Gabek

Thanks Christian! Indeed it was caused by the stretching of the paper while glueing it on the board. This was most noticeable on the long and thin parts like the 4th futtock (frame 5).
I have used a water based glue stick so presume this caused the paper fibers to deform....lesson learned!  

Thanks Jon, for the encouraging words
 
The first step has been completed; I must say there were much more frame parts then expected.
I’ve kept the leftover parts and collected some dust as well – perhaps it will come handy during this build.
 
Rok

I set up my little table saw to make carlings. I’m astounded that I had to make over a metre of 2.6mm x 2.6mm stock for this tiny model! (And there will be way more needed for the ledges!) As I was cutting all the carlings I was mulling over the next steps and realized that I need to deal with the beam arms before anything else. The stock material  was made by resawing some birch left over from the frames. 

 

 
 
 
 
(Kind of messy job with the spray glue!)
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
My biggest concern in making these beam arms was to make sure I had the spacing and sizes all consistent.  At thIs scale, just a fraction of a millimetre would be noticeable.  So I devised a plan to mark and shape the pieces so that they all matched.  After I glued on templates I sanded each raw blank carefully to where the beam arms needed to be notched. This allowed me to line up those notches when I clamped all four beam arms together.  I then made the stop cuts for the notches by cutting across all four beam arms at once. 



 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
Using a square and knife to mark the notches.
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Marking all done.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Using this microsaw to make the stop cuts
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
I separated the pieces, made several depth cuts in the notched out areas, and used a small chisel to rough cut the material. I concentrated on getting one beam arm completed by filing, sanding, scraping and praying.  This first beam arm would become the template for the remaining ones, which were first rough-shaped on the belt sander and then clamped altogether for final shaping.  Although not perfect, I'm pleased with the end products. It was good practice for when I will do the same for the gun deck.
 




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Depth cuts to assist in making the notches
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Taking out material using a small chisel.
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 



 
 
 
 
 
Filing to the lines.
 
 
 

 
First beam arm done.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Three more to go! 

Getting ready for final shaping.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Here are all the tools I used to make these! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
One wrong move and...🤬😢😫

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The whole time I worked on these I chuckled at how much anxiety they were able to create and how much they reminded me of the wishbone from the Operation game!  And about as big! 

 
Clear skies!
Gabe
 

I set up my little table saw to make carlings. I’m astounded that I had to make over a metre of 2.6mm x 2.6mm stock for this tiny model! (And there will be way more needed for the ledges!) As I was cutting all the carlings I was mulling over the next steps and realized that I need to deal with the beam arms before anything else. The stock material  was made by resawing some birch left over from the frames. 

 

 
 
 
 
(Kind of messy job with the spray glue!)
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
My biggest concern in making these beam arms was to make sure I had the spacing and sizes all consistent.  At thIs scale, just a fraction of a millimetre would be noticeable.  So I devised a plan to mark and shape the pieces so that they all matched.  After I glued on templates I sanded each raw blank carefully to where the beam arms needed to be notched. This allowed me to line up those notches when I clamped all four beam arms together.  I then made the stop cuts for the notches by cutting across all four beam arms at once. 



 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
Using a square and knife to mark the notches.
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Marking all done.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Using this microsaw to make the stop cuts
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
I separated the pieces, made several depth cuts in the notched out areas, and used a small chisel to rough cut the material. I concentrated on getting one beam arm completed by filing, sanding, scraping and praying.  This first beam arm would become the template for the remaining ones, which were first rough-shaped on the belt sander and then clamped altogether for final shaping.  Although not perfect, I'm pleased with the end products. It was good practice for when I will do the same for the gun deck.
 




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Depth cuts to assist in making the notches
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Taking out material using a small chisel.
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 



 
 
 
 
 
Filing to the lines.
 
 
 

 
First beam arm done.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Three more to go! 

Getting ready for final shaping.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Here are all the tools I used to make these! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
One wrong move and...🤬😢😫

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The whole time I worked on these I chuckled at how much anxiety they were able to create and how much they reminded me of the wishbone from the Operation game!  And about as big! 

 
Clear skies!
Gabe
 

Hello, happy new year to everyone. 
My first time back in the workroom since before the holidays and I had to buy some blocks from Chris Wattons Vanguard Models as my attempts were absolutely atrocious, so I took the easy route. 
Have finally rigged one cannon still have the other to do. 
The one I have done has been fitted as "run in" mainly because I found it easier to fit the tackles but also I've not seen any portrayed this way. I may be wrong and someone else has done it. I kind of like it. The second cannon will be fitted "run out " as the norm.
Thanks for all the likes, comments and input from you all, it is much appreciated. 
Cheers 👍😁

Hi, just a quick update, I've repositioned the entry steps and adding one more as per plans. Also made the gangway ladder which will go on the side with the deck planking when I finally fit that gangway. 
My thanks to everyone who has looked in,  liked and for comments.
Cheers 👍😁

Hello, managed to get a couple or three hours at the workbench, and made a scraper to form the entry steps, I've also fitted them and the fenders to one side of the cross section, the gangway to the same side has been fitted as there are no guns going that side.
Thanks for the likes. 😁
Cheers for now 👍

A year! It’s been almost a year since I last worked on this model! Sheesh.
 
One step backwards...
I have some advice for other procrastinators:  go back and read your build logs before you pick up that forgotten model.  It would have saved me half a day of work if I had! When I took my Triton out I was perplexed to find that I had only finished one of the upper deck clamps. So, I began preparing stock and planning to shape pieces when I came across the fully assembled clamp in the bottom of the storage container! Wha'?! Then it all came back to me. I discovered that the frames on one side were not spaced properly and had to painstakingly remove the clamp. I was so disheartened by this backward step that I just boxed up the model in disgust and put it on the shelf! 
 
Good news: I didn’t have to fabricate a new deck clamp and, in no time, I had it glued in place with the frames properly spaced. 
New/used upper deck clamp back in place.
 
Deck Beams
 
 After mulling over my options I decided that I should build the decks.  This would determine the spacing of spirketting, waterways and interior planking. I was able to prepare some 3.30 mm birch stock, glue on templates for the beams and rough cut them out:


 
As usual, sanding these small pieces to the correct lines presented some headaches. I tried to do it all by hand, but it was taking so long that I resorted to gingerly taking the "bulk" waste off with my 1” belt sander.  I forgot how nerve-wracking this is! One tiny misstep and I would have to start over again! 
A study in concentration. 
I first tried to do the final sanding with a sanding block but it was taking forever and I was getting frustrated. Birch is beautiful wood to work with but its hardness was working against me. I needed something larger and faster to remove the material before I exploded. 
Are we there, yet?!
In preparation for working on the model I rejuvenated my sanding stick with new 100, 150, 240 and 400 grit sanding paper. With a scrap piece I tried out if I could drag and/or push these small pieces across the wider sanding surfaces. And now birch was my friend! These pieces handled the sanding very nicely and in no time at all I had all 8 deck beams to where I wanted them.
Easy-peazy sanding! 
To eliminate minor differences I clamped the four lower deck beams together and did my final sanding to shape.  I’m too excited to get to the rest of the lower deck that I'll finish shaping the gun deck beams later.



I dry-fit the lower deck beams and I’m happy!😃 (And now I see how little room I have to work with!😳)

Going to have to do some careful planning from here on.  Particularly because I intend to show the hold with ballast and stores. Any advice would be welcome and appreciated.
 
Next step: this Canadian goes carling!🇨🇦🥌🤣
 
 
 
 

Hi all Ship mates.
 
Small update of my work progress.



And couple more bits & pieces
 


 

Hi.
Well finally I have gone a few more steps forward.
And glued together all frames.
 



 
 
Finally, also is ready for sanding.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi All.
Finally I chose to start this project. Like many others this will be my first attempt to scratch building. But  I hope that I will have enough skills and have time to finish it.
 


 
I completed the all kell parts, and ready for next step.
Like to ask for the rest of the plans

Hello everyone, 
@AnobiumPunctatum thanks for looking in.
@ChadB I'm glad you like them as they are the 3rd edition knees  as 1 and 2 just didn't cut it! WOOHOO!!! another deck to do!
I've done it a different way this time, I've used a spot of CA glue just on the edge carlings to make the framework and then filled the rest in using white glue.
I didn't have any teak oil left so bought some Danish oil, tested it on some scrap, (Hanging knee edition 1 haha) liked it so put a coat on the lowest internal planks also on the hatch coaming.
That's it for today, thanks for the likes everybody 👍
Till next time 
Cheers 

Hi, been at work today so only had couple of hours on X section this evening. 
Still at work on the lower deck structure, lots of components,  the knees take a bit of cutting and shaping to make them fit. I think there is at least another 2 or 3 hours work before this deck is done, then it's more of the same for the gun deck.
Thanks Chad, Eamonn, Phil and Blackviking for your interest 👍
Til next time. 
Cheers 

Hi, RAIN AGAIN@#@÷!!, so not at work.
Started on the lower deck structure,  it's so intensive,  I have nothing but the utmost respect for those people doing a full framed scratch build, all those frames and decks. But I'm getting there (faster with the weather as it is). Got let the glue dry so till next time😉👍
Cheers 

Hi again,  more rain today so more time on Triton X section. 
More planking on the inside and beam arms cut and attached to the deck beam.
If it keeps raining I shall have this finished😅
Thanks for the likes and looking in👍sorry about the strobing effect of the planking but I'm mainly using whatever wood I have and just buying what I haven't got.

Hi all, another small update, I decide to fit the access ladder to the gangway on the unplanked side, therefore I had to put a small area of deck for the ladder to stand on. Also made the second gun barrel, it still needs painting. 
To rig the cannon I need blocks but looking through my bits and pieces I have not got enough so I'm attempting to make my own. I've used a piece of 4x3mm walnut and made 4 single and 4 double blocks. I need to get them to look less "blocky" if you get my meaning. I thought if I put them in a small pot with coarse sand it might work a bit like a tumbler,  I'll let you know how I get on next time. 
I appreciate all the likes, comments and advice 😁
Cheers 👍👍

A year! It’s been almost a year since I last worked on this model! Sheesh.
 
One step backwards...
I have some advice for other procrastinators:  go back and read your build logs before you pick up that forgotten model.  It would have saved me half a day of work if I had! When I took my Triton out I was perplexed to find that I had only finished one of the upper deck clamps. So, I began preparing stock and planning to shape pieces when I came across the fully assembled clamp in the bottom of the storage container! Wha'?! Then it all came back to me. I discovered that the frames on one side were not spaced properly and had to painstakingly remove the clamp. I was so disheartened by this backward step that I just boxed up the model in disgust and put it on the shelf! 
 
Good news: I didn’t have to fabricate a new deck clamp and, in no time, I had it glued in place with the frames properly spaced. 
New/used upper deck clamp back in place.
 
Deck Beams
 
 After mulling over my options I decided that I should build the decks.  This would determine the spacing of spirketting, waterways and interior planking. I was able to prepare some 3.30 mm birch stock, glue on templates for the beams and rough cut them out:


 
As usual, sanding these small pieces to the correct lines presented some headaches. I tried to do it all by hand, but it was taking so long that I resorted to gingerly taking the "bulk" waste off with my 1” belt sander.  I forgot how nerve-wracking this is! One tiny misstep and I would have to start over again! 
A study in concentration. 
I first tried to do the final sanding with a sanding block but it was taking forever and I was getting frustrated. Birch is beautiful wood to work with but its hardness was working against me. I needed something larger and faster to remove the material before I exploded. 
Are we there, yet?!
In preparation for working on the model I rejuvenated my sanding stick with new 100, 150, 240 and 400 grit sanding paper. With a scrap piece I tried out if I could drag and/or push these small pieces across the wider sanding surfaces. And now birch was my friend! These pieces handled the sanding very nicely and in no time at all I had all 8 deck beams to where I wanted them.
Easy-peazy sanding! 
To eliminate minor differences I clamped the four lower deck beams together and did my final sanding to shape.  I’m too excited to get to the rest of the lower deck that I'll finish shaping the gun deck beams later.



I dry-fit the lower deck beams and I’m happy!😃 (And now I see how little room I have to work with!😳)

Going to have to do some careful planning from here on.  Particularly because I intend to show the hold with ballast and stores. Any advice would be welcome and appreciated.
 
Next step: this Canadian goes carling!🇨🇦🥌🤣
 
 
 
 

Somehow it has been a year since the last update.  We spent a year renovating a house and moved last February, and it took a little while to set up the workshop.   I seem to be back in some sort of building rhythm since last month.  Outside details are done including chain plates and all the moldings and rails.  Chain plates were a big step forward for me in terms of metal work and silver soldering.  They were an experiment in copper so I could shape them around the deadeyes and blacken them in place with liver of sulfur.  Deadeyes are ebony.
The pumps were a challenge.  Someplace along the way (probably about 3 years) ago I miscalculated on the path of the pump shafts and they ended up a few millimeters further inboard of the bitt pins than they should have been.  I also had some of the decorative shaping on the bitt pins at the same height that the rhodings needed to be attached.  I ended up adding some shims between the rhodings and the bitt pins.  Hopefully some 18th century shipwright had the same problem and solved it the same way.  The pump shafts and rhodings are brass.  My silver soldering continues to get better, and Greg’s post about metal blackening, particularly the sparex, was unbelievably helpful getting chemical blackening I was happy with.
I have an old Vanda Lay duplicator for my lathe.  It has sat in a drawer since a really frustrating attempt to duplicate brass cannon barrels on my last model, which was an epic fail.  I tried it again on the quarterdeck balustrades, and found that it works really well on wood.
Base, pedestals, and quarterdeck beam are also done.  I’m a gun, quarterdeck breastwork, and ladder away from finishing.

A year! It’s been almost a year since I last worked on this model! Sheesh.
 
One step backwards...
I have some advice for other procrastinators:  go back and read your build logs before you pick up that forgotten model.  It would have saved me half a day of work if I had! When I took my Triton out I was perplexed to find that I had only finished one of the upper deck clamps. So, I began preparing stock and planning to shape pieces when I came across the fully assembled clamp in the bottom of the storage container! Wha'?! Then it all came back to me. I discovered that the frames on one side were not spaced properly and had to painstakingly remove the clamp. I was so disheartened by this backward step that I just boxed up the model in disgust and put it on the shelf! 
 
Good news: I didn’t have to fabricate a new deck clamp and, in no time, I had it glued in place with the frames properly spaced. 
New/used upper deck clamp back in place.
 
Deck Beams
 
 After mulling over my options I decided that I should build the decks.  This would determine the spacing of spirketting, waterways and interior planking. I was able to prepare some 3.30 mm birch stock, glue on templates for the beams and rough cut them out:


 
As usual, sanding these small pieces to the correct lines presented some headaches. I tried to do it all by hand, but it was taking so long that I resorted to gingerly taking the "bulk" waste off with my 1” belt sander.  I forgot how nerve-wracking this is! One tiny misstep and I would have to start over again! 
A study in concentration. 
I first tried to do the final sanding with a sanding block but it was taking forever and I was getting frustrated. Birch is beautiful wood to work with but its hardness was working against me. I needed something larger and faster to remove the material before I exploded. 
Are we there, yet?!
In preparation for working on the model I rejuvenated my sanding stick with new 100, 150, 240 and 400 grit sanding paper. With a scrap piece I tried out if I could drag and/or push these small pieces across the wider sanding surfaces. And now birch was my friend! These pieces handled the sanding very nicely and in no time at all I had all 8 deck beams to where I wanted them.
Easy-peazy sanding! 
To eliminate minor differences I clamped the four lower deck beams together and did my final sanding to shape.  I’m too excited to get to the rest of the lower deck that I'll finish shaping the gun deck beams later.



I dry-fit the lower deck beams and I’m happy!😃 (And now I see how little room I have to work with!😳)

Going to have to do some careful planning from here on.  Particularly because I intend to show the hold with ballast and stores. Any advice would be welcome and appreciated.
 
Next step: this Canadian goes carling!🇨🇦🥌🤣
 
 
 
 

Welcome aboard, Marshall!  You have picked a great website to learn this hobby. It helped me finish my first model and, coincidentally, I’m Canadian, too!🇨🇦 (Winnipeg)
Clear skies!
Gabe

Welcome aboard, Marshall!  You have picked a great website to learn this hobby. It helped me finish my first model and, coincidentally, I’m Canadian, too!🇨🇦 (Winnipeg)
Clear skies!
Gabe

Wow...and I mean WOW.  This rehabilitation is coming along beautifully.  Painting is doing its job...that hull planking was the result of frustration trying to bend veneers to a complex 3d shape, which can't be done.  All your colour choices are fine.  Black and white are  covering up the "booboo's" nicely!
 
The lantern is exquisite! Please tell us how you made it.  I never thought of rigging one on the mast.  So, I started pouring through all my books and so far I could only find how they rigged a stern lantern on the mizzen top of a British frigate in Petersson's Rigging Period Ships.  I think you could try installing yours on the flag mast somehow if you wanted.
 
Keep on trucking!
- Gabe

 
 

Keith has done it again! He motivated me to do something and I'm now posting my final reflection on the Swift. Inspired by one of my favourite movies, I'm going to use some headings in this post.
 

Feb 3-18
Running rigging and the end game
The basic sheets and halyards went fairly well, and I like adding the blocks to the rigging - but how to deal with the falls was driving me bananas! There really should have been more fife rails. After long searches I spotted some very old photos of pilot schooners. It dawned on me that this was a working boat, with seasoned professionals manning her, much like tugboats today. There would have been a practical, no-nonsense approach to sailing her so I decided to coil the falls where they lay. Flemish flaking was good for the navy and yachts, but not for this hard working little ship.
 
 
 
I had a small problem, though. I had run out of the line from the kit. The closest I could find was slightly smaller diameter, but I think this worked out in my favour. I began making coils of line for the cleats using a little jig made of bent wire pushed through card stock. The thinner thread made it look like lots of rope was belayed, but it wasn't bulky. I followed a trick I learned here of using watered down glue to help shape the line and make it lay flatter. I tapered the end of a dowel to wrap glue-soaked line for the coils on deck. Once wrapped, I gently nudged the coils off the dowel with a dental pick. While wet I could still shape them a bit. I trimmed the tag ends of these coils and glued one turn of the original fall to the top of these coil mounds to make them look the right sized line. The finished product was adhered to the deck with a few drops of cyano. I figured that the fore gaff downhaul would not have much line, being hoisted up to its maximum height, so I decided to just layout a figure eight fake for this line. I'm not entirely sure that this would have been done in 1805, but I learned about this technique on a Canadian Coast Guard page so I thought I would add this to the Swift as an homage to them.
 

 
I had assembled the anchors, filed the mould lines and spray painted them black about a month ago. Of course, I had to research anchors. So, now I added puddening to the anchor rings and did a real hash of the seizing. Actually, the cyano glue made a hash of them, causing the thread to go translucent and ugly. I ended up painting the seizings with an off-white model paint. I had toyed with the idea of building wooden stocks and even gluing veneer to the white metal, but decided to paint them to look like wood. Another hobby of mine, painting miniatures (Warhammer, in particular), has given me some skill in painting wood grain on pewter or plastic. I base-coated the stocks with a dark brown, then streaked on a fair amount of a tan, then gave the whole thing a wash in brown ink. They looked ok.
 
I was all set to tie anchor bends to the anchors but I did one more check on my booms and, once again, I was tying anchor clinches. My first attempt took almost two hours and looked hideously bulky and the cyano had wrecked the look of the seizings. I cut off the brutish hitch and tried another time with a much thinner thread. It was ok, but I was so tired of dealing with these clinches that I resurrected an idea that I had when I was making the base for the model. I ended up drilling a hole in the top of the oak base the same diameter as the anchor cable and ran the cable into it to look as if the Swift was at anchor. Considering that she had no sails it only made sense. My 1 mm bit would not reach all the way through the base, so I used some steel wire to push the cable in, giving it a bit of cyano to keep it in the hole.
 
The Swift gently tugging on her anchor
 

 
I glue-soaked and coiled the extra anchor cable around a tapered felt pen cap to fashion coiled mounds like for the running rigging. I tied the free ends of the cables to the knight-head and glued the coils down to the deck.
 

 
A few weeks ago I posted a question to MSW about rigging flags and got great advice. http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/5145-correct-hitch-and-advice-on-rigging-a-flag-needed/ A long time ago (probably 12 years ago) I bought a union jack to put on my model (sorry to my American neighbours). It had adhesive backed material that you just folded down to make a two-sided flag. I curled the flag around a few different diameters of dowels to make it appear to ripple. A short length of string with an eye spliced into it was attached to the 'seam' end. Even using this very slender thread the collapsible eye needle worked its magic and an eye splice was done in seconds. I cut and sanded down some thin birch dowel to make a small toggle to attach above the flag. The kit instructed to run the flag halyards to giant deck cleats. I quickly made a smaller cleat out of http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/5145-correct-hitch-and-advice-on-rigging-a-flag-needed/ walnut and attached it to the mainmast. It was fairly simple to thread the toggle through the eye-splice above the flag, and tie on a sheet bend in the eye-splice under the flag.
 

 
I hoisted the flag, tied the flag halyards to the cleat on the mast and added a drop of cyano to keep it there. I started squaring away the model: matt varnish was painted on blocks, threads and other debris were cleaned off the model, a few stray smears of glue were dealt with...
 
...the Swift was done.
 
I'll follow up with a reflection soon.

New Year's Day, 2014
 
As soon as I started looking at what was involved in the running rigging I realized that I wouldn't be finishing this model today. On almost every line that needed to be run I had questions that could not be answered in the instructions and I was researching every knot, hitch and halyard. While I liked reading and checking all of this I was now getting headaches from all the decisions I was having to make. Although I really wanted to finish today I wasn't about to give up on trying to complete as good a model as I can.
 
Jan 2-3, 2014
Resolved to take my time I first prepared the blocks. I felt that, right out of the box, the blocks looked too square, so I sanded down the edges to make them a little more oval and worn looking. I also stained them to make them look a little more like oak by putting a few drops of stain in a ziplock bag and tossing the blocks around in it for a few seconds before turning them out on a paper towel.
 
 
After spending a lot of time researching the multitude of blocks and which strapping, pendants, etc are used on a ship and how to make them for a model I made a list of what was needed for the Swift. I found an excellent method of strapping a block on another modeller's website (sorry MSW). To make all the straps consistent in size I went back to my fly tying gear. A made a jig out of steel wire that would allow me to hold the block in place while I made a larger loop of thread around it. A simple overhand knot and a drop of cyano under the block made a good simulation of the splice and I then used a much thinner thread to seize the loop tight to the top of the block and form the eye. This became an easy task and I rather liked making these.
 

 
The gaffs
Based on several sources I decided to add stop cleats on the gaffs for the peak halyards. After trying to cut wedges to size, with no luck, I ended up just cutting small blocks of equal size, gluing them in place and shaping them with a knife afterwards.
 
 
Stop cleats on the gaff to keep the peak halyards in place.

 
 
I went with eye splices on the throat halyards not only because it was the right choice but also because I found that a collapsible eye needle was the perfect tool for this. I can thank my sister who does a lot of beadwork for making me aware of this invaluable tool. In just a few minutes I had spliced an eye around the ringbolt on the gaff and several other places. Next time I think I'll thread the parrels AFTER doing all this! (I discovered that I'm bad at handling beads - there's probably more on my floor than I could count. So, once I got them on the gaff I wasn't going to take them off!)
 
Preliminary steps in splicing an eye around a ringbolt.

 
 
The actual installation of the gaffs and boom involved simply threading the parrel lines through the jaws and tying an overhand knot to simulate a stop knot. A drop of cyano finished the job.
 
 
 
It was about this time that I really began to notice serious flaws in the rigging plan. For instance, why would the throat halyards be tied directly to ringbolts on deck instead of to tackle? Even if, historically, it was tied off this way, what hitch would you use in the middle of a rope that would be secure enough to hold up a gaff and sail, be fairly quick to release for setting and trimming but not so easy that it could be accidentally unhitched? After A LOT of research, a post for advice here on MSW (http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/5145-correct-hitch-and-advice-on-rigging-a-flag-needed/), and the fact that I didn't have enough blocks to correctly add tackle to the halyard (I almost stole some from the Harvey kit I have), I installed the gaff as per instructions and used a slipped buntline to tie off the halyards to the deck.