US Brig Niagara by Laxet - FINISHED - Model Shipways

[Laxet]

Finished adding the sea stairs. Installed the boarding ladders.

[Laxet]

Built the bow pin rail. This is the fourth one I've built. Here you can see the last two as well as the finished product. ME didn't supply the proper number of belaying pins. They sent me more, but as you can see in the picture, they aren't exactly the same. Oh well, I'll chalk it up to some bos'n.

[Laxet]

Here is the bow after I added the cathead rods & the anchor chafing blocks. Still have to paint those.

[kenr]

Hi Laxet

Nice work

You saved me

I was going to install the anchor chafing blocks on the outside of the hull

 

Regards

Ken

[Laxet]

Happy to help, Ken.

 

Today all I did was install eyebolts all over the hull. Not much to show, so I won"t.

 

Question: How does one replicate sheaves in the bulwarks? Seems to me about all you can do is poke a hole & pass a line through. What am I missing? Any help would be appreciated.

[rfolsom]

Dale;  check out my Cutty Sark build log and see my cathead prototype;  (post #530)  I made sheaves by inserting a ring of wire into the slots.  Looks like a pulley (minus the groove).  Hope this helps..

 

Great progress by the way!

 

~Bob

Edited August 29, 2014 by rfolsom

[Laxet]

Am I the only one installing the spanker sheet horse? I've only seen one other build that included it, & he did it different than I did. Not even sure if it"s used, but it is called out on the print.

[Laxet]

Today I worked on the top masts. Here they are laid out & with one almost finished.

[kenr]

Hi Laxet

I installed the spanker sheet horse

I used a piece of shaped wire

Checking my old damaged Niagara I can see it is used for attaching rigging

 

Regards

Ken

[Laxet]

Hi Ken,

 

Just curious, did you mount it to a block? The plan seems to show one.

[BillLib]

Here's how I did the spanker sheet horse on my Niagara

 

I agree that the plans show what looks like a block of wood.  I either didn't see that or chose to ignore.

 

You can also check Sherrys posting of pictures from the replica Niagara

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/7728-tour-of-us-brig-niagara-photos-that-may-be-a-help-to-modelers-moved-by-moderator/#entry228894

 

Regards,

Bill

[Laxet]

Thanks, Bill, for the link to the pictures. There was a very clear picture of it. It is nothing like what I did or where I did it. Oh well, I'm not going to change it. Yours is closer to the real thing, I think.

[Laxet]

Let's talk top rope sheaves. Both the fore & main topmast & topgallant masts have them, but they don't appear to be used. I am having a hard time visualizing how they look. Are they actually cut into the mast? Do they run fore & aft, athwartships, or at a diagonal? I'm just not getting it. It appears there is one right below the royal yard running fore/aft that is used.

[Laxet]

Model Expo came through again. I received my 40 cleats & 30 yds of .051 black line. I still say 40 cleats are not enough. I will have to use some home made ones to finish the masts & other stuff. Spent all day installing cleats. Wish I had them sooner when they would have been easier to install.

[Don Quixote]

Can you point out where these jogglers are at? I think I'm on target with where the stealers will go.

[Laxet]

It took a while to find but here is one spot. What I actually did was bring three strakes into two within the circle.

[Laxet]

I haven't been able to work much this week so slow progress. Here are the top masts so far. I'm working on the tops now. Haven't decided how to deal with the fid yet. I guess nobody has any comments on the top mast sheaves?

[Laxet]

Here is the foremast heart for the main stay. It's probably a little short but it'll have to do.

[Don Quixote]

Is that similar to the drop plank shown in the black and white photo?

 

See what I've gotten myself into?

Edited September 6, 2014 by JustBlowinInTheWind

[BillLib]

Regarding the top rope sheaves, from Historic Ship Models, Wolfram Zu Mondfeld;

 

• The top rope was used to hoist and lower the topmasts.  It was hooked under the underside of the cap, reeved through the sheave at the foot of the topmast, up through a block, which was hooked to the cap, and down to the deck.  On a model the top rope can be omitted, as it was only used when sending up or striking the topmast, and was  only rigged at those times.  The only traces to be seen are two or four ringbolts on the underside of the cap.

There is a slot cut in the heel of the mast to accept the sheave.  From the drawings, it appears that the top rope sheave is diagonal.  I didn't include these sheaves when I build my Niagara.

 

Edited September 7, 2014 by BillLib

[Laxet]

Bill,

 

Thanks for the info. I'm thinking I'll just omit them then. Very helpful.

[Laxet]

Brian,

 

It looks like that drawing is another way (albeit fancier & nicer looking) to do what I did. That does not appear to be what caused your problem though. To me, it appears you tapered your planks too much at the pointy end of the boat. If you look at the picture I posted above of the planking, you'll see that the whole first belt was untapered. It was part laziness, but it didn't to seem to need it much, so I didn't start tapering until the second belt. That actually made it harder as I went along because the planks had to be tapered even more, some almost to a point.

[Laxet]

I am going to issue a couple of warnings here. One is a watch out for, & the other is a don't do this, you idiot!

 

First watch out for the main tops when you add the fids to the topmasts. The bolsters were in the way & had to be tapered to allow the topmasts to tilt parallel to the main/fore masts. The picture shows it clearly I think. Just look in the circle.

[Laxet]

Now for the other boneheaded move I made. Go back up to post #167 & see if you can see anything wrong with that picture. No? This picture ought to clear that up. Don't build the "octagon swell" at the top of the topmasts before you add the caps! I had to cut the caps, slide them on & replace the plug. Now I will have to putty & sand to get rid of the seams. You can see the cut on one of these if you look closely.

 

Oh, & I built the fore/main topmast crosstrees today without incident. 1 out of 3 ain't that good.

[Laxet]

Here is the picture.

[Laxet]

Another grueling session today. I carved both of the topgallant/royal masts. Carved out of square stock, it was a lot of work. I'm wondering if they may have come out better starting with round stock since they are so small in diameter. That completes the mast carving. Now to finish the yards & start the rigging.

 

Hmm. The picture attachment button is not working. I'll add the picture later.

[Laxet]

Here it is?

[Laxet]

Nope. That didn't work.

 

Try again.

[Laxet]

Just did some clean up work today since I didn't have much time. Made 4 more capstan bars since I discovered they were supposed to be on both sides of the boat. Also cleaned up the topgallant/royal masts a bit & added the fids. I wasn't happy with the shape after seeing the picture I posted yesterday. Here she is so far in all her glory.

[Laxet]

Today I broke down & decided I had to try to blacken some brass pieces. I ordered some brass black from Amazon.