Preussen by Ian_Grant - Heller - 1/150 - PLASTIC

[Bill Morrison]

19 hours ago, Ian_Grant said:

A quick update - I finished the 146 renditions of rigging screws for shrouds and backstays. This photo shows what they look like, passing down to the deck inside the bulwarks. A big improvement, I think, on Heller's suggested small loops of thread passed through the pinrail holes with knots trapped underneath. I'm getting close to some serious rigging. Just need to form brass yard trusses somehow and oh,... figure out what thread to use. I have three sizes of chain too with probable need to order more of whichever I choose. Probably the 42 link/inch at this scale.

 

 

Far better indeed!  I wondered how I would tackle this problem with their Cap Horn/Potosi kit. Now I know.  Are these commercially available?

 

Bill

[Ian_Grant]

3 hours ago, Bill Morrison said:

 

Far better indeed!  I wondered how I would tackle this problem with their Cap Horn/Potosi kit. Now I know.  Are these commercially available?

 

Bill

Bill,

 

I just used 0.6mm O.D. micro brass tube, available from Albion Alloys (MBT06). It comes in sets of three ~12" lengths in plastic tubes. Easily cut with an exacto knife.

 

The etched brass eyelets are glued in to the ends. Available from various model suppliers, for example:

 

https://www.model-dockyard.com/acatalog/Caldercraft_Period_Eyepins.html

 

These eyes are immensely useful, for example I cut all those nubbies off the bowsprit and replaced with some of these eyes glued into drilled holes. I also used many to form the mast stay attachment points at caps etc.

 

Note too the copper eyelets listed below the etched brass at M.D.; they can come in handy too and are almost exactly the same size as the plastic eyebolts supplied with Heller models like Victory, Soleil Royale, and our current efforts. Useful to avoid a plastic eye breaking as you are rigging!

[Bill Morrison]

1 hour ago, Ian_Grant said:

Bill,

 

I just used 0.6mm O.D. micro brass tube, available from Albion Alloys (MBT06). It comes in sets of three ~12" lengths in plastic tubes. Easily cut with an exacto knife.

 

The etched brass eyelets are glued in to the ends. Available from various model suppliers, for example:

 

https://www.model-dockyard.com/acatalog/Caldercraft_Period_Eyepins.html

 

These eyes are immensely useful, for example I cut all those nubbies off the bowsprit and replaced with some of these eyes glued into drilled holes. I also used many to form the mast stay attachment points at caps etc.

 

Note too the copper eyelets listed below the etched brass at M.D.; they can come in handy too and are almost exactly the same size as the plastic eyebolts supplied with Heller models like Victory, Soleil Royale, and our current efforts. Useful to avoid a plastic eye breaking as you are rigging!

Ian,

 

Thanks!

 

Bill

[Ian_Grant]

For anyone still reading, Heller provides these low metal rails along the deck in front of the pin rail sections where the shrouds and backstays exist, rather like the foot rail on a bar, or so I've heard. According to them ropes come from aloft and pass under these rails then up to their belaying pins.  Is this accurate i.e. did these rails exist? I would think it would be hard to belay ropes on the pins with a wall of them going down to the deck just in front. I'll have a look through what books I have on windjammer rigging but if anyone knows definitively that would be great!

 

Thanks,

Ian

[Ian_Grant]

Another little update. I keep thinking of things I could do instead of attempting to solder some brass trusses. Talk about procrastination.

 

I decided to use the same micro brass tubing and etched eyelets to form the futtocks and linkages for the topmast shrouds. The lower ends of the three futtocks have the same etched brass eyes, through which passes the copper eyebolt cemented into a hole drilled in the mast. I should have decided how to do these earlier; it would have been easier before gluing the copper eyes and/or the mast tops in place, but it worked out because this very small tube is easily cut and not so easily kinked.

 

Just need to duplicate on the other four masts, and some sort of version for the topmast futtocks and topgallant shrouds. That will burn up another 88 etched eyes I hope I have enough for this model.

Edited February 14, 2021 by Ian_Grant
reduce picture size

[Ian_Grant]

Still don't know definitively about those rails in front of the pin rails. However, I did come across some nice pictures of Passat's rigging. She does not seem to have the rails. Was also interested to see the shot of the bows, showing the figurehead mostly white with Ferdinand Laeisz's initials in red. Heller instructs to just paint it gold. I may redo it but it would have been easier off the hull.

 

Pictures of bowsprit guys are also helpful since Heller's "instructions" about them are a bit confusing

 

Interesting to see such things as copper domes on navigation light housings, the ship's bell, which Heller does not mention.

 

No evidence of steering cables running along decks but they may have been removed as a tripping hazard; lots of her rigging is omitted too now.

 

I wonder if that's the Heller Passat model cased in the lounge?

 

http://www.jans-sajt.se/contents/Navigation/Galleries/Germany_Passat.htm

Edited October 26, 2020 by Ian_Grant
added a comment about model

[egkb]

Great set of photos Ian, they should really help you! 

 

Eamonn

[Ian_Grant]

Speaking of those great photos, now that I am nearing completion of deck furniture and thinking ahead to prepare for rigging, I've suddenly noticed that the Jarvis brace winches on this model are placed in front of each mast, which is contrary to Underhill's brace routing diagram ("Masting and Rigging: Clipper Ship and Ocean Carrier". Note: the mizzen has a brace winch both in front and behind, to handle braces for the main and jigger.

 

The "Passat" photos, and another I found of "Pommern",  clearly show the brace winches abaft the masts, in agreement with Underhill.

 

In my 1st or 2nd post I mentioned a site with Preussen's belaying plan; this shows the winches ahead of the masts, as on the model.

 

Concern is that after the braces pass through leading blocks near the mast top above the winch, they pass more or less vertically down to the winch. Would they not interfere with the courses, if winch is ahead of mast?

 

I don't know whether to modify the deck plan or not. Can anyone advise? 

 

More investigation/help required. Maybe I do need to buy that German book on "Preussen".

Edited November 1, 2020 by Ian_Grant
sp.

[Ian_Grant]

Things are looking up!  Marten has very kindly replied to my P.M. with the information that those little rails on deck were for the sailors to brace their feet instead of sliding into the scuppers when hauling ropes, and that the brace winches were definitely in front of the masts. No ropes are looped under the rails, that is a Heller-ism.  Thank you Marten!

 

So I will rig the braces according to Underhill, with the exception that lead blocks will have to be under the mast top in order to pass down to the brace winches in front of mast without interfering with course or its yard or truss.

 

Also found nice shots of "Preussen" model for those interested:

 

http://www.steelnavy.com/Preussen48.htm

Some nice deck shots here. Heller badly mis-shaped the capstans but at this point I will just leave them.

 

 

 

 

[Bill Morrison]

On 10/27/2020 at 12:54 PM, egkb said:

Great set of photos Ian, they should really help you! 

 

Eamonn

I agree! The photos are fantastic.  They will definitely help me with the Potosi!

 

Bill

[Veszett Roka]

On 3/4/2020 at 1:33 AM, Ian_Grant said:

If, dear reader, you are trying to decide between this kit and "Passat", be aware that the "Passat" kit provides both blocks and plastic shroud/backstay turnbuckles but no sails i.e. the exact opposite of this kit.   Further, the yard trusses are much more detailed (and fragile) on "Passat" than the simple trapezoidal blobs provided on "Preussen". But there was only one ship like "Preussen".

 

You can read about the "Passat" kit here:

https://modelingmadness.com/review/misc/ships/ger/komapassat.htm

 

 

 

Just came across this build log, as I'm quite a fan of Flying P liners, especially the windjammers.

 

So be careful with that Passat kit. Actually this is a renamed Pamir kit. Although claimed Passat and Pamir as sisters, Pamir had a different bow and the mentioned kit depict Pamir's. The portholes and hawse pipes are different and the reviewer didn't paid attention to this fact. However, the kit itself is very good in 1:150 scale - i have one half-completed and in progress. The Heller kit had vacuum-formed plastic sails too, but i think i will not use them.

 

 

 

Passat's true sister ship is Peking, she is a museum ship in Hamburg after an exhaustive restoration (to seaworthy condition). The restoration was performed in the Blohm und Woss shipyard, by her original manufacturer and using her original blueprints.

 

Anyways, the Preussen is surely a different one, the only built 5 masted full rigged ship at time. A true masterpiece of sailing vessels. You Sir got a new follower!

 

happy modeling,

Miki

[Ian_Grant]

Welcome Miki to my large group of followers! 🙂 😉   And thanks for pointing out the differences between Pamir and Passat; interesting! Nice to have a flying-P expert at hand!

 

I'd love to visit one of these museum ships someday, perhaps in a trip also including the Wasa.  I know Viking is now a hotel in Gothenburg, and Moshulu is now a (shudder) restaurant in Philly. Have you read "The Last Grain Race" which is a first-hand account of Moshulu's participation in the 1939 grain race from Australia to UK? Very good read!

[Veszett Roka]

3 hours ago, Ian_Grant said:

 

I'd love to visit one of these museum ships someday, perhaps in a trip also including the Wasa.  I know Viking is now a hotel in Gothenburg, and Moshulu is now a (shudder) restaurant in Philly. Have you read "The Last Grain Race" which is a first-hand account of Moshulu's participation in the 1939 grain race from Australia to UK? Very good read!

 

Thanks Ian,

 

no, i didn't read Newby's book, but its on my wishlist from now, thanks for the tip! If you come to Europe for a museum-ship trip, do not forget to visit Mariehamn where Pommern is moored, just a few hours away from Stockholm. Unfortunately when i was in the Vasamuseet i had no time for a day trip to Aland island. Or two days...

Now you're lucky if you want to see a few P-liners: Peking now the main attraction of Port Museum Hamburg (although it is already closed for winter), Passat is moored in Lubeck, they are quite close and you can compare them to each other: are they really sisters?   Hamburg has daily ferry connection to Stockholm (where Wasa is) and then you can go to see Pommern with another ferry trip.

 

Let me share my pictures of another Preussen model, yet unfinished. It might help with the brace winches, unfortunately i didn't found exact source where they was in reality. I'm tend to agree with the belaying map.

 

 

 

 

 

[Veszett Roka]

Another one (had to rotate for upload) shows that the figurehead painted to gold on this model too.

[Ian_Grant]

Thank you Miki for the pictures of the other model Preussen.  Looks nice!  I'm not looking forward to tying all the clove hitches for ratlines on five masts!  Do you think the lower mast stays shown are accurate, with both sides running separately as opposed to being seized together at each end (more like the topmast stays)?

 

I see this modeller installed chain futtocks whereas I depict solid bar. Wonder what they really were?

 

Wonder how this modeller ultimately routed the lower braces to the winches? Speaking of which, look at the  detail  on those brace winches!

 

I love the wire railings on the after storm gangway, and I see the auxiliary bridge lacks those mystery "buckets" Heller molded in. Perhaps I will just cut those edges off.

 

This model's deck furniture is painted in the more sombre tones recommended by Heller, not "flashy" like mine 🙂

 

Are going to put a "Pamir" build log on the forum? I'd like to watch your progress.

 

Speaking of which, does your kit have the same problematic ladders as mine? (See my earlier post).

 

 

Edited November 13, 2020 by Ian_Grant

[Veszett Roka]

10 hours ago, Ian_Grant said:

Thank you Miki for the pictures of the other model Preussen.  Looks nice!  I'm not looking forward to tying all the clove hitches for ratlines on five masts!  Do you think the lower mast stays shown are accurate, with both sides running separately as opposed to being seized together at each end (more like the topmast stays)?

 

I see this modeller installed chain futtocks whereas I depict solid bar. Wonder what they really were?

 

Wonder how this modeller ultimately routed the lower braces to the winches? Speaking of which, look at the  detail  on those brace winches!

 

I love the wire railings on the after storm gangway, and I see the auxiliary bridge lacks those mystery "buckets" Heller molded in. Perhaps I will just cut those edges off.

 

This model's deck furniture is painted in the more sombre tones recommended by Heller, not "flashy" like mine 🙂

 

Are going to put a "Pamir" build log on the forum? I'd like to watch your progress.

 

Speaking of which, does your kit have the same problematic ladders as mine? (See my earlier post).

 

 

 

Hi Ian,

 

At least on Peking they were seized together - but i was on her deck back in 1994, and her condition was pathetic at time. I believe both scheme is correct, i can imagine that they tried both and used the better solution. If i'd be the ship designer, i'd use doubled single lines (e.g clove heads on both ends of the stays) because the pictured single stays (on model Preussen) would fail if any side cracks off. Seizing could reduce that danger too - but on other hands the continously grazing stays could grate each other which is not a factor for single lines.

The clove hitches... i think i will glue them instead of tying on my Pamir. Or maybe false tying secured with PVA.. dont know yet, and also i'll have to do it  on 4 masts only

 

Also, let me claim Peking for futtocks. They were solid rods for sure on that ship, i believe the rigid bars are accurate. Which is not exclude chains on Preussen though, i can imagine mixed (rods and chains) solution too. As i remember Pamir's instructions Heller suggest to use simple ropes on that (which is incorrect, i'd use copper wire then).

 

I am not planning to start a building log here for two reasons, well maybe three. First, the hull is almost completed, some tiny details, cargo cranes, boats need to attach still, but i will fix them after the rigging completed. I think they were obstruct me during the belaying. Second, that build log would be a dead one, nowadays i have very little time for our beloved hobby (psst... I read the forum during working hours, but don't tell anyone!), no one wants to wait several months to a new update i think. And third, my mistakes. I did many mistake on the model which need to address first. The masts are just dark gray primed, and still i'm missing the final ochre glossy paint, but time at first!

 

Cheers big ears,

Miki

 

[Ian_Grant]

I've been quiet for a while due to reno jobs; one lady hired me to make her a dresser which was quite fun as furniture commissions are rare for me.

 

I have been working on solving two nagging Preussen problems i.e. Heller's unsuitable ladders, and my ruined stern railing. I've emailed Heller four times about a railing replacement without any reply. The ace up my sleeve is that my brother has a 3D printer so I decided to try to create CAD drawings for these parts. I used TinkerCAD which is a free online CAD tool. After watching a few tutorials (not those provided by TinkerCAD which are useless for a neophyte) I was able to produce some .stl files which I sent to my brother to print. He says the ladders came out clean, though he was laughing at the tiny amount of filament required (3 cents worth for a dozen ladders), but I only just sent him the railing file.

 

Here are some screen captures of the 3D drawings.

 

This is a modified Heller ladder in which I just added some triangular wedges at the ends to orient the miters in the correct direction.

 

 

This is a ladder inspired by those in the pictures of the Preussen model Miki sent me above. I drew it after measuring the total rise with calipers since Heller's ladders seem a tad short. The upper step is meant to be flush with the upper deck it runs to as in the model.

 

 

Here is my rendition of the stern railing. Unfortunately I could not get the "torus" shape to work for my tubular rails because when I stretched the torus in x and y to match the non-circular-segment curve of the railing, it distorted the diameter of the actual outer ring; in other words I hoped to enter the desired rail diameter and it would just stay at that as I stretched the torus but the diameter too scaled in weird ways. As you can see I ended up creating the rail segments as individual lengths of cylinders, suitably rotated. Fortunately it was easy to duplicate them once I had one fitting between stanchions. I had to add sphere shapes at the tops of the stanchions to fillet out the butting cylinder ends. I know nothing about 3D printing, not sure how Andrew will print this with supports after slicing. I'm hoping the supports are relatively easy to cut off as the part will be delicate. Can't wait to see how it turns out, and how accurate I managed to be.

 

Not to be overly cocky, but now I'm wondering about making some better looking Jarvis winches 🙂

 

Other than that I've just been painting some future parts. Anything to put off trying to fashion brass trusses.

Edited February 14, 2021 by Ian_Grant

[Nirvana]

Ian,

Having a 3d printer and simple cad knowledge can certainly help to replicate items.

Is am using Fusion 360 and have a 3d printer (still unboxed).

Nice job on the ladder.

[Ian_Grant]

Just for laughs I worked on a Jarvis brace winch in TinkerCAD. The supplied Heller winches seem too low down to me; it's as if they forgot that sailors need to crank them around too. I drew a winch which provides a crank at the same height as the wheel on the halliard winches, and made the overall assembly about 1.5mm wider (viewed from the sides) after first ensuring that there is clear deck space for this slight enlargement. I kept the width athwartships the same so as to use the same two mounting holes in the deck.

 

Here is a screenshot. It is sitting on a 1mm grid so you can appreciate how tiny it is. The different colours are components I envision as separately printed before final assembly. The yellow represents some 0.6mm OD brass rod.

 

Of course it's one thing to draw it and another thing to successfully print it. Opinions on odds of success, anyone? Haven't shown it to my brother yet as he's a busy guy and I am already waiting for the railing print  😉 God knows how the gear teeth would turn out. And before I receive a flood of messages, yes I know the gears could not mesh with their flanges as depicted; I wanted a circular base on which to print each toothed gear. I could have flipped the central large gear by making it another distinct part, but at this scale why bother? And they may prove to be totally unprintable anyway.

 

 

I messed around for pretty much an entire day on this, more than I wanted to but the CAD brings out the ex-engineer in me. Gears are none too easy to draw in TinkerCAD as I couldn't find a "primitive" for them. Perhaps there is one in there somewhere but mine are a manual effort.

Edited February 14, 2021 by Ian_Grant
reduce picture size

[Ian_Grant]

Long time since I posted. What with lockdowns etc I took time to do reno work in my own house for a change so I haven't done much on Preussen. However, I DID get through to someone for a replacement stern railing. The Heller parts replacement source is Glow2Be in Germany. Go to the "glow2be.de" website, click on "Service" then "Spare Part Form" , print the pdf file and fill it out. I tried scanning and emailing to the address given on the form but it would not go through as the "glow2be" server would not accept messages from my "domain", be that Canada, North America, or whatever. I then FAXed the form to the number given and was rewarded after two days with news that a free part had been shipped! Customer service!

 

Meanwhile, my brother sent me the ladders, jarvis winches, and railings he had 3D printed for me. He had trouble separating the fragile railings from the printed supports so they were not usable, but I no longer need one see above. The winches turned out ok but the spindles are very brittle so I've decided to use the Heller winches, maybe augmented with some brass. The longer ladders I drew in CAD are a perfect fit but it turns out I drew the steps too close together. Andrew is now printing a revised version with one fewer steps spaced out a little more, which should look better.

 

On the actual model, I have been making some fake "rigging screws" for the various stays, again using the 0.6mm tube and brass etch eyes. I'm down to my last 15 eyes and last short piece of tubing so I need to put out an order. I just discovered that "Model Dockyard" has shut down for retirement which is a shame because Nick was very helpful.

 

I decided I wanted rigging screws at the base of the lower and topmast stays, which meant breaking off the Heller supplied deck cleats I had previously glued. It left a little bit of a mess on the deck but by the time the pinrails are in and coiled it won't be visible I hope. I mounted the rigging screws on copper eyes which I had painted black but of course the paint flaked off as I tugged the etched eyes around the curves. Touchups will be needed. I did it this way because I don't seem to have much luck with blackener on copper especially but brass too. I get an immediate black appearance but it always seems to be a coat sitting on the surface which then flakes off. Maybe I need to etch the surface beforehand?

 

Here's a photo of the rigging screws at the foot of the foremast. Excuse the sloppy knots; I just wanted to see how a stay would look!

 

I also added the bobstays, formed from brass tube.They hook into etched eyes at the bowsprit end, but I cheated and just bent the other ends and glued into holes drilled in the front of the stem.  The outer bobstay passes through an etched eye at the end of the martingale. You can just see several other "rigging screws" dangling; these are for the fore topgallant and royal stays as well as various staysail stays. The bowsprit looks much better to me than as supplied by Heller with all sorts of clumsy plastic cleats molded on. Sadly I realized that the presence of the bobstays means I cannot add the safety netting without cutting along its centre and stitching back together 😞 😞 .  After my experience with needle and thread lacing the Hobby-Lobby netting (which I can barely see even with magnifiers) for Victory's hammock netting I am loathe to attempt this resewing of a cut especially "in place", so I will have to break off the bobstays and reassemble with the inner bobstay and martingale passing through the netting.

I'll need to add the jib boom guys in order to stitch and trim the netting but I haven't been able to shop for grey thread to represent wire rope, due to the re-lockdown.

 

One final note, the movable-arm lamp I had mounted to the wall broke off as its plastic mounting bracket fell apart under repetitive stress. I bought a chunk of aluminum to machine a new bracket but then I saw LED strip lights for sale. I bought a twin 48" fixture and boy, what illumination! This photo doesn't do it justice; the camera must have reduced the exposure due to ambient brightness. The broken bracket is just to the left of "Cutty Sark". Now I wonder how I ever built "Victory" with a bedroom ceiling light and a single bulb swing arm lamp!? The hall seems so dim now when I step out of the "shipyard".

Edited February 15, 2021 by Ian_Grant

[Ian_Grant]

A quick note to say I managed to add the safety netting. It is not yet stitched on or trimmed because I have no jib boom guys as yet. I broke off the bobstays at the stem and pulled the martingale off the bowsprit, in order to pass the inner bobstay and martingale through the netting before reattaching. The martingale broke so I made a new one. Only four inches of 0.6mm brass tube left, now. To make it easier I simply glued the bow end of the netting under some gratings I had made for the purpose after seeing the photos of "Passat" I refenced in an earlier post. Here is a photo against a black background, which is the only way I can see this netting. Not looking forward to trimming the tiny mesh for sewing to the guys!

 

[wemattson]

Ian,

 

Great work on the Preussen. I have the Passat waiting in the wings and will be referring back to your build log when I finally start mine.

 

Cheers,

Wayne

[gak1965]

Great work, Ian she looks fantastic! I assume from your comments that you are not going to try to use the "ratline machine" that Heller includes with their kits, which is a good thing. I tried this years ago when I built my Passat and it was a complete failure. The good news was that the turnbuckle 'deadeyes' (which don't seem to be what you have here) were extremely sturdy, considering. Despite putting a fair bit of tension on them as I rigged the shrouds and backstays, I didn't have a single one break.

 

How are the rigging instructions? Given that you have described every other problem I had with Passat, I'm curious how the instructions look. The Passat instructions were decent for the standing rigging, but really awful for the running rigging. It showed the clew lines and the braces (plus the running rigging on the jigger) and not much else. Also, the translations from French were all on the last page, completely divorced from their content; is that true of Preussen too? With regard to the ratlines, the Passat instructions suggested using all 5 shrouds, the real ship (as currently configured uses the 3 central shrouds, periodically extending to the exterior 2. I don't know if there are good pictures indicating how they were rigged on Preussen.

 

I love the idea of a 3D printed Jarvis brace winch. At 1:150, they are a real pain in the posterior to rig up though. There are real detail limits at that scale.

 

Good luck!

 

George K

[Veszett Roka]

3 hours ago, gak1965 said:

 With regard to the ratlines, the Passat instructions suggested using all 5 shrouds, the real ship (as currently configured uses the 3 central shrouds, periodically extending to the exterior 2. I don't know if there are good pictures indicating how they were rigged on Preussen.

 

 

 

 

Hi George,

 

however this is not a great picture, but it shows the foremast quite well. The ratlines - same like the real Passat - are using the middle 4 shrouds and periodically lengthten to the outer 2. Your Passat instruction shows all 5 shrouds ratlines, because the instruction made for Pamir (if we are talking the same Revell/Heller kit), as the whole Passat kit is a renamed Pamir kit. Just compare the hawse pipes on the bow.

 

 

Cheers,

Miki

Edited February 15, 2021 by Veszett Roka

[Mirabell61]

A great model Ian....

 

Nils

[Ian_Grant]

Wayne:  Thank you for your comments!  With the Passat you will not have to make all those rigging screws as that kit includes some reportedly sturdy ones.

 

Miki:  Thanks for the great photo which I have not seen!!! I must look for more books.

 

Nils: Appreciated, especially given your many builds I have admired!

 

George K:  Thanks for your kind appraisal. No, I have no intention of using a jig for shrouds. I will rig them properly the same as I did for Victory after reading everyones' panning of that supplied jig. That said, because of the way the masts assemble one needs to seize the shroud pairs in place around the lower mast head (which in fact is part of the topmast piece). Too bad as with Victory one could seize them around a suitable dowel then slide them down the mast head before attaching the cap. I'm making the screws because the Preussen kit does not include them or any blocks, which I understand the Passat includes too.

 

Rigging instructions?....we don't need no stinkin' rigging instructions... LOL. 

 

As opposed to the Victory kit where rigging instructions (and I use the word loosely) were scattered all over, the Preussen includes four diagrams at the end. Here they are:

 

 

Each includes a belaying diagram at the bottom. The print is very small. Very.

 

As you say the standing rigging is pretty good, although each lower mast only has five shrouds not six (except four shown on the jigger), as I have seen in model photos Miki posted earlier and now again in his Preussen photo (Thanks again Miki for the great shot!!). Now my attention is called to it, Heller calls for one stay (H1) leading from the side of the lower yard band to a screw just ahead of the first shroud, then five shrouds (5x H2), then a stay (H3) leading to the mast cheek, then the mast cap stay (H4). It seems a little silly to have H1 and H3 supporting the mast within feet of each other and the shrouds; I think I will change H3 to a sixth shroud, despite the fact that will increase my number of ratline clove hitches by 20%. HHmmmm....... The many ratlines will be a chore assuming I can find something small enough and non-fuzzy with which to rig them.

 

The lower brace instructions are odd too. They show the brace block on a pendant (fine) with the two leads going to a pin on the bulwark rail and a spindle on the brace winch. No mention of sister blocks on the bulwark then to the pin, or worse yet no leading blocks on bulwark then under the mast top to guide to the brace winch to provide it with a steady lead as the yards swing. Having said that, I am not looking forward to rigging blocks at this scale. I nearly went cross-eyed using 2mm blocks on Victory's cannon tackles.

 

Incorrectly, I think, every yard is shown as having lifts. I understood that for example the lower topsail yard takes advantage of the downhauls for the upper topsail yard as lifts for itself. Also leech lines are shown in addition to the many buntlines. I assumed Preussen would furl her sails to the yardarms not the slings so there wouldn't be a leech line, Can anyone advise?

 

My 3D CAD for the winches looked great, but the gear detail went to oblivion in the actual printing. I am forced to revert to those provided for reasons mentioned in my earlier post.

 

There aren't many notes in the instructions, but they are given in English, French, and German.

 

Again, thanks you all for commenting. It's been said before but it is really motivating!

 

Note: I can't seem to delete this unintentional blow-up of one of the sheets despite several tries. Oh well ;-(

Edited February 22, 2021 by Ian_Grant

[gak1965]

On 2/15/2021 at 11:36 AM, Ian_Grant said:

The many ratlines will be a chore assuming I can find something small enough and non-fuzzy with which to rig them.

 

Better than the Passat instructions. I once used this: https://www.amazon.com/Line-Simulating-Wires-Charcoal-Black/dp/B00P2QVMJ0/ref=asc_df_B00P2QVMJ0/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309748512713&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1081979806894319198&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007783&hvtargid=pla-585644113181&psc=1 to make ratlines. It is rubber 'line' that is used by model railroaders to make telephone and power lines that 'dip' properly. Now, I don't know about longevity, and I used glue to hold them in place (I imagine knotting that could be problematic) but there is no question of fuzz.

[Ian_Grant]

Interesting wire, but even the "fine" grade at ten thou is a bit heavy for ratlines at 1:150 scale. I believe Blue Ensign employed fine wire in his "French 74" build. Might end up going that route.

[gak1965]

6 hours ago, Ian_Grant said:

Interesting wire, but even the "fine" grade at ten thou is a bit heavy for ratlines at 1:150 scale. I believe Blue Ensign employed fine wire in his "French 74" build. Might end up going that route.

Yeah. That was on a 1:64...

[gak1965]

Are you planning to rig with sails? And if not, are you going to rig the bunts and leeches? Unlike Preussen, my Passat's instructions didn't include the bunts and leeches. I did put the blocks on - that gave it some visual interest without overly cluttering things up at 1:150.