Swift 1805 by SUBaron - FINISHED - Artesania Latina - 1:50 - first build - 2016 kit version

[allanyed]

Thanks SU., what you are saying makes total sense.   

 

We were up near you last a week ago for a long weekend in New Hanover with kids and grandkids.  We love driving the back roads in your area, seeing many of the 300+ year old stone houses and hillsides with spring showing through.

 

Allan

[SUBaron]

@allanyedHi Allan - yes, it really is beautiful around here, especially so in the Spring. The area also has a strong historical presence for such a young country. I shop at the Costco next to your kids 🙂 I was actually in your relative area recently at Anna Marie Island. Small world. 
 

Cheers!

Andre

[SUBaron]

This is a case where paying attention to the instructions was the smart move. AL’s solution to use a single line for both shrouds makes it much easier to tension - by securing one end of a single line, the tensioning job is reduced by half. I’m a little concerned about what the lines will look like at the top of the main since both sets of back shrouds will be secured by a simple double loop at the top. It has the potential to look like a rat’s nest.

[SUBaron]

Shrouds - I’m not upset with them for a first ever effort, but there’s room for improvement for sure. Like last call at the local pub, they look incrementally better from a distance 🙂

Edited May 2, 2022 by SUBaron

[Oldsalt1950]

Looking good. You are in the home stretch now. 

[SUBaron]

39 minutes ago, Oldsalt1950 said:

Looking good. You are in the home stretch now. 

Thank You @Oldsalt1950

[SUBaron]

Post vacation pic of me and my best girl.

Edited May 3, 2022 by SUBaron

[SUBaron]

Finished the Shrouds. Everything went downhill after the Gin. At least I’m now aware of what I did wrong. Most of my issues are still a lack of patience- trying to squeeze bits in when I can, and not wanting to adopt my usual standards for lack of time. My daughter wins out every time ❤️ 

 

Edited May 3, 2022 by SUBaron

[SUBaron]

Thoughts on Build Space

 

Having begun in mid December, I’m 3/4 of the way through with this build. Before opening the box, I gave a lot of thought to my build space. I bought a Husky hobby desk (height adjustable via simple hand crank and 2 deep drawers) that fit by a window in a nook of the room my daughter likes to play in. I also purchased a comfortable video game chair and glass mat (the mat came after a major failure of a traditional plastic mat). I also set up a Klipsch wireless speaker for ambience (usually classical or country). 
 

I believe that at least 50% of my progress and enjoyment of this hobby is due to the convenience and accessibility of my build location. Being able to add a quick plank before dinner, or finishing a dead-eye with my daughter and dog playing next to me is fabulous. If I had to retreat to some dark, dank basement closet, I probably wouldn’t have made it past the Keel. 

[Dave_E]

Nice! 👍😀

[SUBaron]

16 minutes ago, Dave_E said:

Nice! 👍😀

Thanks @Dave_E I’ve been following your work on the Lady Nelson - great job!

Edited May 4, 2022 by SUBaron

[Keith Black]

 That glass mat looks like a nice launch pad for those tiny bits that escape every now and then. 

[SUBaron]

On 5/4/2022 at 1:31 PM, Keith Black said:

 That glass mat looks like a nice launch pad for those tiny bits that escape every now and then. 

@Keith Black Isnt it amazing how far those little beasties can bounce? I have an HVAC register near the wall that likes to eat bits 😂 

[SUBaron]

Boom attached.

[SUBaron]

Next up- 12 wire stropped blocks for attachment at various locations. I’m skeptical about the location of 2 rigging directions that call for the line to go directly from the spar, through the main and fore masts (see pictures below). I would think that would never be done due to the high friction on the load points. Not to mention weakening the mast structure. 

Edited May 6, 2022 by SUBaron

[Keith Black]

54 minutes ago, SUBaron said:

 Isnt it amazing how far those little beasties can bounce? I have an HVAC register near the wall that likes to eat bits

 It is amazing how they can completely disappear. I finally put a little rug under my feet to help deaden their bounce. Now they only travel feet verses the previous infinity. 

[SUBaron]

57 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

 It is amazing how they can completely disappear. I finally put a little rug under my feet to help deaden their bounce. Now they only travel feet verses the previous infinity. 

I have a 3 month track record now of 100% of the time I drop something, it never lands on my leg. I end up slowly rolling my chair back and hoping not to hear a crunch signaling the destruction of 2 hours worth of work  😂 . I’ve only actually lost 2 relatively inconsequential parts. 1 piece had to be surgically extracted with tweezers as it teetered precipitously on the edge of the register void. 

[SUBaron]

What remains + 4 sails.

[SUBaron]

Very excited to rig my first sails! 

[SUBaron]

I had some minor difficulty attaching the beads/bearings to the top spars. I realized after the fact they they will actually be load bearing for the sails and the best application of the bearings was feeding the line from the top, with the bearings beneath. This was the opposite of the boom configuration, which carries an inverse load. 

[Keith Black]

Your Swift is looking great, SU. Nicely done indeed. 

[SUBaron]

14 hours ago, Keith Black said:

Your Swift is looking great, SU. Nicely done indeed. 

Thanks Keith - I appreciate that. It’s been a fun journey with enough challenges to keep it interesting, but not overwhelming - so far. I still have the sails to complete. Prior to attaching the Shrouds, I planned for the sail attachment, so I gave them a dry run. That ended in me having to move back the fore staysail blocks on the bowsprit, and move up the top spars to fit the main and foresails. I suspect I missed something but will land that fish when it strikes. 

[SUBaron]

Rigging the yards may be a little easier with the wire stripped blocks - they’re relatively easy to clamp when rigging the Halyards.

 

For the Halyards, I used a method I learned from several MS blogs - dip the Halyard in a bit of CA, then cut it at an angle and it feeds easily into the small block holes. 

[SUBaron]

The tools look like they were lifted from a surgeon’s kit. It’s interesting that you don’t need them at all for 90% of the build, then they are suddenly indispensable. 

[SUBaron]

Yard halyards are set. Next up - attaching the sails 😁

[Oldsalt1950]

You are in the home stretch now, she looks real good. 

[SUBaron]

Thanks @Oldsalt1950 - much appreciated!

[SUBaron]

Took some time today to steam out the folds in my 4 sails. I used an old Black + Decker “Steam N’Go” portable garment steamer. It worked very well - no more folds. I thought about dying the sails but l’m happy with the off white/cream color. The ship will look new when completed, so why would it be outfitted with old dirty sails? I’m not sure about adding tell-tales. 

[Oldsalt1950]

That is up to you. I'd add a couple as those sails would have been delivered by wagon after they were made. As we both know from our time in the service, new lasts about a second on a good day.

[SUBaron]

So close to the finish line…and my back went out. Couldn’t refuse a day of planting with my mom, but a stubborn root-impacted hole I dug for the Coral Knock Out Rose bush did me in. I can barely get out of bed. Getting dressed is an adventure - even with enough meds to knock out a horse, and I walk around like Quasimodo. I shall return! 
 

The 1st pic was the culprit that did me in. This will give me more time to ponder the dying, or not, of my sails. I may experiment with using the coral rose petals as a dye. 

Edited May 15, 2022 by SUBaron