Kate Cory by jablackwell - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64

[augie]

Be interested to see how the silk span works.  Haven't had any since the 50's for airplane covering.

[jablackwell]

Much of the mast work is complete. I am now building some tools and such to make rigging a little easier. Here are two jigs to hold deadeyes in place while the shrouds are tied.

 

[jablackwell]

Been working somewhat slowly on the foremast shrouds and stays. In the times when I am not working on the standing rigging, I am putting some trials into the making of sails with SilkSpan paper, and having some success. I am following some of the posts by Blue Ensign on that sail making topic found here on his logs:  http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/152-le-superbe-by-blue-ensign-heller-plastic-built-as-le-praetorian-after-boudriot/?p=16686  

 

If anyone has comments on sails in general, they are most welcome here. I am particularly interested in how people decide to let them hang: full open, furled, partially furled, etc, and what the practices were on regular sailing vessels.  

 

So without further ado, here are some images from the most recent build steps. The sail making is going well: some PVA glue watered down and mixed with ochre paint. They take a lot of paint/glue to fill... then when they dry, are very taught.  

 

[augie]

She looks good, John.  And congrats on your starting the sail work.  

[hamilton]

Looking forward to seeing the sails on your KC. She's shaping up really nicely

hamilton

[jablackwell]

All, An update (it's been a while)....

 

• The whaleboats are almost done. I have been making their masts and wrapping SilkSpan sails around them. They look good... but I have learned that....
• SilkSpan sails will not look all that great on the model unless they are furled. They appear much too translucent. I experimented with using pencil to draw in lines and details... too dark. I then tried a thin white ink Sharpie to do the same... better, but not great. In short, the material is the right thickness but so thin as to be too translucent.

Options:

 

• Go with the SilkSpan and just furl the sails. 
• Do not use SilkSpan: find a very thin cloth some place, a cloth that is to scale. No very likely.
• Do not rig sails at all.

I am pondering. 

 

~john

[jablackwell]

Here are the three active whaleboats complete with oars, masts and sails. These are the SilkSpan sails, which look pretty good furled.  

 

~john

 

[augie]

To me,  you've made a good choice, John.  

[jablackwell]

About time I got back into this build!  We are on school break now, so no grading, teaching, etc, just sweet time!    So I began to work on the standing rigging. The fore shrouds are in place along with some of the bow sprit work. Before getting too far ahead, I need to get those ratlines in place. Before those...  sheer poles:

 

~john

 

[jablackwell]

Finished off the bowsprit rigging and the fore-shrouds. Now working on all those ratlines. Remind me to NOT put in the top shrouds before doing the ratlines. They just get in the way! Argh. I am considering removing the upper shrouds to allow me room for my big ole' fingers. <sigh> Live and learn!  

~john

 

[jablackwell]

Slowly making progress with the hot summer days taking their toll on our sanity!  With temps pushing 100F and high humidity, it's best to be working on the Kate Cory. The main mast shrouds are complete, and I can now happily begin work on the last ratlines before doing some backstays. ~john

 

[hamilton]

Just catching up here - the shrouds look really well done - great work

hamilton

[jablackwell]

Thanks, Hamilton. I'm diligently working on the ratlines now. Can't wait to get to the rest of the rigging!  :-)  I am thinking get the whalecraft rigging installed between the masts first... then work on the rest.

~john

[hamilton]

Ahhh ratlines! Thankfully my current build doesn't have them.....listening to whatever music soothes you is as good a prescription for creeping ratlinitis as I can think of.....

hamilton

[jablackwell]

Old, mellow, beebop jazz works for me.... but not coffee!  :-)  That just makes a mess. <chuckles>  One needs a steady hand for all the knots. 

[jablackwell]

Finished with all the ratlines! It is time to rejoice!  Backstays are completed as well.  Now, I think I will move to the whale-craft rigging between the masts before installing the stays. I am spending time researching this portion, as it is an important aspect of such a vessel. ~john

 

[md1400cs]

John,

 

Just catching up - very nice work!

 

Cheers

[jablackwell]

Thanks Michael for checking in. Always nice to have folks check into the log.

Been working on the whale-craft rigging and parts/pieces associated with that. Today got the two pendants installed on the mainmast, along with the toggle and hook for the blubber. I am thrilled to find much detail about these assemblies online and in books. Some diagrams and info in these which helped:

 

The Whale Fishery and its Appliances

James Temple Brown

Washington

Government Printing Office 1883

Pp20ff: Blubber-Toggles

2 feet long and six inches in diameter of hardwood.

 

OLD DARTMOUTH HISTORICAL SKETCH

Number 53

WHALING EXHIBITS OF THE OLD DARTMOUTH HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Prepared by: Arthur C. Watson, Assistant Curator

Published in 1924 by the Old Dartmouth Historical Society

51. Blubber-hook, used to hoist up the blanket-piece or body blubber of a whale.

52. Eye-strap used for the same purpose. The eye would be put through a hole in the blanket-piece and made fast by a wooden toggle or pin.

 

THE REAL STORY

OF THE WHALER

WHALING, PAST AND PRESENT

BY A. HYATT VERRILL

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY

NEW YORK     LONDON

1916  (sorry about the ALL CAPS!) 

 

 

[jablackwell]

Got some serious work done this week before having to get back to teaching classes(!): finished the cutting-in tackle and rigging. What an interesting workout this ended up becoming. Applying the correct balance of tension is key to this one. Some images follow. I worked on the starboard side first, then the port. By the time the port side was complete, I had to go back and re-tension the starboard side again. It ended up being somewhat iterative, but looks quite good in the end.  Now it's time to work on the stays! 

 

~john

 

 

 

 

 

[jablackwell]

Finished the standing rigging today! Huzzah! Now I must get back to working with wood to make spars and such for the running rigging. I am very happy to have done the cutting-in work first... it would be very difficult to add that rigging later on in the process.  Rule: read ahead in the instructions!  Do not be fearful to change the order of operations!  

 

Some pics follow, and as I look at these I think a white background would be better:

 

 

~john

 

 

 

 

[jablackwell]

This has been a busy week for the old Kate Cory build!  Having finished the cutting-in tackle (** thanks to all who chipped in to help with some of that! **) I began work on the running rigging. Jibs first then staysails followed by the mainsail boom and gaff. I decided to place the gaff up the mast, even though this would normally not be the case with a sail-less ship... normally it would be down by the boom. Also, without vangs on this vessel, I had to pin the gaff into the main mast to prevent it sloshing around all over the place. Here are some images of the progress. I see light at the end of the tunnel!  

~john

 

 

The extra whaleboat is there just to give some precautions for scale and location of the boom... it has't been permanently mounted yet... Lesson one: always know where things will be in the future ! 

Edited September 25, 2016 by jablackwell

[jablackwell]

Mainsail boom and gaff are now in place. Phew!  Also got the flag halyard in there for the finishing touches later on.  Now to the foremast yards, then the lashing of the whaleboats....

 

Things learned this time through: use longer tweezers that have a flat grabbing area capable of holding onto thread with some strength. 

 

~john

 

A view of the whole ship as it stands today.

 

Just the stern section here to show the boom and gaff in place. Getting all those lines tensioned properly was a bit of juggling. The boom topping lift was a piece of work! 

 

Closeup of the peak and throat halliards for the gaff.

 

Closeup of the boom sheet which rides on a traveler on the transom. 

[jablackwell]

Been working on the fore course yard. Things I have learned in this exercise:

- Keep lots of mini clamps hanging around to hold onto the jack stays while they are being glued along a straight line onto the yard. 

- CA glue is sometimes really helpful! 

- Read the directions and confirm with the plans, again and again. Take notes of all the little items, holes, bands, eyes and blocks that need to be added to the yard before even getting close to the mast.

- Britannia metal is soft....thin piece bend and then break easily. Sigh. 

- Waxing lines heavily allows them to keep their shape. Using a separate cloth to vigorously rub the wax into the line (friction = heat = melting wax into line) works well. I used this for the foot ropes.

 

Through all that, I think it's looking pretty good! 

 

 

 

~john

[jablackwell]

This past couple of weeks, I worked on the foremast course spar and all the trimmings. I am also trying out some new photography methods... and, while I am not impressed with my work in that regard, it still more-or-less shows the spar and its various riggings.  I need to figure out a better lens with depth of field to match the scale of the model.   Things learned in this stage:

- Make sure all things needed are attached or done to the spar before getting it onto the mast. 

- Relax. Breathe a lot between attaching lines and making knots. Take time off between stages of rigging.

- While I rigged this to be operational on the model, I am no longer wedded to that idea! There are points where a model has to be made more robust.

 

Here are some images. Sorry about the darkness and blurriness in a couple.  I'm working on that!  ;-)

 

~john

 

 

[hamilton]

Looks really great John - beautiful job on the rigging

hamilton

[jablackwell]

Thanks, Hamilton. I am working on the fore topsail now - the chain sheets had me going through all sorts of tribulations, which I think I got figured out. Basically I needed larger diameter holes in the blocks and sheaves to make its installation easier.... but drilling new holes is a bit tricky when all those parts are already installed on the mast!  Oops.  Live... learn!  

~john

[jablackwell]

A busy last couple of weeks for the Kate Cory. I was able to finish all the fore yards and get the running rigging completed. I am learning that having thin fingers would help a lot in ship modeling!  Alas, my fingers may be long, but they are not thin! Tools to the rescue. I got an old model paintbrush, removed the brush and added on a needle which I then clipped the eye off (in half) leaving a nice little pusher-type-tool. Next steps?

Get all the little rope coils in place. I have about half done right now... and to do so without making a big mess of the installed rigging. Maybe I'll make some more tools for the job.  Here are some pics of the latest stage. So close! I can see that I need to think about a case now.

 

~john

[jablackwell]

All,

 

I present to you the completed Kate Cory!  It has been a two-and-a-half year long build, with a couple of stumbles, well, a lot of stumbles, some pretty amazing errors, and a lot of learning!  Thank you ALL for all your help in so many ways, from the simple to the complicated, from the esoteric to the obvious. Every day is one to grow by.  Without this group... I would not have gotten this one done.  Really. 

 

In this last section of the build: I completed the running rigging, added flags, and lastly rigged the whaleboats into place. I wanted to be a little different, so placed one of the whaleboats in a position down alongsides as if being lowered into the sea.

 

Obligatory images below. I did my best to stop the aperture down a lot to get as much in focus as possible. Enjoy,

 

~john

 

 

 

[ccoyle]

Congratulations! She looks great.

[jablackwell]

Thanks, Chris!

~john