Constitution by Geoff Matson - Model Shipways 2040 - 1/76 scale

[lambsbk]

A lot of the Egyptian cotton is single ply (i.e. made from long cotton fibers). You should avoid multi ply if possible. These are made of shorter fibers interweaved together and are more prone to stress stretch.

[Geoff Matson]

Thanks for the tip

[Geoff Matson]

I finished all the foremast shrouds. 

 

 

The shrouds are all I want to install on the foremast right now. I am figuring out the rest of the lines that will go on the Foremast and make them up ahead of time. That way when I begin installing the mast all the lines will be ready to go. 

 

I will do the same for the Main mast and Mizzen mast. 

Edited December 19, 2015 by Geoff Matson

[GLakie]

I like the temporary mast stands and the protective "house" for the ship. Really good ideas!! 

[Geoff Matson]

Thanks George.

 

They work out great and make the rigging a whole lot easier. This way I can rig the masts while sitting in my chair instead of standing up and working over the model worrying about breaking something off. With the rigging there is a lot adjusting the lines to get them just right. If you look behind the masts you can see the other stands ready to go to work

[Geoff Matson]

Some people have asked me post how I did the runner pendants.

 

In this picture the line has been made and served and attached to 1/8th bullseye.

 

 

The bulleyes have been adjusted and set with diluted white glue and trimmed.

 

 

 

The two lines have been seized and the tails left on for the final adjustments.

 

 

The lines have been placed on the mast. The tails aid in the final adjustments. This takes some time. I am so glad I do it off the model. Once I am happy with the position of everything I set the lines with diluted white glue. Once the glue is dry I trim off all those tails.

 

 

Here is the finished product

 

 

 

I will next install the swifter, which will be served the full length and move on the the lower shrouds. The small hole in the mast is where the yard will be installed. I try to pin all my attachments to make the rigging simpler. 

Edited December 23, 2015 by Geoff Matson

[GLakie]

I hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas and an even better New Year to come Geoff! 

[capnharv2]

The pennants look great Geoff! Did you use white glue to help them hang straight?

 

Harvey

[Geoff Matson]

Hello Harvey

 

You got it! That is why I use Cotton Thread. You can set the line with a little diluted white glue.  I also apply it to the attachment point of the rigging if I need to take some slack out of a line. 

[dgbot]

Looking good Geoff,  You can also use Testors Dullcote if white glue is not available.  Merry Christmas.

David B

[Geoff Matson]

I installed the lower shrouds on the main mast. I will attach them to the dead eyes once i set the mast. Here is a picture of the the shrouds laid around the mast

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2015 by Geoff Matson

[GLakie]

Nice looking shrouds Geoff! 

[lambsbk]

I am (eventually) going to try to copy them Geoff. Nice job.

[Geoff Matson]

Hello lambsbk

 

Thanks for interest in my build. I also found your sight and you are doing a great job with your Conny.

 

At this smaller scale it is really hard to make the rigging look right. That is why I went with making my own rope using the Byrnes Ropewalk. The kit supplied rigging line just left a lot to be desired. 

[lambsbk]

I heartily agree. I actually have an old vintage kit and the rope for this kit is better. It is still not scaled well with just 3 sizes. I have collected some other sizes from Chuck at his Syren store but may invest some time at learning the "walk" for the desired rope.

[Geoff Matson]

Hello Dave.

 

Here is a sight I just came across for cotton thread.  http://www.discountembroiderysupply.com/It is called Discount Embroidery Supply. I ordered some 40 wt and 80 wt cotton thread from them to make more smaller sizes of rope. They have a lot of thread and different sizes. Just check it out and it may help you out.

 

If you use (Coats and Clark  30 wt  and 35 wt), (Guttermann 50 wt),(Maderia 80 wt), and( Floriani 40 wt) you will have five sizes of single black thread to use and no rope walk needed. You might want to check out the lighter colors for the running rigging. 

Edited December 29, 2015 by Geoff Matson

[Geoff Matson]

.Here is a sight I just came across for cotton thread.  http://www.discounte...derysupply.com/It is called Discount Embroidery Supply. I ordered some 40 wt and 80 wt cotton thread from them to make more smaller sizes of rope. They have a lot of thread and different sizes. Just check it out and it may help you out.

 

Here are a few shots of making three strand 40 wt cotton thread

 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2015 by Geoff Matson

[Geoff Matson]

I have been working on the foremast rigging. Here is what I came up with to represent a mouse on some of the lines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 5, 2016 by Geoff Matson

[JSGerson]

What method did you use to make the mouse?

[Geoff Matson]

Hey that Rattlesnake is looking pretty great. I remember when you started it.

 

Thanks for your interest in the mouse. It was pretty basic, I just followed Bob's idea of taking a square piece of wood proper for the line size, drill a hole in the center the size of the line and file it into a cone shape. Then just painted it black and slipped on the line. 

[JSGerson]

You must have a good memory, It's been a looooooong time since I started the Rattlesnake. Your Conny is looking real good. I hope to started mine before the millennium is up. 8-)

 

Jonathan

[Geoff Matson]

I spent the last few days making rope for the my Main Mast rigging. I will follow the same practice as I did on the foremast, rig as much as I can off the model. I also make up a lot of the other rigging line ahead of time so when I go to install everything I will be ready to go. The nice part about this is I will know ahead of time where all the lines will attach. This will hopefully prevent having to drill a eye bolt hole in the deck with everything installed and in the way.

 

Here is a quick shot of my main helper going over the rigging with me

 

 

 

Edited January 10, 2016 by Geoff Matson

[GLakie]

Looks like you must have worn him out, and he's going to take a nap now, after removing the optivisors. 

[Burroak]

Geoff she's coming along nicely. Great job!

 

Greg H.

[Overworked724]

The level of detail is simply amazing.  Reviewing various galleries and current builds, I realize how much I have to learn.  Fabulous job!

[PeteGee]

Geoff,

 

Thanks for your great work! I have just caught up with your log, and having just started a 'Connie' of my own this past summer, I am really going "back to school" after about 35 years totally away from modeling. Thanks for being a great instructor. Mine is a 1/96 Revell kit so the scale of everything is a bit different from yours, but the lessons are the same: "Measure twice, cut once." Even though it is plastic, the same principle applies. 

 

Thanks again.

 

Pete

[robnbill]

Thanks George.

 

They work out great and make the rigging a whole lot easier. This way I can rig the masts while sitting in my chair instead of standing up and working over the model worrying about breaking something off. With the rigging there is a lot adjusting the lines to get them just right. If you look behind the masts you can see the other stands ready to go to work

I think you will still find time to break off things. I seem to anyway!

[Elijah]

Very nice build Geoff! I will follow with interest! Is the Connie too big to bring to meetings?

[Geoff Matson]

Yes Elijha, it is too big and too awkward to transport. So I will be bringing a flash drive of my progress to the meetings and Kurt can show it on the projector.

[David Lester]

Hi Geoff,

I'm enjoying your build log. I believe you have the LLS practicum as I do and I've been reading ahead in it a little bit. I have a question that maybe you've already come across as you're ahead of me in the build. It appears to me that Bob only addresses the mast measurements for the fore mast and skips over the main and mizzen and furthermore it appears to me that there's a discrepancy between his measurements for the fore mast and those in the plans. Specifically he says to measure up 4" from the top of the mast boot, whereas the plans say to measure up 4" from the deck (or bottom of the mast boot.) Did you find that to be the case, or am I misreading something. It appears that we must take the measurements for the main and mizzen from the plans and if that's the case then I'm inclined to take the measurements for the foremast directly from the plans too, rather than the practicum. I'm just curious as to how you handled this part of the build.

Thanks,

David