Yabuhebi

That actually looks great! I checked your profile, do you have more pics of your build...clearly, your skills are very good!

I took Chuck Passaro's advice and tried using the Gutermann thread. If I held light tension, it did seem to serve the line fairly quickly. My only issue is this thread is SO THIN and the line I was serving was only .75mm. There is barely a difference when looking at the thread live. You can see right below; the top thread is the .75 with nothing, the middle is the the line served with the Gutermann and bottom was last night's attempt with .25 serving. As I did more and more line with the Gutermann, I have become better at it and the gears seem to have loosened up a lot and it does go kind of quickly.... I took at stab at creating the mizzen pendants. The directions call for a weird setup with a loop around the mast with a pendant going out each side. I didn't see that or do that and I am not happy with how it looks, but this group of lines is at the very bottom so perhaps I'll trim the excess that can be seen...tighten that up and work on a method for the other 2 masts. I tried serving the #1 shroud, but didn't go far enough and the shroud isn't served around the mast head. When I did the port side, I made sure to serve the entire length of the #1 shroud and up to and around the mast. It was hard to seize the shrouds as they don't slide up so I had to keep them loose. The scale is so small, I'm not sure if serving is making a difference here. I made thimbles out of brass tubing. I don't have anything small enough to flair them, so hold them in tweezers and lightly tap them with hammer on my vice. They're a bit sloppy, but I think when I paint them up, they'll be fine. I'll keep fine tuning my skills with each shroud. Please, if someone has used a better thread for serving, let me know. I am going to research the forums for other suggestions!

Well I reached out to Syren at Vossiewulf's suggestion. The owner actually responded at 10:45Pm EST in the US!!!! Wow! Here is what he had to say: Boy that is a tough one to diagnose. I wish you were right here with the machine and I could test it personally. Try lubricating the gears and all moving parts. I will spray with wd40. See if that helps. The line you are using to serve should be very small. Like sewing thread. Even smaller…fly tie fishing line if you are serving smaller ropes. It sounds like you are teying to serve a smaller rope with too large serving line. Serving rope should not be larger than .017mm for really large ropes and much less for the smaller rope you are trying to serve. .012mm or smaller. Really thin stuff. ~ Chuck Passaro I was using .25mm black thread to serve the line because that's the only black thread I have. Sounds like that may be WAY too thick. I also CA glued that to the line to be served instead of using a needle to push the serving line THROUGH the line on the pins. That may have caused some issues too. I do have a spool of Gutermann's E121 black thread that I bought from Rope of Scale last year. I did that based on suggestions that this was a good thin thread for making my own ropes and then cables. I am not going to do that now... I really didn't like this thread compared to all the other thread supplied with the kits and the after market line I bought from Rope of Scale which look SO realistic. This thread is very thin, it is polyester and the ends will fray immediately. It is very difficult to work with so I just put it away. I will try another test using this thread and try to do it properly and report back!

Good advice; I just sent them an email. Seems like a trivial thing to bother them with, but it's possible I'm doing something VERY wrong because every video I've watched, the process looks so easy! Thank you! Chris

I do have a question about the upcoming shroud, pendant and stay work I have to do. First, it seems to me that I could add the shrouds without tying them off to the channels and then turn to the stays before the shrouds get in the way. The second issue is serving the thread. I bought Syren's Servo-Matic serving machine. I built it last year but didn't really bother with it. Today I took a stab at seeing what I'm facing to serve some line. The gears were not aligned as the holes are a bit off. I ended up drilling the holes out to allow for the tight fit and that helped. After, I laid out some .75mm line that I was going to serve with the .25mm line. After tightly attaching the .75mm line, I tried to serve it. Seeing all the videos, it seems as if the serving thread would just walk along the line, easy peasy. When I did it, the serving thread wouldn't do a thing. All that happed was that the line to be served got tighter and tighter. Finally, it began to accept the serving line. At first, I had to push the thread in to get it tight, but eventually, it began to work. That is NOT what I've seen online. Does anyone have any thoughts as to what I may be doing wrong. There's a lot of line to serve!!!!!

I also secured the 3 masts today. After making sure all the sleeves were sanded and fit their respective masts, I added the 4 cleats to the main and fore masts and attached the masts. I leveled the boat as best as I could. I also tied a plumb to the ceiling and used that as a guide. When attaching the masts, I poured a bunch of white glue down the hole...I can only imagine what that looks like. I also added some E6000 to the bottom of the mast and used both white glue and some CA glue on the sleeves. I believe the masts are plumb. If there is some twist, I believe I can mend that with the shrouds.

I have completed the masts and installed them. I had assembled all three of the sub-structures ahead of time. That might not have been the best thing to do when I face the rigging, but it's done now. I also took about an hour and labeled all of the belay points listed in the manual on the belay location blueprint. Just as a way to get an idea of what's coming. After that, I added the horses and Flemish horses (to the 2 that need them). I was going to look into creating actual rope stirrups, I thought I would create the splice at the bottom, tie to the yards and then after, apply CA glue to make them straight. In the end, I just used the supplied brass wire. I still have to paint them. I also received by upgrade sheaves from Dry-Dock Models. They look very nice and their prices were fine. Sadly, I had ordered 4 packs of the 3mm single sheaves which I believe was enough to cover all of those needs but only 1 arrived. The same with the 5mm single sheaves, I ordered 2 and only 1 came. I sent an email and they almost immediately responded and are sending the missing parts. It took 12 days for the first order to get there. They are on the west coast of Canada and I'm on the east coast of the US. Sigh.....I feel bad, I always worry someone is going to think I'm trying to scam something for free....but they were great sports and it is much appreciated! I worked on all the additional sheaves for the mizzen yards. It took almost the whole day just to do them. The only confusion I had was a set of 7mm sheaves that look to be attached to the mast just below the bibs. I have all 4 of my books out and am going to see what's what. It isn't important now, but they are on the blueprint for the mizzen mast and they do look like they are secured to the mast and not the crossjack. This was my first attempt at adding the sheaves to the yards. These are of a better quality than the kit sheaves and since the only ones I have worked on were the smaller 2mm cannon tackle sheaves they are a bit easier to work on.

I was just looking at that. I have both, but can't for the life of me figure out how to paint the oval plate. The recessed area would be black and the raised lettering and border would be yellow, but there's no way to free hand paint that. I actually tried painting the whole thing yellow and let it dry. Then I painted over it with yellow and tried to wipe off the high edges, leaving the black in the grooves and yellow up high. ...didn't work.

...I also looked at some of your pics (from your previous posts on my log). You should post them together. The quality, clean lines and expertise of the shots I saw show a very superior build! You should share them!!!!!

Thank you. The quarter galleries are some of the most important areas to finish. They pull the eye to the ship. I had such a time getting the painting and trim correct around the windows. Ended up doing them over a few times before moving on. Enjoy! Chris

DONE, DONE, DONE!!!! Those pesky hammocks are done. Yes, I am sure I will be this excited when I post that I've finished all the ratlines...just as I was excited when I finished the copperplating! I removed the original netting on the bow and am going to redo with this netting. I also have to add the rails for the platforms and add netting there, but I want to make sure if I add those now, they won't interfere with rigging, especially the standing rigging. I just started working on the last 4 cannon tackles I need to do. After that, I want to go over the hull directions line by line and be sure that I have added everything that is required. Once done with that, I'll add all of the remaining copper eyelets I may have missed. I also have to go over all of them and paint them black. Last thing will be to build the cannon hatches for the lower decks and add them and the cannons. It's a party now!!!!

As always, I continued on my quest to finish the hammocks. I did encounter an error in the instructions...or at least a missing step concerning the installation of the quarterdeck and foredeck hammock brackets. The directions don't mention this, but the quarterdeck require 8 brackets (not including the ends) and the foredecks only require 6 (not including the ends). However, each group provides 7 inside and 2 outside for each side of the ship. So the numbers work out, but it isn't mentioned anywhere... You can see that I just sew the netting onto the bracket lines. Perhaps a curved needle would make things easier. Alas, I am not a surgeon!

Hello! I believe I have finished the yards and stunsail booms. I may have to do one more coat on the driver boom and gaff. For the other yards, I have also added a couple of coats of clear matt finish. Looking at other builds, I attempted to guess where the black trim for the stunsail booms would be. I did misplace the cast iron rings for the main yard brackets that would hold the lower stunsail booms. I have some thick brass plating and using tin shears, was able to cut some strips to create those rings. I've seen other builds use this process to create all the rings and double rings to hold these booms. I opted to just do the ones I was missing. I was able to easily shape them after annealing the brass. It also allowed me to file them so they weren't so sharp. Again, once painted, they tend to blend together.

Plugging away, trying to finish all the yards and booms and finish up the hammocks. There are 2 booms that are barely mentioned in the plans. The fore and main lower stunsail booms. I see them referenced in the blueprint plans and there is a brief mention of them in the hull direction as you assembly the main mast channels and a mention of the 4 cast pieces that create the brackets and supports for 2 of these booms. Longridge takes the position that they are a clutter and not typically rigged or shown on models. The other books do show how they would be rigged, what blocks to use, the various guys to stabilize them, etc. I know the main booms would be stored on the channels, but I haven't seen anything about where the fore stunsail booms should go. I think I read that they would be typically stored on the deck near the anchors, but not on the side of the hull so as to not interfere with the anchors. In my mind, that means to not even bother creating these, or do so and create some type of tie-up system. I've searched as many finished Victory wooden models as I can but it is really hard to see if any of these booms are actually installed on them. And the one pic I have seen, it doesn't look like anything was added to the boom, only that it is set onto the channel brackets. Any suggestions or thoughts as to what others have done? These are not my pics.....

While painting, I dug into another hammock. I tackled the other waist hammock. For some reason, when I started sewing the netting, I sewed away from me, instead of towards me. This just didn't feel right, there was no muscle memory and I don't know why I didn't stop and reset! It's done. I had ordered a set of magnifier glasses and cuticle scissors which came tonight, so I may try going over all the netting with fresh non-shakey hands tomorrow. I also have some gray fabric that I've thought about creating actual hammocks. I spent a few night searching ships of the line hammock storage. I know lots about rotating hammocks, port and stbd watches, partners taking care of each other's hammocks, etc. I also found a few pics of rolled up hammocks. It looks like the are rolled up long wise and that the ropes used to swing from have hoops on them to secure them. Perhaps sailors would store blankets, or pillows (if that was a thing) in their hammocks too? I rolled some of the fabric up to try it. I kind of like the color. It's a bit too dark, but I see that the hammocks would be a dirty white or very light gray. The gray I have would add some contrast to the decking and help add some depth. The only problem is that the fabric is a bit 'tight' and when I roll it up and then fold it over, it seems to crease too sharply. I am sure I can work that out. Then I have to think about what color thread to use to tied them up. Black, tan...or find a gray? So many decisions to make!!!!

After figuring out the stunsail yard, I have moved on! After a good night's sleep and with steady hands, I was able to drill small .5mm holes into the side of the topmast yard and then follow up with a larger bit. I was then able to add the same brass wire and they look great. After, I moved on to the top gallant yard. This one has banding on the center, but I didn't see any reference to how think the banding is. Measuring the blueprints, I think it looks to be about 1mm wide. So I cut some .5x3mm into 3 strips and applied them. That seemed to work fine, one is a bit thicker, but after sanding and painting they look good. The ends of this yard looks like it has a point to accept rigging/blocking. Had I looked ahead, perhaps I could have drilled the hole first and added a brass nipple to the end. Since I didn't, I added some PE sprue to the end and then file/sanded the very end to create that nipple. You can also see on the top gallant yard, I messed up on one side of the stops, I have them backwards. I noticed them when I started painting and fixed them. After, I had to paint them. I am running low on the flat black paint. I have about 1/3 of a jar left and even adding water to the 1st and 2nd coats, I wonder about making it last. I do have a full jar of iron black, but....for some reason I ordered that for the cannons. I decided to try Tamiya dull black. I have 2 jars from a previous build and honestly, it looks pretty close. If I have to, I can always go over it with the kit dull black.

I have both the fore main and topmast yards close to done. I was able to use the kit's cast iron pieces for the rings that will hold the main yard to the stunsail booms. There is a piece of photo etch banding that goes on the end of both yards. One of the requirements is to create a wire ring/hoop system that would allow the stunsail boom to slide out when needed. I used brass wire that I annealed and bent into the proper shape. I could not drill through the iron banding once I had installed it. The trick would be to drill it while it's flat and then install. The second tip is it might be better to also drill into the ends of the yards BEFORE you begin tapering. This way there is enough meat to grab onto to and make sure you have a properly centered hole. I didn't do that for either of the yards and I was forced to cut the tip of the banding off to get access to the end of the yard. It was easy to drill the hole in the fore main yard. As of right now, I cannot get the drill into the smaller topmast yard. At 2mm, it's just too small for the bit. Which means I will have to use a smaller width wire for the hoop ends.... I used regular styrene banding for the middle of the yards and clean PE sprue for the tiny banding around the iron ends of the yards. Once painting, a lot of that blends in...I haven't taken pics yet. One more thing....when doing the topmast yard, the plans call for only 4 wooden strips around the center with some spacers in between. I assumed it would be the same .5x4mm size, but it is the smaller .5x3mm. I used the 4mm strips and could only get 3 around it. I tossed about taking off and redoing, but it was late and I think once it's painted and all of the jeer blocks are installed, it will get lost in the forest.

Well!!!! Look at this...it was here the whole time! I was just going to wing it and have the stunsail booms be half the length of the yard they were married to. I started prepping the fore yard and there it is....WHOOP! It's funny, there is not reference to the word stunsail in the rigging directions. Not one. Not even for stun or sail! The parts manual does reference the iron straps for the boom. So I am back in action!!!!

Still a little tweaking and touch ups to the masts, but I really like them. I didn't notice until I took a picture, but the last hammock netting I did, the colors didn't match up! They looked fairly good a few days ago, but now it seems whiter and cleaner. I do know that I stained the first three hammocks in coffee before attaching them. I then left the coffee in a plastic cup. Figured I would use it as I needed it. I don't drink coffee so I have to rely on my wife to make it....I have no idea how!!!! Lol..... When I soaked that last piece in and pulled it out, it had little chunks of coffee in it. Oops. What do I know. I guess I rinsed it out a bit too much. Not much I can do, but I am going to stain enough of the lace material to do the rest so they are at least consistent. I really hate the close up pictures, but man, when I stand a bit away from her, she really is starting to look good. I just have NO IDEA where I'm going to put it when it's done! Thanks to all! Chris

As I'm working on the yards, I think I've finally put together how the manual wants them done. The manual mentions using brass wire to make the outermost rings that are placed in holes drilled at the ends of the appropriate yardarms...over the boom iron straps. Again, that's it. No mention of the part numbers (#493-496) or how they are put together. It does mention booms and that they should be above the yard and 45 degrees in front of it so that any and all blocks attached to the yards are behind the booms. But the word boom is used interchangeably with other pieces...mainly the driver boom and driver gaff. No worries. However, I'd love to add these 'booms' or more correctly stunsail yards. I can't find any reference that provides the actual length of these yards. I can guess and probably get pretty close to the length, and probably guess as to the width too. Anyone have an idea? I have searched online for the specs on stud sail yards, stunsail yards, etc. Not much in the stat category. McKay and Longridge have similar drawings. Lee and McGowan show the yards, but no real dimensional detail. Thanks!!!! Chris

I'm wrapping up the mizzen mast and was reviewing some past builder logs to start getting a plan in my head for what is next. I came across Robert29's blog and a few references to adding a driver boom saddle to the mizzen mast. To the best of my knowledge, there is just one reference to this part....#212 driver boom saddle. That's it. It isn't in the rigging or hull manuals. I just went downstairs and pulled all of the unopened rigging blueprints and see nothing. Other than the location of the driver boom. The mizzen only blueprint doesn't have anything on it and the generic plan for all three masts is also lacking any reference to it. Longridge does mention the saddle. Describing it as a semi circle bracket supported by 7 fluted brackets. Ironically, it does not give any dimensions as to where it would be on the mizzen. Surprising as he is very detailed as to where many parts need to be located. There is nothing in Lee's book and McCay doesn't show the saddle in any of the drawings for the mizzen. I suppose I can guess where it should be based on Robert's pic below. I suppose a millimeter error here or there is only a few inches in real life....

Work, work, work! I have my fingers in multiple tasks here. I'm painting the structures for the mizzen mast black and the mizzen mast itself yellow. While that dries, I have continued working on the hammocks. I won't do them all at once, they get tedious and I'd rather do other things! I did the other hammock for the poop deck. I am not entirely happy with this one. I wasn't very careful when I cut the netting prior to installing it. Because of that, I cut too far into the next row and the looping frayed or cut. When trying to sew the netting to the hammock line, it wouldn't take. I had to go down a layer and this created a lot of fringe. I tried gluing the top as I went, but it doesn't quite work. You can see that on the poop barricade hammock and opposite poop rail. Too much fringe and it is very hard to try and cut away. I then did the waist hammock. This one seemed to go much easier with the wooden bannister. In addition, I was VERY careful cutting the netting to get ready. Not a lot of frayed edges or bad fringes. Like others, I opted not to attach netting to either side where the anchor or hull stairway is. But, I thought in the real world they would put something up while underway. So in boredom, I created a little net that rolls up. So silly..... I also started on the yards. Going from left to right per the blue prints, the next set of yards after the bow family were the spritsail and spritsail topsail yards. They require little pieces of 1.5x1.5mm walnut strips to be shaped as stop cleats on each end. The larger spritsail yard also requires 2 sling cleats (#381). There is something showing on the topsail yard, but it is not labeled.... I went to the references I have on hand and was able to deduce that the smaller yard also has sling cleats. They are mentioned in Longridge's book and I just received James Lee's THE MASTING AND RIGGING OF ENGLISH SHIPS OF WAR 1625-1860. I found a wonderful deal on AbeBooks for about $65USD used. It came from one of their sellers Frey Fine Books. Frey did a tremendous job, the original dust cover is in new condition and they covered in a clear cover and actually wrapped the book in paper before boxing it. Just above and beyond. Both books really get into the details of it all. Lee's provides dimensions for any and all parts of the rigging. It was very comforting to be able to convert both Lee and Longridge's real life dimensions of feet/inches into millimeters and have them come out almost perfectly. I now have to clear space so that these books are open and ready for the rest of this project. I am headed into an area that I have no experience in!!!! Can't wait. Chris

Thank you Walter....of course, you're not down stairs when I spend 75% of my time sweeping under the bench trying to find all the pieces I keep dropping. I assure you, no patience then!!!!!

I'll just plugging along. Now that I'm here, there are now videos and blogs that focused on rigging that I can now start pouring over. Thanks! Chris

Working on the mizzen. Right now I've added the first 2 coats of paint. The banding went fine and I added wood putty again. I just wanted to be consistent. The top and t'gallant mizzen masts are very small in diameter and trying to get the octagonal shape was difficult. I did the best I could, but ended up with more rounding than anything.