Rick310

Both the China Trade painting and the Buttersworth painting show mast bands, on the mizzen, contrary to the Langford plans. I recall reading somewhere that single tree masts were also hooped for added strength. The spencer gaff rides on the spencer mast behind the mizzen, therefore mast bands would not interfere with raising and lowering the spencer gaff. Rick

Coming along nicely! Rick

Really great!! Rick

Beautiful!! I’ve really enjoyed learning how you solve the inevitable problems that arise during a build. I know Nic and Al at Bluejacket will be impressed with your build. Rick

Looks good Nic!! Rick

Nice start, interesting build!! Rick

The rudder with the preventer chain were finally finished. This required fitting the rudder head with a band and the emergency tiller. The band is brass strip, soldered together and drilled for the tiller which was made from brass rod and wire for the ring. These were blackened and the top of the rudder post painted black. The height was trimmed to fit under the wheel box and then glued to the top of the rudder down through the hole for the rudder. The preventer chains were tricky due to the small size. I used chain 36 links to an inch. The one picture shows this compared to the anchor chain which is 16 links to the inch. I wanted to place the shackles through the links but could only do that in the middle of the chain with 30 ga copper wire which was too fragile and kept breaking. I could get 28 ga wire through the ends and ended up using 28 ga wire around the links in the middle. I realized the the ring on the end of the rod coming off the rudder should have been horizontal so I end up redoing the connection to the rod in the rudder. I then made the capstans. These were made from mahogany and are similar to the capstans made by EdT on his Young America. Not having the tools to follow Ed’s technique, I turned the head, spindle and base in one piece. The rings were cut from 13/32 brass tube at .02 inches on the Byrnes table saw. I used a .02 inch blade for the spacing. The brass caps were made from brass rod a good friend gave me. This was the most extensive metal turning I’ve done to date. The whelps were made using Harold Hahn’s technique of shaping a block and the cutting slices off the block, approximately.04 inches thick. I wanted to attempt to make the bases from brass or copper, but couldn’t find a source large enough, including using telescoping tube. I ended up making the bases from cherry including my first attempt at boring with the lathe. The holes for the capstan bars were drilled on the milling machine. I made a jig to hold the capstan while drilling which also allowed me to rotate the head. I debated whether or not to make these slots as I was afraid that they would look bad if not done correctly. I also didn’t like the look without the slots. The results are far from perfect but are so small they don’t really show very much. I used a #70 drill bit and squared the slots with a file. The brass rings were glued on with cyano under the bottom edge and the capstans were stained with Ipswich pine and a semigloss coat. The bases were painted flat black. Mounted

Well done!!! Nice solution! Rick

It’s really coming along Rob! Rick

Your doing a magnificent job!! Rick

WOW Rob!! Nicely done!! Can’t imagine building with the rigging in place. I have enough trouble as it is!! Rick

Good start!! Rick

Well done!! Rick

Thanks George, that’s great advice, shrouds aft to fore, yards fore to aft. Rick

Really looks great George!! I’m planning on rigging the mizzen first. Since you did the foremast first, what are your thoughts? Rick

It’s really coming along!! Well done!! Rick

Pat, thank you for your kind words and encouragement, it’s greatly appreciated. When I decided, after a long absence, to start working on the model again I told myself to either finish the model and use it as a learning experience to make wood ship models or get rid of it and stop torturing myself because it wasn’t going to be “museum quality “. I even went so far as to purchase the POB version so I could build one that I was satisfied with. Since then, apparently 12 years ago, and especially in the last 3 years when I have been able to spend much more time , being partially retired, I have come to appreciate this build and I am really happy with it. With that said, here is the latest update: I secured the anchor windlass handles to the Sampson post per a picture I saw of the Cutty Sark and the port anchor to the mooring bit. I made the 4 air vents out of telescoping brass tube and rod. I attempted to taper the vents on the disc sander and with files but the results are not very good. I’m sure this could have been done much better on the lathe but I don’t know how to do that. I’m not very happy with the results but decided to move on as I don’t think they are particularly noticeable. I also made the wheel box and tried my hand at turning the legs on the lathe. Again, not great and certainly not consistent, but the best I could do. I made 8 and used the best 4. Certainly a learning curve with the lathe. I changed the dimensions of the wheel box to better fit the available space. I finally took the plunge and attempted to make the wheel. I thinned some cherry to about .03 inches thick and cut squares which were epoxied together. I made 3 discs (squares) which were then epoxied together. A hole was drilled in the middle with a#75 drill bit and this was partially rounded on the disc sander. Bad idea. I then chuckled the disc in the milling machine and drilled the holes for the spokes. I then glued this to some scrap basswood with wood glue mounted it on the lathe and turned the outside and inside diameters. I was too afraid of breaking the rim so I left it a little thick. I had previously sanded down the thickness of the rim before mounting on the lathe. After the inside diameter had been cut, I separated the rim and the basswood and placed the rim in water to separate the rim from remaining basswood. I made the hub out of boxwood because I forgot to use cherry. The spokes are brass rod.02 inch in diameter. These were placed through the rim and into the hub. All wood was stained with Ipswich pine . They are secured with a drop of super glue place on the inside of the rim and the hub. It is temporarily placed on the wheel box to protect it for the time being. This was my second attempt at making the wheel and while certainly not correct with the brass spokes, I am happy that it at least looks like a ships wheel.

Really like the foot ropes. They look really good!! How did you secure the stirrups to the yard? Rick

Beautiful work!! Rick

George, beautiful models! We live in Maine and we occasionally come to Boston for a long weekend getaway. Always go to the Museum of Fine Arts to see the ship models. I have used the Flying Cloud model extensively as a reference for the Flying Fish, given that the Flying Fish was launched 9 months after the Flying Cloud.

Nice!!!

My condolences losing your mom, I know how difficult it is as I lost my mother some years ago. As far as the model goes, I echo What Rob said, very clean and well done I wonder if the reason that the topsail halyards rove through a block on the deck was so that free (bitter?) end could be taken to the capstan when raising the topsail yard. Just a though.

Glad to see you’re back!! Looking forward to the build. Rick

Beautiful work!!! Rick

Sails look great Nic!! Rick