Phantom by _SalD_ - FINISHED - 1/8" scale

[GuntherMT]

Looks fantastic!

[russ]

The tensions on the shrouds looks very good. The idea is to get a tensioned look to the shrouds and lanyards without actually having a lot of tension. You did well. Great work.

 

Russ

[usedtosail]

That is an excellent rigging job. I had the same problem with the belaying pins on the rail. Good solution. Rope coils are one of those things that take time and practice to get to look right. After 6 models I am still not there, but I have a feeling yours will look great.

[_SalD_]

Brian, Russ, Tom,   thank you for checking out my work and the kind words.

 

I would also like to thank everyone for the 'like this' 

[_SalD_]

The Main Boom

 

I started this task by shaping the 6” long dowel that was provided with the kit.  I did this by chucking it into my electric drill and shaped it with sand paper to its proper form, similar to how the masts were done.  Next I laid out the jaws for the boom on the 1/16”x1/2” wide stock that was provided with the kit.  I decided to crave the jaws as one piece and then separate it into two halves.   Prior to drawing the jaws on the wood I drilled a 5/32” diameter hole in the wood.  This corresponded to the diameter of my mast and gave me a starting point to draw the jaws.  Then using an x-acto knife with a number 11 blade, I removed a majority of the waste.  I finished shaping the jaws by using an emery board.  After I was satisfied with the shape of the jaws I carefully cut the piece in two.  I then cut the end of the boom down to fit the jaw pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

Next I made all the boom attachments.  I made the iron bands from the brass strip that came with the kit, the wood stopper cleats were cut from a 1/32” thick sheet, the metal cleats are the ones that came with the kit.  The metal cleats looked a bit large so I tried to reduce their size by filing.  I think I should have kept filing and made them even a little smaller.  I then assembled all the pieces.  The double block for the Main Sheet Tackle was tied to a piece of 28 gauge wire which was formed into a ‘U’ shape and inserted through holes drill into each ear of the iron band.

 

 

 

The boom was attached to the main mast with parral beads.  I raided my daughter’s bead supplies again and found some brass beads (size #0) that were blackened and strung on thread between the two eye bolts on the jaws.  Prior to attaching the boom I also tied the foot-ropes at the end of the boom as shown in the practicum.

 

 

 

 

My 'OH SH*T' moment came while I was making the stopper cleats.  The day before I had made the iron band for the Main Sheet Tackle and made a mental note that I needed to put the finish on the boom before gluing it on.  Well, as I was making the wooded cleats, the next day, I told myself that I should glue these on  before I put the finish on.  So I glued them on. Needless to say while I was admiring my work and was so proud of how the cleats came out it dawned on me that I didn't have the iron band in place  and needed to pull off all the cleats.   Fortunately I used white glue and they hadn't set for too long.  After that it was cocktail time and no more work for the day.  

 

 

[_SalD_]

Main Boom and Gaff

 

I finished the Main Boom rigging by running the topping lift and the Main Sheet Tackle. The installation of these lines was easy enough, so I thought, until I realized I ran the topping lift line through the single block at the top of the Main Top Mast meant for the Topsail Halliard instead of the block at the mast head.  Fortunately it was an easy fix since the line was much longer than it needed to be.

 

Main Sheet Tackle

 

Topping Lift Tackle

 

Rope coil

 

 

Next I worked on the Main Gaff by making the jaws.  I decided to make the jaws for the foresail gaff at the same time. 

 

 

 

The jaws were finished, the iron bands and the cleats were made and everything was assembled similar to the Main Boom.

 

 

I followed the rigging steps as outlined in the practicum and although it was straight forward enough it seemed like it took me all day to rig this one boom.  As I was working on this it boggled my mind how, on a real ship, all these line stay separate and don’t get all tangled let alone how  do you remember which line goes with which sail. 

 

 

 

 

One thing I did discover after launching another block into the twilight zone while trying to put the stropping on it, was to thread a small piece of wire through the holes so if it did take off I’d have a better chance of finding it.

 

[russ]

Your rigging looks really good. Nice work in such a small scale.

 

Russ

[_SalD_]

Thanks Russ,

 

Things are moving quicker now.  Stropping blocks is a lot easier and I’m getting pretty efficient at tying knots with a tweezers.  Not quite ready for surgery but I could probably play a mean game of OPERATION now.  And where have angled tweezers been all my life, those things are great!

 

 

I finished the Gaff for the foremast and rigged it to the mast.  The rigging was very similar to the Main Gaff.  I tried to set the gaffs at the same distance below the mastheads and at the same angle.

 

 

 

I am in a bit of a quandary.    I'm at a point with this kit where I don’t have much more to do and there is a strong temptation to power through all the remaining tasks for the satisfaction of completing it.  But then there is another feeling of dismay that this build will soon be over and I’ll have nothing to do but annoy the Admiral.  I could never understand why some people had two or three unopened kits on their shelves, I’m starting to now.  I’ll just need to approach the Admiral diplomatically about buying a new kit; “What will it be, a new model or more sex?” ...... I’ll let you know what kit I get.

[_SalD_]

I started studying the layout of the Staysail and Jib Halliards with their corresponding downhauls and noticed the falls for the Halliards are to be belayed to the fore fife rail.  However there aren’t enough belaying pins in the fife rail to tie these lines off.   To remedy this I drilled two additional holes in the rail and added two new pins.

 

 

The appropriate blocks were tied to the Fore and Jib Stays and the rigging was completed as detailed in the practicum.

 

 

Rigging the Staysail and Jib Halliard

 

 

I also started work on the signal flag that is rigged to the top of the main topmast.  For this flag stave I used a toothpick and filed it down to the appropriate thickness.  Added a parrel bead and tied the tan rigging line to it.  I also drilled the hole at the top of the main topmast for this rigging line.   Drilling this hole was a little nerve racking because I didn’t want to screw up the mast now that I was so close to finishing.  I wish I had remembered to do this while making the masts.  All went well however.

 

[russ]

Nice work on the halyards. Good solution.

 

Russ

[_SalD_]

Nice work on the halyards. Good solution.

 

Russ

Thanks again Russ and thank you for following my build.

[_SalD_]

The rigging of the flag halliards is complete.  I decided to use the American flag and the 'pilot’s on board' signal flag that came in the practicum but not the number flags.  I did a little research into signal flags of the period and found in Captain Marryat’s Code of Signals, dated 1847, Part III, under merchant vessels that there is a listing for the name ‘Phantom’ with the corresponding numbers of 9574.  I used these numbered flags along with the First Distinguishing Pendant and seized them to the flag halliard.  Before printing any of the flags I reduced their overall size by 20% of what was in the practicum.  Although they may not be dimensionally accurate I didn't want them to stand out so much that they would take away from the ship itself.

 

 

The ship is complete and the only remaining task is to mount it on the launching ways and a display base.  I made a base from a piece of oak that I purchased at Home Depot and just need to give it a few coats of polyurethane.

 

[_SalD_]

Finito!!  

 

I have finished the display base and have mounted the ship and launching ways.  I made a temporary name plaque and just need to have a final one engraved.  Although I'm excited that I've finally finished the ship and pleased with the way it came out I'm going to miss working on her. 

 

 

Deck is a little too clean, need to throw some more rope coils on the deck

 

 

 

 

And now for the acknowledgements.
I would like to thank Model Expo & Model Shipways for putting together a great kit that has been most enjoyable to build.  The quality and quantity of material was first-rate.   I think I only needed to fabricate four or five eye bolts.  There were more than enough blocks, plenty of copper tape, plenty of standing rigging and just enough running rigging (could have used a little more to make some rope coils with).  All in all I am very pleased that I chose this kit for my first build.  The only issue I had, and this is not a fault of Model Shipways, was the instruction manual that came with it.  If not for the practicum by Chuck Passaro, that supplements the kit’s instructions, this ship would have looked a lot different and would have taken me much longer to build.  For that I am most grateful would like to thank Mr. Passaro for his fine practicum.  I would like to thank all my followers and fellow Phantom builders for taking the time to view my build log.  I hope this log will help others as past builds have helped me.  I would also like to thank everyone for their help and comments and for everyone’s ‘likes’.  Last but not least I would like to thank Model Ship World for hosting a great site.  It’s truly amazing the expertise, knowledge and craftsmanship that can be found on this site.  I've learned a great deal by reading other peoples build logs and hope to use this knowledge on my next ship.   And on that note, good night and may God bless.

[ccoyle]

Congratulations!  Your model looks very nice;  indeed, though it is a first model, it compares very favorably with the work of many who have been around the block a few times.

 

Cheers!

[russ]

Congratulations on a great build. She looks beautiful. Well done.

 

Russ

[trippwj]

Outstanding work, Sal - very nicely finished!

[GuntherMT]

Looks great, congratulations!

 

What's up next?

[usedtosail]

You have done a great job Sal. Congratulations and display his model proudly. Oh, and get started on your next one, already.

[patrickmil]

Sal, I've been watching in the shadows as your Phantom has taken shape. You've done an outstanding job on her. Any ideas on what you are thinking about building next?

[_SalD_]

Chris, Russ, Wayne, Brian, Tom:   thank you all for the continued support and kind words.

 

Patrick, thank you.  It’s nice to hear from you and I’m glad you were following along.  I hope you are doing well.

 

For my next build I wanted to try a POB to give planking a try.  I had given it a lot of thought and decided it’s time to leave the swallow end, take the swimmies off and jump into the deep end of the pool so I ordered the Syren by Model Shipways.  I hope it’s not too big a leap but I figured with ‘mother’ Passaro watching over me I’d have a better chance of staying afloat.   We’ll see.

 

 

Best regards to you all,

Edited October 9, 2014 by DrWatson