shihawk

Problem solved ,just me overthinking things again . Satisfied Boyd

Hi Daniel . Your idea of the precut planks at first seemed a great solution but in my mind could present a few problems . Firstly unless the hull is built exactly right , square ,in line , level , surely any small variations could potentionaly cause problems with the fitting of preshaped planks . Even the variations from fairing or cutting a bearding line can change the run of planks slightly and surely once one is off they all are ?. Secondly many including myself enjoy the actual process of shaping planking to there own design and may feel restricted in having to follow such strict rules . I know and understand many would welcome the simplification of this process but to me it feels a bit restrictive, Forgive me for voicing my opinion as you know more about shipbuilding than i ever will ,but i felt it was a point worth raising and would be interested to know now other members feel . I suppose it,s a case of it will work for some and not for others . Again i do not mean this as a critisism of what is a great idea and am simply expressing my humble opinion, perhaps you have already allowed for such variations and found a way to avoid them ,or simply offer the kit with or without the laser cut option . Respectfully Boyd

Thanks John for the kind words . Yes i believe the full yard will look best , my problem now is figuring out which blocks etc will be necessary because of the restricted masts as i don,t want to many blocks hanging unused but don,t fancy fitting any once the yards are fitted . Might be easier removing than fitting ??. I also want to keep the rigging to a minimum so might follow the Billings drawings which seem very basic .I knew they would be usefull at some stage !!!!

Thanks George and Mike for your reasoning , and dispite that at present i have no intention of going any higher as past experince has shown i am inclined to change my mind the odd time???? I think i will go ahead and rig one completely before any rash decisions .

First yard completed , no decorations hung on it yet I think there is something not quite right , but can,t figure out if it is the color of the yard or if the yard should even be fitted at all . As i suggested earlier maybe a short version of the yard would be more comparable with the rest of the build , or maybe once the blocks and tackle have been added it will look better, any views or opinions will be greatly appriciated . Confusious say , decide to-morrow ???????

Some of the things i,ave been called , i can live with FLASHY , lol.

Mike ,your a man after my own heart ,( maybe thats an Irish saying ?). I keep a book beside the computer with a glossary of all the different parts of a ship so that when i,m posting i give the impression that i know what i,m taking about ??? . It tells me that the first layer of yards are the main yards and to answer your question ,i intend to try to fit them either completely or perhaps in a cut of version ,depending how it looks . My thoughts are that the complete version would probably be best and have spent a good part of to-day attempting to make one on the lathe which by all accounts is the easiest and quickest way to make them , It may be if you know how to use a lathe ??? My 3rd attempt is showing some promise and i must try to learn how to use these tools !!! Depending on how it goes i may have some pics later .

Mike , the fact that i am not going any higher with the masts has simplfied the build considerably ,although exactly how the finished product will look i,m still not sure . Thanks Heinz . It,s comments like that which make it all worth while .If only i had your patience ?

To be honest by the time i reached the last mast i was starting to enjoy it ?? My main problem was fixing the futtock shrouds ,keeping them tight and in line while avoiding unsightly knots , I tried several methods but didn,t find anything i was really happy with so just settled for a variety of methods, none worth mentioning . I started of using a couple of different methods to measure the spacing of the ratlines but found they either took too long to set up or distorted the run of the shrouds so i ended up doing them by eye and with a bit of care it could be the best method . My next problem is deciding how much of the main yards i will fit . Because i am only going to the first stage of the masts i,m wondering if i should go for a short version of the main yard ,similiar to what i did with the bowsprit . I had thought i might be close to finishing by Christmas but there is still a lot to do in the bow area , plus anchors etc and still a lot of rigging ,plus a display case . maybe next christmas ???

Tied my last ratline so thought i would take a few pic to celebrate , Plenty of mistakes but from a reasonable distance i,m happy !!! I eventually give up trying to get them perfect !!!!

Rigging continues but hopefully now that i have figured out the basics it won,t take much longer to finish it .As you will see from the pics only the ratlines on the foremast need doing but have thought on another idea for fixing the futtock shrouds etc and will go into more detail if it works ???? Have been distracted lately and could not resist Daniel Dusek christmas offer so bought a Santa Maria and a couple of longboats . I still intend to finish the Vic before i start another build but as the longboat is an add on to it i reckoned it would be a change from the rigging What you get for £3.00 It,s a kit on its own and so far everthing fits well . at this price scratch building would not make sense , but time will tell .

I couldn,t resist Daniel,s sale so ordered the Santa Maria and a couple of longboats for my Vic , they arrived inside a week . With the present exchange rate and the 30% sale this is a real bargain for anyone from the UK . Thanks Daniel .

Several things spring to mind , It certainly could be the thread and perhaps changing the type will help or pre stretching is another option . Another point is to make sure that your masts are very firmly fixed before starting rigging otherwise the rigging will pull them back and forward as you tighten it , your masts should hold the rigging in place not the other way round . Lastly rigging on real ships i believe was not always overly taught although for modelling purposes it looks better if not too saggy but there is no need to overtighten . I don,t think adding water will help , pre stretching for a couple of days may be best . Others will have better ideas but i hope this is some help ?

Great work . I found this stage one of the most satisfing but like you glad to see it finished .!!!

We have all been there when starting ,even if you where used to building plastics the lack of instructions on many kits can be very offputting . This site is probably the saviour of many first time builders myself included ,but you must not be afraid to ask even the simpliest question as someone here has already been there and done that and are usually only to happy to share their experience . I would also agree with others that books such as Ship Modeling Simplified and others are a great way to learn the basics , I t also has a very usefull glossary explaining all the nautical terms usually needed to understand limited instructions or even fellow builders ?

Wait and see which you find you would use the most , I think many of us have been guilty of buying power tools that are seldom if ever used . Only buy when you are sure it will be usefull !!!!

Janet , I think you have summed up the conclusion i have come to , if you can,t do it to look right ,don,t do it .

Hi John ,good to hear from you again . Yes the end is in sight and i can,t say i,m sorry . I have reached that stage where i can,t wait to start something different ,I am cheating and only going as far as the first stage of the masts to speed things up and cut down on the display case .In fact i ordered my next build, Santa Maria from Dusek which may sound like a step backwards but i fancy something small and hopefully quick to build this time , i am also however considering one of the cross section scratch builds from this site just in case i get bored over the winter . I assume as usual you have many and varied projects on the go at present , i,m still not sure if i could manage any more than one at a time ? The hooks are from Amati Futtock strop & hook 3mm set and the smallest i could find locally . Cheers Boyd

Brian ,you put doubt in my mind so i rechecked as there were so many different discriptions of different stays . All i can say is tell a lie ,told a lie . Other possibility is i took the wrong meaning ,quite possible ???

Brian ,thanks for looking in . I may well be wrong but i think Longbridge stated that the entire stay was wormed but only parceled and served to just below the mouse . I am only using this as guidance and to be honest at this stage as long as it looks to my pleasing i,m happy ,so much else has been either changed or left of completely that authenticity is a thing of the past . Anyway why bother worming or even parceling to serve over it and hide it ?

George ,if you seen the amount of thread i have wasted you would know what i mean and there is still a lot to redo . i,m glad i have decided to stick with the Half rigging thingy other wise i would be taking another year at this build ,and i don,t think i could do that but i hope now i have got my head half way round the rigging the end is in sight

Can,t believe it,s been 3 weeks since my last post but i have as usual been tryng numerous variations in an effort to please my now worrying desire to achive the possibly unachievable .So i have decided to try to describe my failed attempts which may save others precious time and keep a record for my own future use .I had been looking forward to starting the rigging and had many ideas in my head as to how i would accomplish the look i was after . Little did i know !!!! .Forgive me if some ideas sound like the wanderings of a complete novice but after all thats what i am and what i finish up with may seem obvious to many as it now does to me ??? I,ll start with the mainstays . Apparently they are served to just below the mouse ,.My first snag was forming an eye in a served rope that looked realistic .The normal seized end just didn,t look right so i reckoned the joint needed to be spliced and then served , easier said than done ,by me anyway ,On the thiner ropes i found it easier to to form the eye unserved and only serve from that to the mouse . On the mainstays i served close to the eye and then finished by splicing and finishing the serving of the eye by hand , tedious but the only way i could manage it ,just about acceptable ? Next was worming the mainstays ,in the first pic i wormed it completely with 3 runs of black thread but later decided that it looked too much so in the next pic the finished version only has 1 run of black thread and IMO is enough to highlite it without overdoing it .I briefly attempted the weaving between the 2 stays but soon decided it wasn,t worth it . Next was the shrouds , . I left the finishing of the top of the masts untill later which ment i could measure and fit the shrouds for the deadeyes and then remove them to fit the deadeyes and their seizing of ship.Care should be taken to make sure that the loop on the shrouds is a tight fit on the mast to ensure it sits correctly when tightened , first pic shows them too loose and the second how they should IMO look . Unfortunately i had gone to far before i realised how it looked so i will have to live with it .I didn,t fit hooks to the futtock shrouds on the mizzen as i thought they looked to bulky but ran into problems fixing them to the main shrouds as i was trying to attach them and the catherpins to the staves with as few knots as possible plus the seizings look oversized will have to be redone !!! Moved to the mainmast and decided to fit the hooks and again the serving plus seizing looked out of scale so after several variations i finally came up with sensible and now obvious solution with a bit of measuring and marking i simply one end of the thread with the other end leaving no bulky seizing and a smooth run from hook to thread . It,s difficult to simulate seizing without it looking to large Again i had problems keeping the tension correct so rethinking the futtock shrouds to the main shrouds ,this may also have to be redone !!! The plan now is to serve the futtock shroud as before and clip of the end used for serving then with a needle pull it through the main shroud and seize with very fine thread the stave holding the catherpins will be attached later . Thats enough giberish for tonite ,i will let you know if it works later .

My limited experience of Masonia is that it changes shade when looked at from different angles ,i,m not sure if yours is the same . But i have to agree it would be a shame to cover such a great planking job ,as always it,s your call ???

this might help

I only asked as i did mine in a similiar way ,one at a time and it does get boring . Was hoping you had come up with an easy solution . I tried the carvings but gave up and bought brass ones . I think yours look good ,no need to change them .