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Posted (edited)

I spent the weekend doing yard work.  But I wasn't pushing the lawn mower in our 100 degree heat like I should have been.  Instead, I was hunched over the drill lathe making all the yards and yardarms for Connie.  That consists of 15 yards, 16 yard arms, a gaff and a spanker boom.  

 

Here's everything laid out on the mast/yard plan after the tapering process which was followed by adding the center battens, the parrel cleats, and the yardarm cleats.

20241012_181118.thumb.jpg.67349dedbfdfb515b973faa8b8f6c992.jpg

 

 

Next, I carved out the jaws for the spanker boom and gaff.

20241012_180947.thumb.jpg.e9c9717557355115edf57d95fa4c0733.jpg

 

 

Here's the completed spanker boom and gaff.

20241014_103256.thumb.jpg.cf27c6c77ccdd063b60c2ef289ae7d01.jpg

 

 

 

Here's a closeup of the main yard.

20241014_100706.thumb.jpg.24c99f8bb55e63fc447fdbafda90415f.jpg

 

 

 

And here's the whole 9 yards (haha 🙄). 

20241014_100607.thumb.jpg.08d11a65f799494171af83e182c06331.jpg  

 

 

 

I think that's a fair amount of progress for a little over a week, so I'm going to give Connie a short rest and head back over to the Flying Dutchman/Black Pearl SIB.

Edited by Glen McGuire
Posted

 That's a lot of work done in short order, Glen. Spar after spar after spar becomes pretty boring but populating them isn't for whatever reason. I think it's the repeated tapering. They look spot on, congratulations on getting that part of the project completed. 

Current Builds:  1870's Sternwheeler, Lula

                             Wood Hull Screw Frigate USS Tennessee

                             Decorative Carrack Warship Restoration, the Amelia

 

Completed: 1880s Floating Steam Donkey Pile Driver                       

                       Early Swift 1805 Model Restoration

 

 

Posted
  On 10/14/2024 at 5:10 PM, Keith Black said:

Spar after spar after spar becomes pretty boring but populating them isn't for whatever reason. I think it's the repeated tapering.

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The biggest challenge for me was making those dang 8 battens that go around the middle of most of the yards.  Trying to make each set of 8 exactly the right width to fit evenly around spars of varying diameters cost me some brain cells.  But to my surprise, they all ended up fitting pretty well in the end.      

Posted

Well done on sparring with all those yards Glen. You should treat yourself to a spa(r) bath!

Posted (edited)

 

  On 10/14/2024 at 8:53 PM, gjdale said:

Well done on sparring with all those yards Glen. You should treat yourself to a spa(r) bath!

Expand  

 Grant, Grant, Grant. :)

Edited by Keith Black

Current Builds:  1870's Sternwheeler, Lula

                             Wood Hull Screw Frigate USS Tennessee

                             Decorative Carrack Warship Restoration, the Amelia

 

Completed: 1880s Floating Steam Donkey Pile Driver                       

                       Early Swift 1805 Model Restoration

 

 

Posted

Very nice progress, Glen - and the “yard work” is looking great!

 

  On 10/10/2024 at 3:09 AM, Glen McGuire said:

strips of 1mm x 1mm basswood and boiled them for 10 minutes before putting them in piece of high tech bending equipment

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Nice - does it run on batteries or is it one of those new fangled gravity units?

 

Gary

Current Build   Pelican Eastern-Rig Dragger  

 

Completed Scratch Builds

Rangeley Guide Boat   New England Stonington Dragger   1940 Auto Repair Shop   Mack FK Shadowbox    

 

Posted (edited)
  On 10/20/2024 at 3:59 AM, FriedClams said:

Nice - does it run on batteries or is it one of those new fangled gravity units?

Expand  

Gravity and brute force!  The only way to go!!    

 

And glad to have you on board, Gary!  Thanks for joining!

Edited by Glen McGuire
Posted

You are doing great work so far.  however. there are several small that I need to make.  The first concerns the width of the white band; it is simply too tall for the Constitution (not Connie). That said, the gunport lids are also too tall.  I would begin by repainting the band. the gunports should be okay.  The ship itself has never been nicknamed "Connie".  Also, the Spar Deck carronades (short range but firing a heavy ball) are not cannonades, which are a light weight but long barreled cannon.  Anyway, I'm not nit-picking, just trying to be helpful.  Again, you're doing a great job!

 

Bill

  Quote

 

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Posted

@Bill Morrison   Thank you for the comments, Bill.  If you read my first post on this build log, you will understand that this is not my ship.  I am merely completing the model for a family that recently lost their father who was the original builder.  Since the family would like the model as a tribute to their father, I do not want to change any of his original work if I don’t have to.  I want there to be as much of him in the completed ship as possible.  Are there some things I might have done differently were it my ship?  Sure.  As an example, I would have painted the masts solid white instead of having black bands.  But my assumption is that the original builder had a reason for the black bands.  Maybe it was his signature style or maybe he just liked the way it looked.  Not sure, but I don’t want to change something like that because if I did, in my mind I would be making it my ship instead of his.  The same goes for the height of the white band.  

 

Regarding the gunport lids, I measured the upper and lower pieces and they actually fit the opening perfectly.  So it may just be some bad photography on my part that makes them look too tall.  

 

As for the spar deck cannonades not being cannonades, you got me on that one!  I had to read the armament part of the kit instructions 3 times to realize it was saying “carronade” instead of “cannonade”!  My mind kept seeing cannonade.  So thank you for the correction on that terminology.

 

Thanks again for the comments, Bill.  I appreciate you looking in.
 

Posted
  On 10/24/2024 at 8:40 PM, Glen McGuire said:

@Bill Morrison   Thank you for the comments, Bill.  If you read my first post on this build log, you will understand that this is not my ship.  I am merely completing the model for a family that recently lost their father who was the original builder.  Since the family would like the model as a tribute to their father, I do not want to change any of his original work if I don’t have to.  I want there to be as much of him in the completed ship as possible.  Are there some things I might have done differently were it my ship?  Sure.  As an example, I would have painted the masts solid white instead of having black bands.  But my assumption is that the original builder had a reason for the black bands.  Maybe it was his signature style or maybe he just liked the way it looked.  Not sure, but I don’t want to change something like that because if I did, in my mind I would be making it my ship instead of his.  The same goes for the height of the white band.  

 

Regarding the gunport lids, I measured the upper and lower pieces and they actually fit the opening perfectly.  So it may just be some bad photography on my part that makes them look too tall.  

 

As for the spar deck cannonades not being cannonades, you got me on that one!  I had to read the armament part of the kit instructions 3 times to realize it was saying “carronade” instead of “cannonade”!  My mind kept seeing cannonade.  So thank you for the correction on that terminology.

 

Thanks again for the comments, Bill.  I appreciate you looking in.
 

Expand  

I appreciate your comments!  Thank you! You explained yourself clearly and cheerfully.

 

Bill

Posted

Switching shipyards back to the Constitution and time to start rigging the masts.  First up, I made the running pendants.  I'm not exactly sure what the purpose of these are as they appear to just hang from the mast unused.  Nevertheless, they are going on.

20241028_114336.thumb.jpg.66f6960ab90adffc15a3c3735db579af.jpg 

 

 

After fixing the runner pendants in place, I started adding the shroud pairs.  The kit instructions recommend working bow to stern, alternating starboard to port.  Nothing too difficult, but when I finished with the foremast, I noticed the lines did not hang very straight.  They had prominent creases. 

20241028_165848.thumb.jpg.67048bf2583dc8888fe9fe3c36205285.jpg  

 

 

 

I'm using shroud line from the original kit, which is 20 plus years old.  The line is wrapped tightly around a cardboard square and has been sitting like that for a long time.  Plus, the line feels heavily waxed which is probably why the creases hold their shape so well when unwound.

20241028_165908.thumb.jpg.20ec4f3f1ad6011c42c6ce5145b9cc53.jpg

20241028_171811.thumb.jpg.d4894d1fa6f44da54e2a041bd6217672.jpg

 

 

 

Unfortunately, I didn't notice this and realize the possible consequences until I'd already seized the shroud pairs to the foremast.  Since I didn't want to cut them all off and start over, I decided to see if I could literally iron out the creases.  I did a test on a foot-long piece of line pressing the thread with 6-7 passes and a few puffs of steam.  It worked very well. so time to try it on the installed shrouds.  The challenge would be not having an ironing board.  I have no pictures of the process since it took both hands, but what I did was grab a shroud pair, stretch it out horizontally and press the iron against the line as best I could with nothing to press it against.  To my surprise (and thrill) it worked nicely.  You can see in the pic below how much straighter they hang.  Hopefully that will make aligning the deadeyes easier when I tie them off.

20241028_192942.thumb.jpg.27f619125348afcfce581d41780058b8.jpg

 

 

Here's where I'm at now with all lower shroud pairs in place.

20241029_071137.thumb.jpg.877b16585517e65b4422667df01515cd.jpg

 

 

 

 

Posted
  On 10/29/2024 at 12:40 PM, Glen McGuire said:

Switching shipyards back to the Constitution and time to start rigging the masts.  First up, I made the running pendants.  I'm not exactly sure what the purpose of these are as they appear to just hang from the mast unused.  Nevertheless, they are going on.

20241028_114336.thumb.jpg.66f6960ab90adffc15a3c3735db579af.jpg 

 

 

 

Expand  

These are called mast tackle pendants. They are fitted first over the masthead because they are initially used to heave taut the shrouds when setting up the deadeye laniards.  Thereafter, they are employed using heavy tackles to hoist gear and cargo aboard the ship.

 

Regards,

 

Henry

Henry

 

Laissez le bon temps rouler ! 

 

 

Current Build:  Le Soleil Royal

Completed Build Amerigo Vespucci

Posted
  On 10/30/2024 at 6:30 PM, popeye2sea said:

These are called mast tackle pendants. They are fitted first over the masthead because they are initially used to heave taut the shrouds when setting up the deadeye laniards.  Thereafter, they are employed using heavy tackles to hoist gear and cargo aboard the ship.

Expand  

Thanks for the explanation, Henry!  Now it makes sense to me.

Posted (edited)

I got the deadeyes on the foremast tied off.  The bottom row of deadeyes were already attached to the channel by the previous builder.  That meant for me it was just a matter of lashing the top row of deadeyes to the shrouds and then stringing the lanyards.  It seems like every builder on MSW has a different jig for aligning the top row of deadeyes.  I wanted to keep up the tradition. so here's what I came up with.  A rectangular piece of basswood with an alignment strip glued horizontally.  Legs on each end fit over the ends of the channels to hold it in place.  I use a couple of straight pins to hold the deadeye in position while I attach the shroud. 

20241031_081846.thumb.jpg.d17402af3f267a61b1ce85a6c8ee9f02.jpg

 

 

After attaching all the shrouds to the deadeyes, I threaded the lanyards and "hand-tightened" them equally to check my deadeye alignment.  Not too bad.

20241031_121231.thumb.jpg.81af6e315c975e6bcf7fb69896744120.jpg

 

 

Here's a question for the group - should I tighten all 9 lanyards on one side and then move to the other side or should I alternate back and forth, doing 1 on the starboard side followed immediately by the opposite one on the port side, then back to the starboard side, etc... ?

 

 

Edited by Glen McGuire
Posted

Very nice job on the deadeyes, I would alternate back and fourth, so they stay even on both sides. Great job my freind.    :cheers:        Bob   M.

Start so you can Finish !!

Finished:         The Sea of Galilee Boat-Scott Miller-1:20 ,   Amati } Hannah Ship in a Bottle:Santa Maria : LA  Pinta : La Nana : The Mayflower : Viking Ship Drakkar  The King Of the Mississippi  Artesania Latina  1:80 

 

 Current Build: Royal Yacht, Duchess of Kingston-Vanguard Models :)

Posted
  On 10/31/2024 at 5:34 PM, Glen McGuire said:

should I tighten all 9 lanyards on one side and then move to the other side or should I alternate back and forth, doing 1 on the starboard side followed immediately by the opposite one on the port side, then back to the starboard side, etc... ?

Expand  

Glen, you nailed the lanyard lengths.

 

 I agree with Bob, alternate. Better safe than sorry. 

Current Builds:  1870's Sternwheeler, Lula

                             Wood Hull Screw Frigate USS Tennessee

                             Decorative Carrack Warship Restoration, the Amelia

 

Completed: 1880s Floating Steam Donkey Pile Driver                       

                       Early Swift 1805 Model Restoration

 

 

Posted
  On 10/31/2024 at 5:34 PM, Glen McGuire said:

Here's a question for the group - should I tighten all 9 lanyards

Expand  

You're making great progress Glen.  My experience has been to bring all the shrouds equally taut (alternating as suggested but I did the fore and after ones first then worked to the middle.  The big trick/tip though, from my experience limited as it is, is to not tie off these permanently.  Leave a tail so that you can readjust these towards the end of your rigging.  After you work all the stays and other rigging, plus with changing humidity etc, you may find the shrouds may need a final tweak.

 

cheers

 

Pat

If at first you do not suceed, try, and then try again!
Current build: HMCSS Victoria (Scratch)

Next build: HMAS Vampire (3D printed resin, scratch 1:350)

Built:          Battle Station (Scratch) and HM Bark Endeavour 1768 (kit 1:64)

Posted

Building on what Pat just said, I would start with the rearmost shroud on each side. With the greatest angle to the mast it has the most influence on the position of the mast. Then do the foremost, followed by the middle. You just have to make sure that all the shroud pairs are laying fair at the masthead. It will be hard to readjust after the rear shrouds are set up since they are on top of all the others.

 

Regards,

 

Henry

Henry

 

Laissez le bon temps rouler ! 

 

 

Current Build:  Le Soleil Royal

Completed Build Amerigo Vespucci

Posted

Thank you, Bob, Keith, Pat, and Henry.  Just to make sure I'm clear on the recommended steps, they are:  

1.  Snug up all the shrouds equally taut but don't tie them off.

2.  When snugging up the shrouds, start with rear-most then forward-most, back to rear, etc finishing in the middle.

3.  Also, when snugging up the shrouds, alternate starboard to port for each shroud.

4.  Add stays and other rigging.

5.  Do final tweak on shrouds for final alignment, then tie each shroud off permanently.   

Posted

This will be my last post for a couple of weeks as I'm fixing to head out of town for a trip to Hawaii.  Slow and steady progress has continued on the lower shroud rigging.  I got the lower main mast deadeyes hung and triple-seized, and the lanyards strung.  On the mizzen, I got the deadeyes hung but ran out of time before I could seize them and string the lanyards.   Although I did get all the swifters in place.

20241105_102156.thumb.jpg.ea60f18a0111090d314d5b321b9b4d9d.jpg

20241105_102219.thumb.jpg.0df1b8fe331117ac106467ed7194be81.jpg

 

Posted

Nice work , have a great trip   :cheers:.

Bob M.

Start so you can Finish !!

Finished:         The Sea of Galilee Boat-Scott Miller-1:20 ,   Amati } Hannah Ship in a Bottle:Santa Maria : LA  Pinta : La Nana : The Mayflower : Viking Ship Drakkar  The King Of the Mississippi  Artesania Latina  1:80 

 

 Current Build: Royal Yacht, Duchess of Kingston-Vanguard Models :)

Posted

 It's a good time to head to Hawaii with the election and all. Have a safe enjoyable trip, Glen. 

Current Builds:  1870's Sternwheeler, Lula

                             Wood Hull Screw Frigate USS Tennessee

                             Decorative Carrack Warship Restoration, the Amelia

 

Completed: 1880s Floating Steam Donkey Pile Driver                       

                       Early Swift 1805 Model Restoration

 

 

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