago, shipman said:

and out of the water, stuck on a couple of pedestals?

This is another thing I'm considering. Surely I will not use resin. It is too expensive and dangerous for the model. We will see… 

Again, thank you all! 

17 hours ago, wemattson said:

That is a phenomenal work of art!  I've been waiting excitedly for this update and you did not disappoint.  I am truly amazed by the level of detail.  I can't wait to see more.

Thank you very much for your comment, I'm happy you like it! 

Hello everyone. 

I have finally found some time to photograph the model as it is now, with the fore mast completed.

So, it’s update time!

Sails #2: fore mast rigging and sails! 

These square sails are the first square sails on my model and the first square sails of my life, and they have been quite a challenge.  

The technique used is the one described some posts above. 

It has been a great journey, with a really steep learning curve.

My main references are Longridge,  Underhill and Campbell and as far as I can tell all the standing and running rigging lines are present in my model. 

The braces are still missing, they will interfere while working on the main mast, so I’ll put them later on. 

Still I didn’t resist putting some of them just temporarily, to visualize the braced yards and the corkscrew arrangement of the fore yards. 

Ok, enough talking. Here you have some pictures. Hopefully not too many… 

And here are some details.

As you may already know all the yards are scratch build. 

I have also added the fairleads on crosstrees, tops and lower shrouds, with all the running rigging passing through the respective fairleads. 

The gin blocks used for the halliards are also visible. They are all scratch build:

 And here are the last details: reef points. In my opinion thread is too thick, so I have used single bristles from an old brush and a drop of CA gel glue 

In this last picture it’s also visible how I bent the sails to the jackstay.

Please note that the sheets are not in the final position: I will shape the last part of each chain close to the sail to simulate the wind pushing them forward,, but I will do it only once all the braces will be in place. 

I hope you like them!

Good to see you back on your model! Keep going! 

On 4/15/2021 at 6:43 PM, Michelnou said:

For brass, by example, what is the good rod's diameter to supply the necessary stiffness to the whole sail (0,4 mm) ?

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. 
Yes, they are there to help the sail maintaining their shape. 
I have used a 0.4 - 0.5 twisted aluminum wire (at least I think it is aluminum, it is gray). 
But the point is: use what you think is the best solution for your model and scale. The wire provide also a simulation for the bolt rope, and they size tent to vary during different periods and sail sizes. 
I have made many test to find the best solution for me, and I'm glad to share my small achievement, but the process needs to be changed depending on your models. 
Plus: testing is a lot  of fun! You might enjoy the journey more than the destination, for me that's the case! 

Hi again. 

Thank you all guys! 

You may try to contact them and see if they can send it to France.

Thank you all, again, for the kind comments and likes. 

Thank you, Vladimir for sharing your Cutty Sark. 
In two weekends you have achieved what I managed to do in more than one year!
Even if you are not planning to work on her in the near future, I'm sure you will see the end sooner than me.
I can't wait to see more!