cdrusn89
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After reading JerseyCityFrankie's blog posts on his build of the Niagara I decided to try his method of attaching the ratlines using only glue. He points out that at the 1/64 scale of Niagara any knot you could tie would be badly out of scale. If true at 1/64 it would be even more so at 1/96. So I laid the model on its side (carefully) and gave it a try. Here is the port side of the Fore Mast before I trim the ends. I put a drop of white glue on the desired locations and then (carefully) put a piece of ratline (more on these below) into the glue. I gently "tug" on the line once in place to get in sunk into the glue drop. After the first drop sets up I add a second drop and then let it dry overnight. Clearly I have not had the experience of trimming all these but hopefully it is no worse than trimming after tying all those knots. I will say at least the installation is much faster than using knots, at least with my slow and clumsy fingers. Waiting for the glue to dry is the limiting factor on how long the entire process takes. On previous builds I used black or light brown Syren .008 line for the ratlines. Given the reduced scale here I decided to use Bluejackets .005 linen line. Unfortunately it only comes in white, black and a very light beige (aka "natural"). I have read some of the debates on this site on the correct color for ratlines and have concluded that neither black nor tan are probably correct. So I took the tan Bluejackets line and used walnut Minwax wood stain to color it by running the line through a rag with a few drops of the stain applied. I seems to make a color between the Syren Dark brown and Light brown although that is not obvious in the picture. For consistency sake I colored enough line in one session to do all three masts. Next build I will have to repeat this or find another solution.
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I decided to check the rake of the Fore Mast before I tension the fore stays, although with the topmast backstays, spring stay and Main Topmast forestay yet to be fitted there will be other albeit limited opportunity to adjust the rake, at least of the topmast. I turned the model 90 degrees and lined the laser up on the mast. I appears that the lower mast does indeed rake back a bit as the laser light lines up with the topmast, which is forward of the lower mast. This is probably more than the one degree specified in the instructions but means there is room for the tensioning of the fore stays to move the mast forward without raking the mast forward. I plan to tension at least the fore stay tomorrow so we will see how it looks after that. On another front I found the running lights that are part of the Britannia metal package that came with the kit. However, the instructions and provided pictures of the prototype model and plans are silent on where they should be placed. On previous kits (Bluenose for instance) the running lights were placed in the ratlines of the Fore Mast. However on the Gorham the Fore mast ratlines would be almost completely blocked by the running lights if they were placed there. I can imagine the crew not being enthusiastic about climbing up the mast and having to work around the running lights - not to mention having to climb up every night to light them. So I decided to put them on the cabin roof top at the aft end so they would be visible without being obstructed by the deadeye/lanyard assemblies. Here is the deck house with the lights installed.
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Second attempt on the stbd Fore Mast was more satisfactory. I replaced the aft two shrouds and deadeyes but have yet to cut out the existing set. Hopefully that will not "upset the apple cart here". Here is the stbd side now. The clamp is holding the anchor tackle while the glue sets it to the cleat. Anyway to reassure myself that the mast remains vertical I reran the laser check and everything looks good in that regard.
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Well, the starboard side would be a "wave-off" as the #3 deadeye is significantly lower than the other three. Luckily this is the top pair of shrouds on the mast and thus the easiest to replace. I think I will forego the serving of the top couple of inches on this set as I view it as an "emergency" repair. When I looked at my template I can see where the #3 deadeye got mounted somewhat lower than the others (how exactly this happens is a mystery but I suspect something like inattention to detail may have played a role. I did not have any of the .025 Syren dark brown line that was all ready out of its shipping envelope so I set up the replacement shroud pair and put some weights on the end to get the "kinks" that happen during packing out before proceeding to fit two new deadeyes and remove the offending pair.
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First task today was the rig the lanyards on the port deadeyes to see how well the deadeyes are aligned. Here they are - the lanyards are not secured (that rats nests of line forward of the channel are the ends of the lanyards). Probably could use to have the second one back a tad lower but overall I think this is an OK 3 wire (acceptable landing on aircraft carrier). On to the starboard side and then the fore stays.
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Stbd side Fore Mast lower shrouds have been made up to their deadeyes. I have not added the two additional seizing yet as I just put the white glue on the bottom seizing but all appears to be going as planned. I have some touch up to do and to paint the pin heads to match the chain plates. I added the topmast backstay on this side (will add the port side on shortly) but the stay is just sitting over the topmast (not secured) as the futtock shrouds are supposed to go there first (not that it would be easy to notice, but...) I also threaded the four stays that go to the bowsprit and jib boom to the respective belay points (mostly to keep them out of the way). I have a few odds and ends (bail for the top mast for instance) to clean up and then will install the topmast "for real" and rig the deadeye lanyards before getting serious about the fore stays.
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Fore Mast is in place and aligned. At least laterally (side to side) BEFORE I rig the deadeye lanyards. Hopefully it will still be that was with the lanyards rigged. Here is my rig for getting the mast vertical. I use a Bosch GLL 50 laser level which has a self-leveling feature that will give "true" vertical and horizontal lines as long as the unit itself is with 3 degrees (I think that is what the manual said) of being level. I use my iPhone with a level app to make sure the hull is level - the big steel angle on the left side of the baseboard is keeping that side of the baseboard/model pinned to the table as the baseboard appears to be a bit "off'. I got the chain plates installed on both sides and on the port side I got the deadeyes on the lower shrouds. To get them straight and aligned with the lower deadeyes (which follow the hull not the waterline) I used a scrap piece if 1/16" X 3" basswood to make a template. I drew a line across the top of the lower deadeyes with the template pinned to the lower deadeyes then replicated that line the correct distance up the template piece. T Then I ran the shroud lines, one by one to the lower deadeye and marked on the upper line where the shrouds crossed. Then I took the template off the model and pinned (in two places to maintain the correct orientation) the upper deadeyes and returned the template/deadeyes to the model being careful to get it in the same location as when the lines were taken. Then it is "simply" a matter of putting the CORRECT shroud on the correct deadeye and using your favorite method to secure the deadeye to the shroud. Here is what mine looked like with the shrouds attached to the deadeyes. I did a visual check (no laser) to see that I had not pulled the mast to the port side then used white glue (full strength) to secure the shrouds around the deadeyes. After a suitable period I added the two additional seizings that are shown in the "not to scale" drawing of the deadeye/shroud details on sheet 2. Here is what the port side of the Fore Mast lower shrouds look like. Of course this proves nothing about how well aligned the upper deadeyes will be once the lanyards are rigged but if they are not aligned here getting them aligned using the lanyards can lead to 'unexpected consequences" which I would rather avoid.
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Somewhere along the way I failed to notice that the mast backstays use smaller deadeyes than the lower shrouds. Somehow I missed that, although somewhat in my defense it is not obvious from the drawings. I should have suspected that since this is not "my first rodeo". In any event I made up six new chain plates with 1/8" deadeyes instead of 7/32". Here they are before the holes were drilled and painting. After those were completed, I spent the day cleaning up odds and ends on the Fore Mast in preparation for getting it aboard tomorrow after I get the name and hail port decals on the transom. I have much of the standing rigging "ready to go" on both the Fore Mast and its topmast. I rigged the Flying Jibstay to the jib boom as it is the last thing to go atop the Fore topmast - upper shrouds and backstays have to go on first. I did rig the Topmast Forestay onto the top mast along with the Spring Stay. First order of business for the Fore Mast is to get it on straight and with the required 1 degree of rake. By my calculation at the top of the topmast a 1 degree rake would move the top of the top mast aft about two feet (1.96 to be exact) which would be 1/4" on the model. Likewise the Main and Mizzen would be 1/2" and 3/4" aft of the vertical. Hopefully my laser level will do yoeman's service in getting the masts aboard and aligned properly - we shall see. Here are the Fore Mast and Topmast awaiting installation.
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I believe that I have completed all the "to do" list items required before starting with the masts. Recently I installed the single and double blocks for the head sail sheet lines and the peak and throat halyard tackles and the quarter bitts on the quarterdeck. I also applied 50/50 glue/water to the anchor tackles with weights on the anchors an d let them dry overnight. I think the anchor tackle looks better now. I may leave the anchors hanging as there is no drawing to show how they were stowed and I think they add something just hanging - as if waiting to be let go. Here is what the topside looks like at this point. I took another look at centerboard tackle and as best I can tell from the pictures available it seems that the block on the main mast must have a becket for the standing end of the tackle. I had not planned on this before so had to replace the 1/8" single block on the main mast cross trees with one with a becket and the line for the tackle. On to masts and my favorite part - shrouds and ratlines - NOT!
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I decided to go ahead and rig the anchor tackles before getting the rest of the blocks installed on the deck. Since there is no drawing of how the anchors are rigged I made some assumptions and added an eyebolt on the aft side of each cathead to serve and the belay point for the standing end. After added that as the starting point for the tackle it is pretty straight forward. I have the cleats that go on the catheads in the paint shop. I used 5mm wooden cleats from Syren with a hole drilled in the center for a .020" phosphor bronze wire to help keep it on the cathead - not that there is much stress on it. So here are the two anchor tackles (.008" Syren tan line)
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Thanks Nic. FYI - I ordered the case yesterday.
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Hey Vic - After looking at the picture I am trying to figure out what position the centerboard is in as supplied in the model kit. The drawing (Sheet 3 Inboard elevation) shows the eye for the centerboard well above the main rail while the picture of the model you supplied shows the eye just above the deck. Not criticizing your display model but "inquiring minds want to know".
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I am continuing to add details and items previously built to the hull. I also redid the out Bobstay to get the gap between the deadeyes on both to be approximately the same. The lashings are still, not glued - just in case. I also added the anchor on the port side but not yet the cathead tackle. I am going to add that after the masts are up. As a note I managed to mess up the other anchor by gluing the cross bar on upside down (an error I also made on my Niagara). So I found a similar sized but not exact replacement. I should get it mounted today. I also got the main rails, main hatch, stairs and the sheet travelers with the attached blocks. I found that my versions of the forward hatch and deck house was too large by about 5mm. I think each was just a bit larger than the plans so there was essentially not room between the hatch, deck house and sheet traveler. Given the choice I (of course) am rebuilding the forward hatch to rectify the situation. Here are some shots of the deck as it stands now.
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Having successfully (IMHO) installed the jib boom, spreader and dolphin striker on started working on the bowsprit and jib boom rigging. The bobstays were "interesting" to work on. I had to clamp the baseboard (and thus model) at about 45 degree angle to get access to install and rig the deadeyes. I got the outer chain a bit longer than the inner and may have to fix that but will consider that at a later date. I rigged the lanyards using Syren light brown line. They are n ot glued up as yet, just tired off loosely in case there need to be adjustments later. I got the jib boom lower guys attached and routed through the dolphin striker and eyebolts but have them tensioned by a clamp at the end of the lines not yet secured. I also mounted the four head sail downhaul blocks and ran the downhauls through the fairlead and through the blocks. FYI the fore staysail downhaul does not go through the fairlead since the forestay terminates on top of the fairlead as best I can tell from the drawing and thus the downhaul block is behind the fairlead - at least that is how it turned out on my version of the Fannie. I also broke out the stairs which I fabed what seems like months ago and dry fit them on the deck. I will glue these down when I add the hatches which will be after I get the jib boom guys that terminate on the cat heads in place and routed.
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More details on the bow. I added the trail boards and the bow portion on the mail rail. Given the state of things at this point I decided to go ahead and belay the four head sail downhauls to the pins and lead them through the fairlead now. The will never be a time when there is less "stuff" in the way so as long as I keep the lines out of the way this should save some frustration later.
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Adding more details to the fore deck. Anchor rode is now wrapped around the windlass, secured to the port to the cable tier and a protective guide is on the deck behind the exit port. Added the eyebolts for the Jib Boom guys and the jib stay.
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Picking up speed now. Got the gammoning on the bowsprit. Mounted the windlass, drilled out the hawse holes and installed the guides to take the anchor rode below. I am still a little mystified where the windlass operators would stand but this is pretty to the configuration shown in the plans. I also got the six cavils in stalled and the forward section of the main rail (and Buffalo rail and fairlead. FYI - the camera angle makes the misalignment oi the bow components look worse than it really is.
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Stbd side is done and the masking tape removed. Similar to the port side there are small issues at the very bow and stern. Looking for my "really small" paint brushes. Here is the hull now mounted on the substitute display board. Working the bowsprit, Sampson post and windlass. Given the configuration up front it is hard to imagine two people standing up there and actually operating the windlass. But sailors have always been pretty amazing.
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I got the port side painted above and below the waterline and pulled the masking tape off. Except at the very front and one spot where the waterline moves under the counter it came through sharp with no leaks. The "trick" from the NRG article was to paint the waterline both before and after applying the masking tape. That is, mark the waterline location and then paint on the line and either side enough to extend beyond the waterline width of this the color of the waterline (white in my case). Then apply the masking tape once the paint is dry - be sure it is dry to avoid the tape pulling up the paint. Once the tape is applied and burnished down paint the edges with the same color as the waterline. This way if any paints seeps under it is the same color. If you are spraying then mask off from the waterline tape whatever part you are not spraying and then repeat for the other part. I choose to brush paint this one - I have switched to enamel paint and have not tried that in my air brush yet and getting masks (really required with enamel paints, not so much with acrylics IMHO) to experiment with is well neigh impossible at the moment. So here is the port side and a close ups of the two areas where there was some leakage (after I made an initial attempt to touch them up).
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Getting the hull painted. I am trying a technique that was featured in the latest issue of the NRG pub for getting a waterline strip with only one application of masking tape. It will be a few more days before I see how that worked as I am waiting for the paint to dry overnight before adding the second coat. So it takes eight days to paint the top and bottom of both sides. Here is where we are at the moment - port side done top and bottom and starboard bottom done. While the paint dries I have been finishing the display board. Here it is after three coats of Wipe-on-Poly gloss. I used the Wipe-on-poly satin that I used on the deck for the cherry main rails. Here there are after two coats along with the bow section which now includes the forward pin rail. Once the hull is painted I will mount it on a "stand in" baseboard, install the main rail and then look to install the lower masts and bow sprit.
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Here is the forward main rail, Buffalo rail and fairlead dry fit on the hull. Flat varnish finish next.
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I used a molding "cutter" (from Artesania Latina) to create the fairlead piece at the bow. According to the sketch in the instructions this is a rounded "I Beam" shape. The dimensions of the Buffalo rail and this fairlead are somewhat in question as the are only shown on the full drawings (no details) which makes making errors of 1/16" not that hard to make. So I sort of just picked some dimensions based on what wood was in the kit. I cut the Buffalo rail some some 3/32" cherry that I had and took a piece of cherry down to 3mm to fit the cutter. Here is the cutter held in the wood vise with an end view of the piece that it produced. I had created the forward portion of the main rail and here are the Buffalo rail and fairlead being glued to that piece. I am going to varnish (flat) all these pieces prior to installation.
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I decided to fashion the main rails before painting the hull as this will require the hull to be handled a good deal. I decided to fashion the main rail from cherry to match the deck material (plus I like to look of cherry). I used a 1/16" X 3" piece of cherry from Northeastern Scale Lumber which is enough to do both rails behind the cat heads. First I cut it into two 1 1/2" wide strips and marked the outer profile on the stbd side. Note to self - do this before adding the channels next time as getting a good line to follow where the channels were was not easy - I ended put having to fake it which was not too much of an issue for the main and mizzen channels which are very close to straight, but the fore took more time and repeated sessions of "sand and fit". With the outer profile complete I used a compass to mark the inner edge (8mm) after some careful measuring of the actual width of the hull/planking/bulwarks on the model. Here is the stbd side with both sides cut and fitted to the hull. The holes are where I used wire pins to make sure I got the rail back in the same spot after each "sand and fit" session. As it turns out the port side was an almost perfect copy of the stbd side which saved considerably of the sanding and fitting. Here is the stbd side before cutting the inside profile.
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Working to get the pinrails installed before moving on to painting the hull. I sanded some 1/16 thick basswood to 3/64s as I am leery of using 1/32 stock for the pinrails. With holes ~5mm apart I think this would weaken the material sufficiently to run the risk of splitting the pinrail if a significant strain was put on one of the belaying pins. I also added two or three wire (.018") pins to help attach the rail to the bulwarks. Here re the port side pinrails in place and the stbd side being fitted.
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