Bob Cleek

That folding gizmo is called a 'linen tester'. Wonderful tools.

Far be it from me to rain on anybody's parade, but...
 
There are a very few specialty suppliers that do sell finish-quality dimensioned scale lumber and they are becoming fewer every day. The economics of the business are such that the market really isn't sufficiently strong for anybody to be supplying dimensioned scale lumber in any species other than balsa or basswood and perhaps thin birch plywood, none of which are prime finish woods for modeling. Add to that problem the fact that there aren't a lot of straight lines on a ship and the reality becomes apparent: those who are working with fine woods aren't buying their wood pre-milled. If you're lucky, you may find some cherry stripwood, but that's about it. Everything you see used by the really good modelers on the forum is being milled from larger billets by the modelers themselves. The silver lining to this cloud is that there's a lot of very interesting and suitable wood out there that's going for amazingly inexpensive prices because nobody wants to mill it commercially. A modeler doesn't have to limit themselves to boxwood or pear, although it's very nice if one can afford caviar. The municipal dump piles are full of exotic species in sizes one can throw in the trunk of the car for free, if you mill it yourself.  That does require an investment in power tools. Sometimes a local cabinet shop will oblige on a custom order basis. Other times the local trade school wood shop ma be open for adult school projects and tools are available there. Bottom line, though, if you are looking for fine woodworking species suitable for modeling, you will have to mill it yourself these days and that will require more than a drill. 

Far be it from me to rain on anybody's parade, but...
 
There are a very few specialty suppliers that do sell finish-quality dimensioned scale lumber and they are becoming fewer every day. The economics of the business are such that the market really isn't sufficiently strong for anybody to be supplying dimensioned scale lumber in any species other than balsa or basswood and perhaps thin birch plywood, none of which are prime finish woods for modeling. Add to that problem the fact that there aren't a lot of straight lines on a ship and the reality becomes apparent: those who are working with fine woods aren't buying their wood pre-milled. If you're lucky, you may find some cherry stripwood, but that's about it. Everything you see used by the really good modelers on the forum is being milled from larger billets by the modelers themselves. The silver lining to this cloud is that there's a lot of very interesting and suitable wood out there that's going for amazingly inexpensive prices because nobody wants to mill it commercially. A modeler doesn't have to limit themselves to boxwood or pear, although it's very nice if one can afford caviar. The municipal dump piles are full of exotic species in sizes one can throw in the trunk of the car for free, if you mill it yourself.  That does require an investment in power tools. Sometimes a local cabinet shop will oblige on a custom order basis. Other times the local trade school wood shop ma be open for adult school projects and tools are available there. Bottom line, though, if you are looking for fine woodworking species suitable for modeling, you will have to mill it yourself these days and that will require more than a drill. 

The answer to your question depends upon the particular vessel and is dependent in large part to the size of the vessel. Smaller vessels may run the fall of a running backstay to a turning block fastened to the deck and then aft to a lever which tensions the backstay when it is thrown down. On larger vessels, a purchase is rigged which may be arranged in any number of ways, but generally with the weight of the blocks kept as low as possible. Running backs may also have a hook at their lower end to which a tackle can be attached. Unhooking the backstay then permits it to be run forward and lashed to the after shroud to keep it out of the way when not in use.
 
If you could post a picture or sailplan of the vessel, you'd probably get the best answer that way. 
 

Hence the once common machinist's magnifiers:
 

Do you have decimal reading calipers? That would be the most direct way.

For the main back stays, these are usually flying back stays that are set up with blocks to allow one side or the other to be "let go" in order to swing the boom. 
Allan

 

I often use a #2 pencil with an eraser as a push stick. The eraser side down on the wood. I also make up push sticks as I go. It only takes a few seconds. Rule One: Never reach over a table saw blade. Rule Two: Never stand in line with the blade. (Avoid getting hit by a kick-back.) Rule Three: Always use a push stick when ripping.

I'd suggest you assemble your "backbone" (keel, stem, and sternpost) and your bulkheads/frames and make sure your bulkheads are perfectly straight and true. Then make yourself a "fid stick" (sometimes called a "fit stick,") which is simply a small piece of wood the same thickness as your planking. Place the fit stick against  each bulkhead and slide it down until it hits the side of the keel, or wherever else your rabbet is going to be running and tick off a mark with a pencil.  Where the inboard corner of the fit stick hits the keel is the top of your back rabbet. The outboard corner, once the rabbet is cut so the fit stick fits in the rabbet you will cut, is going to be your rabbet line. The fit stick should lay perfectly flat against the bulkhead and the back rabbet when the rabbet is cut.
 
If you make a small length of rabbet at each bulkhead with your fit stick(s), and then you draw a fair line between the rabbet lines with a batten, and cut the rest of the rabbet along those lines, you should have a perfect rabbet. As the back rabbet is a rolling angle dependent upon the shape of the hull above it, trying to mark a rabbet line from a plan is almost always a disaster. You have to "work from the boat," and not "from the plans" in a lot of instances. A rabbet is a three dimensional creature and all you've got are two dimensional plans. Without a fit stick, you are pretty much flying blind, whether a rabbet line is on the plans or not. Rabbet lines on plans are basically there to illustrate the extent of the planked surface and never the depth and angle of the rabbet itself, which is defined by 1) the thickness of the planking and 2) the angle at which the plank hangs as defined by the frame or bulkhead. If you have a station construction drawing that includes the rabbet, you will see how the shape of the rabbet is different at any point along its length.
 
Hope this helps.

The beauty department has a lot of interesting stuff and typically cheaper than the modellers' stuff - it's a mass market.
 
These blocks are also sold for woodworkers etc. Got some in 150 grit quite a while ago - ebay etc. is your friend.
 
Unless yours are soft, I would rather call them foam sanding blocks. Mine are rather hard and the shape is stable, allowing to sand flat surfaces.
 
 

As in the US, it's an environmental ban. In 2006, the EU banned "all biocides" including those extracted from plants. Somehow, Stockholm tar fell into this category. An outcry from historical preservationists managed to win an exception for use in historic preservation applications, such as historic Swedish churches and maritime preservation applications. 
 

I really can't see any advantage to two-part epoxy coatings on a model. I've handled a fair bit of epoxy on full size boats. It's a good adhesive, but no so good as a surface coating. Unless it is thickened with sanding additive ("micro balloons,") it's a bear to sand. Two-part epoxies and linear polyurethane coatings are very strong and great for heavy duty applications, but there's a learning curve to their use and they are unforgiving if not mixed and applied exactly according to the instructions. They are really an industrial product. They aren't worth the trouble, expense, or mess for a small model in my opinion. There are a lot easier ways to get a smooth painted surface on a model hull than epoxy.

Remember to leave a hole covered with gauze or cheesecloth for ventilation under the model's base with a small air gap between it and the case baseboard. Does your booklet address that point?

I really can't see any advantage to two-part epoxy coatings on a model. I've handled a fair bit of epoxy on full size boats. It's a good adhesive, but no so good as a surface coating. Unless it is thickened with sanding additive ("micro balloons,") it's a bear to sand. Two-part epoxies and linear polyurethane coatings are very strong and great for heavy duty applications, but there's a learning curve to their use and they are unforgiving if not mixed and applied exactly according to the instructions. They are really an industrial product. They aren't worth the trouble, expense, or mess for a small model in my opinion. There are a lot easier ways to get a smooth painted surface on a model hull than epoxy.

I really can't see any advantage to two-part epoxy coatings on a model. I've handled a fair bit of epoxy on full size boats. It's a good adhesive, but no so good as a surface coating. Unless it is thickened with sanding additive ("micro balloons,") it's a bear to sand. Two-part epoxies and linear polyurethane coatings are very strong and great for heavy duty applications, but there's a learning curve to their use and they are unforgiving if not mixed and applied exactly according to the instructions. They are really an industrial product. They aren't worth the trouble, expense, or mess for a small model in my opinion. There are a lot easier ways to get a smooth painted surface on a model hull than epoxy.

It A number of years ago I bought a five gallon kit of epoxy paint used for industrial tank lining applications.  It was a two part paint, two 2-1/2 gallon cans, mixed 1to 1.  We used it to coat the keel of a Soling Class Sailboat owned by our Community Sailing Association.
 
I brought the left over paint home and used it to paint, by brush, the carved pine hull of my Benjamin Noble model.  The idea was to provide a smooth impervious surface for application of shim brass plating attached with transfer tape.  Well, the paint worked fine providing a hard smooth matt surface.  On the other hand the 3M transfer tape did not provide a strong bond and the plates soon lifted.  The model has sat for several years and I recently lightly sanded it and remarked the plating.  PVA glue seems to tightly bond paper plates to this surface.
 
Epoxies are notorious for an Amine Blush that can interfere with coatings applied on top.  It is removed with soap and water.  They have poor resistance to UV radiation so if prolonged exposure to sunlight is expected they are usually top coated with something else.
 
Roger

As in the US, it's an environmental ban. In 2006, the EU banned "all biocides" including those extracted from plants. Somehow, Stockholm tar fell into this category. An outcry from historical preservationists managed to win an exception for use in historic preservation applications, such as historic Swedish churches and maritime preservation applications. 
 

Druxey is correct about the metal recycling programs in Britain during the War. (And, later, in the U.S.) However, if the period depicted in the model is "circa 1940," it has to be remembered that the War in Europe began in September, 1939, and British "metal drives" began in July of 1940. It seems highly unlikely that serviceable cargo vessels, equivalent to today's tractor-trailer trucks, would have been cannibalized for their metal at that point in the conflict. Moreover, Britain's famous "iron railing" scrap iron drive, and pretty much all others in Britain and the U.S., are generally recognized by historians to have been more a propaganda effort to galvanize civilian support and participation in the war effort than anything else. They focused primarily on the large amount of Victorian-era iron fence and gate work that, at that time, was deemed "expendable." It certainly was good propaganda. Nobody wanted to be the only "unpatriotic" one on their block with iron fencing and gates still standing in front of their house! In fact, it appears only a small fraction of the ornamental ironwork contributed to the war effort ever was used for wartime production and, while some made its way into the post-war recycling chain, an awful lot of it seems to have simply been dumped. (Reportedly, wartime Thames Estuary pilots complained that so much ornamental ironwork was being dumped in the Thames Estuary that it was throwing off their ships' compasses!) Curiously, after the War, the records of what was done with the more than a million tons of valuable British hand-wrought ornamental ironwork was discovered to have been mysteriously shredded.  Ever since, there's been quite a bit of resentment over the loss of what was a signature piece of British architectural heritage that was destroyed for political reasons rather than wartime necessity. 
 
See: https://www.londongardenstrust.org/features/railings3.htm 
 
       https://mashable.com/2016/02/03/wwii-scrap-metal/
 
 

You don't even really need a cleat. You can literally hitch it to anything; a rail, a shroud, a deadeye laniard, a post, the mast, etc.  There is not much tension involved with a flag.
 
Regards,

Hi Richard. I would go with Greg's 6 inches, and on Montague a 74 gun ship she has 6 1/2 inches thick at the top.  On another note your build looks very good  and will be watching you bring her to life.  Just a ideal but you could scrap the insides which would keep down the dust. Gary

It is necessary to anneal yellow metal grommets before setting them if you don't want the edges to split.
 

Like this:
 

Like this:
 

To be honest, I find theses life-rafts an eyesore and so out of style ... destroys  the esthetic beauty of the rest ... 

The tool that I use by far the most in my shop Is my drill press.  I use it all the time.  I not only use for the projects that I build, I also use it to make the jigs and fixtures to make things.  The ability to drill an accurate, straight hole square to a surface is an essential factor in doing quality work.  As you get into metal work it becomes essential.