Flyer by WRed27 - Constructo - Scale 1:100 - First wooden ship build

[WRed27]

A bit more slow progress on the Flyer. I feel like I’m doing everything twice because there is so little guidance in the instructions. Even trivial things like the length of thread to cut for the line between deadeyes - I initially cut enough to get them attached but did not leave enough to tidy up the ends nicely! I’ve no clue how generous they are with the thread length supplied so trying to be fairly economical!

Anyway, I’ve started with the main mast, and put the pair of main stays on first. I’ve not glued the mast in so am relying on tensioning stays/shrouds for placement. I’ve also put the shrouds on, and the aft pair on each side are really pretty tight to ensure the mast rake is aligned with that in the plans.

So far so good I think, and starting to look a bit like a ship! Although I’m still not happy with the fuzziness of the lines in spite of running them through wax. I think I’ll need to coat them with a glue/water mix to improve the appearance.

Hoping to get the foremast stays & shrouds in place this weekend.

[WRed27]

Some more slow and steady progress on my Flyer build.

All the lower shrouds are on. I ended up coating them with glue/water mix to try to de-fuzz them a bit and i think they are looking OK. I’ve also managed to ensure no unwanted mast bend - everything seems to be lined up quite nicely.

I’m not entirely happy with the thread between the deadeyes, but I think that’s more a reflection on the thread quality more than anything else. It feels as though the thread has a larger diameter than it ought to have, and consequently it doesn’t look as clean as it might. I wasn’t sure how to tie off those threads either, nor indeed what to do with the shroud ends, so I’ve gone with something that looks OK and is practical at 1/100. There are two seizings on the shrouds, and the line between the dead eyes is just wrapped around the shrouds a couple of times and tied off. I’ll glue them before cutting off the excess.

I’m pleased that I was able to get a constant distance between the deadeyes. For the initial pair I measured everything as far as possible in advance and attached the deadeyes to the shrouds before anything was attached to the model. But latterly I would attach the first deadeye to the ship, and do the second one whilst it was attached. I found that it was quite easy to adjust the shroud length with just the throat seizing on the deadeye so could get a good compromise between the height of the deadeye and the tension in the shrouds.

 

I’ve also attached two of the three forestays. There’s not a great deal of standing rigging left to do, and thankfully I don’t think I’ll run out!

 

I’ve done a couple of test rat lines. I’m not sure whether it’s the colour combination, the thread diameter or the fuzziness, but I really don’t like them. I’d not really paid much attention until now, but the only two threads supplied with the kit are one dark brown and one natural. The thread diameter is not specified but I believe they are both 0.25mm, and the rat lines do not look right. I think the rat lines should be rather thinner threads, so have tried a 0.15mm thread from another kit as a test.

 

The uppermost ratline is the 0.15mm thread, whereas the two below are the kit supplied thread. I’m not sure if it’s easy to make out in the image, but I think the thinner thread is a much better choice - it also appears to be better quality with far less fuzz! Still not sure on colour through - I can’t help feeling they ought to be darker! The decision might be made easier by the scarcity of thread in the UK at the moment - most seems to be out of stock!

 

Still, plenty to be getting on with in the meantime!

[WRed27]

We continue… Standing rigging is all done now. I struggled with this a bit - firstly with the longest of the forestays. It was a bit of a delicate balance to get it sufficiently tight without pulling the mast forwards resulting in the other stays sagging. So they are not quite as tight as I would like, but at least they appear straight so I’m happy enough.

Likewise with the upper shrouds. It’s hard to tell from the plans whether there should be an eyelet drilled into the top of the mast, but decided against this. Instead I tied a temporary thread around the mast, and seized the shrouds above this to stop them slipping down the mast when under tension. I wasn’t sure how to deal with an odd number of shrouds, so the aft shroud on each side is a single thread knotted around the mast. The final challenge with the shrouds was again getting them nice & tight. There are no deadeyes; this model simply threads the shrouds through small holes in the tops (which I had to re-drill to make evenly spaced), and then there is a some kind of stopper knot underneath. I could not get a knot tied close enough to the underside of the tops to keep any tension on the shrouds. So I ended up forcing the seizing & temporary thread a few mil down the mast, tying off the bottom of the shrouds, and then re-tensioning them by moving everything back up the mast and glueing it before removing the temporary thread. I think I just about got away with it.

I’ve also tidied up the loose ends on the lower shrouds. Still need to decide what to do with the anchors, and also where/how to tie off the main stay pair as this is not clear in the plans.

I’ve also been working on the various yards and booms etc. I bought a super-cheap lathe from Lidl last summer. I’m not normally a fan of tools from Lidl! But it does seem to be adequate for my needs - I’ve been able to shape the various dowels more easily than I could with the dremel bodge that I used for the top masts!

I’ve got 3 or 4 more left to shape, and then I will attempt to decipher the plans as best I can. I have been spending a bit more time looking at some specifics and I think it makes sense for the most part, but there are still some noticeable gaps.

There is still the small matter of ratlines too - I’ve decided to go with the 0.15mm grey thread so can work my through tying those in small chunks.

 

Feels like it’s coming together at this point!