US Brig Niagara by 6ohiocav - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64

[6ohiocav]

Mike,

 

In answer to your question, YES. Once I did the first whipping, and secured the deadeye, I took the assembly out of the steel clamp and turn it around by putting the deadeye in the black clamp - more secure. I then do the next two whippings.

 

I am left handed, so I pull on the rope with my right hand and hold the seizing loop between my right thumb and forefinger. I then wrap the seizing rope with my left hand, passing it to my right ring and pinky to hold tight, as I reach around with my left hand to complete the wrap. After 6 turns, I pull the end through the loop and pull tight. This can be done in a vice, much harder anywhere else.

Edited December 1, 2016 by 6ohiocav

[mikiek]

I am left handed

 

OK - that makes things look a little easier! Was trying to picture myself doing that and it seemed a bit awkward.

 

I'll reverse your images from now on

[6ohiocav]

BOBSTAYS

 

A somewhat tricky item.  The plans call for a Double line that runs through a hole in the keel to a bullseye under the bowsprit.  There are 2 separate bobstays.

 

As I indicated, I should have done these first thing.  It would have been much easier with nothing in the way. Since I did all of the stays first, EVERYTHING was in the way.

 

I used .035 Syren black rope (great product). I seized the bullseye first on a long strand of rope. I did this in my vice. Since this would tie to a bullseye previously tied to the bowsprit, I attached a lanyard rope.  I used .018 Syren Tan. This is a good time to discuss stropping lanyard ropes to bullseyes. I experimented by tying the lanyards to the fully stropped bullseye as against simply inserting the lanyard between the stropping rope and bullseye and then seizing the connection.  Aesthetically, I preferred the later.  I am not sure what is the right way.

 

I then threaded the lanyard through the two bullseyes, settling on a proper spacing, and tying the end around the seizing rope on the bullseye on the bowsprit.

 

Once that was done, I ran the other end of rope through the hole in the keel and pulled it away from the ship far enough to put both ends into my vice to seize the connection.  This was a bit tricky since the plan called for a double rope.  I therefore had to splice the ends together, and at the same time create a seized loop around the keel. I also decided that I would like to lash over the cut end to conceal it. I did my first whipping, kept it loose enough so that I could remove the rope from the vice and carefully pull it tight against the hull without undoing the whipping. Once done, I tightened the whipping, coated the knot with a drop of CA, then carefully cut off the ends of the seizing thread, and VERY carefully cut of the end of the bobstay rope.

 

With the seizing up against the hull, I added a separate seizing/lash to cover the end of the bobstay. VERY difficult. No room and ropes everywhere. The first one took most of the evening.

 

I then worked on the second one, going through the same procedure. Unfortunately, when I threaded the lanyard, tied the end to the bullseye seizing on the bowsprit, and then cut the excess, I must have nicked the seizing.  When I attempted to pull the other end through the keel, the seized bullseye on the bowsprit broke free. ARGH.

 

I had about a ½ inch of seizing rope still attached to the bullseye, not enough to wrap around the bowsprit, but enough to sieze to a eyebolt. Sooooo, I tied this off to an eyebolt, and then crawled under my ship – that is I extended the bowsprit out over the bench – and sat underneath it to drill a small hole under the bowsprit. I had to rig a headlight on my forehead in order to see, and carefully pull all of the rigging aside to get to the target. What a pain. I then added a drop of glue to the eyebolt and inserted it. I let it dry, hoping it would hold, and then completed the task.

 

Two bobstays, ONE ENTIRE EVENING.

 

[6ohiocav]

FOREMAST MAIN STAY AND PREVENTER STAY

 

I served .045 rope for the main and .035 rope for the preventer stays.

 

I then measured them for length, and clamped in a closed heart.  I purchased 7mm closed hearts from Chuck and Syren. Great product again. After some assembly, I gave them a coat of cherry stain and finished with tung oil.

 

I was able to position my portable vice with a spring clamp close enough to insert the heart for lashing. The heavy served stay ropes were pretty stiff, so the whipping was a bit challenging. I weaved a section of .018 tan rope for the lanyard.

 

Once done, I threaded the lanyard and tied it off on the upper lashing of the heart. It turned out pretty good.

[jbshan]

Nice and neat, Darrell.  If you're not a plastic surgeon you must be a weaver.

[Tigersteve]

You're doing an amazing job with the build!

Steve

[ca.shipwright]

Absolutely beautiful!

[mikiek]

Those bow spars are your best work to date Darrell. Looks great!

 

Your vise and clamp for a third hand is a great idea. Very stable. I have one of those things with 2 alligator clips that can bend all over the place and it never stays put. Plus you can't stick it right in the middle of things.

[Elijah]

If water was in the background and so was the sky, I would swear those pictures were of a real ship! Marvelous job!

[6ohiocav]

LOWER SHROUD SHEAR POLES, FAIRLEADS, AND RATLINES

 

I had previously lashed the deadeyes on my lower shrouds and threaded the lanyards.  It was time to tie of the lanyards, attach the lower and upper shear poles and fairleads and tie the dreaded ratlines.

 

I milled my shear poles and fairleads out of some cherry stripwood and finished them off with my tung oil. I initially secure them to the lines with a drop of CA.

 

On the lower shear pole, I used it to line up the deadeye and shroud lines to face forward since they tend to twist out of alignment without it.  I lashed it with .008 black rope. You can get away with a half hitch knot since it disappears in this small size. I tie the knot in the back and add a small drop of CA with the tip of a pin to finish it off.

 

The fairlead is a bit trickier. It is installed on the inside of the shrouds, and has 8 small holes to accept running lines that pass through on their way to the pin rail below. I measured out the holes, and drilled them with my pin vice. I lashed them with the .008 rope.

 

The upper shear pole is small and tucked close in under the top. I tied it off like the lower.

 

For the ratlines, I used my .008 tan rope.  I tie a half hitch knot on the ends and use a classic clove hitch on the middle lines. For the half hitch, I learned through experience to tie it such that the end leading to the shroud lines comes under the knot so that it creates a natural crescent shape. I do the same with the end knot.

Edited December 6, 2016 by 6ohiocav

[6ohiocav]

Joel,

 

I am not a surgeon, or a weaver,--- But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express ...... BAD JOKE.

 

Actually, the credit all goes to Chuck's wonderful Syren products. Using great rope and his laser cut hearts makes all the difference.  Also, a dogged persistence to do and redo everything until it looks right. And for that, you have to thank all of the incredible shipwrights on this forum. Every tip I use is borrowed from someone.

 

Thanks Mike and Mike.  Welcome in Steve. And Elijah, no greater compliment can be given to an amateur modeler than the kind words you sent along.

[ca.shipwright]

Fantastic clove hitches on the rat lines. I have never seen them so neatly and evenly done.

[Tigersteve]

I'm new to this hobby but your Niagra is the cleanest I've seen.

Steve

[6ohiocav]

Thanks Mike and Steve,

 

Any time you have to do something 250 times in a row, you get into a rythem. My knot tying in general has improved exponentially. I cannot believe how many things need to be tied up and I am not even close to being half done.

 

I also have to give a ton of credit to my fellow Niagara builders, past and present. If not for your build logs and fantastic models, I could never have overcome the 'umpteen" different challenges that would have swamped this effort and put this build on the shelf.

Edited December 6, 2016 by 6ohiocav

[6ohiocav]

FOREMAST HALLIARDS AND JIB OUTHAUL TACKLE

 

I continued working on the running rigging on the foremast. I added the 4 halliards used to haul the stay sails. That included attaching blocks on the foremast, which I had done earlier, and also adding blocks to the bowsprit and jib for the downhaul lines. For some reason, I missed those. Probably because when I built the bowsprit and jib many months ago, I did not know what a halliard even was.

 

In any case, I had to tie on 4 blocks to a very crowded bowsprit and jib.  The main halliard downhaul block had to be positioned under the main stay open heart. There was no way I was going to be able to lash that to the spar, so I opted to strop the block to an eyebolt. I was able to position my pin vice in between the jaws of the heart and drill a receiving hole, and carefully insert the eyebolt with a drop of CA.  The rest of the downhaul blocks were lashed.

 

All of the downhaul lines then traverse the length of the bowsprit and pass through fairlead holes in the chock rail and are tied off on the forward pin rail. The only problem is that I failed to drill the holes in the chock rail. Again, I had to do that in between the lines of spaghetti ropes and of course the spritsail yard was in the way of where I had to turn the drill. Niagara builders – DRILL THE HOLES BEFORE YOU INSTALL THE BOWSPRIT.

 

The loose end of the uphaul line had to be belayed, according to the plans, to the “stay throats.” That was not overly specific, so I used a best guess, based on what a 1/64 figurine standing on the tops would do with the loose end – tie it waist high in an easy access place that was out of the way.

 

I also added the jib outhaul tackle. I used a .018 tan rope with 1/8 blocks. The plans however did not specify where the loose end of the rope went to. I looked in the plans and the instruction book. Nothing.  I therefore assumed it passed along the bowsprit, through the fairlead holes and was tied to the forward pin rail.

Edited December 6, 2016 by 6ohiocav

[mikiek]

Hey Darrell - re: sewing up the lanyards - did you find that your deadeyes ended up fairly horizontal to each other? Curious if you had to tighten some & loosen others to get them to line up. I'm not at that point, but I can already see that some of the upper deadeyes will not be all be on the same plane without some trickery.

[6ohiocav]

Mike,

 

Tightening up the lanyards is a tricky process, and yes, until finally set, they can twist and usually do. I have been reluctant to finally set any of my lanyards on the bow, that is tied and set with a drop of glue.  Some are just knotted, some are still loose. I am giving myself the ability to undo something if necessary or tighten them up if I create slack when adding another line (a constant frustration.) Once I get all of the rigging done, I will go back and finalize all of the tie offs with glue, and will be able to undo any twists.

 

I wrap my bullseyes with three lashes.  The rope does not easily slip through when lashed three times, so yes, you have to tug on the first, and pick up the slack on the later. And you have to be careful that you don't pull too hard.

 

By the way, on the slack issue, I have decided to hold off until the very end to tie off the back stays. I have figured out that those lines will tighten up the entire front portion of the rigging. The 19th Century shipwright knew what he was doing in the design of a rigged sailing ship.

[6ohiocav]

COURSE YARDS

 

Now that I have completed the foremast shrouds with sheaves, fairleads and ratlines, and did about as much running rigging as I could, it was time to mount the course yard.  Before I did that, I had to dress up the bare spar.

 

On all of the yards that have jackstays and foot ropes, it is advisable to seize all of the blocks, slings, braces etc BEFORE you do the jackstays and foot ropes.  That way, all of the blocks can be stropped in a vice with oversized loops that can be simply slipped over the yard and tightened. If you add the jactstays or foot ropes, you will have to slip the seizing rope between the lines and the yard and tie and stropping loop on the yard instead of the vice.

 

The yard is now ready to mount.

 

I now face a daunting decision.  How much running rigging do I want to add to a ship WITHOUT any sails. I have attached all of the blocks as per the plans, and possibly could run buntlines, sheets, clew lines, etc, but have no sails to attach the lines to.  I understand that I could just tie off the ends to the yards and such, but wonder just how much detail I need to add to the ship.

 

For now, I have decided to rig clew lines and some of the sheets (course and topsail), tying the ends to the yards (instead of to sails that are not present). No buntlines.

 

Does this make any sense?  Any suggestions?

Edited December 8, 2016 by 6ohiocav

[JerryTodd]

Stretch your lines before you put them on the model, it'll work out a lot of the tendency to twist, and don't glue lines to belaying pins - one of Murphy's laws of ship modeling is; you'll only ever need to adjust lines that are glued.

Edited December 8, 2016 by JerryTodd

[6ohiocav]

Jerry,

 

Very good advice. I have not glued anything yet, and if I do any gluing, I will use a diluted white glue that can easily be undone.  Your suggestion of not gluing anything may be better yet.

 

I read somewhere on this forum (please forgive me since I can't remember where) that you should pass the lines through the pin rail holes and then insert the pins to wedge the lines in place, then wrap around.  That is a GREAT idea. I wish I could take credit for that. It has made the process of tieing those lines tight very manageable. 

 

Gary Owen

[jbshan]

Darrell, some folks that don't put sails on make a coil of line to hang at the point where the sail would normally go.

[ca.shipwright]

Darrell

Very nice work.

[JerryTodd]

None of the boats I worked on glued the lines to the belaying pins 

[6ohiocav]

SETTING THE COURSE YARD IN PLACE

 

With the course yard fully dressed, I pinned it in place, and weaved the lanyards for the truss blocks and sling ropes. I used a heavy .018 tan lanyard for the sling.

 

​The truss assembly has a complex combination of a double lashing around the yard, with two 1/8 single blocks, and a single lashing around the mast.

 

l also rigged the course lifts with .018 tan rope.

[6ohiocav]

FUTTOCK SHROUDS

For all of the planning, I forgot to install the futtock shrouds before raising the course yard. It was therefore a bit more taxing with the yard always in the way.

 

I used .025 black rope. I seized a blackened brass hook on the end, attached that to the bottom of the deadeye and wound the other end around the stave and lashed it to the shroud. This is not easy. I placed a small drop of CA on the shroud, and held the futtock line in place until it set.  That allowed me to then apply two lashings.

 

Once done, I dressed them up with ratlines.

 

​Once I install the catharpin, another daunting task, it should pull all of the shrouds together and tighten up the lines. It is quite amazing how everything "ties together." Rigging this model has proven the engineering prowess of the 19th century shipwright

[6ohiocav]

BELAYING FOREMAST STAYS AND RUNNING RIGGING

 

With the course yard in place, it was time to finally time to “tie up some loose ends” – actually, a lot of loose ends.

On the Foremast Back Stays, from top to bottom:

 

1.      Royal Back Stay – Seized to top of the mast and belayed to a tackle hooked to waterway eyebolt.

 

2.      Top Gallant Backstay – Seized to mast and belayed to deadeye on channel

 

3.      Topmast Backstays (2) – Seized to mast and belayed to deadeye on channel

 

On the Foremast Running Rigging, from top to bottom:

 

4.      Royal Halliard – belayed to the lower stave

 

5.      Royal Clew Line – tied off at end of the royal yard, left slack, and belayed to the lower stave

 

6.      Royal fixed lift – tied off at top of mast and end of royal yard.

 

7.      Royal Sheets – tied off on end of t’gallant yard, routed through block in shrouds, and belayed to pin rail on deck.

 

8.      Top Gallant Tye – wound around t’gallant yard and seized to a tackle attached to lower top.

 

9.      Top Gallant Lift – Tied to end of t’gallant yard and routed through block in shroud and belayed to lower stave.

 

 

10.  Top Gallant Clew – Tied to end of t’gallant yard, left slack, routed through block on yard (held with a knot) and belayed to pin rail on deck.

 

11.  Top Sail Lift – Tied to end of top sail yard and routed through block in shroud and belayed to tackle on lower top.

 

12.  Top Sail Clew Lines – I seized the blocks with the clew lines to the top sail yard, but have not figured out what to

do with them.  Per the plans, they run to blocks lashed to the course yard and back up to the seized block on the top sail yard.

 

On the Bowsprit, all routed through holes in the chock rail and belayed to pins in the forward pin rail

 

13.  Jib Stay Halliard

 

14.  Outer Jib Stay Halliard

 

15.  Inner Jib Stay Halliard

 

16.  Fore Stay Halliard

 

17.  Spritsail Yard Lift

 

18.  Top Gallant Stay Leads

 

 

 

Still to do (or figure out)

 

1.      Top Sail Sheets,

 

2.      Course Sheets.

 

3.      Course Clew lines.

 

I am not sure this is correct.  It is the best I could do in my interpretation of the plans. I have not completely decided to do with the buntlines, reefs, and leechlines – except to eliminate them. By adding the clew lines and sheets, I have at least added some of the running rigging for sails that will not be added to the ship

.

Here is a series of photos that show you where I am at presently.  The steps in this post took a solid 5 days to complete.

Edited December 13, 2016 by 6ohiocav

[jbshan]

Wow, Darrell.  It was worth the 5 days.  As you weave your spider's web or bird's nest of lines, you may find as a friend of mine told me once, the routing of a line may change to avoid chafing on a line that is already there.  Not doing all the running rigging may make this less important, but some of the lines need to pass through the shrouds, for instance, to get to their belay point and he said the old boys would choose a path for it so it wouldn't chafe.

[6ohiocav]

Joel,

 

Well said my friend.

 

I have made a number of such changes in routing. Currently, my royal sheets and clews pass through the fairlead on the lower shrouds, through the ratlines, and belay to the pin rail. None of the lines are permanently secured. I pass them through the holes in the pin rail, and secure them by wedging a pin in the hole.  It allows me to undo them, which I have had to do a number of times to eliminate chafing. So far, so good

 

The mighty essence of this ship is beginning to take the stage, and I must say, it is great to behold.

 

I am just about ready to break out the main mast. It is still in pieces and looks totally naked compared to its sister. The thought of doing this herculean task all over again is pretty overwhelming.

[mikiek]

It's beautiful Darrell.  Well done.

[6ohiocav]

BOWSPRIT SHROUDS

 

Just a quick update as I go through the plans and pick up some things that I misses at the bow. I installed the bowsprit shrouds.  I used a .025 black rope with a blackened black hook seized to one end and hooked to an eyebolt on the side of the hull.  The other end was lashed to a bullseye. I had to make up another batch of cherry bullseyes on my mini lathe (see previous post). I seized a .012 tan lanyard to the bullseye and wound it to the bullseyes lashed to the bowsprit.

 

Another tedious endeavor.  The Bowsprit/jib is a very complicated place with ropes and lines going in every direction.  The good news is that I believe I have completed all of the rigging up front and as far as I can tell, no line is rubbing up against its neighbor.