Gregory

I remember someone mentioning a CA that is not as volatile as most. I’ll see if I can dig up the reference.

Great start on your re-boot of that model. Let me know if I'm cluttering up your log too much, but you have really got me thinking about going forward with my Mary II.. I found this superb link to a model by Lloyd McCaffery. There are a couple of downloadable PDF's of some of the details and also contemporary reference drawings/painting. Mamoli did a great job of creating the details of this kit.

Great! Here is a link to a 3D model of the wreck. It's included in the linked article but I thought I would provide a shortcut.. Schooner Trinidad (1867-1881) - 3D model by Zach Whitrock (@Whitrzac) [3d14b04]

Did you by chance check out " Mesh Cam ". Your experience with VCarve has me leaning in that direction, but Mesh Cam looks pretty robust also. I like this info from their web site:

Any indication if it will include rigging detail?

You made me dig out my digital copy of that Ships in Scale volume to confirm it's a great article. I have my 2nd Mary kit on the shelf and look forward to getting around to it some day. There is a Mary-like model of a ship called Max Emanuel built by Theodor Klaas. It has some amazing detail that I would strive to incorporate on my next Mary Max Emanuel One of the detail images.

They also have Midwest Birch plywood.

Robert, It looks like Tom hasn't visited MSW in a while. You might look for a Pegasus build that has more recent activity. Just do a search for "Pegasus " ..

@Stuka Regarding Lees, he makes no mention of cutters, but some details might apply to cutters in a general way. I have found it more useful for describing some detail in these discussions than I have for rigging a model.

That rope looks very good. My experience has been that irregular laying up occurs if I don’t have tight, equal tension on all the strands. You have inspired me to experiment with a wire core. I'll let you know what happens.

Are you saying you have trouble with 4 strands without a core?

I have that type of rope walk and have considered trying to use a wire core to make it easier to fashion foot ropes and such. I fail to see a good reason for using a rope core, other than increasing the diameter of the the rope, and that can be done with additional strands or yarns, or bigger thread. Because the rope contracts as it is laying up, the wire would have to be free floating and shorter than the starting length of the strands. I would have to experiment with how to accomplish that, if at all.

Here is one of the discussions I referred to: Of particular note is a link to high resolution photos of the model. Rigged model of a late 18th century naval Revenue Cutter Looking at the model, Petersson's book follows it very closely if not perfectly. Still, there is the question of whether or not the model was rigged accurately. If you go through that topic carefully, we found many differences between several models, and none of it necessarily wrong. In the end, if the rigging reflects what would make the ship sail as a ship is supposed to sail, I would say it's good.

Period Ship Models covers one model of a frigate. A typical 3 masted, fully rigged ship. Fore & Aft covers three models, one of which is an unnamed English cutter.

Something to keep in mind. Petersson is an artist rather than an authority on rigging. He drew some very good illustrations of what he observed on some contemporary models. There is no reason to believe the rigging on those models is completely accurate with regard to actual practice. We have had some discussions about some of the details of his books that seem questionable, however, for the most part the books seem to be reliable. I’ll provide a link later to a discussion about the model of the cutter in the “Fore & Aft” book. There are some high resolution photos of the model.

A good book of knots is good to have in your library, as well as books that explain the principles of rigging, however as others have mentioned, the type of knot is not as important as how tie off your rigging in a way that looks good at scale. Actual practice may not lend itself to realistic modeling. The size of your model rope and fittings will be your first consideration. Try to get that as accurate as possible. With Sherbourne I think your best reference for technique will be to look at some of the more detailed cutter builds here. HM Cutter Alert by Thukydides has a lot of detailed rigging information. I would also look at a couple of the Cheerful builds. In particular; Chuck's prototype and the build by Glenn Barlow. Chuck's rigging detail starts about here. Glenn's about here. You can also download the Cheerful instructions at the Syren Ship Model site . Scroll down the page to see "Download the Monograph chapters below!!!" Rigging starts in chapter 12. Last, but not least, if you really want to feel challenged, look at La Créole 1827 by archjofo. While the ship is quite different from a cutter, the builder, Johann, presents a lot of information of how to accomplish detailed rigging that looks like the real thing. A small example of Johann's work. You would have to sift through the log to see how he does those seizings and other details.

I haven't been completely idle since October, just lax in updating the log. I have resurrected my Resolution build and hopefully will get more enthused about Rattlesnake; perhaps switching back and forth as the mood suits me. I have mentioned more than once that I prefer the natural wood look, and I really don't enjoy painting. I am using some bloodwood to frame the gunports. I Created 1/8 bass fillers that go between the bulkheads, where I then lined the gun and oar ports with the bloodwood. The first planking below the wales is complete. Obviously I didn't go for beauty in this phase, but I feel I have a good base for the final planking. Above the wales will be essentially single plank. The two forward gun ports will be closed so they will not be framed. That's it for a while.

Any reason to believe colonial oars would have been significantly different for this time period?

They appear to be located in Belgium and have been around for a while.

Well, hard to believe it's been almost three years since I worked on Resolution. I was in the home stretch with rigging when the cat decided all that 'string' looked like something that needed special attention only a cat can give. The mast snapped right below the trestle trees, and fortunately nothing else actually came apart or broke. I feel pretty sure I can get the mast back in position and repaired without having to actually re-do any of the rigging that was already in place. I had just started the ratlines so I hope to be able to continue with that in the near future.

I like the bottle idea..

I would make a template from the plans then use it to make a brace with some scrap.

I have heard of gardenia, and we probably have some locally ( north Georgia ). I'll have to keep an eye out. It will be interesting to see how it looks and what you use it for. I think lot of slow growing ornamental shrubs/trees would be suitable for model making. They usually have a very tight straight grain. Pieces thicker than 2" are probably hard to come by, so your milling options would be limited.

For modeling purposes, it might be easier to rig the shrouds before placing the tops.

Here are some 1 x 30 belts at Amazon. You might consider making your own out of these. 1 x 30 inch Sanding Belt Pack