Beef Wellington

Main shrouds
 
Some "notes to self", managed to get a process going for doing the shrouds in a way that felt comfortable, details below and results.  Apologize for the quality of the photos, for some reason these just seem off today.
 
Hope someone can help with a list of questions:
Instructions indicate that the futtock stave should be made with 1mm brass wire.  What would this have been made of on actual ship, would it have had rope wrapped around it like serving or puddening? Would people advise to attach the futtock stave before doing ratlines - seems that it might hold the shrouds a little more in place What dictated whether stretchers were attached (or not), and would these have been attached 'permanently', in as much as anything would be permanent. Would catharpins have been so attached so as to deflect the shrouds inwards at the futtock staves, or would the line of the shrouds be maintained? Any insights much appreciated!
 
Shroud pulled at taught as possible around deadeye, twin spacers being used to keep it steady.  (End that will be trimmed passed up through the tops temporarily)

 
Overhand knot tied at back and front of shroud a close as possible to the deadeyes.  

 
Overhand knots then alternated working downward to close up the hole, no more than 3-4 typically required.  Last know secured with G-S Hypo cement and ends trimmed.  Found using some tweezers made this easier to manipulate as the shroud can be controlled much easier.

 
End trimmed and then end and middle seizing tied using same method as described above

 
There's something very pleasing about a stack of shrouds!  The fore-most shrouds are served to protect against wear from the sails, this allowed me to establish a new personal best for longest length served (268mm).  I've found it helpful while serving to keep compacting the serving line even if it doesn't appear to need it, it seems to give a more consistent result although I've still not perfected this technique.

 
Despite best attempts, I just could get the line of the serving to be straight across the shrouds.  I'm guessing that this would have not always been perfect on real ships either despite the pictures in books.  At least thats my story/excuse.

 
Main shrouds in place, I'll leave in place for now and do a final tightening once all shrouds in place.

Main shrouds
 
Some "notes to self", managed to get a process going for doing the shrouds in a way that felt comfortable, details below and results.  Apologize for the quality of the photos, for some reason these just seem off today.
 
Hope someone can help with a list of questions:
Instructions indicate that the futtock stave should be made with 1mm brass wire.  What would this have been made of on actual ship, would it have had rope wrapped around it like serving or puddening? Would people advise to attach the futtock stave before doing ratlines - seems that it might hold the shrouds a little more in place What dictated whether stretchers were attached (or not), and would these have been attached 'permanently', in as much as anything would be permanent. Would catharpins have been so attached so as to deflect the shrouds inwards at the futtock staves, or would the line of the shrouds be maintained? Any insights much appreciated!
 
Shroud pulled at taught as possible around deadeye, twin spacers being used to keep it steady.  (End that will be trimmed passed up through the tops temporarily)

 
Overhand knot tied at back and front of shroud a close as possible to the deadeyes.  

 
Overhand knots then alternated working downward to close up the hole, no more than 3-4 typically required.  Last know secured with G-S Hypo cement and ends trimmed.  Found using some tweezers made this easier to manipulate as the shroud can be controlled much easier.

 
End trimmed and then end and middle seizing tied using same method as described above

 
There's something very pleasing about a stack of shrouds!  The fore-most shrouds are served to protect against wear from the sails, this allowed me to establish a new personal best for longest length served (268mm).  I've found it helpful while serving to keep compacting the serving line even if it doesn't appear to need it, it seems to give a more consistent result although I've still not perfected this technique.

 
Despite best attempts, I just could get the line of the serving to be straight across the shrouds.  I'm guessing that this would have not always been perfect on real ships either despite the pictures in books.  At least thats my story/excuse.

 
Main shrouds in place, I'll leave in place for now and do a final tightening once all shrouds in place.

Main shrouds
 
Some "notes to self", managed to get a process going for doing the shrouds in a way that felt comfortable, details below and results.  Apologize for the quality of the photos, for some reason these just seem off today.
 
Hope someone can help with a list of questions:
Instructions indicate that the futtock stave should be made with 1mm brass wire.  What would this have been made of on actual ship, would it have had rope wrapped around it like serving or puddening? Would people advise to attach the futtock stave before doing ratlines - seems that it might hold the shrouds a little more in place What dictated whether stretchers were attached (or not), and would these have been attached 'permanently', in as much as anything would be permanent. Would catharpins have been so attached so as to deflect the shrouds inwards at the futtock staves, or would the line of the shrouds be maintained? Any insights much appreciated!
 
Shroud pulled at taught as possible around deadeye, twin spacers being used to keep it steady.  (End that will be trimmed passed up through the tops temporarily)

 
Overhand knot tied at back and front of shroud a close as possible to the deadeyes.  

 
Overhand knots then alternated working downward to close up the hole, no more than 3-4 typically required.  Last know secured with G-S Hypo cement and ends trimmed.  Found using some tweezers made this easier to manipulate as the shroud can be controlled much easier.

 
End trimmed and then end and middle seizing tied using same method as described above

 
There's something very pleasing about a stack of shrouds!  The fore-most shrouds are served to protect against wear from the sails, this allowed me to establish a new personal best for longest length served (268mm).  I've found it helpful while serving to keep compacting the serving line even if it doesn't appear to need it, it seems to give a more consistent result although I've still not perfected this technique.

 
Despite best attempts, I just could get the line of the serving to be straight across the shrouds.  I'm guessing that this would have not always been perfect on real ships either despite the pictures in books.  At least thats my story/excuse.

 
Main shrouds in place, I'll leave in place for now and do a final tightening once all shrouds in place.

Main shrouds
 
Some "notes to self", managed to get a process going for doing the shrouds in a way that felt comfortable, details below and results.  Apologize for the quality of the photos, for some reason these just seem off today.
 
Hope someone can help with a list of questions:
Instructions indicate that the futtock stave should be made with 1mm brass wire.  What would this have been made of on actual ship, would it have had rope wrapped around it like serving or puddening? Would people advise to attach the futtock stave before doing ratlines - seems that it might hold the shrouds a little more in place What dictated whether stretchers were attached (or not), and would these have been attached 'permanently', in as much as anything would be permanent. Would catharpins have been so attached so as to deflect the shrouds inwards at the futtock staves, or would the line of the shrouds be maintained? Any insights much appreciated!
 
Shroud pulled at taught as possible around deadeye, twin spacers being used to keep it steady.  (End that will be trimmed passed up through the tops temporarily)

 
Overhand knot tied at back and front of shroud a close as possible to the deadeyes.  

 
Overhand knots then alternated working downward to close up the hole, no more than 3-4 typically required.  Last know secured with G-S Hypo cement and ends trimmed.  Found using some tweezers made this easier to manipulate as the shroud can be controlled much easier.

 
End trimmed and then end and middle seizing tied using same method as described above

 
There's something very pleasing about a stack of shrouds!  The fore-most shrouds are served to protect against wear from the sails, this allowed me to establish a new personal best for longest length served (268mm).  I've found it helpful while serving to keep compacting the serving line even if it doesn't appear to need it, it seems to give a more consistent result although I've still not perfected this technique.

 
Despite best attempts, I just could get the line of the serving to be straight across the shrouds.  I'm guessing that this would have not always been perfect on real ships either despite the pictures in books.  At least thats my story/excuse.

 
Main shrouds in place, I'll leave in place for now and do a final tightening once all shrouds in place.

good evening, all the big turrets are completed, apart from PE, never managed much today, but never mind the SUN came out - better still - it never wained
 
 

...I've problem with two elevation screws as they can't penetrate the respective hole of the barrel....
I've applied for replacement at cornwallmodelboats....

BE - Honestly I have no idea ho anyone could do it without a machine, I'm finding it tricky enough with one.
 
John - hopefully you'll enjoy it when you get there!
 
Robert - the inability to trim all comes down to the fact that the line used in the serving needs to be secured at both ends.  The technique I'm using is to use a needle to thread the serving line through the thicker line and secure with an overhand knot and drop of G-S Hypo cement (It really is a great glue to use on rigging).  If you were to try trim this back then everything just comes unraveled.  It would be such a time saver to have a  length of served line and then just trim as needed!
 
End with serving line threaded through and small overhand knot...

 
...with G-S Hypo cement and trimmed.

Jim, I 'believe' that the foremost shroud was never catharpined, and that similarly any that chafed the mast would also have been excluded.  Does that just leave you with one?  I haven't quite got that far to assess on mine.  Another option would be to go with the infamous cross catharpins.

I graduated from the stern decoration. However, the Eagles did not put because had already broken. Sculptures of eagles really stick out beyond the outline of the stern ...

Thanks guys I am now well on the way to rebuilding the bulwarks and rails, one good thing so far is the main beech wood top rail has remained in one peice. This has been one of those things you must do, for if you did not you would always regret it later.

Few pics before I forget on the approach taken for the single blocks for the carronade rigging, this seems to have worked best so far after many choice words on multiple failures.  Finding this particularly fiddly dealing with the hooks and the blocks and keeping them aligned....at least the double blocks only need stropping.
 
After simple overhand knot through the previously made hook, applied a bit of GS Hypo glue to the thread and attach the single block (very small amount of glue, this is just a temp at way to stop the block continually falling out
 

 
Yet another overhand knot around the block for the stropping.  "Helping hands" come in very handy here
 

 
 
With the block still in the helping hands, pry open the stropping enough to insert a length of the line through and pull around so its at the bottom of the block (believe its the **** end?) and tie a double overhand knot

 
Apply some dilute PVA glue and trim once dry...repeat
 

BE - Honestly I have no idea ho anyone could do it without a machine, I'm finding it tricky enough with one.
 
John - hopefully you'll enjoy it when you get there!
 
Robert - the inability to trim all comes down to the fact that the line used in the serving needs to be secured at both ends.  The technique I'm using is to use a needle to thread the serving line through the thicker line and secure with an overhand knot and drop of G-S Hypo cement (It really is a great glue to use on rigging).  If you were to try trim this back then everything just comes unraveled.  It would be such a time saver to have a  length of served line and then just trim as needed!
 
End with serving line threaded through and small overhand knot...

 
...with G-S Hypo cement and trimmed.

Bug - nice to have you on board.  I think I'm below the $1 mark 
 
Colin - thanks for kind words, I'm learning from your wonderful Pandora
 
Mobbsie - it was Andy that put me onto that.  Anyway, I owe you at least a couple for the 'mouse' help...speaking of..
 
First Mouse:
 
I've been procrastinating over my first mouse on the mizzen stay.  Size was estimated from various drawings.  Followed Mobbsie's method and made the mouse out of wood dowel and glued onto the line which was then served.  PVA glue was brushed onto the wood to keep the serving line in place (this photo is the second attempt and you can see the fuzz from attempt 1)

 
Finished moused end...Lever identifies a pretty small eye vs the instructions which call for a much larger one against the mouse.  The stay was served a little beyond the mouse which per Lever can be done "according to fancy".

 
Mizzen stay in place...it looks OK to me but as always would welcome feedback if I'm off track before committing to this.

I then stained it a cherry color...and spreayed it with a satin varnish..

a couple of more

BE - Honestly I have no idea ho anyone could do it without a machine, I'm finding it tricky enough with one.
 
John - hopefully you'll enjoy it when you get there!
 
Robert - the inability to trim all comes down to the fact that the line used in the serving needs to be secured at both ends.  The technique I'm using is to use a needle to thread the serving line through the thicker line and secure with an overhand knot and drop of G-S Hypo cement (It really is a great glue to use on rigging).  If you were to try trim this back then everything just comes unraveled.  It would be such a time saver to have a  length of served line and then just trim as needed!
 
End with serving line threaded through and small overhand knot...

 
...with G-S Hypo cement and trimmed.

BE - Honestly I have no idea ho anyone could do it without a machine, I'm finding it tricky enough with one.
 
John - hopefully you'll enjoy it when you get there!
 
Robert - the inability to trim all comes down to the fact that the line used in the serving needs to be secured at both ends.  The technique I'm using is to use a needle to thread the serving line through the thicker line and secure with an overhand knot and drop of G-S Hypo cement (It really is a great glue to use on rigging).  If you were to try trim this back then everything just comes unraveled.  It would be such a time saver to have a  length of served line and then just trim as needed!
 
End with serving line threaded through and small overhand knot...

 
...with G-S Hypo cement and trimmed.

BE - Honestly I have no idea ho anyone could do it without a machine, I'm finding it tricky enough with one.
 
John - hopefully you'll enjoy it when you get there!
 
Robert - the inability to trim all comes down to the fact that the line used in the serving needs to be secured at both ends.  The technique I'm using is to use a needle to thread the serving line through the thicker line and secure with an overhand knot and drop of G-S Hypo cement (It really is a great glue to use on rigging).  If you were to try trim this back then everything just comes unraveled.  It would be such a time saver to have a  length of served line and then just trim as needed!
 
End with serving line threaded through and small overhand knot...

 
...with G-S Hypo cement and trimmed.

Andy - appreciate the observation, I had tried what you describe before taking the photo, but it just didn't look right.  Turns out, I had the stay going under the wrong cross tree arm.  All corrected now and sits a treat on the crosstree
 
BE, John, Jim and the 'likes' - thanks as always
 
Main Stay and Preventer Stay collars
 
Started tackling the main and preventer stay collars while waiting for some line to stretch out for the main mast shrouds, (still don't feel I have the shroud thing figured out just yet, but its early days...).  After a bit of a break in the shipyard, these took a full day to complete.  The instructions indicate that the collars should be lashed under the bowsprit through some eyes, but I decided to take the approach outlined in Lever for these.  Unfortunately, because the gammoning is in place, a lot of fiddly steps needed to be done on the ship.
 
As anyone who's done any serving knows, and I'm rapidly learning, is that the process requires you to know the correct length of line you need to serve because 'trimming a bit off' isn't an option.  Here's the first step figuring out the length of served line I'll need.  Marker pen on similarly sized natural line.

 
Detail of the final collar as per Lever

 
Main stay collar in place...

 
...and preventer stay.  I had added the cleats onto the bowsprit before mounting, and commented at the time that the plans were inconsistent.  Luckily the collars seem to sit nicely where intended

 
 
 
 

BE - Honestly I have no idea ho anyone could do it without a machine, I'm finding it tricky enough with one.
 
John - hopefully you'll enjoy it when you get there!
 
Robert - the inability to trim all comes down to the fact that the line used in the serving needs to be secured at both ends.  The technique I'm using is to use a needle to thread the serving line through the thicker line and secure with an overhand knot and drop of G-S Hypo cement (It really is a great glue to use on rigging).  If you were to try trim this back then everything just comes unraveled.  It would be such a time saver to have a  length of served line and then just trim as needed!
 
End with serving line threaded through and small overhand knot...

 
...with G-S Hypo cement and trimmed.

Andy - appreciate the observation, I had tried what you describe before taking the photo, but it just didn't look right.  Turns out, I had the stay going under the wrong cross tree arm.  All corrected now and sits a treat on the crosstree
 
BE, John, Jim and the 'likes' - thanks as always
 
Main Stay and Preventer Stay collars
 
Started tackling the main and preventer stay collars while waiting for some line to stretch out for the main mast shrouds, (still don't feel I have the shroud thing figured out just yet, but its early days...).  After a bit of a break in the shipyard, these took a full day to complete.  The instructions indicate that the collars should be lashed under the bowsprit through some eyes, but I decided to take the approach outlined in Lever for these.  Unfortunately, because the gammoning is in place, a lot of fiddly steps needed to be done on the ship.
 
As anyone who's done any serving knows, and I'm rapidly learning, is that the process requires you to know the correct length of line you need to serve because 'trimming a bit off' isn't an option.  Here's the first step figuring out the length of served line I'll need.  Marker pen on similarly sized natural line.

 
Detail of the final collar as per Lever

 
Main stay collar in place...

 
...and preventer stay.  I had added the cleats onto the bowsprit before mounting, and commented at the time that the plans were inconsistent.  Luckily the collars seem to sit nicely where intended

 
 
 
 

Andy - appreciate the observation, I had tried what you describe before taking the photo, but it just didn't look right.  Turns out, I had the stay going under the wrong cross tree arm.  All corrected now and sits a treat on the crosstree
 
BE, John, Jim and the 'likes' - thanks as always
 
Main Stay and Preventer Stay collars
 
Started tackling the main and preventer stay collars while waiting for some line to stretch out for the main mast shrouds, (still don't feel I have the shroud thing figured out just yet, but its early days...).  After a bit of a break in the shipyard, these took a full day to complete.  The instructions indicate that the collars should be lashed under the bowsprit through some eyes, but I decided to take the approach outlined in Lever for these.  Unfortunately, because the gammoning is in place, a lot of fiddly steps needed to be done on the ship.
 
As anyone who's done any serving knows, and I'm rapidly learning, is that the process requires you to know the correct length of line you need to serve because 'trimming a bit off' isn't an option.  Here's the first step figuring out the length of served line I'll need.  Marker pen on similarly sized natural line.

 
Detail of the final collar as per Lever

 
Main stay collar in place...

 
...and preventer stay.  I had added the cleats onto the bowsprit before mounting, and commented at the time that the plans were inconsistent.  Luckily the collars seem to sit nicely where intended

 
 
 
 

John - something else to consider, wire that I used on my chainplates already had a 'black' coating, not quite sure what the name of it is.  I picked it up at a local craft store (Michaels) and it worked a treat and was easy to paint afterwards.

Andy - appreciate the observation, I had tried what you describe before taking the photo, but it just didn't look right.  Turns out, I had the stay going under the wrong cross tree arm.  All corrected now and sits a treat on the crosstree
 
BE, John, Jim and the 'likes' - thanks as always
 
Main Stay and Preventer Stay collars
 
Started tackling the main and preventer stay collars while waiting for some line to stretch out for the main mast shrouds, (still don't feel I have the shroud thing figured out just yet, but its early days...).  After a bit of a break in the shipyard, these took a full day to complete.  The instructions indicate that the collars should be lashed under the bowsprit through some eyes, but I decided to take the approach outlined in Lever for these.  Unfortunately, because the gammoning is in place, a lot of fiddly steps needed to be done on the ship.
 
As anyone who's done any serving knows, and I'm rapidly learning, is that the process requires you to know the correct length of line you need to serve because 'trimming a bit off' isn't an option.  Here's the first step figuring out the length of served line I'll need.  Marker pen on similarly sized natural line.

 
Detail of the final collar as per Lever

 
Main stay collar in place...

 
...and preventer stay.  I had added the cleats onto the bowsprit before mounting, and commented at the time that the plans were inconsistent.  Luckily the collars seem to sit nicely where intended

 
 
 
 

Andy - appreciate the observation, I had tried what you describe before taking the photo, but it just didn't look right.  Turns out, I had the stay going under the wrong cross tree arm.  All corrected now and sits a treat on the crosstree
 
BE, John, Jim and the 'likes' - thanks as always
 
Main Stay and Preventer Stay collars
 
Started tackling the main and preventer stay collars while waiting for some line to stretch out for the main mast shrouds, (still don't feel I have the shroud thing figured out just yet, but its early days...).  After a bit of a break in the shipyard, these took a full day to complete.  The instructions indicate that the collars should be lashed under the bowsprit through some eyes, but I decided to take the approach outlined in Lever for these.  Unfortunately, because the gammoning is in place, a lot of fiddly steps needed to be done on the ship.
 
As anyone who's done any serving knows, and I'm rapidly learning, is that the process requires you to know the correct length of line you need to serve because 'trimming a bit off' isn't an option.  Here's the first step figuring out the length of served line I'll need.  Marker pen on similarly sized natural line.

 
Detail of the final collar as per Lever

 
Main stay collar in place...

 
...and preventer stay.  I had added the cleats onto the bowsprit before mounting, and commented at the time that the plans were inconsistent.  Luckily the collars seem to sit nicely where intended