Aussie048

Well, its been a little longer than I had I thought.  I got into a bit of a funk with a couple of aspects of the rigging and felt myself forcing things - so decided to take a bit of a break.  I think I got lucky with my first mouse, replicating it proved to be rather challenging but decided to make them all in one go so they are as consistent as can be (why don't any manufacturers make mice?).  
 
Not much to report, but I am back in the shipyard at least...I do still want to try and capture each step in order for future reference, so apologize if this is less than thrilling.
 
Maintop with main and preventer stays in place...

 
Main and preventer stays attached to their respective hearts.  Did not serve around the stays where they rub against the fore-mast as would have been done.  I didn't  use the supplied 1.25mm line as supplied as it seemed a little too thick and out of scal, instead going with some 'officially' 1.3mm Caldercraft line which in reality was slightly thinner than the supplied 1.25mm stuff.  This proved to be a 'fuzzy'  nightmare but once in place I brushed with dilute PVA and they seem to have been banished.
 
The lashing of the hearts was done with  fake splice to the lower heart (although believe this maybe should have been to the upper heart) and then seizing the other end to the lashing.  The hearts have circular holes, I'd recommend flattening off the lower side so the lashing sits better, as it is, I found this quite tricky to look right.
 

Hi Sjors - no, there is no platform on the mizzen mast, the mizzen mast seems quite 'stunted' compared to larger ship rigged vessels.  The mizzen cross tree is about the same size as the crosstrees on the main and fore top masts.
 
Here is a picture of the deadeyes but not yet tightened fully, please tell me if I've done something wrong.  I first put the shrouds around the mast and then looped around the deadeyes before seizing them.  As is the shrouds looks taught, but I'm not sure how taught these need to be - the .75mm line seems much stronger than the masts at this scale and I'm worried I'd break something if they needed to be much tighter.  
 

Cheers Mobbsie and all the 'likes'.
 
Think I'm officially into the rigging stage.  Mizzen mast stepped and the shrouds in installed.  I'm going to wait to finish 'tightening' these until later.  Found the method of getting the 3.5mm deadeyes into the shrouds at the correct height very fiddly, after many choice words found that using 2 pieces of wire in the holes worked better for me (rather than a single one as called out in the instructions) as this provided some more stability.  Hopefully the 5mm deadeyes will be a little easier.
 
Theres quite a stack of shrouds around the mast which is quite pleasing, glad that these were served.  Following Andy's advice the Burton pendants were 'painted' with quite a bit of dilute PVA and then weighted so that they followed a more natural, less gravity defying line.
 
A belated Happy New Year to everyone!!
 

Doug, John, BE, Jim, Robert, Sjors - Thanks a bunch for kind words.  Getting a lot of loose ends done and seems randomly capturing in my log.  I've suddenly started having issues imbedding pictures in my posts, not sure if its some site incompatibility itself or my PC.
 
Robert - your pictures are below.  As I've said before I don't want to bore people but please let me know if you want to see more!  The base is home made any still not finished but this was a good opportunity to see how it looks with the ship.
 
Completed the blocks on the tops, as I've mentioned previously the instructions only call for single blocks on the fore top.  However, even though I probably will not rig any buntlines, I did want this to be as authentic as possible.  Research didn't seem to provide anything specific but in general it seems that a couple of double blocks on each 'corner' was somewhat typical so this is what I went with.  Followed same method outlined earlier, these seemed to take forever to make, there were certainly rejects and structural failures during installation, as well as having to fill holes that I'd previously drilled.  Luckily these proved to be not too noticeable.
 

Top Masts
 
These were made with walnut dowel rather than the supplied beech as I wanted to be able to leave these unpainted.  The kit supplied dowel was also a little undersize (5.5mm vs the 6mm required).
 
I found these to be tricky to make using only files as each end requires to be 'squared' and they need  their faces to match otherwise the cross tree will not align correctly.  The taper on the dowel was done on a mini proxxon lathe although I think using a regular drill and sandpaper would have worked just fine.  I tried to make the section below the cross tree octagonal in cross section but it could definitely be better.
 
The instructions call for the bottom of the top mast to be left squared of with smaller dimension than the rest of the mast.  Didn't like that so built up this with some spare walnut planking.  This was then shaped to be octagonal in line with what seemed common practice.
 
Need to be careful going forward, as taking this approach means that if I want to install the top mast cross tree off the ship (my preference) I'll need to ensure the mast cap placed first as it won't fit afterwards due the above modifications.
 
Overall, took a lot of time but was pretty happy.  I know it wouldn't hold a candle to BEs beautiful top masts but seems a simple improvement to the kit as supplied.
 
 

A few pictures to show the completed deck items before the masts go in.  Definitely seems to be a little more crowed than kit supplied parts and layout but I'm pleased with how its turned out.

Very slow progress of late, combination of not much time, waiting for some supplies (cleats and 3mm double blocks for under the tops) and general busyness.  Worked on completing some of the pendants.  Seems these should have been split and then served around the mast, I cheated and simply attached some line on the other side and seized to the main pendant - these are totally cosmetic so should not be an issue.  Given that these will probably be hidden by the shrouds this may have been a waste of time, but I'm finding that practice is not a bad thing to build confidence.  I believe that one of the main purpose for these was to tension the shrouds.
 
Although when served the line tends to be quite stiff, I'm not sure how to keep the pendants hanging realistically, I think the best bet will be to simply wait for the shrouds and these will naturally push these down.  Haven't done any touch up on these.
 

 
The Burton pendant on the mizzen

I need to ask some questions, sorry for length and diversity. 
In my previous post I'd fitted the blocks for the spritsail topsail brace, which are the only blocks called for in the instructions/plans.  Looking over Petersson it seems that there should be quite a few more, specifically for the buntlines and leechlines. My conundrum - do the plans overlook these or is there some reason why these would not be present on a smaller ship like Snake (seems unlikely)?  As I'm probably not going to put sails on this one, is there justification for leaving these off, I'd like to avoid the rework if possible. I note that Petersson references Burton Pendants on each mast, again these are not mentioned in the kit instructions.  Would these also need to be added for basic accuracy? I've seen it recommended that masts should not be glued in place as the shrouds will keep them position, but not quite sure why gluing is a bad idea.  I have quite a bit of side to side movement on the foremast because of the way the hole in the deck ended up.   
Couple of update pics on blocks to go into .  I seem to be becoming a little obsessed with the rigging which I need to stop if I want to finish this!  Blocks rigged for the main topmast stay and preventer stay.  I served the stropping for the preventer stay (per Lever) which was a pretty time consuming and very fiddly exercise but I was pleased with the result in the end.  Will need to go through this a few more times for the main stay and preventer stay.  Also made up the  mizzen deadeye for the mainmast. 
 
Preventer stay


Mizzen stay deadeye per Lever

 

Sjors, Mike, Jim - as always your comments mean a lot coming from you guys, and always good advice!
 
Frustrating I've found that I'm two cleats short (and Cornwall Model Boats are out of stock!) so can't complete the mizzen mast just yet so started to attach blocks to the other masts.  Lots of pictures below on approach to the under blocks under the tops, Mobbsie was very kind to send through a lot of info that he had accumulated, found this modified method worked well for me.  Only had 4 to do, but thought it good practice to do it authentically as possible for practice even though I could probably have lived with blocks attached to eyebolts.
 
High tech jig assembled (i.e. 2 pins in spare wood about 9mm apart)  Block placed on one pin and knot tied at top of block to secure it in place.  Loose ends then tied over the top of other pin....

 
...knot tied on other side of pin to make a loop.  At this point applied some GS Hypo glue to the knots and the 'loop' to secure it.

 
After glue had dried, trimmed loose ends and served the line in between the loop and the block...

 
...which resulted in the finished item.

 
In place with wire pegs inserted into loops to keep them in place.  1.3mm holes were drilled and the hoops pulled through with thin thread.  Took a bit of teasing.

 

Haven't had much time to spare recently.  Masts approaching completion, small strips of paper were used to simulate metal bands above the tops and also added some scratch jeer block strop cleats for bit more interest out of scrap.  Painted up it seems to be coming together and I'm pretty happy.  Rails and the eyebolts will be left off until later, but all holes have been drilled.  Few more deck details to put finishing touches to and glue, and then onto the shrouds and ratlines.
 

Since my last update I have applied one coat of wipe on poly which darkened the hull to a moderate degree. 
The starboard gun port liners are now cut, painted brown, and installed.         Two trim/molding pieces were fabricated and fixed to the edges of the lower balcony, as well as finishing the remainder of the decorative S braces between the upper and lower balcony.     More decorations were fabricated and added to the stern section.       Now to get busy and make the port side liners for a total of 92 rectangular gun port liners!    

Today I got a little distracted and decided the San Felipe needed a captain! I carved him from a tiny bit of basswood... and he is 1:96 scale to match the ship. He's standing on a practice run of planking.
 
First picture shows the unpainted and the second shows the painted.
 

 

 
For reference, I've placed him on a Canadian dime, which is our smallest coin in physical size - 11/16" or 17mm (approximately)
 

 

I also have the filler pieces for the guns painted black. Makes me think about all the cannons I'm going to be making later!!!
 

Maybe this makes sense to others out there, but I find it a little unusual. The plans show the first planking being started (first photo) and then the tops of the bulkheads being 'snapped' off (second photo). It leaves me wondering what the planking is attached to, other than the edges of the planks themselves? The planks are attached at the first and then the 8th -12 bulkheads. Hopefully this will add enough structural stability.
 

 

 
After all this, then the deck planking will begin. It seems like that would be easier now, but I can't do the deck until the bulkheads are 'snapped' off.
 
Here I'm scoring the bulkhead tops for easier breaking later.
 

Here the balsa gun blocks are in place. I also added an additional filler piece at the bow.
 

 

 
I've also been researching led lighting and am experimenting with placement. They are just loosely in place here until I get the main deck on and holes drilled for them. I used 3mm yellow/orange led lights and 360 Ohm carbon resistors. The light wiring is too large in diameter to fit in the brass tubing for the stern lanterns...but I think I have a great idea for that when the time comes. (stay tuned for that - later on)
 

 

Finally found some time to make a bit more progress. Here the lower decks are in place.
 

 

 
 

Another small update.
This is just a dry fit again...don't want to fix anything permanently until all the bulkheads have been faired (at least partially) and the decks are cut and test-fitted.
 

 

Here is the first bulkhead cut with my new scroll saw!
 

 
This is just a 'dry fit' to see how I did. So far I'm fairly happy.
 

I finally have a small update!
It's been very busy...brother had a heart attack, daughter broke her foot...and that was just one day!
Anyway, things have settled down now and I have a chance to work on my San Felipe!
 
Even though I was "coping" well and not "fretting" too much with my hand sawing...I now have a scroll saw!
The first picture shows the brand new saw that lasted about 3 1/2 minutes...until the plastic bearing collar broke and parts flew!
The second picture shows the used scroll saw that I replaced it with (all metal, 22 inch). It works like a charm!
 

 

 
This is the finished knee of the head/keel parts that I fine tuned until they fit properly.
 

 
Next up was the building slip and attached false keel.
 

 

 
 

Okay...before you-know-who does ask....here's is a modest update.
I cut these parts by hand (tedium ad infinitum) and still have some minor tweaking to do, but this is it so far.
 

 

I am still in the process of gathering materials and tools for this build, but I have made a bit of a start.
I have the 3/16 plywood for the keel and rib/bulkhead parts, as well as basswood for the knee of the head etc.
 
The first challenge was cutting thin wood with the table saw - I didn't have any bearings to use as roller guides, but came up with an alternative that gave me two very true pieces of wood. So far...off to a good start. If you can't tell in the photo they are very polished round headed brass tacks.
 

 

I also need to get a move-on with the exterior hull work.   I'm just going to go with the best looking scheme and be done with it     the way I did the railings,  will make it hard to follow the flow of the lines,  but I will try to make it work.   the first aspect was with the railings themselves.....the red and white striping.  I took a bunch of thin mahogany......in different widths,  and painted them white.   I sorta goofed here when I masked off for the red........I should have cut the tape down and cut down on the length of the dashes.
 

 
yea........I used that crappy blue stuff!   it didn't come out as good as I wanted it to......but it is salvageable,  so I guess it's not a total loss.   just as well.......I don't have much extra stripping left.
 

 

 
I tried a piece of it on the model.......touched up,  it will look better 
 

I'm kinda wondering,  if this is also to denote port and starboard......something I've never seen before.
 
 
anyway......................................I mentioned the whittling I was doing on the masts.  I needed to get the top capping down to the size that will fit into the nests.  so, I cut into the mast with my miter box and saw,  and cut away the excess....later sanded smooth.
 

 
now,  I had mentioned perhaps making a new main mast nest,  but I chose to repair the original one,  only because it has the pre drilled holes.
 

 
later, I chose to rip off all of the upper railing and start over,  adjusting the post in the area I started from,  and the redo.   I assembled the framework that the nests will be located on.
 

 
the fore mast nest was assembled to the mast......since that one turned out OK.
 

 

 
after the railing was finished on the main mast nest.....there was still an area on it that wasn't right.  I am making the change yet again.
 

 
while I was working on that,  I continued on other aspects,  between drying times.   the capstan is an assembly,  consisting of a  bunch of little pieces....most of them are missing.   so I opted to use the parts that the nests would have been made up with.   after making up a scratch base ring for the supplied capstan post,  the railing parts were cemented around the base.
 

 
then,  the bow spirit was assembled.  it is not trimmed to size yet.
 

 
I had some smaller dowel to use,  instead of the supplied dowel for the capstan bars.   I added some brass banding to spruce it up a bit more.
 

 
I did the same for the pump,  and stained other parts that can be readily assembled onto the ship.  I'll lightly stain them with the mahogany stain to match them up with the rest of the ship.
 

 
 
 
 

Attention zeeschouw fans... another minor update.
 
I have been working on the mast and its jewelry along with the other spars. Just a matter of staining, varnishing and painting really, but it does take time to put it all together. I also managed to make an athwartship traveller for the boom. Believe or not, I managed it the first try. I was certain it was going to take several attempts at getting the right bends at the right size. The flag is also flying! I used the flag supplied with the kit and am pretty happy with how it turned out.
 
So here are a few more pictures...
 
The flag flying from the the stern. I used some varathane to soak the material and then wrapped the flag around several dowels to give it some curves and life.
 

 
I used some scrap material to experiment with to find out what, and what not to do.
 

 
A shot of the traveller for the main boom.
 

 
A shot of the boat with the mast and spars ready for mounting.
 

 
My wife has kindly offered to sew the sails on her machine. She's awesome! They are a work in progress so I will wait to step the main mast until I can get the sail bent on. Stay tuned...
 
 

Funny you should ask Nils! I just put on her name boards and now she has a proper name. "IRENE".
 
I named her after my sister. The kit's name is "BIANCA" but I don't know anyone personally by that name so I decided "Irene" had more significance. Here are some pictures with the new name board.
 

 

 
Now I have to start work on the sails. I have put another coat of paint on the masts and they are drying in front of the gas fire. Billing has supplied a sheet with the pattern of the sails inked on them. However, the material is a bit too white and stiff. So I will use them as pattern pieces and use muslin cloth instead. I am hoping to get a sewing lesson from my wife who has a sewing machine and a serger. I will do a little experimenting and come up with the best solution. Stay tuned to this channel....