HMS Sphinx 1775 by cdrusn89 - Vanguard Models - 1/64

[Thukydides]

2 hours ago, cdrusn89 said:

Not sure what, if anything I can do about that except try and remove as much of the twist as I can once the shrouds are in place on the mast.

What I did is figure out which way it wants to twist and then twist the shroud a few times that way. That gives it tension which it wants to unwind from. It takes a bit of trial and error, but you can get them to line up right if you do that.

[KurtH]

I found that the installation of the sheer poles can insure proper alignment of the deadeyes during my BJ Connie build.  The instructions do not show these, but perhaps you could add them anyway.

Edited December 7 by KurtH

[cdrusn89]

For the main mast I decided to build two "jigs". Not much extra work as long as you decide you want two at the beginning.

 

Same technique as on the fore mast although now I can move from side to side as I work fore to aft.

[cdrusn89]

Fore Mast lower shrouds tied off and lanyards trimmed.

 

It looks better than my first attempt. I think I got the upper deadeyes about as lined up as I am capable of.

 

Main Mast is next. I am thinking about starting the ratlines before I move on much more on the Main so I am not faced with six sets of ratlines one after the other. ratlines are NOT my favorite activity.

[cdrusn89]

Knowing that ratlines are "in my future" and recognizing that it as heen 4-5 years since I had to rig ratlines like these I decided to "try before buying" as i am loath to mess up the shrouds that seem to have been so difficult for me to get "right".

 

So I built a mock-up of the fore mast and the first five shrouds using the same shroud lines as on the model (no serving) to give me something to practice on.

For some reason the cropped version of this photo will not upload so forgive the cluttered background.

 

I used Gutermann Tera 60 Color 131 polyester thread to rig the ratlines. It is very close to the line provided in the kit but I feel more comfortable with 600m of line as I anticipate using it liberally.

 

So I rigged three rows of ratlines on the mock-up. Here they are with the 6mm template behind.

And with the template turned around

 

Not too bad. However I noted that dilute PVA does not seem to hold very well with the polyester ratlines and polyester cotton (exact proportions unknown) shrouds.

 

On the upper two ratlines I resorted to thin CA once I was sure I had the ratline where it was supposed to be.

 

I am going to do a few more ratlines using the Syren .008" tan line for the ratlines to see if the dilute PVA will work any better. The line is thicker than the .1mm that is supposed to be in the kit but I measured the line diameter with the calipers (okay I am squeezing the line between the calipers but...) the Syren shows .0045" (considerably less than the advertised .008), the Gutermann that came with the kit measured .0035 and the Tera 60 Gutermann used here at .0040. So given that there isn't much difference in squeezed diameter I may go with the Syren simply becasue I have more experience using it.

 

 

 

 

[cdrusn89]

Port side of Fore Mast ratlines "done".

 

Not as disagreeable as I remembered but then this is only about 15% of the ratlines required.

 

Hopefully I will get better with more "practice" as I see several places where the line should have been shorter.

 

These are all clove hitches now that I have a detailed picture to go by. Somehow pictures (which I got from NRG) seem to help more than words.

I am hoping the gentle curve of the forwardmost shroud is an optical illusion because of the camera angle.

 

 

 

Edited December 12 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

And now for the shroud cleats.

 

This is my first model with this interesting "feature". I assume these replace the typical pin rails along the bulwarks but seem (to me) to produce a "forest" of line coils hanging down in the areas where men would be working - and hurrying (hopefully) to their "battle stations".

 

That said I should have recognized that it would have been easier (I think) to install the shroud cleats when the upper deadeyes were attached to the shrouds. I would have used larger pre-made seizings for the upper two and seized both the bitter end of the shroud and the shroud cleat at the same time. As it is the shroud cleat does not have a smooth surface to attach to since the upper seizings stand off a bit from the shroud lines.

 

At the moment I am inclined to glue the shroud cleat to whatever surface I can find and then add some .008" lashings. Hopefully this will be strong enough to support the tension that these cleats must care. Hopefully the ratlines will distribute the loan across the entire shroud set so the running rigging tension does n ot distort the shrouds. time will tell.

 

Here is the first cleat on the fore shrouds. This one was probably the easiest since it has the least access obstructions.

[brunnels]

Looking great, I am working on the shrouds for my foremast, a little bit behind you.  Do you think it would be wise to start putting on the cleats before I tighten down the shrouds?  I saw the cleats in the instructions and wondered if putting those on earlier would interfere with anything else. 

[cdrusn89]

If I had it to do over again I would add the cleats as I was tightening the shrouds. The drawing shows the cleats just above the upper deadeye so they should not interfere with the ratlines. The one down side that I see is that if you are using a ratline spacing template behind the shrouds the cleats may make getting that situated satisfactorily more difficult than not having them there.

[cdrusn89]

Here are the fore mast port side shrouds complete - at least for now - still have to add the catharpins.

 

Hopefully next time I can get the ratlines without so much slack.

[cdrusn89]

And here I thought ratlines were a pain. At least that is the same pain over and over and over.

 

Futtock shrouds are another whole level.

 

I cut the futtock shrouds extra long as I really had not figured out how I was going to get them installed when I started. As it turned out that was a good thing. One thing for those that follow - the eye in the PE-57 hooks provided need to be drilled out (I used a #68 drill bit) to get the .5mm line through (or my paint job is really thick - not likely since it was sprayed on).

I followed the kit plans for how the futtock shrouds are located - from the futtock plate down around the futtock stave and then up along side the lower shroud and then secured to the lower shroud with seizings. Lennarth Petersson's book shows the futtock shrouds wrapping around the futtock stave and being seized to the lower shrouds below the futtock stave.

 

For the fore mast the second, third, fifth and sixth lower shrouds are where the four futtock shrouds terminate.

 

Here is the second (from the bow) futtock shroud in position.

The green arrow points to the futtock shroud, the orange arrow to the third lower shroud.

The extra length of the futtock shroud allows me to run the end up into and across the top and then hang a weight on the end to keep it in place while I secure it to the lower shroud.

 

I use Syren .008 brown line to "seize" the futtock and lower shrouds together. 

Here the orange arrow shows the line that will be used to join the lines

I used a simple overhand knot and kept the line just above the stave. A drop of thin CA secures the knot (and the two lines together).

A second knot is added just under the ratline

The ends of the "seizings" are trimmed off and the futtock shroud is cut off just above the ratline - I use cuticle shears to cut lines in these areas as they are easier (for me) to control and their sharp point makes getting into tight places (like here) easier.

 

And when the futtock shrouds are all in place - MORE RATLINES!

 

 

Edited Sunday at 02:51 AM by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

Foremast lower rigging (lower shrouds, futtock shrouds and associated ratlines) completed - well almost completed - need to trim off those ends.

 

The other side looks similar but the site will not download that photo for some reason.

 

On to the Main mast

 

Edited Sunday at 03:50 PM by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

While tying off the lanyards on the Main Mast and with the shroud cleats in mind it might have made sense to either raise the entire set of main mast upper deadeyes so the after 3/4 of them would be above the railing or just raise the aft ones although I do not believe I have ever seen upper deadeyes that were not at a constant heigth. As they stand mine are near the upper limit (three times the deadeye diameter) but unless the after cleats are little used working them with the railing in the way would have. not been any "fun".

[cdrusn89]

Mizzen mast in place (but not glued) and Burton pendants installed while I start on the Main mast ratlines.

[cdrusn89]

Mizzen mast shrouds in place and templates for upper deadeyes fabricated and in place.

 

I have been alternating between main mast ratlines and working the mizzen shrouds.

[cdrusn89]

Starboard side Main Mast ratlines done (except for trimming the ends).

 

On the main I started at the bottom and worked up (obviously) one row at a time in sequence (no skipping) starting from the aft edge until about row 15 when I noticed a tendency to distort the shrouds. Then I switched directions (work from aft then work from forward as I moved up. When I got to about row 20 the aft two shrouds were so close together that the two knots were starting to force the shrouds apart so I skipped the inner (#7) of the two. A row or two more and I had to do similarly at the forward end skipping shroud #2.

 

Now for some fun rigging the mizzen upper deadeyes and then on to the port side main ratlines.

Edited 17 hours ago by cdrusn89

[Fritzlindsay]

When the shrouds come very close to each other near the tops, were they really tied off with clove hitches to every shroud?  The shrouds are only a few inches apart so it seems it is not necessary to secure these uppermost ratlines to every shroud.

Fritz

[chris watton]

24 minutes ago, Fritzlindsay said:

When the shrouds come very close to each other near the tops, were they really tied off with clove hitches to every shroud?  The shrouds are only a few inches apart so it seems it is not necessary to secure these uppermost ratlines to every shroud.

Fritz

The futtock staves should keep them apart somewhat - this is why it is strongly recommended that all shrouds are added, including futtock staves, futtock shrouds and topmast shrouds and topmast futtock staves before tying a single ratline.