RMC

I have received most of the replacement rope from Syren. Some of the sizes were in short supply and I will order the balance when they are available.
 
The quality looks to be excellent and it was delivered promptly. Below are some photos of some of the different sizes - light and dark brown, rather than the black and light tan of the kit.
 
When I first bought the kit about 3 years ago, for some obscure reason I hung some of the black thread over the top of a door and then forgot about it. It was in a light room, but not in direct sunlight.  It has not aged well. It is now an uneven dark tan and extremely furry.  Perhaps beeswax would solve the problem.
 
Here are the different sizes of the brown. Unfortunately the packaging tends to obscure the thread inside.

 
I hope this gives a better idea of the quality. It was taken in sunlight.

 
Here is the light tan.

 

I have now glued on the poop deck base.  I'm hoping that nothing has been forgotten as putting it on is rather final.
 
I cut part 32 down the centre to make it easier to fit, though this may not have been necessary. I got a bit carried away in trimming  the sides of part 32 to fit, then had to add pieces of strip to fill the gaps I had created.
 
The having cutting the part, the next step is to attach the cross -member.  It needed to be trimmed on each end, and again I overdid it.  It is not really serious but will need to be rectified later.

 
Here is the deck dry-fitted

 
There is a small gap on either end of the support that will have to be disguised.
 

 
Checking that the masts are as they should be.  Adjusting the hole in the poop  for the Mizzen would be too difficult (it's far to close to the screen on the upper deck for comfort) after that deck is fitted.

 
Actually gluing the deck to its supports proved more difficult than I thought. The thing really didn't want to fully bend. I used clamps where possible and some lead sinkers to weigh it down. They are probably better used here than on my fishing efforts.

I have received most of the replacement rope from Syren. Some of the sizes were in short supply and I will order the balance when they are available.
 
The quality looks to be excellent and it was delivered promptly. Below are some photos of some of the different sizes - light and dark brown, rather than the black and light tan of the kit.
 
When I first bought the kit about 3 years ago, for some obscure reason I hung some of the black thread over the top of a door and then forgot about it. It was in a light room, but not in direct sunlight.  It has not aged well. It is now an uneven dark tan and extremely furry.  Perhaps beeswax would solve the problem.
 
Here are the different sizes of the brown. Unfortunately the packaging tends to obscure the thread inside.

 
I hope this gives a better idea of the quality. It was taken in sunlight.

 
Here is the light tan.

 

I have now glued on the poop deck base.  I'm hoping that nothing has been forgotten as putting it on is rather final.
 
I cut part 32 down the centre to make it easier to fit, though this may not have been necessary. I got a bit carried away in trimming  the sides of part 32 to fit, then had to add pieces of strip to fill the gaps I had created.
 
The having cutting the part, the next step is to attach the cross -member.  It needed to be trimmed on each end, and again I overdid it.  It is not really serious but will need to be rectified later.

 
Here is the deck dry-fitted

 
There is a small gap on either end of the support that will have to be disguised.
 

 
Checking that the masts are as they should be.  Adjusting the hole in the poop  for the Mizzen would be too difficult (it's far to close to the screen on the upper deck for comfort) after that deck is fitted.

 
Actually gluing the deck to its supports proved more difficult than I thought. The thing really didn't want to fully bend. I used clamps where possible and some lead sinkers to weigh it down. They are probably better used here than on my fishing efforts.

I have now glued on the poop deck base.  I'm hoping that nothing has been forgotten as putting it on is rather final.
 
I cut part 32 down the centre to make it easier to fit, though this may not have been necessary. I got a bit carried away in trimming  the sides of part 32 to fit, then had to add pieces of strip to fill the gaps I had created.
 
The having cutting the part, the next step is to attach the cross -member.  It needed to be trimmed on each end, and again I overdid it.  It is not really serious but will need to be rectified later.

 
Here is the deck dry-fitted

 
There is a small gap on either end of the support that will have to be disguised.
 

 
Checking that the masts are as they should be.  Adjusting the hole in the poop  for the Mizzen would be too difficult (it's far to close to the screen on the upper deck for comfort) after that deck is fitted.

 
Actually gluing the deck to its supports proved more difficult than I thought. The thing really didn't want to fully bend. I used clamps where possible and some lead sinkers to weigh it down. They are probably better used here than on my fishing efforts.

I have now glued on the poop deck base.  I'm hoping that nothing has been forgotten as putting it on is rather final.
 
I cut part 32 down the centre to make it easier to fit, though this may not have been necessary. I got a bit carried away in trimming  the sides of part 32 to fit, then had to add pieces of strip to fill the gaps I had created.
 
The having cutting the part, the next step is to attach the cross -member.  It needed to be trimmed on each end, and again I overdid it.  It is not really serious but will need to be rectified later.

 
Here is the deck dry-fitted

 
There is a small gap on either end of the support that will have to be disguised.
 

 
Checking that the masts are as they should be.  Adjusting the hole in the poop  for the Mizzen would be too difficult (it's far to close to the screen on the upper deck for comfort) after that deck is fitted.

 
Actually gluing the deck to its supports proved more difficult than I thought. The thing really didn't want to fully bend. I used clamps where possible and some lead sinkers to weigh it down. They are probably better used here than on my fishing efforts.

I have received most of the replacement rope from Syren. Some of the sizes were in short supply and I will order the balance when they are available.
 
The quality looks to be excellent and it was delivered promptly. Below are some photos of some of the different sizes - light and dark brown, rather than the black and light tan of the kit.
 
When I first bought the kit about 3 years ago, for some obscure reason I hung some of the black thread over the top of a door and then forgot about it. It was in a light room, but not in direct sunlight.  It has not aged well. It is now an uneven dark tan and extremely furry.  Perhaps beeswax would solve the problem.
 
Here are the different sizes of the brown. Unfortunately the packaging tends to obscure the thread inside.

 
I hope this gives a better idea of the quality. It was taken in sunlight.

 
Here is the light tan.

 

I have finished rigging the guns and have attached all the various hatches etc.
 
The barrels of the cannons do not have any provision for an 'eye' through which to thread rigging rope. I used the head of the eyelets supplied gluing them with CA gel. I now use the gel almost exclusively.
 
 

 
An intermediate stage in the rigging:
 

 
and finally, finished.
 

 

 

 
I have not yet fitted the assembly for the hammock netting.  It looks fairly fragile.  I am debating the next step, but at his stage I will probably do the poop deck, then finish off the upper deck bits and pieces, and hope I don't destroy anything in the process.
 
Incidentally, the hole provided for the mizzen mast in the poop deck base (part 32) is about 2mm too far to the stern.  The mast is very close indeed to the screen. With some rake of the mast it almost touches the screen at the top.The screen is also very close to the gunports immediately in front of it: so close it is difficult to rig the guns.  While this may all be historically accurate, setting the screen back about 2mm would make things a lot easier.  This would mean moving a bulkhead, so I guess that's not going to happen.
 
 

I have finished rigging the guns and have attached all the various hatches etc.
 
The barrels of the cannons do not have any provision for an 'eye' through which to thread rigging rope. I used the head of the eyelets supplied gluing them with CA gel. I now use the gel almost exclusively.
 
 

 
An intermediate stage in the rigging:
 

 
and finally, finished.
 

 

 

 
I have not yet fitted the assembly for the hammock netting.  It looks fairly fragile.  I am debating the next step, but at his stage I will probably do the poop deck, then finish off the upper deck bits and pieces, and hope I don't destroy anything in the process.
 
Incidentally, the hole provided for the mizzen mast in the poop deck base (part 32) is about 2mm too far to the stern.  The mast is very close indeed to the screen. With some rake of the mast it almost touches the screen at the top.The screen is also very close to the gunports immediately in front of it: so close it is difficult to rig the guns.  While this may all be historically accurate, setting the screen back about 2mm would make things a lot easier.  This would mean moving a bulkhead, so I guess that's not going to happen.
 
 

I have finished rigging the guns and have attached all the various hatches etc.
 
The barrels of the cannons do not have any provision for an 'eye' through which to thread rigging rope. I used the head of the eyelets supplied gluing them with CA gel. I now use the gel almost exclusively.
 
 

 
An intermediate stage in the rigging:
 

 
and finally, finished.
 

 

 

 
I have not yet fitted the assembly for the hammock netting.  It looks fairly fragile.  I am debating the next step, but at his stage I will probably do the poop deck, then finish off the upper deck bits and pieces, and hope I don't destroy anything in the process.
 
Incidentally, the hole provided for the mizzen mast in the poop deck base (part 32) is about 2mm too far to the stern.  The mast is very close indeed to the screen. With some rake of the mast it almost touches the screen at the top.The screen is also very close to the gunports immediately in front of it: so close it is difficult to rig the guns.  While this may all be historically accurate, setting the screen back about 2mm would make things a lot easier.  This would mean moving a bulkhead, so I guess that's not going to happen.
 
 

The side rails are causing a few self-inflicted problems. The head rail has been glued with far less drama than I expected. It is supposed to butt against the side rails.  However I have fixed Part 96 in a way that makes that impossible. I have therefore shaped the forward part of the side rails to butt against part 96. As well I have cut the two gaps in the side rails to provide for the guns.
 

 
Here are the notches cut to butt against part 96.
 

 

 
The rails dry-fitted.
 

 
The following photo shows a side rail butted against part 96.  It is dry-fitted.
 

 
I have cut a notch at the end of  the mid-deck gunwale  to enable fitting it in what appears to be in the correct position. I found the plan and instructions here far from clear.
 

 

 
I am not sure at the moment how best to close the gap between the side rail and the gunwale.
 

 

Arthur: it's Humbrol matt74 - linin (I have no idea what the 'linin' signifies).
 
BE: Jan's right - any P will do - they're all so close together.

Here are some photos of the foredeck with guns rigged.  I opted for partial rigging - though a bit more than the basic provided by the kit, rather than going the whole hog.
 
At scale 1:72 I thought  fully rigging them would have looked a little out of scale.  Now I know what a fiddly job it is I'm not sorry. Getting the rope to be perfectly coiled proved just too difficult. The thread provided went everywhere, but where I wanted it to go.  (If anyone can show me how to do it I'd be grateful (for future reference). I see from the pictures on the kit box it's obviously possible.) I ended up settling for something 'neatish'.
 
Given my wars with the kit's thread, I have now ordered complete replacement from Syren model ropes.  I shall report on my experience.
 

 

 

 
These are the various rasps/files/emery boards I used to taper the yards.  The fine ones are especially needed to taper down to 1mm.
 

 
 

Here are some photos of the foredeck with guns rigged.  I opted for partial rigging - though a bit more than the basic provided by the kit, rather than going the whole hog.
 
At scale 1:72 I thought  fully rigging them would have looked a little out of scale.  Now I know what a fiddly job it is I'm not sorry. Getting the rope to be perfectly coiled proved just too difficult. The thread provided went everywhere, but where I wanted it to go.  (If anyone can show me how to do it I'd be grateful (for future reference). I see from the pictures on the kit box it's obviously possible.) I ended up settling for something 'neatish'.
 
Given my wars with the kit's thread, I have now ordered complete replacement from Syren model ropes.  I shall report on my experience.
 

 

 

 
These are the various rasps/files/emery boards I used to taper the yards.  The fine ones are especially needed to taper down to 1mm.
 

 
 

Hi Alan - this is a belated thank you for your kind thoughts.  In the usual chaos before going away, I didn't get around to it.
 
Well I did get the opportunity to work on the yards between eating and drinking far too much  The little Proxxon lathe was invaluable in tapering them. Even so the job was very time consuming and the smaller yards I found to be quite difficult and in one case, easier to break.
 
I found it best to taper in stages (see an earlier photo - I think on the previous page of this log). For example the fore topsail yard stunsail boom is 134mm. long tapering from 3mm to 1mm.  From the plan, 57mm along the boom its diameter is 2mm. I then tapered that part of the boom from 3mm to very slightly more than 2mm (in fact 2.2mm). Next, a further 38mm along the boom the diameter is 1.5mm. I then tapered this part of the boom (again to a diameter very slightly greater than 1.5mm). I then blended the two lengths of taper. Then finally the taper from 1.5mm to 1mm was done.  The reason for the slightly larger diameters and the 'blending' is that the dowel supplied is not perfectly round and it was impossible to accurately centre the spindle of the lathe, so that the 'joins' of the tapers are slightly offset.  The extra diameter of the tapers allows a bit of judicious sanding for a suitable adjustment to be made.
 
Here are the tapered yards (except the fore and main yards)
 

 
And with a coat of paint.
 

 

 
Thes are the stunsail booms for the upper yards.  Those for the fore and main yard are yet to be done.

 
For those who may be interested, this is sunset on the summer soltice - the sun is as far south as it will go.  The interesting part of the photo is the mountain to the right of the setting sun. It is called Pigeon House Mountain, named by Captain Cook on his voyage up the New South Wales coast in 1770 before he got to Botany Bay. How he could see a pigeon house in this is a bit of a mystery to me, though perhaps there is another resemblance.
 

I have finally glued the fittings to the foredeck. The cannonballs have yet to be put in to their shot garlands, but that's about it.
 

 

 

 
The middle rail has now been attached as well as the supports for the stanchions. I've assumed these to be 1x2mm strip. I can't see a measurement in the plans, so I've assumed it is the same thickness as the side railings. The quarter deck capping rails have also been glued.  Finishing the curved part at the end of the capping was a bit of a problem. I eventually used some 5 x 0.5mm scrap, put it in a mug with some water and microwaved it for a couple of minutes.  I then wrapped the softened strip around some old PVC pipe of about the right diameter and left it overnight. It turned out quite well. I also tidyed (sp?) up the vertical part under the front of the capping with the 5 x 0.5mm strip.
 

 

 

 
The wheel etc. are only dry fitted.-  just to see what they look like.
 

 

I have finally done something about the gap between the ship's railings on the fore and middle decks. It's not quite as I would like it. I think Arthur's nice rounded shape provided a better finish (the side decoration, not Arthur), but that's the way it worked out.
 
This photo is a bit blurry but it shows how a piece of timber connects the top and bottom of the front railing.  The plans here are rather sketchy.

 
This shows the curved transition from the fore to the middle deck which has caused me some angst.
 

 
The front railing dry-fitted
 

 
The two railings both dry-fitted

 

 

 
The railings are still to be finally painted, poly applied and a bit of touching up will need to be done before gluing everything together.

Here are some photos of the foredeck with guns rigged.  I opted for partial rigging - though a bit more than the basic provided by the kit, rather than going the whole hog.
 
At scale 1:72 I thought  fully rigging them would have looked a little out of scale.  Now I know what a fiddly job it is I'm not sorry. Getting the rope to be perfectly coiled proved just too difficult. The thread provided went everywhere, but where I wanted it to go.  (If anyone can show me how to do it I'd be grateful (for future reference). I see from the pictures on the kit box it's obviously possible.) I ended up settling for something 'neatish'.
 
Given my wars with the kit's thread, I have now ordered complete replacement from Syren model ropes.  I shall report on my experience.
 

 

 

 
These are the various rasps/files/emery boards I used to taper the yards.  The fine ones are especially needed to taper down to 1mm.
 

 
 

Here are some photos of the foredeck with guns rigged.  I opted for partial rigging - though a bit more than the basic provided by the kit, rather than going the whole hog.
 
At scale 1:72 I thought  fully rigging them would have looked a little out of scale.  Now I know what a fiddly job it is I'm not sorry. Getting the rope to be perfectly coiled proved just too difficult. The thread provided went everywhere, but where I wanted it to go.  (If anyone can show me how to do it I'd be grateful (for future reference). I see from the pictures on the kit box it's obviously possible.) I ended up settling for something 'neatish'.
 
Given my wars with the kit's thread, I have now ordered complete replacement from Syren model ropes.  I shall report on my experience.
 

 

 

 
These are the various rasps/files/emery boards I used to taper the yards.  The fine ones are especially needed to taper down to 1mm.
 

 
 

Here are some photos of the foredeck with guns rigged.  I opted for partial rigging - though a bit more than the basic provided by the kit, rather than going the whole hog.
 
At scale 1:72 I thought  fully rigging them would have looked a little out of scale.  Now I know what a fiddly job it is I'm not sorry. Getting the rope to be perfectly coiled proved just too difficult. The thread provided went everywhere, but where I wanted it to go.  (If anyone can show me how to do it I'd be grateful (for future reference). I see from the pictures on the kit box it's obviously possible.) I ended up settling for something 'neatish'.
 
Given my wars with the kit's thread, I have now ordered complete replacement from Syren model ropes.  I shall report on my experience.
 

 

 

 
These are the various rasps/files/emery boards I used to taper the yards.  The fine ones are especially needed to taper down to 1mm.
 

 
 

Here are some photos of the foredeck with guns rigged.  I opted for partial rigging - though a bit more than the basic provided by the kit, rather than going the whole hog.
 
At scale 1:72 I thought  fully rigging them would have looked a little out of scale.  Now I know what a fiddly job it is I'm not sorry. Getting the rope to be perfectly coiled proved just too difficult. The thread provided went everywhere, but where I wanted it to go.  (If anyone can show me how to do it I'd be grateful (for future reference). I see from the pictures on the kit box it's obviously possible.) I ended up settling for something 'neatish'.
 
Given my wars with the kit's thread, I have now ordered complete replacement from Syren model ropes.  I shall report on my experience.
 

 

 

 
These are the various rasps/files/emery boards I used to taper the yards.  The fine ones are especially needed to taper down to 1mm.
 

 
 

Here are some photos of the foredeck with guns rigged.  I opted for partial rigging - though a bit more than the basic provided by the kit, rather than going the whole hog.
 
At scale 1:72 I thought  fully rigging them would have looked a little out of scale.  Now I know what a fiddly job it is I'm not sorry. Getting the rope to be perfectly coiled proved just too difficult. The thread provided went everywhere, but where I wanted it to go.  (If anyone can show me how to do it I'd be grateful (for future reference). I see from the pictures on the kit box it's obviously possible.) I ended up settling for something 'neatish'.
 
Given my wars with the kit's thread, I have now ordered complete replacement from Syren model ropes.  I shall report on my experience.
 

 

 

 
These are the various rasps/files/emery boards I used to taper the yards.  The fine ones are especially needed to taper down to 1mm.
 

 
 

I have been working on the forward railings and the gunports on the upper deck. I have just realised that the rear end of the side railings require an angled piece of timber to join the upper and lower parts of the rails. As well there seems to be a curved bit of timber required that butts onto the end of the lower part of the railing that covers the curved decorative molding. I can't see a part like this listed, so I guess it needs to be fabricated.
 
The forward railng is dry-fitted here and I'm not looking forward to gluing it over the curved timber to which it must be attached. It will be under a fair amount of stress.  The side railings must then be fitted to the front railing and in doing this, the corners with the protruding decoration will be an intereresting exercise .
 

 

 
 
The lower sills of the gunports required filling - I used Intergrain water-based woodfiller. (The Intergrain is far superior to others I have used.) The openings then need to be painted. As all the rest of the hull is already painted, each opening needs to be carefully masked.  For this  I used Humbrol Maskol again. It's effective but a bit fiddly to work with. So far I have only completed one side. Once both sides are painted, a couple of coats of polyurethane should finish the job.
 
The next two photos show the gap between the exterior of the hull and the inside wall. Here, for the filling, the exterior was masked by Tamiya tape.
 

 

 
The gaps filled.
 

 
The gunport openings painted awaiting two coats of poly.



 

Hi Alan - this is a belated thank you for your kind thoughts.  In the usual chaos before going away, I didn't get around to it.
 
Well I did get the opportunity to work on the yards between eating and drinking far too much  The little Proxxon lathe was invaluable in tapering them. Even so the job was very time consuming and the smaller yards I found to be quite difficult and in one case, easier to break.
 
I found it best to taper in stages (see an earlier photo - I think on the previous page of this log). For example the fore topsail yard stunsail boom is 134mm. long tapering from 3mm to 1mm.  From the plan, 57mm along the boom its diameter is 2mm. I then tapered that part of the boom from 3mm to very slightly more than 2mm (in fact 2.2mm). Next, a further 38mm along the boom the diameter is 1.5mm. I then tapered this part of the boom (again to a diameter very slightly greater than 1.5mm). I then blended the two lengths of taper. Then finally the taper from 1.5mm to 1mm was done.  The reason for the slightly larger diameters and the 'blending' is that the dowel supplied is not perfectly round and it was impossible to accurately centre the spindle of the lathe, so that the 'joins' of the tapers are slightly offset.  The extra diameter of the tapers allows a bit of judicious sanding for a suitable adjustment to be made.
 
Here are the tapered yards (except the fore and main yards)
 

 
And with a coat of paint.
 

 

 
Thes are the stunsail booms for the upper yards.  Those for the fore and main yard are yet to be done.

 
For those who may be interested, this is sunset on the summer soltice - the sun is as far south as it will go.  The interesting part of the photo is the mountain to the right of the setting sun. It is called Pigeon House Mountain, named by Captain Cook on his voyage up the New South Wales coast in 1770 before he got to Botany Bay. How he could see a pigeon house in this is a bit of a mystery to me, though perhaps there is another resemblance.
 

I have finally glued the fittings to the foredeck. The cannonballs have yet to be put in to their shot garlands, but that's about it.
 

 

 

 
The middle rail has now been attached as well as the supports for the stanchions. I've assumed these to be 1x2mm strip. I can't see a measurement in the plans, so I've assumed it is the same thickness as the side railings. The quarter deck capping rails have also been glued.  Finishing the curved part at the end of the capping was a bit of a problem. I eventually used some 5 x 0.5mm scrap, put it in a mug with some water and microwaved it for a couple of minutes.  I then wrapped the softened strip around some old PVC pipe of about the right diameter and left it overnight. It turned out quite well. I also tidyed (sp?) up the vertical part under the front of the capping with the 5 x 0.5mm strip.
 

 

 

 
The wheel etc. are only dry fitted.-  just to see what they look like.