Coyote_6

Ok - that didn't take me too long. I inherited the following Smithsonian document: Sure enough! Fore mast rake - 7" every 3' 0". Main mast rake - 7.5" every 3' 0". Now we know!

@Dr PR Leave it to The Godfather of Schooner Rigging to keep us honest! One more thing to research on the Prince - someday I will learn not to trust the Constructo plans for "anything". Ironically my next model will probably be Constructo's Enterprise 1799 so alas... Thanks Phil for the heads up! Any idea why it is that they are not equivalent? I'm gonna see if I can find what the Prince should be. As if the bowsprit angle craziness wasn't bad enough!

@SaltyScot Hi Mark! Thanks for the kind words. You are on the mark, at least from what I have seen, that the masts should have the same rake. I think a lot of the issue stems from the fisheye effect of my phone camera. If you step back and shoot (and then crop the photo) you see the "masts" are much more uniform in angle: The "masts" in the pics are just the raw stock pieces (as is the bowsprit) - after I shape them properly they will be shimmed, and between the shimming and the rigging I hope to get the mast angles proper. The Lynx is a beauty - I have used the modern one's photos to sort out several questions on the Prince. That should be fun - I'll keep an eye out for your build log if you do one!

Full complement of 12 pound carronades. Painted, polished and ready for rigging. The train tackles will have hooks, so in theory hook, hook, tighten, tighten and wrap and done in 1:1 fashion. We'll see how it goes in reality. Decided to bring her out in the sun to see how these look.

Trying to work out the guns. Painting the rest to match the prototype. Fit check after bulkhead rings installed. (I will be making a lot of hooks I see!)

"Leave the jib. Take the cannoli." But yeah - a "suggestion" from the Admiral is not to be ignored.

Jsk nailed it. That handle is gonna stick! "Godfather of Schooner Rigging!"

No more shelf time Phil! Ordinary only leads to troubles! It looks fabulous and you're almost there. (Maybe more martinis in your future though! 🤣 ) The sails really make an impression - I'll likely follow your lead! Steve

Very neat work there!

Yeah Phil (saw it coming a mile away). I didn't wanna push but you get one chance to do right by her. Glad you're going this route. It is such a cool project.

Phil - whatever you do it will be the right decision. Based on the accuracy of your Albatros details, I have an inkling of where you might go with this. Just an awesome project - your stories are investing us all in Cape!

Very neat metal work. Nice!

@Dr PR That is amazing! Any regrets on not blackening them? It definitely looks the business. My fear with clear would be non-uniform coatings and non-uniform tarnish. Natural looks good after 50 years there. Different, but good. So many decisions Captain!

I am building a Constructo model with some beautiful natural wood colors. My vision is to keep with the natural theme and leave the guns brass. Does anyone have pics of brass cannon on a ship they built decades ago? I am polishing them for install but after rigging I think they will have to be left to the elements. How will they look in 20 or 30 years? The left gun below is 20+ years of tarnish, the right was polished tonight. Once I get them polished I will paint the carriages like this and then get them rigged. Any thoughts or pictures appreciated. Thanks!!

Neat work Chris. Phoenix has handsome lines.

Tiller damper rigging completed.

@Dr PR Thanks Phil. I will have to mix up some 50/50 as I go in rigging. Sourcing materials is so hard on amazon. Without seeing the material it's hard to know if it's gonna be what I need. I would like to try the silk thread, I'll have to see if it comes in a size 70. I've bought 4 or 5 different spools so far but the fly tying has worked the best. An open question then - do most people glue the lines to the blocks?

I can relate to the drying time aspect. Looking good Chris!

It really is looking great Phil! I admire your patience, but not surprised. I remember you made like 200 belaying pins by hand one time (or something like that). Truly a virtue you have sir. Awesome work.

So before we go too far, can I get a critique on my rigging process from some of you experienced builders out there? Any input or recommendations appreciated. Looking for convincing appearance and longevity. Here's what I am doing: For line, Syren's poly cotton blend rope... For seizings, nylon or polyester fly tying thread... To bind the seizing for longevity, Elmer's school glue straight from the bottle (a thin white PVA?). A little drop top and bottom that soaks into the seizing... And this is what we get - the "blocks" are held in place by the seizing tension and then the line tension when rigged tight. You can see the Elmer's film on the seizings next to the blocks. 1. Is the above process going to be reasonably successful going forward? 2. Are the materials chosen generally sound? One particular complication is "weaving" an eye in the end of a line. See the light colored line below (the dark line is seized with fly tying thread and Elmer's): Trying to replicate a weaved eye as in Ashley... I unravel ~1/8th inch and bind it back to the bitter end to form the loop was not able to get this to stick with Elmer's - only Superglue would work. So I am using superglue (CA) for unseized eyes and a dab on the end of a line to "whip" against unraveling. 3. So am I good here with the CA, or should I be doing woven eyes differently? 4. PVA over CA, or are these equivalent? I know this falls a bit into lore and opinion but I appreciate all insights! Anything I should be doing differently? Any advice at all on getting a good healthy start? Thank you all in advance - I know you guys will get me on the right track. (The boarding stairs were too easy! 😜)

Let's celebrate today, February 1st 2025, as the day the Prince got her first permanent lines installed. Two figure 8 stopper knots and a dab of CA on the working ends as whipping. Welcome aboard the rigging portion of this build.

@Dr PR Thanks Phil! I keep getting hung up on little things but that's the learning part. The hull is drying with a satin poly coat right now, but I did like the glossy look too. Sooo many options. I gotta say your Albatros is setting the bar pretty high - I am just trying to catch up with her!

Preparing to begin rigging on the deck (still). Final touches to the hull, filled plank gaps that were bugging me with Watco Poly. And waiting for cure. Always one coat away! The mail came... and a new project along the critical path is in work. The Serv-o-matic cherry is a pretty wood... And the Serv-o-matic is ready for poly. Always just 1 coat away.

The detail, planning and execution are amazing Phil. You have set the bar very high with this work. Very very nice!! It is very exciting when you are on your boat, as the Captain, and considering things like stern chasers! My favorite part of building so far.

@Keith Black Doh! I missed that critical step for sure. Even with waiting the CA approach worked well. Thanks for the ideas.