Mayflower Mystery Project by Cabrillo - FINISHED - RESTORATION

[Johncclark]

A friend of mine asked me to fix the rigging on his Mayflower model. I am going to do this as well as correct and/or rebuild parts of the model. Any input to this process would be greatly appreciated. Looking the model over, it appears to be a pond sail boat with a few likenesses to the Mayflower. No idea how old the model is or if I am correct. The owner received it as a gift and it there fore has a lot of attachment. Before I dive in I would be especially interested in any cautions such as the model is priceless the way it is don't touch, etc. looks like all of the blocks are hand made. At any rate any input or advice would be much appreciated.

Edited May 5, 2015 by Cabrillo

[Johncclark]

[Johncclark]

Here is a view of the stern, I think the little house needs to go as well as the quarter badges. Then I will add some elevation to the stern to get that seventeenth century castle look.

Edited May 5, 2015 by Cabrillo

[rschissler]

How much rebuilding do you want to do?  It may come to a point to where you should just fix the broken parts and consider it as a decorative, as opposed to a historically accurate model.    I agree the house on the poop should be removed.

[jbshan]

Generally, I would suggest cleaning, restoring the rigging as far as you can determine it was originally installed, and to the same level of sophistication, and basically returning a refurbished piece of folk art to its owner.  Otherwise you might as well buy a current Mayflower kit and go that route.

I think to go further would be a big heart breaker.

[Johncclark]

[Johncclark]

Well Mayflower has been restored and is going back to its owner. All in all an interesting and fun project. The model was built by someone who knew a lot about how a sailing ship's rigging worked. My guess is that it was made for perhaps a child as a way to learn. I also believe that the model would actually float and sail. Sort of a square rigged pond

yacht. Fun!

[the learner]

The restoration looks well done, but why the bright white sales?

[JerseyCity Frankie]

Congratulations! Every ship model builder should give Restoration a try. It saves a broken model from continued ignonimity AND it exposes the person doing the restoration to a different perspective since you’ve got to crawl inside the head of the original builder.

also, I’d like to believe that long after I’m gone my models could still be viable somewhere in the far future. This is only possible if people like you continue to pour out some love and time on an old broken model.