egkb

That is indeed looking very, very nice.
 
 
Agree, but I do like the fact that the box art version shows an out-of-the-box build, which is what box art should be. The customer should be able to see exactly what he is getting for his money. Sadly, this is not the case for all manufacturers everywhere, as we are all well aware.

Absolutely well done. A great looking ship and one to be proud of for sure.  
 It was very entertaining following the build. 

Hi Folks.. Well it has been a few weeks since my last update, but I haven't been slacking off !  I have completed my Rope Coils and fitted them..
The general 'feel' of my Ballahoo build is not the 'formal just off the builders blocks' look, where all ropes and trim are near perfect, instead She has a look of being just out of a 'refit' where the running rigging isn't all in place yet and the ropes are being made ready for use.. A slightly informal look if you will ..
 
And on that note Ballier is just about Finished ! 😊😊  I just have to fit the Anchors and order the Glass Case (I rang my local glass company a while back and asked if they can do it.. I asked for something like a smallish Fish Tank and they said they can do it.. cheap too!, as I already have the Base sorted.. you can see it in older photos above)
You may remember from a few posts ago I was having trouble with my Home Made Anchor Cable (it being very stiff & inflexible) but my Wife Karen suggested soaking the cables in Fabric Softener .. well I can report it seems to have worked a treat..  simply hot water in a small container with some of the Softener poured in (enough to 'discolour the water' as Karen phrased it) Pop the rope in and leave for a few mins.. dry overnight and Presto much more flexible rope ..  I have rinsed the rope in water to remove the Softener, as I have no idea what the long term effects would be, but the floral scent from the rope is enough to make me do it ..🤣
 
Today I added an Anchor Cable Stopper on the Port Side and the bare Ring/Eye on the Stbd Side as this Anchor will be stowed on the rail.
(You cab just about make them out in the photos attached)
 
As Always, Thank You All for Liking and Commenting on my Ballahoo..
 
Eamonn
 

Hi Folks ..  Well I have the Anchors pretty much completed (possibly only a bit of tidying up to do)
 
I did some research on the proper 'Knot/Bend/Hitch' to use and went with the Anchor Hitch/Bend (also called in some places The Fisherman's Bend amongst other names)  which is used on smaller Anchors (which of course Ballahoo's is)
 
Next up I shall put the Anchors in place and make up an Anchor Buoy and it's line ..
 
All The Best Folks
 
Eamonn

Hi Folks.. Well it has been a few weeks since my last update, but I haven't been slacking off !  I have completed my Rope Coils and fitted them..
The general 'feel' of my Ballahoo build is not the 'formal just off the builders blocks' look, where all ropes and trim are near perfect, instead She has a look of being just out of a 'refit' where the running rigging isn't all in place yet and the ropes are being made ready for use.. A slightly informal look if you will ..
 
And on that note Ballier is just about Finished ! 😊😊  I just have to fit the Anchors and order the Glass Case (I rang my local glass company a while back and asked if they can do it.. I asked for something like a smallish Fish Tank and they said they can do it.. cheap too!, as I already have the Base sorted.. you can see it in older photos above)
You may remember from a few posts ago I was having trouble with my Home Made Anchor Cable (it being very stiff & inflexible) but my Wife Karen suggested soaking the cables in Fabric Softener .. well I can report it seems to have worked a treat..  simply hot water in a small container with some of the Softener poured in (enough to 'discolour the water' as Karen phrased it) Pop the rope in and leave for a few mins.. dry overnight and Presto much more flexible rope ..  I have rinsed the rope in water to remove the Softener, as I have no idea what the long term effects would be, but the floral scent from the rope is enough to make me do it ..🤣
 
Today I added an Anchor Cable Stopper on the Port Side and the bare Ring/Eye on the Stbd Side as this Anchor will be stowed on the rail.
(You cab just about make them out in the photos attached)
 
As Always, Thank You All for Liking and Commenting on my Ballahoo..
 
Eamonn
 

That really looks a cut above the box art for Ballahoo..   Nice work!

Hi Folks.. Well it has been a few weeks since my last update, but I haven't been slacking off !  I have completed my Rope Coils and fitted them..
The general 'feel' of my Ballahoo build is not the 'formal just off the builders blocks' look, where all ropes and trim are near perfect, instead She has a look of being just out of a 'refit' where the running rigging isn't all in place yet and the ropes are being made ready for use.. A slightly informal look if you will ..
 
And on that note Ballier is just about Finished ! 😊😊  I just have to fit the Anchors and order the Glass Case (I rang my local glass company a while back and asked if they can do it.. I asked for something like a smallish Fish Tank and they said they can do it.. cheap too!, as I already have the Base sorted.. you can see it in older photos above)
You may remember from a few posts ago I was having trouble with my Home Made Anchor Cable (it being very stiff & inflexible) but my Wife Karen suggested soaking the cables in Fabric Softener .. well I can report it seems to have worked a treat..  simply hot water in a small container with some of the Softener poured in (enough to 'discolour the water' as Karen phrased it) Pop the rope in and leave for a few mins.. dry overnight and Presto much more flexible rope ..  I have rinsed the rope in water to remove the Softener, as I have no idea what the long term effects would be, but the floral scent from the rope is enough to make me do it ..🤣
 
Today I added an Anchor Cable Stopper on the Port Side and the bare Ring/Eye on the Stbd Side as this Anchor will be stowed on the rail.
(You cab just about make them out in the photos attached)
 
As Always, Thank You All for Liking and Commenting on my Ballahoo..
 
Eamonn
 

Hi Folks.. Well it has been a few weeks since my last update, but I haven't been slacking off !  I have completed my Rope Coils and fitted them..
The general 'feel' of my Ballahoo build is not the 'formal just off the builders blocks' look, where all ropes and trim are near perfect, instead She has a look of being just out of a 'refit' where the running rigging isn't all in place yet and the ropes are being made ready for use.. A slightly informal look if you will ..
 
And on that note Ballier is just about Finished ! 😊😊  I just have to fit the Anchors and order the Glass Case (I rang my local glass company a while back and asked if they can do it.. I asked for something like a smallish Fish Tank and they said they can do it.. cheap too!, as I already have the Base sorted.. you can see it in older photos above)
You may remember from a few posts ago I was having trouble with my Home Made Anchor Cable (it being very stiff & inflexible) but my Wife Karen suggested soaking the cables in Fabric Softener .. well I can report it seems to have worked a treat..  simply hot water in a small container with some of the Softener poured in (enough to 'discolour the water' as Karen phrased it) Pop the rope in and leave for a few mins.. dry overnight and Presto much more flexible rope ..  I have rinsed the rope in water to remove the Softener, as I have no idea what the long term effects would be, but the floral scent from the rope is enough to make me do it ..🤣
 
Today I added an Anchor Cable Stopper on the Port Side and the bare Ring/Eye on the Stbd Side as this Anchor will be stowed on the rail.
(You cab just about make them out in the photos attached)
 
As Always, Thank You All for Liking and Commenting on my Ballahoo..
 
Eamonn
 

Hi Folks.. Well it has been a few weeks since my last update, but I haven't been slacking off !  I have completed my Rope Coils and fitted them..
The general 'feel' of my Ballahoo build is not the 'formal just off the builders blocks' look, where all ropes and trim are near perfect, instead She has a look of being just out of a 'refit' where the running rigging isn't all in place yet and the ropes are being made ready for use.. A slightly informal look if you will ..
 
And on that note Ballier is just about Finished ! 😊😊  I just have to fit the Anchors and order the Glass Case (I rang my local glass company a while back and asked if they can do it.. I asked for something like a smallish Fish Tank and they said they can do it.. cheap too!, as I already have the Base sorted.. you can see it in older photos above)
You may remember from a few posts ago I was having trouble with my Home Made Anchor Cable (it being very stiff & inflexible) but my Wife Karen suggested soaking the cables in Fabric Softener .. well I can report it seems to have worked a treat..  simply hot water in a small container with some of the Softener poured in (enough to 'discolour the water' as Karen phrased it) Pop the rope in and leave for a few mins.. dry overnight and Presto much more flexible rope ..  I have rinsed the rope in water to remove the Softener, as I have no idea what the long term effects would be, but the floral scent from the rope is enough to make me do it ..🤣
 
Today I added an Anchor Cable Stopper on the Port Side and the bare Ring/Eye on the Stbd Side as this Anchor will be stowed on the rail.
(You cab just about make them out in the photos attached)
 
As Always, Thank You All for Liking and Commenting on my Ballahoo..
 
Eamonn
 

Yes indeed. He was pretty much Europe's "golden boy" in his youth. He seems to have gone sharply downhill physically and mentally after a very severe jousting accident in which his leg (thigh, I think) was very badly injured and never really recovered from it.
 
Steven

So the winch / Capstan is solved, hopefully travelling from NZ to Oz soon 

Boom (and more messing about with brass)
 
I made all the spars some time ago and covered the various techniques in detail then so I won't repeat all that now. I'll just cover the additional steps as I cross the yards and other spars.
 
Having enjoyed using brass to remake the oars I thought I'd use it to make more realistic parrel trucks. The kit supplies small round beads which, although about the right size, look a bit round and shiny. As I understand it, trucks were more barrel shaped, the length being slightly longer than the diameter.  I decided 1/16"/1.6mm brass tube would be ideal.
 
I started marking the tube with a light saw cut at 2mm, using my new tube cutter (thanks @glbarlow!):

Then, on to the Proxxon lathe to shape the tube with swiss files. I didn't think it was worth going to the metal lathe - the little wood lathe is more than adequate for such a small job :

I parted the truck off with a jewellers saw and once I had 16 (eight each for the gaff and boom) I blackened them with Casey's Brass Black. Here's the result:
 

I started the rigging with the boom topping lift. I actually set up the falls and the sheet before I fixed the parrel round the mast, as I thought it would be more difficult to seize blocks and hooks in situ. This way, I was able to fix the parrel then seize the other end of the lift to the outer end of the boom:
 
I can't believe how furry that line looks in close-up! At least the shot shows why I like fly tying thread for a neat seizing job.
To rig the extra leg on the boom topping lift I seized a short length of 0.25mm line to the boom then used a fine needle to thread the other end through the lift. I made a fake splice by fraying the end of the line then using my fingers and a drop of dilute PVA to roll the frayed end round the lift. Once dried it looked reasonable:

Next, I loosely rigged the sheet to the boom...

...then tightened the falls:

One minor point here; the kit plan  has the fall belaying to a pin rack on the starboard bulwarks. I tried this but the result looked awkward, with the line running over the deck and pulling the tackle askew. I therefore chose to hitch the tackle to itself. I also noticed after taking this shot that some of the blackening on the trucks had rubbed off on the mast. Fortunately it cleaned off easily. I may coat the trucks with matt poly.
 
I was going to rig the gaff, but then thought that might make it difficult to cross the main yard so I've decided to do that next.
 
Derek

Henry looked a bit lonely so I've added a couple more figures. I also moved him from the weather deck to the (quarter?)deck where he's a bit more obvious, and I think more in keeping with his station in the Grand Scheme of Things.
 
         
 
   
 
 

 
Also another sailor - he'll be climbing the ratlines (when I get them in place).
 
        
 
        
 
And I thought I'd show the process I use to put deadeyes on. I've made a little jig to standardise the spacing of the deadeyes - copied from other people's builds. (I should have made it earlier - the earlier deadeyes might end up a bit higgledy-piggledy because of that.)
 
First put the wire jig through the extreme holes in the corresponding upper and lower deadeyes. Note this doesn't work as well on mine because I have tiny triangular deadeyes which rotate when you try to pin them down, so I just use a dab of glue to fix the shroud to the top of the triangle.
 
       
 
Then gradually wrap the shroud around the deadeye, gluing as I go.
 
      
 

 
Trim the shroud to length and "feather" the end to get it to merge into the rest of the shroud like a splice. And voila!
 

 
Oh, and I've (possibly too early - I hope I don't break it) added the fore topmast.
 

 
It struck me how tiny this topmast is - then I noticed that though Landström's reconstruction has topgallant sails, it doesn't have a topgallant mast! Looking at the Anthony Roll picture, it gets even worse - he's drawn it as though the mast is a single unit, all the way from the deck up to the truck!
 

 
As topgallants were very new at this time, and contemporary pictures show topmasts as being pretty tiny, I'm going with Landström. Maybe they hadn't yet developed the idea of a separate piece of mast for each sail, at least up to the topgallants.
 
Steven
 
 

simply fantastic what more can I say.  almost party  time  👋
 
Make it a good day
Will 

Great pictures of a beautiful model!
 
Thomas

Again, great photography and a really superb model.   Approaching these end-days must be a nice feeling for a complex project like Syren.   I wish I had more to say that hasn't been said already - it really is great piece of work. 

Thanks all for the likes! I finished rigging the royal yards. Here are a few pics of the ship at this stage. The ship is getting really busy now with all the ropes. Hard to keep track of what's where! 

A pic with more dramatic lighting highlighting the running rigging a bit more






 


I'll next catch up on the 10000 rope coils which will take a while 😅, then will finish up the rigging on the lower yards, then the spritsail yard. I am the point where I can count what's left to finish her up! I still can't believe where I have reached...

Will, MD and Heinz thank you for your comments.  Thank you also for the likes.
 
My intention was to do the boats in between the rigging.  Although I started some work on the shrouds I got carried away with the boats and continued working on them.  The boats are a project in themselves.  I will try to put as much detail in them as possible because I think they will be very eye catching when you are looking at the complete model.
 
On the Launch and the Barge, for the second planking I used the 0.5mm Walnut as indicated in the manual.
  
 

 
For the Pinnace and the Cutter I did not use the 0.5mm Walnut supplied with the kit.  I had some left overs of Sapele from the model Bluenose II.  It was slightly thinner, 0.4mm and more flexible, which I thought made it a better material for the second planking because of the small size of the boats.

 

 
Outer hull brushed with watered down PVA glue, left to dry, sanded, then gone over them with a fine filler and left to dry.

 
 
When filler was thoroughly dry hull sanded with fine sand paper and inside bulkheads removed.

 

 

 

 
Robert

I think I'll go with the modified oars:

Not perfect, but I'm not inclined to try making them in wood. Doing that in 1:48 scale for Royal Caroline's boat was hard enough and 1:64 might be a stretch too far. I may change my mind towards the end of the build if the oars start bugging me again.

Hi 🙂 Bread oven, part twoo:  

Just wanted to post a quick update. I decided to continue rigging and will work on the rope coils after. I'm currently almost done rigging the royal yards. I also received the additional rope so I can work on the rigging without worrying of it running out! 

Hulls done 

A light filter added then Ships markers added (left over from Yamato - Rub on decals which leave no glossy outline) and ships numbers left over from my Vendetta build which are individual numbers and letters to minimise flash. 
 
weathering next. 

On my plans scarf A and scarf B are exactly the same size. You could trace them to check or use dividers. I note that there is a fold going across the tip of scarf B, so is this where your measurement might be going wrong?
 
The other thing is that if you have used scans or photocopies to go to 1:24 there may well have been distortions in the scanning process.
 
Gérard is very precise in his drawings, and when there are errors in Ancre plans the ones I have found are always due to mistakes by the author.
 
Questions about the Rochefort have been pretty thoroughly examined in the Marine & Modélisme d'Arsenal forum, so you could also have a look there about issues that come up as you build.
 
Good luck with the answer!
 
Tony

Oh on the positive side I have remade the sternson and extensions.  I corrected all of the errors of my own making so this is far better than the original one that I made.  I did have to jiggle the scarfs though probably for the same reason as above I've just not have time to have a detailed look at that.  Quite honestly it doesn't matter as this version lines up exactly with the main plan 😉