HardeeHarHar

I forget to note that your comment on Granpa's fly tying line gave me the idea and the inspiration to try it, particularly since there was a fly tying store near-by. Thanks Kev!

I should also note that I still need to temporarily "install" most of the cannons in the jig I have created. Once "installed", the lines will be coated with dilute PVA in order to make sure that they all have and retain the correct "natural looking" shape. Once they have all been treated as described, they will all be installed permanently in the Granado's gun ports. And then I will have a celebratory moment (or two or three).

Also, one has to admit that “it’s in the instructions!” :-). I do like the aesthetics of a fully rigged gun, and will likely do it again in the future. But when the ship has 32 or more, I might have to look into purchasing fully rigged cannons 😉

I’ll be an intermediate, if that!!! Beginner with some experience. Seasoned novice. Etc! There will be 12 cannons total, including the two bow chasers already in place under the forecastle deck. The cannon tackle rigging is all being done with tan rope and black seizing. I’ve stained the blocks very lightly to give them some aged appearance. While out on the coast I went to a fly fishing store and got some waxed black nylon thread size A, and it seems to do a pretty good job as the seizing line. Time will tell!

Kev- I’ve got one more to build from scratch, some tune ups to do, monograms to attach on all but the one test case completed. We have been inland for a while, so the shipyard was closed 😞

Got back to the coast and the Granado shipyard for a couple days, and I am still rigging cannons!!!

I understand your thought process, but if I were to be an optimist, I’d bend the horse before I plugged the holes. If by chance you get lucky, you’re good. If you don’t, then stage 2 can be pondered. However, I must admit I just “made mine fit”.

Your chain plates and deadeyes look great!!! Well done amigo!!!

All that hard work is paying off, your oars are amazing, and the tiller is too! Fantastic die hard attitude and perseverance shows through and overcomes all “issues” encountered. :-$

I am still making progress my good men. I’m almost done with the cannon rigging. I’ve been traveling a lot, and when I have time to work on the Granada, I am trying to do the best job possible.

Stoked for you Kev!!!!

Whoa, that looks awesome John. I am intrigued by your suggestion to open one side of the vessel up a little so you could see the interior. Do you think the interior actually could be made to look interesting enough to deserve the effort, and do you have any ideas or recommendations for how to upgrade the interior? We are spending more time in two locations these days, so it seems like I might be breaking my "one build at the time" rule and starting the Secret Vessel at the inland "dry dock", while finishing the Granado on the "island".

Nice work (around). I appreciate the de-bugging you are doing to the building "code". 😃

Any updates on release of the other two parts of the kit? Edit: [Doh, I just read above where part 3 is delayed until April. It is looking like a beautiful kit, and since I am no where starting part I, I will buy part 2 and 3 and place them carefully on the shelf alongside part I. If some other adventurous and more talented builders take on the exploded view and offer their build logs up for duplication, then I may try to make the exploded view over what ever time I have left on this planet. I'm likely to need all of it to do this kit justice. Great work!!!]

Looking VERY nice, and I wanted to note that I understand how wonderful it must feel to be knocking this beautiful little kit out in a matter of weeks (or months) and not years. You are doing an awesome job and I am watching with close attention. I also have it in the box here on the shelf, but am focused on finishing the Granado in a year or so, and then starting on the Secret Vessel as a form of therapy. I also have the CAF model (part I of 3) of the Granado on the shelf, but I have that on hold until after the Secret Vessel, when I will be compelled to consider spending the rest of my life building it in its exploded 3 part view......if that makes any sense at all. Keep up the awesome work John!

Yo Kev @Peanut6, Glad to hear you are getting stoked to get back in the shop and do some ship work! I am all too familiar with the whimsy of mother nature, out here on Roanoke Island it has been windy, really windy, cold and windy, warm and windy, and windier. It keeps me off the water, and indoors, but I don't have very many excuses for my slow progress in the build. Work has kept me from doing a lot, but I must admit that rigging guns is slow and tedious work. Because it is slow going, I very much appreciate your encouragement and kind words, as I do those of @glbarlow and others, it helps keep me going! I put two guns in the bow chasers, but I had 10 more gun ports and 8 cannons remaining from the kit. I have finished 5 of the cannons with tackle and breeching ropes, and 3 more still need their breeching ropes added. As @Timmo noted on his Granado, I wouldn't want to stand behind the cannons when they were fired, but the finished cannons look pretty good. Since I wanted a cannon in every gun port, and was 2 short, I ordered cannon carriage kits, cannons, and cannon monograms from Syren. These are awesome products Chuck has to offer, and luckily he had the size that is used on the Granado. So I am in the process of building the last 2 cannon carriages, so that every gun port on board the Granado has a cannon in it. That is how I would want my ship outfitted, fully armed! I have been worrying more and more about what needs to be done and when, like "should I go ahead and finish the stern before installing the cannons, so I can manhandle the hull if needed without cannon barrels sticking out everywhere." The answer seems like it should be yes, so I have been trying to paint the transom relief using the exemplary work of @Timmo as a role model. So, I started with a base coat of walnut brown to simulate carved wood, and painted the cannonballs black. I then added some depth to the carved figurines using light tan highlights and darker shading hues with a touch of red to make the wood have a darker more aged appearance that should match the dark walnut stain I have been using throughout the build. Then I added the blue background and pin-stripes to the columns, which didn't come out as well as I had hoped. I might redo the columns, once I figure out what to use to remove the paint so I can start over.... I will also do the remaining cast metal items that adorn the stern area in a similar fashion. I will post some images as I take the next steps forward. I will be so glad to install the cannons and start to glue down some of the multitude of finished parts I am amassing, before I start losing them all. Thanks again for the kind words of interest and encouragement, I am doing my best to keep moving forward. Two steps forward, one step back. Two steps forward, one step back.... I apologize for the poor photo quality. The one below is not in plane or in focus, but it does give a pretty good approximation of the color tone and detail, warts and all.

Big plank is hardly that noticeable! It all looks very solid and well done. And it is going by in a hurry!

Nice steady pace of excellent work!

Yes, the sounds are VERY shallow, and the inlets were pretty treacherous. They had to dredge the channel to get her out of her berth and over to Wanchese for repairs last year. I'd like to see her fully rigged:

The Elizabeth II, a handmade replica of a Lost Colony 16th Century sailing vessel, had its bowsprit replaced and was cruising back to Shallowbag Bay.

I'm psyched that your build log is so nice and detailed and your work is so well executed. When I finish the Granado (some day in the distant future) I want to start on the Secret Vessel Kit that Santa gifted to my wife (quite surprising how that happened! 😉 ) and is sitting on the shelf. I have been trying not to start on any other project, but just keep focused on the Granado task at hand. So, at least I can enjoy watching your fine work!

Thanks for the input @glbarlow, I appreciate all of your thoughts and suggestions. I did look at Delf's references as you suggested, and they were very informative and helped a lot. I also looked at your Granado, and you did a fantastic job on the build!!!!! I have looked at your other work as well, and it is all amazing quality I can truly admire. I noted that you fully rigged your cannons on the Granado, and I am still leaning towards doing the same thing with the materials at hand. I do like the look of it on your build and the other Granado builds I have been able to review. I do agree that 2 mm blocks would be best for the little six pounders on the Granado, but looking at Delf's references, there seem to be plenty of examples of cannons having pretty big blocks on the outhaul tackle! - I copied some pictures below that seem to be about the same size in scale as the ones I have used. I think one of the earlier photos I posted my have been zoomed and distorted the size a little to make that look pretty huge. Also, it appears that doubles are typically employed on the bullwark and then singles on the cannon carriage, and the AOTS Granado also shows them that way. And I have followed the AOTS and what I have seen in my reference pictures, and have therefore used a double on the cannon side of the return tackle, and a single that will go into the deck (provided I actually do install the return tackle). When you built your Grandado, did you find a way to make the return tackle long enough to look realistic in the limited space available?!? I think the blocks in the kit were 2.5 mm, yes? I clearly need all the help I can get, as Granado is my second build.... Proving that I can finish the entire build with some modicum of quality is my major driver right now, and it is making me want to proceed with the 3mm blocks I am using, rather than going backwards. And after all, Chuck said they were "ok" - albeit, he also sold them to me 😉 You should have seen the ring bolts I was thinking of using before I consulted Chuck, now *they* were BIG! Thanks again Glenn, I really do appreciate your interest in my Granado build, and all the help and kind suggestions!!! That is one big double block right there!!! Maybe its a gigantic gun....

@AJohnson the rig helps make sure I get the lengths set for the tackle, with the exception of the return tackle, that I have left free so that I can adjust it during installation and then fix it in situ. As @glbarlow has correctly noted, the return tackle should be much longer, as the way I have it configured on the jig would not serve well to pull the gun back far enough. However, there isn't sufficient room on the deck (see picture below) to accommodate much more length in the return tackle, so I have to admit I am considering omitting it entirely. With respect to the size of the blocks, they are in fact 3 mm blocks, and while I agree, they seem awfully large....I solicited the opinion of (the honorable) @Chuck before I started to use them, and he gave them an "ok". So, I have mixed feelings about going forward as is, or finding 2 or 2.5 mm blocks, ordering them, waiting for them, undoing what I have done, and doing them all with smaller blocks that are likely to still look too large anyways. I don't want to omit all the gun tackle except the breeching ropes, because I actually like the look of the gun tackle as it was rigged in real life (or at least as close as I can get). So, if anyone wants to add their opinion I am willing to give it full consideration. Speaking of breeching ropes, for sure, that needs to be added before installation, and I intend to do so, using some slightly larger diameter rope fresh in from Chuck's shop. His rope is wonderful to work with in my opinion, when handled carefully. Finally, @AJohnson - I have to admit that the last picture is taken from the deck of the Granado Workshop, overlooking Roanoke Sound and the Outer Banks of NC and the Graveyard of the Atlantic, and does provide inspiration for boat building on a daily basis. Thanks for looking in, the kind words, and helpful comments and sage advice! It's great help and encouragement! BT

Rigging gun tackle, wooof. However, it needs to be done before I make the deck less accessible. Here are some pictures of my initial attempts at doing justice do Chuck's rope and blocks. Please forgive my dust and amateur attempt, but I am doing my best with the tools I have (my bad eyes, shaky hands, and limited experience and knowledge). The jig is not great, and the cannons and carriage are not as good as I would like, but I think the rope and the blocks look to be at a relatively good scale in this application. Any comments or critiques would be appreciated, as I have only finished two of the ten I need to do for installation, and there is time to undo and redo before I get too far ahead.... I have provided one last picture that isn't quite as hard on the eyes 😃

Having rigged a gun tackle backward, I can attest, it is easy to do. I had only done one side of one cannon, so I redid it, and then have just about finished doing the other 9 in the way that @allanyed has described, which is also how it is shown in the AoS HMBV Granado.