GGibson

Well, after last week's start with the pre-rigging on stuff coming off the main mast, I continued around the ship and tried to catch every bit of rigging that I could do now, off the ship, for each of the five (5) booms and gaffs. I've doubled my seven pre-riggings to fourteen (14) and have labeled them (hopefully accurately enough to know where they go!). The ones on the top row are what I completed since last week. Unless I am forgetting another important step in the pre-rigging process, it appears my next task is to get the masts placed so that I can begin on the lower shrouds. But... before that, I think it is also time to get the Bluenose on its display base/pedestals, and also get the dories and kids firmly placed, as I've been holding off on their placement for fear of snagging them. Might also get the silkspan out that I recently ordered for the sails to see how easily it will be to work with. Appreciate all the advice, likes and comments.

Spoiler alert!!! 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️😄🤣 Just happened to peek at this thread again as I saw it on the home page as a recent post, and I love to peek at "all things Chuck"! 👍 This Speedwell looks awesome, sir!

Yep! I do what sounds like a "mix" of what James, Micha and Terry all do, and we are all arriving at the same finished entry. But I have never used the drag-and-drop, either. I will "prep" my pictures ahead of time using my PC's Photos app, doing all of the cropping, resizing, etc. there. Then, when I am creating a post, I will add all the photos I intend to use in that post at once, so the picture thumbnails appear in the UPLOADED IMAGES section below the text window. Then, as I am typing text, if I want to place a picture at a specific location after a paragraph, I hit enter so that the cursor is on a new line and then click the picture I want to insert. Boom! If I know I want to center the picture, I will hit the center alignment icon either before or after placing the picture. If you do that, though, and after inserting the picture, be sure to click back on the left-align icon, or all your continuing text will be centered, as well. One caveat to this procedure, though... if you don't place all of the pictures you have "pre-chosen" and are in the UPLOADED IMAGES section somewhere into your reply, they will auto-load at the end of your entry once you hit SUBMIT REPLY. If that happens, you can edit your reply entry and either delete it if no longer wanting to post it or re-insert it wherever you like by placing the cursor where you want it and click the picture, then deleting where it got stuck at the end. Sorry if this got too wordy in my explanation version! EDIT: I re-reading PvG's initial query, it sounds like he is doing fine with the upload, but then just not "telling" his text reply where he wanted the picture specifically placed, so they are all dumping at the end, as I noted in my last paragraph. So... ignore my first two paragraphs of yapping! 🤣🤣

Thanks, Ed! Yes, your build log has been an excellent reference for me. Appreciate the work you put in. And, yes, I know critics will say (rightfully so) that all the metalwork should be blackened, but I really do like the way the shiny brass stands out, so... I go against the purists on that one. <shrug> Wish I was able to duplicate the shackles, though. I just haven't had much success in creating those at a small scale and I see where I would need to do many more in some upcoming rigging. For now, I've just been going from spar to spar on the plans to see what rigging I can prepare in advance so that, once I get the masts up and start tying down the shrouds, hopefully most of the rigging will just need to be placed in its spot, connected to eyebolts, pins, etc. Nervous about it all, but I just keep telling myself to slow down and be patient with it all. Thanks again for peeking in. Appreciate any advice as I trudge forward!

Great explanation and, as always, great work, Mustafa. Thanks for taking the time to document and explain. 👍

I think I commented earlier, Mustafa, how impressed I am with how you make your ladders so consistently. As I recall, you said you had a little jig made for the ladder construction. Just curious, though... could you have made these at the same time you were making the ones that go up to the gun deck, or is there a slight variation in the pitch or angle that you needed to check on and couldn't until you got to this point? Any efficiency in doing it either way? As I said, though, they look awesome! Totally impressed, sir!

He trained in the T-45, flew F/A-18 in 2 deployments and has been flying the F-5N as a part of the fleet adversary program for about 12 years now. Appreciate your service, as well! 👍🏆

Ahhh, very awesome, Pete! Thank her for her service! My son is a Navy pilot, so I am especially supportive of the military aviation community. 👍🏆

Was in Ames '73-'76. 👍

Ahhh.... Very nice! Have relatives that live in the Quad Cities area. I was at Carver-Hawkeye for an Iowa Women's BB game with #22 this past year.

Welcome, Pete! Nice helo model! 🏆 What part of Iowa? I'm a "born & raised in Iowa" guy!

Thanks, John! Ropes of Scale - Polyester Rope – Ropes of Scale

Well, I have done a little bit more, so thought I would toss in an update. Been struggling a little with how to approach all of the rigging work. But, starting to do some rigging on a few of the spars that, no matter which way I decide to go with the sails, etc., I will need to rig anyways, so... here we go. Not much of a play-by-play on these spars coming off of the main mast. But definitely props to several of the Bluenose modelers who have come before me and shown a lot of their processes and techniques well enough for me to follow much of their guidance. Props especially to @genericDave, @Ed Ku20 and @John Ruy, whom I have either relied heavily on researching their completed build logs, or John's responses to queries on his ongoing (and almost completed) Bluenose build. With that all said, a few pictures (with little comment) I took during some of the pre-rigging for the main mast spars... Trying to remember to do some of the stropping with brass wire vs. thread. And yes, need to use the Syren internally-stropped blocks on some of the 1/4" singles and doubles. So may re-do some of these after-the-fact. As I am completing different portions of the pre-rigging, I am wrapping them as best I can and setting aside. This rigging will be for the main boom's crutch tackle. A closeup of the end of the main boom and topping lift rigging. The completed rigging on the main boom (with all of the rigging banded and secured until it's placed on ship). Top part of the lower main mast, with the blocks for the main peak halliard and the pendant rope for the topping lift. Rigging the main gaff bridle assembly. All of the rigging lines associated with the main mast. Well, as far as I can tell (so far), this may be it for the main mast pre-rigging process. Now it's pretty much a "rinse-and-repeat" routine for the fore mast rigging with a couple of exceptions. Then, it appears the shrouds are after that, which means getting those masts firmly secured on deck. Let's see how this progresses!

Y'all are making me hungry, dang it! 😄🤷‍♀️😋

Impressively meticulous work, Mustafa! 👍🏆

Looks really nice, Peter! Congrats on getting the planking done! From everything I have read from others' build logs, sounds like a "cannon diversion" may be the best option! 🤷‍♀️But, for now, enjoy your evening out! 🍸Cheers!

I do have the "helping hands" unit to help in seizing blocks and tying knots, etc., but I have also found a pair of hemostat forceps to work really well. I clamp the block in the forceps and then clamp the forceps in a desktop vise, and everything stays solid and secure. Amazon.com: Set of 2 Pcs 5.5" Straight & Curved Kelly Hemostat Forceps Locking Clamps Premium Quality Stainless Steel Set-with Half Serrated Jaws (Silver) : Industrial & Scientific

Ditto here, as well, in not seeing this log previously! Exquisite work, Richard! And love your excellent work in posting the pictures with the text attached. Can I ask what program you are using? Seems quite technical, but very impressive! And the work on the ship itself is awesome! Will continue to follow, if you don't mind... 👍

If you find that it may be easier to order some additional wood of very good quality, I highly recommend Joe at Modeler's Sawmill. I have ordered from him a few times for additional strips that I cannot create or alter myself. Milled wood lumber strips for the model ship builder - Modelers Sawmill I have The Chopper I from NorthWest Shore Line and I use it quite often! I must have the "original" 1st generation Chopper (hence it being called Chopper I, I presume!), as mine does not have the reference lines, which would be handy, but it does have holders on either side of the blade cutter so you can set and make consistent repeatable cuts. 👍

Grate job, Mustafa!! 👍😁

Any ideas on what this one might be? 🤷‍♀️

Awesome pictures, Jon! Maybe 1:48 based on this website, Peter? Mark Antczak (1949 – ) – American Marine Models (shipmodel.com)

Excellent work, John! Jib sails and rigging look great! And I have to review the snatch blocks. Not sure I placed those yet! Thanks for the reminder! I've been reviewing your prior log posts (primarily around Post #169) regarding your mast placements and stepping. Finishing up some pre-rigging work on the main boom and then looking at what blocks and pre-rigging is needed on both masts before stepping. Everything I have read, including your build log here, says to hold off as long as you can and do a lot of block placement off of the ship, but... torn on whether it's better to place the blocks on the mast where needed and then rig the lines or rig the lines through the blocks off-ship and then attach the blocks. Did you find either way easier or a better way to do it? Sorry to take up space on your log with this query, but wanted to comment on your jib sail work while I was already peeking at your prior posts. Keep up the great work, sir! 👍

Hi Peter! I am not a tech person by any means, so if my explanation is too basic or is confusing, I apologize in advance, but I will go through my entire process of posting pictures. Perhaps the shortest answer to your question, though, regarding photos appearing side-by-side is to format them or crop them small enough that they go side-by-side by themselves. Now a longer explanation... Again, there may be an easier or more efficient way of handling this technology, but this is what I do. I am taking pictures on my iPhone, then emailing them to myself so I can download them and save them to a file folder on my laptop. Once I have them in a laptop folder, I am opening a picture using the default Photos program on my Windows 11 Pro OS laptop. I am then formatting each picture. I first rotate the picture a full circle 360 degrees (first screenshot on the left). For some reason, if I don't tell it this is exactly how I want it rotated, the laptop will decide for itself what direction it wants to post and you end up having to tilt your head sideways to view. Doing this full-circle rotation seems to fix that issue. Then, I click the Edit Image button just to the left of the Rotate button and crop the image, taking out unnecessary background items and just focusing, if you will, on the particular subject matter for the picture. As I said early on, as well, cropping these images as small as you can will also assist you in getting them to post side-by-side. So then, when I am posting these pictures to a build log entry, as I have done here, I click the first picture in the "Uploaded Images" section. Then, I will hit the space bar a few times before clicking the 2nd picture, which allows for some "white space" between pictures. As I said above, if the pictures are formatted/cropped small enough, they will then appear next to one another. Hope my explanation helps, but didn't bore you! Enjoying watching your progress on your Constitution! The Model Shipways Constitution box is up on my "to-do" shelf for.... SOMEDAY! 🤷‍♀️😄

Totally NEWBIE input here, but from how "drastic" he is needing the brass bent into a Z shape, would it be better to simply solder three pieces in that shape rather than attempt to bend, even with the annealing process? 🤷‍♀️👍