S.Coleman

Violin blocks on the lower main and lower fore yards. The rest are normal blocks large and small. 
Still have to attack blocks on the ends of the mid and top yards.

Here I have some blocks attached. Abit fiddley trying to get them to all face the correct direction but I got there.

Ships boats look awsome. Looks of nice clean even detail. Well done.

Ships boats look awsome. Looks of nice clean even detail. Well done.

Better veiw here. These lines were coated in beeswax and glued with 50:50 white glue. I find it easier to handle off the ship when stropping these.

What an absolute beautie it has turned out to be. Good work.
That deck finish is amazing .

Superb work on the decking. Ever thought of lighting? Could be a good choice to add all the little detail in the wheelhouse. 
 

Superb work on the decking. Ever thought of lighting? Could be a good choice to add all the little detail in the wheelhouse. 
 

Superb work on the decking. Ever thought of lighting? Could be a good choice to add all the little detail in the wheelhouse. 
 

thanks E J I never thought such an app would exist that's gonna be real handy
 
This evenings activity saw deck planking on the starboard side and any worries over the symmetry being off vanished
I really don't know where im going with this build so any suggestions or examples very welcome ,at this stage the wheel house is still removable so that might be rebuilt a different shape I might raise the deck around the bow slightly also covering or redoing the deck planking is not a problem so any ideas guys jump in there and don't be a stranger
 

Thanks Scott,
I too spent a bit of time earning the Italian terms for the parts. On-line translation was only partially successful because some of the terms are as unexpected in Italian as others are in English. For example, a 'caviglia' is literally an ankle, which turns out to be a belaying pin (I'm glad I figured this out before I started the rigging!) and 'bigotta' means bigoted, but in context is a deadeye. 'Bozzello' was easy - it translates directly to block. So it was a combination of inference and on-line reference. Not too hard to learn, but more difficult to retain!
 
David

Main mast lower and mid yards cut, Tapered and carved.
The lower main yard starts off as 6mm and is Tapered down to 3.5mm
the mid yard starts of as 4mm and is tapered down to 3mm with 2mms carved out at the ends. The main lower yard has to yet have its ends turned down.

Annnd done. 
Have got the drawings out for fabrication of the yards. Just looking and studying them at the moment.
 

Finally. All of the shrouds and ratlines on all 3 masts are complete. Finished off the top fore mast shrouds and ratlines.  
Now the last little bit left on the bowsprit  mast and a couple more lone lines and all standing rigging complete. Another milestone is not far off.

My cat seems to think she is helping. Moving reels of rigging line around and the such. Haha
I have finished the fore top mast ratlines and currently working in the futtock shrouds for the last set of ratlines on the top. Progress is slow but moving at least.

Well not much has been going on as of lately. Just still rigging ratlines and repairs to the stern lanterns that my cat knocked off. 
The standing rigging is almost complete. It's taken awhile.

Good Evening Everyone,
It was a rainy day all day today, so perfect opportunity to work in the shop. A little progress to report. Thanks for the vote of confidence Dave, but I think I'm going to paint this model nevertheless, probably similar to the MS version.
I've finished planking the bulwarks and they're in the process of being painted. (I planked the main deck earlier and have put down some tape over it to protect it from paint, glue and coffee while I'm working on the rest of the model. I installed the bulkhead and I've planked the upper hull with the finish layer, have it sanded and the gunports cut out. 
 
We'll see what the weatherman brings tomorrow - if it's sunny I'll be edging gardens. I hate to hope for rain, but sometimes it's hard not to.
 
David

Finished off the transom counter decorations today! Basically all the decorations are now finished. There maybe a few more little items but the bulk of them are now done. I was hesitant about modifying the kit because of these, but I'm very happy with the outcome  
 
So what we have are four stern chasers on the middle gun deck level surrounded by round floral decorations. This brings the total number of stern chasers to 10.
 
Between each pair of stern chasers is a small man crouching holding up an orb. This is Atlas supported the globe. Flanking the globe are the head and wings of angels. Flanking a small pedestal of which atlas stands are two fish lying on their heads with tails curled upwards. Below this and above are grotesque gargoyle heads. 
 
The last piece to make is a rather large gargoyle head on the top of the rudder post - Vasa has a lions head in the same place. 
 
 

Thanks guys. Yeah I reckon it would be pointless on a rolling sea. Just never seen these markings and thought I'd ask.  It was a gun sitting next to the replica Amity and it had nothing to do with the ship. Just another artifact to look at 

Thanks guys. Yeah I reckon it would be pointless on a rolling sea. Just never seen these markings and thought I'd ask.  It was a gun sitting next to the replica Amity and it had nothing to do with the ship. Just another artifact to look at 

Imagination runs wild within those romantics who have never done it. With the sails up and drawing, roll is shortened, dampened with much of it eliminated, so aiming aids were not useless at sea in those days. It took experience, good timing and skill to take advantage of such aids but aiming the gun at the end or beginning of a roll is a position the ship is in that is quickly duplicated or nearly so at the end and beginning of each roll. At cannon ranges, sighting during those times can be fruitful. Could not expect sharpshooter results, but your prospects of hitting what you wanted were greatly improved by employing a gun sighting device, be it the Mark 1 eyeball or mechanical. It was the Lock Time that caused the greatest problems while shooting from a moving platform, it was random up until electric primers were introduced. Also close to the sea, a wave can come up and catch the round, sighting might have been perfect, but the watcher sees a huge miss. Those marks appear to reflect the basketball trajectory of a cannon at very short ranges, that being the case, it would not surprise me to find that those marks were part of sight and used aboard ship, nor would I be surprised to find out that the target was not even looked at using a sight but the marks were in place so that all guns could be elevated uniformity in relationship to their bores and the battery Captain timed the shots using roll and experience to start the ignition sequence by shouting, 'FIRE'. 
jud 

All but the 4 front  gun port covers installed! I haven't decided whether or not to open or close the front ones per popeye's comment. Any other input there?
 
Starting on the cannons.  I know it is a negligible difference, but I am painting the cannons a flat black. I think it looks better. I have seen this technique of sticking them on toothpicks and Styrofoam elsewhere. Great idea!  It helps you be able to glue them together evenly and then paint them. 

Cabin interior! I know these are barely visible once installed, but it didn't feel right to paint them just white. Very happy with the results. 

Update. Not much, but I've glued the hull together and snapped in 2/3 of the gun deck. Man, that seam sucks, but it won't be visible. Definitely gonna try some putty or something for the spar deck.
 
Need to touch up a few spots where I touched the hull with glue because the glue tube broke in my other hand that I was paying no attention to and I smeared it around. Fun. 
 
I do like my wood effort. Will duplicate it but a tad darker on top, and hopefully a few less obvious strokes. 
 
Til next time!