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USS Constitution - Model Shipways

by the way, I went to the Dry-Dock models and parts site, and had to dig, but I did find the "upgrade pack". If you were going to buy all the blocks you need for Conny, that price for the complete set is substantially less than the cost of piecing together individual orders for the blocks yourself.

It would be nice if they offered an "upgrade pack" for rigging too. I was working on the main royal yard and thought I'd add the halyard while I had the yard in hand. The Hunt practicum said this was a 36" long piece of .015" rope (.40ish mm). I thought to myself, that can't be right, so I checked the plans to see where the other end of the halyard ended up. Holy cow! Did that exercise open a can of worms.

The good news? The halyard doesn't run all the way down to the channels, so 36" length seems overkill.

The bad news? The plans call for "eyebolts on channel inboard of backstays". Say what???

The plans don't reference this on the page that shows where the deadeyes and eyebolts for the stays are displayed. Neither does the the Hunt "practicum" mention this in the chapter where he details making the channels. You would think those would have been the time to mention this, no? Well, here's the reference to the halyards on the rigging plan from the kit:

20260811_143311.jpg

and the Hunt practicum finally addresses this in the very last chapter on rigging the running rigging. He casually mentions the eyebolts here, long after it would have been easy to install these.

Jack and Gregg, I'm thinking of joining you both on that break from Conny. I'm calling it a day and going home to a double adult beverage.
 
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Der Alte Rentner said:
If someone does show up with a vernier caliper and a binder full of plans, send them packing!
Click to expand...
ROAD TRIP!! ThumbsupROTF Not sure how small you have to make those eyebolts, but there are several ways to make your own... whether it's with needle nose pliers, some wire looping pliers (I think the smallest I have from Beadsmith are 1.5mm), or the "wrap around a drill bit" method. And, btw, I love to use my caliper!
 
GGibson said:
ROAD TRIP!! ThumbsupROTF Not sure how small you have to make those eyebolts, but there are several ways to make your own... whether it's with needle nose pliers, some wire looping pliers (I think the smallest I have from Beadsmith are 1.5mm), or the "wrap around a drill bit" method. And, btw, I love to use my caliper!
Click to expand...
i just wrap them around a drill bit. But I need a finer gauge metal that is not overly annealed. I may also try to quench in order to harden the brass, but I don't know how I will control the temperature.
 
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Der Alte Rentner said:
by the way, I went to the Dry-Dock models and parts site, and had to dig, but I did find the "upgrade pack". If you were going to buy all the blocks you need for Conny, that price for the complete set is substantially less than the cost of piecing together individual orders for the blocks yourself.

It would be nice if they offered an "upgrade pack" for rigging too. I was working on the main royal yard and thought I'd add the halyard while I had the yard in hand. The Hunt practicum said this was a 36" long piece of .015" rope (.40ish mm). I thought to myself, that can't be right, so I checked the plans to see where the other end of the halyard ended up. Holy cow! Did that exercise open a can of worms.

The good news? The halyard doesn't run all the way down to the channels, so 36" length seems overkill.

The bad news? The plans call for "eyebolts on channel inboard of backstays". Say what???

The plans don't reference this on the page that shows where the deadeyes and eyebolts for the stays are displayed. Neither does the the Hunt "practicum" mention this in the chapter where he details making the channels. You would think those would have been the time to mention this, no? Well, here's the reference to the halyards on the rigging plan from the kit:

View attachment 625848

and the Hunt practicum finally addresses this in the very last chapter on rigging the running rigging. He casually mentions the eyebolts here, long after it would have been easy to install these.

Jack and Gregg, I'm thinking of joining you both on that break from Conny. I'm calling it a day and going home to a double adult beverage.
Click to expand...
darn. I remember installing those eyebolts, but I don't remember having to install the blocks on them. I did wonder why i had to install three eyebolts with no blocks. I should have listened to my instincts...
 
Jack Sparrow said:
i just wrap them around a drill bit. But I need a finer gauge metal that is not overly annealed. I may also try to quench in order to harden the brass, but I don't know how I will control the temperature.
Click to expand...
I have a spool of brass .44mm wire. This wraps easily this purpose. I also have some .55mm brass rod that is flexible enough to bend into eyebolts, if you want something beefier. No heating or annealing required. I prefer to use a needle nose plier to a drill bit. The tip of the pliers is narrow enough that it forms the perfectly sized eyelet.
 
I'm getting close to working on the channels, so this subject of eyebolts on the channels (with or without blocks) caught my eye. I checked my library of photos, and if I'm looking at the right area, the blocks are NOT directly tied to the eyebolts. The blocks have a stropping that is connected to a ringed hook. It is the hook connects to the eyebolt in the channel. Therefore, it is just a matter of configuring your blocks with the ringed hook and getting it through the eyebolts that you've already installed on the channel. Easy, peasy???!! Yes? No?

Jon

Blocks on Channels.png
 
Jack Sparrow said:
I need to investigate further. I am now officially confused.
Click to expand...
Glad to know I'm not alone. Of the photos Jon provided above, this is the only one that suggests running rigging hooked to the channel eyebolt. (Although I do see an unused eyebolt very close to the one occupied with the block with tan rigging, which I assume means this is a halliard. Unless the block shown is for the solo halliard on the mizzen mast, which begs the question, what's the extra eyebolt for?)

1786559361678.png

There should be three to account for all the halliards, no?
1786559410671.png

Yep, still confused. Perhaps another round of Efe raki will straighten me out. ;)
 
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no i don't have three. only one. or 2 per channel. one on each end. but that doesn't explain the hallyards... but regardless, i am not sure how you would put in eyebolts without the chainplates.
 
Well what do most instructions and plan say, to read fully before starting!

Maybe this will help identify something you can do ahead of listed sequence.
 
Today's example of futility:
Still working on the royal halliards, which started me on this path of exploration...

Hunt's practicum calls for 36" of .021" (.55mm). The plans specify .012" (.30mm).

The kit comes with 50 yards of .020" (.5mm) and 120 yards of .008" (.20mm) of the tan "jewelry nylon". So, which do I use for the halliards? Here at least I've come to the conclusion that the rigging plans are the better source of information. So, I'm going with the .020" (.5mm) tan, just to get me past this one yard.

So, this brings up the issue of stocking up on rope to get me through the rest of the build.

I have some small quantities of Ropes of Scale in .35mm, .45mm, .5mm, .6mm, and .7mm rope in tan. These were purchased when I rigged the carronade tackles. At the time, I must have been experimenting with cotton and synthetic materials in tan and beige. In consolidating these leftovers onto single spools, I learned that I have four different colors, but no idea which color is which material.

Wanting to stock up with the correct quantities, size, and colors of rope for the rigging, my first thought was to consult the MS kit's inventory of materials. Evidently Model Shipways went with the lowest cost option possible - provide a ton of the smallest rope, MS Part WP1241, 120 yards of .008" (.2mm) tan jewelry nylon, despite the fact that the plans themselves hardly call for it. Apart from a single reference on page 8 dealing with running rigging, where the lifts for the mizzen royal call for .008" rope, this size rope isn't used anywhere else on the ship. Do we really need 120 yards to cover that one exception? Maybe you're supposed to use the .008" (for all practical intents and purposes - thread) wherever .012" (.3mm), ".015" (.38mm), and possibly .017" (.43mm) rope is specified. But then why did MS bother supplying 50 yds of .005" (.13mm) "thread" - (their term)? Between these two sizes of kit supplied thread, I've got more than enough for seizing.)

The next larger size on the inventory list is .020" (.51mm), of which the inventory list says 50 yards is supplied.

It's a good thing I have the resources to overspend on this. To save time and to be consistent, I'm going to pick one material - cotton, which I believe Mustafa favors, and order 60 yards (meters) each in two standard Ropes of Scale sizes - .35mm and .45mm. I'll use the .35mm where the plans call for .012" (.3mm) and .015" (.38mm) and I'll use .45mm where ever the plans call for .017" (.43mm). Since I don't like the MS supplied .5mm tan either, I'll add 60 meters of that to the order.

May as well replace the MS called for black rope at the same time.. Maybe I should learn how to use a rope walk for future modeling...

Enough armchair ship building. Time to place an order with Ropes of Scale, and then off to Manhattan Club. (Much as I like raki, nothing beats a good rye Manhattan)
 
oh boy. i haven't even thought about the rope issue. I thought I was going to make my own with polyester thread. I have the machine to do it. I am not a big fan of supplied thread either.
 
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Der Alte Rentner said:
So, this brings up the issue of stocking up on rope to get me through the rest of the build....
Maybe I should learn how to use a rope walk for future modeling...
Time to place an order with Ropes of Scale, and then off to Manhattan Club. (Much as I like raki, nothing beats a good rye Manhattan)
Click to expand...
I probably have enough rope on hand to rig four Constitutions... We'll find out when I get to that point. Otherwise, yes, another order to Ropes of Scale will be placed! Ben does awesome work.

And... I found some online raki! Based on Mustafa's recommendation, I ordered a bottle of Tekirdag Gold. I'll "post a review" upon receipt!
 
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