Elia

Good evening ,i uploaded some photos showing the progress of the build.
 
Cheers
Dimitris
 
 

Hello to all!!
At last, Amerigo Vespucci has arrived! This is my second ship build.
First impressions: wood quality is better than that of my previous build and the manual, consists of 9 large sheets with general instructions (compared to the step by step manual of the previous build).
Attached you may find photos from unpacking the kit and first dry fit.
And now comes my first question:
Starting from the bottom of the keel, at which distance should I carve the rabbet  line?
 
Thank you in advance for your help
Dimitris

Thanks to all
 
more pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Matija
 

Crowsfeet
 
The Crowsfeet prevent the topsails from chafing the lower stays, and also stop them from getting snagged in the tops.
 
I used Gutermann Quilting Cotton for these. It's not quite the same color as Chuck's running rigging line, but it is the closest match they make. This stuff is made from cotton and has a polyester coating which makes it a little more rigid than normal cotton - this makes threading it through tiny holes a lot easier. It also has NO fuzzies at all .
 
The line starts on the strop at the top of the euphroe and passes over the forward edge of the top and through the middle hole. Then it comes back up through the adjacent hole on the port side, down to the uppermost hole in the euphroe and through the top on the starboard side. These steps are repeated for the remainder. The last line is tied off to it's adjacent partner underneath the top.
 
It was a difficult job to get even tension on all the loops of line. I had to go back over all the loops a few times to get an acceptable result :
 

 

 
The euphroe tackle :
 

 

 
  Danny

Thank you Eamonn, George, Maury and Jan.
 
Catharpins
 
A rather tricky step in the rigging, I've fitted these before starting the ratlines as it gave me better access.
 
Some careful measuring was needed (along with a bit of trial and error) to ensure that the catharpins would just slightly pull the shrouds together when fitted. They also had to all be EXACTLY the same length. The eye splices also had to be taken into account.
 
First job was to serve the 8 pieces needed, leaving some extra length in the serving line that would act as a "splice". Then the eyes were "spliced" in a similar fashion to others I'd done before. The seizing lines were tied to each eye :
 

 
One end was loosely seized near the bottom of the shroud where it was a bit easier to do :
 

 
Then the unit was raised into position. I used a self-closing tweezer to hold the opposite side in position while I finished off the seizing. The foremast catharpins fitted :
 

 
  Danny

Shipwrights - a little progress on my dearest Arethusa.  Third time is a charm, at least for me and the yellow cove.  I redid one last section of it on the starboard bow, eliminating the last offensive (to me) waver.  Done.  Yipee!  I have added the ship's name and hail port in the appropriate locations, using Woodland Scenic Dry Transfer letters, and have repainted much of the upper hull black.  I have completed the checker board guide installations, the boom buffer, the cleats, the chocks, and the stanchion located ringbolts.  I have also installed guide pins for the deck furniture to ensure proper placement and to ensure better retention of the components.  It is surprising how much time all of those little elements time.
 



 
Though not show here in photos I have completed 16 of the 20 double wire strops for the deadeyes, have stained the deadeyes (Minwax Ebony stain), and have fabricated/soldered much of the catheads.  I hope to show all of these elements assembled in the not too distant future.
 
Cheers,
 
Elia

It has been some time since my last update and with a little time off of my feet I've been able to do little things here and there on Arethusa.
 
I have begun making masts....first time in oh, about 5 years!  I'm following my method I wrote about in the downloads section some years ago.
 
Here are some photos showing the major steps.  My only process change has been to use a plane to remove material instead of the rasp/file originally shown.




 
On the hull - I touched up the anti-fouling paint and hull sides, made some little scroll art at the bow names, and applied Dullcoat over the outer hull.  It is the first time I've used Dullcoat and I am happy with the results.  The shininess of the acrylic paint is gone and hull details are more clearly visible.  One odd and funny (to me!) aspect of the photos - you may see what looks like scupper run-off 'weathering'.  It isn't.  What you are seeing are reflections from clear, highly glossily packing tape I used to seal the 'work stand' box. 



 
On the deck I finished painting the checker boards.  I've deviated from my 'pristine' modeling approach by applying a semi-transparent paint layer to those details and the deck battens.  I think it gives appearance of worn painted boards and battens.  Also worked on were attached the windlass brakes and connecting links.  Luckily I hadn't glued those down yet - I found one of my soldered joints to have broken.




 
And a final photo showing the two lower masts.  The masts have been tapered and cut to length, only requiring flats and rebates where a host of spar related hardware goes.

 
Cheers,
 
Elia
 

... deck and equipment:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Matija
 

masts and rigging:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
Matija

Beautiful work Matija.

Beautiful work Matija.

Winch,:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
and completed winch
 

 
Matija

Nils,
toothwheels are cut from brass sheet
 
Here's another example (black toothwheels is from  unknown machines) :  
      

winch which was used on Adriatic traditional ships - Trabakul & Bracera

... Winch:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
[
 

 

 
 
 
... follows more pictures ...
 
Matija

on bow of the ship had drawn decoration. II made that part wrong,
 
.. first attempt of wood:
 
line is 0.5 mm wide
 

 

 
... does not looking good
 

 

 

 
... attempt with metal, wire 0.5 mm
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
greetings, Matija.
 

Thanks everyone,
.. more pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Matija

Matija,
 
Very nice detail work.  That second ship's wheel looks great, and an improvement over the first.  I also really like those pumps.  On my schooner model those are still two details (the ship's wheel and the pumps) I'm not quite happy with yet.  Did you cast one or both of those?
 
Cheers,
 
Elia

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 98 – Planksheer / Main Rail continued
 
The planksheer rail around the stern was made from hard maple.  Although the remainder of the rail is Castelo, my stock was too old and dry to bend around to the required curve.  No problem with the maple.  All the maple will be painted.  In the first picture the section around the stern has been formed and is being beveled to fit against the slanting frame timbers.
 

 
In the next picture the rail is being positioned and pinned at the proper heights using the height gauge.
 

 
This fitting took some time.  The bevel of the rail is most pronounced at the very stern and is vertical at the forward ends of the piece.  With the pins setting the heights, the rail was glued into place as shown below.
 

 
Lots of clamps required for this.
 
There was a lot of waiting during the forming and gluing of the stern rail, so work continued concurrently at the bow.  In the next picture, planking above the main rail is proceeding.
 

 
Space has been left for the main rail itself.  This will be installed after it and the surrounding planking are painted – as described earlier.  In the next picture all of this planking has been treenailed.
 

 
Once the planksheer rail around the stern was installed, the rail was continued forward on the port side.  In the next picture it is held in position with pins and is being glued.
 

 
Planking of the upper sides will now continue up to the top rail – the fancy rail.
  
Ed

Hi Dimitris,
 
Thank you for the compliment, for the 'likes', and for stopping in on Arethusa. I work slowly these days, enough so that you could take another long break from MSW and still catch up with my progess again.
 
Cheers,
 
Elia

Hi Dimitris,
 
Thank you for the compliment, for the 'likes', and for stopping in on Arethusa. I work slowly these days, enough so that you could take another long break from MSW and still catch up with my progess again.
 
Cheers,
 
Elia

Well, she's done.. Here's a pic of the Bluenose Schooner.

Cabins and equipment on deck:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Matija

It has been some time since my last update and with a little time off of my feet I've been able to do little things here and there on Arethusa.
 
I have begun making masts....first time in oh, about 5 years!  I'm following my method I wrote about in the downloads section some years ago.
 
Here are some photos showing the major steps.  My only process change has been to use a plane to remove material instead of the rasp/file originally shown.




 
On the hull - I touched up the anti-fouling paint and hull sides, made some little scroll art at the bow names, and applied Dullcoat over the outer hull.  It is the first time I've used Dullcoat and I am happy with the results.  The shininess of the acrylic paint is gone and hull details are more clearly visible.  One odd and funny (to me!) aspect of the photos - you may see what looks like scupper run-off 'weathering'.  It isn't.  What you are seeing are reflections from clear, highly glossily packing tape I used to seal the 'work stand' box. 



 
On the deck I finished painting the checker boards.  I've deviated from my 'pristine' modeling approach by applying a semi-transparent paint layer to those details and the deck battens.  I think it gives appearance of worn painted boards and battens.  Also worked on were attached the windlass brakes and connecting links.  Luckily I hadn't glued those down yet - I found one of my soldered joints to have broken.




 
And a final photo showing the two lower masts.  The masts have been tapered and cut to length, only requiring flats and rebates where a host of spar related hardware goes.

 
Cheers,
 
Elia
 

Shipwrights,
 
A little more progress on Arethusa - masts and spars.  I've completed the basic shaping of the lower masts, upper masts, and the booms.  In this photo, top to bottom, are the main mast, the fore mast, the main topmast, the fore topmast, the main boom, the fore boom, and the jumbo boom.  Note the scale on the bottom of the green cutting mat in inches.  The grid squares are 0.5 inches per side.  The main and fore masts are just slightly greater in diameter than 3/8 inch.  All were formed from square stock bass wood stock.

This closer in photo shows the peculiar shaping of Gloucester schooner spars.  While circular in cross section, they are decidedly not axisymmetric.  The edge of the spar adjacent the sail is straight.  The opposing side is tapered.  The maximum diameter occurs 2/3 distance from the jaws (at the mast) to the tip.  My spars shown still contain a little excess material at each end of the spar.  They are shown with their jaw ends to the right in the picture.

 
[these were taken with my camera phone - quickie photos on the dining table]
 
Cheers,
 
Elia

More Pictures