Craigie65

Post 87
Lower mast rigging -  Part two
Fore and Main shrouds
I will be using dyed Syren 0.88mmm line for the purpose.

4653a
The line lengths are held under tension for a few hours before fitting to take any spring out of them.
The shrouds are put over the masthead in pairs starting on the sb side, then working alternate sides.
The shrouds are served  for the centre section around the masthead and  down to the futtocks.
The Foremost shroud is usually served overall to counter chafing from the  sails.

4679a
Once served I attend to the seizing on a dummy masthead and then slip over the  real thing. This is much easier than making up the full mast sets off model, and then doing the work with the masts in place.

4682a
The shroud is  re-dipped in the colouring solution.

4688a
When rigging I always work from aft forward so I begin with the Main mast. Fortunately there are an even set of shrouds so  on this mast I can avoid the complication of a splice.
Fore Mast
There are two sets of two and a single spliced shroud that I have fitted over the masthead first.

4684a
This foremost shroud, as with the Main shrouds, is served overall. The spliced section needs to be formed first as with the Pendent of tackles.
This is a lengthy piece of serving covering 650 mm overall, and as can be seen there is a degree of kink in the line  by reason of the serving.

4687a
I put this set under weights to even the line out.

4692a

4693a

4694a
The shroud sets are all made up; they will now be removed for final fettlin.’
 
I have been having second thoughts about the Pendents of tackles. I think the 6mm blocks (15”) look a little heavy, and the seizings a little bulky.
I have some of Chuck’s  new resin thimbles on order, so a replacement set will be made up.
 
B.E.
12/06/2025
 
 
 

 

All of the bulkheads and stiffners have been glued to the former and themselves, this thing is now rock solid and a very sturdy platform for everything thats to come.
 
I have begun installing all of the jigs that will support the upper parts until the model has been planked on the outside, these jigs are NOT to be glued to the model as they will be removed later for all the internal work, here you can see the forward one.



 
 

day 6 1st planking
good evening everyone
 
no regrets at all on changing the planking from single to double, i have 100m of 1x5mm lime strip on its way, might need some more, at present im using anything left from previous builds
gave her a bit of a sanding, starting to look like the instructions now, working on the gundeck before it more of less gets covered over
 

Planking the gun deck
Before planking, the transitions between the two parts of the inner bulwark were filled and sanded.

 
 
The caulking of the deck planks was simulated with paint. To do this, 7 deck planks, each 12 cm long, were clamped together.


 

 
The spirketting and upper strip were painted five times with heavily diluted paint so that the engraved lines were still visible.

 
 
The inner bulwark was also painted with diluted paint and the openings for the deck fittings were tested. No regrinding necessary. Some gaps approx. 0.2 mm. These will be bridged by the planking.
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
Then I went on with the planking. In the middle area, where the base for the oven will be positioned later, i.e. an area that will not be visible, I sanded with 120 grit sandpaper and tried out the coating. I will first apply wood wax and then cover it with matt varnish. In the picture, you can also see that there is a larger gap between two strips. Thankfully, this is the only one and is not a problem, as the base of the oven will go here.
 

 
 
 
 
 
The holes for the eyebolts of the cannon rigging were drilled using a template.

 
 
The deck was sanded manually (120, 180, 240 grade)  and with a Dremel (320 grade) then treated three times with wood wax and then coated with diluted matt clear varnish.
 

 
 
I was afraid that the spirketting would not be flush with the gun ports, but it was flush without me having to modify the strip.
 

 
For the alignment of the upper strip, push pins were inserted through the holes for the eyelet bolts.
The alignment of the holes in the strip matches the arrangement of the holes in the bulwark below.

 
 
 
The small gap between the two parts of the spirketting was filled with diluted filler, sanded down and then painted over.
 

 
 

 
Next, I will turn my attention to the cannons.
 

Great progress Ben, everything looks perfectly straight. Well done!

Last bulkhead to be installed is for just forward of #1, it is for the beakhead support, it also has two verticals for the bow and it locks bulkheads 1/2/3 together for more stiffening.
There should be a 1/16-1/32” gap between it and bulkhead #1.
With all these parts now installed, the entire structure is very very stiff with almost zero movement anywhere and is now ready to start having glue applied to it, kudos to JJ for his design and laser cutting to make this as solid as it is.
 


 

Post 86
Lower mast rigging -  Part 0ne
My approach to rigging.
The limited rigging I will apply to this build will be based on Steel tables for a vessel of 18 - 14 guns of  300 -250 tons.
The principle rigging will consist of:
Pendent of tackles –  7”circ – 15” Single block-  6mm
Lower Shrouds       - 7”circ – 0.88mm - (5mm Deadeyes)
Forestay                - 9½” – 1.19mm  -  13” Heart. (5mm)
Fore Preventer stay - 6”   -  0.75mm   - 10” heart  (4mm)
Mainstay                - 10”  - 1.26mm   - 15” Heart  (6mm)
Main Preventer Stay - 7”  -  0.88mm  -  10” Heart  (4mm)
The kit line dimensions are close to this using 1mm line for the shrouds, and 1.3mm line for the stays.
The kit indicates use of deadeyes for securing the stays but I have opted for hearts.
 
I begin with the Pendent of tackles, which are omitted from the kit rigging plan, but are an important feature of naval ship rigging. These go over the head before the shrouds are rigged.
I covered my approach to making the pendents in my Pegasus build log.  They are spliced over the mastheads, and I followed the method described in TFFM book Vol 1V.

4654a

4657a
Syren 0.88mm line is served overall with 0.1mm line, I used the kit provided line which is Gütermann Polyester.
 
Steel indicates use of a  single block attached to the pendent, but a  thimble would also be appropriate, an opportunity perhaps to try out one of Chuck’s new additions to his fittings, a 2mm option would be about right.

4669a

4666a

4674a
I used 6mm single blocks, mainly as I had them to hand.

4665a
At this time period the pendents extend a little below the Hounds.
 
 
B.E.
08/06/2025

good evening everyone
 
day 4, hull build up, and galleries, with some 1st planking
 
pleased with myself on how this id going so far, 
90% of the frame is complete, 
stern galleries have been made up
i have changed the kits requirement from singe planking to double, therefore using the kits 1x5mm in the wrong places until my ordered stock arrives.by planking the galleries now, i can protect them better, by going to double planking i think i will be in a better position to display the gunports shut, without having to do the lid linings
the light kit arrived today, Thank you @chris watton and i will be possibly sorting that out in a couple of days
that pretty well sums it up for today
 

day 2 hull build up
Good evening everyone
My concerns for a sloppy loose joint build have gone away, i did a test fit of everything, and wasn't impressed, but once all the locking tabs are inserted and the glue allowed to dry the hull is quite sturdy. but still feels very light weight and looks fragile, i am already onto planking the middle gun deck, this needs to be done now before the rest of the upper hull is fitted
looking ahead and seeing the lack of frames, i am going to convert her to a double planled hull and order some 1X4mm lime strips. she will then have a decent base for coppering, i also do not intend to have her with all guns showing, hoping to do the same as my Vic and have them in vent or shut
 

Lovely work Kevin. Great to see this mammoth task completed. You should be very proud!

Lovely work Kevin. Great to see this mammoth task completed. You should be very proud!

Now that I am finally happy with the how the foremast shroud lines are looking with the deadeyes the lanyards were tied off. In preparation for adding the ratlines I printed out a template. I angled the bottom edge of the template so the ratlines will be level, when fitted.

Before adding the ratlines I decided to add the futtock staves. I used my quad hands to hold the copper bar in place, as shown below.

I marked off the position of the futtock stave on the template and then adjusted the position of the copper bar to the required height. It was then a case of adding some seizing. In the next photo I have secured to futtock staff to three of the shroud lines.

In the next photo both the futtock staves have been added. By marking the position of the futtock stave on the templates they both should be set to the same height.

Next I made the catharpins. These are simply a length of thread with loops on each end. Seizing thread was then added to the loops.

It was then a case of securing the catharpins to the futtock staves.

With the template in place I did make a start adding the ratlines. As per my normal method I marked the order of fitting on the template. I will add every 5th one starting with the 1's. Once that is done I will add all the 2's and then all the 3's. I have also added some vertical guidelines.

 
 
 

Thanks for all the likes and comments, and to those who have just stopped by.
 
Some more progress. The first thing to do was assemble the fore platform, only four parts. It was glued together, then dryfitted, gently sanded, dryfitted etc until it was a good fit into the bow. When I was satisfied it was glued in place.


The two short steps to the platform were added at this point.
 
A longer set of steps were assembled and glued in place.

The companion way fits above these, and making this proved to be a little tricky in places. The parts for it are shown below, with some pieces already glued together.

The more interesting facets of this build were the two doors at the front and the hatch on top.
The instructions say that these can be left closed or open. I chose to have them open.
 
The doors were no particular problem, except for adding the hinges, provided as PE. I glued the doors in the open position then added the hinges (the handles, ring bolts, had been fixed already), but ran into some problems with the PE hinges in trying to get them to fit correctly. I finally used some of the Syren hinges I'd used previously. 
 
The hatch however needed a little more attention. As Blue Ensign said in his log, the hatch needs support in the open position. For the two supports I used some leftover PE, bent into a curve, glued to the underside of the hatch with the lower ends held in place by small eyebolts fastened to the sides of the companion way. Syren hinges were again used.


The guns were assembled over several days, usually while waiting for glue or paint to dry. Assembly  line. Patience is required. 


I didn't add Part 227, described as the "quoin" in the instructions for the long guns. Instead I replaced it with a short piece of 0.6mm fret to represent the bed of the carriage and added two separately made quoins. (The left carriage needs a paint touch up.)

Finally, a word of thanks to Blue Ensign (Maurice), who continues to suggest improvements that can be made to an already superb kit (thanks Chris), some of which are obvious in my build.
 
Cheers.
 
 
 
 

A little bit of progress on Pegasus. The wales were sanded flush to each other, masked and then tamiya flat black with mlt to thin was sprayed on the wales. There is also one row of the 2nd planking above the wales on both sides. I have yet to decide how to trim the rear of the wales as I don't yet understand the run where they should finish and what shape they should be.

Lower Deck
 
The scuttles are cut from 1mm boxwood using a copy of the deck plan as templates. The centre line is scored and highlighted with pencil.
Ring bolts using 2mm Amati and 3mm rings are yet to be added.

 
I added the hatches before planking so some 0.8mm fret was used to maintain their height above the deck.

I pondered about the stove hearth: should I place it on top of the planking or plank up to it? I was concerned to maintain the distance between the top of the stove and the gun deck. In the end I decided I would glue the hearth to the sub-deck and plank to it. I found a suitable brick pattern courtesy of Mr Google and printed it off. The hearth is finally edged with 1mm square boxwood. I have marked the position of the stove using a copy of the centre section from the plan.


Planking is mostly 3.5 x 0.7mm boxwood. I was surprised by the variation in colour since all the planking comes from the same supplier. The centre section is planked using my latest order but the wider 4.5 and 5mm planks used along the edges of the hatches and scuttles are from a previous batch. Probably not an authentic look but I quite like the added interest and it will not be so obvious in the completed model.
 
Planking the after deck section was straightforward and the block for the capstan is glued in place.

The decks easily locate with the frames and the pegs hold them in place.
The sail room is complete but awaits hinges and latches from Syren. There are inner wals of mdf and an outer covering of etched pear. The instructions say that the mdf parts are cut so that they can’t be assembled incorrectly – but I know someone who can. 🙄 Once reassembled, I checked it’s position and that the gun deck beams, cabin walls and stove locate properly.

Thanks for looking in
David
 

Video #15 Complete

Pretty simple, planking/painting the inner sides of the lowest gundeck, and fitting some cable to each deck in prep.

hopefully by the time i snuff it,  lol after that i wont care as they are going to land fill with me as well

good evening everyone
 
This week i had to do something about the hull
i had used copper tape, and cleaned them with nail varnish remover, before using an acrylic varnish, but never wore gloves at any time, so i think the oils from my fingers wore everything away
its a shame, as i now have a two tone hull, and made worse by not wanting to do the bow, which is not quite so bad

 
 

Video #14 Complete
 







105.mp4    

Following on from my last post this is the method I am using to add deadeyes to the shroud lines. It may not work for you, but for me it is a method which produces the most consistent, yet not perfect, results.
 
The best item I bought for model making, especially for the rigging phase is the quad hands.
 
I form a loop in the shroud line and then using the quad hands it can be held in place, as shown below.

Next I add three simple cross over knots on the top. In the photo below I am in the process of adding the third crossover knot.

The loop can then be closed up by pulling the free end (blue arrow).

A deadeye is then placed in the loop, which is pulled tight around the deadeye.
After a quick visual check against the other shroud lines a touch of ca glue is added to the seizing and the excess thread cut away. The lanyard is then added as a further check and if necessary the seizing can be removed and redone.
The process is repeated until all the deadeyes have been added to the shroud lines.

The are not perfectly level but they do tend to follow the slight upward slant of the channel beneath which is to be expected.

 

Attaching the wales
The first 4 mm wide strip for the wale is very flexible and can be easily fixed with masking tape. I followed the guide strip of the second planking that I had attached earlier.

 
 
When attaching the other strips, I was initially unsure how they should run in the stern area. In the end, I adjusted them to the curves of the second planking and then taped them towards the counter. The counter was slightly damaged in the process. I will probably fill this in before painting.
 
 

 

 
Otherwise, the strips are very close together, so I won't be filling them, and I don't think it would be a problem if the planking is slightly visible. The wale was sanded with 180, 320 and 500 grit sandpaper.

 
 

 

Progress has been a bit slow over the last couple of weeks due to the very nice weather. I decided it was time to revamp the garden pond. I ended up digging a new larger hole (7ftL by 4ftW by 1.5ftD) and fitting a new liner. The fish seem happy in their new home and I added a few more small ones, plus a filter and fountain.

Moving on the Harpy progress. I decided to follow @ECK lead and to fit and rig the yards to the masts before starting with the shrouds. It was certainly much easier to do at this stage.

Next I started to rig the shrouds. I did an initial check that the method for adding the deadeyes would help to ensure they look reasonably level. It appears to work, noting I will need remove the left-hand lanyard as the deadeye needs to be rotated slightly.

The method I am using is to place a jig in the channel deadeye. The shroud is passed through a hole and held in place using a clamp.

The seizing thread is then passed through the shroud line, as shown in the next photo, using a needle.

The jig is then removed from the channel and the shroud and seizing is then pulled back through the hole.

The final check is to make sure the seizing thread for the adjacent shrouds looks level.

In my next post I will detail how the deadeye is added to the shroud.
 

Post 78
Cutters 18’ and 22’
These are the new resin hulled version with Pearwood fittings.
Nicely formed with Lapstrake planking, detailed framing, mast steps, and rowlocks set-up for single banked rowing.
The colour scheme needs to be decided first, something that  co-ordinates with the main ship scheme.
For the outer hull colour I used Vallejo White/grey, and for the Gunwales Black/grey. I think this gives a more scale effect.
For the inner hull I used a combination of oche brown shade mixtures until I got a look I liked. I then applied a wash of Dark Brown.

4297a
This picked up the inner Lapstrake planking.
I applied the same scheme to both cutters.
The Pearwood fittings I left bright just treated with w-o-p.
 
22’ Cutter
Inserting the Pearwood fittings, takes a little care, they are quite delicate, particularly the stern sheets.
They are accurately cut  to fit around the  hull ribs  but light pressure only should be used to fit into place.
 I used spots of cyano.

4308a
One thing I did note ; there does not seem to be a laser cut thwart for the aftermost position. A minor issue as one is easily cut from the laser fret.
Adding detail
Adding the mast clamps to the thwarts is a small improvement, easily done using black card.

4301a
Using a  stick helps align the  thwart with the mast step.

4309a
I also like to add lifting rings to the keelson.

4317a
At this scale it is feasible to add the rudder hanging ironware to the Cutter stern. This comprises a long  pintle, and  Gudgeon ring. Fiddly, but it’s stuff I like to do.

4316a
This particular arrangement is designed for quick attachment/ removal of the rudder.
 
 
The set-up for rowing is three pairs of offset rowlocks which would suggest single banked rowing positions. The oar lengths would suggest  double banked rowing, so with this arrangement there would presumably be one rower per thwart, alternating port and starboard.
I’m not too keen on the provided oars for the 22’ cutter, the blade looks too short and paddle like for my taste.

4305a
The oar style supplied with Indy looks more the shape to my eye and fortunately I had some spares I could utilise.
 
Boat cradles are supplied (for the 18’ cutter) but will fit the 22’ cutter. If the larger cutter is to be stored on deck, the cradles need raising a little to allow the boat keel to clear the coamings. I added 2x2mm Pearwood strip to the bottom of the cradles.

4324a
I always find fitting cradles a tricky exercise, getting them central to the deck, square, and  correctly spaced to fit the hull. It would be easier to glue the hull to the cradles before fitting, but I prefer not to do that.

4325a

4327a

4328a
Nice to see that my scale figure sits perfectly in the sternsheets.

4331a

4332a
Some paintwork tidying is still required, but I’ll attend to that in conjunction with the 18’ Cutter
 
B.E.
18/05/2025
 
 

Because unlike most builds there is no internal structure to support or add strength to the ribs.

Some further progress.
 
The hair brackets and the PE decoration that fits between the brackets were added to the prow. The upper and lower cheeks were added as was the hawse bolster. The brackets were very delicate and required careful handling, but fitted perfectly. The cheeks needed some sanding to get them to fit as they should. The bolsters needed quite a lot of sanding before they matched the existing hawse holes.

The next bits to add were the prow knee and the "V" brackets that support the head rails. Chris very kindly included two sets of these (other than the knee) in case some of these rather delicate pieces were broken. Murphy's law was then triggered and the only piece I broke was the non-dupicated one.

There was no chance of gluing the two pieces together, so each part was separately added to the prow along with its "V" bracket. There is a slight misalignment, but you need to know it's there to see it. The head rails were then added. And the davits have glued in place at the stern.




Cheers