Glenn-UK

I have not done an update for a while. I have decided to take a different approach and I plan to only part rig the build. The rigging instructions are very easy to follow but with my poor near vision, and my extra large hands I'm been finding it a challenge.

Also I have a new project starting shortly with a 1 / 250 scale build of the Yamato.

Good work so far. I have the kit on order so hope to start work on my build shortly.

Have you watched John's YouTube Yamato build videos?

Just now, Suzdal said:

What was your solution ? I hope to build the "Flirt" as my next project.

 

Richard

I taper the edge of the thread but cutting at approx. 45 degrees across the thread which really helps. I normally run a 0.6mm micro drill through the 3mm block holes which seems OK for the most part but I have increased the micro drill bit size to 0.7mm when the thread is 0.25mm which seems to have done the trick.

I have now finished adding the boom and gaff. I did have to redo the boom because I made a fundamental rigging error with the boom topping lift rigging, as I took it through the wrong double block on the main mast.

I did find it difficult threading the 0.25mm natural thread through the 3mm single blocks even when the end was hardened with ca, but eventually found a workable solution.

As I have said before I'm not very good at rigging, or taking photo's but I'm getting a bit better at the rigging.

My progress is slow at the moment. I have finally installed both the rudder and the main mast so today I started work on adding the boom prior to fitting the shrouds.

As can be seen from the plan sheet there is a nice double block assembly required for the boom topping lift.

This took a little bit of time and effort to get the loops on the blocks, but it was not as difficult as I first feared and the boom was fitted and the topping lift added without to many problems. I just need to finish off belaying the drop. I have positioned it around the belaying pin, but I needed to take a break so will come back to it tomorrow to finish it off and add the other boom rigging. I will also add and rig the gaff in the next few days before I start work on the main mast shrouds.

I realised that I had not fitted the cleats to the stern patterns so it was a bit tricky drilling the holes with the tiller and cannons in situ, but I took my time and managed it without incident.

thanks

I have continued work on Speedy, at a much slower pace due to the nice weather which means working in the garden. Also I do not enjoy the shroud work and I can always find a good reason to put off starting.

I have finished making the main mast and will start with the standing rigging over the next few days. According to the manual and rigging plans I should start with the shrouds. However when looking at the build photos the gaff and boom were fitted to the main mast by Chris prior to the shrouds. I think this makes sense as space will be limited once the shrouds have been added.

28 minutes ago, DavidG said:

 I follow the below diagram for attaching the deadeyes.

 

Your diagram is similar to the method used in Donnie's YouTube video and as shown Lennarth's excellent book. I did struggle to replicate this. I think I need to spend some time practising to be able to rig in this manner. I know what I did was not correct and looks a bit messy but it the best I can do at the moment. 

The biggest problem I had was the catharpins, but after much swearing, several refits I got to a workable solution for this build.

Adding the futtock staves, catharpins and futtock shrouds to the foremast shrouds turned out to be more difficult and complicated that I expected.

Rigging the shrouds was a fairly straight forward task. The futtock stave did not appear to be that complicated but I soon ran into problems when adding the catharpins with unwanted twisting of the shroud. After several attempts to get it sorted I finally managed to get it looking passable so was able to add the futtock shrouds. 

The completed lower foremast shroud rigging is not great, 2 of 10 at best as can be seen from the photos below. As far as I am concerned the task is now complete and will be acceptable once the rest of the rigging is complete. I hope to do a bit better when I start to rig the main mast shrouds, futtocks, etc.

8 hours ago, glbarlow said:

"Tie a loop with one loose clove hitch slide it to get close, out the deadeye in use your jig to set the distance....."

Thanks for this. I have just tried the clove hitch method on a test piece, looks better and seems to be more manageable. I will try this on my actual shrouds and I report back in due course.

Donnie's YouTube method replicates what is illustrated in Lennarth's excellent  rigging book and I have concluded it is too complicated for me for the time being.

I'm not very happy with how the shrouds are looking. It is clear I'm not very good at this rigging lark. I have now taken the decision to start again. I need to practice how to seize the shrouds around the deadeyes neatly, I was getting better when I did the one on the right in the attached picture.

The problem I have is wrapping the seizing around the shroud without it unwrapping and looking a mess. They make it look so easy on the YouTube videos. I think I will use black thread as used in  Donnie's video's rather than natural.

1 hour ago, glbarlow said:

Funny, I thought you were the “Other Glenn.” 🙂 

Having two Glenn's is bit confusing. I am really glad I pre rigged the mast now I've started the shrouds as it will make the rigging easier I think.

I have finally started with adding the shrouds.

I used a brass jig to set the gap.

Deadeye seized to shroud. I by in large followed the method shown in Donnie Driskell YouTube video for ths task.

As the shroud line was tensioned when the lanyard was added the top deadeye ended up a tad lower than I would prefer. The bottom edge of the shroud deadeye is about level with the top of the bulwark capping. I'm undecided as to leave as is or to start again, but I currently edging towards leave as is.

Hi

Nice work. I did trim the wales to fit the side timbers. I did mess around with the positioning to make I was happy with the look, I have attached a couple of pictures.

I have now started work on rigging the Fore Mast. I was going to follow the instructions and start with adding the shrouds, which is standard practice. When completing the fore mast tops I fitted the 18 blocks, a mix of single 3mm and 4mm doubles. When studying the rigging plans I noted that these blocks would be used for the mast stays, lifts, sheets, clews and the spritsail yard braces. Furthermore access to 14 blocks of these blocks may be tricky given that would be located on the underside of the fore mast top and would be partly obscured by the shrouds.

Therefore I decided to add the 0.1 and 0.25mm natural thread in these blocks, before adding the shrouds. As noted by the "Other Glenn" in an earlier post my Foremast now looks like a shaggy Christmas tree as can be seen in the photos below. I now believe I can fix the fore mast in place and start adding the shrouds.

Before tiding up the threads.

After the threads have been tided

The blocks that are dangling over the stanchions are the two double blocks that that hang lose and they are (I believe) the two mast stays (or tyes). I have included the single 3mm single blocks in this rigging stage so they are ready to be fixed to the main (lowest) yard. 

Adding the 0.25mm thread through 3mm single blocks is a bit of a challenge but is doable with a bit of care and patience.  My method was to

a) Apply beeswax to the thread

b) Stiffen the end of the thread using ca.

c) Make a diagonal cut across the stiffened end to made a pointed end.

Looking very nice indeed, well done on your work to date.

I have been working on the foremast today making sure everything is ready before I start adding the shrouds. I realised I had not added any of the hooks and eyebolts to the deck. I drilled the holes and fitted them as per the plan sheet. If I had my time again I would pre drilled the deck assembly before it was fitted. Doing it after all the deck items had been fitted made it a bit tricky but I did manage it without incident. I also glued the cannon balls in place.

Before I started the shrouds I noted that the Fore Top assembly required 16 off block adding. I decided to complete this before gluing the Fore Top assembly to the lower fore mast.

I thought I would share my current method to rig these blocks. I did try the method shown on J Brent's YouTube video which I think is a great method but I could not seem to get to grips with it. I don't think my method is the best or correct method but is one that works really well for me.

Step 1 - I check the holes in the block are clear, using a 0.5mm micro drill bit.

Step 2 - I place the block in my reverse action tweezers and add the black thread, carefully positioning the half hitch knot to one end of the block before adding a touch of ca glue.

Step 3 - This is where I could do with a second set reverse action tweezers, which I have now ordered. I hold the block in one set of tweezers (with a croc clip as these are not reverse action). I hold the black thread ends fairly taut using my reverse action tweezers. I then add the whipping using some natural thread, I normally try to whip the thread 3 or 4 times. Finally I add a touch of ca and trim away the excess natural thread.

Step 4 - I thread both ends of the black thread the eyebolt (in opposite directions) and secure with two half hitch knots, one either side of the eye bolt. I add a touch of ca before trimming away the excess thread. As you will note from the following picture I'm not very good at taking photos.

1 hour ago, SpyGlass said:

Absolutely great work. 

Just having a think myself, looking forward, this little vessel seems set up to carry a enormous amount of sail, I was wondering if I could find any illustrations of similar vessel working with less sail and spars - not to avoid work of course !!!😀

Thanks, I'm not very good at this rigging lark but there seems quite a bit to do. I will be much happier once the shrouds and ratlines have been completed as that aspect be very time consuming.

43 minutes ago, glbarlow said:

It’s always a good plan to rig out masts and spars as much as possible off the ship.  It’s so much easier if all you.re doing at that point is connecting stuff. 

I think you are right, particularly with some of the small blocks (3mm). I did find it easier to get the thread started and I had better visibility and room to manoeuvre.

I have now completed the installation and rigging of the spritsail yard. The task really tested my patience at times, due to my poor rigging skills.

I thought it would it good idea to pre rig the all the external 3mm single blocks.  This is shown in the first two photos below.

After I had fitted the spritsail yard to the bowsprit I noticed that the clue lines should have been rigged using a natural thread. I removed the pre rigged black thread and then re rigged in situ using a natural thread, it was not as bad as I thought. The next two pictures shows the clue lines rigged but not belayed, but I do have the lines under tension.

Finally I belayed the three lines using the method shown in J Brent's YouTube video. It was without doubt the most difficult aspect of this rigging phase for me. I can always add the belay loops, as shown in J Brent's YouTube video at a later stage. It is really satisfying to note haw much more secure the spritsail yard became once the clue lines had been rigged and belayed. The following two photos below shows the completed Spritsail Yard rigging. Next I plan to move on to adding the Foremast shrouds.

I am not very good a rigging, but I have made a start and I'm fairly happy with the result.

I started with the gammoning, this turned out to be quite a fun task, the only tricky bit was I had to be careful when passing the thread through the bow rail assembly.

I also added the banding, cleats, blocks, boarding pike and hatchet racks to the foremast

Finally I completed the bowsprit stays. I was not looking forward to tackling this task as everything is quite small and densely packed. However it was nowhere near as bad as I feared. In terms of the method each stay was fitted as follows:

a) I cut a length of black thread and fixed a deadeye at one end, ensuring I left a small gap so the lanyard thread could pass through for whipping on the stay thread.

b) I checked all the deadeye holes were clear using my 0.6mm drill bit.

c) I loosely secured the stay at the hull.

d) I completed the lanyard rigging and adjusted the tension and position of the stay's deadeye.

e) Once I was happy I completed the whipping of the lanyard.

I have included a couple of pictures of the work in progress and one of the completed bowsprit stay rigging.

I have made a bit more progress today. I have made and fitted the two boomkins, these parts are shown on plan sheet 4, as shown in the picture below

I then completed the bowsprit assembly and started with the rigging, as can be seen on the two pictures below.

The following picture also shows the yards, booms and masts

The next task will be to add the gammoning and then to fit the bowsprit stays. Once that is complete I will install and rig the spritsail yard. Once this is complete the next task will be adding the shrouds. Fun times ahead.

Welcome back David. It is looking really nice.

I now have completed the basic manufacturing of the yards, sorry for the poor quality of the photos. I plan to add the various cleats, eyebolts, etc. prior to painting and installation to the fore and and main masts, as dictated by the rigging process.

I just have the main and driver booms left to shape which should not take too long. I hope to start the rigging process later this week, starting with the gammoning of the bowsprit.

The first picture is work in progress on a yard, in my mini lathe. The second picture shows the completed yards on the plan sheet.

1 hour ago, Richard44 said:

Er, Glenn..., I could be horribly wrong here, but haven't you got the lower trestle tree upside down?

 

Richard

It is only a fry fit to make sure the crosstrees fits after I had squared the 8mm dowel. It will be the other way once the blocks have been added and it has been glued in place