Since my youngest years I have always wanted to build a large wooden ship model. MASW offered a wooden ship building course earlier this year. I jumped at the chance to take the course taught by Daryl Rosenblatt, a great instructor. The course was all I had hoped it to be with detailed instruction on bending planks and applying them to the boat. It was the perfect introduction to wooden model ship making. Unfortunately, some issues arose and two days of the weeklong class were missed. Now it is time to catch up and complete the model.
The first photo above shows the longboat model. The next two photos show the current state of the Model Shipways 18th century longboat. The frame was constructed from the keel up. The boat was planked, though not in the most realistic way. More realistic planking has the planks narrowed as they approach the bow. Planking as done here was straight in the top half dozen or so planks and fitting was only done below the waterline. The photo below shows how this boat was planked relative to the picture in the instruction sheet. This plan change saved significant time and was the choice made in order to complete the boat in the one week class.
Time this morning was spent on two activities, minor repairs and painting. The transom was loose on one side so it was reglued with superglue. Multiple glue blobs decorated the interior of the boat and most of these were filed away. Some of the boat's ribs were proud of the top plank and were sanded down to level. A few other areas also received significant sanding with 80 and then 150 grit sandpaper blocks.
Painting in some areas should have been done prior to installing some of the interior woodwork. This was skipped in order to catch up with the rest of the class, though that proved to be an elusive goal. In any event the top inside of the boat should be painted red. In order to accomplish this 6 mm Tamiya painting tape was applied as needed. The ship was then painted in the areas noted in the instructions. The two photos below show the taping and the painting. Much of this painting will be hidden by the next step, applying the cap rail.
The cap rail was cut from 1/32" stock in class, but months later it is a very poor fit. A few fillers will need to be made. The cap rail is painted so good sanding and fitting should hide any joinery.
Much of the cap rail needed to be remade. The first photo below shows the three cap rail pieces set in place. They were further refined and then glued into place as shown in the second photo below. After sanding, the area below the cap rail on the outside of the boat was taped. The cap rail was painted Bulwarks Gun Red. The paint raised the grain, so more sanding and a second coat will probably be required.
Post the second coat of red, the boat was taped above the waterline. Wasn't sure exactly where the waterline was, but made my best guess. The area below the waterline and the keel were painted white. After drying the area was lightly sanded and a second coat of white paint was applied. The photo below shows the white painted, boat bottom after the first coat.
The red paint of the cap rail was covered with tape and the edge painted white. With the initial painting complete, the tape was removed revealing only a few minor spots where white paint crept under the tape on the top of the cap rail. These were easily touched up with a bit of red paint. Then the friezes were applied. The friezes supplied in the kit were carefully cut out leaving a 1/32" white border around the two long side friezes. The friezes, slightly different for starboard and port, were lightly sprayed with 3M spray adhesive and then placed under the cap rail. The transom frieze, smallest supplied, was also cut out and glued in place. The photo below shows the port and transom friezes in place. The transom frieze still needs to be trimmed to fit.
The last thing accomplished in class was cutting the thwarts (seats) to fit. One thwart also holds the mast. The class altered the construction of this thwart so it would more firmly hold the mast. The thwart was cut out wider and a hole drilled for the mast, as opposed to the plans, where the mast is held in a semi-circular notch with a glued "iron strap". The strap was to be a 1/32" wide 1/64" thick length of brass. Four brass belay pins were glued into holes drilled into this thwart. Two straps wrap over the front edge of the thwart and these were utilized. Two strips of the brass were cut 13/16" long and bent 3/8" in from the ends leaving a slight gap between the bends. These and the glued belay pins are shown in the photo below. Before gluing the brass straps in place they were slipped onto a piece of scrap balsa and painted black.
Today saw the continuation of tiny detail construction. The back of the boat has a locker between two seats. The seats were precut and just needed a bit of fitting, including notching to go around ribs. The locker's top was cut to fit and then cut into two pieces to simulate the locker between the seats. The photo below shows the seats and part of the locker set in place.
Two hinges were needed for the locker. Two very short strips of brass, 3/32" X 1/32" wide, were cut off with wire cutters. Two matching short lengths of 28 gauge wire were cut and glued to the brass strips. These "hinges" were painted black to simulate iron. The photo below attempts to show one of these hinges, adjacent to the tip of a pencil.
The windlass eventually positioned amidships was made from a 5/32" square strip of balsa. A length was cut and sanded to fit loosely between the risers, rails that the thwarts sit on. Two sections of this square billet were marked as only these sections remain square. The remainder was filed into an octagonal cross section. Each of the corners outside the marked sections were first filed with a flat file and then the transitions to the square section were cleaned up with a round file. The photo below shows the windlass at this stage of construction.
The handles for the windlass were made from 1/16" square stock. The length of these handles was not to be found in the plans, but looked to be the same length as the rudder, 7/8". Two sections were cut from stock at this length and the ends cleaned up with sandpaper. Most of the length of each handle was filed and sanded round. The two square ends will remain square, but tapered to a smaller square profile to fit in square holes yet to be drilled in the windlass. The not quite complete handles are seen below.
The windlass needed holes for the handles, so was marked and drilled with a 1/32" drill from all four sides of each end producing four through holes. The holes were squared up with a square needle file. The square ends of the handles were kept square, but were narrowed to 1/32" at the tips with sandpaper. The photo below shows the result of this work with the two handles inserted in the square holes of the windlass.
Happy New Year!
Stain was applied to the boat this morning. The stain recommended is a 50:50 mix of Minwax Golden Oak and Natural stains. These were purchased yesterday and mixed in a small jar, so there would be sufficient and consistent stain for the entire project. The stain was applied with a brush. The stain is much darker and browner than expected. Stain was applied on the inside without taping. The outside was taped before applying stain. The stain on the outside ran under the tape in numerous places. It was easy to wipe off of the white paint, but turned the edge of the appliqué brown! Some kind of clear coat should have been applied to the appliqué first.
I have found no mention of a finishing clear coat in the instructions. Instructions downloaded for a model from Artesania Latina discuss using a satin varnish. Parts are stained and/or varnished or painted prior to attachment in many cases.
The windlass was finished by drilling a hole (1/32") in each end. Two matching holes were drilled in the risers, rails that support the thwarts, at the #0 bulkhead. Short lengths of #22 gauge wire were glued into the ends of the windlass. The windlass and its two handles were stained as seen below. The windlass will eventually be pushed into position, but not glued, left free to rotate. The model is usually displayed with one handle inserted and one lying across the thwarts. The handles will be put in place after completing the rigging.
The seats were also glued in place. Stain was chosen over the red used later in the 18th century. The seats were glued into place and then the previously made parts for the locker needed to be trimmed to fit. The trimmed parts did not fit well, so the locker was remade. It was cut in one piece and a very faint line was cut to demarcate the two parts. This locker lid was glued in place and the hinges were glued onto the faint line. The seats and locker lid were stained and are shown below. The second photo shows the windlass installed.
The thwarts were all checked. While doing so it was discovered that the windlass was not installed in the right position. The windlass was moved after drilling two new holes. The small thwart in the bow was not found and was made anew, using the point of a needle file to scribe the lines running down its sides. After checking and rechecking locations the thwarts were glued in place. They were then stained. The photo below shows the thwarts in place and the handles posed in the windlass.
Two tasks were undertaken this morning, one successfully. The oar locks and the knees need to be installed. The oarlocks were located according to the plans, marked with a sharp pencil and drilled with a 0.020" bit. 26 gauge wire, 0.016", was cut into 16 short lengths, < 1/8". A drop of superglue was put on the hole and using tweezers a wire was placed in the hole and aligned vertically. The lengths are not perfect, but the wires can be cut to size after the glue dries. Two types of knees were needed, two larger knees for the aft bulkhead and six to sit on the thwarts and against the sides of the boat. All were cut from stock, sanded and painted red. The two knees to be set against the aft bulkhead were glued in place. The knees for the thwarts are too tall as the riser was not correctly placed. Unfortunately, these knees will not be installed. The boat with oar locks and aft knees is seen below.
The oar locks were trimmed to a consistent length and painted red. Two eyebolts were made for the bottom of the boat, used to lift the boat. Two split rings were opened and brass rings inserted before bending the split rings closed. The "tails" were inserted in holes drilled in a scrap of plywood, so the eyebolts could be painted black. This is shown below. Holes were drilled per the plans and the split ring tail shortened to about 1/8". These were glued into the holes as seen in the third photo.
The horse was added next. The horse is an iron bar, 22 gauge black wire in this case, that sits just in front of the transom. A length of wire was cut and the two ends bent at 90°. Holes were drilled in the cap rail and the wire glued into position. From the instructions the horse holds the sheet block, which can slide from port to starboard, allowing the sail to move.
The rudder was removed from the laser cut parts and the laser burn sanded off. It was tapered top to bottom and fore to aft, so the bottom-most aft corner is 1/16" thick and the top and front edge remain 3/32". The front of the rudder, the edge that sits against the transom was rounded. The rudder was then painted, white below the water line, red at the top, and stain in the middle.
Stain has to go on first as it runs right under the tape. It is easily covered by the provided paint.
Over an hour was spent trying to make the pintles, the hinge halves holding rudder to sternpost. They are made from the tiny brass strip, used on the mast holding thwart, and 26 gauge wire. A length of strip is cut to fit around the rudder, bent into a U-shape, and a short length of wire glued into the bend. Not only are they tiny but, the resulting glue blob needed to be filed away to fit the pintle into the slot on the back of the rudder. Filing kept freeing the wire! Two were finally prepared, with one shown in the out of focus closeup below, by first sanding the inside of the curved brass strip.
After dropping, losing and remaking the smaller of the two pintles twice(!), it was painted black and glued in place. The larger pintle was glued and then painted white. The rudder at this stage is shown below. Upon expanding the photo you can barely see the pins that will go into an eyebolt up top and a gudgeon below, the gudgeon is the other half of the hinge affixed to the sternpost.
A break was needed after chasing hinges all over the place, so painting was started. The painting that needed to be done was applying a finish coat to the boat and any other unpainted wood. I struggled to find a satin varnish that was not just rebranded polyurethane, finally settling on boiled linseed oil, having used it on the rocking chair. The only problem with using it is that it requires about seven days to cure. The oil was applied by brush to the stained parts of the boat, both inside and outside. the oil was also applied to the oars which had been sanded to shape in class.
A tiller was made starting with 1/16" X 1/16" stock. The stock was cut to length, ~1", as shown in the plans. The tiller tapers to a ball, rounded for most of the way leaving only a small amount of the tiller near the rudder with a square profile. It was shaped in this fashion with a sanding block and sandpaper. A small tenon was shaped on the tiller end. This is seen in the photo below part way through shaping. The tiller was coated with boiled linseed oil without staining, like the oars.
An eyebolt holds the hinge pin from the top pintle. Its location was determined by aligning the bottom of the rudder with the bottom of the keel and marking the spot where the hinge pin sits above the transom. A 1/32" drill made a hole through the transom. This hole comes out below the locker and cannot be seen. A provided eyebolt was glued into the hole as seen in the photo below. The rudder fits nicely over this eyebolt.
A short, 3/4" length of the thin brass strip was cut off and bent in the middle into a U-shape. Putting this over the sternpost indicated a little more shaping was needed for a better fit as the sternpost sides are not parallel. The first gudgeon was dropped and lost. The second was aligned by setting the rudder in place and making sure the gudgeon fit on the pin and was aligned with the pintle. This is seen in the first photo below. The side of the gudgeon was marked with a pencil. The rudder was removed as was the gudgeon. Superglue was put on the inside of the gudgeon's legs before the gudgeon was slipped into position on the sternpost. After spraying with accelerant the rudder was again put in place to check fit as seen in the second photo below. As should be the case the two photos are nearly identical. The gudgeon was painted white and the bottom of the boat was also given another coat of white. Decals need to be applied to the rudder, but that will wait until the linseed oil has completely cured.
A 1/32" hole was carefully drilled part way through the top of the rudder. A drop of superglue was placed on the tiller's tenon and the tenon inserted into the hole. The first photo shows the tiller glued to the rudder and the second the rudder posed on the stern.
Masting and rigging are the next tasks, though the stand needs to be considered, as any drilling into the keel needs to be done now. Shaping the mast was accomplished this morning. The provided 5/32" X 12" dowel was chucked in the lathe and center drilled. It was then held between chuck and tailstock center. Key transition points were marked with a pencil. This setup is shown in the photo below.
Sanding was initiated with 80 grit sandpaper held between finger and thumb. In this way the dowel flexed little minimizing the chance of breakage. The 6 1/8" of dowel on the bottom or left in the lathe was tapered to 3/32" seen in the photo below.
A sharp transition is made at the upper end of this lower taper from 0.090" to 0.080". After this transition the mast further tapers to 1/16" over a bit more than 2". The transition was made with a sanding block, which was also used to complete this taper. The dowel was held between finger and sanding block to form the taper. Sanding was done with care because it was a bit nerve wracking with the dowel getting thinner and thinner. The mast was then carefully sanded with finer grits of sandpaper to complete the shaping.
Two things still needed to be done to the mast, cutting sheaves, pulleys embedded in the mast, and putting tenons on the ends. The former was simulated by first marking the six sheave locations and then drilling through holes in the mast with a #71, 0.026" drill. The hole pairs were connected by filing with the corner of a square needle file. The "sides of the pulley" were faked with Exacto knife cuts along the edges of the filed slots. The sheaves are located near the top of the mast, with two in the most narrow section, a difficult drilling challenge, that was not completely successful. The four photos below show the sheave construction.
I found it difficult to sand the tenons on the ends of the mast, so cut them first. The mast ends were cut off leaving sufficient room for the two 1/16" long tenons. A circle was scribed around the mast at the juncture of mast and tenon. The Exacto knife made a cut around this circle and then cut toward the circle from the ends of the masts, eliminating most of the waste. Sanding the tenon round was then a simple operation; both are shown below, with the top mast tenon a bit too long.
The next task is making three iron bands, two near the top of the mast hold single blocks, pulleys, and the one at the bottom holds the hook on the end of the boom. As before these bands are faked with the 1/64" X 1/32" brass strip. Short lengths were cut from the provided stock, bent tightly around the mast at the desired location and then the ends were pinched tight with needle nose pliers. These three bands are shown below.
All three iron bands need to be drilled prior to cutting the ends to length. The instructions indicate drilling can be done by hand, but with much effort and patience. I plan to drill the bands with the Sherline mill, but first need to come up with a jig for holding the tiny bands.
Two days later a plan is in place. A scrap of wood had a 0.040" wide, the width of a needle file, slot filed across a corner. The plan is to hold a band with needle nose pliers by the free ends situated in this slot. A tiny punch mark was made by pressing a dentist's tool into the center of the uppermost of the two tails. The sensitive drilling jig was set up in the mill as seen below. A #76 drill, 0.020" was held in the chuck, second photo below. All went well until the mill was turned on, showing just how much play there is in the sensitive drilling jig, even when tightly held. An attempt was made to capture this wobble in the third photo below, but the camera does too good of a job slowing and or stopping the motion. To my eye the drill described a 1/32" circle and there was no chance of locating the punch mark with the drill tip.
Mill drilling was also attempted without the sensitive drilling attachment. Even with a punch mark, the drill skipped across the surface. The drill was then fitted to the pin vise. Again a punch mark was made and the drill could be kept on the mark during rotation. After 5-10 minutes the drill had made no progress using my arm as weight. When I attempted to press harder during rotation, while holding the pin vise near the drill, the drill broke. A rethink is in order as I have already wasted more time on this than it deserves. The question is how does one fake the holes in the bands and the inserted thread holding a block.
Leaving that conundrum behind for a bit, the ball truck was tackled. The truck is a 1/4" circle of 1/16" basswood with two sheaves and a partial hole on center. The center hole is to attach it to the tenon on top of the mast. Before cutting out the circle the basswood was marked and drilled for the four sheave holes. The sheaves were faked using the same process as for the mast. The center hole, 0.04", was drilled through. The ball truck was cut out using a quickly made punch. A 1" length of 1/4" ID brass tube was held in the lathe chuck and the spindle was set to 5°. The end of the tube was cut to a somewhat sharp edge. This punch was twisted by hand around the two sheaves to cut through the basswood. The ball truck still in the punch is shown below.
The ball truck was placed on the mast tenon and the tenon was sanded down even with the truck. The edge of the ball truck was rounded over with 220 grit sandpaper. It is shown below, next to a 1/16" drill for scale. The truck was dipped in linseed oil and left to dry. Meanwhile the mast and the oars were painted according to the plans.
After a few days away to visit Cabin Fever I am back and ready to complete the mast. The blocks were the first target of my efforts. Faking tied knots and drilled holes was somewhat successful. A length of the thickest string provided was wrapped around the 1/8" block and superglued. A drop of glue was placed on the open end of the block and the string ends twisted over the glue, providing a hint of a knot, shown below. After sanding the ends of the iron bands a drop of glue was applied. The end of the band was held close to the knot and accelerant was sprayed on, affixing the band to the block. The ends of the string were wrapped around the band and more glue applied. The photos below document the process.
In order to step the mast a block of wood needed to be made and glued to the inside bottom of the boat. A square was drawn on a scrap of 1/16" thick basswood. Diagonals were used to find the center of the square, which was lightly punched and then drilled with a #49 drill to fit the tenon on the bottom of the mast. The square was cut out using a chisel and the edges were beveled. Glue was placed on the boat bottom below the thwart with the mast hole. The mast was inserted through the hole and used to align the small block of wood. After the glue dried the block was stained with the 50:50 stain mix used above.
The truck was glued to the top of the mast as seen in the photo below. The two sheaves were aligned front to back. The first photo below shows the truck glued in place. The second shows the completed mast top.
In lieu of a drilled hole an eyelet was needed. The previously made "iron" band, that will support the boom, was further bent around the end of the tweezers to form a second loop. Glue was applied to the ends of this new loop and the loop pinched shut, while spraying it with accelerant. The iron band before gluing is shown below. The band was then painted black while hanging from a toothpick. After drying it was glued in place. This band points forward, while the blocks hang aft of the mast.
The mast is significantly smaller in diameter than the hole in its thwart, 0.19" vs. 0.15", so a gap filler was needed. The brass strip, 1/64", was chosen. A small piece was bent around the mast at the approximate location of the thwart. After some fiddling it was deemed sufficiently tight. Glue was applied to the block in the bottom and around the opening in the thwart. The mast was inserted. The new strap was pushed down into the hole in the thwart, then rotated so the bands were appropriately oriented. The mast was checked to ensure it was vertical from the side and the aft end of the boat. When all looked good the accelerant was sprayed, locking it in place.
While aligning the mast vertically from the aft an oddity was noticed. The boat has a pronounced twist from front to back! It is difficult to see this with the camera, but the photo below is an attempt to document the twist. Maybe it's not the most seaworthy craft!
With the mast complete attention turned to the bowsprit. A 1/8" dowel was cut to length per the plans. Sanding tapered the bowsprit from 1/8" at the aft end to 0.07" at the tip. A sheave was made not far from the narrow tip, again using a small drill followed by filing grooves. The bowsprit at this stage is seen below.
The bowsprit is held to the boat with two iron bands. The first is placed about 3/4" from the large end and holds a pin. The brass strip was bent around the bowsprit and a pin was glued between the tails. After the glue dried the tails were filed flat. This band is shown below.
The second band fits at the aft end of the bowsprit and has tails long enough to fit in a hole in the front flooring. A long piece of the brass was bent around the bowsprit and the tails glued together.
Both bands were slipped onto the bowsprit and the bowsprit held in position on the starboard side of the stem. Two positions were noted, the location of the pin and the location of the tails. Both were drilled, the pin hole in the stem was drilled with a 0.03" drill and the hole for the tails was drilled with a 0.04" drill. A notch was filed in the thwart just above the tail hole drilled in the floor. The band with the long tails was placed in the hole and the bowsprit was slipped in place. The pin band was then slid down the bowsprit until the pin fit in the hole. Its position was marked on the bowsprit. Two photos of the temporary placement are seen below.
Both bands and the aft end of the bowsprit between the bands were painted black prior to permanent assembly. The unpainted area was painted with the linseed oil. After the paint dried the bowsprit was attached to the boat on the starboard side of the stem. It was glued to the bands, which were glued into their respective holes. The photo below shows the bowsprit in place.
The boom was made in a very similar process to the bowsprit. In this case the 1/8" dowel had to be tapered on both ends leaving only the central portion at 1/8" diameter. One end was marked for a tenon and about 3/32" was reduced to 0.05" using a knife followed by sanding round. The opposite end was drilled, 0.024", on center and about 1/16" deep. A short length of the 28 gauge wire was bent into the shape of a hook. This hook was glued into the drilled end of the boom and will attach to the corresponding iron band on the mast. Both ends of the boom were painted black per the plans. The middle part of the boom was treated with the boiled linseed oil. The photos below show the boom through this process.
A block was rigged to the boom. This block required a loop at the bottom where the eventual sheet will be seized, at least this is how I interpreted the instructions, create an eye on the bottom end of the strop. A 3-4" length of string was wrapped around a drill bit and three half knots were tied. I attempted to replicate the tying process surgeons use for sutures, but eventually resorted to using just my fat fingers. A drop of glue was placed on the knot to fix it.
The block was glued between the two loose string ends as seen in the first photo below. The string needed to go around the boom and be knotted between the boom and block. The boom was marked at the correct position for the block. One loose string was wrapped around the boom and a double knot was tied between boom and block. Glue was used to fix the knot and to attach the loop to the boom. The completed boom block is shown in the second photo.
The last item to be made before focus turns solely to rigging is the gaff. The 3/32" dowel was cut to length and tapered to 0.05" on one end and to 0.075" on the other. The small end had 3/32" reduced further for eventual rigging attachment. The gaff has "ears", my choice of words, not a nautical term, on one end. These were drawn onto a scrap of 1/16" thick basswood. Tiny holes were drilled in the ends before cutting both out with an Xacto knife. The ears were glued to the flattened ends of the thick end of the gaff as seen below. The ears were filed and sanded to refine their shapes. During this process the previously drilled holes disappeared. The gaff between the ears was drilled through and an eyebolt was glued into the hole. The gaff was painted black on the ends and with linseed oil in the middle.
The gaff was finished with two additions. First a loose loop of line was tied approximately 2/3 along and then on the small end's tenon. The best way to tie the middle line was to first glue it to the desired location, wrap the line around and tie it using the surgeon's knot, which was finally mastered, though mastered may be too strong of a term. A drop of glue made the knot permanent. Just a half knot with a drop of glue was used at the end of the gaff. Five brass "parel" beads were painted black after stringing them on a paper clip. While the beads dried a short length of string was glued to an ear at the end of the gaff. The black beads were strung on this string. (Only one bead was lost, when it popped out of the tweezers holding it during threading.) A clamp was used to hold the beads on the string until the gaff is mounted on the mast.
The parel beads allow the gaff to be easily slid up and down the mast. The gaff was used to hold the top of a trapezoidal shaped sail, gaff rigged. This was, at the time of this longboat, a common way to rig a sloop.
The rigging begins! Begins with the boom, where a 2' length of the 0.012" tan string was tied around and glued to the reduced end of the boom. The string then needed to go over the top block on the mast. The way the blocks were fixed to the mast did not allow the string to really loop over the block or pulley. All of the blocks come with a hole, so this was utilized instead. A bit of glue was placed on the end of the string and after drying most of the glued string was cut off, leaving only the very end with enough glue to hold it together, but not so much that it would no longer fit through the hole. The glued end fit through the block.
The boom end was supported on a 1" block of wood with the hook end in place at the mast. This approximates the desired boom angle. The string was run down to the aft starboard belay pin, when tightened a half knot was glued. This line is finished off to simulate a coil of line. After struggling to pull coiling off a solution was found. A 1/8" dowel was tapered on one end. The string end from the belay pin was wrapped around this dowel five or six times. A bit of glue was placed on the string, carefully so as not to get any on the dowel. The coil was slipped off of the tapered end of the dowel and glued to the belay pin. The completed "topping lift" is shown below with the second photo highlighting the rope coil.
The coil should probably be lying over the belay pin, but the line was glued to the top of the belay pin, not allowing this preferred placement.
The boom sheet, the line that holds the boom in position and moves the boom to port or starboard, was the first focus of the morning. A block needed to be seized to the rail. A surgeon's knot was made at the rail with a drop of glue to hold it. This line, the thicker string, went around the block and was glued, leaving the block loose on the rail. A line of the 0.012" thick string was glued to the knot hanging from the bottom of the block on the boom. This string ran down to the newly attached block, around the block and up to the block on the boom. It was glued to both blocks after pulling it tight. The two photos below shows the boom sheet through this work.
The string was glued to the sides of each pulley as the work progressed ensuring that the line would look tight. Completing the boom sheet was accomplished by tying the sheet to the end of the rail with a drop of glue to hold the knot. A bit of excess string trailed onto the seat where it was glued. A coil was made and glued above the end of the string as shown below.
After gluing the free end of the line holding the parel beads around the mast and gluing the gaff to the mast rigging the gaff was initiated with the gaff topping line. The thin string was tied to the loop of line on the gaff approximately in the middle with a surgeon's knot. The line was run up over the remaining block on the mast. In order to get the line over the block a hole was drilled through the glue sitting between the block and its securing line. The line was glued to the top of the block, when judged sufficiently tight. The line went down to the aft port belay pin, where a half knot was tied and glued low enough on the belay pin leaving room for the line coil. A coil of line was formed around the dowel and lightly glued. This loop was laid over the belay pin and glued in place. The two photos below show this work.
The next line completed the gaff rigging. This line, throat halyard, runs from the eyebolt near the gaff jaws up to the lowest sheave in the mast and then down to the foremost belay pin on the port side. A line was tied to the eyebolt again with a surgeon's knot and glued. The end of the line was treated with a bit of glue and the excess cut off leaving a pointed end that was pushed through the hole at the top of the sheave. The line was run down to the belay pin, where a half knot was tied and glued after tightening the line. A coil of string was formed and glued over the belay pin.
The shrouds are attached to chainplates holding deadeyes. A jig was made to repeatably bend the 28 gauge wire for the chainplates. Three holes were drilled in a scrap of pine with two close together and 5/16" from the third. Small nails from the kit had their heads removed and were glued into the holes. This jig is seen below with the wire bent around the nails.
A deadeye was placed between the wire ends and the wire bent around it. Glue was placed on the sides of the deadeyes. When dry the excess wire was snipped off and a drop of glue held the wire ends together. The chainplate was straightened as needed with needle nose pliers. The first two photos below show the wire glued around the deadeye. The third shows the four completed chainplates.
Real chainplates are made from a solid piece of steel. To better simulate this a bead of glue was run along the wire join and left to dry. The chainplates were painted black. A painted chainplate is shown below.
The chainplates need to be strung to another deadeye, which is then attached to a shroud, two chainplates on each side sharing a shroud with their near partner. My plan is to complete the tying of a chainplate to a deadeye, nail the chainplate to the hull, seize the shroud to the added deadeye, loop the shroud around the masthead and sieze it, attach a second chainplate-deadeye combo to the hull, and then sieze the shroud to this new deadeye.
To this end a chainplate and a new deadeye were held in small clamps held in the third hand's alligator clips. A knot was tied in the end of a 6" length of the thinnest black string, while a dab of glue was put on the opposite end and the end trimmed to fit through a hole. The glued string end was inserted into a hole in the free deadeye and then through the corresponding hole in the chainplate deadeye, back and forth until all three holes in each deadeye were encompassed. This string winding is shown below, though it has a twist which had to be fixed.
A challenge quickly became apparent. Attempting to pull the string taut, so the separation between deadeyes could be consistently replicated, just pulled the clamps together, or worse popped the whole kit and caboodle out and onto the floor. A better means of holding the deadeyes at the appropriate distance, 17/32" on the outside, is required. With the distance fixed the string can be pulled taut and glued after each loop is threaded through the deadeyes.
Another jig was quickly made to hold two small clamps perpendicular to one another. Two 0.040" holes were drilled in each of the small clamps. One clamp was held in place on the previously used scrap of pine and the holes marked. Both holes were punched and then drilled with a 0.035" drill about half of the length of the short nails provided with the kit. Two nails went through the clamp and into the holes. The second clamp was similarly nailed to the edge of a small wooden block. This block was glued to the pine after marking it for the appropriate distance. The jig was photographed while waiting for the glue to dry. One nail head can be seen in the left clamp. The second is about 1/8" further into the clamp.
The jig was put to use this morning. The chainplate was affixed to one clamp and a free deadeye to the other, seen below. A 5-6" length of string was cut. One end was tied into a half knot and lightly glued. Glue was put on the opposite end of the string, sprayed with fixative, and if needed trimmed to a point. The lanyard was threaded with tweezers through all six holes, pulled tight and glued in place. The process is documented in photos below along with a shot of the four finished constructs.
The boat, held by the third hand, was marked for a chainplate aligned with the rib just aft of the mast. The height was set by ensuring that the chainplate's deadeye sat just above the rail. With some trepidation a 0.036" hole was drilled through the hull and through the rib. A drop of glue was placed over the hole, the nail shortened, and the nail pressed through the chainplate and into the hull. A bit more glue was applied around the chainplate-hull contact. The photo below shows the chainplate nailed to the hull.
The second chainplate was attached to the rib aft of the first. The third and fourth chainplates were attached to the same ribs, but on the starboard side of the longboat. Three of the four attached chainplates can be seen below.
The shrouds were run from the chainplates up to near the top of the mast, where the diameter transitions from 0.09" and 0.08". A length of thick black line, the plans showed brown, but I did not have enough, though the picture on the box showed black, was cut to fit. One end was glued around the free deadeye of the chainplate. This line was run up to the mast and tied around it with a half knot, then while trying to keep the shroud tight a bit of glue was applied. This was only partially effective. The shroud was run down to the neighboring chainplate and again affixed to the deadeye. the extra line from stringing the chainplates was used to sieze the line wrapped around the deadeye. Pulling the shrouds tight and gluing them required four hands, unfortunately I only have two. This process was repeated for the opposite side with the two photos below showing the completed shrouds, the better of the two shrouds.
Initiated work on the backstays this morning. The backstays begin with the pendents, lines running from above the shroud tops on the masthead to a block about 3" down. The end of the pendent is seized to a 1/8" block. A 6" length of the thicker tan string was seized around the masthead at its center.
Two blocks were prepared, by first making a loop around the tip of a round needle file and tying a surgeon's knot followed by a half knot. A drop of glue was put on the knot. The two ends of the knot were glued to the sides of the smaller 1/8" block. A free end from this block was glued to the end of the pendent. The other free end of the block line was looped around the two glued lines and glued to fake seizing. These steps are shown in the photos below. This block addition was repeated on the opposite pendent.
The other end of this backstay begins with another chainplate, though without the deadeye. Two chainplates were made by first wrapping the 28 gauge wire around two headless nails set in scrap wood 5/16" apart. The wire was pinched tight around the nails with needle nose pliers. The ends of the wire were snipped to meet in the middle. The middle was coated with glue and after drying was filed flat. The chainplates were hung on wires and painted black.
Hooks with stropped blocks are attached to the chainplates. The hooks were made by bending wire around two headless nails, seen below. The hooks were hung on wire and painted black. While the paint dried decals were finally glued to the rudder, both sides, with a film of yellow wood glue.
Stropping a block to a hook went smoothly. The hook held in a clamp had a surgeon's knot tied to the loop. A clamp holding the free end of the string made tying easier. A drop of glue was applied to the knot, another knot tied and also glued. Glue was applied to one side of a block and a free end of the string was glued to the block. This was repeated for the opposite side using the other string free end. A half knot was tied at the top of the block and glued. Snipping off the string ends completed stropping the block to the hook.
With the hook and block on the chainplate it was time to string the running backstay. A hole was drilled in the hull just below the decal and aligned with the rib in front of the seat. A nail was cut off about halfway and pushed through the chainplate and into the drilled hole, seen in the first photo below. A length of the thin tan line, 0.012", was seized to the loop at the end of the pendent block. There was no hole for a line at the top of the pendent block and the inability to drill one through the knot at the top of the pendent block forced another route. The hole in the block was opened with a small drill with significant effort, tiny drills are not good at penetrating hardened superglue. The line from the pendent loop was run down and around the block on the hook, up to and through the pendent block, then back down to the hook block. Drops of glue were applied as needed and the line was tied around the bottom of the hook block. A small loop was formed and glued to this block. Unfortunately, the backstay wound up with a twist as seen in the third photo below.
The second backstay was rigged the same as the first. When it was completed the fore stay was tackled. The thicker black thread was cut to length. It was seized around a deadeye using the thinnest black thread, shown below.
A lanyard was rigged between the deadeye and the stem. The stem only has two holes, so the foremost hole was looped twice. The photo below shows this setup after looping, but before fixing the lanyard with glue.
The fore stay was wrapped around the masthead above the shrouds, pulled tight and glued. The lanyard was then glued in place with all lines held tightly. The photo shows the fore stay completed.
The staysail halyard's lower end is fixed via an eyebolt to be set into the front of the boat. The staysail halyard is rigged through another block stropped to a hook, the hook attaching to the eyebolt. This halyard is seized around the masthead, run down through the hooked block, and then back up through the middle mast sheave, and down to the remaining belay pin.
To this end another hook was made and stropped to its 3/16" block. A hole was drilled in the front of the boat and just behind the stem. A drop of glue on the hole was followed by inserting a cutoff eye. The thin tan line was tied and glued to the mast just above the fore stay tied above the masthead. This rigging ran to the block and hook, which was hooked to the eye. The line ran up to and through the middle sheave. A heavy clip was attached to the free end of the line, pulling it taut. This simplified adjusting the line around the block and gluing it in place. A loop was made in the end of the line and this loop was tightened around the remaining belay pin on the thwart.
The jib sail halyard is attached to a traveler ring, held on the bowsprit with the jib sail outhaul. Hardware needs to be made, another block stropped to a hook and the traveler ring. The hook was made as before. The traveler ring was bent into a circle around a 1/8" dowel. The ends were crossed and bent back together to form a tiny loop. the ends were glued and trimmed. This method of making the traveler ring is different from both the plan and from the instructions, which were not the same. The hook and traveler ring are shown below before they were painted black.
A line, soon to be the jib downhaul, was tied to the side of the traveler ring. The other end of the line was run through the sheave at the end of the bowsprit. From the sheave it was run over the rail of the boat and looped around the foremost thwart. A bit of glue was put in place on this loop after ensuring the line with the ring 1" from the sheave was sufficiently tight, though the ring was not fixed only held in place. The line ran from the loop down to the foredeck between thwarts. The line was trimmed and the end glued to the foredeck. A coil of rope was then glued over the end of the line.
With the jib downhaul complete the jib sail halyard could be rigged. The block with stropped hook was hooked to the traveler ring. The thin tan line was run from the mast, where it was tied just above the lower iron ring, down to the block and back up to the last mast sheave. From the sheave the line was run down to the same belay pin as the staysail halyard. After much frustration all was tight and drops of glue were used to lock the line in place. This halyard was completed with a loop of line sitting on the thwart and the staysail halyard was also completed with a loop of line on the belay pin. The jib sail halyard and the loops of line are shown below.
The flag halyard is the final line to rig! A long length of the thin tan line had both ends treated with glue to stiffen them, an important aspect of easy rigging. The ends went down through the starboard sheave on the balltruck, sitting on the top of the mast. The ends dangling down outside the mainstays were each tied to a mainstay just above the deadeye with a surgeon's knot followed by a half knot. A drop of glue locked the knots. Two rope coils were made and hung from the two tied halyard ends completing the rigging.
The grapnel anchor came in two cast pieces. These were cleaned of casting marks with needle files and glued together. The anchor was painted black and a line was seized through the hole in the end. The anchor was glued in the front of the boat with the line draping down to the floor boards. Yet another coil of line was glued over the free end.
I was still bothered by the lack of six knees, so made them work. The six painted knees from above were cut off (at the knees) and after a bit of sanding repainted red. The shortened knees were glued onto the ends of three thwarts. Two of the knees should have been placed on the foremost thwart, but with the line from the jib downhaul one would not fit. These two knees were glued to the next thwart.
A few final tasks completed the construction of the boat. One of the windlass handles was glued into the windlass. The second was glued to the bottom of the boat, a common way to display the handles. Four of the five oars made earlier were simply set in the boat across the thwarts. The white bottom was scarred where the clamps held it during rigging. There were also some scuff marks in other places in the white paint. The bottom was touched up with white paint as needed. Since this write-up is already much too long the stand for the longboat will be described in a separate page.
