Enterprise 1799 by Rowboat - FINISHED - Constructo - Scale 1:51

[Rowboat]

Still on hold for the sails to get threaded.
In the mean time I temporarily installed the yards.

I can't seem to find where I tie them off at on the boat.
A line runs through the mast and warps around the yard but the instructions don't seem to show where to tie off the line.

It's hard to see what line I'm talking about int these pictures but it's the one(s) that wrap around the yards.

Also test fitting the boom gaff, the lines running from the end of the gaff up towards the mast keep twisting. Trying to use a clamp to keep it straight.

Slow going but moving forward.

[ccoyle]

1 minute ago, Rowboat said:

I can't seem to find where I tie them off at on the boat.

 

You are nearing the finish! As for where to belay the yard lift, you have some leeway as to where to do that. If there is a pin rail at the base of the mast, I suspect that's where it would go, probably via a block seized to the deck.

[jep1210]

I have this ship by a different company in my stash. I'm trying to figure out if I want to start it or not pass it along. It's been in my stash for the better part of 25 years so. I'll go through your build log and determine if I have the skills for this kind of kit....I build mostly plastic kits.

 

[Rowboat]

@jep1210,

 

Glad to have you along for the build.

If you have all the parts and the instructions you are starting way ahead of me when I took on this build.

 

I like it has only 2 masts, thus a little easier to build but still challenging.

 

I do want to try a plastic kit, eventually. I've built a small plastic tank, actually it's the grandson's he never finished.

I see them in the hobby shop down the street and have to talk myself out of buying any for now.

 

My next build will be the Black Pearl, maybe after that I'll pick up a nice plastic kit.

 

If you decide to build it, start a build log so i can check it out.

 

 

 

[ccoyle]

8 minutes ago, Rowboat said:

I do want to try a plastic kit, eventually. I've built a small plastic tank, actually it's the grandson's he never finished.

I see them in the hobby shop down the street and have to talk myself out of buying any for now.

 

I was totally into 1/35 scale armor as a kid (built whatever Tamiya or Italeri kits I happened upon on the shelves of the local hobby shop) and built ships and aircraft as well, but I shy away from the thought of trying a plastic kit again, only because they are relatively expensive and, in my opinion, have a steep learning curve for getting to the place where one can build a decent-looking result. But I marvel at folks who can use PE and weathering to produce very realistic-looking plastic models, like our own Greg here at MSW. It's an art form.

[mikiek]

Hey Rowboat - this is a little late but for future ratlines I just use half hitches all the way across. Tie one to the outer shroud first and then use a dot of glue. work across but don't glue the hitches in the middle - at least at first. Do glue the other outside hitch. You can then slide the inner knots up or down to get them even and then glue them. A lot of people use white-ish line for the rats so they are easier to see.

 

Post #93 in my log shows how to fix a sail to a gaff or yard. It's some sort of lashing but I don't remember the specific name. You will have to do that before mounting the spar. I poked small evenly spaced holes along the edge of the sail. Then I mixed some walnut shell & water to make a brown die. Then dipping a toothpick into the dye and then carefully stick the toothpick into the sail holes. This gives the appearance of something almost like a grommet in the sail. Granted they didn't have the grommets we know today, but they did put stitching around the holes to reinforce. You can barely see it on post 93. Just practice a few times first - you don't want to over do it.

 

Found a sample of the lacing I was talking about. This will work on yard or gaff.

 

 

The upper left lacing example shows an easy way to bend sails to spars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rowboat]

Thanks for the pics Mike,

They will come in handy once i get around to bending the sails to the yards (lol, never said that before).

Also will test the grommet look.

 

I have started sewing the sails myself, probably not the time to learn how to sew 🤔.

The sewing machine works great but the "user" not so much.😅

 

Who knew sewing a straight line could be that hard ........

[mikiek]

Aww man! - I guess I didn't pick up that you were sewing. Just the hems or are you making them from scratch? re: twisted lines, if you wet the lines and then stretch them it can help.

If you have the time cut them to length, tie or clamp one end, wet them and then weight down the other end and let them dangle, even for just a few hours - this is before you would rig them obviously.

[Rowboat]

Well thanks for the advice Mike, unfortunately I completed 3 sails before I read your post 🤣.

 

So turns out I didn't have the skills to use the sewing machine, ended up making more work for the wife 🤫.

 

The sails were printed on a canvas sheet that came with the kit, we need to map where the sewing will need to go and put on the rope that goes around the sail. I drew lines every 10 millimeters with a pencil to represent the sew lines. After the lines were drawn I cut out each sail.

The wife fixed some stuff but apparently there was to much, 🙄.

 

I've already mentioned my failed attempt(s) using the sewing machine, so I convinced myself that I would do some hand sewing.

 

The first error I made, "convincing myself to do the hand sewing".

Next, using a needle, OUCH!

Next, threading a needle !

Next, using the same size thread for the rope and the wrapping thread ( Don't judge me 🙄 ).

That was a painful experience, literally and figuratively   🥵!

 

Next, well ... let's just get to the pictures and quit nitpicking, lol.

 

Here's the gallient topfore sail, just held in place for now.. As I mentioned I used the same thread for the wrapping and the rope.

 

 

 

Next, the topfore sail. A little better, very aggravating making it, #%!! .

 

Lastly, the main fore sail.

Here I realized my mistake of using the same thread for the wrapping and the rope.

I found some thicker dark rope and proceeded to work.

The glue bottle is used to hold the sail in place, that was a challenge in itself.

 

That awl actually has a 90 degree turn in it, in the pic it looks straight. I used this for making the holes.

The needle, no picture , is a special one that splits so you can thread it easier than the regular eyehole needles.

 

 

 

Notice anything peculiar here?  .... I'll wait....

 

 

 

...... ok, ok, I marked the sewing lines horizontally 🤢.

 

I was so frustrated, I didn't even take the time to use Mike's idea of marking each hole with a marker to resemble grommets.

 

I do not have enough of the dark rope thread for every sail, "what else is new" I say sarcastically to myself.

 

A rough day in the shipyard yesterday, today looks to be better.

 

Edited January 26, 2021 by Rowboat

[mikiek]

I should have posted this sooner. I went through the same adventure with the Trajta build. I started the sails at about post 128 and was receiving advice from the kit designer. It drags on for a while but you might find some helpful tips there if you don't mind reading some more.

[mikiek]

Oh, and you are improving with each sail. Sometimes these types of tasks are best practiced on scrap material before moving to the real thing. If you are folding material and then hemming it iron/starch the heck out of it first. In fact I do that to the entire sail. It'll look like a starched shirt at first but by the time you are finished bending and rigging,  the sails will have a nice look to them. If you want to add a 'billow' to the sails wrap them longwise around something like a glass or something to give them some roundish shape.

[Rowboat]

@mikiek

 

Took the time to read up on your sail building for the Trajta build. 

Very helpful. I read that you also experience the pain and agony of sewing that first sail.

 

Yours turned out nicely, mine "so so" .

 

I threaded the sails with 10mm between each hole, I see you used 2mm.

A much tighter look.

Maybe I should have used 5mm at least.

 

Also that Trajta build looks great!

 

 

[mikiek]

Thanks man - I am so grateful to have had the Marestella designer, Zoran there with me all thru the build. As I mentioned, I did a lot of practice on scrap  before attacking the real materials. I can't stress enough how much that can help. Maybe the most helpful thing was using a thread that closely matched the sail. This was some true linen thread (european) although every situation will vary. If you want the invisible look try using flyline - about a 6/0 - the stuff is about as thin as a hair and if your colors match you will barely see it. This is especially helpful for the bolt rope. Just Google 'flyline' and you will see all sorts of vendors. I have found the Uni-Thread brand to be the best as some of the others tend to fray a lot

 

I would strongly suggest getting used to using flyline. For that perfect scale it should be used for most seizing. In most cases seamen would carry some thin rope in a belt pouch and this was used for most seizing repairs. So almost all commercial/kit rope is too thick for seizing.

 

Stay with it you are almost there.

Edited January 31, 2021 by mikiek

[Rowboat]

Bending the sails to the yards and running the rigging lines continues at a slow pace 🙄.

Now that I think about it, everything I do is at a slow pace 😅.

 

For one, I'm finding that I put the wrong blocks on the mast, when initially built.

The blocks need and eyebolt attached at the bottom, this is where the haylard is tied to when rigging.

Here's a  blurry picture showing (barely) the eyebolt.

You may ask  " why a blurry picture",  because it's better than no picture.

 

In the manual it was difficult, sometimes impossible, to tell when a block needed the eyebolt.

Only upon fitting the yard did I find out.

So, fixed the one for the main top gaff.

 

Then I attached the sail.

No applause please, "we ain't done".

 

Clearly the right side did not align with the main mast, who's fault is that!

 

I post another picture of my mistake,,,,,

 

Sooooo, take everything off and redo the bending of the sail, because doing it right the first time isn't fun 🤥.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 4, 2021 by Rowboat

[Rowboat]

Some things that I did to sew the sails.

1. Well, actually I didn't the wife did, at least the main part

 

2. I did draw in pencil lines every 10mm to be the stitch lines.

3. Also, marked holes every 10mm for the thread to wrap the rope (Not sure if they should be closer, maybe 5mm)

4. Pierced the holes with a sharp punch (using a regular needle was to tough to pull through)

5. Pierced holes for the rings that would attach from the masts (for those sails that needed it)

6. Used a special needle with a larger eye opening to sew with

7. I found that when measuring how much line I would need for a sail I used this technique

          For each side, except the side that attaches to the yard, I used 3X that length.

          Ex: If right side is 100mm then I measured 300m, if left is 75mm I used 225mm, if the bottom was 90mm I

                 used 270mm. The total length was enough to complete the wrapping of the rope and attach the sail to

                 the yard. I probably could have used 2X on the longest side and it would still work

8. Wet the line and hung with a weight on it, to get the twisting out ( recommended by a member)

9. Pulled the line through beeswax

10.When hand sewing pull slowly and keep the thread away from itself. Pulling builds up friction and if the line

      gets to close to itself, it will attach to  itself and start twisting.

 

Lastly, be patient.

Edited February 4, 2021 by Rowboat

[Rowboat]

Back again after fixing my issue with the bending of the sail to the main mast.

 

Not to much to say, so just post pics of the work.

Only the sails attached to the main mast are complete and tied off.

 

Not sure if I tied off the main mast top sail correctly or not.

I have one rigging line that runs up from a main mast belaying pin ,  passes through two blocks and ties off on corner of the top sail.

That was my best guess of where that rigging tied off.

 

 

The other side of the sail has the running line tied to a loop on the corner of the sail and is tied directly to a belaying pin on the starboard side of the ship.

This is how I understood the directions.

But I'm not sure if I did this right as the sail angle seems odd.

If anyone can validate this I would appreciate it.

 

Next I added the gaff boom to the foremast.

This time corrected all the mistakes of my first attempt on the main mast so things went smoother.

 

 

 

 

The rings I had previously put on the mast made attaching the sail easier since I had pre-punched the holes.

 

Here is the current state of the ship.

 

That's about it for now.

 

Still have 5 sails to wrap , maybe that's a good thing "only 5 sails to wrap" .

 

[mikiek]

I'll address the first question - your main topsail corner. There should be a single block out towards the end of the gaff and another on the gaff close to the mast. The rope from the sail corner goes thru the outer block, then the inner block then down to the pinrail. Make sure the outer block is seized farther out than the sail corner. The idea is that pulling that rope from the deck would stretch the sail out tight.

Looks like you may have it although maybe the outer block needs to go out a little further.

Edited February 9, 2021 by mikiek

[mikiek]

Yes the front corner rope of the topsail goes straight down to the deck. No blocks. The 4 sided version of this sail is rather odd and it just doesn't sit very well in a model. It needs some wind to fill it and blow it out some. The 3 sided version is pretty common in schooners.

[mikiek]

For future reference, an easy way to do the rings is to open them wide enough to slip by the mast then lightly glue them in place on the sail with some CA. When it is time to install the sail all you need to do is slide a ring over the mast and squeeze shut with long nose pliers or forceps. That way your fingers and the shrouds are not fighting each other.

 

I'm sorry I always seem to be too late with comments.

[Rowboat]

@mikiek

 

Thanks for the input.

 

So it seems like I have it setup correctly although the block on the main mast should be higher.

Thanks on the verification of how the sail ".... doesn't sit very well ...". 

I'll have to turn the fan on an see how it works now😁

Edited February 9, 2021 by Rowboat

[mikiek]

btw - that sail is called a gaff sail and as I said the triangle shaped version of a gaff sail is much more common. It also sits better as the mast and gaff make 2 sides of the triangle, the luff of the sail makes the 3rd side.

[Rowboat]

Thanks again Mike.

I have been able to determine the rigging lines from the top gallient foremast however I am having concerns on the block rigging for the clue and tack lines ( the bottom corner lines at the loop).

It looks like the 2 rigging lines on each side tie off to the 1 corner loop on each side.

In the picture the red arrows point to the 2 different rigging lines.
The blue circle is where I tie both lines off.
Does this look correct?
 

 

 

[Rowboat]

I think I have it figured out.

 

Once I tied both lines to the same corner of the sails ( two on the left and two on the right) I played around with the rigging.

Checking how loosening and tightening worked. 

The line coming from the top gallient yard and tying off at the left corner is used to pull that corner up and towards the mast.

The line coming from the top foremast yard and tying off at that same corner is used to pull the sail back into place.

 

Looking at schematics didn't really point this out, at least to my newbie eyes.

Once I committed to tying off both rigging lines to the same corner I was able to figure it out.

 

Things are rolling along now.

 

I have 7 sails mounted, 4 of them are completely rigged. 

I still have 3 sails to sew, mount and rig.

 

I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel on this build.

[mikiek]

I wish the drawings were numbered. On the rigging plans in the upper right section - theres a row of 3 drawings at the top. Below that there is a row of 2. Take a look at the 2nd row left drawing which is showing the entire system for furling/unfurling the sails.

 

A concern I have - at least based on what I can see in your pix - is both the top sail yard and mainsail yard should have 2 blocks seized in towards the mast on each side of the mast. It looks like you only have 1. Again, it may just be the angle of the photo. The drawing will show how those are used.

 

Your 2nd photo that shows the large & small block combination. A rope should come from the top gallant corner thru the large block, over to one of the inner blocks on the yard then down to the deck. It looks like you have drilled a hole in the yard and are running that rope thru the hole?

 

BTW - the smaller block in that combo is used to raise/lower the yard. You can see that in the drawing in the upper right corner. It looks like you are doing that. Both the topsail yard and mainsail yard are rigged the same way.

 

If you think tying off 2 ropes to the sail corner is odd wait till you get to the main. That should have 3 blocks seized to each corner.

[Rowboat]

Thanks for the input Mike

 

I have not been happy with the rigging on the top main mast Gaff sail.

 

After studying the schematics for far to long I decided to go with what I was seeing.

Now you may ask yourself, "WTH is he talking about? He was supposed to do that from the start. 🤔".

 

You see, I like doing things wrong the first time, I guess I learn more that way. 🤥

Actually the problem is I tried using the manual and "looking at other members rigging". Which just confused me more.

 

The schematic shows the top main mast gallient yard with a rigging line coming off the starboard side  (actually tied to the yard) then running through the block at the end of the bottom gaff yard, then following the bottom gaff yard towards the mast where it goes through another block and then down towards the deck, finally being tied off.

 

The top gaff sail seems only to be tied to the bottom gaff yard.

 

Well, I hope everyone is thoroughly confused🤔.

 

Here's some pics.

This image shows the rigging now tied off to the starboard side top gaff yard, as well as showing the 2 blocks the rigging runs through.

 

 

This picture shows the port side rigging tied off to the top yard gaff.

 

 

This image shows the top gaff sail tied off to the bottom gaff yard.

Originally I had tied the rigging to the sail.

 

 

This image shows the rigging line supporting the sail.

 

 

 

 

I can't make it anymore confusing than that, 😅.

 

 

Right or wrong, I now like the way the sail hangs and can be adjusted.

 

Edited February 24, 2021 by Rowboat

[Rowboat]

Why did know one warn me of the rat's nest coming up in rigging the foremast sails. holy crap!

 

Lots of work verifying which line goes where and where to tie it off at.

Countless times grabbing the wrong line and trying to make it work (that's on me of course, lol, the whole thing is on me).

 

Anyway here's some progress.

 

A close up view.

 

A closer up view...

 

 

A closer closer view

 

 

[Rowboat]

Current state of the build.

This time I labeled the lines, much better.

 

 

Next step is to start tying off all those lines........

[mikiek]

Usually the bracing is the last thing you do. So you don't have to stick your hands thru it. If you haven't seen them before checkout alligator forceps. They can be a huge help grabbing lines from a distance and reaching across the deck. The 5" & 8" ones are the most useful.

[mikiek]

Something wasn't sitting well from reading your description of the gaff topsail rigging. I reviewed mine and had a look at the plans again. That gaff topsail yard only has 1 rope seized to the center. That rope runs thru a block at the top of the mast then straight down to pin 46. Try googling ' 4 sided "gaff topsail" ' and it will come up with a few pix of how they hang. I also came across an item that called our 4 sided version a donkey topsail.

 

Try alligator clips for grouping ropes and easily pulling them out of the way. They add some weight so your ropes stay taught. They are also easier to remove than untaping and reusable . You can buy a bag of 50 for about $5

[mikiek]

Rowboat - PM me if you want to go thru what you are seeing vs what I am seeing. If you haven't reached rework fatigue. I HATE REWORK - but sometimes ya gotta do it. I'm here if you need it.