jim_smits

And here are some slightly better quality pics
 
Also a pic of the new stand.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, there we go. I have still to get the proper camera out and take some proper pictures, but she's finished, and the crew have come onboard ready to set sail.
 
Here are some mobile phone shots
 

 

 

 

 
 
I'm going to miss building this kit. It's been a great experience (especially since it was my first wooden kit build!) Thanks to all who have liked and encouraged along the way!
 
Now... I really ought to get some sleep
 
Happy building all!
 
Rob

Cheers Jim and the likes, and thanks Mort - unfortunately I'm way beyond that decision but something to think about for the future...
 
Rigging seems to be a little bit of a neglected area on this site, so wanted to post few pics of progress, for things specific to this kit where may be of help to others and also to hopefully capture where I've deviated from the plans.  Petersson has been INVALUABLE!
 
As a side note, I also nearly had a heart attack when I brought Snake outside for a few photos - I normally work in artificial light in my basement, and the natural light made all sorts of sorts of previously unseen 'fuzzies' VERY apparent.  I vow never to use kit supplied line again, but am committed to making it work here for consistency.  Will probably try brushing on some dilute PVA to try to tame them at some point.
 
I've found the following 3 scenarios to be common:
Plans are not clear - in these cases I've tried to follow Petersson Plans are clear enough and are somewhat consistent with Petersson - in these cases I've followed the plans but tweaked in some cases where it seems to make more sense Plans are clear enough, but differ from Petersson - in these cases I've followed the plans, unless Petersson seems more logical/elegant.  
Foreyard and Fore Topmast
 
Fore yard prior to installation.  Jeers and slings also pre-rigged


 
Foremast installed.  I used thicker line on the jeers (.75mm) as this seemed more in keeping with pictures I've found and attached round the yard following Petersson.   As expected, I found lashing the slings rather challenging.


I found the trusses could be made following plans and Petersson, but was the devil trying to get in place with all pendants and catharpins.  Truss in place (sorry picture is little blurry), I did not even attempt to put in the knave line!

 
Fore-topmast in place.  Found the parrals very fiddly to do, but they can be done according to Petersson.  I gave the parral beads a couple of goes in the drum sander to take off the shine and it gave a very pleasing result.

The fore-topsail yard tie and lifts were taken around the fore-topmast with an eye splice as per Petersson.


Belaying items for the foremast is rather challenging on Snake as the for'd bits are very close to the platform and leaves very little room for maneuver.  I also didn't make this any easier by belaying the hawsers around the bits either.

 
And finally, where things stand currently...I added flemish horses to the fore-topsail which are not identified in the Snake plans, but seem pretty ubiquitous and covered in Lever.

Hi Jason,
 
Best of luck with your rigging.
 
I really ought to post some updates to my build but I am rigging from stern to bow currently. This may or may not be a good idea but I will find out in due course. The main thing I have learnt in this process is all of the extra blocks that need to be rigged to the masts that are not shown on the mast plans, Consequently I am having to add them in situ and this is not too easy.
 
I've got the mizzen 95% rigged with boom and gaff and have now added the main yard with the jeers and slings. Not encountered any major problems with the order I am proceeding but as pointed out by Mike, planning my belaying order would help matters....

Hi Jason, good idea to start planning all this in advance.  I throw these thoughts out there with the caveat that I only have one build under my belt, and my Badger had much simpler rigging given its size and only two masts.  
 
Like Joe, I would strongly recommend leaving the spiritsail for as late in the build as possible.  I can't tell you how many times I clipped it, which popped off rigging on the bowsprit and even the fore mast.  I felt like I was spending literally 30% of my time redoing my previous work to fix all these accidents.
 
In terms of the masts, I went fore to aft.  Given my problems with the bowsprit, I'm going to think about whether it makes sense to start from the stern and work my way forward - even leaving the bowsprit off for as long as possible.  Someone else had suggested that to me, and I think that person said that zu Mondfeld suggested that approach.  I don't know if that included doing both the standing and running rigging together (i.e., start with the mizzen and run all the rigging, then move to the main mast and do all the rigging, etc.), but obviously you're past that decision point now.  
 
A few more suggestions.  When it comes to belaying points, it might be helpful to fix lines starting at the center of the model and work your way outwards.  Also, if possible, consider not fixing the standing backstays until towards the end of the rigging.  I don't know how I would have gotten to the center belaying points if the standing backstays were fixed earlier on (the Badger instructions called for installing all the standing rigging, then do all the running rigging).  Along those lines, if you are going to add small boats, I went ahead and installed them before starting much of the rigging.  The Badger instructions called for them to be installed as the very last item on the build, but I have no clue how anyone could add them once all the rigging was on.
 
I'm sure you'll do great whatever you decide.  Just watch the elbows!

Ships boats 2
The next boat to be built was the 24ft cutter, which was built the same as the 18ft one again it was a mini build and again towards the end I have started the next boat. I am also very pleased how the boat has turned out and looks nice with the blue painted band, and quite workman like with added oars,anchors,ropes,boat hooks,and barrels.
Frames and  keel clamped

1st plank

1st planking and filler 

2nd planking


planking done and false keel added

inside hull prepared

deck & grating

inside painted

inside fitted out

wash strake & rowlocks

painting

tiller

Completed cutter





Both 18ft and 24ft cutters


 
 
 
 
 
 

Ships boats
I decided the next job was to build the four ships' boats,I started with the smallest one, the 18ft cutter, this was to be my first real build of a ships boat, as the ships boats on Pegasus were hulls I fitted out. Again the kit drawings are a bit basic, so using the boat kit as a starting point, I built the boats adding detail from The Anatomy of ship Diana s  drawings, off the ships boats and will hopefully, using the experience gained on the first one built, be able to build, the others even more closely to the books boats. ( below is a photo of the the kit plan for the 24ft cutter and the plan from the book)
The cutter hull build went OK double planked with some 4mm x .5mm timber I already had, I made sure to overlap the joints of the first planking with the second planking to add strength (after a little bit of filler to the the first planking), the frame tabs were then broken off and the hull sanded inside and out with only a tiny amount of filling required, I then planked the bottom inside, the A O S Diana shows fore and aft gratings, so some wooded packs, and a plastic moulded one were ordered, they were both way too thick, so I cut the shape for the aft one from the plastic grating, and then reduced its thickness, and it looks fairly good,next the internal frames were added using plastic strip and painted yellow ochre, and the the seats added, the wash strake next, again from plastic, and the row-locks were then filed out. The tiller was again made from plastic sheet with the hinges added and lastly the tiller arm, the outer hull was then painted, on the 18ft cutter a green band waqs painted, and the rest of the hull satin white. Lastly the anchor, boat hooks, ropes and oars were added for effect, overall I am pleased with this cutter and hope to improve my small boat building on the other three, and I have made a start on the next boat whilst waiting for coats of paint to dry on this one.
Kit plan and the plan in A N O S Diana ( these are the 22ft cutter)


first planking

2nd planking

keel added

grating

wash strake thwarts & grating


Painting


tiller

Completed no fittings


Completed cutter fitted out




 
 
 
 
 

JesseLee, Mobbsie,Carl, and the likes - thanks for all the positive comments
 
Continuing with the main yard:
 
After adding a few of the requisite blocks, it was finally time to figure out how to tackle the stirrups and horses.  The instructions indicate using wire, but I wanted something a little more realistic so tried making with 0.5mm line.
 
Made the usual false splice into a length of line using an offcut of .75mm wire to get eye of appropriate size.
 

 
These were then lashed around the yard in the appropriate places and diluted PVA applied to add some stiffness and secure in place.  A length of wire was used to try to keep the eyes aligned and clamps provided a small amount of tension while glue dried.  Instructions indicate the eye should be 15mm below the yard, I reduced this to 13mm as Ifelt it looked a little more to scale, and also seemed to match up better with diagrams in the AOTS series.  I also decided to use 3 stirrups per side against the 2 indicated on the plans as the spacing looked too great to my eye.
 

 
Horses were then added with yet more false splices around the center of the yard and around the cleats.  The cleats were the smallest I could manage but seem to be what is required to keep to appropriate scale.  The cleats are installed 1/20th of the length of the yard from the end.  I had previously used paper to simulate the iron bands for the end boom iron.
 


 
Yard dryfitted.  Although the stirrups and horses will need a little bit of adjusting wjhen finally in position, I'm pretty happy with the result.  Now need to replicate on the remaining yards now the plan of attack has been determined.  Its amazing how congested things are getting, not sure how I'll manage to get the trusses on and the sling lashing when I get there, but thats a challenge for the future.
 

Gil, I couldn't resist but from the day of the baptizing of your Victory I have some pictures.
Everyone let me introduce the builder of this magnificent ship.
The following four pictures is from his ship and the detailing he put in to this.

Carl, Jonny, Nils, Mort and Jim and the 'likes', thanks for the "welcome back"...
 
Breaking up shaping the remaining yards with the first of what I suspect will be a lot of work on rigging the yards, the lower sling.
 
Previously estimated length of line was served, and then fed through itself to make a loop.  About 6mm was left to allow the end to be cut into a short taper.  GS Hypo glue was then placed on the end and rolled between my fingers.  The thin thread is the end of the serving line not yet trimmed)
 

 
Thread was then used to cover the unserved join, I used consecutive overhand knots, alternating sides.... 
 

 
Maybe a little bulky, but once trimmed its a reasonable approximation to a spliced, served loop.
 

 
Fitted to the main yard....
 

 
....and length checked to confirm it is of correct length.  Second time was a charm!
 

Welcome back to the Snake club Jason...!

And onto the second of my completed build posts!
 
The last part towards completion was the case. I've hinted that I was going to try something a little different and I'm immensely happy to say that I managed to complete the case without any mishaps. And here is the final result:
 

 
I ordered a wooden base and acrylic case from a supplier and also a sheet of blue acrylic. The sheet of blue acrylic was to simulate water level and I measured up the approx. dimensions of the ship at the water level and then deducted a few mm to be safe. I then cut out the approximate shape of the ship from the acrylic sheet. Then spent a long while iterating towards a good fit, using a dremel and then files, so that the ship rested in the acrylic sheet at the water line.
 
Once this was complete (and I polished out the scratches I accidently made), it was onto the main case. I need to drill four small holes to fit 10mm lengths of 3mm diameter acrylic rod through each hole to act as a rest for the waterline sheet. This was the most tense section as I could easily write off £80 worth of acrylic case. Stacked a load of old paperbacks and a piece of wood to brace the acrylic against. Then VERY carefully drilled a 1mm pilot hole by hand. Using the pilot hole I then used the dremel at its lowest setting to drill 2mm and then 3mm.
 
Everything worked out well and I'm very pleased with the final result.
 

 

 

 
Thank you to everyone who has followed the log and provided encouragement and support. Now I really must get back to my Snake build.....!!

And onto the second of my completed build posts!
 
The last part towards completion was the case. I've hinted that I was going to try something a little different and I'm immensely happy to say that I managed to complete the case without any mishaps. And here is the final result:
 

 
I ordered a wooden base and acrylic case from a supplier and also a sheet of blue acrylic. The sheet of blue acrylic was to simulate water level and I measured up the approx. dimensions of the ship at the water level and then deducted a few mm to be safe. I then cut out the approximate shape of the ship from the acrylic sheet. Then spent a long while iterating towards a good fit, using a dremel and then files, so that the ship rested in the acrylic sheet at the water line.
 
Once this was complete (and I polished out the scratches I accidently made), it was onto the main case. I need to drill four small holes to fit 10mm lengths of 3mm diameter acrylic rod through each hole to act as a rest for the waterline sheet. This was the most tense section as I could easily write off £80 worth of acrylic case. Stacked a load of old paperbacks and a piece of wood to brace the acrylic against. Then VERY carefully drilled a 1mm pilot hole by hand. Using the pilot hole I then used the dremel at its lowest setting to drill 2mm and then 3mm.
 
Everything worked out well and I'm very pleased with the final result.
 

 

 

 
Thank you to everyone who has followed the log and provided encouragement and support. Now I really must get back to my Snake build.....!!

RIGGING
IS
COMPLETE!
 
Finished today as I became an old guy, 50th birthday...
 
Really coming down the home stretch now. Only the swivel guns and anchors remain, and a few odds and ends here and there. I'm likely going to do some flags as well. 
 
 

Gaff & Booms
Time to add the Spanker boom and the Gaff boom,again the supplied rigging drawings are sketchy and difficult to follow,so I decided to rig the booms as per L Petersons R P S M which is my rigging bible I highly recommend this book which can be  purchased for around £25.The booms are now both rigged and the last of the braces which rig into the booms have also been added. One thing that will to be attended to is re-tensioning some of the rigging, but I will do this when the rigging is completed,the only rigging remaining are the tac sheets,and then just the dummy rope coils and a few odds and ends.
Next job ships boats or the stand.





Diana as she is now starting to look the real deal



 

Been working on and off for most of the week but nothing really exciting to report.
 
Another lesson learned about looking at all the plans in advance. Started studying the running rigging plans and the second sheet has a series of blocks stropped to the masts for use with the spars. I have now installed all these extra blocks but been a pain in the butt with all the standing rigging in the way. Would have been nice if caldercraft included these blocks in the mast plans.
 
In addition to this the rigging plan for the boom includes a double block stropped to an eyebolt in the deck near the bulwark. Again, a touch irritating to install with the standing rigging in place.
 
Question for knowledgeable people:
 
What is the best order to rig? Boom and gaff first then the spars or vice versa? I don't want to create issues for myself further down the line.

Been working on and off for most of the week but nothing really exciting to report.
 
Another lesson learned about looking at all the plans in advance. Started studying the running rigging plans and the second sheet has a series of blocks stropped to the masts for use with the spars. I have now installed all these extra blocks but been a pain in the butt with all the standing rigging in the way. Would have been nice if caldercraft included these blocks in the mast plans.
 
In addition to this the rigging plan for the boom includes a double block stropped to an eyebolt in the deck near the bulwark. Again, a touch irritating to install with the standing rigging in place.
 
Question for knowledgeable people:
 
What is the best order to rig? Boom and gaff first then the spars or vice versa? I don't want to create issues for myself further down the line.

Been working on and off for most of the week but nothing really exciting to report.
 
Another lesson learned about looking at all the plans in advance. Started studying the running rigging plans and the second sheet has a series of blocks stropped to the masts for use with the spars. I have now installed all these extra blocks but been a pain in the butt with all the standing rigging in the way. Would have been nice if caldercraft included these blocks in the mast plans.
 
In addition to this the rigging plan for the boom includes a double block stropped to an eyebolt in the deck near the bulwark. Again, a touch irritating to install with the standing rigging in place.
 
Question for knowledgeable people:
 
What is the best order to rig? Boom and gaff first then the spars or vice versa? I don't want to create issues for myself further down the line.

I found I struggled to keep the spars evenly shaped when using a david's plane so figured the best way would be turning. Turning by hand took forever and still introduced some errors, so found using the drill lathe pleasantly easy, if a little noisy......

Time for another update.
 
Spent the last week putting together the finishing touches to the main yard.
 
Simulated the footropes by creating stirrups from a lengths of brass wire and a false seizing using guttermann thread. Finally added the footropes themselves using thread.
 
Served a length of thread and seized the ends together to create a loop for the sling. Also seized two jeer blocks to the yard, in addition to all of the other various blocks.
 
Finally, added the stunsail booms and tied them in place to the yard.

I found I struggled to keep the spars evenly shaped when using a david's plane so figured the best way would be turning. Turning by hand took forever and still introduced some errors, so found using the drill lathe pleasantly easy, if a little noisy......

I shaped my spars totally by eye and hand, I never felt the need to use a lathe or drill for that purpose although I did for the actual masts to ensure that the caps fitted accurately. Shaping the spars I found so easy and not a difficult job at all and not taking an excessive amount of time. I used a simple rule to makrk the tapers. A felt pen dot on the precut lengths, the dot being the finished diameter required. I used no knifes just a fine file and abrasive papers from coarse to fine. The octagonal sections were laminated with 0.5 to 1mm basewood strips up fron filed squares in the spar the taking of the corners to form an octagan. It really was that simple.
 
Norman

Cheers carl.
 
Yes, used the lathe and dremel with a sanding barrel. Still haven't got round to fitting the check and bearings so I simply passed the end of the yard through the end plate. I had deliberately cut a few cm extra on each side to allow this. Seemed to work ok.

Time for another update.
 
Spent the last week putting together the finishing touches to the main yard.
 
Simulated the footropes by creating stirrups from a lengths of brass wire and a false seizing using guttermann thread. Finally added the footropes themselves using thread.
 
Served a length of thread and seized the ends together to create a loop for the sling. Also seized two jeer blocks to the yard, in addition to all of the other various blocks.
 
Finally, added the stunsail booms and tied them in place to the yard.

Time for another update.
 
Spent the last week putting together the finishing touches to the main yard.
 
Simulated the footropes by creating stirrups from a lengths of brass wire and a false seizing using guttermann thread. Finally added the footropes themselves using thread.
 
Served a length of thread and seized the ends together to create a loop for the sling. Also seized two jeer blocks to the yard, in addition to all of the other various blocks.
 
Finally, added the stunsail booms and tied them in place to the yard.