druxey

Thank you for the comments, Ab!
 
While the Mary was Dutch built, I assume it ended up operated by English sailors, with an English captain. So, I wonder if some changes were made to her at some point to accommodate English practices. I have considered both rig possibilities, but I'm too chicken to declare the rig to be one way or the other, so my model will end up somewhere in between. Probably, this will cause it to have a rig that was never correct. But, at least I'm learning (I think).
 
 

Not much to actually report, except that I've been trying to get these sails done for a couple weeks, and since I switched my sail making technique, I managed to make good progress over two days.
 
I probably mentioned this before, but I'm using unbleached cotton muslin. This was hand washed and then treated with a fabric stabilizer called Terial Magic. This has to soak in for 15 minutes, wrung out, then the material is ironed. The resultant material acts like paper. The stabilizer can be left in or washed out later.
 

 
Topsail and head sails were initially sewn and cut to shape. 
 

I cut some strips of fabric and sprayed them with Fray Stop, which is like the fabric stabilizer, but it doesn't wash out. It smells a lot like lacquer(!). I'm doing this, because I think I'm going to wash the Terial Magic out of the sails later (maybe), and I'm a little concerned that later the edges of these strips might start to fray.

I'm gluing the strips using Aleene's Fabric Fusion, which is a clear, permanent fabric glue. I've never used it before. It's possible that my using the Fray Stop may keep the fabric glue from sticking as well. Not really sure about that. I didn't really consider that when I cut and sprayed those strips. We'll just have to see how it goes.

I glued the strips into place using Aleene's Fabric Fusion. I'm showing a rotary cutter in the photo below, but I actually ended up using a scalpel with a fresh blade for more of the cutting. The rotary cutter might have worked better if the blade was newer. It was fine really, but the fresh scalpel blade was better.

That curved edge of the topsail was the biggest challenge. I matched the cure as best I could in a larger piece of cloth, then glued the whole cloth to the sail. I then just cut the excess away.

All tablings glued into place. I considered just leaving the sails in this state, but I wanted to show stitching of the tablings. I also thought that the tablings might hold up better if I end up washing them after I sew them.

 
Finally, here are the first three sails. Just the mainsail to go. The tablings are all secured with one line of machine stitching. That part turned out okay, certainly a lot better than my earlier attempt. I still need to add the bolt ropes. I'm not too worried about that part. I'm just gluing them into place. But, I'll probably add the bolt ropes to these three sails before I make the last sail.
 
 

sorry for not replying your question. I just stumbled into this thread.
It is correct that if there is no need to climb the mast, ratlines were omitted. On the other hand, I have seen lots of statenjacht models having them. I think that is a misconception, caused by the English yachts. For some unclear reason the English used lifts, sheets  and braces for their topsail. In Holland the tradition was that the topsail was carried 'flying', which means that it was hauled on deck if not in use. The lower corners of the sail carried blocks, through which ropes ran, attached to the tips of the lower yard. They served as braces and sheets at the same time. Lifts were not necessary. The lower yard was carried by the topsail. If it was not in use, the yard was stowed upright against the mast, carried by a pendant, long enough to bring the lower tip of the yard within reach from the deck.
Thus ratlines were not necessary.
But of course it's your choice to apply them.

It's nice when earlier attention pays off later in the build, as has happened here. Looking good!
 
Enjoy Crete with your bride!

It's nice when earlier attention pays off later in the build, as has happened here. Looking good!
 
Enjoy Crete with your bride!

I had a similar problem with the decade long build of my Swan class model. My earlier work was not as good as later on and some of those came rookie inaccuracies came back to haunt me as the project progressed.
Have a great holiday. Oh, to be 60 again!

Mark, Happy Birthday to your wife, enjoy your trip to Crete, and 5MM (0.196 inches), I guarantee the only person who is ever going to notice that tiny amount is you. Beautiful work. 

Another update from me - I've now closed off the stern and finished the stern windows.  There's not too much to say about this work other than the planking is not straight but curved.
 
I tried bending planks but pretty much got no where with that so in the end I made them from a 13mm wide plank by sanding them to shape.  The hinges and closers are blackened brass.
 




I still need to place the nails on the external planks but thats a nice easy job.  I think I'm going to make the quarterdeck beams, supports and waterways next. 
 
Mark

The build has officially begun, the MDF former made of 3 pieces glued together on a nice flat surface and left overnight to dry fully.
 

Very impressive indeed!!  Should be a fun build Ben.

The box you see is laser etched with a drawing of the ship along with the serial number of the kit, my kit is B0001 as it’s a prototype.
This box contains Chapter 1 of the model which comprises  all of the main hull structure and jigs, the box weighed in at a hefty 29lbs, you can see more pics of some of the contents, also this kit will have  framing of Swiss pear and I will be planking in Boxwood ( planking material not included with the kit just like the Winnie ).
Everything is very well packed and protected and the quality of the materials and laser cutting is superb.
 

Nice extra tweaks!

Nice extra tweaks!

Nice extra tweaks!

Sand bevels with a sanding stick; you have much more control.

Hi All
 
I've not posted in a while as I found an issue with my build that began 3 1/2 years ago when my building skills and general ship understanding were very much in their infancy I guess.  I first noticed this problem when I fitted the stern timbers and stern windows.  I could see that the counter timbers did not go fully to the top of the stern timbers and the quarter deck rear beam seemed far too close to the top of the windows.  The issue is -  I have set the counter timbers at the wrong angle which to correct at this stage would be very difficult indeed.
 
I felt that this would be the end of the build as I have tried my very best to keep as accurately to the plans as possible.  I decided just to have a break and come back to it later with a fresh outlook and see how I felt about the problem.
 
So with a renewed outlook I took loads of measurements of the entire ship.  I discovered that everything forward of the stern post is fine.  I also discovered that everything rearward of the stern post is 5mm out of spec.  So I have a ship that is 5mm longer than it should be and the issues that accompany it.
 
Upwards and onwards - The build continues but first I had to address a couple of problems.  I would need to lift the rear beam upwards to the correct height and the quarter deck would have to be bespoke behind the stern post.   So firstly the rear beam - Rather than remove the beam I have just made it 1.5mm thicker by adding a piece on.
 


Next I made the beams  - here's a few pictures of the process that I use.

Just rough cut on the band saw

I prefer to sand the inner curve first but I'm sure it makes no difference 

Then the outer


Next I cut the dovetail joints - I really like doing this part its so satisfying 


Then I cut them into the clamps using a height gauge to make sure that they are at the correct height.  I also sense check the alignment with a steel rule as they must be level with the stern post.




Then I made the beam supports 




Finally I made the waterways which sit nicely on the level of the planksheer
 




So although I'm not exactly to the plans anymore I think I've pulled it back enough to get away with it.  I do have knock on issues such as the taff rail will be longer etc etc.... but I've got my head around what needs to be done.  On the positive side you are getting 5mm more ship for your buck!!!  Also stepping away sometimes is a very good thing to do!  I'm very much back into it now - A slight delay though as it's my wife's 60th birthday next week so we are off to Crete for a fortnight to celebrate.  I can now remove all of the beams and start some of the interior detail.
 
Mark
 

Thanks!
 
I haven't gotten much done over the past week, but I've released all the wooden parts, and figured I'd force myself to organize my pictures up to the current point. This one feels a little picture heavy for the amount that was accomplished.
 
Log #15 - Oar pads & locks, mast
 
I picked up a few new tools, glue looper, Swann Morton scalpel, round nose pliers and some proper flush cutters (for wire/tube, I've been using the beginners kit ones from ME which I don't think are really appropriate for metal). First used was the glue looper which helped getting the oar lock pads in place. I applied each one differently, some techniques worked better than others. Using pins in the 'nail holes' to guide it into place with a small amount of CA on the pad help align it in the right spot. The looper helped apply just enough to make it stick, but not so much it spilled into the holes (there was so little glue, one or two of them actually came off).
 
The loose pads were trickier to get nailed down, but I managed to drive the nails (applying a bit of CA to the tip to ensure they would do their job). I also had the nails slightly longer than the hole so they would bite into the wood and act as a nail should. 100% unnecessary, but I clearly have psychological problems. They all turned out quite well and fairly straight (and I just noticed a small amount of flaking CA on the paint in one of the pictures, now I'll have to go clean that up).
 
I was debating for a while about what to do with the oar locks as I didn't really want them to be 'steel'. I ended up painting them with some gold OcCre paint I picked at the ME clear out sale.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
The Mast
 
This took the majority of my time. I made both the laser cut glued pieces and the dowel versions. I ended up using the dowel because it's size and taper ended up near perfect. Although the process was interesting, I struggled with the glued pieces. Getting the char off reduced the size too much and discolored it. I found drilling such a small hole in the glue seem to be more awkward than drilling into the round dowel (I used some tricks for that). The bottom end that fits into the mast step ended up way too small and the overall profile was an ellipse - although I don't think that's an issue as many, if not most masts are oval.
 
However, I finally got to use my Christmas present:
 

 
Comparing both masts:

 
I wish I could remember who, so I could properly thank them, but one of the build logs had used a cordless drill to shape the dowel. I did the same and although it was far too dusty and time consuming for my liking, it worked perfectly. The process really sped up when I stopped using the same piece of sandpaper, and cut 5 or 6 strips to rotate as soon as they got 'clogged'. (Now I might need to put a mini lathe on my wishlist)
 
Drilling straight holes in the dowel took some ingenuity. With a press it would be much easier. I made a 'guide' out of a thicker piece of wood, placed the dowel in a vice and put the guide across the top to keep the drill straight. It would've worked even better had the top of my vice been perfectly level, but it worked well enough.
 
Making the guide:

 
Using the guide:

 
Next, to make the perpendicular hole, I drove a pin through the current one and used that to rest it it on so it would sit perfectly level and I could drill perpendicular:

 

 
The round nose pliers came in handy for the eyelets. The eyelet itself was a U shape with one tip being longer than the other. That way, I was able to glue in one tip and then line up the other tip to push it all the way in. Applying the cleats has it's own miniscule and shaky hand challenges, but straightforward. Finally, to simulate the chafe pad (I went the 'copper' route instead of leather), I used some copper OcCre paint I had got for dirt cheap from... you guessed it.... the ME clear out sale.
 
First I simply used a toothpick to slather some paint on a piece of brown paper, wrapped the opposite side around a dowel to give it some memory while drying. Flipped it over, marked it out, cut with a brand new blade, PVA glue and voila.
 

 
I sent this to the wife with no context and she asked if my fake nail broke off 

 

 
More gold paint, I cleaned it up after it dried, but didn't get a pic:

 

 
The stay plates swivel since I managed to get them on with only the nails being glued into the mast. Handy if I need to readjust them when rigging

 

 

 
The color matches nice enough; though I'm not sure how durable the gold paint will be. I've yet to glue them in. I was thinking of using a rubbery/flexible adhesive so they could be twisted slightly though the longevity of those adhesives probably don't make them the best choice.

 

 

 

 
As of this week, I've shaped the boom; just need to finish gluing and drilling. Need to shape the top spar and oars, then onto making the sail and rigging.
 
On a personal note, I found the time to get over to my boat for the first time this season. I stepped the mast and got the jib rigged up. I ran out of time and had to many questions to continue with the mainsail, boom, halyards, sheets, etc. I reviewed manuals, and reference pictures after I got home, and should be able to go back and finish it up when I have time for another visit. Maybe even get a little crazy and actually launch it!
 
Thanks for the comments, and likes,
Matt

Damn straight!

Ah, the joys and frustrations of reproducing plans!

@rwiederrich @Luis Felipe and @Vladimir_Wairoa here's the actual pdf plan images from Staples. I noticed that the grid lines on the previous plans are slightly skewed. That's due to my cell phone not being precisely above when I took the picture. These are more precise. The only mistake I see are slightly misaligned fore halves of the Chappelle.

Every new post is simply overwhelming.

@jdbondy
Yes, the Paasch is really very helpful for translating old nautical terms.
I can therefore recommend it.
 
Continued: Fore yard – Bowlines / Boulines
Since I don't equip my corvette with sails, the question inevitably arose as to how the bowlines are attached. Originally, I intended to simply tie the bowlines around the yard, like on the original Paris model, without bridles. Since I was naturally interested in how bridles work, the next question arose: What happens to the bowline bridles when the sails are taken down?
I found the answer to this question in K. Schrage's book – Rundhölzer, Tauwerk und Segel – on page 144. There, you can see an illustration of how the bridle legs are attached to the yard with timber hitches when the sails are taken down.

Source: K. Schrage – Rundhölzer, Tauwerk und Segel – p. 144
 
Since I find this arrangement very logical, I decided to show it this way for my model. Regarding the number of bridle shanks, I'm guided by the monograph, as diverse variations can be found in relevant contemporary illustrations.
I intend to implement the bowline bridles as in the original, using real eye splices. The bowline bridles in the foreyard had a diameter of 19 mm (1:48: ø 0.35 mm – 2 x 3 Kimono Japanese silk yarn). Splicing the thin ropes is now very easy.

In order to finally attach the bowline, I still had to tie the guide blocks to the bowsprit, as shown in the next picture.

I'm also currently working on the correct mooring of the running rigging.
But more on that soon.
To be continued...

Wefalck, that book is exactly the reference I have been looking for! Should be immensely useful when looking at Boudriot's books.

Use Paasch‘s ‚From Keel to Truck‘ and forget about GoogleTranslator …

There's German, and then there's nautical German. And then there is the nautical German translation of the nautical French...or vice versa...