Nirvana

Mike,
You are absolutely right having someone else looking over instructions.  Daria would probably have prevented this from the start.....😀

Mike,
You are absolutely right having someone else looking over instructions.  Daria would probably have prevented this from the start.....😀

Mike,
You are absolutely right having someone else looking over instructions.  Daria would probably have prevented this from the start.....😀

Back to the thimbles...I took the several suggestions to heart and tried again.  This time I started with a piece of 1/8" brass and drilled a 5/64" hole (close to the 2mm o.d. of the tube) and then another hole counter-bored to provide a seat for the flaring.  All done on the mill.

The annealed tube is inserted into the first hole (see above) and cut off with a razor saw.  That way, all pieces are 1/8" long.  Touch with a fine file while still in the hole assures both ends are square.  The piece is then inserted into the counter-bored hole and tapped with a center-punch.

 
The piece is then removed and the center-punch used on the opposing end...back and forth a couple of times.
I looked at Chuck's thimbles and they are not flared as much as I initially tried so I tapped less than earlier.

These thimbles (2mm tube (= to 3-3/4" at scale) are a good size for the .054" diameter rope* I'm using for the shrouds but I'm not sure there would be thimbles on the shrouds.
I'm getting some 1.5mm tubes for smaller lines. 
 
*By the way, be sure to check out Chuck's rope size table in yesterday's post on the Syren Ship Model Company post:
https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/12476-syren-ship-model-company-news-and-forthcoming-new-projects-products/&page=11&tab=comments#comment-525811
 
This brings up the issue regarding termination of the shrouds at the waterways.   Informed opinion is that with this many shrouds (6 on a side), "there was no need for deadeyes and lanyards, but well-stretched shrouds siezed to bullseyes;  the aggregate resistance would be enough to counteract the tension from a large anchor."  So eyebolts (with bullseyes attached) through the waterways.  The aft-most shrouds may have been loosened when not under load to provide more range of swing of the boom.  Block and tackles definitely out of the question because all the stress would be on the sheave of a block.
Any other opinions / suggestions out there?
Maury
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks for the likes and feedback everyone. Always good to have your support when I am in doubt about something.
 
Don, I'll try to find that. It's exactly what I am envisioning for future square rigged builds. We do so much hard work adding detail to the decks. I just feel like rigging detracts from that. Lower masts with shrouds should be enough to give most people the idea of rigging and still leave a clear path to what's on deck.

And just in time for the Holidays.

Mike,
You are doing a great job there, the rigging looks good.
The idea of using the hearts from Syren made a difference.

Holy moly!
What an outstanding job you have done!
Am I blind or is the 18th Century Longboat missing in the listing?
 
Edit: My T37 is also finished.

Holy moly!
What an outstanding job you have done!
Am I blind or is the 18th Century Longboat missing in the listing?
 
Edit: My T37 is also finished.

Thought I would show some pix of where I am. Rigging has been an interesting endeavor, however I believe I will research the admiralty style build. Maybe not exactly, but no more than the first spar for the masts and maybe it's shrouds and rats. Why? I think what I am ending up with now is too cluttered. It really detracts from all the deck details. Not to mention it doubles the size of the display case
 
A few observations. As most of us do, I added as much rope as I could before stepping. For the main, I actually attached all 3 spars and rigged as much as I could to the side of the boat. That included ropes and yards. When I finally did step the main the top spars were constantly bumping the cabinets above my bench. In fact they were even bumping my lighting which clamps to the bench. For the fore mast - the 2nd mast to be stepped, I just stepped the lower spar did as much as I could do with that, then added the top mast and did the work there. As you can see from the pix I still haven't added the fore top gallant.
 
I also seem to have gone backwards, stepping the main first then the fore. I didn't even bother with the bow sprit until just recently. This order worked out well. The two masts don't need the bowsprit for all that much.
 
There is a question as to how much rigging to do. Most all of the standing rig needs to be done. But the running rig is another question since there will be no sails. Seems like there is a fine line between too much rope running around the boat and not enough. Given that I feel things are getting cluttered already I'll probably end up on the lite side. Personally I feel that most of the ropes that fasten to a sail should not be included in a build with no sails.
 
So here's some shots of the boat - picture quality is still dubious.
 

As you can see I have about 1" before the bow spars bump into the cabinets. Had a few "hold your breath" moments already.

 

 

 

Since I'm eliminating a lot of the running rigging, I've come to realize there will be a lot of empty belay pins. IMO this looks sort of weird so I am adding some "dummy" coils to fill in the spaces. A real seaman would scoff at this but most people would never know.

I gotta wonder who they sent up this high. Probably someone they didn't like very much. How the heck did they get all the way to the top? The rats don't go that far.

I'm holding off on trimming the ends of the big ropes in case I have to rework something. Would hate to have to replace a stay now!

I used 7mm hearts from Syren. I like the way they look but I wish they had some a little bigger.

Cheap basswood part. Broke the thing 3 times while fitting the harness to it.
 
 
 
 

I would be in so much trouble getting this magnificent kit. 
Checking my allowance for this period I am already over my budget so, for now I am sad to let it go.
Would be such a good complement to the Longboat.
Chuck, that is a beautiful kit.

To finish up the standing rigging on the lower masts, I installed the spring stay, jib stay, and jumbo jib stay.  As with all my rigging, I've replaced the kit's rigging line with some from Syren Ship Model Company.
 
The spring stay is pretty straight forward.  It runs from the main mast cap to the fore mast cap with eye splices at either end.
 

The jib stay is also pretty simple.  It is attached to the fore mast cap using a shackle, and run to the bowsprit where it is seized onto one of the bands.
 

The jumbo jib stay required a bit more work.  It seems to have two parts to the line.  The first part is served and wraps around the fore mast right above the trestle tree, with eye splices in both ends.  Those are shackled to the second line, which runs down to the jumbo jib stay bail.  The bail is a custom piece that attaches to the deck and wraps over the bowsprit.
 
I started by getting the top of the line installed on the mast.
 

The jumbo jib stay bail was made from brass, in keeping with how all the other metal parts on my build have been done.  It is basically a large shackle, so I made it similarly to how I made the shackles.  Since it was larger, I fashioned the 'feet' that will hold the bolts separately instead of making it all one piece.  I'm also using a brass rod to form the top, which appears to be rounded on the plans.  I'll secure it to the deck using a couple small bolts running though some eyebolts.
 
The entire thing was prepped, soldered, and cleaned up.
 

The bail was installed on the deck over the bowsprit, and the jumbo jib stay was seized to it.
 

I *think* that finishes up the standing rigging for the lower masts.  I'll wait to do the ratlines until later (not really looking forward to those).  Next step will be to seat the top masts and get their standing rigging lines installed.
 

28 days later!

Decking complete! Minor touch up needed before proceeding. 
Nibbing boxwood is hard.😎

Nibbing is taking place, it goes slowly.
Stayed home due to fever.
But being somewhat active and not staying in bed all day is a good treatment.

I would be in so much trouble getting this magnificent kit. 
Checking my allowance for this period I am already over my budget so, for now I am sad to let it go.
Would be such a good complement to the Longboat.
Chuck, that is a beautiful kit.

I would be in so much trouble getting this magnificent kit. 
Checking my allowance for this period I am already over my budget so, for now I am sad to let it go.
Would be such a good complement to the Longboat.
Chuck, that is a beautiful kit.

I would be in so much trouble getting this magnificent kit. 
Checking my allowance for this period I am already over my budget so, for now I am sad to let it go.
Would be such a good complement to the Longboat.
Chuck, that is a beautiful kit.

I would be in so much trouble getting this magnificent kit. 
Checking my allowance for this period I am already over my budget so, for now I am sad to let it go.
Would be such a good complement to the Longboat.
Chuck, that is a beautiful kit.

Almost there....
 
This photo shows the contents of the kit.   I am just finalizing a few more things.  The kit is made from all cherry with some additional boxwood accents.  You get the resin casting set minus the seven items you will be carving.  But the seven items will be available later as an option for those that dont want to carve them.  I hope everyone at least tries.  You get two sheets of plans and printed friezes for the panels and sweeps.   The pedestals and sweep racks are also included.   There will be no printed instructions in the box to keep costs down but the full set will be available as a download on my site as usual.   There are 25 laser cut sheets of cherry and boxwood that range in size and thickness.  The planks are pre-spiled and laser cut for you. The real fragile stuff is carefully packaged in bags rather than being left in the laser cut sheets like the etched panels that are inboard.  They are boxwood and very fragile.
 
This kit contains everything you need to build it just like I have straight out of the box including pre-printed flags on tissue paper.  It is a fully framed model with floors and toptimbers just like the contemporary models and will retail for $235.  It will be available real soon and just in time for Christmas.
Let me know if you have any questions.
 


Chuck

You definitely have a pretty clear style! It is a pleasure to look on that photos  

Beautiful workmanship Mike.  It's progressing nicely.
 
Tom

Coming along nicely, Mike!

Very nice!
 
Kurt

That's exquisite work, Mike! If it weren't for the grain it would be hard to tell the bollard and hawse timbers were from several pieces. I also use just two machinists squares when setting the frames. Much easier to reference the maximum height of breadth from the building board.

That is looking really nice Mike. For me that is one of the hardest parts of a POF build.
Congratulations and well done!