DelF

Thanks Chris, that makes sense. I hadn't thought to run the lines via the futtock staves, and would have done that rather than go for shroud cleats if I had known. Whilst I stand by my earlier comment about not expecting you to cover every conceivable aspect of rigging in the plans, this is one area (the futtock staves in particular and avoiding fouling in general) where you might want to consider giving builders a few more pointers. Btw, I noticed that you replied well after midnight. You're clearly still burning the candle at both ends so I appreciate you taking the time to respond so quickly. Derek

Thanks John. You've raised an interesting point here about the accuracy and/or completeness of rigging plans in kits. In my experience (admittedly not as extensive as some) you always have to be prepared for a degree of problem solving when it comes to rigging model ships. The original ships' rigging was so complex it was a daunting task to get every line to its belaying point without fouling on some other line or part of the ship. For a kit designer to describe that complexity by way of plans and instructions must be at least as difficult and I think it inevitable that some practical details will have to be left to the builder. Otherwise the manual would rival War & Peace. I don't mind that as I actually enjoy the problem solving part of the hobby, especially researching different ways in which real ships were rigged in order to look for alternatives that might work better in particular circumstances. For example, in the case I mentioned in my last post I could have got the line to the belaying pin specified on the plan, perhaps by routing the line through a block or thimble seized to a shroud - perfectly acceptable full-size practice - but I decided that I preferred moving the belaying point as I described. What I'm taking a long time to say is that the rigging plan is not 'wrong'. It is as complete as it reasonably can be (and far better than others I've seen) but there are inevitably instances where the builder needs to think through the run of lines and if necessary introduce minor adjustments to avoid fouling. I mentioned one earlier in the log, where I used an extra ringbolt in the main top to avoid a line rubbing against the gaff. Some people might regard that as an unnecessary step, but to me the line bending round the gaff just didn't look right. Of course there's another possibility in these cases - I might have got it wrong! Perhaps I've misread the plan or got an earlier part of the rigging wrong thereby throwing the next part off. I hope not but it's not impossible. I'd also be interested in Chris's (@chris watton) take on these points, so I've tagged this post for his attention. Derek

Topgallant cluelines and sheets Not much time for modelling over the last few days. In between DIY and gardening chores I managed to rig these lines, which presented an interesting belaying problem, which I'll describe below. The first part of the job was similar to the topsail equivalents, linking the two lines with a toggle made as described in the earlier post. Here's the 0.25mm sheet and 0.1mm clueline and waiting to be rigged: The photo is deceptive as it makes the two lines look identical. I checked and they're not. Here they are rigged to the yards on the foremast: It was when I tried to belay them to the pin rack that I ran into problems - there was simply no way on either mast that I could get the lines to reach the designated pin without fouling on shrouds and other obstacles. I considered several options, including belaying in the tops (which seems to have been done historically, at least in some ships) or leading the lines through thimbles seized to the shrouds. Belaying in the tops wasn't a practical option this late in the build, and in the end the simplest solution I found was to belay to a cleat seized to the foremost shroud on each mast. Given their small size (4 X 1.6 X 0.5mm) I decided to make the shroud cleats from styrene strip rather than wood, using the sandwich method I described earlier for parrel ribs. Starting with a 2 X 0.5mm strip I cut 4 lengths, each 4mm, and glued them with PVA. The PVA didn't stick them very well which didn't really matter as I held the block in a vice as I shaped it with a 0.5mm bit in the Proxxon mill. A bit of gentle filing gave me the required shape: Once separated from the block I used fly tying thread to seize the cleats to the four forward shrouds and painted them black (difficult to photograph!): Once dry it was easy to belay the lines and hang on a coil to complete the job: Derek

That's useful to know Glenn. I also use Admiralty paints, but hadn't thought of using the ironwork black on anything other than metal. Must learn to think outside the box!

Beautiful yards, and as always your paint work excels. Pity in a way to cover the box, but with your paintwork it's worth it.

More superb rigging Glenn. Your ratlines look great, and your description of rope coil making is very timely as I'm going through similar experimentation on Speedy. I've not had too many problems at 1:48 scale but I've been struggling at 1:64, especially with Chris's properly in-scale belaying pins which virtually force you towards something resembling full-size practice. There isn't enough space to hang an entire coil over the pin, so your method with the single loop over the pin is what I'm aiming for. I'd seen Tom Laura's video but discounted it at this scale, so your approach looks much closer to what I need - the coils on your Cheerful look very realistic. Thanks for posting! Derek

Thanks Don, I really appreciate your feedback. Thanks Glenn. You're starting to make me suspect that you know a lot more about this rigging lark than you sometimes pretend. String, indeed

Wow. Just catching up - that paint line is really neat. Great job!

Topsail cluelines and sheets More sail handling lines that I haven't rigged before. I couldn't find a great deal of information about rigging these lines on a bare sticks model either in the forum or more generally, and what I did find agreed with the kit plans so that made life simpler. On each topsail yard the cluelines and sheets were linked with an interesting toggle arrangement which is easier to illustrate than to describe. The first job was to strop a 3mm block with a becket at one end. As I used fine 0.25mm line for the strop I felt I could get away with a slight cheat, as follows. I started by tying the line round a 0.7mm drill bit: I put a dab of CA on the loop to form the becket, having previously rubbed the drill bit against a beeswax block to prevent the line sticking. I should probably have made a little jig for the next part but I was too impatient, resorting instead to jamming a pin in the block to hold it against the drill bit whilst I completed the strop: With a simple overhand knot in at the end of the block it was a quick dab of CA followed by a trim and the stropped block was ready: A job made much easier and neater thanks to my new cuticle cutters. The idea now is that the 0.5mm sheet reeves through the becket and is prevented from pulling all the way out through a clever little toggle arrangement. I followed the kit instructions to make the toggle - basically tying the sheet round a small straight length of 0.5mm line, soaking in CA and trimming: Toggle done it was on to the clueline. I had to fasten this 0.25mm line round the topsail yard, just inboard of the first stuns'l boom support: This proved to be very awkward, being close to the mast and with masses of rigging in the way. I managed it with the help of one of the longer quadhands but, not for the first time I wished I'd attached some of these lines before I crossed the yards: Next, the clueline reeves through the 3mm block with the sheet pulled against the becket. Then each line goes it's separate way, the clueline back up to reeve through the clueline block under the topsail yard then down to belay on it's designated pin; the sheet to reeve through the sheet block at the lower yard yardarm, then back along the yard to reeve through a 5mm block under the yard then down to belay on main or foremast bitts. All as per plan: Needless to say, in bringing the cluelines and sheets down to their belaying points you are weaving through a forest of existing lines, stays and shrouds which requires some care to make sure you're not fouling something on the way. It took me several goes, especially with the cluelines, before I found a clear run to the belaying points. I'm going to finish this entry with a slight digression. I've mentioned before how pleased I was with the quality of the pearwood blocks in the kit. The other day I looked more closely at one and realised the grain was slightly raised. Just out of interest I gave it a quick wipe with a 400 grit sanding stick and I was amazed at the difference. Here's a before and after set of 3mm and 5mm blocks: I still like the unsanded blocks - they look fine on the model - but I also like the colour and sheen of the sanded ones (they almost look like boxwood) and when I start on Duchess of Kingston I may be tempted to go down that route. Thanks as always for the likes and kind comments. Derek

Thanks Allan, I appreciate your kind comments although I can't take credit for the belaying pins. They are down to Chris Watton who supplies photoetch pins in the kit. Contrary to expectations these do not look flat, especially when painted and positioned in their racks. I've tried making my own wooden belaying pins and managed reasonably well down to 1:48 scale, but any smaller and even boxwood pins are too fragile to use. Brass definitely seems the way to go. Derek

Topgallant lifts I meant to cover these earlier but got shouted for dinner! The kit instructions call for the finest rope for these lines - 0.1mm - and I feel that is exactly right. To my eye a model looks top heavy and out of proportion if the highest lines are too heavy. Equally, it means you have to use the finest thread to seize these lines - in my case my favourite 18/0 fly tying thread: The lifts themselves are quite straightforward. The loop in the previous photo slips over the topgallant yardarm, inboard of the footrope, then goes up and reeves through one of the pair of 3mm blocks clove hitched round the topgallant masthead, then down to belay next to the lower yard lifts. The next shot shows the main topgallant lifts in place: The final shot shows the three main mast lifts belayed on the starboard side. From the left they are the main, topsail and t'gallant yard lifts. Hopefully this illustrates the way the rigging gets progressively lighter as it gets higher up the masts, with 0.5mm, 0.25mm and 0.1mm lines. Next, it should be on to the various tacks, sheets and braces, but I think I should start making and fitting lots of rope coils whilst I've still got room to fit them! Derek

Topsail yard lifts Topgallant yard ties The topsail yard lifts were relatively straightforward, with the major elements shown in the next photo. As with the lower yards, I lashed the stuns'l booms to the yards before too much rigging got in the way. The lifts start by being seized to thimbles I'd previously set up round the topmast caps, then reeving through the uppermost of the pairs of 3mm blocks at the yard arms, then up to the blocks suspended under the tops (as described earlier in the log these are the ones I set up when I couldn't fit sister blocks between the shrouds to my satisfaction), then down to belay next to the lower yard lifts. Incidentally, the little clips in the picture are temporarily holding the topgallant yard ties which I'll cover next. Topgallant yards These yards are suspended from their ties and held against the topgallant masts by parrels. The ties are lashed round the centre of the yard, between the slings: The tie then passes through the sheave hole previously drilled near the top of the topgallant mast Also in this shot is the parrel, consisting of a single row of trucks. I used a single parrel rope, starting by tying it round the port side of the yard within the slings then threading the trucks on to both ends of the rope together, then tying the two ends round the starboard side of the yard. The tie ends in a 3mm block about 1/3 the way down the aft side of the topgallant mast. The plans suggest a 4mm double block, but I felt this was too large for these fine (0.25mm) ropes. So, to avoid having to use a double block I seized the halyard (0.1mm line) to the 3mm block and set it up with a 3mm block hooked to an eyebolt in the top below: The running ends of the halyards belayed on pinrails as shown in the plans. Have to rush off for dinner now... Derek

Hi. I scratched my head a bit when I read this until I found the thread where you'd raised your problem with the collet nut and realised we were probably talking about different things. From your photo in that thread it looks like your problem was where the flexible shaft connects to the Proxxon tool, whereas the chuck I referred to is at the business end. When I realised that, I had another look at my Proxxon, but the only way I could see that the collet could get stuck in the way you described would be if you tried to jam the spindle into a too-small collet. You need one that is a slide on fit - neither loose nor too tight. If you've not got one, it's worth getting a 3-jaw chuck for the other end. The problem I referred too is that when you screw the chuck onto the threaded end of the flexible shaft the jaws don't fully close. Here it is fully screwed in: Useless. The solution I found was to effectively lengthen the shaft by inserting a small length of metal tube roughly the same diameter as the shaft, and with an internal diameter wide enough to accommodate your drill bits. I was lucky to have a scrap piece of 6mm aluminium tubing that was just right. A 6mm length fitted in the chuck was sufficient to enable the jaws to close fully: Hope that helps. Derek

Thanks Glenn. Coming from someone with your photographic skills that means a lot, although I'd be the first to admit I've still got a long way to go.

Hi James You've made several references to varnish in your log, both poly and acrylic. Could you share what brands you use, and whether or not you dilute them at all? I'm still trying to find a combination I really like. Thanks Derek

Thanks Richard. I've said it before, but it's worth repeating - Speedy would build into a great model straight out of the box. I add detail because that's just what I enjoy doing. It's my first kit from Vanguard but it certainly won't be my last. I've already got Duchess of Kingston on the shelf and I can't wait for Sphinx to come out. Chris seems to be achieving a new level of innovation and quality with each successive design. Derek

Topsail yard ties I just went slightly off plan with these. The kit instructions say the ties start off tied to the crosstrees, whereas I believe they were normally tied round the masthead. Starting with the port tie on each mast, I seized an eye in one end, passed it between the masthead and the topgallant mast and fed the free end of the tie through the eye on the starboard side. The starboard tie starts off on the port side in the same way: I subsequently blackened the parts of the ties showing above the crosstrees with india ink as they just didn't look right otherwise. Aesthetics trumps accuracy again (although I could pretend the ties were served😬). Back to the port tie. This passes down between the forward and middle crosstrees, inside the stays and down to reeve through the double block in the centre of the topsail yard, then back up to reeve through the 5mm block suspended under the port side of the crosstrees. The tie passes forward to aft through this block (NB I chose to use 5mm blocks here as I felt the 3mm ones shown in the plans were too small). This is the set up once both ties have reached this stage: Each tie ends in a 5mm block to which the falls attach: The fall links to another 5mm block hooked to the channels on a long strop, bringing the block well above the bulwarks. All this is very clearly set out in the rigging plans. I rushed ahead of myself at this point, rigging the topsail yard lifts then the topgallant yard ties and parrels. Unfortunately I didn't capture each stage on camera so I'll try to rectify that tomorrow so I can update the log properly. But in the meantime here's a quick (and badly focussed) shot of the current state of play: Derek

Best wishes, whichever way you decide to go. You've done more than most to advance our hobby and you deserve to succeed. Derek

Sail handling lines on the lower yards Crossing the topsail yards Productive day today! As my previous models have been of ships with bare sticks I've not bothered with sail handling lines. On Royal Caroline I fitted all the necessary blocks but left the lines out. On Speedy however Chris has included these lines - they are shown on the plans as they would be left on a full size ship when the sails were taken down. In the case of the buntlines and leechlines, they were hauled through their respective blocks until brought short by stopper knots worked into their ends. That was the easy bit on the model. The hard bit was reeving the lines through the blocks under the tops. The main yard wasn't too bad, as each line just had to reeve through one block under the front edge of the top then down to belay on the bitts just forward of the mast. The fore yard was much harder, as each line had to reeve through two blocks under the foretop, one under the front edge then one under the back edge before belaying on bitts abaft the foremast. This photo shows the tight space under the top that the lines pass through. Getting a line to reeve through the second block required a lot of patience. Unfortunately I didn't have enough so I resorted to swearing 😡. Btw, one little job I remembered to do whilst I could still get at them was lashing the booms to the yard - visible in the photo above. After four buntlines and two leechlines on each yard it was on to the topsail yards. The kit supplies very good photoetch ribs for the parrels and I had got as far as blackening them when I remembered I had a spare set I'd made out of boxwood for Royal Caroline. I checked and they were exactly the right size for Speedy. I decided I liked the idea of boxwood so made a second set, using the same method that worked well for the first. I got the method from Volume 4 of The Fully Framed Model by David Antscherl, which covers the rigging of a sixth rate sloop of around the same period as Speedy. Even if you never intend to build a fully framed model it's worth getting Volume 4 on its own, as it includes a wealth of information and techniques that are relevant to many ships of the period. Thank goodness for standardisation! I started by preparing a strip of boxwood 0.4mm X 2.5mm, that being the thickness and depth of the ribs, then cut the strip into 8mm lengths: I used PVA diluted with 50% water to glue the strips into a block, with a PE rib on the front to act as a template: With the glue dried I drilled 0.7mm holes for the parrel rope. Not obvious from the picture, but I'm using the micro drill adapter (aka sensitive drill attachment) I've described before (here). Not essential, but it makes working with tiny drills in big drill presses or mills a lot easier. Next I started shaping the block with a 1mm bit on the Proxxon micro mill before finishing with swiss files: Then it was into IPA (IsoPropyl Alcohol not India Pale Ale) for a few minutes to loosen the glue. Using diluted glue makes this easier, and also makes it easier to clean off any glue residue: I find this method better than salami slicing, where you start off with one solid block of wood which you have to saw into slices once you've shaped it. There's obviously less wastage and I find I get more consistent results. It's a method that works well on other tasks where multiple identical components are called for, such as gun carriage sides. Once the ribs were cleaned off I threaded them on some black line together with spare trucks I had left over from Caroline. These were tiny tube shaped beads that look reasonably like polished wood (from a suitable distance!). When rigging the parrels to their yards I simplified full size practice. Instead of using two lines for each parrel I used one, tying it round the yard inside the slings before threading on the ribs and trucks: Then it was onto the mast, with the pin visible in the photo above holding the yard in place while I finished rigging the parrel. This entailed taking the free ends of the rope round the parrel to the starboard side then round the yard between the slings (one end over the yard, one end under), back round the parrel to the port side, round the yard again and finally tied off behind the yard. Technically I should have seized the lines to themselves but decided that would be next to impossible in the space available. Here's the end result: I'm off for some IPA (India Pale Ale 🍺). Derek

More superb work Glenn. Your rigging is exemplary.

Thanks Maurice. Not the first time you've inspired me to up my game.

Lower yard lifts I knew I was going to have problems with the lifts as soon as I crossed the yards. As things stood, with the lifts running from the yard arm to a pair of blocks clove hitched round the mast cap, the lines would have fouled against the shrouds. The set up in the kit plans is correct according to Lees in Masting & Rigging, but TFFM points out that it only works without fouling the shrouds if the yard stands away from the mast on slings. If not, the blocks should be brought forward to hook on eyebolts set under the front face of the cap. Speedy's yards are held against the masts by trusses so I decided to go with the latter option. Drilling holes for eyebolts to sit under the mast caps wasn't practical at this stage so I compromised by setting them in the side faces near the front of the mast. Even then drilling the holes without destroying shrouds and other gear was tricky, and I was reluctant to apply the pressure required to hold a hand drill against the cap. In the end I decided to use a flexible shaft connected to my Proxxon drill. This tool is small enough to get to the job without damaging rigging, and fast enough to go through wood with minimum pressure. Here's the set up: I've fitted it with a chuck which makes changing drill bits and other tools a doddle. The Proxxon chuck as supplied doesn't fit which is weird - a known fault apparently - so I had to adapt it. I'll explain separately if anyone's interested. Here it is in action - still a bit nerve wracking! ...and the block hooked in place: Rigging the lifts after that was straightforward, the only point of note being that I remembered to fit the stuns'l booms first: I held the lifts taut by threading them through their designated belaying holes in the pin racks and then jamming the pins back in. A temporary measure until I get round to making some rope coils. At that stage I'll double-check the yards are level before making the belays permanent. Note to self - dust the model before taking close-ups! That top step looks broken too, and I hadn't noticed that before. No more macro photography for me 😬 I might start making some rope coils next. Derek

Not to me Phill - I went boz-eyed making four! Any more and I might keel over 😁

Boat & Top Rails I decided to get these fitted before any more rigging got in the way. I'd left the top rails off to avoid damaging them whilst tackling the standing rigging and left the boat off until I'd finished the oars. I was on a roll after the first trial oar and it didn't take long to finish the other three. The boat has turned out to be an enjoyable little project in its own right. I'm glad I went beyond the kit with embellishments like the cap rail, rowlocks and oars and I'm pleased with the result: Here's the boat lashed to the chocks: The top rails were fairly easy to add, as I'd previously blackened the brass stanchions and cleaned the laser char off the rails. All I had to do was glue them in place: I love it when you start to see a real forest of rigging lines when you look along the ship! Plenty more to go, starting with the lower yard lifts. Many thanks for all the likes and comments. Derek

I'm watching your use of PVA with interest here Glenn. I seemed to develop an adverse reaction to CA gel when I used it a lot on Speedy's copper plating. Now I can only use the thin odourless version which I don't think would work with planking. You seem to be getting on well with Titebond - would you recommend it?