Flying Fish by gak1965 - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:96

[ClipperFan]

George K,

Other than Rob's verticle and horizontal mounting braces being thicker than the illustration, his gin blocks do match the configuration on your illustration. You could try thinning out those components to get closer to the plan but then they might not be sturdy enough to withstand the stress of chain mounts running down to the yardarm and down to the belaying point on the deck far below.

Maybe Rob Wiederrich can explain his previous attempts to see if he ran into that issue in his own fabrication attempts.

[gak1965]

Well, I resolved how to manufacture the gin blocks (or whatever they are) used to haul the halliards. My eureka moment was to realize that it didn't matter if the pulley actually turned, the chain would slide along more or less regardless with a little bit of space. So I cut a thin slice out of a 1/8" dowel, and made a small rectangular box out of 1/32" wide brass strip as below:

 

 

I glued the disc inside the brass box, and fabricated a piece with a hanger and two open ends (like a tuning fork):

 

 

That was then glued onto the block to make the completed block:

 

 

The chain runs through the block and can move to be positioned even though the pulley is stationary:

 

So, I made four of them, painted black (the blocks are iron).

 

 

This is one of the completed blocks with chain:

 

 

So, anyways, the foremast now has all of the mast mounted blocks and is firmly mounted and ready to start putting in shrouds and stays. I have a couple of items to install on the main, and will then mount it as well. The gin blocks on the mizzen are smaller, so they still need to be manufactured before I can fully mount the mizzen.

 

As always, thanks for looking in!

 

Regards,

George K

 

 

[Rick310]

George, WOW!!!  What a great idea.  They look really good !!

I’m going to try something similar when I get to that point. 

[rwiederrich]

Great solution George.  Once you realized there is no rotation issues...your options for construction just opened up.  Super results.

 

Rob

[ClipperFan]

George, I agree with Rob, your ultimate solution was simple yet inspired. Well done 

[gak1965]

Thanks guys. To be honest, it came to me after looking at Rob's gin block manufacturing process - it got me thinking a bit outside the box of 'make an exact miniature replica'. There are people that have that level of skill on here, but I'm not one of them.

 

I've put the mounted the lower shrouds on the foremast and placed the lower forestay, but none of them are yet attached to deadeyes nor are any of the (black not tan) lanyards in place. More when it is further along.

[gak1965]

One quick update before I go into a hiatus of about 3 weeks. My wife and I are going to spend the next 2 weeks in Flagstaff, AZ. It's not a vacation - as we both work (mostly) remotely, and we're going to continue to do so, but we'll have two weekends to hike in Grand Canyon after the crowds have left for the season, and after I get back I am heading down to Wilmington, NC the following weekend for a triathlon. That means that the ship will be back home with no one working on it. So, current status: The shrouds on the foremast and the forestay have been installed:

 

 

I started getting the shrouds ready on the starboard side, attaching the deadeyes using the traditional twisted wire spacer and seizing them in place. The yellow tape just indicates which shroud is which (1,2,3,4,...).

 

 

Finally, two pics of the starboard shrouds with the deadeyes and (black) lanyards.

 

 

The lanyards aren't tied down yet - I want to tighten P/S pairs of shrouds forward to aft, so I need to get the port side set up before I do anything more.

 

Finally, in honor of the ship - tonight's beverage:

 

 

I should be posting again in the third week of October, at which point I will be rapidly coming up on two years working on this project. For some reason I was thinking that I would manage this in two years (that's how long Niagara took), but this is a much more complex project - I expect another 6-12 months to go. 

 

As always, thanks for looking in and for the encouragement. Have a great end of September and early October!

 

Regards,

George K

 

 

[Rick310]

Looking good!!

[Wawona59]

Thank you so much George for this wonderful build log (practicum).  Also a thank you to all of the contributors to this build log including Rob, Clipperfan, Rick310, et al.  The tips and photographs you've shared have been filed away and will be invaluable to me as my Fish project progresses.

 

I've just started my build log for the Fish.  My first step has been to dust off 20+ years of cobwebs and remove much of my substandard work.  You've all given me something to shoot for.  I expect to post another build log shortly.

 

Thanks again

 

Wawona59 (John)

[Vladimir_Wairoa]

great progress George. 

all shrouds firm, and great way to make so tiny pulleys. 

V. 

[rwiederrich]

On 9/25/2022 at 9:30 PM, gak1965 said:

I will be rapidly coming up on two years working on this project. For some reason I was thinking that I would manage this in two years (that's how long Niagara took), but this is a much more complex project - I expect another 6-12 months to go. 

Time flies by actually.  I started my Glory of the Seas in March of 2021.....a year and a half ago.  I'm finishing up her fore backstays...nearing completing her.  It took me nearly 5 years to build my Great Republic.  

Man it take so long...building these clippers.  Yours is coming along very nicely...you have worked very hard on her....great job.

 

Rob

[gak1965]

Well, back from everything, hopefully back in the shipyard soon. In the interim, here's a palate cleanser. The triathlon I did was the Ironman 70.3 Wilmington, so here are some snaps of the USS North Carolina, BB-55, our first treaty battleship (the race ends just across the Cape Fear River from her and is nicknamed 'From beach to battleship')

[gak1965]

Well, I have finally had some time in the shipyard so some progress being made. When I left off back in September, I had mounted the lower forestay and the had managed to put the starboard lower fore shrouds in place. I've been working my way up the foremast, adding lines as they appear on the mast. So, since then I've:

1. Installed the lower shrouds on the port side (the lines were in place, but not the deadeyes or the lanyards).
2. Installed the topmast shrouds (6 total). 
3. Installed the starboard side topmast backstays.

Next up will be the port topmast backstays, followed by the fore topmast stays (2 through the bees, one through the jibboom), the topgallant lift pendant, topgallant forestay, topgallant backstays and topgallant shrouds, and then the royal/skysail series (lift pendant, forestay(s), backstays). I think that I'm going to just use a set of jackstay eyebolts for the lift pendant - anything larger will seem out of scale, and I think that the rest of the lines will disguise them fairly well. 

 

None of the lanyards in the below have been anchored yet (well, the lower forestay is fully anchored, but if need be I will reconnect the ends to the knightheads to keep it tight). The idea is once everything is in place to tighten it all up so that the mast is straight and true, and to be able to adjust as need be without replacing a lot of existing work. We'll see if that is realistic. Once I start on the main mast, I will also start putting in the ratlines on the fore. On my Niagara, I found that by doing say, 10 rows a day while working on other things I didn't get completely sick of tying knots and the job got done in about 3-4 weeks.

 

In the interim, here are some photos of the rigging coming along:

 

 

 

 

 

As always, thanks for looking in!

 

Regards,

George K

 

 

[gak1965]

Progress on rigging the foremast. This photo shows the lines going up the foremast according to the plan order (generally lift pendant, shrouds, forestay, backstays). As I mentioned last time, the only place anything is anchored is on the mast, the lanyards and the line ends are all basically held in place with Tamiya tape (or in some cases, just the tension in the deadeyes.

 

 

In the next photo, I've started to anchor lines, beginning at the fore skystay. The logic here is that I want to pull the top of the foremast forward about 3-5 mm so that it will align properly with the main. To do that I started by clamping the skystay under the jibboom after pulling the mast top forward appropriately. I then put a drop of CA glue into the hole with the stay and let it set.

 

 

This stabilizes the line where I need it to be, and I can tighten and anchor the fore sky backstays so that the mast is properly centered and we have a reasonable amount of tension on the skystay so everything stays neat, as below:

 

 

Next start moving down the mast. so the royal stay has been tightened and a bit of glue to hold it in place. Once it sets, I'll do the royal backstays, do the topgallants. When I get to the topgallants, the order is going to be stay, backstay, shrouds, and the last items to be tightened will be the lower shrouds. At that point, I'm hopeful the the lower forestay won't be sagging, but if it is, I'll just tighten it down.

 

One thing that I have concluded is that I should actually be able to anchor the forestays into holes in the bulwarks, as per the plans. I was worried that the amount of strain would wind up making that a problematic means of anchoring, and thought I might anchor into an eyebolt instead, but it appears that a drop of glue on the jibboom/bowsprit, one on the dolphin striker, and a third one in the bulwarks should be just fine. The only case where that might not work are the two stays that go through the bees, but even there, two glue spots (bees and bulwarks) should be just fine.

 

As always, thanks for looking in!

 

Regards,

George K

 

[BobG]

What a beautiful build, George!

[ClipperFan]

GeorgeK,

Impressive rigging treatise. I appreciate your explanation of using bowsprit rigging to actually pull forward the top of the skysail foremast in order to accomodate the stress being place on it by the mainmast rigging which will be applied later on. All in all, very beautiful, clean work.

[gak1965]

4 hours ago, ClipperFan said:

ppreciate your explanation of using bowsprit rigging to actually pull forward the top of the skysail foremast in order to accomodate the stress being place on it by the mainmast rigging which will be applied later on.

Thanks all. I should probably just take the above and say 'of course', but the reality is much more mundane. I wasn't thinking about strain from the main stays, but rather about forcing the fore topgallant/royal to be at the same angle as the main. So, more fixing a defect in my mast manufacturing than thinking ahead. Not that this would be out of line at all for a real ship, but it's a bug, not a feature.

Edited November 3, 2022 by gak1965

[ClipperFan]

1 hour ago, gak1965 said:

Thanks all. I should probably just take the above and say 'of course', but the reality is much more mundane. I wasn't thinking about strain from the main stays, but rather about forcing the topgallant/royal to be at the same angle as the main. So, more fixing a defect in my mast manufacturing than thinking ahead. Not that this would be out of line at all for a real ship, but it's a bug, not a feature.

GeorgeK,

I applaud your concern and attention to detail. Little items like the foremast tip not being in parallel alignment with the other masts is noticeable to people who pay attention and does mar an otherwise beautifully crafted model. 

[Vladimir_Wairoa]

Very nice work on rigging  George. lines are tight. happy continuation.V. 

[Bruma]

Once again, wonderful progress from this beauty! 

I don't comment often, mainly for the language barrier, but I check constantly your log looking for progress and inspiration.
Really nice gin blocks and the stays are adding a lot of character to her.

Thank you for taking the time to explain every process, it is really useful and eye-opening.

[gak1965]

Hello all! First of all thank you for the encouragement, it is much appreciated. I really enjoy looking at so many of your builds on MSW, without which I suspect several builds would have gone into long term storage rather than move forward. 

 

Well, the standing rigging (minus those pesky ratlines) is now complete for the foremast. Nothing earth shattering here from a technical perspective, basically just lots of tightened lanyards and anchored lines (and a 6 sheer poles). As per a couple of posts back, I did anchor the hull ends of the topgallant-, royal-, and skystays into a hole in the bulwarks after also gluing down their paths in the jibboom and on the dolphin striker. It may be a problem in 50 years (dunno how long these adhesives really last), but I'll be long gone at that point, so...

 

One other thing, which we don't talk about as much as we should I suppose; in the process I (a) broke off one of the figureheads wings, (b) disconnected the bulwark end of both of the bowsprit shrouds (the chains) and (c) caught the tip of the mainmast in my watch band, requiring a minor repair to the base of the mast. <SIGH>. Anyway, nothing that couldn't be fixed with a little CA glue. Completely par for the course.

 

Anyway, here a couple of photos of the ship as it currently stands, some closer views of the foremast and all the bowprit rigging.

 

As always, thanks for looking in!

 

George K

 

Sorry my photos are often not perfect - I tend to work at night so the light can get weird. I have started putting one of the plans over the TV set I have on my worktable so that you can see the lines better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gak1965]

Well, it's been 12 days since my last update. I wished I could say that I have made massive progress, but I think I will have to settle for some progress. At this point, all of the mainmast futtock shrouds are in place, and I've rigged (but not anchored the lanyards) of the lower and topmast shrouds and the main forestay (which terminates on the foremast fife rail). As with the fore, I'm going to get all the lines in place and then tighten/anchor from the skysail down. Here are two pics of the main and foremast as things are moving along.

 

 

 

One thing I am thinking about doing before starting the 'fun' of the ratlines is attaching the tackles (I think mostly halyards) that terminate on deck around each of the masts. The six tackles on the mizzen should still be relatively clear since there isn't a fife rail blocking access, but I'm guessing it's not going to get easier to access after the ratlines are in place.

 

Thanks again for looking in and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

George K.

[Vladimir_Wairoa]

4 hours ago, gak1965 said:

Well, it's been 12 days since my last update. I wished I could say that I have made massive progress, but I think I will have to settle for some progress. At this point, all of the mainmast futtock shrouds are in place, and I've rigged (but not anchored the lanyards) of the lower and topmast shrouds and the main forestay (which terminates on the foremast fife rail). As with the fore, I'm going to get all the lines in place and then tighten/anchor from the skysail down. Here are two pics of the main and foremast as things are moving along.

 

 

 

One thing I am thinking about doing before starting the 'fun' of the ratlines is attaching the tackles (I think mostly halyards) that terminate on deck around each of the masts. The six tackles on the mizzen should still be relatively clear since there isn't a fife rail blocking access, but I'm guessing it's not going to get easier to access after the ratlines are in place.

 

Thanks again for looking in and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

George K.

very neat George. all ropes tight and nice around deadeyes. It must hqve been quite a work. its interesting aproach to rise all stays first. my plan is to step up together with yards meaning lower mast atraching yard than topmast etc.... will see how it goes quite nervous. Keep great progress. amazing. V. 

[ClipperFan]

George, 

I'm in full agreement with my buddy Vladimir's conclusion, you're doing a top notch job on this rigging process. Results are very clean and professional. I applaud your very thorough and patient approach in this tedium inducing process. 

[gak1965]

Well, almost a month since my last update, but the standing rigging on the main mast is done (well except for those pesky ratlines, but who counts those). Thanksgiving, visiting my younger daughter in Boston, a multi-day all hands at work, Christmas|Hannukah shopping, lights, and catching some sort of nasty cold|flu (but not COVID) definitely slowed the pace of progress. I used the same strategy as before, getting everything in place but not anchored, and then tightening from the top down. As before, the only lines that I did not do that on were the topgallant shrouds - and in that case because they really weren't impacting how the mast moved in three dimensions. The first couple of pics just show the mast and the lines going up:

 

 

 

And all the lines that were starting to become quite the mess on the deck:

 

 

And here are a couple of photos of the mast with all the lines in place. One of the sheer poles on the port side looks a little odd in the photos, but it's a trick of the angle thing - looks fine on the port side itself, and looking at the pictures, I think that the folds of the paper I have to provide some contrast are making the skystay look a bit weird too.

 

 

 

And a close up near the bulwarks:

 

 

You may have noticed a bunch of tan lines in the photo. As I indicated I would, I mounted the clew tackles for both the main and fore masts because they are attached to the deck via eyebolts that are inside the fife rails. It was a pain in the posterior now, it would be worse once the ratlines and/or other running rigging (or yards for that matter) were in place. A couple of pics of them with the attachment points to the clew chains hanging out of the way:

 

 

 

Well, on to the mizzen. One thing that I have found is that if I was starting over from scratch I would follow @MikeR's method and rig from the mizzen forward. Having the shrouds and backstays in place makes it 20 times harder to lash the stays in place, and his method keeps all of that clear until after the stays are in place.

 

As always, thanks for looking in, and if I don't post again until after the holidays (gonna try to get one more in 2022, but you never know) have a happy holiday season, however you celebrate and a good 2023.

 

George K

 

[Vladimir_Wairoa]

7 hours ago, gak1965 said:

Well, almost a month since my last update, but the standing rigging on the main mast is done (well except for those pesky ratlines, but who counts those). Thanksgiving, visiting my younger daughter in Boston, a multi-day all hands at work, Christmas|Hannukah shopping, lights, and catching some sort of nasty cold|flu (but not COVID) definitely slowed the pace of progress. I used the same strategy as before, getting everything in place but not anchored, and then tightening from the top down. As before, the only lines that I did not do that on were the topgallant shrouds - and in that case because they really weren't impacting how the mast moved in three dimensions. The first couple of pics just show the mast and the lines going up:

 

 

 

And all the lines that were starting to become quite the mess on the deck:

 

 

And here are a couple of photos of the mast with all the lines in place. One of the sheer poles on the port side looks a little odd in the photos, but it's a trick of the angle thing - looks fine on the port side itself, and looking at the pictures, I think that the folds of the paper I have to provide some contrast are making the skystay look a bit weird too.

 

 

 

And a close up near the bulwarks:

 

 

You may have noticed a bunch of tan lines in the photo. As I indicated I would, I mounted the clew tackles for both the main and fore masts because they are attached to the deck via eyebolts that are inside the fife rails. It was a pain in the posterior now, it would be worse once the ratlines and/or other running rigging (or yards for that matter) were in place. A couple of pics of them with the attachment points to the clew chains hanging out of the way:

 

 

 

Well, on to the mizzen. One thing that I have found is that if I was starting over from scratch I would follow @MikeR's method and rig from the mizzen forward. Having the shrouds and backstays in place makes it 20 times harder to lash the stays in place, and his method keeps all of that clear until after the stays are in place.

 

As always, thanks for looking in, and if I don't post again until after the holidays (gonna try to get one more in 2022, but you never know) have a happy holiday season, however you celebrate and a good 2023.

 

George K

 

looks good Grorge. i see you didnt bother with tying up shrouds in three ties fashion  you are still going fast anyway  i climb up at masts still battling on those shrouds aaargh  

[gak1965]

2 hours ago, Vladimir_Wairoa said:

looks good Grorge. i see you didnt bother with tying up shrouds in three ties fashion

Not at 1:96 😀

[Rick310]

Ding a great job!!  She really looks great.  When I get to the rigging, I’m going to take your advice and start from the mizzen

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  Ahoy, George ... a VERY nice build you have there.  I'm noting all kinds of details to learn about before starting a clipper build,  and the mizzen forward advice seems practical.

[gak1965]

On 12/23/2022 at 2:21 PM, Rick310 said:

Ding a great job!!  She really looks great.  When I get to the rigging, I’m going to take your advice and start from the mizzen

Thanks. Mike R was the man with the notion of starting at the mizzen (which is not what the instructions suggest). My last build was the Niagara at 1:64 and the combination of two masts and the extra space meant it wasn't a big deal to start forward, but boy does it matter her.