AJohnson

Also looks good to me as well, the views along the deck can be deceptive in a picture, but if all the frames and supports are fully seated home before gluing then the frame should be square. As Craig says the camber of the deck from left to right also look correct.

Update for this week's progress, adding the topsail. This involved the usual process of paper template for testing the shape and size then constructing the sail as before. Then adding the rigging prior to mounting on the yard, this involved tying-off the the two yards so they would not move when adding the sail. Think next up is sorting the anchors and crew before adding the driver/gaff and main sail. Thanks for looking in and the likes. 😁

We shall watch out and see which you choose! 👍

Well done Dan, your Adder looks fantastic! So what is next on your VM fleet!? ⛵

Welcome to MSW!

Looks very smart Doug. 👏

That is a lovely looking Spit. Really nice to see a “clean” one that has not been weathered too much.

Thanks to everyone for the likes and feedback on the sails. This week I have added the Jib sail, by the same method as the foresail. The dawning realisation on how restrictive the sails will be for access means I am also having to tie-off some of the rigging sooner than anticipated, but I should have foreseen that - doh! The sails are held in place by using the same stainless steel wire used in the sails, but painted to match the rest of the running rigging and glued to the appropriate spot on the hull. The rigging is largely following Lennarth Petterson's Cutter in "Rigging period Fore and aft craft" and in so doing I am slowly realising this work somewhat simplifies the rigging compared the contemporary model Petterson based his drawings on. So I am finding this out as I go and adapting as best I can. Next up finish tying off the rigging forward of the mast, then add the topsail, I am thinking that I then will need to add the anchors and the gun crews before access becomes more confined by adding the booms and main sail. Thanks for looking in. 😁

Fantastic work Mike!

Those are fine scratch built replacements Johnathan, well done. 👏

The rudder enhancements look very neat David. Also the idea of using the plans as a template for the waterline numerals is great! 👍 As for losing one, well the Trial is missing one as well! 🤣

And nice to see this unusual subject! 👏

Great finish on the painting Mike - metals and yellow as well 🫣

Love all the details coming together on deck, yours @DB789 and @ECK builds are great ‘lead’ examples for us to follow. A great looking and interesting vessel, hope it has sold well so far for VM.

That looks really smart Bill. And thanks for starting this thread, loads of great conversations and tips I am going to try on future builds.

Well done Dan, looking forward to seeing the finishing touches.

That seems a wise precaution, good call. 👍

That copper looks very good David, really interesting to see you do that and the nice clean effect it provides. I agree it looks a lot better than the dimpled plates Caldercraft provides, I wish I hadn’t put them on my Bounty. But will try tape on Sparkler(Adder) when I have finished Trial.

Hi Bill, the tissue paper is coloured with the acrylic wash first (the pictures show the sheets drying in the garage, before being cut up to use.). Sorry for not being clear. As to the thickness, even at the seems where it is five layers, or around the perimeter where it is seven, it is still as thin as copier paper; I am currently playing with a copier paper template for the jib sail, so the two are side by side and there is no difference between them. Picture attached. I’m using traditional tissue paper, I have not come across silkspan, assume something you have access to across the pond.

Thank you for the kind words, sorry if not clear, yes the reinforcement strip is another one added at the perimeter to the already cut sail. As the tissue is so thin I didn't think it would matter to have one more layer. As they are, they are a bit fragile! 😬 I shall have to move with glacial speed around the build from now on..... 🤞

I love all these innovations on each new kit. Harpy has very nice lines, well done Chris and Jim!

Hello all, been over a week since the last update, but I have been busy working away on Trial. Experimenting with an iteration of the sails that I added to my Nisha build. This time I have used tissue paper throughout, rather than a thicker middle layer, to try and provide some scale looking translucency to the sail. Some discussion has already been taking place on this excellent thread:- But for completeness this is what I did for my first sail (foresail) on Trial. Initially I cut out loads of strips to a scale 2 foot wide, including plenty of spares - correctly anticipating plenty of redo's! This I did with a steel rule and a scalpel initially, but the blades did not last that long, but I then remembered that we had in the cupboard a rotary cutter rule, so I tried that out and it worked a dream, no more torn strips caused by a blunt blades dragging the tissue. They were then glued on to a centre carrier sheet of the same tissue paper, using - wait for it! - a glue stick! I raided the kids craft stores! 😆 I tried this out hoping that the dry glue wouldn't wrinkle the paper too much, which it didn't, however you have to be careful to get good coverage and constantly clean/wash your work surface to mop up the residue, this could stick your strips to the surface and the strips rip trying to peel them off - I know that from multiple times it happened to me.... This layer, when dried, was repeated on the other side, so the thickness was three ply and five at the seems. The sail was then cut to shape from this blank. The next step was to add some reinforcement patches at the corners and a couple of repair patches just to add "interest" so the sail didn't look too pristine. I want to make the sails look like they have some wind in them, I know that this is frowned on by luminaries like David Antscherl, but as I am also adding crew members, I might as well go the full Heretic and be made to walk the plank for good reason! So at the perimeter I added stainless steel 0.2mm wire, this was spun in a drill to straighten and stiffen it, this will allow the sail to retain a shape when curved. This was trapped in place with the luff-leech-foot reinforcement. The head and tack had wire loops (painted cream to hide them a bit) for me to add the running rigging to, the clew, not having as much tension on it was the corner I used to tie off the wire at. The whole assembly was then ironed between two sheets of grease-proof paper, so that if any glue softened it wouldn't stick to the iron of the under surface - and on the whole that worked - phew! Some seems did need a touch-up with dilute fabric glue to hold them, but not too many, so overall, for the ease and lack of wrinkles, I would recommend dry glue sticks for making sails like this. Additional details then added was the bolt rope, glued the the perimeter and reef points, both added with fabric glue. I followed steel and added two per panel, so that made for plenty of little knots and trimming! Regarding making the sail look like canvas and not tissue paper I did try painting the sails using an airbrush, but this looked a bit too "grubby" to me (the first two picture of a sail attached to the fore stay). So I tried pre misting the tissue with acrylic wash (oak colour in my case). I did have a close brush with disaster by trying Tea, but @druxey saved the day and warned me that this would make the sails brittle, so in time my Trial would look like a forlorn Egyptian Mummy.... The sail was finally mounted with down haul lines and tackle; following the diagrams in Petersson, all knots sealed with matt varnish and trimmed, the halliard just temporarily taped to the side of the hull until I tie it off later. This whole process has taken me a week to do one sail (the final one was my fourth attempt!) So I am really hoping, having learnt a few tricks, the next three will be quicker - Jib sail next update! Thanks for all the kind comments and following along. 😁

Well done Alan, I like the mount and street plan base, very clever.

So you should be Glenn, looks great!

These 3D printed blocks are a revelation Chuck, I can see these rapidly making all “mass” produce wood blocks redundant. I know the traditionalist’s might not like that they are not wood, but hell they look so good!