DelF

Thanks Tom. That looks good and I’ll certainly get some and try it.

Lookin’ good!

Swivels & Anchors Now that the rigging is reasonably tidy I've started to fit the swivels (seems ages since I assembled and painted them!). Chris has supplied enough to fit all 20 mounting positions, but only because he presumed that some people would be uncomfortable leaving any positions empty. In reality Speedy would have had fewer than 20 swivels, the extra positions being to allow the crew flexibility in combat. I've chosen to fit five each side, although I'm leaving the bow guns until after I've rigged the anchors. Here's one in the stern: On to the anchors. These have also been sitting quietly waiting their turn for some months, although I hadn't finished the puddening and buoys. I always find puddening a chore, but this time I tried jamming the starting end of the thread in the hole in the anchor stock. The anchor ring held the thread in the hole quite tightly meaning I could start the winding process without unsightly knots slipping round as fast as I could wind the thread. I found the best method for me was to pass the thread through the ring using tweezers to keep everything as short and tight as possible: I brushed every few turns with very dilute PVA (3:1 water:PVA) - not so much to stick the thread, but more to reduce its springiness and encourage the turns to remain tight on the ring. The first part of making the anchor buoys - turning the body of the buoys on the lathe - was an unexpected pleasure. Up to now I've mainly used files and sandpaper to shape components on the Proxxon wood lathe. However some time ago I bought a set of micro woodturning tools made in Sheffield, the home of high quality steel tools: I hadn't really used them before now and when I did they were a revelation, removing wood like a dream. I used a spare boxwood mast I'd previously created for another model using the octagon method, and decided it would be ideal for the 7mm X 14mm buoys. Each buoy only seemed to take a few moments to shape: Next came the hard bit - rigging the rope slings that enclose the buoys. I wanted to use the method described by David Antscherl in The Fully Framed Model, which closely follows full size practice. Incidentally, David also explains why anchor buoys are also called nun buoys. Apparently it's nothing to do with religious women, but rather because the shape resembles an old-time child's toy, a top called a nun, or nunne. Anyway, I tried David's method and failed. Suffice to say it took several attempts before I got something I was satisfied with: I didn't take any intermediate photos, but now I've got a method that works for me I'll document it for the second buoy which will follow shortly. Derek

Hi James. The cables are stuck down, but not so firmly that you couldn’t move them if you really needed to.

Main braces and more coils The last few days have been somewhat 'bitty' as I played around with rope coils and tried to get the ropework looking as natural as possible. One of the first jobs was trying to get the anchor cables to lie flat on the deck - not easy given how thick and inflexible they are. I found the best method was to brush on very dilute PVA (about 3:1, water : PVA) then weigh the cables down with an assortment of nuts and bolts until dry: This worked quite well. Incidentally, I'd like to pretend I removed the galley flue in order to improve access to the fore bitts (the flue base is visible between the anchor cables). In reality I broke it off by accident; easier access for rigging around the foremast was an unintended bonus. The main braces are straightforward. On each side a length of 0.5mm line has a hook seized into one end, which links to the rearmost outboard eyebolt. The lines reeve through the 5mm pendant blocks previously fitted to the main yard then back through the sheaves just abaft the eyebolts. Here's the starboard setup: Inboard, the lines belay to the nearby cleats. In this picture I've painted on dilute PVA with small clips keeping the lines in place whilst the glue dries: The cleat on the left looks larger for a reason. The rigging calls for eight large cleats but only six are supplied so I thought I'd have a go at making my own. They came out slightly larger than the laser cut originals but didn't look too out of scale. I decided that the main sheets would require beefier cleats than the fore sheets and main braces (based on zero knowledge or information!) so I kept them. Over the next day or so I hope to finish tidying up the rigging then I can get on with last jobs - fitting the anchors and swivels. Derek

Hi Eamonn. I apologise for being so late to the party, but I'd like to add my congratulations to the well-deserved plaudits you've earned for this splendid model. I particularly like the way you have displayed her. Well done! Derek

Interesting video Richard - thanks for posting. Btw, I've checked in the dictionary and 'artefact' is the older word (around 1650), being derived from the Latin arte factum - (something) made with skill. 'Artificial' has the same roots, and probably explains why the 'i' snuck in to 'artefact' around 1820. Interestingly the OED considers 'artifact' the more appropriate usage nowadays as the entry for 'artefact' just signposts the newer word. Linguistic convergence across the pond for a change. Nerdy, me?

They seem very reasonable to me, especially considering the quality (I've just seen them on James's Sphinx). The only ones I know of comparable quality are Syren's and they're $12.75 & $13.75 for the two sizes (roughly £9 and £10, and leaving aside any differences in shipping charges). Pity Speedy doesn't need lanterns! Just one question - you say they're made from very hard resin but the website says they're not resin?

You've created a real family heirloom Glenn - you must be justly very proud. Thanks for the mention. Like you, I've enjoyed our conversations and banter over the last year and learned a lot, although looking at your pictures of Cheerful I can see I've still a lot to learn about photography! Best wishes, and enjoy your (hopefully short) break from modelling. Derek

Good to see you back James - your planking really is superb, and I'm impressed with your joggling. Well done! Derek

Break Over Just got back from our little mini-cruise, Portsmouth - Liverpool - Isles of Scilly - Falmouth - Portland - Portsmouth, including two full days at sea in between ports. Very relaxing. The dockyard re-opens tomorrow, but in the meantime here's one shot of the Viking Venus. She's a marvellous ship, but I was disappointed to notice that the deck planks weren't properly joggled into the margin plank 🤪 Normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

Hi Glenn. Just got home from our mini cruise and logged in to find you've finished Cheerful. What a fabulous result! Genuine museum quality. I've really enjoyed following along as you've mastered new tools and techniques, culminating in your superb work on the lathe, and like everyone else I appreciate how you've photographed and described every stage so well in your log. A real masterclass. A well-deserved breather now, or straight on with the next project? Derek

A short break... We're off to Portsmouth tomorrow to board a real ship😁. We were supposed to be going to Alaska on a trip originally postponed from last year and now kicked forward to next, so as compensation we're going on the Viking Venus for a one-week trip to the Scilly Isles and up the west coast. The Venus is Viking's latest ship, with just half the usual number of 930 passengers, and it's only available to double-dosed adults. To be honest, the itinerary is almost irrelevant - we just want to get away in comfort for a few days. Work on Speedy will resume in the second week in July. Now where's that beer🍺? Derek

That’s really helpful Glenn. Thanks!

Lower yard cluelines, sheets and tacks The cluelines are set up in a similar fashion to those on the topsail yards (Post #664). This time however there is a three-way junction with the sheets and tacks, with a toggle on the tack holding the other two together. Easier to show with a picture, this of the set up on the foreyard: The clueline reeves through a block under the yard and down to belay on the bitts. The tack runs down to a block on the end of the boomkin then up to belay in the bows. The standing end of the sheet hooks to an eyebolt near the steps amidships and the running end passes through a hole nearby, simulating a sheave, belaying on a cleat on the inner bulwarks. Again, a picture hopefully makes this clearer: The next shot shows a comparable setup for the main yard: For both yards, I found I needed to 'persuade' the junctions of the three lines to sit as far outboard as I could, by moving the 3mm block along the clueline, in order to avoid the tacks and sheets fouling shrouds and stays. I haven't permanently rigged these lines yet - hence the clips - as I'm still messing about with coils. I copied a method Glenn Barlow (@glbarlow) developed and described in his Cheerful log (here). I thought I was doing OK until I saw Glenn's final results (here) and decided I needed to do better! I'm reasonably happy with the coils that sit on the deck; it's the ones on the belaying pins I need to work on: Back to the drawing board 😬 Derek

More superb work. I'm particularly impressed by your coils. I've been trying the method you described and thought I was doing OK, until I saw how good yours are. I'll try your suggestion of matt acrylic as an alternative to PVA. Thanks again for the method. ...and I thought I was strange 🤪 🤣 Derek

Looking very smart Glenn.

Bowlines Back to the running rigging! Having debated whether or not to rig these lines they actually turned out to be relatively straightforward, the main difficulty being weaving them through all the existing rigging and finding space for them on the already crowded bitts. I eventually counted some 19 lines on the bitts abaft the foremast alone. As usual, I started with the lower yards and worked up. However in describing the setup I'll cover all the bowlines on the main mast then all those on the fore. The kit suggests 0.1mm line for all bowlines, but I chose to use 0.25mm for the lower and topsail yards as that seemed closer to the rope sizes given in Lees' Masting & Rigging. Main yard - I tied the standing end just outside the first quarter, using a couple of half hitches and taking care to keep the knots under the yard and out of sight where I could dab them with CA and trim them neatly. I also had to be careful to avoid pinching other lines running along the yard. I used the same approach for the standing ends of all the bowlines: From the yard the line runs down to a 3mm single block near the foremast then up to belay on the bitts: For once I'd thought ahead, and hadn't fitted these blocks in advance. I prepared them off the model, complete with eyebolts, which meant I could thread a block on the bowline then glue the bolt into a pre-drilled hole in the deck. Main topsail yard - the bowlines reeve through the outermost of the blocks rigged to eyebolts in the rear edge of the fore top, then down to belay on the fore bitts: Main topgallant yard - these 0.1mm lines run through holes pre-drilled in the rear of the fore trestletrees, then down to belay on the fore bitts: Foremast yards - I'm not sure an exhaustive account will be of much value here as it's all in the rigging plans. Suffice to say, all bowlines run to blocks attached to the bowsprit and jibboom, back through holes in the saddle and then on to belay on bitts at the foot of the bowsprit. Seeing these extra lines running through the saddle made me glad I'd decided to rig them: Next, it's on to the lower yard tacks and sheets (and tidying up all the crowded bitts!). Derek

Standing rigging revisited (unintentionally!) While preparing to rig the bowlines I somehow managed to snap the fore topgallant stay. It broke near the dolphin striker and I suspect it had partially frayed when I first threaded it and didn't need much force to finish the job: There was no way I could replace the stay as originally rigged - starting at the top of the fore topgallant and ending in a pair of thimbles in the bows, with a lashing added last to tension the stay. The bows are simply too crowded now. Instead, I aimed to repeat the process in reverse, starting at the bows. Fortunately the thimbles were attached by a hook to an eyebolt which made them easy to retrieve, complete with their lashing: It was then a case of removing the stub of the old stay seizing a new length of 0.25mm dark line to the first thimble. I was then able to hook the assembly back to the eyebolt. It's the lower of the two sets of thimbles in the picture: Some of the bowlines can also be seen in this shot running through the saddle on the bowsprit, and loosely rigged at this stage. I'll cover these in the next log entry. I took the free end of the stay back through the dolphin striker, through the sheave in the end of the flying jibboom and up to the fore topgallant mast. There it was simply a case of seizing it carefully so as to get the right tension in the stay: I was so relieved to get over this wobble that I forgot to take a photo of the finished job. Anyway, it's just like it was in the last photo of the whole ship 😬. Derek

Topgallant yard braces Thanks as always for all the likes and kind comments. These final braces brought their own little challenges, again because I'd not studied the rigging plans carefully enough at an earlier stage. The fore topgallant braces run to a pair of 3mm blocks lashed round the main topmast preventer stay. These were fairly straightforward to rig, using the indispensable quadhands as with the lower yard braces. The main topgallant pair run to a pair of blocks lashed round the fore topmast head. These also had to be added late in the day, and I found I had to seize them in a fairly long strop in order to weave through the numerous lines already in place. Hopefully this shot shows the run of these lines and the position of their blocks: After a deal of head scratching I've decided to rig the bowlines. In the end I was swayed by Glenn's comment: Like coppering, I'm not sure I'd want to rig all this sail handling tackle again! It's further testament to the quality of Chris's kit that all these lines are shown on the plans. Derek

Thanks Bob & Glenn, much appreciated. Glenn, did you rig all the bowlines on Pegasus? Chris shows them on Speedy's rigging plan but I'm not sure I want to go that far. Although I like to be reasonably accurate I'm not totally wedded to modelling every last detail - otherwise I'd be rigging sails. What do you think?

That’s great news Chris, and I join everyone in wishing you every success. My only concern is that you’re already developing models faster than I can build them. With you going full time I’ll never catch up! Derek

Simply stunning! I quite like the fact that there's going to be lots of 'secret' detail only the builder will know about. Does that make me strange 🤪?

Braces I've made a bit of progress in between jobs around the property, starting with the spritsail braces. These required a single long length of 0.25mm line which I clove-hitched round the fore stay, leaving an equal length each side: Each end then reeves through the pendant blocks previously rigged to the ends of the spritsail yard, then back up towards the foretop: Difficult to see in the photo, but the braces reeve through the inner sheaves in the double blocks under the front edge of the foretop. The next part was one of the trickiest in the whole rigging process, as the lines then have to reeve through the double blocks under the rear edge of the top. This was hard enough with the buntlines and leechlines on the foreyard, but the space under the top was more crowded and tighter now, and I couldn't thread the line through from the front and hope to get it through the rear block in one go. In the end I had to push the line as far as I could from the front then fish around with tweezers until I could pull it through from the rear. I then had to grip the rear double block with needle nose pliers and gently twist it round so I could thread the line through in the right direction. I was relieved that I hadn't rigged the blocks too tight under the top, meaning I was able to twist them round far enough. It was then an easy job to take the braces to their belaying points. Fore yard braces Following advice in the kit instructions I'm leaving the main brace until last, otherwise it will get in the way of other rigging. The fore yard braces don't present that problem, but I soon realised I should have studied the rigging plans more thoroughly before I got to this stage, as I found myself having to rig pairs of blocks to the main stay in order to rig these lines. It wasn't too big a deal, especially with the quadhands. I found the best technique was to rig the blocks in the middle of the stay where they were more accessible, then slip them to their final position before final tightening: I actually 'cheated' here slightly. I should have rigged all the blocks on the main stay, but I couldn’t get the lower pair as close to the foremast as I wanted (deadeyes in the way) so I moved them to the preventer. As with the spritsail, I made the fore yard braces from a single length of 0.3mm line, clove hitched round the stay as shown above. Form the stay the braces reeve through the pendant blocks at the ends of the yard, back to the upper pair of 5mm blocks on the stay, down to the 5mm pair on the stay near the foremast, then down to belay on the bitts. Photos later will show this more clearly. Topsail yard braces The fore topsail yard was straightforward - a single 0.25mm line clove hitched around the main stay, running up to the pendant blocks on the topsail yard, back to the pair of 3mm blocks on the stay then down to belay on the main bitts. The main topsail yard was trickier. Again, I'd failed to look at the plans far enough in advance, and found I now had to seize blocks and lines to the fore topmast shrouds. Not easy with several lines in the way. I started by seizing a 3mm block in the centre of a 6" length of line (deliberately long so I had plenty to work with in the tight confines of the shrouds): I made two of these, fastening one to each of the rearmost topsail shrouds. I had to use a pair of tweezers in each hand to pass the strop lines round the shroud then tie them with a reef knot. I did the same with one end of each brace ( I used two separate lines for the braces this time), tying it to the same shroud as the block, a couple of ratlines higher. A dab of CA and a trim later and this was the result: The brace runs from the shroud to the pendant block on the main topsail yard, back to the 3mm block on the same shroud and down to belay on a pinrack. Here's a shot with these various lines finished: Starting to feel like the home straight now! Derek

Good start. I shall also follow your build with interest. I'm itching to get started on my own Duchess kit now that it feels like I'm on the home straight with Speedy. Derek