JanV

Hi Mates,
 
Small update, but time consuming, as I was also working on the mast blocks;
 
with the platform and the mast I thought it best to pre-rig some of the blocks, as well as the deadeyes before mounting. This (rigging) is new territory for me, so I hope that it makes sense later. I did not feel comfortable assembling the platform without the rigging. Also referring to three dif. plan sets had its issues, and settled on what you see here (mostly from Vasa Museum and Billings). Pics are self-explanatory so keeping it brief.
 
Onto the flag mast, cap, and framing structure. Again thanks everyone for dropping by.
 
Cheers,
 
Michael

Hi Mates,
 
Slowly moving forward actually, surprising indeed. At this stage I am discovering, as all other Vasa builders at MSW have noted, are the rigging issues with this ship.
 
It appears as if the three main kits all have variations for positioning lines, and also where they should attach.
 
So even adding a few eyelets to the lower bowsprit mast has its issues. Karl (karlop) was kind in sending me photos of his Billings rigging plans. I am also following Frank’s rigging ideas [fmodajar] (I plan to add sails so need to add blocks, not shown on the Corel rigging sheets), lastly I do have the Museum plan sheets. What’s still MIA is the Vasa II book, which was due late last year.
 
Regarding the photos;
 
Decided to use the Corel included triple blocks. They needed a full facelift, but I’m happy with how they came out.
 
Using Chuck’s ropes, and blocks (Syren) and I am very happy sourcing from his company.
 
Decided to “shrink” the eyelets, I found them to be out of the box, a bit too out of scale based on photos I have seen of the 1/10th and Clayton’s as well. I initially had used the Brass Black to darken the pieces, but too messy. So will just paint them as I go along.
 
The flat black paint is also great as it removes any shine from the rope’s glue dabs.
 
Platform in place but not attached, need to add lower platform braces and, of course the chainplate bits.
 
As always thanks for dropping by.
 
Cheers,
 
Michael

Hi all - a bit of progress. First I pre-rigged the yards as much as possible.
 

 
Then I attached the yards to the masts & got all the lifts & halyards rigged. May not be 100% correct but it should be close. Still a bit more to do such as braces,rope coils,anchors,& a few other misc.items. I went by Corel`s measurements for the masts & yards but the yards seem a little on the short side .Oh well - I`m not going to re-do them at this point.
 

 
/Mark
 
 

Frank,
 
Yes noted. Thanks,
 
I did take that into consideration for this platform. The others will need much wider openings for the ratline ropes. this one is the easy one. The ropes, as you know wrap above at the next cap. Yours, BTW looks excellent.
 
Here are a couple of pics of where I am so far (nothing has been glued into place yet.
 
I hope that I'm not missing something that I don't yet see??
 
Michael

Frank nice job.
I think I am going to save your buildlog for future use once I am workinh on the sails

Frank nice job.
I think I am going to save your buildlog for future use once I am workinh on the sails

Frank nice job.
I think I am going to save your buildlog for future use once I am workinh on the sails

Hello,
 
Thanks for visiting and all the "likes". It is appreciated.
 
I have started working on the lower foremast sail and yard.
 
Previously, I made up this sail and manually sewed the bolt rope around the edges. Since I decided to furl this sail, I removed 1/3 of the sail at the bottom (so sail looks short) so that it would not be too bulky when rolled up.
 
Lower Foremast sail attached to yard

 
Next I took each bottom end and folded them past the top of the yard. I then, starting from the bottom, rolled the sail tightly up to the yard and pulled the ends back over the sail. Once done with this, I tied the sail to the yard in a few places.


 
Now I added the various blocks and rigging to the yard and sail.
 
View from front of sail




 
View from back of sail

 
Sail Cluelines attached

finally started with the rigging. first the standing rig. 
I am not so familiar with the English terms for the rigging, so I will show mostly pictures with small comments
 

Hi all - progress has been a little slow but I managed to get the topmast shrouds & a couple more stays done. I had some family staying with me for a while ,but everything is back to normal now.
 

 

 

 
/Mark
 
 

finally started with the rigging. first the standing rig. 
I am not so familiar with the English terms for the rigging, so I will show mostly pictures with small comments
 

Continuing withe the photos:
 
Mizzen Topsail lines:


 
Main Topgallant brace

 
Mizzen Sail Bowlines

 
Overview Photos


 
Thanks for all the previous likes!
 
Now I am off to start on the Foremast.
 
Frank
 

Hello!
 
Before starting the sails and yards for the foremast, I decided to finish rigging the mainmast and mizzenmast yards and sails.
 
I did this for a few reasons!
1. I was worried about getting my hands and fingers between the tight spaces in-between the mainmast and mizzenmast.
2. I wanted to finish and tie down all the lines to the belaying pins on the inside of the rails before I attach the already made delicate upper railing system.
3. I needed a break from all the shroud and sail sewing work!
 
The following pictures show the results. 
 
Note: I did not finish rigging the lower mainmast and mizzenmast yard and sail braces, tacks, and sheets because I want to install that upper rail system first. These lines would only be in the way if I finished them now.
 
Mizzen top Stay

 
Lines fastened from the mizzen boom


 
Belaying pins (inside of the upper railing system still to be installed)

 
Mainmast lifts, sheets etc


 
Mainmast topsail braces, cluelines and sheets



 

finally started with the rigging. first the standing rig. 
I am not so familiar with the English terms for the rigging, so I will show mostly pictures with small comments
 

Thanks Frank,
 
Yea this is going to work like a charm. I also decided to use smaller wood. OK need to close shop. 
 
You're a So Cal guy, almost time for the Dodgers (:-) (;-)
 
PS: really enjoying following along with your current build Alert..
 
MIchael

Hi Mates,
 
Back again with another “fix”, just as I was starting to go vertical;
 
Peter (flyer) was kind enough to post a suggestion regarding too much nudity on deck ha ha….but more importantly about the missing opening just behind the figures. So decided this brilliant idea should be exercised.
 
First some (again) complaints about Corel’s kit.
 
• the weather deck is much too narrow so the doors are too close together and not enough space is available between the doors for the proper amount of figures.
 
This also caused some previous grief when building the proper size gun carriages.
 
• The deck gradations are way off as well. So the last set of doorframes stand much too high above that deck
 
===============
 
MY MISTAKES. Door hinges should mirror each other at each door, not both have left side hinges
 
Those portholes in the doors were a figment of my early imagination. The Vasa does not have these.
 
Those two rope rings on the deck don’t belong there either, but deck scaring keeps them in place. Grrrrrr
 
Thanks for dropping by..  Peter thanks or your great suggestion, very much appreciated. Big improvement !!
 
PS: I recommend looking at Peter’s beautiful log (Pegasus). His rigging work alone, along with the great photos are so nice.
 
Thanks for dropping by..And thanks Peter for your great suggestion, very much appreciated. Big improvement !!
 
Cheers
 
Michael
 
PICs just don't want to load in order w the heck??
 
 
 

Hi Mates,
 
Well all done here, hard to believe. Last of the cheaves have been installed the one double and the two single ones. Time to move "vertical" or thereabouts.
 
Regards,
 
PS: Not crazy about those three semi-nudes sheltered between the two doors, but needed to fill the space.
 
These were leftover figures from the "á la Corel" kit included incorrect bits that were intended to lie above the galleries. Hell they might have kept the shipmates spirits lively (:-) They may eventually still be evicted....
 
Michael 

I finally managed to have some time in my workshop to proceed
 

 
the main and foremast are ready now, waiting for the loading tackels and shrouds.
 
I also prepared a tool to be used for finalizing the ropes on the blocks.
I will show some details in practice later on.
 

 
 
 

Hi Mates,
 
Moving onto the bowsprit mast, first update.
 
Thought that I would try to seam together two mast pieces as was done on the 1:1.
 
Pics are self explanatory but some thoughts;
 
• Pic 5, 6. Drilled holes so that when I sawed both inside cheeks the center-piece would fall out more easily. And so it did sort of.
 
• Pic 11- are the first two attempts with my first use of Proxxon KS-15 circular saw. (tried to use the scroll saw but broke two blades, after very little progress).
 
Purchased a second 50mm fine tooth saw for the KS-15 circular saw. I originally tried the 58mm saw that came pre-installed. That was much too ruff (see pic 11 below). The finer saw made much smoother cuts
 
• Also used the Proxxon DS-115 scroll saw to “clean” the insides a bit better, for that it worked well.
 
After much filing it seems to look as if the first part might look ok. Though it still needs a bit of work.
 
I have not quite mentally figured out how to mate/sleeve the long mast
 
To be continued J
 
Cheers, and thanks for stopping by.
 
Michael
 
 

I finally managed to have some time in my workshop to proceed
 

 
the main and foremast are ready now, waiting for the loading tackels and shrouds.
 
I also prepared a tool to be used for finalizing the ropes on the blocks.
I will show some details in practice later on.
 

 
 
 

finally a restart.
made a turnable table with the Vasa fixed on 
 

 

 

 
 
it is possible now to turn the Vasa to each position.

The gun deck cannon are from Amati, and replace the badly designed gunport/cannon setup provided by the kit.  I sprayed the cannon flat black, then overlaid it with dark bronze.  Fixing the cannon to their false carriages (thick CA glue) wasn't too difficult, I just had to make sure none of them fell into the hull.
 

 

 

 
 

I've been a bit busy with high school graduations and vacations, but I've managed to spend some time working on the ship.  Here are some photos of the channels and deadeyes.  They were reasonably straightforward, with a few caveats.  First, the deadeye notches on the foremast and mainmast are slightly off - the plans show extra notches, and two are in the wrong place.  The first photo shows the filling in of a notch and its replacement in the correct location.
 

 
Here's a photo of the mizzen channel.  Rather then use thread to fasten the deadeyes to their chain plate, I used Amati metal strops.  I took a brief look at making the deadeyes vaguely triangular in shape, but I decided not to.  It was just going to make the strops hard to fit, and my fingers kept getting in the way when I tried to file them down.  Hats off to Matti for persevering here!
 
Also note the block in the middle.  I'm using aftermarket blocks from Syren since they look better.  The plans specify double blocks, but they should be singles.
 
The kit-provided chain plates were simple strips of brass.  I blackened them chemically, then used various jigs and small pliers to bend them into shape.  The brass is fragile and work-hardens, so get the bends right the first time.  All in all, tedious, but straightforward.  
 
Attaching the channels required a bit of fettling to get the angle of the channel correct, and required some filler to close gaps where the channel curve didn't quite match the curve of the hull.  Again, nothing unusual, and the result looks fine.
 

 
Care needs to be taken in positioning the channels so the deadeyes don't obstruct any gun ports.  This was not difficult, just needed to be done.  Here's a photo of the fore channel with all the deadeyes attached.  It's very helpful to dry-fit the main mast and tape a thread to the top.  Then you can run the thread down to the chain plate and make sure it's aligned correctly.
 

 
And finally a photo of the main channel.  While it may not be clear from the angle, I managed to avoid obstructing the gun ports.
 

 
Next, the gun deck cannons and port lids.  Getting near the end of the hull work!
 

Again no words for your build.

A little progress - finished the lower shrouds & ratlines & mounted the bowsprit.
 

 

 

 

 
/Mark