flag, pennant and rudder fittings.

made flags from aluminium foil, primed with grey acrylic primer then acrylic colours.

pennant.

got a stickon address label, painted it black and and cut out pintles and gudeons.

all that remains is to fit remaining bunting then make the display cabinet.

hrs 195.

the battery.

model was missing its maindeck guns. i found these kits on cornwall model boats website. they are beautifully made kits, only 20mm long, (they supply a range of sizes.

quite neat i think.

the full battery.

thank god i don't have to polish them!!

fitting sails.

returned from sunny wodonga on tuesday. wednesday and thursday spent laceing the sails to the yards and attaching sheets, vangs, clewing up lines and brailles.

decided to have the main course clewed up and brailled.

have been looking for something suitable to make a figurehead from. found a small model doe deer in a toyshop in a little gold mining town near wodonga. cut the head off, painted it gold and filled in highlights in black and bobs your uncle, a golden hind!!

hrs 185.

boltropes.

3 days spent sewing ropes around sails, forming mounting eyes and fitting clew and sheet blocks.
fine needle and thread, bright sunlight and a big magnifying glass for this job. just the sprits'l to comlete the suite.

hrs 169.

sails.

pinned old sails onto board over tissue paper.

drew outline of sails, then removed sails.

added vertical seam lines and hem allowance.

cut out patterns and pinned to callico with warp of cloth running top to bottom of sails.

cut out each sail.

ready to start sewing.

used finest needle, very light brown fine thread

and stitch length set to 1mm.

set top thread tension slightly less than bottom.

sewed all vertical seams.

this use of different tension puts a "belly" in the finished sail.

the seams are only to show sails made up from multiple bolts of canvas.

will do hems tomorrow.

off to mold pm to watch caernarfon rugby 1sts play mold.

hrs 155.

re-rigging completed.

today, after a few days doing other things, completed work on mizzenmasts. used thixofix to attach rope fender around ships boat. secured boat to maindeck with bluetack.
everything finished and ready for sails. however for'd end didn't look right without bobstays, from head to bowsprit, so added a pair. now it looks right.







next job = sails.




hrs 150.

main topmast and mizzen mast rigging.

repaired and refurbished topmast crosstrees and flagstaff supports/guides.

once flagstaff in place made up new outrigger blocks and rigged tops'le yard, starting with topping lifts which are rigged the same as foretops'le yard but hauling part secured to pins on poop for'd rail.

next rigged braces. standing parts secured around base of topmast below guide, hauling part rove through guide blocks secured with wire through for'd end of mizzen top f&a supports, then secured on pins on for'd poop rail next to topping lifts.

moved onto mizzen mast then, starting with mizzen shrouds then topmast shrouds. top is drilled for four shrouds each side but only two shrouds each side used.

next came the dodgy bit referred to in previous post. by this i mean the mizzen yard topping lift arrangement. the only evidence on the model when i first got it to support what i have done were the remains of three lashing approximately as seen on the yard here. the block going up to the crosstrees was absent as was the block on the yard. there was a rigging plan for "revenge" which does it like this, and a drawing i did like this. i don't remember doing it or where i got the info, but it does work, and doesn't look out of place. the hauling part is lead to a short outrigger block secured to top of main topmast then secured to for'd poop rail.

all that remains is the mizzen ratlines, crosstrees and flagstaff. all rigging not concerned with sails will be completed.

hrs 145.

main & top masts ratlines, topping lifts & braces.

today spent finishing ratlines on mainmast and main topmast shrouds. then i started the running rigging on the yards. made up double sheave blocks for topping lift/sheets. rove topping lifts and set up with hauling parts turned up on maindeck kingposts.

braces are unusual in that they are lead for'd with standing part secured to wire strops run through foc's'le break uprights. hauling parts turned up on outer for'd poop rail belaying pins. tomorrow will refurbish and fit topmast crosstrees and flagstaff, button and flag.

hrs 133.

main topmast.

I don't seem to have achieved much today but a lot of time spent trying to make sense of the old bits of rigging left over.

mainly concerned with rigging on mizzen yard. when I got the model this was not in place on the yard but lying in the mess on deck. scoured all my pics for clues but to no avail. looked at the rigging on "elizabeth jonas", also no help. looked at rigging plan of "revenge" and started to get the idea. however what's left doesn't seem right.

finally realised i had sketched it before dismantling. doh!! but even with that info the remaining blocks and lines not right. this may be because roy changed his mind halfway through. two of the remaining blocks are double sheaved and coupled together and appear to be used like the fore topmast yard halyard and spread onto the mizzen stay, which can't be right. i'm gonna have to wing this one. however i finally do it, it will work.

anyway once i got started i made up a new main topmast yard halyard, rove it through the main topmast and secured it to the yard. then rigged its purchase from for'd port 1/4 deck rail, up through its block and turned hauling part up on pin in stbd rail. then repeated the process with the main topmast running backstay.

then i made up and set the mizzen topmast stay.

finally made up 8 topmast shroud sets and got half way through rigging them. will box them off tomorrow.

hrs 127.

fore topmast, mainmast ratlines and mizzenmast stay.

finished off ratlines on fore topmast shrouds.

then put ratlines on port mainmast shrouds.
















made up mizzen mast stay fixed for'd end around base of mainmast and top end through lubber holes in mizzen top. rove tensioning purchase and set up stay.




hrs 121.

fore topmast rigging.

made up new main topmast stay and set it up
from main topmast crosstree supports to around foremast just under fore topmast support/guide.
then completed work on fore topmast shrouds and set them up.














refurbished and painted flag mast and flag, and installed on crosstrees.


set up fore topmast stay.







made up then rove fore tops'le yard topping lifts, then set them up.

rove braces from top of main topmast stay to outrigger blocks then to lead blocks on lower end of stay thence to aft rail on fo'c'sle.

rove topmast running backstay purchase through maindeck rail to block on backstay to maindeck rail on other side and secured hauling part on belaying pin.

all that remains is to fix ratlines on shrouds and foremast rigging is complete.

fore topmast.

glued crows nest basket to foretop. made new support/guide for foretopmast. fitted clew furling blocks to tops'le yard. made up halyard and rove through. fited parell rope. made up 4 pairs of shrouds and fitted around mast and over crosstree supports. went x-eyed again so called it a day.

hrs 111.

ratlines on foremast shrouds.

finished off ratlines port and stbd. 240 clove hitches. sealed hitches with nail varnish. it becomes invisible when dry.

hrs 107.

fore course yard rigging.

made up outrigger blocks for braces and short outriggers for sheet/topping lift blocks. installed two blocks on each side of yard for clew furling and fore top'sle sheets, then fitted two outrigger blocks each side. rove brace threads, previously tied to top of mainstay, through long outrigger blocks on yard ends, to lead blocks on bottom of mainstay, and secured hauling parts to aft rail on fo'c'sle. rove single fold purchases for topping lifts and secured hauling parts to for'd rail on fo'c'sle.

made a start on the foremast ratlines using clove hitches and 0.2mm black manilla thread. this will be a long tedious job.

had enough, so will mow the lawn!!

mainstay and foremast standing rigging.

pinned the old mainstay onto the bench and
marked the positions of blocks, brace standing
parts and foretop yard halyard spreaders and blocks. then stripped down old stay, cleaned the blocks and re-made new stay on bench useing marks for guidance.










left plenty spare at top end to go through slots in maintop. attached bottom end to beak, leaving a little slack in purchase, then fitted top end in maintop and whipped the end in situe. finally tensioned stay with purchase. all knots and whippings sealed with nail varnish.








finally, finished setting up foremast shrouds.












hours 94.

back again.

got back from panama on friday after 31 day trip delivering smit yerwa from takoradi in ghana.. could'nt get a full load of fuel so had to go slower than planned in order to reach paramaribo in surinam for fuel, fresh water and stores. due non arrival of filters for main engine fuel, had 3 days in port. coming home from panama city flight delayed 2hrs due to headlamp bulb failure. (you'd think they'd carry a spare in the glove compartment, under the cds.) missed connection to london in miami. so had an extra day in very nice hotel near the airport.

started again today with rigging shrouds on foremast. gave the blocks a good clean then made up 6 pairs of shrouds.

not quite finished but may complete tomorrow.


hrs 80.

mainmast shrouds.

this pic shows "golden hind"? in comparison to next project "elizabeth jonas".

shroud sets at main top.

shrout tension purchases.

fly tie gear used to form whippings etc. whippings finished off with clear nail varnish.

no more work for 5 weeks as am off to Takoradi, Ghana tomorrow to take a Damen 2810 ASD tug called "Smit Ile Ife" to Panama.

hours 76.

finished painting hull bottom, started re-rigging.

for waterline i applied some auto self adhesive
pinstripe as masking then applied 3 coats primer
and 3 coats silk white. when dry i removed the pinstripe.











i drilled 2mm holes in the rail capping on the model to accept marlin spikes for securing rigging hauling parts. then made 38 spiked out of cocktail sticks which i cut on the taper. o/c soaked in stain.

i bought a fly tying kit on e-bay and was kindly given a fly tying vice by ian on freecycle. i watched a few videos on fly tying on youtube..........

and started on the rigging. i am using manila cord of various diameters throughout. i apply beeswax to the cord to stop it going fluffy and also to ease it's passage through the blocks.
here i have secured the main yard to the mainmast with cord and parrel chocks. will repeat on fore and mizzen masts.

hours 64.

topsides completed.

all hull repairs completed. aft gallery/balcony constructed and fitted. all painting and varnishing done. bottom white and waterline to do. acylic paint (revelle) used throughout. all covered with polyeurethane clear satin varnish.

hours 56.

the dreaded triangles.

well, i did them on the port side. this was really hard. originally they were marked out and painted with the cards flat on the bench and the cards fitted to the hull o/c. painting in situ is hard. the results are not as good as roy's efforts but when model is completed my errors will hopefully melt away.

hours 44.

removed rubbing stakes prior to painting triangles.

after much thought have decided i don't have the ability to freehand paint the triangles. they are too small. therefore will have to mask them with tape. in order to get access for tape, removed rubbing strakes. they were pinned, not glued, thankfully. pried them off with chisel, leaving pins behind. pins very small and heads corroded away. managed to remove most and drove the rest flush with hull. then masked off and primed area.

tried using tape with no success, so tried freehand with reasonable results. will look better when rubbing strakes replaced. will take hours.

hours 34.