DavidG

thank you for the follow up, it is much easier to read now.

Reading the site on mobile devices I see the name of special contributors is very difficult to read, dark blue on black. It is something we definitely can live with, just thought I mention it. best, David

Hi Robert, the line you are referring is called a martingale, which counters the upwards pull of the stays, with the help of the dolphin striker, which is a device to increase the angle of the rope to amplify the downward pull. You took me over by your progress as I haven't rigged this lined yet. To be honest, I don't know what would be the current arrangement for the Diana, but a little research shows several options. Petersson shows it is belayed besides the foot of the bowsprit after leading it through a block below the stay collars. While I try to follow this resource, for me it seems impractical given the different proportions of the Diana (and probably the shown example is a later period due to the double arrangement). A well documented build of the Occre Diana exist in a Russian forum (here). On photo 13 the builder tied off the lines on the big timberhead just besides the cathead (if I see well). It seems to be a viable option. The rigging manual of the Caldercraft Victory (available here) instructs, the martingale tied to the knighthead, similar to what the Russian builder did. Another reference might be the Artesania Latina Surprise, with the manual available here. On page 67 the, line seems to be tied to an eye in the hull below the rails. I hope this helps. best, David

rigging the shrouds before stays is the normal practice. If it is done otherwise, the loop of stays around the topmasts gets below the shrouds which would be incorrect, as they have to be over them. I found it is not practical to finally tension the lines until a much later stage. The braces will pull the shrouds after you rig them, and have to adjust anyway. Also note, the Occre rigging plan show the stays tied off on the middle of the masts. In practice, the lines were belayed on the deck or the mas top as below, if you choose to to complicate your life further

congrats to your fleet. Very nice progress through the line of builds on different difficulty levels. Looking to the list of your future builds, you may want to have a look on Dusek's take on Le Cerf. That one seems to be a more modern design of the same subject.

that is some great sclupting, well done.

nice work, that's certainly a difficult bend. you may consider styrene strip for such difficult parts, especially if the model is painted as yours. another option is the "flexible beech" sold by Cornwall in several dimensions. That's a chemically treated wooden strip, and you can tie knots on them even dry, but after soaking can be formed to any shape, which is well retained when dried again.

part 198 is the sling, which holds the yard as a security measure. the loop is the bottom part of the sling (actually holding a thimble), which is clearly visible in the the front view. My build log have a picture of the sling in post 38. Be sure, you install them before the topmasts are glued into place. the blocks on the mast cap must be for the lifts, they are lines to lower/raise the yards. What makes me wonder, these blocks should be under the mast cap, and forward of the position shown. The lifts must clear the shrouds in front of them, and I see the proposed alignment would cross the shrouds between the ratlines.

A year ago I had a plan to finish the model in 2020, which goal certainly wasn't met. Now it's time to make another public commitment, to finish it this year, 14 years after I started At least, I was able to install the topgallants and finish all standing rigging, also made the yards for the mizzen mast. The lines are not tied off, I'm sure they need adjustment later, especially when rigging the braces. Below is a picture of the current state, with standing rigging done:

very nice planking, Andrey. If you set up your build log, all members can follow your progress and you can get advice on building.

Hi Andrei, welcome to MSW and thanks for looking into my log. I'm happy to discuss your Diana build. The best way is to set up a build log of your own, simply by clicking the "Start new topic" button in the build log section. selecting the "choose files" option below your post, will allow you to upload pictures, which you can insert to your post with the "+" sign:

Hi Peter, the thicker, lime strips are used for first planking. After you are done with that, and gave it a thorough sanding, you plank the hull a second time with the thin strips. Looking to the pictures of your boat, the dark one is used on the lower hull and the lighter on the upper parts. This is very typical for Occre kits, many of their kits use this color scheme (like the Trinidad, Diana, Montanes, etc).

you can just click the quote button below the post.

there are several ways to do this, software like Adobe Illustrator can certainly do that. Much depends on the quality of your image, and probably you will have to adjust it manually after the conversion. I think Adobe provides a trial period, which might be just fine for your needs. But if you make a search to "jpg to vector" you find several videos on youtube and other solutions, like vectormagic.com and similar.

I came across this video on youtube recently, showing the finished model. I think not posted here before: