Rattlesnake by scott larkins - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64

[scott larkins]

I cut out a little extra on the sides so they could be folded over and clued.  As I said I was not stitching so I used sewing tacky glue.  I simply glued, tacked and placed it between two pieces of flat metal that I have.

 

Edited March 28, 2015 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

Then I put on then put on the blocks that are used to raise and lower the sails.

 

 

Edited March 28, 2015 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

Next came the sewing of the sails onto the yard arms.  I use a simple technique.  I'll try to explain it here.  First I simply tie on the end of the rope to the yard arm at the end.  I put the thread through the front of the sail, keeping in mind the position of the foot ropes and blocks which will be on the back side of that sail.  Then I wrap the thread over the yard arm and between the sail and the thread on the front of the sail.  So don't pull the thread all of the way through tight to the sail before you put the other thread under it.  Continue down the sail until you get to the other end.

 

Edited March 28, 2015 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

This is what it looks like when done.

 

Edited March 28, 2015 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

And the back side.  Again, keeping in mind the foot ropes and blocks.  Almost messed up a couple of times, fortunately you can simple pull the threads back out.

Edited March 28, 2015 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

Then furl the sails.  This pic does not show my final furl.  I had to do a little tucking after I pulled it up.  You will see that in further pictures.

Edited March 28, 2015 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

Next I put the fore mast lower yard arm up.  Keep in mind that this takes some work.  Be sure to look at the plans and the instructions to see the different angles of the attaching points.  It takes some time to put on that yard arm and the related blocks under the mast platform and on the deck.  It gets a little tough putting the lower blocks on at the base of the main mast with everything that is already down there.  If you are reading this and haven't cluttered that area up yet, put those blocks on now. It will save some headache later.  Also, be careful when attaching the yard arm while working around the rat lines.  You don't want to snap any lines or break the wood.  You also have to put certain ropes around the yard arm before putting in place, like the attaching blocks.  There is no way to put those threads on after the yard arm is put in place.  Again, thinking ahead. I didn't if you were wondering, but I did catch my tweezers on the shrouds and rat lines a few times.  You can also see the spirit sail brace lines now put back, properly in place. LOL

Edited March 28, 2015 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

Here is the front of that fore mast lower sail.  The furling is a little cleaner now.

Edited March 28, 2015 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

And here is the spirit sails.  Man there were a lot of lines to put on.  I had to add a few more pins to the front rail to make places for all of the ropes since I am adding the sails to this model.  This pic is of the spirit sail parral which is the ropes that attach the spirit sail to the jib boom.

 

 

Edited March 28, 2015 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

And the illustration of what it looks like from the plans.

 

Edited March 28, 2015 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

And finally the spirit sails and ropes.  I still have to put on the jib booms triangle sails.  Pics on that will come.

 

Edited March 28, 2015 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

Another angle.  You can see the inner and outer guys in this pic.  In this case I added an extra pin back by the anchor to put the outer guy ropes on.

Edited March 28, 2015 by scott larkins

[JSGerson]

My, you've been busy! You are moving right along which I can't say for myself. She's going to be a fine model.

[scott larkins]

Thanks.  The furling is a little tough.  The cloth does not fold up very well for the scale.

 

One last note when threading the running rigging.  Look ahead, thread it and give it a little tug before you tie it up.  Do this to see if you accidently wrapped your current thread around an older thread.  This is very easy to do.  I've had to rethread twice so far but better to do it now before you have to put the CA glue on to keep the knot from untying.  And if you are working with two sets of ropes on different side of a yard arm, don't tie and clue one side before the other until you double check to make sure the yard arm is level and even and the ropes are tight.

[KenW]

Hey Scott.

I also put furled sails on my last model.  I found that they folded better after the cloth was put through the washing machine a couple of times.

I found the whole process annoying, but the result very rewarding.

Cheers.

[scott larkins]

Ken,

 

Thanks, I did do that.  And ironed it so the wrinkles weren't so prevalent.  The toughness comes with folding it up appropriately in the according fashion, but I'm getting better at it.

[JSGerson]

There is a short discussion of the Horseshoe Plate in one of our forums here:

 

What is That Thing?

 

There is also a link there to Chuck's Confederacy model (see Chapter 8, last page) where he uses a photoetched horseshoe. It does provide a good visual as to what it should look like.

[JSGerson]

Deleted

Edited April 26, 2015 by JSGerson

[scott larkins]

Okay, it's been a while since I've posted but I've been busy putting up the lower yard arms and sails.  Quite the task I must say.  The next series of posts will cover my work and an oops or two.  Enjoy.

[scott larkins]

Finally finished the bow sails.  I am using sewing glue to glue down the ends of the sails.  Been using metal to sandwich the sails but I guess this time the glue was too wet and rusted.  Man.  So now I sandwich between two sheets of wood and then weights.  So be careful what you use of you glue instead of sew the edges.

Edited May 30, 2015 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

Next I bent some brass wire to make the stay sail saddles which went over the stay lines.  I first tied rope to one side of the saddle, left plenty of string and then used a needle to put the line through the sail.  I put the saddle over the stay line and then tied the free end of the line to the other side of the saddle.  You can also see that I used thimbles to run the lines up the sail, to the top platforms and then down to the belaying pins at the base of the foresail.

Edited May 30, 2015 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

Then I simply continued the same process for the lower yard arms that I did for the spirit sails.  Here you can see all of lines like the bunt and leech lines that make up the sail lines.  As you can see, it gets quite messy up there.

Edited May 30, 2015 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

And here you can see all of the lines that make up the bow sails.  It's a lot, just count all of those pins.

Edited May 30, 2015 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

And all of lines that come down to the base of the masts just for the lower yard arms.

 

 

Edited May 30, 2015 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

More lines.

 

 

Edited May 30, 2015 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

And more lines. I may have warned you once before, but take you time when running the lines.  A few times, as I was pulling the long lines of string, the lower portion of the hanging loop got caught on something near the deck like cannons, anchors, and tied rat lines.  Be careful or you may end up ripping something off of your ship.

Edited May 30, 2015 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

And the clew and tack lines on a furled sail.  Watch when you run the lines.  Sometimes they unexpectedly get wrapped around other lines as you weave them through.  Just double check the line before you wrap it around a pin or cleat.  Do not clue the rope around either of those until you are sure you want to.  And don't forget, sometimes you need to think, like 4 - 5 steps ahead to make sure you don't tie a rope that may bind something else up later.  Next I'm on the top sails.  If you put on the sails or furl the sails, don't get to dazzled by all of the lines on the plan.  Simply take the one line you are working on and follow the plans. Otherwise your eyes will start swimming in all of the verbiage and lines.  Believe me, it's easy to do.  Now on to the top sails and I wonder where I'm going to put all of those lines.  LOL

 

.

Edited May 30, 2015 by scott larkins

[JSGerson]

Very nicely done. You are a better man than me. I'll be very happy just to get the standing rigging in place. Just out of curiosity since I won't be adding sails to my model, what kind of sail cloth are you using and why?

[scott larkins]

I used the standard sail cloth from Model Shipways.  Of course I'm only using about 1/2 to a 1/3 of the actual sail cloth.  Otherwise it would just be too  bulky.  I washed it and then ironed it and had to cut off some of the outside fraying but it all came out good because as you saw, I'm using a cloth glue to fold over the ends.  I couldn't get the wife to sew the sails proper because she is busy working on her PhD and teaching two college classes and working.  I don't use the sewing machine so well.  LOL  Adding the sails is definitely adding more time and more pins and cleats to the over all build time.  But I wanted the furled sails so I can't complain for my choice.

[scott larkins]

Just an update gang.  I took a little time off to remodel out master bathroom.  As in guttin and rebuilding.  I am now on the topgallant sails.  Not a whole lot of advise at this time from me.  Just follow the cut sheets and follow one line at a time from the sheet.