popeye the sailor

......oh......sorry 'bout that. I'm sure that the Cutty take a lot more concentration though........with all the good stuff your pack'in into the project, she's gonna be one fantastic model I also found out what's worse than watch'in paint dry.........fill'in glue bottles one of our members gave me a good tip about glue bottles, so I went out and bought an eight pack. a couple of days later, we were in Staples, and we stumbled onto a gal of Elmer's glue. wondering what an office would do with a gal of glue, I bought one, and filled three bottles. now I have one for each table.......no more carrying the glue bottle around for me.....have glue will travel...... got a couple more planks on her.....toy'in with the Thermopylae and the T.D. yea.......add another model to my revolving list. I'll get'em all built sooner or later thanks for the good word my friend hello John..........thanks

thanks Nils and CDW.......shucks......I'm no expert. I do have some knowledge of this hull though, so it may help me over what problems there are. I looked at some of my old log pictures.............you mean, I did it like that?!?!?! more to come

the similarities between these two ships are much more than their differences....sister ships would be a good analogy I started looking into the yards....although I have a few other things to add before I can really begin on the masts. I assembled them....I just love how there are no measurements.. .....that bugs me to death! so now she is on the table with the masts dry fitted....the admiral comes in and asked what ship is that? I had to laugh of course she'll be OK........you built her I admire your determination.........there are folk more experienced than we are, who are hesitant to build her.....they know that the kit is not that good but here we are.........half way through it.......silly to run scream'in out of the room I'll post it if I do anything on her

I meant to get back here with more progress on the planking, but the work week took over. I took today off.......had to get away from the insanity. I did make the filler plank for the gap. looking at the hull as I passed by the spare room, I though to myself that another stealer will be needed. this will be later though.........I'll lay some clean planking first, and give the stealers some space. I added another strake to the starboard side, but my aim now will be to straighten the line out at the stern. by the time I reach the stern rabbit, I should have a straight line to the transom / counter. I really like how I did the counter, but not how soaking and contorting the wood to fit caused some rippling to occur. it's really minor.....and I should thank my lucky stars that it worked as well as it did. some filler should round it out nicely. I'll have more soon.

if you do attempt to build her again.......it might be good to find a kit in a larger scale. I was going to try and build both the Thermopylae and the Cutty Sark {clone a hull from this kit}......but due to the scale, I'm glad I didn't. the only kits that I can think of are the Revell kits.........but both these kits utilizes the same molds, being plastic kits. I recall reading complaints from folks inquiring about decals, because the wrong ones were placed in the Thermopylae kit {they got the Cutty decals}. if you can keep the lines as tangle free as possible, it will enhance the looks of the model...........planning the rigging logically will help as well. your doing a good job so far........your finding what works and what don't. never down yourself.......your learning and that all that matters. practice serving blocks and lines.......the wraps should be evenly wound......three or four times is good. I remember back in the day when all I did was knots

looking really good Jan

I think you've become Doris's understudy...........awesomely good work!

nice job with the window alignment they look really good! you'll really see the impact, when all the parts are joined together on deck

hello there! glad to see your back at the table I believe that on these ships, some of the dead eyes are for back stays, and are not included in the ratline rigging of the shrouds. in some cases, back stays can even be done in a pendant and pulley assembly fashion, not utilizing a dead eye. when I plank a deck, I'll leave openings for structures and holds, but not for anything else. hope to see more of your project........the hull looks really good

top notch rigging Bob

oh.............I'm going to pull out the rigging diagram for 'ole Thermie and start sizing the yards.........I want to see just how out of scale the fitting I got are. I also got a couple more life boats. I'm still working on getting some that are clinker planked.........but these are 25 x 95 mm and clearly too large to use I'll likely stick to what I have.....at least they are somewhat in scale

those are some neat tools..........I myself have very little to work with. I mostly rely on tweezers. what line is that for? depending on what your rigging, will dictate where it will terminate at. the Revell diagrams are a good source to reference, but do have their discrepancies.......but not as bad as the Sergal diagram. some lines....lift, clew, and related, will run through the tops {some even through the crosstree}, along the mast and to the deck, where they will either be belayed at a ring of pins around the mast, or at the fife rails. your picture is what I refer to as a pulley assembly........they are usually rigged as a pendant {longer rope with the block at the end, that is clear from any obstructions}. I'm thinking that this particular assembly is for the upper topsail yard lift............if this is the case, it would have been better to have the assembly at the yard and use that block {at the crosstree}, to route the line down to the deck. one thing to bear in mind as your rigging, is to route the line, so it is not interfered with of rubbing on anything. I know it's hard.........and it will get even harder as you add lines. some will even terminate at the 'first step' top...........these will tie off at a railing or cleats. due to the scale of the model, it's almost impossible to add some of the more detailed lines, so it's best to stick with the basic lines.....lifts, sheet, and maybe clew lines. since your not doing sails.......don't bother with the bunt lines and leech lines. I hope I'm correct here..........a bit difficult to describe........ good that you found the Cutty diagrams........I posted them with good reason. these are the most lost or mislaid instructions in the modeling world! I can't even count how many folks have downloaded those instructions. I also have the instructions there for the U.S.S.United States 1:96. have a look at those as well......some of the rigging is similar, even though they are different types of ships. some of the line serve different purposes, but the way the routing and assemblies look, are all characteristically the same. this reminds me.........now that I have the U.S.S.Constitution 1:96, I should post the complete instruction sheets too {thinking out loud}. looking at the picture, you can see where you used Ca to cement the ties..........it seeps away from where you applied it, freezing the thread. white glue won't do that or discolor the thread. while it does take more time to dry, you will never know that you used it. flexibility of how you tied your blocks can turn out to be very important.........the blocks will conform to the tension you've assigned them to

thanks OC.... whatever your looking forward to.....I'll try to make it interesting thanks Bob........they'll look even better once I figure out how to fit 'em in place

sorry to hear of the mishap KP.........hopefully you'll be able to get 'er back up to muster. I've had a few of these myself.......it's not fun

it was great to see all this activity Daniel......but you did.....you had me confused for a moment there I shoulda known...... more of your fine workmanship, and a trip too! definitely a model to marvel over!

she's look'in good Sam.........glad to see your making some good progress on her rigging looks really good as well as your blocks

moving right along..........look'in really good

congratz on finishing your Connie! such a superb looking model..........you did a great job on her

that is the way they should look.......the studding sails sort of layer over the main sails, since they are only used during a long voyage, when more wind power would be needed. on short jaunts, they aren't used that much. with the booms forward of the yard, they won't interfere with the main sails either. refer to the pictures of the Revell Cutty instruction sheets I posted. when doing the running rigging, keep in mind that the braces are backwards on the rigging diagram sheet. the fore braces run aft towards the main mast, the main braces run aft towards the mizzen mast, and the mizzen run forward towards the main mast. study the rigging sheet and you will get a sense of what I'm talking about the rigging instructions for the Revell Cutty, I believe isolates them for easy referral.......I'll check this out and post them if you'd like.

nice work on the cranes........the Bismark looks soo good!

you've made some really great progress Rob! the rigging looks absolutely super in awe and very impressed with your work

sorry to hear that recovery is slow. take care and let your hand heal........much more important looking forward to your continuance of this wonderful project.

very nice progress!

look'in great Jack

yea........orientation is everything. most folks set the yards up on Styrofoam, so they don't move, others use the 'helping hands', while others yet, have alternative methods to arrest them. using CA is particularly troubling, due to it habit of soaking into the thread, solidifying the thread very quickly. one needs to be sure that the block is set in the direction of it's 'pull' when rigged, before the cement is applied. I use white glue as much as possible for this instead......makes re-positioning a little bit easier. so........partially built, eh.........two tickets for the dark side?!?! you'll get plenty of scratch building experience, depending on their condition....not to mention how complete they are you'll have fun though.......I started bash'in and scratch'in from my very first model. there is a lot of info out there on the Vasa....and quite a few logs here on the site. I also have a partially built Robert E Lee........just the hull and a few key parts. I'm still up in the air as to what I'm gonna do with it........I may do a ferry....or maybe a 'what if' civil war battle ship. either way, it will be fun to do. I did notice that the studding sail booms on your lower yard will need re-positioning. they should be oriented to the front of the yard, in a slightly upward position. just copy what you did with the upper topsail yard, and you'll solve the problem.