US Brig Niagara by mikiek - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64 - First wooden ship build

[mikiek]

Slowly moving on. Shrouds for the top mast are finished. So far I have not deemed it necessary to post a 'how to' for any of the rigging. I'm not doing anything revolutionary, so I think there are enough threads like that out there. Mast spars are still not glued together yet.

 

 

Shrouds are served where they encircle the mast head. I've been bouncing back and forth between the kit supplied rope and rope from Syren. In an effort to save, I am using the kit rope for things that either won't be easy to see or things that are pretty small. Seizing and serving for the shrouds was done with dark brown Gutterman silk thread. On the smaller ropes (0.08) I started using 6/0 fly line - the thread was too thick. I didn't like the fly line at first, I found it a little difficult to use. Now it is easier and I think the result is more to scale.

 

One thing I will show you guys - the rigging plans call for a lot of thimbles. Of course they are not supplied. I have a lathe but no clue what to do with it so I am taking a different approach - styrene. I have used styrene before with good results. It is easy to cut, size & shape. It bends nicely. It files very well. It is easy to paint. It comes in sheets, rods, tubes, bars and more. Can you tell I like styrene

 

So back to the thimbles, at 3/32" doing something on a lathe would be challenging even if I did know what I was doing. I have some 3/32" O.D. styrene tubing that I used to make them a different way. It takes a small square file - be sure the corner edges have teeth and are not smooth.

 

 

Holding the tubing in one hand file around the tube, cutting a shallow groove maybe 1/32" from the end all the way around the tube. Use the fingers that are holding the tube as a guide for the file. Sorry I don't have any action pix, it takes both hands to file so no hands for a camera.

 

 

Once the groove is filed, cut the tubing with a knife just inward of the groove. Make sure you have a finger on the thimble as you cut, otherwise it will likely shoot across the bench and disappear into parts unknown.

 

 

Holding the thimble with some tweezers you can file the ends to flatten them out and to shorten them if they were cut a little long

 

 

Then paint whatever color you need.

 

 

When the thimbles are seized in a rope they look decent. It takes less than a minute to make one - that's a big plus in my eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[iiihmb]

To get a braided appearance over the thimble I've used bandaid tape stretched over it and then painted black.

[mikiek]

10 minutes ago, iiihmb said:

To get a braided appearance over the thimble I've used bandaid tape stretched over it and then painted black.

I'm not envisioning that. Have you got a picture?

[donrobinson]

Good idea using styrene , I have never used it yet will have to give it a go. What kind of lathe do you have, and why do you not know how to use it?

[mikiek]

Don - Amazon has variety packs of styrene in different shapes. Rods, tubes and strips all in one. If you can get past the "it ain't wood" mentality, it can be very helpful on occasion. I used some as frames on the ships boats. Short of carving some wood frames I couldn't get wood strips to bend enough. The styrene did it easily.

 

I have a nice Sherline lathe and I'm embarrassed to say I know almost nothing about it. I did turn some square sticks into spars but that was just holding sandpaper while they spun. I don't know much about using the cutting tools.

[mikiek]

One of the most mundane tasks on this build is about done. I rolled and wrapped the rest of the hammocks today, put in the last stanchion rail and got the hammocks glued down. I would give the overall look a 7 out of 10. The detail is intriguing but at the same time almost too much. There is no historical basis for my implementation, just reasoning based on the actual situation. Whatever was simplest and quickest. As I said earlier, had this been a deep sea boat I would have done it differently. Heck, given the limited space on board we don't even know if the crew used hammocks. Being on a lake some could even have gone onshore.

 

 

Another old task that I am trying to finish up, the last ship boat - the cutter. I'm using the sandwich style hull assembly but the rest is just made up. The rails are still in progress. I opted for something different than the fire engine red that ships boats often are painted. The blue is not near as bright in person as they look in the pix. If I had it to do over, I would go for the red ochre that I used on board. I am foregoing the quarter davits - don't care for that look. The cutter will be fastened to the deck

 

 

 

 

 

 

And yes, those are some shrouds hanging from the mastheads. Lower masts are not actually glued yet. Am seriously considering no glue, just get them held in place with shrouds and stays. I do realize that may be easier said than done when I start lacing up the deadeyes. Other rigging completed but not shown - course yards have all the foot ropes, stirrups, jackstays in place. Working on the top yards.

 

 

[iiihmb]

Looking good!

Now is a good time to complete all your deck work before you start rigging. 

Things such as e.g. rope coils on the belay pins  because its a lot harder with rigging in the way.

[donrobinson]

Looking good Mike, I wouldn't worry about the hammocks too much. Once the shrouds are installed along with the rest of the rigging your eyes won't focus on the hammocks as much and they will blend in. The ship's boat sure catches your eye.

[mikiek]

iiihmb - good idea with the coils on belaying pins now. How do you tie down the actual line to the pin when it is covered with coils?

 

Don - that boat is bright, huh?. Of course the easiest thing would be to set the boat upside down on the deck. Then I wouldn't have to worry about any interior details. I've read that they were set right side up. Wonder why? When it rained or rough seas would fill it up that way.

[donrobinson]

 I couldn't agree more about the boats being upside down, I suppose it would have been a big hassle loading and unloading. I would enjoy watching a tarp being made for it. I mean after all the canvas work with the hammocks how much trouble could a boat tarp be?

[iiihmb]

I just looped them behind the coils and fastened them with glue. The coils hide how the are fastened.

herb

 

[mikiek]

47 minutes ago, donrobinson said:

 I couldn't agree more about the boats being upside down, I suppose it would have been a big hassle loading and unloading. I would enjoy watching a tarp being made for it. I mean after all the canvas work with the hammocks how much trouble could a boat tarp be?

Sounds like a challenge You're pressing my buttons now   I'll see what I can do.

[mikiek]

21 minutes ago, iiihmb said:

I just looped them behind the coils and fastened them with glue. The coils hide how the are fastened.

herb

 

Herb - about how many loops do you put in a coil?

[iiihmb]

3 or 4 loops. take a look at some other builds an see how many look good to you. Ive done only one other ship ' the Pickle, and the instructions said 3. 

[mikiek]

Herb - seems like there should be more than that, but you are right - a little trial and error. I imagine if there's a bunch of coils all crammed together it probably looks like more. Which will raise another question. Do I want to use my good Syren rope for that or just the rope that came in the kit?

 

Did you make your coils from the same diameter rope as the rope feeding into the belay pin? In other words if the rope coming down to the pin from the masthead was .018" did you make the coil with .018"?

[Tigersteve]

Mike,

Same diameter rope. Think about the line coming down from the mast. It would be belayed to the belay pin. I would use the good rope for that. Test out some rope coils and you'll find the amount of loops that looks best for your ship.

Steve

[mikiek]

I agree Steve. I was thinking that it means I'll need to run down the rope to pin chart to determine what size rope on each pin. Not quite as easy as looping a lot of .008 rope on all the pins.

[mikiek]

I am trucking along with rigging for Niagara. It's been tough trying to pick out what running rigging to include. The plan page for running rigging also includes the sail plan and much of the lines shown are tied off to a sail. I will not be doing sails. So at the moment I will include the braces, lifts and halliards. Clew and bunt lines will not be done. It seems like that should provide enough detail.

 

Does that sound reasonable?

[mikiek]

Here's one for the experts. This is easily drawn on the plans. Implementation is another story. The course yard sling is basically a loop of rope that goes around the mast head then somehow magically passes thru the top and down to a thimble to which it is lashed.

 

 

 

There is no place for it to pass thru the top

 

 

 

The right opening would be where the top mast foot sits, but when the top mast is stepped the hole is filled. The only option I see is thru the holes a little further out. This is not what the plans show. Any ideas?

[JerseyCity Frankie]

The Sling goes down through that smaller rectangular hole on the forward part of the top. Here are two photos I found showing the Sling emerging through this hole on the underside. 

[mikiek]

1 hour ago, JerseyCity Frankie said:

The Sling goes down through that smaller rectangular hole on the forward part of the top. Here are two photos I found showing the Sling emerging through this hole on the underside. 

 

Two observations Frankie.

 

1. Using that forward opening the yard will be dangling almost an inch in front of the mast. According to the plans the course yard has no parrel or yoke.

 

2. In the pix it almost looks like the sling does not go around the mast head.

 

OK - #1 is incorrect. The plan shows a truss that pulls the yard back to the mast. Problem is the added distance to the forward opening makes my sling a little short

 

Do you suppose all that would have been served?

[JerseyCity Frankie]

I should have mentioned those two photos are of the actual Brig Niagara. This IS how the ship is configured. I would be very surprised if the Sling weren't leathered but certainly served over its entire length. There are a LOT of photos of Niagara, all over the web and more photos are litteraly appearing every day as she sails from city to city during her sailing season.

[mikiek]

Those pix are actually very helpful right now. I'm fitting out the lower tops and I see a lot of what I am working on. Kinda cool!

[mikiek]

I've been having a debate with myself as to whether or not to show individual rigging components as I complete them. So far I have not and I suspect I'll regret not doing that. Could be a good reference in the future. Quite a lot has been done and quite a lot is left to finish. Thought I would at least post a few progress pix. Everything is show together but nothing is actually together yet.

 

It was 101 degrees today. Same yesterday. The poor little portable AC in the garage is working its tail off and just barely making it tolerable. It's 82 out there a little after midnite.

 

Well, here's proof I am getting things done:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm wondering about all those lines at the masthead. They don't want to lay flat. Maybe it would be better to take them off and then rope by rope glue them back in a stack.

 

Have not even looked at the bow spars yet

[mikiek]

Man, chalk one up to the 'how dumb can you get' column. I've been struggling with the plans. A lot of the lines shown don't show where the line ends up. Obviously belayed to somewhere, but where? Sometimes a pin number is shown by the rope, but just as often it is not.

 

Plan page 6 has the belay pin layout - that I knew. There is also a legend immediately under that identifies pin number and the line that goes to it - that I never noticed. Yup that's me.

[Tigersteve]

Take your time, Mike. It's going to turn out great. 

Steve

[mikiek]

Hey Steve - you know it's getting really hard to resist popping a mast in and starting to 'clean up' all the lines hanging off spars. Sure as I do, there will be something that should have been rigged before the mast was stepped.

 

I've no idea how to go back and review to make sure I have everything in place before the masts go in. Too many lines on the plans

 

I guess one thing that could help with that. I'm leaning more and more towards not gluing the masts - just let the rigging hold them. So at least in theory I could go back and pull out a mast if necessary. But that is probably a lot easier said than done.

[6ohiocav]

Mike,

 

You can clearly not glue the masts in. As long as the slots are snug, you will be good to go. By the way, I installed all of the upper shrouds and the royal and topgallant yards on the masts BEFORE I attached the masts to the deck.  Doing that in a vice seemed easier to me. It was definitely better on my back. 

 

Just a thought.

 

I am also sending you a photo on how I rigged the course sling. The sling goes underneath the shrouds.  IF you are installing any of the Burton Pendants, those have to wrap around the mast as well.

 

Hope this helps some. The ship looks great.

 

 

[milosmail]

I never glue in the masts. They will be very snug once all the shrouds and stays are attached. They won't wobble, but be sure tension on shrouds is equal, such that mast is upright with the proper rake and vertical side to side...

But, still very difficult to remove once many lines are attached to the deck and railings.... So just paraphrase the old carpenter's saying - measure twice (at least) and cut once.

[mikiek]

Darrell and Steve - thanks for stopping in. Sounds like glueless is the way to go with the masts - fine by me. I like even better doing some of the shrouds before stepping the lower spar.

 

I'm a little confused by the pix. If we are talking about the same thing it looks like the course truss & sling is under the mast top not thru it - inset 6-G. That little drawing on the left is terrible. Lever has a much better look at it in page 36. I didn't even realize it was a single piece of rope until I saw that. I should post a few pix of how I did that. One of the cooler pieces of ropework.

 

The other thing I have been avoiding like the plague - the bow sprit. Once that goes in there is almost no place to put the boat. Seems like those spars need to be mounted to the boat early on. In most cases one end of almost every rope fixes to the boat or a mast.