BETAQDAVE

I would suggest that rather than pruning those threads, just close them with the reason being: "too many posts in this thread were infringing copyright, and it would take too long for admin/mods to go through the thread and delete them. 150,000 posts in total across multiple threads. Please refrain from posting copyrighted images in the future". 
 
It would save you a lot of time and take the tediousness out of it. 
 
Speaking of tedious ... back to rigging for me. 

Finito!!  
 
I have finished the display base and have mounted the ship and launching ways.  I made a temporary name plaque and just need to have a final one engraved.  Although I'm excited that I've finally finished the ship and pleased with the way it came out I'm going to miss working on her. 
 



 
Deck is a little too clean, need to throw some more rope coils on the deck
 






 
 
 
And now for the acknowledgements.
I would like to thank Model Expo & Model Shipways for putting together a great kit that has been most enjoyable to build.  The quality and quantity of material was first-rate.   I think I only needed to fabricate four or five eye bolts.  There were more than enough blocks, plenty of copper tape, plenty of standing rigging and just enough running rigging (could have used a little more to make some rope coils with).  All in all I am very pleased that I chose this kit for my first build.  The only issue I had, and this is not a fault of Model Shipways, was the instruction manual that came with it.  If not for the practicum by Chuck Passaro, that supplements the kit’s instructions, this ship would have looked a lot different and would have taken me much longer to build.  For that I am most grateful would like to thank Mr. Passaro for his fine practicum.  I would like to thank all my followers and fellow Phantom builders for taking the time to view my build log.  I hope this log will help others as past builds have helped me.  I would also like to thank everyone for their help and comments and for everyone’s ‘likes’.  Last but not least I would like to thank Model Ship World for hosting a great site.  It’s truly amazing the expertise, knowledge and craftsmanship that can be found on this site.  I've learned a great deal by reading other peoples build logs and hope to use this knowledge on my next ship.   And on that note, good night and may God bless.

In this case, a touch of CA on the end of the line before you cut it will prevent the fraying. Just coat the area where you want to cut, let it set, and then cut it.
 
Russ

Max,  the font is called 'unicorn' on my software.  I had thought about using a little wood filler to feather the edges but I didn't want to take the chance of screwing it up.  If I take my reading glasses off it looks perfect anyway.  Does the vellum have a shiny finish? Because I tried printing it on a sheet of (showing my age) overhead projector transparency film and it was very noticeable on the ship.  As far as deterioration, I have a few years on you so I don't think I need to worry about the paper deterioration as much as my own.     

Max,
 
You give me way too much credit for my artist abilities.  I only wish I could have hand painted those names on.  A stencil is a good idea that I hadn't thought of, although it would be kind of tough cutting out those little letters. Alas, all I did was print out the names on plain white printer paper with a black background. The bow letters have a font size of 8 and the stern letters are 5 and 4.   I then cut the names out to fit the step area and after positioning them I painted over them with a diluted (50/50) mixture of white glue and water.  You can't see it in the pictures but if you get real close you can see the paper. You need to darken the edges too so you can't see the white edge on the paper.  One thing I did learn while doing this is that there is no white ink in printers.
 

Thanks Patrick, hope your feeling better.
 
Decking is complete.
 
I first tried cutting individual planks, 1/16” wide with the intention of planking the deck with them.  This proved, however, a bit beyond my current skill level. What I opted to do was use scribed planking.  Not the one that came with the kit but one I made myself.  First I made two planking templates, one of the fore deck and one of the aft deck.
 

 
I then finished a sheet of basswood ,1/32” thick by 4” wide x 12” long with 4 coats of polyurethane.  After the sheet had dried completely I taped the deck planking patterns onto the basswood and using a steel point, traced over the lines to score the wood.  Next I painted the decks with a dark brown acrylic paint and them immediately wiped the paint off.  The paint came off the polyurethaned areas but stayed in the scored lines.  Finally I cut out each deck section.
 

 
I like the results but I think I may have scored the wood a little too deep because the caulking lines appear a bit too thick, or maybe I should have used a lighter color paint so they don’t stand out so much.  I can't take credit for this method because I did read how to do it in a book whose title and author escapes me right now.  Amended 5/28/14 - the book is 'The Built-up Ship Model' by Charles G. Davis pages 106 to 107. 
 
I also chose to cut in the cockpit area and made a template for that planking as well.

Jay, it's etched permanently in my being. I watched the Twin Towers being built in the late 60s, while in college. And as an Emergency Manager for the the state of New Jersey, I watched them fall.
The heroic 343 firemen and medics who ran into the buildings, along with NYPD and Port Authority police were true heroes that day. We continue to mourn the 3,000 plus folks who died that day.
 
We must never forget this dastardly act.

Same problem here Mark.

Making a dust cover
Since the last post, very little has happened in my model building yard.
If you are not working on the model, you don't have it in view all the time, so to speak, and therefore the first dust build-up cannot be counteracted, then it is advisable to place it under a protective cover.
Since I will certainly be busy equipping the yards for some time, I have been thinking about protecting the model against dust for some time.
A display case would be too impractical because you have to work on the model from time to time. In this respect, I thought about building a cheap dust cover that makes it possible to open the front in order to be able to remove the model or work on it.
The frame was made with 20/20 mm spruce strips and metal angles and was covered with Molton fabric on the back. This ensures a neutral background and, if necessary, possible detailed shots. The remaining areas were covered with a crystal-clear PVC film. The front can be braced downwards using a longitudinal strip or rolled up at the top.


 
     
Hopefully soon I will be able to pick up where I left off almost 2 months ago.
So until then…

Same problem here Mark.

Or, this is my home made keel clamp, although I've never used it.
 

 

 

 
EJ

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO REPLIED. I WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT THE WORKSHOP HAS BEEN SOLD AND IS GOING TO A VERY GOOD HOME!  BEST OF LUCK TO YOU ALL. 

Same problem here Mark.

Good morning.

Hello! Here I am again with some updates:
Mizzen mast has been stepped up, crojack and mizzen lower topsail in place.
Stepping the mizzen is the same business as the main and fore mast. The only thing I changed is that the mizzen is not glued, but held in place just by the shrouds. No real reasons for this; I just wanted to try something slightly different. In the end, the glue is not needed, and I’m happy with this choice.
Shrouds in place, ratlines, fairleads, all as usual. 
Here is a close up of the fairleads:
 

 
Since these are the last ratlines on my Cutty Sark, I took the opportunity to make a small video of the process. 
No audio, slow and not so steady hands due to the uncomfortable position, with the smartphone in the middle, but just to share a long and repetitive process that I ended up liking. 
If you struggle to get a sleep, here it is:
 
 
 
Once the mast was stepped, I installed and rigged the crojack and the lower topsail.
Once again, the process is similar to the other sails and other masts. Sails are prepared before installation, and rigged as much as possible before being installed on the mast. 
Here are some images:
 
 





 
A small mention for the stays: It would have been better to pre-install them starting from the main mast. I thought I was smart pre-installing them on the mizzen mast before stepping it, but it is better to do the opposite  in my opinion. I ended up removing them from the mizzen and starting all over again to be fitted on the main mast. Here is a close-up of the topmast and topgallant stay on the aft of the main mast:
 

As you can see it’s quite crowded, not an ideal place to work with knots and tweezers.
 
And, at last, the Cutty as she is now:
 
 

Thank you all for passing by!

How I wish we still had Floquil Marine Colors.

All Done!
 
The last few bits to install were the:
main deck railings anchors (with chain from the laser-cut detail set -- I bought some chain from Hobby Lobby, but even the smallest I could fine was too large) chain stopper (not included in the kit, but shown on a diagram; it's pretty tiny -- if I didn't tell you about it, you'd be unlikely to notice it) jackstaff flags. A tip for draping paper flags: they are much easier to fold if one scrapes most of the paper fibers from the back before gluing them.
 
Speaking of glue, I have come up with what I'm calling Coyle's Law of Gluing: "The amount of time it takes for glue to set between two parts is inversely proportional to the amount of time it takes to align the two parts correctly after applying the glue." I have found this law to apply regardless of the type of glue used. And along with Coyle's Law goes Corollary #1: "If a part must be glued at two ends, one end will bond perfectly on the first try, while the other end will take four to six attempts to get it to stick."
 
Enjoy the pictures!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Saw a reference to Floquil Marine Color paints in one of the posts recently. Moving stuff around on my workbench and found an old color chart. Never could find a use for Verdigris!

Hi Dave,
I think I thinned it to the consistency of skimmed milk and applied it quickly using a broad chisel brush. I too use silkspan, or modelspan as it is now called as it has good strength qualities.
Use of a hairdryer once applied, eliminates any risk of puddling, but the beauty of Silk/modelspan is that it can be re-wetted multiple times, particularly useful for sail shaping on the model.
 
B.E.

Well Roger, for some more authentic-looking (because the grain varies from plank to plank) wooden model ship decking or board-by-board siding go to Micro-Mark.  Black glue is used to bond individual planks of basswood together side-by-side in sheets 3 inches wide x 22 inches long x 0.050 inch thick, perfectly simulating the look of board-by-board construction without the tedious, time-consuming hassle of doing it yourself.
    Planks widths are available in 1/16 inch, 3/32 inch, 1/8 inch, or 3/16 inch.  The price is around $25 per sheet.  Have a look here.

Well Roger, for some more authentic-looking (because the grain varies from plank to plank) wooden model ship decking or board-by-board siding go to Micro-Mark.  Black glue is used to bond individual planks of basswood together side-by-side in sheets 3 inches wide x 22 inches long x 0.050 inch thick, perfectly simulating the look of board-by-board construction without the tedious, time-consuming hassle of doing it yourself.
    Planks widths are available in 1/16 inch, 3/32 inch, 1/8 inch, or 3/16 inch.  The price is around $25 per sheet.  Have a look here.

Well Roger, for some more authentic-looking (because the grain varies from plank to plank) wooden model ship decking or board-by-board siding go to Micro-Mark.  Black glue is used to bond individual planks of basswood together side-by-side in sheets 3 inches wide x 22 inches long x 0.050 inch thick, perfectly simulating the look of board-by-board construction without the tedious, time-consuming hassle of doing it yourself.
    Planks widths are available in 1/16 inch, 3/32 inch, 1/8 inch, or 3/16 inch.  The price is around $25 per sheet.  Have a look here.

Well Roger, for some more authentic-looking (because the grain varies from plank to plank) wooden model ship decking or board-by-board siding go to Micro-Mark.  Black glue is used to bond individual planks of basswood together side-by-side in sheets 3 inches wide x 22 inches long x 0.050 inch thick, perfectly simulating the look of board-by-board construction without the tedious, time-consuming hassle of doing it yourself.
    Planks widths are available in 1/16 inch, 3/32 inch, 1/8 inch, or 3/16 inch.  The price is around $25 per sheet.  Have a look here.

Well Roger, for some more authentic-looking (because the grain varies from plank to plank) wooden model ship decking or board-by-board siding go to Micro-Mark.  Black glue is used to bond individual planks of basswood together side-by-side in sheets 3 inches wide x 22 inches long x 0.050 inch thick, perfectly simulating the look of board-by-board construction without the tedious, time-consuming hassle of doing it yourself.
    Planks widths are available in 1/16 inch, 3/32 inch, 1/8 inch, or 3/16 inch.  The price is around $25 per sheet.  Have a look here.