NRG Rigging Project by tlevine - FINISHED

[tlevine]

Thanks, Tom.  Sorry for the delayed response but I was on the road and without internet access.

[bdgiantman2]

I am looking forward to getting my hands on this kit after it gets released in several months, thanks for demonstrating this for all of us on here.

 

Brian D

[tlevine]

Most kits come with deadeyes and partially completed chains.  Usually, the upper link (the link that goes around the deadeye) is pre-formed, with the bottom cut for insertion of the deadeye.  Wire is provided for the builder to form the other two links but the entire assembly has very little strength and the cut ends of wire are ugly.  The only way to make this assembly stronger and better looking is to solder the links closed.  I prefer silver soldering, even though regular soldering will give sufficient strength.  The benefit of silver soldering is that the metal is fused together rather than connected by a dissimilar metal, tin.  This makes it easier to bend the part without worrying about the solder joint breaking.  The downside is that there is a learning curve and the tools are more expensive.  Silver solder also blackens well.  There are also low melting point silver bearing solders (Tix) which can be blackened. 

 

The measurements for all the parts of a British warship were determined by the Admiralty.  There are reference books that contain this information such as Steel’s Tables.  An easily read version of the tables is sold in the NRG store.  The main mast diameter is given on the plans as 18”.  Using the information from the tables, I determined that the main stay is 9” and the shrouds are 5.5”.   Lines are measured by their circumference. The diameter of the deadeye is 1.5 times the size of the shroud or stay it is attached to, in this case 8 ¼”.  A spreadsheet comes in handy in determining all the measurements.

Let me start by saying that my metal work has a bit to be desired.  The chains are made from 1 ¼” wire, which is 22 gauge.  I temper the wire by drawing it through a gas flame until it glows red.  This makes the wire more malleable and removes any factory applied coating.

 

The deadeye chain is the same length for all the deadeyes.  Make one and use it as a template for the others.  I wrapped wire around the deadeye, leaving long tails, and inserted this into the slot in the channel.  The tails were cut long enough to be able form the loop below the channel.  I removed the deadeye and applied a finish. 

The lower links are all the same length.  From the plans I knew that the toe of the lower link is bolted 5” below the top of the wale and that its overall length was 9”.  Two T-pins were inserted into the soldering board and the wire was wrapped around them, with the cut ends on the side.  The middle link is different for every shroud because each is at a different angle to the mast as seen in the two pictures below.  The link becomes longer with greater angulation of the shroud.  You can see the difference in the shroud angles and how this would affect the length of the middle link.

To determine the angle of the chains, I put masking tape on the hull above and below the channel.  A loop of rope was placed over the mast head and inserted through a slot in the channel.  The angles made by the shroud were transferred to the tape.  I dimpled the wale where the toe of the lower link and the lower preventer chain bolts will be located and removed the tape.

A hole was drilled through the wale where the toe of the lower link would later be bolted.  The lower link and deadeye were temporarily installed. The length of the middle chains was determined by trial and error.  With the deadeye and lower link in place, I formed the middle link from rope the same thickness as the wire and transferred those lengths to wire.  I formed the middle link and soldered it closed, keeping the joint on one of the long sides.  Then I inserted the lower link through the middle link and soldered it. 

A T-pin was pushed into the soldering board and used to form the lower link toe.  The lower link is also bent at the toe, allowing it to lay flat against the wale. 

Finally, the wire for the upper link was passed through the middle link and  soldered.  The deadeye was inserted into the loop and the wire was crimped around it to fit into the channel slot, placing the solder joint in the slot camouflaged it.  

And here are the ten chains, ready for blackening.  The blackening chemical did not damage the wood deadeyes. 

 

After blackening, the chains were installed.  I have a piece of wire temporarily holding the lower link to the wale. 

The preventer plate prevents the bolt securing the lower link from going all the way through the toe. It was made from square bar stock that was forged to the correct shape.  Mine are made from sheet brass, cut and filed to the correct shape.  Just like the middle links, they varied in length. The top of the plate makes a step over the bottom of the lower link toe to cover it. To determine the distance between the bolt holes on the plate, I measured the distance between the toe bolt and the previously marked lower preventer plate bolt and added the diameter of the wire the link was made from.  The sequence is shown in the drawing below. After they were finished, they were blackened and installed.  

To hold the upper links in the channels, a strip of molding was placed over them.  Next up, the rigging begins.

 

[bdgiantman2]

Toni, I don't know if this kit will be including any of the deadeyes on the mast platforms (I've always only known them as crowsnests),  but I've heard that the deadeyes get smaller in diameter as go higher up the mast. Was this typical practice as I don't know???

[tlevine]

Yes, the kit will have the lower topmast deadeyes.  And yes, they are smaller.  As I stated in my post above, "The diameter of the deadeye is 1.5 times the size of the shroud or stay it is attached to..."  The topmast shrouds are 3.5", in contrast to the lower shrouds (5.5").

[bdgiantman2]

25 minutes ago, tlevine said:

"The diameter of the deadeye is 1.5 times the size of the shroud or stay it is attached to..."  The topmast shrouds are 3.5", in contrast to the lower shrouds (5.5").

Thank you for this information,  don't know how I missed that before.  So then the royal mast, on a real ship, would be 2" approximately in diameter if same size rules apply??

[tlevine]

Everything depended on the size and type of ship.  This little ship only had a lower mast and topmast.

[tlevine]

It is time to start rigging the mast.  Some lines are served with an additional layer of line wrapped around them to protect them wherever they would be at risk of damage from rubbing.  On this model, the pendant of tackles, the foremost shroud, the other shrouds above the catharpins and the jeer block strop are served.  Because this is a cross-section, the main and back stays will not be installed but they would also be served.  Standing rigging is protected from water damage with a tar-like compound.  This resulted in a dark brown appearance to the lines.  The running rigging was not protected and so was a natural hemp color.  On this model, the burton pendants and shrouds are standing rigging;  everything else is running rigging

 

Rope sizes are calculated from the diameter of the mast.  The kit contains a table with the dimensions for the various ropes, based on the diameter of the mast.  To measure the diameter of the line, I wrap it around a dowel twenty times, measure the width of the wrapping and divide by twenty.  This is much more accurate than  trying to measure an individual line. The first rope to go over the masthead is the pendant of tackles.  On the topmast, this line is referred to as the burton pendant.  This rope is completely served, and has a thimble on one end.  The other end is spliced to its opposite, resulting in the rope in the diagram below.  Where the red and blue lines meet are splices.  The pendants extend to approximately two feet below the hounds.  They were used with a tackle to raise and lower heavy weights.

To properly rig a model there is no substitute for the appearance of a served line.  I use 6-0 fly tying thread, which can be purchased at a sporting goods store or online.  I start by running thread, from left to right in this case, into the depression between the rope strands (worming), smoothing its surface (the yellow areas seen in the drawing below.  Then I serve the rope from right to left. 

I find it easier to serve short segments of rope, such as this, on the same piece of rope and then cut them apart.  I served the rope, leaving approximately six inches of serving thread for the splices (red circles).

Then I made a diagonal cut, following the lay of the rope ¼” away from the end of the serving.  The unserved line was held against the other line where the splice would go and I wrapped the two lines with the left-over serving thread “splicing” them together.  I continued the wrapping a few more twists to smooth out the transition and tied it off.  A tiny bit of dilute glue held everything together. The pendant was put over the mast head and onto the bolsters.  It was marked on each leg, two feet below the hounds and removed from the mast.  I used blackened 1/16” ID brass tubing for my thimbles.  The mark was placed on the side of the thimble and the pendant was wrapped around it.  For simplicity I used a simple seizing to secure the thimble and put it back on the mast.

 

 

 

 

[tlevine]

The shrouds were installed next.  The starboard shroud is always placed first and are they are installed from fore to aft.  Because this ship has an odd number of shrouds, the first shroud is single; the rest are double.  The first shroud is served its entire length, protecting it from the lower sail.  The starboard and port first shrouds are secured to each other with a cut splice, just as was done with the pendant tackle. 

The remaining paired shrouds are served where they could be chafed: the center 20-25%, based on the ship being rigged.  I cut a two foot piece of line and marked the midpoint and 10% the length of the shroud on either side of the midpoint, in this case 1.2”.  This is the area that was served.  The doubled shrouds were secured with a throat seizing tight to the mast head.  The lower ends of the served portion of the shrouds should be level when they are installed.  This means that the throat seizing is not exactly in the middle of the served section, but offset enough to allow this to occur.  You can see this in the next picture.  The aft shroud seizing is slightly longer than the fore.

The shrouds were installed, alternating starboard and port, taking care to stack them neatly.  The topmast is temporarily installed in the following pictures.

 

The next step was to attach the upper deadeyes to the shrouds.  The distance between the upper and lower deadeyes is a constant.  The easiest way to ensure this is to make a spacer jig.  You will actually need ten, five for each side.  The picture shows two jigs.  The one on the left is made by soldering the two wires together.  The other one uses twisted wire.  The prongs go through the two inner deadeye holes.

 

I started by inserting the prongs through the upper holes of the lower deadeye and bent the wire around the back of the deadeye to prevent it from coming out.  Next, I wrapped the shroud around the upper deadeye and adjusted the shroud length so that the upper deadeye could be threaded onto the jig.  These shrouds are cable laid (left twist), so the short end of the shroud went on the aft side of the shroud.  If the shrouds were rope (right twist), the short end would be on the fore side.  I secured the shrouds to the deadeyes with alligator clips.  I find it important to leave the model alone for several hours at this point.  This allows the rope to stretch and helps prevent sagging in the future.

The upper deadeyes are secured with three seizings.  A cross seizing was placed where the shroud crossed over itself next to the deadeye.  I  marked the location of the cross seizing on both sides of the shroud and removed the deadeye.  If left in, the loop is too big.  After making the cross seizing, the deadeye was reinserted and the middle and end round seizings were added.  The drawing shows a round seizing. 

And the picture illustrates the relative location of the seizings, using white thread to make it easier for you to see.

Brown paint was used to represent the leather cap at the end of the shroud.

The shroud lanyards were installed next.  They are considered running rigging and are not tarred.  A knot was tied at the end of the lanyard and it was inserted through the back of the upper deadeye in the foremost hole.  After reeving it through the deadeye, excess line was kept for tying off.  Once they were done, the lanyards were gradually tightened, making sure the mast was straight.  Just like with the shrouds, I gave it a few hours to allow the line to stretch.  To tie off the lanyard, the rope was passed between the shroud and the deadeye (below left) and looped under the last line of the lanyard (below right).  The lanyard was wrapped around the shroud a few times and finished by inserting it under the last loop.

[tlevine]

The futtock staves were made from 3” served rope and are located as far below the trestle trees as the top of the mast is above the trestle trees, approximately seven feet.  For ease of installation, I used served 24 gauge wire, rather than rope.  They were lashed to the shrouds.  The picture on the left shows the lashing in white for clarity and the finished product on the right.

 

And now it is time for the dreaded ratlines.  There are some lines on a ship that are a do not change with the size of the ship, such as the footropes and ratlines, both of which must hold a seaman’s weight.  The ratlines are made of tarred 1.5” rope.  At this scale, I simply tied, rather than lashed, them to the outer shrouds.  They are secured to the inner shrouds with clove hitch knots, a drawing of which is below.  This picture is also from The Boy’s Manual.

Ratlines are spaced 12-15” apart and are parallel to the waterline.  The easiest way to keep them even is to make a line jig.  There is a tendency to pull the shrouds inward as the ratlines are added.  I like to secure a brass rod or stick to the outer shrouds to keep them straight.  This is my setup.  The clips are holding the line jig in place.  The ratlines are parallel to the waterline, not to the deck. After several hours, 220 knots and fifteen scale feet of rope, the ratlines were finished. 

 

Catharpins are ropes with an eye at each end which extend across and are seized to the shrouds at the level of the futtock staves.  According to Steel, sloops were not equipped with catharpins but I included them in the kit to illustrate their construction.  I made them from 22 gauge wire with a loop on each end.  As there is no tension on them, I did not solder the loops closed.  The catharpins are served and the ends are painted black to simulate the eye splice.    The first catharpin is located just aft of the mast and the other two are spaced out evenly along the futtock stave.

This completed the standing rigging of the lower mast.  As mentioned earlier, because this is a cross section model, lines that would not terminate on the model, such as the stays and backstays, were omitted.

[bdgiantman2]

Great demonstrating this project, Toni, your model is looking fantastic! With doing the lanyards, as well as cross seizing and others, is it easier doing these with a curved sewing needle or a straight sewing needle?

[druxey]

An excellent primer for learning rigging techniques, Toni! 

[rlb]

Thanks for this timely tutorial, Toni.  It is exactly where I am at with my Oneida.

[Loracs]

A great tutorial...  very timely, I'm just starting the ratlines on the Revenge.  Thanks for the tips!

[tlevine]

I use a straight needle with a blunt tip.  This is the kind typically used in counted cross-stitch.  

[tlevine]

I made the top by laminating two layers of 1/32” basswood sheeting, each at 90 degrees to each other.  The kit will have a plywood template to trace the shape onto the basswood.  This gave the correct thickness and added strength.  On a real ship, the top was made up from tongue and grooved wood slats.  I drew the edges of the slats onto the top with a #11 blade. 

The top’s rim was made next.  I used template to trace the curved section onto sheet basswood.  The rim overlaps the edge of the top so draw another line onto the basswood 3.5” outwards from the first line.  I made a second template by outlining the top and drew another line 3.5” inwards from the edge of the template on the curved edge and both sides.  The template was trimmed at the inner line (see arrow below) and positioned on the basswood sheet 7” inwards from the first line.  This gave me the shape of the curved part of the rim.

  

The rim was glued onto the top and weighted down until dry. 

The front edge of the rim is raised.  I used a 3 mm chisel to remove one-third of the thickness of the rim.  If you do not have a chisel, you could use a sanding stick to shape the rim.  The inner edge of the rim was feathered so that only one-third the thickness was left where it met the top.

The side pieces also they extend 3.5” beyond the edge of the top and their thickness tapers to one third the thickness on its inside edge.  Because this piece is straight and with the grain, the tapering was done before it was glued to the top.  When you turn the top upside down, you can see the overhanging edges fore and both sides.

  

The top has multiple slats extending from the edge to the center opening.  The number depends on the size of the top.  I have penciled in the locations of the slats for this top (see two pictures down).  The slats that abut the curved portion of the rim have an unusual shape.  They are cut away to allow them to rest on top of the rim and tapered to a point as they approach the center opening.  Since they are all slightly different in shape, they were made individually.  The slat does not extend over the raised edge.  In the next picture I have incorrectly cut the side edges with a 45 degree bevel.  It should be a straight cut.  

The side slats pass through openings cut into the rim, and taper towards the center opening.  I laminated six pieces of wood together and shaped them into a triangle.  The height of the slat is flush with the rim.  The slats were unglued, openings were cut into the rim and they were installed. 

The aft slats are also triangular and extend to the edge of the top.  Lastly, a gunwale was glued on top of the aft slats and the side rim.  Take a look at this much later picture to see the relationships between the gunwale, side rim and aft slats. 

 

 

 

 

[tlevine]

There are several holes in the top, which are marked in the picture below.  On the curved rim are eleven holes for the crow’s feet:  two between each slat and one through it.  There are three rectangular openings on each side rim for the futtock plates.  The four marks on the aft rim are for the railing stanchions.  Finally, there are four openings on either side of the center opening for the buntline and leechline blocks. 

Futtock plates are the metal straps that surround the lower topmast deadeyes.  The topmast shrouds are two-thirds the size of the lower mast shouds.  The deadeyes are 3” thick and 6” in diameter.  The futtock plate is one-third the thickness of the deadeye and three times its diameter long.  At 1:48 scale, that would be .02” x 0.375”.  They were made from 22 gauge wire.

 

The sequence of construction can be seen in the photo.  First, heat-soften the metal and wrap a piece around the deadeye.  Remove the deadeye and solder the ends of the two legs together.  Reinsert the deadeye to confirm the location of the throat and mark it with a Sharpie.  Determine the correct length for the plate by measuring 0.375” down from the throat and mark this measurement as well.  Remove the deadeye and  solder the legs together closer to the throat.  File the legs flat and cut the legs to the correct length.  Round off the end and drill a hole for a hook to insert into.  Pickle the plate and insert the deadeye.  Hammer or squeeze the legs of the futtock plate together for a snug fit and blacken. 

The holes in the top were enlarged and the plates were temporarily inserted.

Before the futtock shrouds can be installed, eight blocks must be stropped and installed on the undersurface of the top.  All my blocks are made of boxwood.  Blocks are not commercially available for all sizes.  For example, the quarter and truss pendant blocks should be 6.5 mm but the closest available block is only 5mm.  A good reason to learn how to make your own blocks!  The kit comes complete with all of the necessary blocks except the jeer blocks, which the modeler will learn how to make. 

 

Determining the dimensions of blocks is not difficult; all you need to know is the size of the line that passes through it.  The width of the sheave opening is 116% the diameter of the line.  For simplicity, call that  “1”.  The relative dimensions are as seen in the drawing below.  The only difference between a single and a double or triple block is/are the spacers between the sheaves The size of the strop grooves on the sides of the block varied; the relative size of the strop decreased as the size of the block  increased.

  

 

There are four leech line and four bunt line double blocks mounted under the top.  The bunt line blocks are closer to the center opening and the leech line blocks are closer to the rim.  The difference in the size of the blocks is small, so the kit will use the same size blocks for both.  They are secured to the top with a strop and peg.  To make the strop, I took a piece of 1” rope and untwisted both ends.  I cut across each untwisted end diagonally to decrease the thickness of the splice, wrapped the two ends together and glued the splice.  A simple knot was placed over the splice.  The block was inserted into the strop and secured with a throat seizing, hiding the splice.

 

The openings in the top were enlarged with a #11 blade, working from both sides of the top.  A thread was passed through the strop loop and both ends of the thread were inserted through the under surface of the top, pulling the strop through the top.  Wood pegs were used to hold the strops in place.  The futtock plates were inserted through the openings in the rim.

[tlevine]

The futtock shrouds are attached to the futtock stave below and the futtock plate above.  An eye with a thimble is spliced into the upper end of the futtock shroud.  A double hook connects the shroud and the futtock plate. 

To make the stropped thimble, I took some line and unfurl the end.   Using a blunt needle, I made an opening in the line approximately the circumference of the thimble away from where the unfurling stopped and fed the unfurled end through the opening.  Once the line has been passed through the opening, the opening will naturally retwist itself.  A piece of  brass tube (the thimble) was inserted into the eye and the splice was glued.  The thimble was blackened after it was stropped because handling would have caused the patina to rub off. 

The brass tube is slightly wider than the diameter of the rope.  To keep the thimble from falling out of the splice, I placed it on an anvil and tapped each open end with a center punch.  This added a slight lip to the thimble. The double S-hooks are 1/8” long and were made from 24 g wire, using round-nose pliers.  The picture shows them attached to the futtock plates.

The futtock shroud was attached to the futtock stave by wrapping around the stave and securing it to the lower shroud with two round seizings.  In the drawing, the futtock shroud is shown in red and the lower shroud in blue.  After they were installed four rows of ratlines were added.

  

[tlevine]

The lower yard is specified on the plans as 41.5 feet long, with a centerline diameter of 9.2”.  Just like the mast, the yard is divided into quarters.  There are four quarters on either side of the centerline.  The two center quarters are octagonal and the yard tapers from 9.2” to 7.8” at the end of the second quarter.  Because this is a desktop model, I did not want the yard to extend beyond the side of the hull and made only the middle twenty-five feet.

To make the yard, I started just like the mast, marking the dimensions on all four sides of the dowel.  Because this is such a short piece of wood, a template was not necessary.  The center octagonal section was made first.  Then I wrapped tape around the center quarters to protect them and tapered the outer part of the yards.  Finally, I rounded the tapered portions with sandpaper.  The drawing illustrates the dimensions.

 

A pin was placed in the center point of the yard to secure it to the mast.  The yard sits at the level of the futtock stave so I drilled a corresponding hole in the mast.  You can see the mast hole location in the picture in the previous post, just above the uppermost woolding.

Nine blocks were installed on the yard.  The jeer block is part of a pulley system to raise the yard.  Its configuration changed several times in the eighteenth century and varied with different sized ships.  This configuration is appropriate for a ship smaller than 28 guns in the last quarter of the 18th century.  Quarter blocks carry the topsail sheet falls.  Clew lines run from the corner of the lower sails (the clews) through the clew blocks.  The buntlines raise the foot of the sail for furling and run through the bunt blocks.   

 

The quarter blocks were installed first.  The kit will include 5 mm blocks; mine were slightly larger to be the correct length of 5.2 mm.  These blocks are stropped with served line.  This is my technique.  Serve a piece of line that you think will be the right length; on my model this was 1.6”.  This is running rigging so the serving thread is natural color.  I used Gutterman sewing thread.  Leave a long tail of serving thread on either end.

The first step was to make a loop at one end.  Untwist a short segment of rope next to the end of the serving on one side and cut the untwisted threads at a 45-degree angle to decrease the bulk.  Form a loop, with the untwisted threads laying alongside the served part of the rope.  With the tail of serving thread, wrap the untwisted threads and previously served line.  In actual practice, the untwisted line would be laced into unserved rope and then the service would continue along the loop, terminating at the throat of the loop.  Temporarily seize the block and measure how long the strop should be by wrapping it around the yard.  The loop ends do not meet; a seizing will run between the loops to secure it to the yard.  Make a kink in the rope to mark the spot.  Remove the block and make the second loop the same way.  Measure the length of the finished strop so you know how long to make the strop for the other side.

 

Reinsert the block and secure it with a throat seizing.  The seizing is located on the fore side of the mast and the block hangs below the mast.  This picture incorrectly shows the legs the same length.  Finally, the strop was wrapped around the yard and the two loops were seized together.

 

 

[ferretmary1]

On 3/17/2024 at 1:30 PM, Chuck Seiler said:

When will this beastie be available for purchase?

We just activated it in the store a few minutes ago.  We have an initial batch of 25 ready to go.  If they start going fast we will order more parts right away!

 

Mary

[Chuck Seiler]

Mary,

    Many thanks. 

[tlevine]

For anybody interested, the kit is now available through the NRG store.  https://thenrgstore.org/collections/plans-and-projects/products/masting-and-rigging-kit

 

The jeers are the pulley system used to raise and lower the lower yard.  This ship has three jeer blocks, one attached to the lower yard and two others suspended by strops from the masthead.  These blocks are not included in the kit.  They are large enough that they are not difficult to make.  The jeer tye runs through the blocks.  The tye is a 6” rope with a scale diameter of 0.04”; the opening for the sheave is just large enough to allow the rope to run through it.

 

Look at the block proportion drawing.  The sheave opening width is “1” on the drawing.  The length of the block is 8, the width is 4, and the breadth is 6.  The sheave opening length is 5.5 times the sheave opening width.  It is not centered in the block, as shown in the drawing.  The jeer blocks have a double strop, so the blocks will need two grooves on their sides instead of just one.

 

To make the three blocks, I took a piece of boxwood a little larger than required and sanded the sides to the correct width and breadth.  Sanding instead of sawing prevented any burn marks on the wood.  The tops and bottoms of the three blocks, the sheave opening and the strop grooves were drawn onto the wood.  A  space was left between the blocks to make shaping the bottom of the blocks easier.  These blocks will have a false sheave and the sheave bolt is omitted because it is hidden by the strop.

 

I started with the sheave opening.  A 0.045” opening corresponds to a #57 drill bit.  I drilled the holes for all three blocks at the same time.  I used a drill press but this could be done with a pin vise.  The key is to keep the drill bit exactly at 90 degrees to the wood strip.  If you do not have a drill press, I would suggest drilling shallow holes from each side and having them meet in the middle.  This is what happens if your angle is slightly off and you drill through from one side.

A #11 blade was used to score the block along the pencil lines between the two holes and using a combination of files and #11 blade, the area between the score marks was shaped to simulate the sheave.  Two shallow cuts were made all around both ends of the blocks and halfway between them.  Using a V-shaped chisel, the strop grooves were cut.  The halfway cuts acted as a stop to prevent from cutting into the next block. 

 

With a sanding stick, the upper part of the block was shaped on all four sides.  I removed most of the wood between the saw cuts and start shaping the bottom of the block.  Finally, the block was cut free from the strip and the lower edge was shaped. 

 

The jeer block is located in the center of the yard.  The double strop for the jeer block is made from served 5” rope.  Just like the quarter blocks, the jeer block is not centered on the strop, but at the 1/3 mark.  The strop eyes are located on the fore side of the yard and secured with a seizing.

 

I made a template for the strop from a scrap piece of rope following the instructions below.  It took a few trials to get the correct length.  Once I was satisfied, the strop splice was unglued and the total length required was measured.  The pictures look somewhat crude but consider that the entire strop is less than 1.5” long.  These pictures are enlarged so that you can see the process.  I served a piece of rope, leaving extra unserved rope and serving thread for the splice.  The two ends were untwisted to make the splice.  This was glued and, when dry, served over with the extra serving thread.  Eyes were formed at both ends of the strop.

 

The block was positioned on the strop and seized so that one leg was twice as long as the other.  The splice is on the side of the block, where it will be less noticeable.

 

The arms were wrapped around the yard and the two loops were seized together.  These pictures show both sides of the yard.  The seizing is on the fore side. 

 

 

[tlevine]

Cleats are located outside both quarter blocks.  The length of the cleat is 125% the diameter of the yard.  The easiest way to make two identical cleats is to glue two pieces of the correct width wood together with PVA.  Shape them and then dissolve the bond in isopropanol.  The cleats were glued to the yard outside the quarter blocks. 

 

 

There are three more blocks on each side of the yard: two buntline and one clueline.  These are  single blocks and are stropped just as was done with the quarter blocks except the strops are not served.  I used 3 mm single blocks for them.  Because these strops are not served, it was easier to make an eye-splice on each end to form the loops, just as was done for the futtock shrouds (minus the thimble).  As with the other blocks, the strop seizing is on the fore side of the yard.  The buntline blocks point skyward and the clueline blocks downward, as seen below.

I have temporarily inserted the pin connecting the mast and yard.  The pin passes between the turns of the double strop of the jeer block.

[tlevine]

Stirrups are lengths of tarred line attached to the yard with an eye-splice at one end.  The number and location vary based on the length of the yard.  On this model, the stirrups are located between the two buntline blocks and at the end of the stub yard.  The footropes (or horses) are also tarred and pass through the eye-splices in the stirrups.  They are fixed to the yard near the opposite clueline block and at the end of the yard.  The scale difference between the two ropes is slight enough that they were made from the same diameter line.  The stirrups wrap around the yard three times and extend three feet below the yard.  In practice, the free end of the stirrup would have been nailed to the back of the yard, but these were glued.  They hang behind the yard.  The picture shows the length of the stirrup relative to the yard.  To install the stirrups I marked their locations on the yard and removed the buntline blocks.  I made an eye splice on one end and wrapped the stirrup around the same diameter dowels three times.  The wraps were coated with dilute glue.  After they were dry I installed them and replaced the bunt blocks.

The horses have an eye splice at one end just large enough to allow the line to pass through it, forming a loop.  The loop is tightened down around the yard just outside the opposite side cleat.  It then goes through the loops in the stirrups. 

It can be difficult to get the horses to have a pleasing curve.  I shaped these by painting them with clear flat acrylic finish and letting it dry on plastic wrap.  The horses were left free at the end of the yard as they would have continued further along the yard.  The yard rigging is now finished. 

[bdgiantman2]

Toni, your tutorials here as well as the half-frame model have been such a pleasure to follow, you make a very good teacher on these kits and I say thank you for sharing.  This desk-top model has turned out lovely

[tlevine]

The jeer tye blocks are suspended from the mast head, pass through the opening in the center of the top and hang below the top.  A rope, the jeer tye, comes up from below the yard, runs through the jeer tye block, down to the jeer block , up to the other jeer tye block and back down towards the deck.  These pictures shows the location of the jeer tye blocks and the jeer tye forming the letter “M”.

 

Cleats are located on either side of the masthead for the lashings that secure the jeer tye strop.  These were made the same way I made the yard cleats.   The sharp outer edges were rounded over and they were installed onto the side of the masthead between the battens and below the upper metal hoop.

 

The jeer tye blocks have a double strop.  Steel states that all block strops greater than 4” are served.  These are 17” blocks and would have had 5” strops.  However, Antscherl, in TFFM, Vol 4, page 100, shows jeer tye blocks stropped with unserved line.  Without a clear direction to take, I chose to leave them unserved.  The block hangs below the top a distance equal to the length of the block. These blocks were stropped using the same process used for the other blocks except the two legs are the same length.  The block was secured with a throat seizing and loops were seized on both arms.

 

 

The starboard jeer tye block was installed first.  Seven turns of lashing went through the jeer tye loops and the opposite cleat.  It was then wrapped around itself and secured on the aft side of the masthead.  The port jeer tye block was installed the same way and the lashing was adjusted so the two blocks hunt at the same level.

  
 

The jeer tye (the line than runs through the three jeer blocks) has a double block for the jeer tye falls on each end.  According to Steel, the tye should be the length of the mast, 56 feet.  “Falls” describe a pully arrangement with a heavier line (i.e. the jeer tye) stropped to a block with lighter rope running between this block and another block attached to the deck.

 

The easiest way I found to attach the blocks to the tye is to strop a block onto one end of the tye and then pass the tye through one of the jeer tye blocks, down to the jeer and back up through the other jeer tye block.  The line was threaded through all three jeer blocks until the  jeer tye block came up to the jeer block.  This gave me more room to attach the other tye block.  I passed the jeer tye back through the jeer blocks until the double blocks were level with each other. 

 

 

 

 

[TBlack]

Really well explained. Even I can follow it.

[tlevine]

The truss pendants are paired ropes that hold the yard against the mast.  These are made from twenty feet of 4” rope with a double block stropped on one end and a thimble on the other.  The end with the thimble is seized onto the yard. I spliced a thimble into one end of the line and seized the pendant onto the yard inside the quarter block, keeping the thimble on the aft side of the yard.  I rotated the yard 180 degrees to gain better access to the aft side of the yard.

Once both pendants were attached to the yard, I ran the line from the starboard pendant through the top of the port pendant thimble; the process was repeated with the port pendant, passing it through the top of the starboard thimble.  The result is a crossing of the two lines on the aft side of the mast.

 

Three-millimeter double blocks were stropped on the ends of the pendants for the pendant falls.  In the picture below, the outer lines are the jeer tyes and the longer inner ones are the pendants.

The lower blocks for  the pendant and jeer falls attach to the eyebolts on the mast partners.  The strop for the blocks is spliced, with a loop seized at each end.  The lower loop is fitted with a hook and the falls will be attached to the upper loop.  It took a few tries to make hooks that looked realistic.  After they were made, I opened the loop and inserted it into one of the block loops.  The rope for the falls passes through the other loop and is spliced to itself to secure it.

 

The jeer tye falls are 2” rope.  After securing it to the lower tye falls block loop, the line was passed back and forth through the upper and lower blocks and hooked to the block on the aft eyebolt, adjusting the length of rope as necessary to get a snug but not too tight line.  I wrapped the line a few times around the bits and taped the ends to the back of the last frame.  This allowed me to easily adjust the tension.

 

 

The pendant tye falls were rove the same way.  The rope for the pendant falls is 1 3/4”.  The ends were taped to frame 1.  I tightened all the lines and let the model sit for a day to allow the rope to stretch from the tension.  The lines were adjusted and retapes them to the frames.  The jeer tye falls were finished off by making rope coils to go over the bit pin.  I made my coils by taking a piece of line and wrapping it around the jaws of a caliper.  The line was removed by closing the jaws.  A few turns of line were wrapped around the middle of the coil.

 

 

Steel states that both the jeer tye and pendant falls tie off to bits.  I tied the jeer tye falls to the bits and the pendant falls to itself to prevent the lines from rubbing against each other and to show an alternate way to tie off a line.  The rope coils for the pendant falls were made on the model.  My rope coil is 3.5’ long and the wrap is 4’ up from the deck.  That completes the rigging.

 

[tlevine]

To prevent damage, the top rail was made last.  There are four balustrades that fit into the holes previously made in the top and a top rail.  The rail extended almost to the edges of the top and is 4” wide.  This was cut from 1/32” sheet wood and the edges were smoothed over.  The rail was placed on the top’s gunwale and the locations of the balustrade holes were transferred to it. 

The balustrades are two feet long and 2 inches square.  The two ends of the balustrade are square and the center section is round.  You can see the transition marks for the top and bottom pins, and between the square and round sections drawn onto the wood.  I used an 11 blade, files and sandpaper to round the center section.  The transition from square to round was shaped with a half-round file.  The end pins are square.

  

 

The balustrades were inserted into the rail after enlarging the drill holes.  Then they were glued into the holes in the top.  The rail is angled 90 degrees to the water line.  Once dry, the protruding pins were sanded flush with the rail. 

As a final step, I applied mahogany veneer to the exposed frames.  All that was left was to clean things up.  Thank you for following along!

 

 

[ccoyle]

Very nice, Toni!