New martingale/Dolphin Striker for my Cutty. Oops moment fix

[Lost and Confused]

I got a couple of suggestions for repairing my oops moment last week. Snug Harbor Johnny suggested an option made from brass, that he had done. Beautiful work, but out of my comfort zone, as I have done absolutely zero work with metal. I came up with a solution made from a wooden toothpick and a bit of wire and a few 1mm eyebolts. Here is the finished product. Originally the wire at the upper end was the toothpick itself, filed down to match hole in bowsprit I installed it after carefully ( I have handled explosives in the military with less care) drilling the hole under the bowsprit. Held nicely. Proceeded on model, until 3 or 4 days later, while moving the model, I heard(or felt) a mild "crunch". Broke it again. Right at point where the toothpick tapered to enter the sprit. After I recuperated, I drilled a wee hole in the end and installed a bit of steel strait pin. You think I should use a rigid wire, or a bendable brass one to attach to the sprit? If I thump it again perhaps it will bend rather than break. Also I wont use adhesive, as the tension of the forestays will hold it securely in place.(maybe a dab of white glue). Im afraid if I use the steel pin that the bowsprit could be damaged. Id appreciate any input. Thanks mateys

 

 

[paul ron]

everthing on our models is prone to break and take out a slew of other things with it. the best thing to do is be more carefull. but thats easiest said than done. if you broke the piece so easy, its best to make it a bit more fortified so it wont break again. if you fix something so it will break, or at least you think it will be a controlled break... it will break again. 

 

you say you are concerned about it breaking the bowsprit. how about beefing up the bowsprit in that place too? my bowsprit on my clipper kept breaking at exactly the same place... a weak spot where a brass collar is fitted. it seems my clumsy arm kept catching the end of the bowsprit anytime i reached around the ship or turned the ship around to work on the otherside. all it took was the slightest touch and click, down she goes. i had it with gluing it each time in the same spot, also taking out the martingale with it where the tensioned rigging did most of the damage. i needed a better more robust repair.

 

i cleaned the glue and the joint till it mated perfectly. i drilled a small hole in the centers of the halves, slightly oversized the pin i was going to use. my pin was the cut off shaft of a fishing hook. the reason for oversizing is so it can have room to center the mating halves. i used epoxy so it can fill the holes and secure the pin. i also did a better repair on the martingale so it too wont be damaged by the tensioned rigging.. i made it out of a bamboo toothpick. btw mine would break if you hit the rigging just right at any point in their travels.

 

so a better fix has cured the delicate parts, but its not bullet proof! im sure its still a delicate part, but it will take a bit more than an little ooops to braek it now. with that, im also sure if i were to break it again, the break will be more severe and damage other parts. my other fix... red flags on the bowsprit and any other parts in danger. i also stopped reaching around or over the ship. roll up your sheeves and be more conscience of where you are working.

 

good luck with your repairs.

 

 

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 01:35 PM by paul ron

[_SalD_]

@Lost and Confused, I think we’ve all been in the same situation—I know I have. When building my Syren, I must have knocked the dolphin striker off three or four times. After that, as paul ron said, you just need to be careful and stay aware of parts that are easily knocked into.  Good luck on the build.

[Lost and Confused]

   Thanks for the feedback mates. I have installed the repaired martingale and rerigged damaged rigging {most of it} and im happy with the results. I have yet to repair bent stbd. "whisker" as i am still thinking about it. Heres a couple of quick shots of my result. Paul Ron, I had reinforced inside of bowsprit, prior to install as suggested by several build logs. I cant think of anything further to make it stronger now, as it is in place. I guess i will have to slow down and avoid "kneejerk" moments.

   I NEVER wear long sleeves when modeling. The sleeves are a magnet for any possible thing to grab onto

 

 

 

Thanks again.

[druxey]

Yes, reaching around is usually fatal! If you can rig a lazy susan to revolve the model instead may help stop that evil habit!

[Lost and Confused]

Good idea....Ill give that some thought...still manually turning it....manually going over the top as well