Cutty Sark by Sailcat - FINISHED - Revell - 1/96 - PLASTIC - Rescue kit bash morphed to Dame Tisane

[capnharv2]

Sailcat,

 

Your build (or rebuild) of this kit is astounding. I love all the detail and life you're putting into her!

 

Harvey

[Jim Lad]

Hey, Kats, are you back live now?  I'm afraid I've lost track of where you were up to before "the great crash of '13"?

 

By the way, doing rope coils as you go isn't a bad idea.  You get to do just a few at a time, and it's far harder to miss one that way.

 

John

[popeye the sailor]

so,  hopefully you are all caught up now........we can see progress.   very well done!   you know,  I meant to comment on the lament of the bow decals.  I wouldn't be too unhappy with the chain overlays.........think of it as   'layered detail'.    looking forward to the finish

[Sailcat]

Harvey, John & Popeye - Thanks for the kind words 

 

I'm still catching up at this point and I'm sad to say I have nothing 'new' to add yet as I'm still unable to sit for long enough to work on the Dame.  Frustrating, yes, but the coincidence in timing (slip a disc, the Great Crash occurs) makes me feel like some Greater Force is at work and I'm just getting caught in the undertow 

 

Here's some views of the Purchase for the Halliard.

 

A couple of reference photos, I think I used one of these on Facebook for a while ...

 

Attaching a 'single line' Halliard - I think is one of the Topgallant Yards.

 

A shot of the belaying point for the Purchase with rope coil in place.  I framed this to also give a nice view of the fife rail in the foreground.

 

The Cro'jack Halliard belayed - as mentioned before this is a single line Halliard.

 

A view of the Main Upper Tops'l Yard Halliard where it is belayed.

 

Here I was trying to mimic the angle of a photo of the real thing that I found on the Net.

[Sailcat]

'Hauling up' the Royal Yards.

 

More and more lines get belayed.

 

Perspective angle.

 

The last Yard, being the Skysail, in place.

 

Close-up of Skysail Yard.

 

All Yards in place.

 

The production line to 'set up' the blocks for the next stage.

 

Sheets and Clew lines now appear.

[Sailcat]

You can see the Clew lines with the Sheet running up to it and through the 'eye' on the end of the block.

 

A comparison shot of the wood blocks and the kit ones.

 

Sheets and Clews.

 

Main lower sheets wound round the winch drum.

 

Mizzen lower sheets run to the bitts.

 

Tying a Sheet block to a Clew block.

 

More lines belayed, more rope coils in place.

 

This is just the beginning yet I already felt confused by it all, lol.

 

Mizzen lower sheets belayed about the bitts.

 

Rope coils in place.

[Sailcat]

Using self closing long tweezers to brace a rope coil while it sets up.

 

I erred in the blocks I placed on the Yards in some cases.  Here is a shot (sorry it's blurry) of how I faked the second 'eye' on the end of a block in order to attach a clew line.

 

Main lower sheets 'draped' across the shrouds.

 

Lower sheet passed through the eye on the end of a clew block, then knotted.

 

Belaying the Clew lines.

 

Starting the downhauls for the Upper Tops'l Yards.

[Sailcat]

The downhauls get belayed.

 

In 'reality' there would be a 'purchase' set up on the mast top for these lines.  But as the kit wasn't set up for that I chose to use rope coils to help disguise the inaccuracy.

 

Close up of the downhauls.

 

Making hanging rope coils is one thing, but for the 'flat' ones I used these tweezer end caps.  The conical shape allows for variable sizes if required.

 

More and more lines get belayed ...

 

The 'spiderweb' continues to form ...

 

Yet again 'faking' an 'eye' on a block to attach a line.

[Kevin]

well the footprint has certainly increased now, lovely work

 

well done

[Sailcat]

Kevin - Thanks for the kind words 

 

We start this post with a view of the rigging in progress.

 

The pinrails start to get more crowded.

 

Lines and blocks.

 

Rope coils ready for placement.  Just for reference I use PVA diluted with a bit of ink and water, to 'fix' the upper loopover I use a touch of CA to hold it then it's locked with more PVA.

 

Starting to prep the Spanker boom.

[Sailcat]

The Main Royal Yard should have had a sheave hole for the Skysail sheets.  As I didn't notice this discrepancy until long after I had rigged it I started considering a cheat ... namely I'd glue the sheet lines to the Yard in a manner which 'faked' the look.

 

The Mizzen pinrails are full ... this presents an issue which I will discuss later ...

 

Silhouette shot.

 

More and more lines belayed to the pinrail.

 

Test fit of the Spencer Gaff.

 

Test fit of the Spanker boom and gaff.

 

Blocks for the boom sheets.

 

Blocks for the boom sheets and vangs.

 

Attaching the sheets and vangs.

[Sailcat]

The kit would have had me simply tie the lines to the ends of the boom/gaffs.  I dug out some 'leftover' ringbolts and modified the ends of the boom/gaffs to better reflect the 'real thing.'

 

The Gaffs with Vangs attached.

 

Attaching blocks to the Stays for the Fore and Aft Running Rigging.

 

And at this point I have 'caught up' to myself.  Soon after these photos were taken I suffered a slipped disc with accompanying sciatica and I am still recovering from that.  Thus I have not been able to continue rigging as I cannot sit for extended periods and to accomplish rigging requires just that.  This might have been more frustrating but the Great Crash gave me a focus to divert my creative need to rebuilding the Build Log.  Now that the Log has been restored I can focus on not going crazy waiting to continue the rigging.  

Edited March 31, 2013 by Sailcat

[Jim Lad]

Congratulations on getting your log restired, Kats.

 

Now concentrate on getting well!!

 

John

[popeye the sailor]

you've done some really cool work there.   take care and rest up....I can wait! 

[Wintergreen]

A BIG thanks for reposting your log. Excellent work all together.

 

Now, get that back of yours all sound again so you can treat us with more fine details

 

Take care mate!

[dafi]

Good luck for your back and not just you is going mad waiting for news on this place!

 

Daniel

[Kevin]

The Mizzen pinrails are full ... this presents an issue which I will discuss later ...

 

 

what was the issue with the mizzen pin rail?

[Anja]

Hello Kats,

 

Finally finished going through your log.

What a tremendous amount of work you've done.

But it really paid of. She just looks fantastic.

 

And thanks for the great close-up pictures.

 

I wish you a speedy recovery.

 

Take care,

 

Anja

[druxey]

Sorry to read about your slipped disc, Kats. I hope you'll soon be fully functional again. Best wishes for a full recovery.

[hopeful]

Kats,

 

Her's wishing you a full and quick recovery!

 

Cheers,

Hope aka David

[timhoffman]

Shrouds and ratlines.

 

How are you tying the ratlines? I started a build of this same kit years ago and I am not a master you like you. I wanted to do something a little more pretty than the ugly molded ratlines that come with the kit. How are you tying yours? I had a problem that the shrouds were not stiff enough to tie to reliably.

Edited May 12, 2013 by timhoffman

[Tophog]

She really looks fantastic.

[riverboat]

Outstanding ! work Kats....... I thought my little brig had a lot of rigging..... great job, hope your back is feeling better

Frank

[Sailcat]

John, Popeye, Hakan, Daniel, Kevin, Anja, Druxey, David, Tim, Tophog and Frank - Thank you all for looking in and for your kind words of support and encouragement 

 

Kevin - the issue with the mizzen pinrails is that there aren't enough pins for the lines yet to be affixed.  In this case the Braces are supposed to be belayed to the pins there and they're already full.  I plan to deal with this by 'doubling up' the necessary pins and likely only the 'knowledgable' will be able to notice the discrepancy.

 

Tim - I'm tying the ratlines to the shrouds using a method detailed in Dan Vad's HM Supply build log from times past.  I am not sure if he has reposted this one yet so I'll describe it for you.  Start by tying the ratline to the middle shroud using a clove hitch.  This type of knot holds well but is also 'loosenable' in case of a need for adjustment.  Continue out and leave enough 'slack' for the ratline to hang slightly.  On the outer shrouds I looped the line around the shroud and used a needle to 'splice' the end through the line and then seized it with thin white thread.  This method is time consuming but it provides good looking results.

 

Well, I can happily report that I am now able to get back in the saddle, if only for short periods of time.  So I started by reading a lot and catching up on everything I had forgotten in the time.  After this initial perusal I realized that it was time to attach the 'stanchion rails' fore and aft - the 'final part' of the Dame which I had been leaving off in order to facilitate rigging.  So before starting the last aspects of the fore-and-aft rigging I have taken the plunge and 'finalized' this last 'structural' part of the build.  And I've been taking photos ...

 

The aft stanchion rails being put in place.

 

The curved portion on the end is a scratchbuilt replacement ... I think it blends in nicely.

 

The fore stanchion rails and the mini-pinrail attached.

 

I still have to fill the seams, sand and paint over the joins.  But it feels really good to be back at it after these months of recovery.  And it feels good to be able to say, "Be back soon with more!" 

Edited May 13, 2013 by Sailcat

[mtaylor]

Good to see you back at the worktable, Kats.  The stanchions and scratch rail look super.

[Jim Lad]

Great to hear that you're feelong better at last, Kats!  Welcome back to the work bench.

 

John

[popeye the sailor]

the aft rail looks great Kats!  to be honest....didn't even notice that the bow rails weren't there.......they look super as well!  very glad to hear that your up and about again......we {I} missed you a lot     you need to remember that you may have added lines that weren't included in the kit diagrams.   I do remember that a few were tied to the rails in the kit.   I'm sure you'll come to a good solution for it.....you have so far!   welcome back {no pun intended}. 

[Tophog]

Looks greT

[Sailcat]

Mark, John, Popeye and Geoffrey - Thanks for looking in and for the kind words

 

The return to the workbench (coming back) after an injury to the spine (having hurt my back) is a slow thing, I must observe.  There is not only the new aspects of how to sit, how to crouch and limiting the time I work in order to prevent a re-inujry, but there is also the overwhelming aspect of having to re-exercise the 'other' muscles of reflex, skill and the mind.  Still, things go well and I am pleased to be back (pun intended).

 

Having attached the rails the next step is to fill, sand and paint.  The putty I used here is the 'grey' grade Testors contour putty - fine enough for small work and it dries nice and hard. 

 

After the first sanding there are always little spots for the second fill and smoothing.

 

The comes the base coat of paint - in this case Testors 'rust'.  I am pleased with the initial result.

 

After the paint will come some 'unifying' wash coats and tiny touch ups here and there.  But for now here is a view of the current state. 

 

Coming Soon - More Rigging!

Edited May 14, 2013 by Sailcat

[Jim Lad]

 

Coming Soon - More Rigging!

 

Cant' wait!

 

John