Bill97

Yes Marc they are cast metal. I have not taken them out of the plastic yet in case I needed to return them. Will give a couple a visual test and let you know. 

Marc the figurines are actually just a little short of 3/4” or 6/8”. At the 1/8”to the foot scale these crewmen would be just under 6’ tall.  That would not be to far off would it?

What do you guys think?  I picked up this set of figurines from Artesania Latina. The L. Hermione La Fayette. The scale is slightly different than my SR. The scale of the set is 1/86 compared to the SR 1/100. The period of the set is mid 1700’s where the SR is late 1600’s. However the uniforms are still French naval officers and sailors. Thinking about using them as crew on my SR. 

Thanks Ian. Still debating how to do the flags. 

Ok doing some cosmetic stuff. Added the lanterns to the stern which really finished it off nicely. Added the little swab buckets to each of the visible cannons. Started making the rope coils for the belay pins. 

Just amazing Marc!  That is all I can contribute. As I close in on the finish of my SR  I must accept my inferiority to your incredible skills 😊.

Great job my friend. 
 

Bill

At this point I believe that is a Hellerism I am going to live with since I have it in place and rigged around it. 
 

Doing an inventory of all the belay points to see if any empty ones are accidental omissions. So far so good. Just need to make the tackle between the fore and mainmast. Then several hours of delicate paint touch up, trimming loose ends and make a bazillion coils to hang at the belay points, add the lanterns to the stern, and make decisions about the boats. A lot to go but in the stretch, to use a Kentucky Derby term. 

Ian I am not sure I know what a taffrail/transom is?
 

According to Google it is:   The handrail around the open deck area toward the stern of a ship.
 

in the case of the SR there is no handrail, just the stern plate, I guess?  At any rate the only connection point is the base to the deck. The red block in my photo. 

Here you can see what I did. I put an eyebolt on the starboard side of the flagpole for the lower block. I put another eyebolt on the port side of the flagpole to act as a tie down since I have exhausted mysupply of cleats. A rope coil will be added to the tie down later. Finished rigging the mizzenmast. 

Ferrus that is exactly what I did. 

Thanks Henry. No. I rigged 1040 the way you guys advised a ways back in the blog. How about line #1114?  It is the line that goes from the bottom corner of the sail. Heller has a block at the bottom of the flagpole that a tackle reeves through. The more I look at it the more I wonder. 

I have one line left I am curious about. In the photos I attached there is line #1191. In the instructions it goes from the mizzenmast down to the bottom of a the flag pole. It looks like a stay of some sort. Not sure if standing rigging or running rigging, or a complete Hellerism!  Any ideas?

Henry I expect you are referring to the slack bowlines on the fore and main sail. I tried painting them with diluted white and hung a weight on them as they dried. Still when I removed the weights I got some kinks. May try giving multiple coats to see how that does. 

Looks like a lot of fun Ian!  

Thank you so much Ian. It definitely has been a joy building it. 
 

Are you freezing up where you live?  We are in single digits here. 

Unless you guys advise me otherwise (and please do if you recognize something wrong) the rigging of the sails for the fore and mast is complete except for trimming at the belay points and adding rope coils. This includes all the clew lines, buntlines, taut and loose bowlines, reef tackles, sheets, and tacks. I am pleased with how it is coming so far. 

Henry yesterday evening when I was sitting in a pew at our weekend church service, and listening to a long homily, my mind began drifting back to my ship. Probably not where my mind should have been 😉.

I was thinking about how to solve my reef tackle hauling end issue.  Either our previous discussion was in my subconscious or you were sending me telepathic answers. 😀

Your explanation above is exactly what I decided to do. Heller has the hauling end of the tackle go diagonally from the block on the end of the yard down to the deck belay point. I decided I would tie another block to the yard inboard almost to the mast and then run the hauling end along the yard inboard to that block and then down to the belay point. I believe we have opened a new method of communication! 

Ok Henry what do you think?  I went with the two holes and tied the leads to the bulkhead rail. 
 

Second question for you and my other MSW friends. I believe we kicked this around a ways back. The fore and main course sails have reef tackles according to the Heller instructions. I have added them in accordance with the instructions. The previous debate was do the leads come down to on the fore side or aft side of the sail?  I think I understand Anderstand to state they are on the aft side. Which was/is my plan. My head scratching comes with the folded up edge. Based on the way the sail folded along with its rigging, the lead falls inside the fold. Which makes me wonder when a sail was furled did the lead get tangled up in the folds?  

Thanks Henry. I believe I got this now. Hopefully. I will go with two holes drilled in the knee for the tacks and have the bowlines hang loose. You have been a tremendous help. 

Also, the bow lines would be slacked and as their cringles reached the yard they would have been loosed or un-toggled from the sail.
 

Also Henry would you care to elaborate a bit more on the bowlines connected to your he course sails that have folded back. Should I just remove them or have them drape loosely toward their belay point?

Yes Henry. That is my line number as well.  I will see if I understand what you say to do. When you say “they cross over to the opposite side through a hole in a the stem” am I correct to to understand they go forward to a hole in the knee where Heller shows, then they both pass through the same hole to the opposite side and then up to the beakhead??

I do have one rigging question I can’t seem to determine an exact answer too. Reading through Anderson’s book has me scratching my head. What do I do with the lead end of the fore sail tack?  If I understand the Heller instructions I am to attach it to the clew on one side of the sail, them pass it through a hole in the knee at the bow, and then back up to the clew on the other side. Or simply tie the lead end to eyebolts in the knee. Do either of these seem correct?  

After several redo’s of the fore course sail appearance and a battle with reef line “cat whiskers”, the fore mast to include its sails is complete. Will still need to do a bit of line trim and add all the coils at the belay pins at some point. 

Henry and Veszett I believe I have tamed those aggravating “cat whiskers”. A couple photos to follow as soon as I get them all tamed! 

Thanks Veszett.  I plan to tackle those aggravating little f’ers today 😬.