mobbsie

Hi Jim, Just checking her out mate and she's looking absolutely great, what a lovely looking boat. Super detail and great colour's. mobbsie

It's a steep learning curve Popeye and you are obviously a quick learner, she's looking great mate, great bit of rigging. mobbsie

Good to have you back, welcome home. mobbsie

Hi Guys, Just a quick update on the weekend. Grant arrived at Chatham rail station dead on time ( good old BR ) and we hooked with no probs, it was at the car that I told him there were two others who would like to meet him, you should have seen his face, it was a mix of delight to see Anja and abject fear on seeing Sjors . It was one of those wonderfull moments. The day at Chatham was great, Dave, our guide went out of his to assist us and he showed us everything we wanted to see and more, even a model from 450 odd years BC. On returning home it was of course catch up time on MSW and a very warm and friendly evening was enjoyed by all, turned in about 10:30 cos none of us are spring chickens any more and we had a fairly early start on Sunday, Grant slept in . Time at Portsmouth was limited due to Grants schedule but the Mary Rose Exibition, Victory, Victory Museum and the Warrior were all visited, lunch was somewhere in there as well. We dropped Grant of in Southampton at 15:30 so that he could pick up his hire car and said a very sad farewell. Anja, Sjors and myself got home at 19:00 and got stuck into a Chinese take away and enjoyed a relaxing evening. My house is empty now and all the sadder for it, I dropped A & S off at the dock and a further sad farewell ensued. So Sjors now has his aggy so look out, it's gonna happen. I would like to openly thank Grant, Anja and Sjors for bringing life and laughter into my home and for a truly great weekend, THANKS GUYS. First meeting at Chatham Sjors carrying his Aggy and Anja is glad this the last pic mobbsie

I'd like to see that Popeye, lovely little aircraft the Spitfire, when you get her up mate just make sure it's not her last flight. Good Luck. Now nautical things, I see no progress to date, Sjors is not just frustrated he's spittin feathers, no pics you see, suffering withdrawals, sulking, bad tempered, :angry: You know what you have to do. mobbsie

Hello Pierre, You are absolutely right, the bit should be longer than it actually is, I have just measured mine and like you I am also short. My bit comes in at 52mm, I will do more damage than enough if I try to change it now seeing as it's glued and pinned so it will be staying as it is. Thanks for pointing it out though, it will be very useful to Sjors when he starts his build. Do you still have your stern open, if so could you modify your stern gun ports to take a couple of guns, either carronades or 9 pdrs, just a thought, may answer a question for you. I do find it frustrating when the manufacturer states extensive research has been done and a little thing like carronades crops up, makes you wonder where they get the information from. Will you change her from a 64 to a 72 I ask myself, could be the only 72 Aggy in existence. mobbsie

Well done John, she's looking absolutely lovely. I think with a little lady like this pedestals would be right, you have to present all of her to her best advantage and I don't think a stand would do that. Your choice mate and I'm sure it will be the right one for you. Looking forward to the launch mate. mobbsie

Hi George, You've made some great progress there mate and she's looking absolutely fabulous, well done on rigging the guns, it can be tricky and fiddly but I rig most of mine before putting on the ship. One word of advice, put the cavel cleats ( part 182 ) on before you place the top deck on, the manual calls for the top deck to be placed along with the 5 boat beams, this does make it difficult to place the cleats, I also placed a small block behind the cleat so that it lifted it away from the bulwark. Hope you don't mind me putting that in. keep it up mate and keep those pics coming in, we have to keep " he who cannot be named " happy, he sulks otherwise. mobbsie

Augie, It would appear that your log is spinning out into yonder open spaces and is boldly going where no log has gone before, where have I heard that before. Good luck and " Bon Voyage " mobbsie

Hi Sjors, Nice ratlines mate, just keep going. Hope all works out at the hospital today and the company nurse, speak to you later on Skype. NOW STOP READING THIS AND DO THOSE RATLINES mobbsie

Hi Guys, Jim, " Bobs your uncle " it's just a saying which means basically " before you know where you are ", in the context I used it it would have read " just a hole didn't seem right so I innovated by using 4mm deadeyes to make sheaves, I sanded down the oval sides to flat and before you know where you are their done. Hope that helps mate and thanks for looking in and the good words. Patrick, the blades are made of double sided sandpaper, no cardboard at all. The paper grade is a wet and dry P400 AND P320, the ends and sides are P320 which is the more abrasive than the blades which is P400. It's basically held together with double sided sticky tape and the blades are fixed to the shaft by drawing pins, it really is a very simple thing to make, depends how elaborate you want it to be. Mine took me about 30 - 45 mins to make, this was the second one made that day, the first was made from a Tupperware storage box which worked for a while then melted. Thanks for the good words my friend. Augie, No tie's worn in this house anymore thankfully ( just the odd black one ) and all long sleeve shirts have the sleeves rolled up, the power output on that rope turning thingy is less than 1 candle power so you gotta be really unlucky to get injured with that, better put some guards on it, knowing my luck. , Thanks for posting your block sander, simplicity itself. Thanks for your very kind words buddy. Mark, The thing about using a deadeye is the 3 holes drilled in the centre, they can be filled or depending where they are to be used just left, and the main advantage is no tools to rig up. Thanks for the good words my friend. Andy, Thanks for the information on the rope server mate, I just made a few changes coz I'm basically lazy, just got to get used to using it without fouling up. :) Don't put yourself down regarding your skills mate, there are a lot of builders including myself who aspire to reach your standards, hopefully I'll get there one day, but not yet. Sjors, I bow to your greater knowledge my friend. Pierre, Jim, Thanks for the good words guys, they really does mean a whole lot. mobbsie

Hi Guys, Thank you one and all for the very kind words and encouragement, when you try something new it's great to have so many friends offering help and advice so thank you again. I have made a little progress on the Aggy, not a lot though, I've been scalded by " he who shall remain nameless " for not posting sooner so here goes. I have made a start on the gun port lids as you will see. Hull steps and fenders are on and painted, nothing to get excited about there, but I did pick up an idea, the manual states to drill 1.5 and 1.0mm holes for the Main Brace, Mainsail Sheet, Foresail Sheet, Spritsail Yard Sheet and Mainsail Tack, just a hole didn't seem right so I innovated by using 4mm deadeyes to make sheaves, I sanded down the oval sides to flat and bob's your uncle - done. I do have some picks of those. Also I made a rope server using styrene sheet, dowel, a servo which was altered, some gears, brass tube and some washers and a battery box for 4 x 1.5 volt batteries. It does take some getting used to because of the motor, although not fast it's fast enough if you cock up, first time I used it to practice I made a right mess but it does work, some pics to follow. Secondly, I made a block tumbler, I used the Admirals garden string tin, some sand paper ( don't know the grit ), dowel and some drawing pins. It's going to fall apart on me but it has done the job for two ship's so plenty of time to make a proper one, and yes I did say two ships. I also done the second Aggy for you know who, again some pics to follow. Enough words, now Sjors favourite, Pics The first of what seems many gun port lids Steps and fenders on the Starboard side The first of the sheaves, this is for the Main Brace This one is for the Mainsail Sheet On the left is the Foresail Sheet, right, Spritsail Yard Sheet with the Mainsail Tack ahead of that. One botched serving machine Battery box and servo Some very simple gears, if I'm doing it they need to be simple One string tin, ( with permission I might add) Lids off now Simple shaft Results on some of the blocks treated It's a very simple structure and took me about 45 mins to construct but it has reasonable results. So there we are, I do have some guys to thank for the ideas, Andy and Augie, thank you gentlemen. Sjors I do hope these meet your very exacting standards my friend. mobbsie

Augie, you toad, there's me patiently waiting for the 1st Sept and I find you have already started. Good job I reserved my seat. Brilliant method for the rabbit, takes a lot of the risks away from making mistakes and it's going to give a nice neat finish. Just one question mate, do you have to adjust the stem at all account for the additional strips. ? mobbsie

Hi Kevin, A very Happy Birthday to my friend, Here's hoping that day brings all you desire. Congrat's on the weight loss mate, that's fantastic and must make you feel real good. I'm just coming up to the point where I have to do my own gun port lids so I'm following your example very closely. mobbsie

A very Happy Birthday Popeye. Goths looking good my friend, time to start thinking on laying the keel for the your next one. mobbsie

You have gotta be kidding me Sjors, I'm having enough trouble with making my rope server and you want me to make you some blocks. Now you make my temperature go up. All I can say is that if you send me the blocks you want treating I will send you back some sawdust, not on my radar just yet. We can discuss terms when you come and pick your Aggy up. It's a simple system Augie and it does make the stock block better, have you played with the timings at all or did you just take an educated guise and would you change the timing. :mellow: Looking forward to the 1st September, gonna be watching mobbsie

I can only reiterate what has already been said Aldo, your doing a fantastic job my friend. Always an inspiration, I look forward to further progress of this high standard. mobbsie

Mind if I join you Andy, it's possible we may get popcorn thrown at us by you know who, a price worth paying. mobbsie

Augie, Augie, Augie, what a fantastic end result mate, you did say the fit would be tight and boy you weren't wrong, snug as a bug in a rug. You are to be congratulated on a first class build and you have earned the right to be very proud. :dancetl6: I don't think there's any doubt that you will make a first class job of the "Confed" and I for one will look forward to joining the many who will want to watch. mobbsie

Pierre, The stern chasers were just glued on mate, I didn't want to go cutting into the transom at this stage of the build, Thanks for the good word. Augie, Thanks for the advice mate on the method for the catheads, The paper towel tears off much better in a downwards direction, after extensive trials and having tried several positions for it ie free standing, on it's end and with the leaf tearing upwards, nothing beats a downwards tear. Jim, thanks for the good word mate. Grant, Thanks mate for the advice, with both you and Augie how could I not follow the advice of the masters. mobbsie

Hi Guys, Thanks John, that's a method I will be practicing at some time in the future, it sounds good to me. As promised some pics of my efforts on the catheads and the completed stern. Still to be rubbed down with a fine paper mobbsie

Fantastic blocks Grant, as you rightly say " export quality ". See you soon mate. mobbsie

Lovely work there Ray, there's a lot of work gone into that deck mate, very well done. mobbsie

You are such a romantic Sjors. Love the skylight Popeye and the rigging is coming along nicely, I love to see them starting to get dressed. mobbsie

I knew it. mobbsie