Paragon by Mahuna - FINISHED - a modified Mayflower

[mtaylor]

Looking very good, Frank...   I'm seeing your trucks and parrells, and I think the trucks are supposed to be smaller than the rollers (beads) to allow the rollers to contact the mast when raising or lowering the yard.  I'm going to use your idea for making the trucks as it seems to work a treat.

[Mahuna]

Thanks all for the comments and likes.

 

Brian - there are a few little tricks (and limitations) I've learned.  Let's talk about them when we get together next.

 

Patrick - these are nothing compared to your little beds, settees, folding chairs, etc!

 

Mark - I'm afraid you're right.  I wasn't sure about that when I made them, but after they were completed I realized they wouldn't work in real life.  I decided to leave them because they look ok.  Another lesson learned - I need to do more research before making something that's new to me.

[HIPEXEC]

The work of a true master!

[captainbob]

Sorry to hear of the health problems, I've never liked them myself.  Your Paragon is looking good the rest of the rigging can wait.  Health is more important.

 

Bob

[Omega1234]

Hi Frank

 

Paragon's looking brilliant, which leads me to wonder how you may intend to display her? For instance, will you draw the link from your ship to the book that inspired the model? Maybe a passage or two from the book perhaps, which gives meaning to the ship?

 

Just curious.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[Mahuna]

Bob - thanks for the kind wishes.  The problems are stenosis-related, which are keeping me out of the modeling chair for a while.

 

Patrick - a very interesting question.  I had played with carving a sea serpent or dragon to sit beside the ship, but haven't decided what, if anything, to do for the display.  I guess we'll wait and see how she looks when she's done and the figurehead is in place.  Right now my feeling is to just get it done and move on to my next build, but maybe once I start working on the next one I'll fiddle with final touches on the display of Paragon.

Edited August 11, 2015 by Mahuna

[mtaylor]

Frank,

You have my sympathies for the stenosis.  My wife has that also, and I know by looking at her what her pain level must be link. 

 

Keep the dragon in mind.. I think it'll be a great touch for the display of this ship.

[Mahuna]

Hi Mark

 

Thanks, and please give your wife my best wishes for dealing with it.  I go in for an epidural tomorrow and hope that will bring some relief.  

[mtaylor]

I hope it works for you Frank.  They went straight for the spinal on her and didn't work.  We meet with the "new" doctor tomorrow.  He's not actually "new" but was the guy we wanted her to see first, but the referring doctor wanted her to see someone else.

[Omega1234]

Hi Frank

 

The dragon or serpent sounds like a nice touch and would also serve to highlight your carving skills.

 

Sorry to hear about your health issues, as well.   I hope all goes well with the epidural and treatment tomorrow.  

 

Take care and I'll look forward to your next post, once you're back on deck!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[EdT]

Nice work, Frank.  Taking pains with the little process details - to say nothing of your skillful work -  has paid off in a beautiful model.

 

Ed

[Mahuna]

Thanks Ed.  I've learned a lot by watching your beautiful builds.  Your comments mean a lot to me.

[captainbob]

Frank, I hope the epidural went well, they're not fun to go through.

 

Bob

[Mahuna]

Thanks Bob.  The shot itself was OK (I haven't had any bad experiences with them - this was my fourth).  Unfortunately no benefits yet on the bad leg - the other leg was initially where the pain was, but that cleared up after the second shot.  Not so on the current problem.  We'll just wait and see.  Thanks for the concern.

[Omega1234]

Hi Frank

 

Let's hope that you come out of all of this in better shape than you went in. I've never had an epidural, but I have had a cortisone injection, which wasn't a lot of fun, either.

 

I hope all works out ok!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[Mahuna]

Hi Everyone:

 

Just a little update.  I had the shot a week ago, but unfortunately it hasn't worked so I haven't been able to continue the ratline work on Paragon.  I have a follow-up consultation with the doctor at the end of the week so we can determine next steps.

 

In the meantime I've been doing a lot of research and prep for my next build, so I'm trying to not waste a lot of time. 

 

Thanks again for all of the good wishes.

[GuntherMT]

Sorry to hear that Frank.  Hope that the follow-up visit is more productive for you and brings some relief.

[Omega1234]

Hi Frank

 

I've been waiting to hear how you'd gone with the treatment.  Sorry to hear that all is not well so far, but pls stay positive and I'm sure it'll all work out.

 

In the meantime, rest up and take it easy.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[captainbob]

Sorry to hear the shot did not help, all our best wishes are coming your way.

 

Bob

[Mahuna]

Hi Brian, Patrick, and Bob

 

Thanks for the kind wishes.  I’m going to keep trying whatever alternatives there are until we get this resolved, or at least under control.  I’m enjoying life too much and am not ready for things to change yet.

 

Brian – the meeting this Saturday will still be OK.  I have some things ready for you, and have a couple of interesting new tools to share.

[mtaylor]

Bummers on the shot, Frank.   I hope there's alternatives...

[Mahuna]

Hi All:

 

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  I haven't been able to do any work on Paragon lately, and didn't want to turn this into a medical thread.

 

I do have a little news to report on Paragon, but not good news.  A little while ago I thought I might try resuming work, if for no other reason than to see if I could.  When I sat down to Paragon I turned her around so I could try working on the port side ratlines.  I had already tied the starboard side, even though I hadn't finalized the alignment and trimming.

 

When I look closely at that side, I saw a couple of distressing things:

 

The aft most main shroud has been unraveling.   The only thing I can think of is that I must have inadvertently nipped the shroud when I was doing some trimming.

 

        

 

I also noticed that a couple of the upper deadeyes on the main shrouds were turning out of alignment.  My friend and mentor Peter suggested that this might be because my homemade rope wasn't wound tightly enough and was losing its set.

 

          

 

I also left too much line between the mouse and the splice at the top of the Fore Stay, so this line needs to be redone.  This will probably be relatively straightforward.

 

      

 

I think the most difficult fix will be the aft most shroud, since I will need to replace the entire length under the futtock pole.  So, it looks like when I do get back to work I'll need to do some surgery on Paragon.  

 

Speaking of surgery, I visited with an excellent spine surgery group here in Phoenix, after getting a new MRI for them to review.  They identified the cause of my problems as a herniated disc, rather than the arthritis-caused stenosis that I thought I was dealing with.  I'll be undergoing a procedure called Microscopic Discectomy, which is an outpatient procedure, on Tuesday 9/8, and my target is to recover sufficiently to be able to travel east in October for the NRG Conference.

 

There probably won't be a lot of new activity on Paragon before that, but I plan to use the time developing my CAD skills and beginning drafting for my longer-term goal.  When I can get some shop-time I'll probably be in the early stages of my next scratch build - the Willie Bennett.  The woodworking required will be less difficult than close work like ratlines.

 

 

 

 

[mtaylor]

Good luck with the surgery, Frank.  I'll keep you in my thoughts and my fingers crossed.

 

On the forestays, would tightening up the lanyard help or is there too much slack?

[Omega1234]

Hi Frank

 

Good luck with the surgery.  I'll be thinking of you on the 8th.  

 

Please take care and make sure that you're fully recovered before putting yourself under further risk; so rest up!

 

Cheers and all the best.

 

Patrick

[Mahuna]

Thanks for the kind wishes Mark and Patrick.  I plan to follow the post-operative orders to the letter.  I have a great trip planned around the NRG Conference in October, and I don't want to mess it up.  Besides Mystic Seaport, I plan to visit several museums in the Chesapeake area as well as the Naval Academy and Smithsonian.  I'm also hoping to get aboard the recently rebuilt Skipjack Kathryn, which is in my future build goals.  Lots of driving, walking, and standing, so the back needs to be good.

 

Mark, as to the stay, the problem is in the length I allowed between the mouse and the splice.  It should be fairly simple to replace the stay with a better one.

[captainbob]

Frank, just remember t be good to yourself after surgery.  Don't push everything can wait.

 

Bob

[Mahuna]

I’m (finally) back at work on Paragon – my surgery was a success and I’m able to work on the ship with no pain.  Thanks again to all who sent their best wishes for the operation.

 

I started by doing some needed surgery on Paragon.

 

I replaced the aftmost main shroud on the port side that was in danger of breaking.  I seized the new shroud to the futtock pole and it looks good.  I also tried hardening the two shrouds that were twisted, so that the upper deadeyes would sit straight.  I painted a 1:5 solution of white glue on the shrouds to stabilize them.  It worked to a great degree, but the shrouds wound up being noticeably shorter.  I wouldn’t think the diluted glue would soak the lines since I had treated them with wax, but they seem to have shrunk.  I also stabilized some of the lower deadeyes that were too loose.  I put some small beads of Tightbond glue between the deadeyes and the chainplates and this did the trick.  I didn’t think to take any photos of this work, but I’ll take some shots of the way it looks now and will post them later.

 

I also replaced the fore stay (the loop formed by the splice and the mouse was way too big).  This required that the deadeyes on the forestay needed to be removed and re-installed.  At the same time I decided to move the spritsail yard further out on the bowsprit, since its current position wouldn’t look right once the figurehead is in place.

 

Here are a couple of photos of the new forestay and the spritsail yard.

 

          

 

          

 

 

 

So on to ‘new’ work:

 

I had started to tie ratlines on the main starboard shrouds when the leg pains made it too difficult to work in that position.  So now I’m back at the ratlines, and I’m not happy at all with the look of the ratlines that were already tied.  I’ve been cutting away some of the old ratlines and installing new.  This photo shows a combination of the two.  The older ratlines are mostly higher up on the shrouds, with the new ratlines lower down. 

 

          

 

I’ll keep working on this area until I’m happy with it, but I wanted to move on to shrouds that were empty.  I completed the starboard mizzen shrouds, and I’m fairly happy with the results. 

 

          

 

This is my first try at ratlines, and I’m learning how to tie the ratlines so that they look fairly good.   All the while, though, I’m wondering why I decided to build a ship with this complex rigging at this scale.  I’ve started to calling them ‘dratlines’.   I think you’ll see simpler builds and larger scales in my next couple of builds.

 

I’ll post some more when I’m done tying the dratlines and will move on to the rest of the rigging.

[GuntherMT]

Great to see you back at it Frank, and the new ratlines look great!

 

See you tomorrow.

[Omega1234]

Hi Frank

 

Great to see you back! I've gotta admit that the 'do-over's' are an unfortunate side effect of our hobby, but on the plus side, at least you'll be satisfied once it's done.  I also like the fact that your new term "Dratlines" seems very appropriate in many respects!

 

Cheers and all the best and take care!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[captainbob]

Glad to hear the back is better and Paragon is looking good.

 

Bob