BANYAN

Thanks Greg. John (Jim Lad) sent me some photos of the replica which I can also use. Cheers Pat

42Rocker, what small head (for pop-off) are you referring to please? cheers Pat

Hand wrap???? Meredith you are a glutton for punishment. I hope to get back to some rope making very soon . cheers Pat

Hi all, glad to see it is of use to some of our members. No arguement from me John, this is the 'grey-funnel' way of doing it. I was aware of merchant-navy practise but could not readily find a photo to support it; as I said not definitive . If you have a photo, I can edit my original post to include it (along with your text if you are happy)? cheers Pat Edit: It may also be useful to collect all the different ways modellers do their splices, and form their coils (jigs etc) in a similar post to compliment this post?

Hi folks, this is my serving jig. It is currently being modified with a different rope securing mechanism (soft wood collets will replace the dome nuts, and the feeder arm on the serving device will be extended slightly. Makes life a 'tad' easier when serving longer lengths The stainless steel rods (not the drive rod) are from an A3 printer. And... no I am not the builder of this fine device, I am mechanically challenged , a friend built it for me. cheers Pat The device is designed to take a full length of a shroud or preventer or stay (scale 1:48) and serve it as required in one pass. The motors are geared down 12V DC with a maximum rotation of 120rpm. Controls the feed direction and speed of the serving stock assembly. Allows me to serve with or against the lay. Controls the direction of turn and rotation speed of the scale rope to be served, The turning rope pulls the serving thread from the spool and is kept perpendicular to the served rope by adjusting the feed motor speed (previous picture) I attach a 12V supply here. The purpose of the vertical bars is to provide friction to maintain steady tension on the serving stock thread. The rope to be served is fed through the dome nuts (next photo) through the shaft and figure 8 secured to the bars to maintain tension. Alternatively, the grub screws on the top of this assembly can be screwed down to bite on the rope. These dome nuts are attached to the ends of each drive shaft to hold the rope to be servved central; the size of the hole is determined by the rope diameter.

This post is not intended as a definitive discussion on the subject and there are other options used in the real world. It simply provides some background information and is an update of a post I placed on MSW 1.0. Even in modern naval and merchant ship seamanship practice, the state/look of the ship depends on her current employment. If at sea, ropes, tails and fag-ends are left in a secure (won't move around) but ready to use state. In harbour, especially if under their lordship's eyes, most ropes are made up to look neat and tidy (exceptions might be the boat rope etc if at anchor or at a buoy). In the days of sail, there were many lines and ropes used, and most running rigging had a tail that needed to be secured for ready use and/or be presented in a more tidy manner when in harbour / not underway. When making up rope/lines ready for use, they are either coiled or flaked out. The greatest care is taken to prevent two things: the rope/line will run out freely without snagging, and minimising the chance of injury to crew and equipment. The left/right twist of a rope needs to be considered when making-up a coil. Try making up a rope, especially natural fibre ropes, against their lay and you will soon get snarls/kinks. Once made-up, the coil can be put down opposite to its lay, but the direction of the lay of the coil (rope itself) will not change, only the aspect/perspective of the lay as you look at it. Short story depending on the aspect you wish to model – steady state at sea or in harbour, or preparing for getting under way, will determine how to depict the ropes. Flaking Flaking a rope is to arrange it on the deck ready for easy use or made up as a decorative finish for the rope while in harbour etc. The Flemish Flake (or Flemish Coil) provides an attractive, neat way of temporarily stowing the end of a rope. A Flemish flake/coil, also called a cheesed coil, is a flat coil of rope with the end in the centre and the turns lying against, without riding over, each other. Flemish coils were, and still are, used by the 'Grey Funnel Line' (Navy) and by yachties when they want everything to look especially neat and tidy. See: http://ikstremdom.is-a-chef.com/outdoor/rope/animatedknots/flemish/index.htm or http://www.animatedknots.com/flemish/index.php?Categ=ropecare&LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com From: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/dsL-IPHIfHWmxdkiOjOBLg For larger ropes where the tail end is very long, an alternate pattern can be made-up by first laying the rope down flat on the deck, in long concentric loops. Take a bight (all loops) from the end opposite to the direction of the standing end, flip and draw it across itself to form the figure eight (as shown). The finished result is represented below in a more 'artistic' display which does not show the standing end. From: http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/getout/artdescriptions_2011.asp This decorative rope finish is not to be confused with a working flake of a similar name 'the figure 8 flake'. See: http://www.animatedknots.com/fig8flake/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com Another working flake is the zigzag or snaking flake also called 'faking' depending on whom you talk to, and is often used where you need the rope to run out without catching, snubbing or otherwise. This is normally only used when the rope is being, or about to be worked. For working with running rigging, a more modern practice is to use the Ballantine Coil for the halyards when a sail is raised. With masts that may rise over 100 feet above the water, the halyards are quite long requiring very careful coiling to keep the lines organised so they will run free if needed and not become tangled. The Ballantine Coil builds a stable coil that is compact and stable. See http://captnmike.com/2011/10/03/coiling-line-using-the-ballantine-coil-on-the-adventuress/ for details on how to make this coil up. Line Coils The tail end of a rope is always coiled with the direction of the twist. If the rope is the tail end of a halyard or such, which is to be belayed, the loops are started about half an arm’s length (adjust to scale) along the standing end from the belaying pin. Once the loops have been formed, a bight is taken in the standing-end, drawn through the top of the eye in the loops, and hung from the belaying pin, cleat or staghorn as shown in the following links. http://ikstremdom.is-a-chef.com/outdoor/rope/animatedknots/coilattached/index.htm or http://www.animatedknots.com/coilattached/index.php?Categ=ropecare&LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com Some modellers prefer to form these coils off the model and hang it from the belaying pin which, at scale, covers the securing knot/line on the belaying pin which masks whether it has been formed on or off the model. As I prefer to be authentic, I prefer to form these on the model just as in real life using a few rigging tools. This should not done until all rigging (associated with these belaying pins/fixtures) has been completed and the final tensions applied to the ropes. Secure the rope-ends as you would in real life to that fitting (pin, cleats etc), dab it with a touch of diluted PVA glue, then form the loops over the end of one tool. Use the other tool or a pair of tweezers to pull the bight through and loop it over the pin going to the side of the tool on which the loops have been formed. Some associated useful links include: Knots: http://www.animatedknots.com/indexboating.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com Whippings: http://www.animatedknots.com/indexropecare.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com or http://ikstremdom.is-a-chef.com/outdoor/rope/animatedknots/sailmakers/index.htm Splices: http://www.animatedknots.com/indexsplicing.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com or http://ikstremdom.is-a-chef.com/outdoor/rope/animatedknots/backspliceropecare/index.htm

Very nice build Jason, looks great. Now a man who enjoys rigging, that's a rarity I hope you had a bundy t celebrate her launching? cheers Pat

Folks, my issue is a little different. When at home using Win7 and IE 9, no problems. At work (shhh! don\'t tell the boss ) I have XP and IE 8.x. At work, the editor selects the font size for my posts at random. Unless I keep a close eye on it the text will be shown from anything between 14 point or 6 point, bullted, supscript or subscript - Microsoft (or the board) simply decides what it would like to use -- hence the large number of edited posts I have when i go back to fix them It seems to be a compatibility issue between our current forum editor and XP and/or IE 8.x cheers Pat

She's coming along very nicely with some great detail there Pop-eye. I can help you out with a nautical dictionary mate, but that would take alot of the fun out of your posts cheers Pat

Great work Danny, although time consuming please be assured us mere mortal b uilders appreciate your efforts I look forwartd to yourt tut on clamps as i am contemplating a set also. cheers Pat

Very nice work as usual Ilhan, your woodwork is very precise and clean. This will make a very nice addition to your collection of excellent models. cheers Pat

Hello again Paul and great to see your updates. Rereading these posts serves as a great reminder of the terrific amount of detailing you apply to your work. This is very motivating as it shows just what can be achieved with a litlle thought, work and large amount of talent cheers Pat

Hi Karl, very nice work and very skillfully built. You have asked for critical comments but my knowledge and ability levels do not provide me the capacity to find anything at all requiring such a comment against this exquisite model. cheers Pat

Almost caught up Toni; she's looking great (again). I do like the embedded comments by other members as they are very helpful whether for a Swan or other build - thanks for takling the time to retype them. cheers Pat

Sounds like you had an interesting day John. If it wasn't the Kleptomanic mice taking your parts, I think you have to assume you had a delegate with a very special interest in your work At least you managed to retain a little of your work. cheers Pat

Great news and very many thanks for that feedback Meredith. It is great to know there is some LH stock thread out there. Now to find a source cheers Pat

An interesting subject and niced build Wayne; thanks for taking the time to repost the log. Wish I could find a helper - Seems to have impressed the Major too! cheers Pat

Amen to that, bit like building to an 'interim' plan! Pat

Another option maybe to go by the actual proportions of the ship. That is, if at 1:60; calculate the actual size (from available/known data) of the relevant part etc (e.g. length of the keel or breadth etc) iaw the real dimensions and then see which of the above is closer in general (the part, the drawing/plan or the list ) In general, I found the skeletal dimensions pretty close as cut but needed some tweaking. cheers Pat

Ah, the skills of the artisan! Very many thanks for showing what is possible on the bigger saws. I'll have to invest in one of these blades and have it sharpened as you have shown. cheers Pat

Hi again Adrieke, sort of - but in my case it was the other way around; the bottom lip of the slot sat too low and I had to sand the flat of the spine down a bit. I must admit, I did not seem to have as may issues as you have found with the shape of the spine, but I did not check as closey as you appear to have. I had to pack a couple of the bulkhead slots, and file down others to get the bulkheads to align correctly (with the bearding line and top of the spine), and I also encountered that bow shape/contour issue (but not as marked as your's appears to be). The major issue I had was the contour / run / fair (??) of the bulkhead tops in the forecastle area, as when I placed the false deck, it was left too high for the hawse holes for the anchor cables to be shown correctly (the hawse holes ended up below the deck line). Unfortunately I did not pick this up until too late and I assumed (I know ) that if the bulkheads aligned with the top of the spine the countour would be correct. This said, other AL builders do not seem to have experienced this problem. I think your fixes may resolve this issue, but it would pay to be extra carefule before gluing the false deck in place It makes you wonder what sort of Quality Control is in place when the same kit parts (supposedly off the same production line) can differ so much? cheers Pat

Hi Danny, great to see the log emerging Do you intend to show the log in the same build sequence as version 1 with the updates/corrections made at the point when you actually did them, or will the new log show the corrected/fixed parts in the approriate part of the log (with the fixes in the "boo-boo thread) ? This must be putting a serious dent in your build time? cheers Pat

Hi Adrieke, good luck with your build. Great to see that you have spotted the errors and have a chance to correct these before you assemble the skeleton. You have identified the slot in bulkhead 5 - what is the error there - is it that it doesn't align with the top (flat) of the spine at that fitting point? Mine (the flat) was actually a little high and simply had to e sanded down. Also is this a 1:80 (as stated in your title)? That will make some of the scaleconversions for some of your fittings quite interesting Look forward to seeing her come to life. cheers Pat

Good luck with getting the Admiral's OK Mike - now, I just gotta put some more pressure on getting the OK for the fridge Hopefully you will find what you need down at DCC cheers Pat

Hi Neill, My thoughts align with Rusty. I bought the micrometer stop but rarely use it (Eric has obviously found a good use, I haven't for the cutting methods I use), and I use my Byrnes sander to create bevel angles so the angle table is simply a "nice to have" for me. I have several blades with different kerfs (to assist in cutting grating stock etc) with a zero-tollerance insert for each. You can make up your own from wood - but Jim's are purpose made, fit properly and are relatively cheap. Due to the distance, I have also invested in a spare belt (not needed yet) so that should I need it, there is no delay in shipping time cheers Pat