Rick310

Keith, your builds are so much fun!!! Rick

Welcome to Cleveland George!! Hopefully you will have time to get back into modeling! Miss your updates! Did the Flying Fish make the trip? Rick

Plus, you really know how to use it all!! You also have extensive knowledge of dental materials, most of which I haven’t used in 40 years as an endodontist. Still trying to learn how to use my metal lathe and milling machine (not from dental school!). Rick

Rob, wish I still had my high and low speed hand pieces! I do have my hand instruments and my lathe ( bought thru the office for model ship building). With your background as a lab tech and Denturist, you must have a fantastic shop!! Rick

Beautifully done Rob! The impression brings back memories of dental school! Rick

Wonderful job on the name boards Rob!! I liked the way you did the lubbers holes in the tops! This is a really beautiful build! Rick

This is a really great build Keith!! Amazing detail at such a small scale! Rixk

Keith, I have no intention of quitting!! My wife and family would murder me !! Rick

As an aside, I had to take the spreaders off all 3 cross trees as the opening for the shrouds, backstays and stay, especially if the shrouds are served. This involved soaking the spreaders with acetone for 20-30 minutes and carefully prying them off the cross trees , trying not to break them. For anyone making this model, I recommend not attaching the spreaders until the top masts are rigged. Even with the spreaders removed, there really isn’t enough room for the shrouds and backstays. Rick

Thanks for the encouragement Jared! Rick

Keith, I lie to myself all the time, that I can actually finish this build. Rick

Very true!! I told myself that rigging would be easier so I wouldn’t get overwhelmed! Rick

This guy s a really nice build and you are doing a great job!! Beautiful attention to detail!! Rick

Thanks Nic! I keep waiting for this to get easier! Rick

Finally finished rigging the mizzen topmast. This included the shrouds, lanyards, backstays and the ratlines and the mizzen topmast stay. I also finished rigging the mizzen topsail reef line, and the bunt and leech lines. These are not yet permanently secured to their belaying pins. The topsail bowlines were also temporarily run to their blocks on the aft side of the main top to get them out of the way for the time being. One major flaw with the plans, in my opinion, is the lack of information on which lines run through which holes in the fairleads in the top and on the shrouds. Also, the plans fail to show accurately the relationship of the pins in the rack rail to the shrouds. This often results in a specific pin not being as close to the shroud fairlead to insure a straight path. The result is that I have to modify which lines are belaying to which pins. I am not able to follow the belaying diagram which I’m sure was based on accepted practice. This probably explains why I had to run the mizzen peak halyard aft due to interference with the mizzen top. The run of the bowlines are my interpretation base largely on the Flying cloud model at the Boston Fine Art Museum. May be wrong but seem logical to me knowing that the run of the bowlines had to be such that they would not interfere when lowering the yard quickly, same as the braces. If anyone has any thoughts, I would love to hear them!