Jared

Thanks Rich. I have been following the NRG competition requirements. I don't think my model will be completed in time for this year's competition. I will likely aim for next year. I plan to do a lot of photography of the finished model before it goes onto the case. In addition to the competition photos I intend to do a lot of focus stacking, which I am well setup to do in terms of gear and software.

Punch List of Outstanding Tasks for Completion of my Flying Fish (Updated 17-Jul-25). Repair a few damaged ratlines under the futtock shrouds (completed) Replace a small broken chain near stern stbd. side (completed) Tighten any loose sagging rigging (completed) Install a few missing black iron bands behind some of the yards (work in progress, WIP). Fabricate, install & rig gaffs on the Main and Fore masts. Rig the following 5 halliards: Flying jib halliard, Outer jib halliard, Jib halliard, Fore topmast Stsl halliard & Mizen Staysail Halliard Fabricate, install & rig the stuns'l booms Rig all yard braces Rig the 6" fish tackle pendant Rig the flag halliards and install the flags. Add the Bowsprit foot ropes Complete the insides of 2 ships boats & mount on the supplied davits. Add a few rope coils to the deck Look into making some 3D printed scale figures (crew & officers) (WIP) Final touch up painting and cleaning of the model. Fabricate a case and plaque Celebrate the model's completion with a few well deserved shots of a good single malt scotch!

Well today I completed the construction and installation of the remaining yards on the foremast, together with their lifts and hoists. I feel that this is an important milestone for me as the end completion of my model is now within sight. I will put together later a list of the remaining tasks to completion of the model, and will post it on my build log. Installing and rigging the yards has been a lot of very difficult fine work and I am so happy that this is now over. LOL

This was all my own view Rob. I think because of the thin copper layer on the copper tape I used, it creates a bump at the overlap, which I do not think looks right. I think the way you are doing it, at this scale, looks more realistic. I can't get over how fast your build is going. Looks great.

I agree. I did the overlapping of single plates method and aside from the many hours of work it leaves a unnatural-looking textured surface.

Your method is a real time saver! Thanks for sharing.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Thanks. I never intended to put sails on her. It would be an enormous challenge at this small scale.

A quick progress report. As of today all main mast yards together with their lifts and hoists have been fabricated and mounted on my model. This required a lot of time and patience. Rigging the main topsail yard hoist was probably the most difficult part of the build so far, especially the weaving of the fine chain through the gin blocks and getting the parts to stick properly to the model. Next week I will take on the foremast yards!

Thanks Rick. I think some of my lines loosened after probably over tightening other lines. It really does not take much to do this. When the rest of the rigging is done I will see what I can do and if necessary, if I can't fix things, I will replace the stays.

It is mostly with the forestays George. There is a tiny bit of looseness in the bowsprit which I am having difficulty troubleshooting. The give is not much - but just enough to make the sagging worse. I have tried glue at the base of the bowsprit with a weight attached to the tip but it did not work. Will try again. Thanks

While rigging the lower main yard lift I noticed that I had made an error in rigging the lift on the lower yard of the mizzen mast. The upper portion of the rope should have passed through the lubber hole and not outside the top see #310 & 313 above). This has now been corrected.

Thanks for the suggestions. The lines that I am concerned about are some of the stays, which are starting to sag as you can see in the attached photo. I have tried coating the lines with dilute white glue but so far it has not fixed the problem. I am going to try more concentrated white glue near the rope attachment points once the ship has been completely rigged. Cheers

Nice work George. I like the idea of the frame reveal in the hull, sonething I would like to incorporate into my next model, if I can figure out how to scratch build it.

After a great eco-photography break to the rain forests of Costa Rica, I am back to my build. Over the last 2 days I have rigged the lifts for the lower yard on the main mast, which required a lot of patience. One question I have for the group. As I proceed through the rigging I am finding that some of the lines have begin to sag. I am looking for suggestions what I can do about this. Having to tear out lines and re-rig would be a real nightmare. Thanks

Incredible work Rob. Question: What is the putty material that you apply before sanding Rob.

You did a fantastic build. Congratulations. This will be my next model build, after completion of my Flying Fish clipper by summer's end. Your build log will be a valuable guide! Thanks.

Hello from Costa Rica. Really nice work George.

Well done George. That certainly was no easy feat to make these!

I am pleased to report that I have completed the mounting of all yards on the mizzen mast, along with the yard lifts and halliards. The rigging of the top-most 3 yards was considerably easier than the lowest 2 yards. I still have a few rope coils to add to a few of the belay pins. My plan is to next mount the yards, lifts and halliards on the for the main mast and then the fore mast, starting in about 3 weeks. Thanks for looking.

I tell you you can't let your mind lapse on this build. I just realized the mizzen topsail yard lifts should have been black, not white. Fortunately the fix was quick and easy: a dab of black paint. I have now mounted the mizzen topgallant yard and installed that yard's hoist.

Thanks George. At times I wonder how I got this far! The rigging really make this model so beautiful.

Progress on my Flying Fish has been slow this past month, due to the difficulty of the work involved with the rigging of the lower mizzen yard and mizzen topmost yard. There were a few times I felt like giving up as the rigging challenges seemed overwhelming, because of the small scale and really tight spaces I had to work with. However with a lot of thinking I came up with some tricks and compromises which allowed me to complete the following: 1. Beginning with the mizzen lower yard, I secured the chain sling and the lower mizzen yard lift. 2. The mizzen topmost was then mounted and the standing lift installed. 3. Rigging the mizzen topmost halliard was the most difficult due to its complexity and the very tight spaces. I had to remove the gin blocks from the model to allow me to run the fine chain though them. To help rig the chain I used fine 0.01" dia thread attached to a fine needle to help me fish the fine chain (see photo) through the gin blocks and eyebolt on the top center of the mast. (I decided to skip creating a gin bolt on the mast). Another simplification I did was to tie a square knot to secure the halliard to the belay pins. The belay pins supplied in the kit are too short to allow rigging around the bottom part of the belay pins. As a rope coil is secured to the belay pins, this hides my simplification. I have attached several photos to help the viewer see how the lines are rigged. Unfortunately with the depth of field limitations of the camera lens and numerous outer lines already on the model, it will be difficult to really understand it all. Thanks for looking.

Excellent work on this George.

It happens to many of us. I abandoned my Flying Fish for about 8 years before pushing myself to get back at it challenges.