US Brig Niagara by Laxet - FINISHED - Model Shipways

[Laxet]

Hi Brian,

 

I realize that about the topgallant crosstrees, but I always thought there was a hole & not a slot. The first two pics show the fore/main tops both ways. That's where my confusion comes in.

 

The kit says to drill holes for all of these.

[GuntherMT]

 

The kit says to drill holes for all of these.

 

Could be worse, the Carmen instructions not only didn't say how to do it, they didn't provide a picture or drawing either!

 

When I came upon that, the advice I got here was that either way was 'normal', so it apparently varies from ship to ship.  As you have a photo of how it's actually done on the Niagara, you could just do it that way instead of following the instructions if it makes you happier!

 

The 'notch' might be easier actually, as you won't have to thread the line through the tiny hole, and if you need to adjust things, it would be easier to redo rigging with the 'notch'.  Of course it would not hold the line like a hole, so might actually be more difficult to rig initially since it could slip out on you.

[Laxet]

The hardest thing would be trying to keep the deadeye strops in place in a slot on the lower tops while rigging. On the other hand, passing the strop through the hole will be a challenge also.

[Guest Tim I.]

Those are great pictures of the Niagara.

 

- Tim

[milosmail]

Very ship shape (excuse the pun). It's looking really well done.

[Laxet]

I've been fighting the hammock things for the past week. I've been trying to cut cloth, iron creases in it & stuff it in the rails, making it fit & trying to glue it down. It just looked so bad & I ended up making them five different times & it still looked bad. Today I went to the local crafts store again trying to fing something else. This is what I found. It is called bias tape & it is used in sewing. I found some that looked to be about the right size & bought white & ivory colors. I found after experimenting that if I iron two of the three creases lightly with a warm clothes iron, it fit almost perfectly in the hammock rails. The crease that I did not iron laid across the top very nicely. I didn't even have to glue anything. Here are pics of the material & process.

[Laxet]

Here it is installed.

[Laxet]

I started this blog hoping to follow other builds that were ahead of me so I could learn how to do this properly. That sure didn't happen. There are no builds that I could find that are active and are ahead of mine. It's been a grueling learning experience, being tossed feet first into the fire. I'm teaching myself everything & not always to the best result. I'll tell you one thing though...the next one will be a HELLUVA lot better than this one. That said, here is the next lesson I've learned. Referring to Darcy Lever, the gammoning for a ship with this type of prow was nailed to the bowsprit with leather strips below the nail heads. It says some captains didn't like to constrain the bowsprit so much, but I'm not sure if he means no gammoning or only one gammoning.

[Laxet]

No matter how hard I tried, I could not wrap the gammoning without it slipping off of the stem. I ended up using a spot of CA to hold it & then I wrapped the rest & glued it as well. It's not real obvious & looks okay.

[GLakie]

It looks fine to me Dale. Absolutely blazing trails here. 

 

Cheers 

[Laxet]

The first picture shows  (barely) how the bullseyes are attached today. The second shows how I did it as a best approximation. The real ship apparently puts the bullseye in the eyebolt. At least that is how it looks to me. Another question answered before being asked. You're welcome.

[Laxet]

Hey everybody. Look at me, I'm rigging! Weeeee! Having a heckuva time telling where some of these lines go. I wish more people would post their rigging for this ship. Oh, well. I'm getting by, slowly.

[lb0190]

Dale, your doing an outstanding job on your Niagara!

[Laxet]

Thanks, Larry. Appreciate it. I think it is coming out pretty good for a first ship.

[SgtSki in MI]

I'm happy to see this and other build logs for the Niagara. They will be a valuable source of information when I begin my build.

[Laxet]

That's what I hope to accomplish with this log. Show the areas I had trouble with, & show my way of solving the problems.

[patrickmil]

Dale, your Niagara looks great! The rigging is really clean and crisp. Good job with everything and I enjoy seeing the pictures of the real thing that you are posting in your log.

[Laxet]

Thanks Patrick. I think it helps a lot when you can see actual practice.

[Laxet]

Since I'm rigging now, I needed a way to keep track of what I was doing. This is what I came up with. I scanned the print (had to do it in pieces & tape it together), & taped it to my writing shelf.

[lb0190]

Dale,

That looks like a good Idea. I'll try it when I get to that point - Thanks

[Laxet]

Just finished the flying jib martingale. It is now nothing like the prints/manual show it. Here are pictures of both sides (which are each different) of the real thing & my work. This line comes down through the dolphin striker to a thimble. Then it splits to both sides. I made the thimble a simple eye splice. It is pointed out by an arrow. It is barely visible.

 

 

[Laxet]

Now on to the manropes. They are also nothing like the prints show. Attached are a couple of pictures showing them now. I even have one picture where they just slung a net below. I don't really know which way looks best, but the current way is easier, so I will probably go with that.

[Laxet]

As an afterthought, I wonder if these are set up & taken down regularly when the boat puts to sea. It would seem to be a lot of work to do that, but it looks like they are different in almost every picture.

 

Oh, & here is another picture of the bowsprit.

[patrickmil]

Dale, that's an interesting thought about the manropes. If you write to the museum website you will receive an answer within a couple days. I had an answer within two days when I wrote in about the anchor hawsers. I do recall the instructions saying though that the manropes weren't present in 1812.

[Laxet]

Hi Patrick,

 

I also saw that tidbit about the manropes not being there back then, but I would have to add footropes & stuff, so I'm inclined to do the manropes.

[Laxet]

I broke out my new serving machine today. I have been playing with it recently & not quite satisfied with the operation. It was kind of balky & not smooth. First thing I did was remove the motor. I found the rest of the gears were fairly smooth so I concluded the problem was in the motor connection to the gears. I played with just the motor detached & when it worked, it was smooth. I found that the plug between the motor & power supply did not make good contact. The contacts have a split tip inside the connector (see second picture). I put a screwdriver in between & spread them a bit. The connection was a lot better & it stopped being so balky.

 

I tried serving a shroud. It still stops if I pull too hard & I have to twist the gear fairly often to get it to start again, but I think some tweaking will fix it. If not, it will be a long job serving lines.

 

Speaking of shrouds, the reason I'm doing them now is because I've done all I can do on the bowsprit until the stays are attached (the manropes even attach to stays) which means I need a mast in place. The book says not to do the stays until the shrouds are in place, so that's where I am now.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Laxet

[Laxet]

Working on the shrouds, the print calls for .035" line, but that supplied with the kit is either .040" or .028". I've served a couple of lines using the .040", but it seems to me to be just a bit overscale. Yet the .028" is so much under, I don't think it will do, either. Here is a picture of the boat with them hanging off of the masts. does anybody have an opinion as to how they look, whether they look too big or not?

Edited December 13, 2014 by Laxet

[Laxet]

As long as I'm at it, how about a lesson? According to Lever, the first shroud will be served from the middle all the way to the end on one side, & a quarter of the way on the other half. If there are an odd number of shrouds (as in our case) the fore shroud is cut short & made into a Burton Pendant. Presumably it is served up to this point. The other shrouds are served to only a quarter way down on each side. I don't know why the foremost shrouds are treated differently. Anybody? The other shrouds are also served at the deadeye end to just above where the shroud is lashed to itself above the deadeye. I have made rough measurements for these shrouds & the pictures show them. It neglects to show 3" of serving at the ends.

[GLakie]

Not real sure, without looking the the rigging plans themselves, what to tell you about those pendants. On Constitution, they're made in pairs and draped over the mast top by themselves and not part of the shrouds, and also get installed first before the shrouds. Don't know about Niagara though. On the line: it has to be a judgement call on your part. If you want to maintain scale, you could either make the line yourself or slide over to Chuck's site and buy the line at the correct sizes you need. He makes some beautiful looking rope that hangs and lays real nice. Personally, for my Connie, I'll be replacing all of MS's "thread" with some decent looking rope.

 

Cheers 

[Laxet]

Who is Chuck?