bhermann

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 244 – Main Topmast Shrouds
 
The first picture shows the served and parceled forward topmast shroud pairs placed over the masthead to allow the parceling glue to set.
 

 
The parceling is white tissue glued with plain PVA white glue.  Although this dries quite rubbery, letting it dry around the mast makes the eventual shaping and seizing easier.  In the next picture all six shrouds have been "tarred" with acrylic artist's paint, seized and pressed down into position.
 

 
The aft shrouds have a single eye, it was probably spliced, but I used a simpler/stronger seizing since these will be totally covered by stays and backstays.  Some excess seizing thread has yet to be sliced off.  The next picture shows the two backstay pairs served, parceled and placed over the masthead.
 

 
The backstays will be permanently fitted after the shrouds are installed.  That process is shown in the next few pictures.  In the first picture the upper deadeyes have been wired to a sheet of wood as was done previously to help in seizing them at a uniform height.
 

 
The first steps in making the throat seizing on the served forward shrouds is shown above.  The seizing thread was tied off to the standing leg then passed through the opening above the deadeye with the curved needle as shown – from left to right.  In the next picture, the thread was taken behind the standing leg and back through itself to form a single hitch as shown below.
 

 
This was then pulled tight and two more hitches added to produce the throat seizing.  In the next picture a frapping turn is being threaded to tighten the seizing.
 
 
A little "photoshopping" was done on the seizing turns to highlight the way the turns are placed.  The frapping turn was ended with a hitch.  After this, the short leg was pulled up next to the shroud and clamped to allow the round seizings to be added.  In the next picture the forward shroud has had the two round seizings added and has been wetted with diluted dark glue to seal the knots and the serving on the short end.
 

 
The second shroud has been clamped for seizing.  The last picture shows the six shrouds with their lanyards threaded
 

 
Lots of loose ends to be sliced off in this picture – the last step after letting the glue completely dry.  Next the backstays, then the doubled topmast stay down to the shackled eyes in the deck forward of the fore mast.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 243 – Main Topgallant Futtock Shrouds
 
In Part 231, a method for making the served eye splices for futtock shrouds was described.  For these shrouds, a different method – I believe a better one – was used.  The first picture shows two steps in the sequence used, in this case on the hooked upper ends of the shrouds.
 

 
I omitted thimbles on these smaller eyes.  A length of the 5" rope was first served.  In the splice on the left, the rope was threaded through the hook and clamped (not shown) to form the eye.   The eye was then clinched tightly with serving thread – an overhand knot and a clove hitch – leaving a long length of thread.  On the right, the short end has been clipped off and the serving unraveled back to the clinch as shown, to expose the bare rope.  In the next picture the rope end has been untwisted and the strands cut on a taper.
 

 
Glue was then applied to the bare and served rope over the length of the splice and the length of thread used to serve over the spliced area. I am using darkened wood glue on all these standing rigging knots and joints.  CA would produce a stronger joint, but I am trying to avoid its use.  The darkened Titebond has more than adequate strength with this joint design.  A finished splice is shown below.
 

 
By removing the serving over the short end, the joint is strengthened over the previous method where the serving was left on.  Tapering the strands improves the shape of the splice.  The method is also much faster because it eliminates glue-drying steps.
 
In the next picture one of the shrouds is being lashed to its eyebolt.
 

 
The lower eye, after measuring the shroud length, was formed as above but without the hook.  Handling during all these steps takes a toll on the metal blackening, so this will be touched up with LOS before finish is applied to the mast.  The next picture shows all four futtock shrouds installed.
 

 
As usual, the loose ends will be sliced off after the glue dries.  In the last picture the topmast has been set with a spot of glue on the aft face of the lower square, held in place with a wedge against the forward rim until the glue dries.
 

 
A permanent spacer will replace this wedge later.  Next, the topmast shrouds.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 242 – Main Mast Crosstrees
 
I cut the trestletree mortises for the fore mast crosstrees by hand but decided to mill them for the main and mizzen masts – for accuracy and simplicity.  It is an easy milling task.  The mortises in the mizzen trestletrees have been milled in a block of Castello in the first picture.

 
The top of this piece will be next ripped off at the depth of the trestrees and that piece then ripped to the width, producing two, identical trestletrees that can be cut to length and beveled on the bottom corners.  The basic assembly is shown in the next picture.
  
 
The arms have yet to be tapered on bottom faces.  The iron backstay spreader shown below was produced in the same way as the foremast counterpart, described earlier in Part 230.
 

 
In the picture the copper assembly has been soldered together, wire bolts have been inserted into pre-drilled holes in the crosstree arms, and the bolts are ready to be peened to rivet the spreader to the arms as shown in the next picture.
 

 
In the picture the holes for the underside eyebolts have been drilled but the eyebolts left out at this stage to allow hammering of the bolts on the small anvil.  In the next picture the eyebolts have been added and the ironwork blackened.

The assembly was given a thin coat of diluted Tung oil in the above picture.
 
 The next picture shows the futtock band on the main topmast being drilled for its eyebolts.
 

 
As mentioned in an earlier post, this band goes on after the lower mast cap, so it is fastened by means of the bent tab seen in the picture.  Setting the eyebolts in the drilled holes keeps it in place.  The last picture shows the completed assemblies.
 

 
The lower mast cap is on the mast but out of this picture.  The crosstrees are ready to be installed on the mast.  The next step will be to install the topgallant futtock shrouds before setting the mast.
 
Ed
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 241 – Main Mast Cap
 
The cap on the lower main mast is identical in configuration, but very slightly larger than the fore mast cap that was described in Part 227.  That cap was relatively simple to make since the 18" round and square openings scaled conveniently to a ¼" drill bit.  None of the other caps offer this convenience.  Because of this, the need to for precision in spacing the holes, and to accurately cut the outer radii, a method was developed to shape all the remaining caps on the milling machine with the aid of its rotary table.  The first picture shows the lower mizzen cap being milled by this process.

The method used requires a number of sequenced steps and various calculations that I will not attempt to describe here.  The next picture shows the mizzen cap after the milling steps.

The holes, spacing and exterior radii are all accurately formed and the piece is ready to be sawed out along its straight sides.  The hole for the lower mast tenon (on the right) will be manually squared to match the hole diameter.  The piece is pictured on a worksheet that was used to facilitate the calculations and prescribe the 16-step sequence used.
 
After this, the steps for the main mast cap were the same as those described in Part 227.  The next two pictures show steps not described earlier, in which wire "bolts" were placed on either side of the boss for the lower topsail truss to assist in taking the weight of that yard on the forward end of the band.  
 
Holes were drilled on both sides at the forward end.  The eyebolt on the aft end serves a similar strengthening purpose.
 
 
Copper wire was then forced into the holes, cut off just above the band surface, and then peened over.  The next picture shows a similar copper wire bolt being inserted to secure the cap iron.
 

 
Each of these was then nailed in and peened over as shown below.
 

 
The picture also shows the ends of the four eyebolts inserted from below.  In the next picture the entire assembly has been washed (and is still wet) with liver of sulfur solution used to blacken the copper.
 

 
The wood is still wet, but will dry to its normal color.  The yellow spot on the paper toweling shows where the solution was blotted.  The last picture shows the dried and finished cap temporarily in place with the topmast inserted.
 

 
The double blocks for the topping lifts were strapped to the cap iron shackles and the fid fitted before this photo was taken
 
Ed

Hello Ed.
 
 
Right ! And that´s why we were given the famous "flounders" aboard "Gorch Fock" , a belaying-plan of this ship where each line had it´s place on wooden and/or brass pins. We learned very quickly; after two days the NCO´s started their time-honoured "rope-race" around the deck, and you better had learned your ropes. Back then there were neither illumination at night nor mercy allowed: if you hadn´t grasped the plan or, be it night or day, laid your hand atop of the wrong pin and thus missed these tests, you were not allowed to go aloft; shame on you, landlubber . I was lucky having built the "Pamir" in 1:150 shortly before, rope by rope, ratline by ratline, buntlines, clewlines, stays´l halyards and all. So I could rattle them ropes off  by heart like nothing.
A wonderful time that was, and Hans Freiherr von Stackelberg, First Mate then and her Captain for the following six years, was a genius, someone whom I hold in the highest esteem as a prime sailor, a first-class naval officer and, descendant from the old baltic aristocracy : a professional horseman.
I remember him well to this very day.
Greetings to you all
Germanus
 
 
 
 

To finish up the standing rigging on the lower masts, I installed the spring stay, jib stay, and jumbo jib stay.  As with all my rigging, I've replaced the kit's rigging line with some from Syren Ship Model Company.
 
The spring stay is pretty straight forward.  It runs from the main mast cap to the fore mast cap with eye splices at either end.
 

The jib stay is also pretty simple.  It is attached to the fore mast cap using a shackle, and run to the bowsprit where it is seized onto one of the bands.
 

The jumbo jib stay required a bit more work.  It seems to have two parts to the line.  The first part is served and wraps around the fore mast right above the trestle tree, with eye splices in both ends.  Those are shackled to the second line, which runs down to the jumbo jib stay bail.  The bail is a custom piece that attaches to the deck and wraps over the bowsprit.
 
I started by getting the top of the line installed on the mast.
 

The jumbo jib stay bail was made from brass, in keeping with how all the other metal parts on my build have been done.  It is basically a large shackle, so I made it similarly to how I made the shackles.  Since it was larger, I fashioned the 'feet' that will hold the bolts separately instead of making it all one piece.  I'm also using a brass rod to form the top, which appears to be rounded on the plans.  I'll secure it to the deck using a couple small bolts running though some eyebolts.
 
The entire thing was prepped, soldered, and cleaned up.
 

The bail was installed on the deck over the bowsprit, and the jumbo jib stay was seized to it.
 

I *think* that finishes up the standing rigging for the lower masts.  I'll wait to do the ratlines until later (not really looking forward to those).  Next step will be to seat the top masts and get their standing rigging lines installed.
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 240 – Ratlines 3
 
Apart from some work on the main topmast crosstrees (described later), most of the recent effort has been to make progress on the long task of tying ratlines – the seemingly endless "rattling down".  The first picture shows work proceeding on the lower main mast ratlines on the starboard side.
 

 
There are still a lot of loose ends waiting to be lashed down or clipped off.  Work can also be seen in progress on the port lower fore mast.  The next picture shows the current state of the work on the fore mast.
 

 
The futtock shroud ratlines have been added as well as the first several on the fore topmast shrouds.  A closer view of those is shown below.
 

 
The lower two are fitted to the deadeye lanyards, something I had not seen before but which can be seen in one of the photos of the ship – barely.  Another view of this is shown below.
 

 
I finally – after some mishaps – installed some people barriers just outside the whisker booms as shown below.
 

 
These might not withstand a determined punch – but the 5/8" dowels are more than enough to deflect or stop the casual nudge when I am focused on some nearby task.
 
In a previuos post I showed a jig for putting eye splices on one end of a ratline,  A production version of the jig is shown in the next picture.
 

 
This one has plenty of pins to support "mass" production.  Also, the two-faced carpet tape is applied to the jig itself allowing me to remove the fixture from the vise without cleaning it off the vise jaw.  There is also a fence just forward of the pins so glue may be applied to each splice without welding it to the fixture.  In the last picture, one of the short legs is being sliced off the splice while held taut with tweezers.
 

 
Up to about 20 ratlines can have eyes spliced at a time – and very quickly.
 
Ed

28 days later!

Decking complete! Minor touch up needed before proceeding. 
Nibbing boxwood is hard.😎

Nirvana,
 
I used some 3/32" thick basswood I had laying around.  I think the kit parts were basswood too.  I think the problem with the kit parts came from cutting them free (they were laser cut).  I didn't get a clean cut when I freed them, so as I was cleaning them up, the wood broke up.
 
My replacements weren't perfect, but once they got sanded, stained, and tied off they look fine.  I made several, even though I only needed two so that I could replace an entire set (and avoid having mis-matched ones next to each other).
 
Someday I'll start collecting some higher quality wood for making parts like this.  I can get basswood locally at my hobby shop, but I'd have to order anything fancier.
 

100+ days later...
 
Back in June, I finished 'construction,' leaving just the rigging.  I had all the rigging prepped on the main and fore masts, and I thought I'd be able to finish the build fairly soon.  When I sat down to start attaching shrouds, I just didn't feel like working on it that day.  I took the day off from the build.  I ended up taking all of July to install some home automation gear.  I took all of August off from modeling to focus on work.  All of September was spent helping my wife prepare for the opening of her first retail store.  But finally, after 3 months, I was ready to dive back in.
 
Over the last week I've got the first few pieces of standing rigging installed.
 

All the shrouds for the lower masts have been installed.  I used the 'wire jig' method that's described everywhere to keep the deadeyes even.  The Bluenose has 16 lower shrouds and 4 top mast shrouds.  So far I've only installed the lower masts, so those 4 top mast shrouds will get run a bit latter when top masts get installed.  The shrouds use tiny heart-shaped deadeyes at the top of the lanyard, and I found the ones in the kit to be a little fragile.  They are laser cut, and I had several simply fall apart.  I ended up making several of my own from some strip wood.
 
I also installed the spring stay, jib stay, and the fore mast spreader lifts.
 
Excited to back on the build!

I believe all the references to soldering are for silver soldering, not soft soldering.  Be sure the ends are clean. Steel wool or a quick swipe or two with a jewelers file or even   Silver solder paste most often has flux and does not need to have a separate step to put flux on the part.     
Allan
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 239 – Revisions - Spencer and Headsail Rigging
 
The running rigging described in the last two parts has been revised.  In the case of the spencer gaff the fall of the vang was obstructed by the outer boats on the skid beams.  To correct this, I added lead blocks to the forward topmast backstay and led the fall down to its pin through a fairlead on that stay.  The first picture shows the original configuration on the port side and the revision on the starboard side.
 

 
The revised rig retains the same eyebolt for the standing leg of the vang, which then passes through the block on the shortened pendant, then through the lead block and a fairlead, both on the forward topmast stay.  The fall then belays on the same pin as before.  The next picture shows the starboard lead block and fairlead.
 

 
The old rope coils and belaying were removed as shown in the next picture.
 

 
A cotton swab soaked in isopropanol was laid on the rope for a few minutes to soften the wood glue. The rope was then easily removed.
 
The other revision involved the halyards on the three headsails.  I initially considered three typical configurations for these – no blocks, a single block whip from the deck, and a single block at the head of the sail.  I installed the first, simplest method as described in Part 238.  Shortly after installing these, I thought more about this and was concerned about no mechanical advantage on these rather large sails.  In checking (belatedly) the 1870's photo of the ship in New York, the blocks at the lower ends of the stays are clearly visible.  So, that configuration has now been installed on all three stays.  The foot of the topmast stay is shown in the next picture after revision.

This may be compared with the first photo in Part 238.  The revised lower rigging of the outer jib halyard is shown in the next picture.
 

To avoid re-rigging the downhaulers, the lower blocks were strapped to the shackle in place – a most difficult task, especially with shaky hands. The shackle eye was tied first, then the splice at the base of the block.  The inner jib stay at the left of the picture has not yet been converted. 
 
The upper ends of the stays are shown in the next picture with the standing ends of the halyards tied to the stays.
 

The last picture shows all three halyards converted.
 

So, we are now back on track after a short detour.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 238 – Head Sails Running Rigging
 
Each of the three stays described in Part 235 carries a triangular headsail.  Each of these sails is rigged with three lines of running rigging – a halyard to raise the head of the sail along the stay, a downhaul to bring the head down, and a double sheet to restrain the clew of the sail on the windward side.  When bent to the stay, the tack at the lower end of the sail is tied off low on the stay.  Then as the luff of the sail along the stay is secured with rope "hanks" the halyard is hauled up to raise the sail along the stay.  Both the halyard and the downhaul are shackled to the sails head cringle.  On the "unsailed" model, the halyard and downhaul eye splices are secured to the shackle, which is "stopped" to the lower end of the stay with a short length of rope as shown in the first picture at the base of the topmast stay.
 

 
In the picture the smaller downhaul is led down and through a single block back to its belaying point on the forecastle.  The next picture shows the lower ends of the inner and outer jib stays rigged in this manner.
 

 
The downhauls and halyards for the topmast staysail and outer jib lead back on the starboard side and those for the inner jib are rigged on the port side.  The next picture shows the three halyards where they pass through blocks hooked under the topmast trestletrees.
 

 
The lines lead down through fairleads in the top to the fife rails below.  The next picture shows the block arrangement at the topmast head, a double block on the starboard side for the staysail and outer jib halyards and a single block on the port side for the inner jib halyard.
 

 
The next picture shows the staysail and outer jib halyards belayed on the fore mast fife rail.
 

 
As will be seen in the next picture, the rope coils on the rails are quite small because the halyards are fully overhauled along the stay when there are no sails.
 

 
The next picture shows the belayed inner jib halyard on the port side.
 

 
Conversely, most of the downhauls must be coiled at the belaying points so sufficient line will be available to run up to the head of the sails when they are hauled up to the tops of the stays, so the three large coils in the next picture contain sufficient line for that.
 

 
Finally, the sheets – a pair for each sail.  These are shackled to eyebolts on either side of the forecastle, run through bullet blocks at the ends of a double pendant shackled to the clue of each sail, and belay on cleats on the forecastle breast beam.  One side or the other is used, with the lee side slack.  On the unsailed model, I have omitted the pendants and intend to coil each sheet adjacent to its eyebolt as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The picture shows the starboard sheet for the topmast staysail secured to its eyebolt.  When passed through the pendant block on this side, this line would be belayed on the innermost cleat on the breast beam. Eyebolts for the other head sails are arranged to the left on the rail, astride the mooring cleat.
 
Ed
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 237 – Fore Spencer Gaff
 
The term "spencer" describes gaffs rigged on masts with square sails – except for the spanker gaff at the mizzen.  They were used to support fore and aft sails that were occasionally used, or sometimes to suspend pennants to keep them out of the other rigging.  The fore spencer gaff is shown in the first picture.
 

 
The gaff is a small, very simple spar attached to the mast with a gooseneck/eye fitting.  Stops for the standing lift are roughly centered on the spar as shown in the picture.  The upper end of the lift has an eye splice shackled to the eyebolt in the top.  A stop cut into the end of the spar will take a doubled "vang" pendant pair with a single block spliced into each end.  The long pendants may be seen in the next picture.
 

 
Each vang pendant is attached to a simple whip, with the standing end seized to an eyebolt on the main rail.  The fall is belayed nearby on the main pin rail.  In the picture the falls are temporarily clamped to center the gaff.  The next picture shows them belayed to the main pin rails port and starboard.
 

 
The limited required movement of the gaff requires a relatively short fall, so the coil of rope shown in the next picture is fairly small.
 

 
The masking tape shown over the open beams, does not do a lot for the photographs, but my sanity demands it.  I finally acquiesced to this after yet another part dropped into the hold and could not be retrieved.  While it is relatively easy to blow out small bits of thread, the main mast fid did not respond to this.
 
Finally, a test for clearance around the outboard boats is shown in the next picture. 
 

 
I need to think about this and decide if a lead block would be appropriate for this relatively small line, perhaps on one of the backstays.  I love rework.
 
Ed
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 236 – Fish Tackle
 
The fish tackle is a triple purchase tackle suspended by a hook from the pendant described in an earlier post.  A second, large hook is fastened to the lower block of the tackle.   The purpose of this gear is to lift the anchors to stow them on the forecastle or to move them to the catheads.  The required weight of anchor for a ship of Young America's tonnage would be about 5000 pounds, so even with the mechanical advantage of 6 of the triple tackle, several hundred pounds of force had to be applied to the lift – unless another tackle was added to the fall.  The first picture shows the large bottom hook and the 12" double lower block of the tackle.
 

 
I still have quite a few blocks left over from the 1:96 Victory model, so with some re-scaling I have not yet had to make any.  There will be plenty of that later.  The next picture shows the  lower block strapped to the hook and being secured to the tackle rope with two seizings.
 

 
The tackle fall is a 3½" rope spun to the ~1" (.016") diameter from 2 strands of No. 60 Crocheting cotton and dyed with non-fading natural walnut extract stain.  The small seizings are simply an overhand knot – pulled tight, wet with glue, and the ends sliced off later.  The next picture shows the other hook being strapped to the upper 12" triple block.
 

 
The block is held in a surgical clamp in a bench vise for this.  For this small strapping a single overhand knot simulates the eye seizing at the hook and another overhand knot serves for the splice of the strap under the block as shown in the next picture.
 

 
Dilute, darkened glue is applied to the splice to fix it. The excess thread is then sliced off.   In the next picture the tackle has been rigged.
 

 
The upper block is hooked to the pendant and the lower end is hooked over a leg the forestay.  The fall is belayed and draped for convenience over the forecastle rail – one possible configuration.  The next picture shows a closer view.
 

 
The coil of rope was made separately from a length of line that would be sufficient in using the tackle.  Every foot of lift would require hauling six feet of rope. The line was coiled around a dowel, wetted with diluted glue, shaped and allowed to partially dry before mounting.
 
 
Ed

Welcome to the build Grant, Slog, Chris and Popeye .
 
I've made a start to the actual build - wow, she's gonna be BIG . Gotta love those laser-cut frames, they've probably saved a week's work all up. These are only the lower frames, there are just as many or more above the waterline.
 
I bought the table it's sitting on just for this build - my workbench isn't really big enough .
 



 
And a comparison with Amatsukaze - they are both 1:200 scale :
 

 
 
  Danny

I love the shots with the landscape in the background.  It is easy to imagine the ECB full sized and sitting waterside.  This is coming along so well!
 
Bob

I love the shots with the landscape in the background.  It is easy to imagine the ECB full sized and sitting waterside.  This is coming along so well!
 
Bob

Greetings!  Well, after a year of fretting over the planking, I guess it is time to bring the ECB back to the table, grit my teeth, and plunge into finishing the hull.
 
Here, then, are some images of the current status.  Wish me luck!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 235 – Fore Topmast Stays
 
There are three forward stays from the topmast head to the bowsprit – the topmast stay proper, the inner jib stay, and the outer jib stay.  The first is the primary structural stay, consisting of a doubled 9" rope looped over the over the shrouds and backstays at the topmast head, then down and under opposite sides of the bowsprit with the ends brought up and seized to the opposite leg.  The two lines are brought together to form a collar below the crosstrees and also at the bottom above the seizings.  The collar is served and leathered and the lower ends are served on both legs up to the seizings.  The first picture shows this stay placed over the masthead after the tissue leathering was glued to it.
 

 
The collar is clamped where it will be seized together and the glue on the leathering was left to dry in this shape.  I used straight PVA white glue for this so when dry the collar will still be flexible.  In the next picture, the two legs of the stay have been passed under the bowsprit, in position for seizing.
 

 
The next picture shows a closer view of the lower area.
 

The two legs do not cross under the bowsprit, so one short leg is seized above the stay and the other below. In the next picture, three seizings have been put on each side and the two legs have been seized together at the top of the served areas.
 

 
Excess seizing thread and stay rope have yet to be trimmed off.  Brushing the seizings and the stay where the ends will be clipped with darkened wood glue will seal the serving and the seizing knots so the excess can be trimmed off.
 
 In the next picture the inner and outer jib stays have been served, leathered and put over the masthead and are clamped where the collars will be seized.
 

 
The leather is simulated on the glued-on tissue strips using acrylic artist's color.  The lower ends of these two stays are shown in the next picture. 
 

 
These each pass through sheaves in the bowsprit, under upper cleats on the martingale and are shackled to eyebolts on the hull – the inner jib stay on the starboard side and the outer on the port side.  After seizing the upper collars, they were pulled taut through the hull shackles and seized.  These stays are served from above the sheaves to their ends at the side.  The inner jib stay attachment is shown in the next picture.
 
 
 The stay is seized to a shackle fabricated with its eyebolt before insertion into the hull. 
 
These last two pictures and the next were taken after installing the fish tackle and some of the jib/staysail running rigging, so some of this appears in the pictures.  Each of these three stays carries a head sail.  This work will be described in later posts.  The last picture shows the ship with all the forward topmast stays rigged.
 
 
 
 
Ed
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 234 – Fore Topmast Backstays
 
The four topmast backstays are the same size rope as the lower shrouds, 10½", so the deadeyes and lanyards are also the same sizes.  In the first picture, the forward backstay on the port side has its deadeye clamped for turning in.
 

The lanyards are longer for the backstays than for the shrouds, based on photos of the ship, probably to allow more length for tension adjustment of these longer lines.  The next picture shows this deadeye turned in with a throat seizing as described earlier.
 

The short leg has been turned up and clamped so the two additional round seizings may be added.  In the next picture the aft backstay deadeye height is being set to match the forward stay.
 

In the next picture the lanyards have been threaded and given an initial tension.  Final tensioning of all the topmast shrouds and backstays will await the installation of the forward topmast stays.
 

The last picture shows the model after rigging the topmast backstays.
 

The excess stay length on the starboard are not yet trimmed off.  In the next part the topmast forward stays will be described.
 
Ed

Prototyping the sweeps for the barge.....
 
One down and nine more to go.   Each sweep is made from four pieces.  Each piece is shaped accordingly.  It is either turned and rounded off or tapered and steamed bent.   I will of course elaborate more in the instructions.  But they seem to go together well enough and are pretty straight forward.
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 233 – Fore Topmast Shrouds
 
In the first picture the three deadeyes for the starboard side have been mounted on a piece of thin clear plastic film and this has been secured to the lower deadeyes at the rim of the top.  The somewhat flexible film was used to match the curve of the rim, but this was not really necessary.  The fixture is mainly used to align the top deadeyes but is also helps in the "turning in."
 

 
The three deadeyes have been secured with seizings but the excess thread ends and the excess shroud ends still have to be trimmed off.  The next picture shows the three starboard shrouds secured with their 3" lanyards.
 

 
The lanyards still have to be tensioned and the excess ends wound around the shrouds, but this will wait until the forward topmast stays and the backstays are installed so that all can be tensioned together.  The next picture shows one of the deadeyes on the port side being turned in with the first seizing being tied.
 

 
In the picture a clamp secures the shroud in the groove of the deadeye and another holds the short leg horizontal and tight.  A curved needle is being used to help make the throat seizing that was used just above each deadeye.  In this type of seizing the thread is wrapped over the crossing of the shroud, so the needle is passing through the opening above the deadeye under the front horizontal leg and behind the vertical leg.  This is then repeated and the last pass secured with a clove type finish.  The short end of the shroud is then brought up to vertical and secured to the shroud with two more round seizings on the parallel legs.  The next picture shows all six shrouds secured to the top.
 

 
Finally, a picture of the model with the topmast shrouds and backstays secured.
 
 
 
The fish tackle pendant is still temporarily tied off at its lower end.  The backstays will be described in the next part.
 
 
Ed

I wasn't happy with the skylight, so it has been removed.
Along with that I decided to finalize the planking before structures came into place.
Planking is coming along nice, but slowly.
I followed the plans and added two planks 3/32" x 3/32" under the bowsprit.
After five planks out from center, it was time to add the 3/16" wide piece.
There is no support for the piece, where it is pointy so I added a strip under the deck plank to prevent is from falling inside the hull.
This is what I did after the 3/16" wide piece.
In order to continue planking there is no support for the 3/32" butting up. So I added another strip under the deck for this matter.
 

The deck planks hasn't been sanded so they are still rough and un-even.
It's getting time for me to get some nibbing experience.
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 232 – Fore Topmast Crosstrees 3
 
The first picture shows one of the fore topgallant futtock shrouds being lashed to the band below the fore topmast crosstrees. 
 

 
Although they are fitted to the topmast, these shrouds are part of the topgallant shrouds above – hence the somewhat confusing naming.  Each lashing is first tied to the eye, then passed through the eyebolt and eye three times, and then wrapped around itself in the center with a series of clove hitches.  The clove hitches are an effective way to do this on these small lashings – and easier than wrapping a lot of turns while trying to keep the lashing from rotating while still making the turns tight.  The difference is virtually undetectable on these small black lashings.  The next picture shows the four futtock shrouds lashed in place.
 

 
 
With these installed the topmast may be permanently fitted.  The next picture shows the lower end of the installed mast.
 

 
The mast fid is down on the iron plates and a filler piece has been fitted at the forward face to fix the bottom and keep the mast aligned.  Although not strictly necessary, the mast was glued at this point and at the cap.
 
The first piece of rigging to go over the mast is the fish tackle pendant.  This long pendant was used to suspend the triple purchase tackle that was used to lift and handle the anchors.  The pendant is therefore a heavy 8" rope.  It is served around the seized masthead collar.  The lower end has an eye splice with a thimble at its foot
 

 
 The large upper block of the tackle will be hooked through this thimble.  In the picture the pendant is temporarily held taught by some black thread.
 
After the fish tackle, the topmast shrouds are put over the masthead.  In the next picture the shrouds have been placed and held at the foretop with clamps.
 
 

As with the lower shrouds the forward shrouds are fully served.  Serving on the others extends around the mast to just below the futtock shrouds.  The two forward shrouds are a single line that loops over the mast and is seized below the bolsters.  The aft shrouds are single, with a single eye splice served down to the futtock shrouds.  All these collars and eyes are parceled down to the seizings.  The next picture shows a closer view of this.
 

 
Next to go over are the topmast backstays, a pair on each side.  The collars of these are also served and parceled down to the collar seizings.  They are clamped at the channels in the next picture.
 

 
These are large 10½" lines, a looped pair on each side.  The last picture shows the parceling of these before the parceling is "tarred" with black artist's acrylic paint.
 

 
They were removed for this painting after tying the seizings.  With all these lines secured at the top, the next step is to fix them to their deadeyes at the lower ends.
 
 
Ed