keelhauled

thanks Frankie. I thought that there might be a rule. It doesn't seem like there is. I spent more time looking through period photos and painting with the same observations that you made. It does appear that the majority have the furled yards raked like those yards with their sails set. Thanks again!! Marc

Hi, I'm rigging my clipper with the royals and sky sails furled, but the topsails set. I want to rig it close hauled. do the furled sails brace slightly corkscrewed with the topsail yards or are they braced perpendicular to the keel? Thanks Marc

They are excellent at replacing bad parts and respond quickly. Really a great company!!

Really coming along. Looks great!

Looking like a masterpiece under construction! Keep up the great work! Marc

HI Mark, Looking good! Like everyone else, I'm sorry to hear of your frustration. I have the same issues with frustration and life getting in the way. Due to work travel and trying to make up for being gone so much. Until last week I wasn't able to work on the ship since September. Also, it is why I've been working on this ship since 2003. I'm finally rigging and attaching sails. keep on doing a great job!! Also I just posted to your question about the burton. If your question was about the Cutty or a clipper, then my answer applies, if not then just skip it. Take care, Marc

Hi everyone, I'm not sure what period or type of ship that Mark is working on, however, there is a burton pendant that leads down to fish tackle on clipper ships. It is located on the topmast crosstree. The burton pendant and fish tackle are for helping to cat and get the anchors on board. The end of the pendant has an eye or shackle that running end of the line runs through making a loop. This pendant is looped is located over and around the finished forward topmast crosstree. An example is the Cutty Sark. The pendant and tackle could be easily removed for stowage once the ship was out at sea. As to the fore stays, if this ship is a clipper, the burton pendant and fish tackle run between the stays when the stowed, with the hook of the fish tackle blook attached to the pin rail before the bowsprit or to an eye attached to the bowsprit itself. The Cutty Sark has a dedicated eye on the bowsprit just above the deck. When the rig is being used it was led over the fore stays to the side of the ship it was being using. If you look on youtube there is an educational video of the Star of India raising the anchor using the burton pendant and fish tackle. Maybe this helps. Thanks Marc

Nenad, Nice work. We always seem to be building the same parts over and over. I was rigging last night and re-made the same fish tackle 4 times. The third time I used a flame to burn off the little fine hairs on the line and forgot that I had waxed the line earlier with a wax solvent mixture that apparently wasn't fully dried. The line which was rigged on the ship went up in flames instantly. luckily it only burnt the one line and didn't hurt the ship or any other rigging. So I won't be using any techniques with open flames anywhere near the ship going forward. every trial is an opportunity to learn - hopefully! Marc

As long as you are having fun it doesn't matter. Otherwise it isn't a hobby. If that is the case your collectors or clients will dictate the amount of detail either by desire or costs. If it is your hobby, put in whatever detail you like and exclude those that you don't like working on. In the end if it wasn't fun, then why did you spend your time on it?

Can't wait to see the rest of the show!!

Looking good! very realistic look to the canvas!

very nice hatches! the last photo you have of the actual cutty has the canvas and the iron bars with their wedges that were used to "batten down the hatches" I don't know if you've ever heard of that phrase, but that is what they are speaking of. Really nice work on such a small scale! Marc

Congrats on the addition! Nice work on the ship also. I've been on the road on and off for the past month and just catching up. Keep up the good work!

Great work Nenad!

Hi Nenad, It looks like the net was there later in her life. referring to your post with the photos of the net: The top photo is from 1954. The middle is 1927 and the bottom is 1945. From 1922 to 1954 she was a training ship. I don't know if her being used as a training ship had anything to do with the addition of the net or maybe changes in regulations. I don't think you can go wrong by adding it to her. After all, it was there at one point. marc

Hi Nenad, I ended up putting the pin rails in place. I haven't decided upon where to stow the ladders. When the were under sail, would they have stowed them under the forecastle deck? Maybe as you say tie them to the stanchions on the bulwarks. Thank goodness that Captain Woodget took photos. I wished that he had taken more or if he did, that they had published them on the internet. I haven't decided on the net under the bowsprit. I don't see it in Tudgay's paintings, Woodget's photos, or Campbell's plans. Also what about the anchor cranes? Campbell's plans mention them, but I can't find a photo of her with them in place. I made them. Maybe I'll stow them on the boat skids with the accommodation ladder if I ever build it. Thanks Marc

Hi Nenad, As to the rail on the monkey or aft cabin. Woodget's photo of the Cutty has the rail. This was taken when she was carrying wool and racing. The forecastle had rails. As to the protective nets on the forecastle rail. She didn't have them. The rails are removable for fishing and stowing the anchor. This was standard in the clippers and windjammers.There is a photo on page 93 in the standing rigging of topmast in Longridge's book (the rigging - part 2) that shows the removable section of the rail gone from the cat head to the back of the anchor board while the Cutty is being towed. Here is a photo of the bow in sydney that Woodget took. to rails at the aft edge of the forecastle. Campbell's plans and photos of her in Sydney don't show it present. Also if it had been in place and the ladders removed the sailors would have a hard time getting to to forecastle. on a tall ship in Sydney as sailor showed me how he got up and down without the ladders and it was by stepping on the windlass. On that ship they were removable, but since they had customers, they kept them in place when sailing. Also notice that the pipe railing for the forecastle ladders that is on the museum version were not present in Woodget's photo even when the ladders were in place AS to the pin rails on the forecastle in Campbell's plans located where the removable ladders go.. The pins are for the sheets of the jibs and fore stay sail. You can see this in Tudgay's painting that was used for the restoration. If you don't put the pins there and you rig the sails you won't have any place to belay the sheets for the jibs. It is my understanding that those ladders to the forecastle were just for port. Marc

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement Chassseur and Nenad! Nenad, I agree about keelhauling the model author! I've figured out the rigging situation with missing deadeyes and stays. They should be ok and I don't think anyone will ever know unless I point it out. There is nothing else to do with them at this point in time. God only knows why the kit author/designer decided to leave them off. thanks Marc

Your rigging is coming along really nice. I have to say, you have incredible patience and outlook considering the set backs. Were your shrouds served? I think I would have had to go on vacation if they were. i don't know how they are on the Victory, but on the Cutty Sark they served every shroud and stay from the dead eye to the the mast - drives me crazy. If it had been me I don't know what I would have done. Although I had a room mate that accidentally snapped off my jib boom just after I finished the last knot on my model of the Constitution and he's still alive. You still have a great deal of patience and forgiveness! Keep up the great work! marc

I've completed the Lower stunsul/stay sail/ jib, and flying jib. All the hanks are in place. Someone a couple of years ago recommended using hook and eyes used for clothing, the bra in particular for the hanks. size o for my scale. I bought a pack, which I thought was expensive and found that only 7 of the eyes our of the pack were the ones that I needed. Since it looked like I was going to spend a small fortune on these, I decided to build a jig and make my own for about the cost of one pack (the cost of the wire). Here is my jig with the hanks. Here is the stunsul and jib. I decided that they looked a little bulky (right) so I cut the ears off. (left). In my research both versions were found on ships during that time. Also, I went to finish the fore stays and put the forward pin rail in place and found that there wasn't enough room for the pin rail. I mounted the hearts on the knightshead based on photos that I took of the ship and separately I made the pinrail and located based on the photos that I took. So what went wrong??? I'll tell you what went wrong.. the (expletives go here) stupid model kit with which I started this build is off in the framing and height of the bulwark in this area!!!!!!!!!!!! I tell you, I've ended up scratch building almost everything on this ship past the frame and the pinrails (also with exceptions of the deck pump, deck wench, ship's bells, mast caps). I should have stopped and thrown the hull in the garbage back in 15 years ago when I first noticed something was off and just used the hand full of fittings and scratch built everything. I by the way, the pin rail on the bulwarks are missing 3 back stays.. Stupid model... too late to go back now. Ok rant over. If it was not for this model kit, I would have never started to build in wood and a I would have never found that I actually had the ability to build things from scratch... Here is the fore stay before. The run of the stay goes directly through where the pin rail should be. I can't move the bollard on the rail (can't think of the correct name) back toward the cats, they are epoxied on the rail and actually they are in the correct position anyway. So after lots of thinking about fixes, I decided to bite the bullet and remove the forestays and hearts and rebuild/replace them. I thought that if I didn't do this, I would tick me off for the rest of my life when I viewed the model. I was able to keep the upper hearts. I had to remake the lower hearts. luckily the stays were in pretty good shape. I hadn't actually glued the siezing yet (still concerned about the epoxy from the previous issue). the acetone that I used to soften the expoy on the bottom of the brass wire mounting the hearts to the knightshead did a number on the paint finish - no big deal. I damaged the lower hearts with pliers drying to pull them out of the knightshead. Here is the result. The forward pin rail can go into its correct position and the heart and stays clear the pin rail and the look is close to the actual ship. Sorry for the mess of all of the extra line. After I'm sure everything is ok, I'll take photos without all of the extra line removed. Thanks for the help, advice, and likes. Marc

Thanks for the tip Popeye! I've never run across that suggestion. Also thanks for the "likes" everyone.

Hi Daniel, Congratulations! I'm glad that Mamoli will live on! I was heartbroken to hear about the fire. I kept checking every few months just in case I it wasn't that bad or they were rebuilding. The website never changed never addressed what was going on. They are my favorite kits. I bought several, thinking someday I'd build them. I have the large Victory which will be my next build. I look forward to seeing what you do with the company. I might even repurchase some of the kits if they have changes and also in support of your effort! all the best! marc

nice drawings! Wish I had your computer skills! I probably would have had hot head convert all of the drawings. Isn't drawing ships about the same as architecture - of course ships are cooler since the move around Don't forget the seats in the head. otherwise your little people will fall through the hole!

Nenad, Jeff, and Thomas, Thank you for the compliments and encouragement. Thanks for the info Jeff. I sounds like good advice for checking the epoxy. The next steps are to work on the rest of the fore back stays and then I start with jibs and the fore stays! I've found that I hadn't finished putting the hanks on the jibs. So I started making more hanks. thanks Marc

Thanks Jeff. I really appreciate the kind words. I rigged the fore shrouds to the deadeyes. only the lower hitch is in place in these photos. and made fast the cow hitches All of the shrouds are served as are the stays. I made a set of hearts for the fore stay And then the next day after temporarily rigging the fore stay, I noticed that it had slacked slightly. Odd because i haven't had any served lines stretch. I tighten the stays then had the same slack the next day. Then I noticed that the irons securing the hearts were pulling out of the knights heads. The epoxy had failed. So, I've removed the fore stay and have cleaned the old epoxy off. mixed new epoxy and remounted the iron and heart. I saved the sheet that I mixed the epoxy on, which is hard as a rock the day after mixing. I'll give it another 24 hours before testing their strength. I guess I had never tested the strength of the previous attempt. Lucky that I had only temporarily rigged the fore stay!! Otherwise I would have had to serve another set of stays.