The Main Boom

The construction and installation of the main boom was a far bigger task than I ever imagined. I am beginning to understand that as I get closer to complete, the tasks become more and more involved. I have certainly improved as far as skill goes working with the tools I have and the small parts, but the addition of detail and even smaller parts is increasing the difficulty and the fun in this project.
You can see in the photo above the main boom installed on the ship and the details of the jaws and attachment to the main boom.
Here you can see the other details on the main boom including the topping lift, the main sheet rigging, footropes and the stopper cleats. Iron bands were simulated using small strips of auto pinstripe tape and then painted black to reduce the shine of the tape. holes were drilled and eyes attached for many rigging attachment points for the boom.
The stopper cleats Are extremely small and may still be far to large for scale, but overall I think they came out looking pretty good. The block for the main sheet tackle and the footropes were attached before installing the boom on the model. These are also small in size and getting them to sag as they would on the real model was not a simple task, there is simply not enough weight for gravity to take hold. These also came out looking pretty good.
With the main boom installation complete you can see in the photo above the mainmast shroud, topmast backstay tackle, and the tackle for the boom topping lift all attached on this side of the caprail. If you look carefully you can also see a small rope coil on the belaying pin on the other side of the ship, a detail that must not be overlooked, but one that is also tricky to create and place properly on the model.
This is the ship as it is now. nearly complete. The rigging of the ship is quickly becoming the most challenging, and the most fun part of construction. There are two gaffs that will be created and installed next, these will be another challenge, but I welcome it. Once the gaffs are complete there is some additional rigging although there will not be any sails on this model.
I could be getting ahead of myself but I am looking at kits for my next project, and I think something a little larger and a little more challanging will be next.

The Rigging Begins!

After installing the masts It was time to start the rigging of the shrouds and stays. These are larger standing lines that hold everything in its place on the real ship. In fact I will use the shrouds to make sure that the masts are straight and true as the holes drilled for them were not perfect. Two of the stays, The Fore and Jib Stay run forward through the bowsprit and attach to eyebolts mounted in the hull which can be seen above.
The Shrouds on this ship are not abundant as they might be on a larger ship, having only six shrouds is part of what makes this an entry level ship model, but none the less it takes some getting used to when working with these tiny parts and thin line. I used a staple between the deadeyes to make sure that each had proper and even spacing, that being said they are not perfect, but pretty close. In the photo above you can also see the tackle for the topmast backstay which is rigged through the outrigger on the main mast and attached at the top of the main top mast. The tackle was rigged at the same time on either side of the ship to ensure a straight topmast considering its small size. Doing both was troublesome, but in the end it was well worth it.
It apears that as I write this post that I have missed a step in the posting as the main boom is already on the ship in this photo. That is supposed to be the next part and will be a new post in just a few minutes. All of the stays are now rigged, tight, and it is on to constructing and installing the main boom (just dont think about it already being there:)

The Masts are UP!

What else can I say, this ship is starting to come together after all. The masts are up, they are ready for their rigging, and I am now moving onto a whole other side of ship construction. I look forward to the frustrating little pieces and the long lengths of rope (thread) that will rig the ship.

I'm also excited about learning about rigging techniques on this relatively simple model before moving onto another more complicated projects. There should be rigging soon...