robdurant

I had a little time to spend on Nordkap today, so here's an update.
 
I've added access to allow the tiller arm to be maintained without ripping up the deck, and begun installing the prop shaft and rudder shaft. A little fore-planning is required for the prop shaft, as I didn't want to install it and find that the motor was in a ridiculous position inside the hull (especially to find that it had to be mounted too low...) the flat surface where the prop shaft exits the hull gives some idea of the angle required.  I replaced the prop shaft with a 5" M4 shaft from George Sitek, along with a brass prop... I mistakenly ordered a 32mm prop when I realise now I need a 38mm one (so the 32mm prop looks a little small in the photos)... but the updated prop has now been ordered and will replace the smaller one when it arrives.
 
Here are some photos of progress...
 
The tiller access...
 

And the prop shaft... 
 




The next job will be to add doublers on either side of the tubes to strengthen them, and fix them permanently in place with epoxy.
 
Thanks for looking in
 
Rob

I had a little time to spend on Nordkap today, so here's an update.
 
I've added access to allow the tiller arm to be maintained without ripping up the deck, and begun installing the prop shaft and rudder shaft. A little fore-planning is required for the prop shaft, as I didn't want to install it and find that the motor was in a ridiculous position inside the hull (especially to find that it had to be mounted too low...) the flat surface where the prop shaft exits the hull gives some idea of the angle required.  I replaced the prop shaft with a 5" M4 shaft from George Sitek, along with a brass prop... I mistakenly ordered a 32mm prop when I realise now I need a 38mm one (so the 32mm prop looks a little small in the photos)... but the updated prop has now been ordered and will replace the smaller one when it arrives.
 
Here are some photos of progress...
 
The tiller access...
 

And the prop shaft... 
 




The next job will be to add doublers on either side of the tubes to strengthen them, and fix them permanently in place with epoxy.
 
Thanks for looking in
 
Rob

As I near the completion of Barque Stefano, I had a hankering to build something that was simple, where I could just follow the instructions, straight out of the box. Time will tell how closely I manage to do that, but having looked longingly at Nordkap as a teenager, she was the vessel I settled upon.
 
Here's a picture of what she's meant to end up looking like
 

 
Nordkap builds up into an 81cm l.o.a, 21cm beam vessel - so there'll be loads of room in the hull for all the radio gubbins. She's also small enough not to be too cumbersome to move around when building. I bought a new building board, and set about separating the laser cut frames from the "sprues".
 
Then I looked at the plans and noticed some strange discrepancies... There are two sets of measurements on plan 1 - the first shows the gaps between the forward extents of the frames (4-7) - this should measure up to 159mm. A second set of measurements show the filler blocks that will sit on top of the keel - these are 48mm, 50mm and 50mm - 148mm, leaving only 11mm for three frames - but the frames are 4mm at the least - closer to 5mm in fact... The instructions simply say that the frames are "quite vertical" and then leave the builder to work it out. Instead of guessing, I decided that using the deck would be a neat way of ensuring that the frames were essentially in the right position, so this part was cut out as well and used as a guide to get the frames in the right place. So... so far I've fitted the frames, and added the blocks in between - which have all turned out to be around the 48mm mark. This _may_ come back and bite me later, but I feel much more confident knowing that the deck fits with the frames in their locations, than simply hoping for the best.

The observant among you may notice a curvature of the keel (higher in the middle than at bow and stern - it's around 4mm, although it looks worse, perhaps because of lens distortion in this photo) - ironically, having cut the keel parts to be 55cm and 52cm respectively, I now realise that these are perhaps slightly short for the deck... removing the deck after gluing the frames in place got rid of this curvature entirely, and so I probably will need to modify the deck a little down the line, but that's fine - it'll be millimetres here and there, not centimetres, and the hull will be the right shape. The next step is to add the stringers along the bulkhead tops, and as I do that I can ensure the keel is straight. I'm not worried about modifying the deck to fit, I just wanted everything to be in the right ballpark.
 
I've also added the doublers that create something of a rabbet at bow and stern. 
 
More soon
 
Rob
 

As I near the completion of Barque Stefano, I had a hankering to build something that was simple, where I could just follow the instructions, straight out of the box. Time will tell how closely I manage to do that, but having looked longingly at Nordkap as a teenager, she was the vessel I settled upon.
 
Here's a picture of what she's meant to end up looking like
 

 
Nordkap builds up into an 81cm l.o.a, 21cm beam vessel - so there'll be loads of room in the hull for all the radio gubbins. She's also small enough not to be too cumbersome to move around when building. I bought a new building board, and set about separating the laser cut frames from the "sprues".
 
Then I looked at the plans and noticed some strange discrepancies... There are two sets of measurements on plan 1 - the first shows the gaps between the forward extents of the frames (4-7) - this should measure up to 159mm. A second set of measurements show the filler blocks that will sit on top of the keel - these are 48mm, 50mm and 50mm - 148mm, leaving only 11mm for three frames - but the frames are 4mm at the least - closer to 5mm in fact... The instructions simply say that the frames are "quite vertical" and then leave the builder to work it out. Instead of guessing, I decided that using the deck would be a neat way of ensuring that the frames were essentially in the right position, so this part was cut out as well and used as a guide to get the frames in the right place. So... so far I've fitted the frames, and added the blocks in between - which have all turned out to be around the 48mm mark. This _may_ come back and bite me later, but I feel much more confident knowing that the deck fits with the frames in their locations, than simply hoping for the best.

The observant among you may notice a curvature of the keel (higher in the middle than at bow and stern - it's around 4mm, although it looks worse, perhaps because of lens distortion in this photo) - ironically, having cut the keel parts to be 55cm and 52cm respectively, I now realise that these are perhaps slightly short for the deck... removing the deck after gluing the frames in place got rid of this curvature entirely, and so I probably will need to modify the deck a little down the line, but that's fine - it'll be millimetres here and there, not centimetres, and the hull will be the right shape. The next step is to add the stringers along the bulkhead tops, and as I do that I can ensure the keel is straight. I'm not worried about modifying the deck to fit, I just wanted everything to be in the right ballpark.
 
I've also added the doublers that create something of a rabbet at bow and stern. 
 
More soon
 
Rob
 

I built the Nordkap a couple of years ago. There is no issue drilling the hull for the prop shaft, which I did after the hull was planked. I would highly recommend using the fiberglass cloth as well as resin for the hull, (I used 2 oz cloth). If the hul were plywood sheets, you could get away without the cloth, but with the wood planking, you will need the cloth for strength if you want it to last. 

Hi HOF
 
Yes, a prop shaft, plastic propellor, rudder post... nice, brass fittings. There isn't any help in the instructions to guide radio installation, and the mistake I made was waiting until after I'd assembled the frame before I cut out the channel for the prop shaft. 
 
I'm planning to use fibreglass resin, but to use the planks themselves as the 'glass' structure within the resin. I may change my mind... we'll see
 
Rob

Looks awesome!!
I have looked many times at this kit....
 
Was any "Hardware" included in the kit?
So, looking ahead slightly, are you going to "Glass" the Hull or use something else?
 
Cheers....HOF.

I had a little time to spend on Nordkap today, so here's an update.
 
I've added access to allow the tiller arm to be maintained without ripping up the deck, and begun installing the prop shaft and rudder shaft. A little fore-planning is required for the prop shaft, as I didn't want to install it and find that the motor was in a ridiculous position inside the hull (especially to find that it had to be mounted too low...) the flat surface where the prop shaft exits the hull gives some idea of the angle required.  I replaced the prop shaft with a 5" M4 shaft from George Sitek, along with a brass prop... I mistakenly ordered a 32mm prop when I realise now I need a 38mm one (so the 32mm prop looks a little small in the photos)... but the updated prop has now been ordered and will replace the smaller one when it arrives.
 
Here are some photos of progress...
 
The tiller access...
 

And the prop shaft... 
 




The next job will be to add doublers on either side of the tubes to strengthen them, and fix them permanently in place with epoxy.
 
Thanks for looking in
 
Rob

I had a little time to spend on Nordkap today, so here's an update.
 
I've added access to allow the tiller arm to be maintained without ripping up the deck, and begun installing the prop shaft and rudder shaft. A little fore-planning is required for the prop shaft, as I didn't want to install it and find that the motor was in a ridiculous position inside the hull (especially to find that it had to be mounted too low...) the flat surface where the prop shaft exits the hull gives some idea of the angle required.  I replaced the prop shaft with a 5" M4 shaft from George Sitek, along with a brass prop... I mistakenly ordered a 32mm prop when I realise now I need a 38mm one (so the 32mm prop looks a little small in the photos)... but the updated prop has now been ordered and will replace the smaller one when it arrives.
 
Here are some photos of progress...
 
The tiller access...
 

And the prop shaft... 
 




The next job will be to add doublers on either side of the tubes to strengthen them, and fix them permanently in place with epoxy.
 
Thanks for looking in
 
Rob

Over the past few days, I've made good progress on the bowsprit rigging, including making the "whiskers" on the catheads, which were soldered from 1mm and 0.5mm brass rod, and then sprayed with white primer. The topgallant shrouds were also set up. 
 
I wanted to use black card for the strapping on the cathead whiskers, but also wanted them to be strong enough to withstand knocks and bumps, so rather than simply stopping them at their inboard extent, I have them bending 90 degrees, and fitting into a hole drilled into the cathead itself. This provides lots of strength, and I'm confident they'll withstand gentle knocks... Hopefully I'll avoid anything more dramatic.
 
Adding the "hooks" for the rigging first...

Then bending them to fit... and trial fitting them in the holes drilled in the cathead.

They were fitted before I bent them vertically up, so that I could ensure they both bent up the same amount... and black card was added to simulate the metal straps...

The finished article, once rigged... (rigging required that I make some 0.5mm rope, and then stained it... For those interested (and as an aide memoire for myself, it was made with #100 DMC Cordonnet crochetting thread, 1x thread per strand, 3x strands). The rigging was fastened using #50 DMC Cordonnet thread, and fixed in place with watered down PVA.

And as mentioned at the beginning, I've also rigged the top gallant shrouds... Rather than adding deadeyes, I've copied the way these were rigged on my Ethalion... 

It's nice to feel that progress is being made.
 

With the help of some of the planking pins, I glued the deck down. Once the glue was in place, I placed the deck, and the Aliphatic glue (Carpenter's glue) gave me enough time to predrill holes for planking pins, and secure the deck to make sure it was well in contact with all of the deck beams. Clamps were used round the inside of the deck opening.
 


 
I left it overnight to set, and then pulled the pins back out with some needlenose pliers... nice and easy. 
 

And here's a different shot showing something of her lines...
 

Thanks to those who've looked in  
 
 

A big thank you to whoever fixed the title on this log...
 
I've added the bridging pieces to the tops of the bulkheads and the stringers that run across the tops of the bulkheads to tie them together. The deck was added again while all of this dried to ensure that it was all lined up. It all seems to have gone quite cleanly. I also began to build the ship's boat davit while I was waiting for glue to dry.

 
The photo below is after all the clamps were taken off... 
 
 

A big thank you to whoever fixed the title on this log...
 
I've added the bridging pieces to the tops of the bulkheads and the stringers that run across the tops of the bulkheads to tie them together. The deck was added again while all of this dried to ensure that it was all lined up. It all seems to have gone quite cleanly. I also began to build the ship's boat davit while I was waiting for glue to dry.

 
The photo below is after all the clamps were taken off... 
 
 

Excellent choice of model. It will be interesting to follow your progress.
 
Yves

As I near the completion of Barque Stefano, I had a hankering to build something that was simple, where I could just follow the instructions, straight out of the box. Time will tell how closely I manage to do that, but having looked longingly at Nordkap as a teenager, she was the vessel I settled upon.
 
Here's a picture of what she's meant to end up looking like
 

 
Nordkap builds up into an 81cm l.o.a, 21cm beam vessel - so there'll be loads of room in the hull for all the radio gubbins. She's also small enough not to be too cumbersome to move around when building. I bought a new building board, and set about separating the laser cut frames from the "sprues".
 
Then I looked at the plans and noticed some strange discrepancies... There are two sets of measurements on plan 1 - the first shows the gaps between the forward extents of the frames (4-7) - this should measure up to 159mm. A second set of measurements show the filler blocks that will sit on top of the keel - these are 48mm, 50mm and 50mm - 148mm, leaving only 11mm for three frames - but the frames are 4mm at the least - closer to 5mm in fact... The instructions simply say that the frames are "quite vertical" and then leave the builder to work it out. Instead of guessing, I decided that using the deck would be a neat way of ensuring that the frames were essentially in the right position, so this part was cut out as well and used as a guide to get the frames in the right place. So... so far I've fitted the frames, and added the blocks in between - which have all turned out to be around the 48mm mark. This _may_ come back and bite me later, but I feel much more confident knowing that the deck fits with the frames in their locations, than simply hoping for the best.

The observant among you may notice a curvature of the keel (higher in the middle than at bow and stern - it's around 4mm, although it looks worse, perhaps because of lens distortion in this photo) - ironically, having cut the keel parts to be 55cm and 52cm respectively, I now realise that these are perhaps slightly short for the deck... removing the deck after gluing the frames in place got rid of this curvature entirely, and so I probably will need to modify the deck a little down the line, but that's fine - it'll be millimetres here and there, not centimetres, and the hull will be the right shape. The next step is to add the stringers along the bulkhead tops, and as I do that I can ensure the keel is straight. I'm not worried about modifying the deck to fit, I just wanted everything to be in the right ballpark.
 
I've also added the doublers that create something of a rabbet at bow and stern. 
 
More soon
 
Rob
 

As I near the completion of Barque Stefano, I had a hankering to build something that was simple, where I could just follow the instructions, straight out of the box. Time will tell how closely I manage to do that, but having looked longingly at Nordkap as a teenager, she was the vessel I settled upon.
 
Here's a picture of what she's meant to end up looking like
 

 
Nordkap builds up into an 81cm l.o.a, 21cm beam vessel - so there'll be loads of room in the hull for all the radio gubbins. She's also small enough not to be too cumbersome to move around when building. I bought a new building board, and set about separating the laser cut frames from the "sprues".
 
Then I looked at the plans and noticed some strange discrepancies... There are two sets of measurements on plan 1 - the first shows the gaps between the forward extents of the frames (4-7) - this should measure up to 159mm. A second set of measurements show the filler blocks that will sit on top of the keel - these are 48mm, 50mm and 50mm - 148mm, leaving only 11mm for three frames - but the frames are 4mm at the least - closer to 5mm in fact... The instructions simply say that the frames are "quite vertical" and then leave the builder to work it out. Instead of guessing, I decided that using the deck would be a neat way of ensuring that the frames were essentially in the right position, so this part was cut out as well and used as a guide to get the frames in the right place. So... so far I've fitted the frames, and added the blocks in between - which have all turned out to be around the 48mm mark. This _may_ come back and bite me later, but I feel much more confident knowing that the deck fits with the frames in their locations, than simply hoping for the best.

The observant among you may notice a curvature of the keel (higher in the middle than at bow and stern - it's around 4mm, although it looks worse, perhaps because of lens distortion in this photo) - ironically, having cut the keel parts to be 55cm and 52cm respectively, I now realise that these are perhaps slightly short for the deck... removing the deck after gluing the frames in place got rid of this curvature entirely, and so I probably will need to modify the deck a little down the line, but that's fine - it'll be millimetres here and there, not centimetres, and the hull will be the right shape. The next step is to add the stringers along the bulkhead tops, and as I do that I can ensure the keel is straight. I'm not worried about modifying the deck to fit, I just wanted everything to be in the right ballpark.
 
I've also added the doublers that create something of a rabbet at bow and stern. 
 
More soon
 
Rob
 

As I near the completion of Barque Stefano, I had a hankering to build something that was simple, where I could just follow the instructions, straight out of the box. Time will tell how closely I manage to do that, but having looked longingly at Nordkap as a teenager, she was the vessel I settled upon.
 
Here's a picture of what she's meant to end up looking like
 

 
Nordkap builds up into an 81cm l.o.a, 21cm beam vessel - so there'll be loads of room in the hull for all the radio gubbins. She's also small enough not to be too cumbersome to move around when building. I bought a new building board, and set about separating the laser cut frames from the "sprues".
 
Then I looked at the plans and noticed some strange discrepancies... There are two sets of measurements on plan 1 - the first shows the gaps between the forward extents of the frames (4-7) - this should measure up to 159mm. A second set of measurements show the filler blocks that will sit on top of the keel - these are 48mm, 50mm and 50mm - 148mm, leaving only 11mm for three frames - but the frames are 4mm at the least - closer to 5mm in fact... The instructions simply say that the frames are "quite vertical" and then leave the builder to work it out. Instead of guessing, I decided that using the deck would be a neat way of ensuring that the frames were essentially in the right position, so this part was cut out as well and used as a guide to get the frames in the right place. So... so far I've fitted the frames, and added the blocks in between - which have all turned out to be around the 48mm mark. This _may_ come back and bite me later, but I feel much more confident knowing that the deck fits with the frames in their locations, than simply hoping for the best.

The observant among you may notice a curvature of the keel (higher in the middle than at bow and stern - it's around 4mm, although it looks worse, perhaps because of lens distortion in this photo) - ironically, having cut the keel parts to be 55cm and 52cm respectively, I now realise that these are perhaps slightly short for the deck... removing the deck after gluing the frames in place got rid of this curvature entirely, and so I probably will need to modify the deck a little down the line, but that's fine - it'll be millimetres here and there, not centimetres, and the hull will be the right shape. The next step is to add the stringers along the bulkhead tops, and as I do that I can ensure the keel is straight. I'm not worried about modifying the deck to fit, I just wanted everything to be in the right ballpark.
 
I've also added the doublers that create something of a rabbet at bow and stern. 
 
More soon
 
Rob
 

As I near the completion of Barque Stefano, I had a hankering to build something that was simple, where I could just follow the instructions, straight out of the box. Time will tell how closely I manage to do that, but having looked longingly at Nordkap as a teenager, she was the vessel I settled upon.
 
Here's a picture of what she's meant to end up looking like
 

 
Nordkap builds up into an 81cm l.o.a, 21cm beam vessel - so there'll be loads of room in the hull for all the radio gubbins. She's also small enough not to be too cumbersome to move around when building. I bought a new building board, and set about separating the laser cut frames from the "sprues".
 
Then I looked at the plans and noticed some strange discrepancies... There are two sets of measurements on plan 1 - the first shows the gaps between the forward extents of the frames (4-7) - this should measure up to 159mm. A second set of measurements show the filler blocks that will sit on top of the keel - these are 48mm, 50mm and 50mm - 148mm, leaving only 11mm for three frames - but the frames are 4mm at the least - closer to 5mm in fact... The instructions simply say that the frames are "quite vertical" and then leave the builder to work it out. Instead of guessing, I decided that using the deck would be a neat way of ensuring that the frames were essentially in the right position, so this part was cut out as well and used as a guide to get the frames in the right place. So... so far I've fitted the frames, and added the blocks in between - which have all turned out to be around the 48mm mark. This _may_ come back and bite me later, but I feel much more confident knowing that the deck fits with the frames in their locations, than simply hoping for the best.

The observant among you may notice a curvature of the keel (higher in the middle than at bow and stern - it's around 4mm, although it looks worse, perhaps because of lens distortion in this photo) - ironically, having cut the keel parts to be 55cm and 52cm respectively, I now realise that these are perhaps slightly short for the deck... removing the deck after gluing the frames in place got rid of this curvature entirely, and so I probably will need to modify the deck a little down the line, but that's fine - it'll be millimetres here and there, not centimetres, and the hull will be the right shape. The next step is to add the stringers along the bulkhead tops, and as I do that I can ensure the keel is straight. I'm not worried about modifying the deck to fit, I just wanted everything to be in the right ballpark.
 
I've also added the doublers that create something of a rabbet at bow and stern. 
 
More soon
 
Rob
 

Over the past few days, I've made good progress on the bowsprit rigging, including making the "whiskers" on the catheads, which were soldered from 1mm and 0.5mm brass rod, and then sprayed with white primer. The topgallant shrouds were also set up. 
 
I wanted to use black card for the strapping on the cathead whiskers, but also wanted them to be strong enough to withstand knocks and bumps, so rather than simply stopping them at their inboard extent, I have them bending 90 degrees, and fitting into a hole drilled into the cathead itself. This provides lots of strength, and I'm confident they'll withstand gentle knocks... Hopefully I'll avoid anything more dramatic.
 
Adding the "hooks" for the rigging first...

Then bending them to fit... and trial fitting them in the holes drilled in the cathead.

They were fitted before I bent them vertically up, so that I could ensure they both bent up the same amount... and black card was added to simulate the metal straps...

The finished article, once rigged... (rigging required that I make some 0.5mm rope, and then stained it... For those interested (and as an aide memoire for myself, it was made with #100 DMC Cordonnet crochetting thread, 1x thread per strand, 3x strands). The rigging was fastened using #50 DMC Cordonnet thread, and fixed in place with watered down PVA.

And as mentioned at the beginning, I've also rigged the top gallant shrouds... Rather than adding deadeyes, I've copied the way these were rigged on my Ethalion... 

It's nice to feel that progress is being made.
 

Thanks for the likes. The chains are now all added to the bowsprit.

Topmast shrouds and ratlines are complete. I've been doing a little work on the bowsprit, adding the inner and outer bobstays using the kit supplied chain, which was chemically blackened. The chains were attached using black thread, which will be trimmed one I've put some glue on it to stop the knots coming undone.

Over the past few days, I've made good progress on the bowsprit rigging, including making the "whiskers" on the catheads, which were soldered from 1mm and 0.5mm brass rod, and then sprayed with white primer. The topgallant shrouds were also set up. 
 
I wanted to use black card for the strapping on the cathead whiskers, but also wanted them to be strong enough to withstand knocks and bumps, so rather than simply stopping them at their inboard extent, I have them bending 90 degrees, and fitting into a hole drilled into the cathead itself. This provides lots of strength, and I'm confident they'll withstand gentle knocks... Hopefully I'll avoid anything more dramatic.
 
Adding the "hooks" for the rigging first...

Then bending them to fit... and trial fitting them in the holes drilled in the cathead.

They were fitted before I bent them vertically up, so that I could ensure they both bent up the same amount... and black card was added to simulate the metal straps...

The finished article, once rigged... (rigging required that I make some 0.5mm rope, and then stained it... For those interested (and as an aide memoire for myself, it was made with #100 DMC Cordonnet crochetting thread, 1x thread per strand, 3x strands). The rigging was fastened using #50 DMC Cordonnet thread, and fixed in place with watered down PVA.

And as mentioned at the beginning, I've also rigged the top gallant shrouds... Rather than adding deadeyes, I've copied the way these were rigged on my Ethalion... 

It's nice to feel that progress is being made.
 

Over the past few days, I've made good progress on the bowsprit rigging, including making the "whiskers" on the catheads, which were soldered from 1mm and 0.5mm brass rod, and then sprayed with white primer. The topgallant shrouds were also set up. 
 
I wanted to use black card for the strapping on the cathead whiskers, but also wanted them to be strong enough to withstand knocks and bumps, so rather than simply stopping them at their inboard extent, I have them bending 90 degrees, and fitting into a hole drilled into the cathead itself. This provides lots of strength, and I'm confident they'll withstand gentle knocks... Hopefully I'll avoid anything more dramatic.
 
Adding the "hooks" for the rigging first...

Then bending them to fit... and trial fitting them in the holes drilled in the cathead.

They were fitted before I bent them vertically up, so that I could ensure they both bent up the same amount... and black card was added to simulate the metal straps...

The finished article, once rigged... (rigging required that I make some 0.5mm rope, and then stained it... For those interested (and as an aide memoire for myself, it was made with #100 DMC Cordonnet crochetting thread, 1x thread per strand, 3x strands). The rigging was fastened using #50 DMC Cordonnet thread, and fixed in place with watered down PVA.

And as mentioned at the beginning, I've also rigged the top gallant shrouds... Rather than adding deadeyes, I've copied the way these were rigged on my Ethalion... 

It's nice to feel that progress is being made.
 

planking.
Because planking with only the bulkheads as support every 6cm is very inconvenient. I'm going to place the frames of the gun ports first before continuing with planking.
 
First I determine where they should go and how wide the cannonports are. 
Measure on the drawing and transfer to the model (drawing 1/100, model 1/50, so just multiply by 2).
 



And the dimensions stated in the book correspond well with the drawing.

Sawing and installing the frames

"Surgery"

for some reason they were given an M number in the book. M3,M4,M5... if these were all BMW's....

I think I'm going to fill in a bit of the bow for support. Later on you won't see anything between the stem and the first bulkhead on this deck.
The shape remains quite pointed towards the top
In accordance with findings on the wreck and paintings from that time, there will also be a cannon at the front.
provisionally called Mx

Topmast shrouds and ratlines are complete. I've been doing a little work on the bowsprit, adding the inner and outer bobstays using the kit supplied chain, which was chemically blackened. The chains were attached using black thread, which will be trimmed one I've put some glue on it to stop the knots coming undone.