keelhauled

Hi Michael, 
I'm excited to follow the offset bowsprit rigging.  Very nice modification.  I always wondered about building this model.  
best
marc

After letting the shrouds and lanyards sit overnight, I adjusted the tension where needed and let it sit again for a few days.  Then I checked the tension and alignment of the mizzen against the other mast again. this time I got a better photo.  The caps are lined up, the tops are lined up and the royals and sky are lined up.  I'm sure that they never were on the actual ship.  But I tried to keep the rigging ship shaped     For reference, the only square sails set thus far are on the fore mast.
 

 

 
thanks for  looking!!

On to bending the driver.  I wanted to have the driver attached before stepping the mizzen.  I made more hanks using the jig described earlier in the log.  why I didn't make all of the hanks at the same time, I'll never know! I built the channel for the hanks to slide on as well as attached the hanks to the driver.  I used photos of the cutty to make sure of the detail. I have an observation. I shot around 200 photos and still don't have the shots that I need. 
 

 
 
With the driver rigged, I stepped the mizzen mast.  I used toothpicks for the wedges.  

 
Thanks for looking!!
marc

Hi everyone, 
here is the reason that I haven't been working on the ship since June.
 
Here is the lathe when I started.  I was just going to clean it up some and put it on a bench.

 
Here is what it looked like five months later
 

I started by just doing some cleaning.   Then, before I knew it, I had disassembled the lathe down to the bed!!!  It become one of those projects where the more you get into it, the deeper you get.  I took just about everything completely apart, stripped it to the bear metal. 

 
 
Here is the apron.  several coats of flaked paint.  Levers and gears aren't smooth and hard to use.

The  back of the apron.  surface rust, caked oil and dirt filling the gear teeth.  blocked oil paths. 

 
Apron disassembled and taken to the bare metal


  I was hoping that it all went back.  Notice the collection of labeled zip lock bags.  I photographed each component in-place before removing it, then removed the component and placed it into its own labeled bag. 
After complete cleaning, painting, new felts, new oilers, and reassembly.  the wheel and all of the levers and gears operate very smoothly

Here the lathe is on the table that I built for it.  I wanted to have the table on castors so that I could move it around, but I wanted the stability of it resting on legs. I couldn't find a solution online that didn't have complaints.  I actually built the table so that it could rest on cribbing (boards) that lift the table off of its castors. I use a hydraulic car jack that lifts one side of the table high enough for me to slide cribbing consisting of 2"X 8" boards formed like a "U" that supports the table.  It only take about 4 pumps on the jack to lift it to the correct height.  It takes less than a minute to do both sides.  In this photo the table is actually siting on this cribbing, not the castors.

I made two carts that slide under the table.  I'm able to store most of the tools and accessories in these carts. The slot at the top of the cart on the left holds four chucks and the collet draw bars.

On the back of the carts, I store all of the oils needed (5 different types) and various tools that don't fit well in the drawers.

I'm very happy with the results!   One change with the tops of the carts - i placed a soft oil resistant mat on the tops.
Now I need to learn how to use the lathe!!!😲

On to bending the driver.  I wanted to have the driver attached before stepping the mizzen.  I made more hanks using the jig described earlier in the log.  why I didn't make all of the hanks at the same time, I'll never know! I built the channel for the hanks to slide on as well as attached the hanks to the driver.  I used photos of the cutty to make sure of the detail. I have an observation. I shot around 200 photos and still don't have the shots that I need. 
 

 
 
With the driver rigged, I stepped the mizzen mast.  I used toothpicks for the wedges.  

 
Thanks for looking!!
marc

Work proceeds on getting the mizzen ready to step.  Before stepping the Mizzen, I wanted to make sure that the driver was attached and rig.  Here is preparing the booms.  There are still a couple of fittings and cleat to add.
 

 
I finished rigging the ratlines and checked and double checked the blocks to make sure that I haven't missed any. 
 

 
A view of the progress on the sails and test fitting the mizzen.

On to bending the driver.  I wanted to have the driver attached before stepping the mizzen.  I made more hanks using the jig described earlier in the log.  why I didn't make all of the hanks at the same time, I'll never know! I built the channel for the hanks to slide on as well as attached the hanks to the driver.  I used photos of the cutty to make sure of the detail. I have an observation. I shot around 200 photos and still don't have the shots that I need. 
 

 
 
With the driver rigged, I stepped the mizzen mast.  I used toothpicks for the wedges.  

 
Thanks for looking!!
marc

On to bending the driver.  I wanted to have the driver attached before stepping the mizzen.  I made more hanks using the jig described earlier in the log.  why I didn't make all of the hanks at the same time, I'll never know! I built the channel for the hanks to slide on as well as attached the hanks to the driver.  I used photos of the cutty to make sure of the detail. I have an observation. I shot around 200 photos and still don't have the shots that I need. 
 

 
 
With the driver rigged, I stepped the mizzen mast.  I used toothpicks for the wedges.  

 
Thanks for looking!!
marc

hello everyone,
 
thanks for your support Harry!  I've been learning to use the lathe.  I've been accomplishing turning threads at the correct pitch and turning rods to the correct diameter within a 1/10000 of an inch. I have a way to go to before tackling anything of substance.  working on skills.  I'd like to make some parts for my tiny wood working lathe (like a following rest) and make some jigs for modeling.  Eventually I want to turn the ships bells, stanchions for the rails, sheaves and maybe cannon and  belaying pins. 
 
Sorry, I haven't posted.  Unfortunately, I've been working long hours as a result of COVID-19 and when I've had time off, I wasn't overly productive and didn't feel like being in front of a computer screen.  I don't think I checked email more than once a month.   Anyway, I have worked on the Model some when I can get myself motivated - seem to be in a funk and extremely tired.  Then I moved my home work environment from my house in Virginia to my house in Florida for the month. 
 
On to rigging - 
I continued work on rigging the mainmast.  I continued with rigging the ratlines, using templates created for both sides.   

 
The template is designed to be up against the shrouds to align the ratlines. The view of the template isn't aligned with the ratlines in the photo (its leaning against the mast, so the ratlines don't line up with the correct template lines. 
  
You might notice that there are two groups of lines red and black.  I screwed up which was evident when I checked the port and starboard alignment and height above the deadeyes.  The red lines are the corrections to the spacing. 
 

 
port side

 
some views of the foremast and the pin rails. You can see the serving of the main stay.
 

 

 
a view of the fore top from aft.  can see the 

 
Next is some work on the ship's boats
thanks
Marc

They are available in several different sizes.  I have sizes ranging from 3 inches to about 9 inches long.  really nice.  the scissors have saved me a few times.  Like all tools, they range in quality and costs.  You get what you pay for.  More important with the scissors in my experience.  cheap ones weren't too good- cutting edges had some irregularity when the two surfaces met.  the expensive ones were razor sharp and perfect alignment. 

Boat time again!
 
I had previously attached the boats to the chalks and checked it's location and fit of the supports with the pinrails.  I continued with adding the lines and chains, fastening the boats to the eyebolts.   As you can see, I did the work off the ship using some plastic containers to allow me easy access to all of the eyebolts.  The next step will be adding the studding sail yards, spars, and accommodation davit.  If I can fit all of that stuff on the beams. 

 

 

 


 
 

Boat time again!
 
I had previously attached the boats to the chalks and checked it's location and fit of the supports with the pinrails.  I continued with adding the lines and chains, fastening the boats to the eyebolts.   As you can see, I did the work off the ship using some plastic containers to allow me easy access to all of the eyebolts.  The next step will be adding the studding sail yards, spars, and accommodation davit.  If I can fit all of that stuff on the beams. 

 

 

 


 
 

hello everyone,
 
thanks for your support Harry!  I've been learning to use the lathe.  I've been accomplishing turning threads at the correct pitch and turning rods to the correct diameter within a 1/10000 of an inch. I have a way to go to before tackling anything of substance.  working on skills.  I'd like to make some parts for my tiny wood working lathe (like a following rest) and make some jigs for modeling.  Eventually I want to turn the ships bells, stanchions for the rails, sheaves and maybe cannon and  belaying pins. 
 
Sorry, I haven't posted.  Unfortunately, I've been working long hours as a result of COVID-19 and when I've had time off, I wasn't overly productive and didn't feel like being in front of a computer screen.  I don't think I checked email more than once a month.   Anyway, I have worked on the Model some when I can get myself motivated - seem to be in a funk and extremely tired.  Then I moved my home work environment from my house in Virginia to my house in Florida for the month. 
 
On to rigging - 
I continued work on rigging the mainmast.  I continued with rigging the ratlines, using templates created for both sides.   

 
The template is designed to be up against the shrouds to align the ratlines. The view of the template isn't aligned with the ratlines in the photo (its leaning against the mast, so the ratlines don't line up with the correct template lines. 
  
You might notice that there are two groups of lines red and black.  I screwed up which was evident when I checked the port and starboard alignment and height above the deadeyes.  The red lines are the corrections to the spacing. 
 

 
port side

 
some views of the foremast and the pin rails. You can see the serving of the main stay.
 

 

 
a view of the fore top from aft.  can see the 

 
Next is some work on the ship's boats
thanks
Marc

To the OP....personally, I prefer sails on models..even if they are only furled.   In reality, vessels generally only removed their sails when in port of extended periods or in service dock, to eliminate clutter and to do maintenance on the sails themselves.   If you are considering the Cutty Sark...remember....the expansive sail pattern was one of the aspects that made a clipper a fast vessel....it was one thing that made her unique from other ship designs.  Clippers carried lots of sails for their hull size.  So in my view the sails are just as much a part of the overall representation of the vessel type, as is the hull...or all her rigging.
My recently completed Great Republic sported 22 sails...and I left off many stay and all the stunsails.
Here is an image of how convincing PAPER sails can be on a 1/128 scale model.  One with light so you can see the translucency of paper.
 
Rob

Thanks Rob. Your 20 degree recommendation and reasoning sounds perfect. Per chance I wanted to go back and add furled, handmade sails to my Constitution it would look OK and be accurate that the yards are perpendicular?
 
 

Oh no Rob. Based on some photos Bob sent me over on my Cutty Sark build log I removed the chains today and reinstalled them more accurately to the 1912 photo. Had to risk doing some deck damage doing that. Kind of scared to remove them again. Wonder if I might brush them with a little black wash?

Hello everyone! 
Inspired by this wonderful discussion and pushed by the will to put sails on my Cutty Sark, I made a quick test.
This is the fore royal sail. Many details are missing, it is just a test focused on the shape of the sail.
I want billowing sail curved in both directions, vertically and horizontally and I wasn’t able to get the shape right with paper. So I switched to fabric. 
That’s the result:
 


I like the overall shape and the translucency effect (sadly invisible in this picture without back light). 
Unfortunately the texture of the fabric is out of scale e visible at close range. 
Secondly they are still too thick…
I would like to try whit modelspan, but it seems to be impossible to find it, at least here in northern Italy. 

Gloves and running machinery are a no-no. The glove can get caught in chucks etc. and cause serious injuries. What you do is your business, but please don’t give people ideas.

I'll agree with the rest who say get the little machine shop one. I got one from ENCO and did a ton of upgrades, mostly bought from LMS.
 
I would like have a set of acetal jaws for one of my chucks. I've machined a lot of it and it's really tough, seems like there are a lot of times it would be really useful for holding plastics and soft wood.

To protect softer metals and wood, used brass or aluminum shims between the jaws and the work peice, and tighten the jaws enough to hold the piece, but not distort it.

Ditto on LittleMachineShop. Double-ditto on spending more on tooling than on the lathe! That goes with the territory with lathes and mills and that's just for what I'd call essential tooling just to get done the basic operations one would expect the lathe to do.  

I have one of those lathes.  
 
Wefalck, the spindle is open.  I've run dowels and brass rod out the end of the spindle.
 
Walt, here's two links.  This lathe has bit better "fit" in tolerances than the some of the others.  Not what I would call a heavy duty unit.  Anyway, there are things that can be done with patience by following the documents on these sites.   The MicroMark lathes are also the Sieg brand.    Read the links, and make a decision.   I would, knowing what I know now, I would buy one of the LittleMachineShop ones.  I have one of their mills and it's heads and shoulders above the Micromark mills.  Also, make room in the budget for items such as cutters, maybe 4 jaw chuck, etc.  I think I've spent more on tooling than the lathe. 
 
http://www.mini-lathe.com/Default.htm   Scroll down the page and you'll find links for using, setting up, etc.
 
https://littlemachineshop.com/default.php     Use the Learning Center link near the top of page.  The menu down the left side if for parts, etc.  Their lathes are under "machines", not mill (that's parts, etc.).

Thank you for your kind offer, I will surely need some help on the way. 
As for the build log, I might open one here too, seeking from good advice by experienced members. 
Till now, the only one in English is here:
http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/t/183268.aspx
I hope I’m not breaking forum’s rules, if so let me know and I will quickly delete the link. 
The other one are in italian, my native tongue. 
Again, all my respect for your wonderfull build! 
 

Hi Chap,
Yup, the same set of plans, Cutty Sark Society....
(I went to a Print Shop and increased the size to A1? The largest that they could do anyway.... I need to see!!!))
(I don't think that there would be too much "Copyright" stuff going on....)
 
Wot can I help with further?
 
Cheers....HOF.
 
 
 

Marc, 
I’m so happy to see some update on your Cutty Sark! 
Your build is awesome, one of the best I ever seen. 
I am building the Cutty Sark, a humble Revell plastic one, I frequently check your marvel to cross check informations and to find anwers to my own doubts. 
Keep on going! 
Marco