Sailcat

'Hauling up' the Royal Yards.


 
More and more lines get belayed.

 
Perspective angle.

 
The last Yard, being the Skysail, in place.


 
Close-up of Skysail Yard.

 
All Yards in place.

 
The production line to 'set up' the blocks for the next stage.

 
Sheets and Clew lines now appear.

Harvey, John & Popeye - Thanks for the kind words 
 
I'm still catching up at this point and I'm sad to say I have nothing 'new' to add yet as I'm still unable to sit for long enough to work on the Dame.  Frustrating, yes, but the coincidence in timing (slip a disc, the Great Crash occurs) makes me feel like some Greater Force is at work and I'm just getting caught in the undertow 
 
Here's some views of the Purchase for the Halliard.



 
A couple of reference photos, I think I used one of these on Facebook for a while ...


 
Attaching a 'single line' Halliard - I think is one of the Topgallant Yards.

 
A shot of the belaying point for the Purchase with rope coil in place.  I framed this to also give a nice view of the fife rail in the foreground.

 
The Cro'jack Halliard belayed - as mentioned before this is a single line Halliard.

 
A view of the Main Upper Tops'l Yard Halliard where it is belayed.

 
Here I was trying to mimic the angle of a photo of the real thing that I found on the Net.

Mark, John, Popeye and Geoffrey - Thanks for looking in and for the kind words
 
The return to the workbench (coming back) after an injury to the spine (having hurt my back) is a slow thing, I must observe.  There is not only the new aspects of how to sit, how to crouch and limiting the time I work in order to prevent a re-inujry, but there is also the overwhelming aspect of having to re-exercise the 'other' muscles of reflex, skill and the mind.  Still, things go well and I am pleased to be back (pun intended).
 
Having attached the rails the next step is to fill, sand and paint.  The putty I used here is the 'grey' grade Testors contour putty - fine enough for small work and it dries nice and hard. 



 
After the first sanding there are always little spots for the second fill and smoothing.



 
The comes the base coat of paint - in this case Testors 'rust'.  I am pleased with the initial result.



 
After the paint will come some 'unifying' wash coats and tiny touch ups here and there.  But for now here is a view of the current state. 

 
Coming Soon - More Rigging!

John - Thanks for that tidbit about the jib and staysail sheets.  I'd been wondering about them and in the back of my mind there was some commotion as I'd probably gotten this information previously (from you most likely) and forgotten it in the process.  Any rate, a few less details to worry about ..
 
And so we continue with rigging - this first shot is the uphaul and downhaul for the mizzen Topmast Staysail, with the 'thimbles' tied together and run down close to the mainmast.

 
Heres the Spanker gaff and boom with the outhauls led back in as if there were inhauls in place.


 
The uphaul and downhaul for the mizzen Topgallant Staysail rigged the same as the Topmast Staysail.

 
The Spencer gaff vangs in place.

 
The Spanker boom sheets in place - awaiting the 'rails' for the ends to tie off to.

 
The Spanker gaff vangs in place - also awaiting the rails to tie off to.

 
The mizzen mast spider band getting crowded.

 
And a couple of questions for perusal ... in the case of the Spanker boon there is a cleat which is utilized for tying off the inhaul and outhaul lines but I am unsure as to the method of stowing the extra line there.  This same question is on my mind for the extra line from the Spanker boom sheets and gaff vangs - as these are tied off to the rails how would the excess be stowed?
 
At this pace I hope to tie on the 'rails' on the rear stanchions over the weekend and maybe get started on the rigging lines for the Main staysails ... but I am also trying very hard to avoid stressing out my almost-but-not-quite healed back so I'll have to see how it goes

John & Danny - Thanks for your kind words  And ... yeah, there's a Lot more to do, lol.
 
But not as much as it would be if it were not for the fact that I am choosing to omit much of the rigging in favour of my own lack of experience and (secondly) the kit limitations.
 
Speaking of rigging ... here we go with the next steps.  At this point I am a bit at sea as the level of detailed information available in Underhill's tome is not as comprehensive for the Spanker and Spencer assemblies.  What information there is has given me enough to go forth ... albeit with a lack of specifics but what is one to do.  And given that, any and all technical inaccuracies henceforth are due to my inexperience.
 
Spanker boom and gaff in place.  Vang pendants and the lower sheet in place.

 
Spencer boom in place.  Vang pendants at the ready as well.

 
Block for the Spencer vangs in place - this wasn't easy but old reflexes can be restored given patience ... lots of patience, lol.

 
Underhill was not clear as to if these are Lifts or Spans ... regardless, he does mention they are made of steel cable and I happened to have some thin black nylon of a slightly smaller gauge than the upper stays so the scale is maintained.



 
Spencer boom lift or span - here I am guessing that it is made from rope as it is passed through a block and down to a fife rail to be belayed. 


 
And for the Spanker I think this would qualify as a lift - tied around the gaff, passed through a block to the spider band about the mizzenmast.  I considered affixing another ring bolt but I've been trying to leave bits of the kit origin visible here and there.

 
And the Sheets for the Spanker - I tied 'eyes' into the ends (like 'thimbles' I hope) and then used guesswork and intuitive thought to run them to where I think they'd go when the sails were removed.  So the 'upper' sheet runs through the sheave at the end of the gaff and back, the 'lower' sheet is attached at the 'thimbles' and the pair are tied loosely at the block.  This is probably wrong so I'm not going to finalize yet ...

 
If anyone knows if this is approximate to reality or if I have it wrong I'd appreciate being informed as I have been unable to find definitive information on this aspect.
 
Back to rigging for this landsman and it feels good ... and confusing

John, Anya, Michael, Danny, Popeye & Mark - Thanks for your kindness and support everyone.  The Issue hasn't been resolved yet but I have begun developing options and I have determined that there is a 'home' for the Dame in a worst case scenario that the original intended recipients cannot take her.  So, still some loose threads but not nearly as many, or as entangled, as I had first encountered.
 
Will - Popeye's suggestion is the best and simplest but if that fails then my suggestion would be to scratch build what you need.  If you go through the Dame's Build Log you will see that I have done that with the windlass pump and many of the stanchion posts ... along with too many other parts to remember.  The thought of scratch building might 'seem' intimidating but once you try and fail and try again and succeed it becomes clear that it's not so much 'talent' as practice that matters in such things.  And always keep in mind when you're scratch building that the point is Not to get it right the first time but simply to eventually get it right, or as Dory says in Finding Nemo, "Just keep swimming."
 
Well I'm back at it after yet another hiatus.  The stoppage was partially due to my realization that I kind of pushed myself to get started again (my back is still recovering, much better now but there are those minor issues which keep cropping up).  This impatience led to the snapping of the bowsprit and so I stepped back and let myself, and the Dame, heal and rest some more.  Then, once I felt ready to get back at 'er, Life threw me curve balls in the form of unseasonably hot weather, changes in the work I do at work in the heat, the opportunity to paint the interior of our place and so forth.  But today I got back to it in a small way, just a taste in order to dip my toes.  And speaking of 'so forth' I thought I'd start this photo posting off with an image of one of the distractions ...
 

For anyone interested the band is Rush and the song they are playing is Caravan.
 
And now here we have the repaired bowsprit - and I just noticed my photo has that weird 'bending' thing where it looks like the bowsprit is bent but rest assured that to the eye is looks straight.

 
Here I finally attach the upper 'rail' along the aft posts, or stanchions.  


 
And now I can finally 'tie off' the ensign halliards, vangs and sheets for the Spanker set up.  In order to prevent 'bowing' as I was using nylon line for the rail I stiffened the portions where the ties were going with dabs of 'super thin' CA.


 
And ending with a top down view, I was trying to show off the symmetry but I could not get the correct camera angle for that effect, so this image is slightly 'oblique' as they say.

 
Now onto the remaining fore and aft rigging and after that the braces ... the sense of impending completion is starting to make me grin randomly.  Back soon with more - I promise

Thanks for the kind words and I'm still having a 'geek-gasm' over how quickly the old reflexes and data set have dropped back into their places.  
 
I believe I mentioned before that this new arrangement makes 'on deck' rigging a lot easier in terms of angles, approach and access ... enough so that I can now proclaim, "The Fore And Aft Running Rigging Is Complete!!" (cue marching band, cheerleaders and confetti, lol)
 
But as with many things in life the completion of one stage leads to yet another, with the accompanying questions and pleas for advice - but that comes after the pictures
 
First of is the best shot I could get of the halliards and downhauls for the Fore Topmast Staysail and the Flying, Inner and Outer Jib sails.  The set isn't as 'perfect' as I would like but the geometry here has been determined by the size of the blocks I used, which were too large for scale.  I did manage to set them with almost no tension so the standing rigging still looks taut - that took some finicky finessing let me tell you, lol.
 

 
Here's where I admit that in my enthusiasm for progress I neglected to take as many photos as I usually do, but I did remember to take a few.  This one's of halliard tie off's with rope coils emplaced.  The rope coils I made for these were a bit smaller then the average as with the no-sails set up most of the halliard is run through almost to the bowsprit.
 

 
And finally the downhauls tied off and with thicker rope coils to reflect that there would be more line stowed here under these circumstances.  Somehow I don't think I put enough coiled line here to properly reflect the 'real' situation, but that can be corrected easily enough - these coils are easy to get at unlike many of the others behind the deadeyes and such.
 

 
With a great sigh of relief I can now let go of the anxiety of leaving the fore and aft rigging for so long.  This leaves one major final stage rigging adventure and that is the Braces and this is the final stage for me because I am not rigging for the stuns'ls.  But before that can happen there must first be an accounting of all the little details which I have left incomplete for various reasons.  One of these details is the placement of the bumkins which can now be fixed in place - I left them off until now on the advice of many who told me not to put them in place until I had to, sound advice which I'm glad I took.
 
As well are certain finishing touches which bring with them a foreshadowing of the completion.  Finally setting and tying off the boat davits will be accomplished soon and I'm planning to simply make more on my rope coils and attach them as seems appropriate - Question Number One; Is this correct or is there a different way that these lines are coiled?
 
The anchors which I scratchbuilt so long ago can now be linked to their chains and stowed, which leads to - Question Number Two; can anyone give me a link or photo which shows how this is done?  I know the basics but it's been so long since I thought about it that I do no want to depend on my flawed recall.
 
Life rings will be attached as well, I had considered omitting them but they add a nice touch to the look.  I never did attempt to print out the ships name small enough to label the life rings ... and I doubt I will at this point, lol.
 
Holy wow ... it feels weird to be talking about the completion after all this time ...

Thanks again for the kind words and support, everyone. It certainly helps ease the struggle of trying to remember, recall and reinvigorate while trying to get the old brain to play along, lol.
 
Something that occurred to me during this return process is that though I've been away from the build for months at a time, in the olden days of wind sail that span would be considered a medium duration at best.  Sometimes ships and crews wouldn't return for years and along with the uncertainty of if they would return at all family and friends would simply hope for the best, and this was the normal shape of things.  These kinds of thoughts kept my chin up during the hiatus, not knowing if I'd ever be able to return to the shipyard  is a downer to say the least.  And with that preamble out of the way ...
 
SHE'S BACK!
 

 

 
What is mercifully not easy to see in these photos is the accumulated fine dust and thin cobwebs - you can see the little brush I was using for cleaning up process.  That plus a modified 'foot' pump were enough to deal with the evidence of time sitting.  And the next pic is after the meticulous go-over was completed.
 

 
When last I left off the Vangs, Boom Sheets and Signal ensign had been attached, awaiting finishing touches.  Months later the loose ends have been clipped and rope coils have been placed for the boom sheets.
 

 

 
The Main Topmast Staysail halliard had been tied off but the downhaul was hanging loose.  Finally got around to tying that off.
 

 
Here the ends of the signal ensign and the starboard vang have been clipped and rope coils placed ... hard to see but this is the best my camera can do.
 

 
One of the things I discovered immediately upon the return to the threadwork was that it was easier for me to accomplish the tying off to the on-deck portions.  With that, and bolstered by enthusiasm and frantic energy, I set up, ran through and tied off the halliards and downhauls for the main topgallant and royal staysails.  Here are the halliards tied off at the spider band and rope coils in place.  It might look inaccurate because it is, yet another instance of doing the best I can with a kit rebuild.
 

 
Finally the downhauls tied off and rope coils in place, again hard to make out clearly and I probably could have left some details, like the rope coils, out and it wouldn't have been noticeable ... but I felt compelled.  That let's me know that I'm finding the groove once more
 

Thanks for all the kind words and thanks to Jim, Popeye and Sailor123 for your answers to my questions
 
Advancing forward now, dealing with the occasional bout of disbelief and trying not to get impatient had resulted in some more work, go figure, lol.  Here we go with a batch of progress photos.
 
After all this time I have finally tied off the lines for the boat davits, which had been hanging loose.  Here I applied the 'zero tension' strategy by dabbing diluted PVA into the blocks to lock the lines in such a way as to simulate tension.
 

 
I chose to simply hang the rope coils off the davit 'cleats' after perusing images on the Internet, it seemed like the common method.
 

 
Attaching the life rings onto the aft rails, just a dab of GS cement.
 

 
Bumkins (aka bumpkins aka boomkins) being affixed to the hull.  At first I had planned to modify these but instead I left them as is in order to represent the kit origins - something I have done here and there through the build.
 

 
Hanging the anchors ... here is where I was applying weight to the forward end and then soaking the line in diluted/tinted PVA to give the illusion of weight tension.
 

 
The result with the anchor canted more realistically.  The tint in the PVA is diluted black China ink, not a lot, to give the lines a dirty look when the glue dries.
 

 
A bow view shot of the anchors in place.
 

 
Attaching the 'chains' to the bumkins, some thin black nylon in this case.  This is the midships bumkin.
 

 
And here's the aft bumkin.
 

 
While I was attaching the blocks for the running rigging I consciously chose not to attach the blocks for the braces with the fear that I'd wind up getting confused and use the wrong ones.  Sage forethought as I would have made more mistakes ... but now comes the time to attach all the rest of the blocks for the braces.  A look at the mizzen mast with additional blocks in place.
 

 
Putting the blocks on the bumkins - this is the port aft bumkin.
 

 
And the port midships bumkin.
 

 
Here we go with the first brace, mizzen royal starboard, loosely in place.
 

 
Both mizzen royal braces in place with slight tension.
 

 
And a not too clear view of the mizzen royal braces tied off - additional detailing like rope coils yet to come.
 

 
So now there's just the rest of the braces to do ... just ...
 
This is the part that I never thought I'd get to in times past.  Getting here fills me with mild disbelief and moderate elation, but also there is the growing concern of what happens when I tie off the last line and glue down the last rope coil.  The question of who gets the Dame and where she will stay is still up in the air, thought I now have a place for her to reside temporarily while I figure this out.  However, such concerns I am putting aside until such time as they become the primary ones, right now I just have to concentrate of making sure I do the braces correctly.
 
Stay tuned for more ... but hopefully not a Lot more

Now to attach the handles to the Wheel.





 
Painting begins.  I tried to remember the process but all I can recall is that it's lots of thin coats of colour ...

I was surprised and hugely relieved that the first try worked out symmetrically.  I dreaded the whole 'spoke alignment' situation.

 
Back in the day as a budding 'artist' I learned a lot about colour, tone and mixing.  But it had been so long since I had done any practical work it took me some time to dredge the information out of my archival memory.  If anyone tries to tell you it's easy to paint skin tones, laugh at them.



Darkened the dress a touch and highlighted the skin.  Most of the work from here on is dry brush or very carefully applied wash.



 
Here are the 'handles' for the Wheel - possible alternate methods discussed included using properly scaled belaying pins which would have been much easier.  I fabricated these from plastic rod using the 'rolling finger lathe' method - not so much difficult but it requires much patience.  And I used a long piece and carved off the end, then cut off the part once complete (no photo of that part of the process, sorry).

The base coats for the Dame applied.  Now to let it dry and then start adding details ...

 
Thankfully I found a drill bit whose base was the right size for me to form the Wheel.  I did this by laminating thin strips of plastic with Super Thin plastic cement.




 
And here's how I added a bit more 'depth' to the Wheel.

 
The Wheelbox parts at this stage.


 
Drilling small holes, very carefully ...

Slogging along.  The first photo is out of sequence and shows the repaired bowsprit before the base coat of 'unifying' colour.  The last photo in the previous post is how it looked after.
 

 
Painting where I replaced the 'wedges' on the sides with 'posts.'


 
Adding the base for the deep maroon colour.


 
Repairing the lower masts - all three were snapped so this involved reinforcing the hollow with plastic rod.




 
Another stage of the deck weathering - this process was ongoing for many weeks as I kept having 'good ideas' and such.

Continuing with the deck weathering process, here's a sequence of the 'evolution' of the paint effect achieved with multiple wash coats.  You'll notice the Foc'sle in some of them, I used it as the 'tester' for some of the ideas I had.
 






 
And here's some of my 'test fitting' of the deck and hull to check the 'colour scheme' was working.  You can see the roofs of the cabins with their gold trim in some of these.

So the dry fit check of the deck and hull inspired me ...
 

 
... thus I dry fit the lower masts just to get an idea of what she'd look like.




 
Painting the 'post rails' along the lines of my chosen colour scheme.


 
Here begins the Learning Curve - figuring out how to make eyebolts before the advent of silver soldering.

I'd been informed that Silver Solder can sometimes 'spit' when heated so for safety's sake I fabricated a 'blast shield' from some bits I had lying around and old gem case (or CD/DVD) covers.
 




 
Some completed and blackened eyebolts and affixing them in the Foc'sle.  I used JAX brand blackening, diluted, and let the pieces sit in the solution overnight.


 
These are the eyebolts for the Stays immediately forward of the foremast.

 
Here begins the process of modifying the Nanny Dee to the Dame Tisane.  This involved making her more 'demure', which meant I had to use putty to raise the neckline of her dress.  And since I had to rebuild her arms I chose to do something which I didn't think I'd be able to pull off ...

A little shot of the organization of parts - lots of clear baggies.
 

 
Painting the Dame in preparation for her 'new look.'


 
Here's where I started working on the Dolphin Striker/Martingale for the Bowsprit.  I miss the posts on this specific topic, lots of info and photos of the Cutty's bowsprit and more than a few humorous comments ...
 
The set up I had for soldering and aligning the parts.

 
The first test with plastic rod convinced me that brass wire was the way to go.

 
And here's the first attempt to replicate the kit supplied Dolphin Striker ... note that it's all in the same 'plane.'

So, with additional information and photos provided by MSW members (likely either John/Jim Lad or Dan/Dan Vad at this time) I decided to make another Dolphin striker which more closely matched the 'real thing.'
 
What this meant was that I'd be soldering parts in two planes onto the central post.  A bit more finicky but not excessively difficult (thankfully).




 
Here's where I repaired the Dame's hairdo, her flowing locks had been snapped off so I added 'extensions' like a good beautician.

 
At this point I chose to re-think my ideas for the Wheelbox (and later the Cabin Skylight) and chose to fabricate them with plastic instead of card/paper.  As well I repaired the 'coops' at the rear of the ship.

David - Thank you for your kind words    
 
More work on the Coops.

 
The 'new' Wheelbox takes shape.


 
The 'new' Cabin Skylight in process.






 
And a comparative view of the old, paper parts with the plastic 're-do's.'

Continuing with the fabrication of the Cabin Skylight. You can see how I chose to 'plank' the structure instead of trying to cut grooves into the surface - it is easier and looks better.  Thanks to Evergreen for providing the building materials.
 

And some more ...
 
The fabrication of the hatch covers out of paper card stock, tissue paper and dliuted PVA.



 
Removing the kit moulded 'wedges' and replacing them with 'posts.'





 
Out of sequence - the scratch building of the aft most portion of the 'post rails.'

And some more ...


 
Sorting out the Masts and Yards.


 
An early concept was to use paper 'card stock' to scratch build missing portions like the Cabin Skylight.



 
And of course there were paint effects for the deck and the structures.

And here's some of the process of cleaning it up ... 
 

Thanks for all the kind words and thanks to Jim, Popeye and Sailor123 for your answers to my questions
 
Advancing forward now, dealing with the occasional bout of disbelief and trying not to get impatient had resulted in some more work, go figure, lol.  Here we go with a batch of progress photos.
 
After all this time I have finally tied off the lines for the boat davits, which had been hanging loose.  Here I applied the 'zero tension' strategy by dabbing diluted PVA into the blocks to lock the lines in such a way as to simulate tension.
 

 
I chose to simply hang the rope coils off the davit 'cleats' after perusing images on the Internet, it seemed like the common method.
 

 
Attaching the life rings onto the aft rails, just a dab of GS cement.
 

 
Bumkins (aka bumpkins aka boomkins) being affixed to the hull.  At first I had planned to modify these but instead I left them as is in order to represent the kit origins - something I have done here and there through the build.
 

 
Hanging the anchors ... here is where I was applying weight to the forward end and then soaking the line in diluted/tinted PVA to give the illusion of weight tension.
 

 
The result with the anchor canted more realistically.  The tint in the PVA is diluted black China ink, not a lot, to give the lines a dirty look when the glue dries.
 

 
A bow view shot of the anchors in place.
 

 
Attaching the 'chains' to the bumkins, some thin black nylon in this case.  This is the midships bumkin.
 

 
And here's the aft bumkin.
 

 
While I was attaching the blocks for the running rigging I consciously chose not to attach the blocks for the braces with the fear that I'd wind up getting confused and use the wrong ones.  Sage forethought as I would have made more mistakes ... but now comes the time to attach all the rest of the blocks for the braces.  A look at the mizzen mast with additional blocks in place.
 

 
Putting the blocks on the bumkins - this is the port aft bumkin.
 

 
And the port midships bumkin.
 

 
Here we go with the first brace, mizzen royal starboard, loosely in place.
 

 
Both mizzen royal braces in place with slight tension.
 

 
And a not too clear view of the mizzen royal braces tied off - additional detailing like rope coils yet to come.
 

 
So now there's just the rest of the braces to do ... just ...
 
This is the part that I never thought I'd get to in times past.  Getting here fills me with mild disbelief and moderate elation, but also there is the growing concern of what happens when I tie off the last line and glue down the last rope coil.  The question of who gets the Dame and where she will stay is still up in the air, thought I now have a place for her to reside temporarily while I figure this out.  However, such concerns I am putting aside until such time as they become the primary ones, right now I just have to concentrate of making sure I do the braces correctly.
 
Stay tuned for more ... but hopefully not a Lot more

The kit blocks ... yeah I ordered a bunch of wood ones from Model Shipways, lol.

 
Detailing the Hull begins.  Historical note: the original Cutty Sark would not have had gold trim - something I learned from a link provided by, who else, an MSW member.  But as the Dame Tisane had different 'owners' she could wear gold.





 
And the tough part - dealing with the decals.  I'd chosen the path of re-imagining her as a different ship and so the kit decals had to go.  But I liked them a lot and kept them on for as long as I could.  I had thought of 'making' decals at this point but I hadn't started playing around.  Needless to say, what I came up with was simple and clean ... but having that wonderful scrollwork would have been cool.  Maybe on the next build ...