USS Constitution 1:70 Scratch

[Der Alte Rentner]

, but you are too fast for me.

The only hope I have to cross the finish line while Mustafa is still in the arena is, if he scratch builds the ship's boats, their oars, builds the Taj Mahal of cases, and changes his mind about not rigging sails...

you could even say I’m moving pretty slowly on this one. I guess I’m getting older.

Not as old as me young man, though that's no excuse for me. Even so, you're moving along at a splendid rate.

Beautiful workmanship. And, thanks for all the detailed photographs of rigging intricacies. I will be consulting these long after you've moved on to your next project. Begging the question, what will you be doing with Connie? Displaying her in your home? Selling her? Donating her to a maritime museum?

 

[Jack Sparrow]

The only hope I have to cross the finish line while Mustafa is still in the arena is, if he scratch builds the ship's boats, their oars, builds the Taj Mahal of cases, and changes his mind about not rigging sails...

Not as old as me young man, though that's no excuse for me. Even so, you're moving along at a splendid rate.

Beautiful workmanship. And, thanks for all the detailed photographs of rigging intricacies. I will be consulting these long after you've moved on to your next project. Begging the question, what will you be doing with Connie? Displaying her in your home? Selling her? Donating her to a maritime museum?

I will be trying to rig the sails too. I don't know if I will be able to but I'll give it a try.

 

[Der Alte Rentner]

While sitting home, keeping an eye on some workmen, I used my idle time to peruse rope walking videos. I have to assume you've been through all of this before you invested in your high tech gear, but I'm curious why didn't choose Chuck Passaro's Syren Rope Rocket. This seems to be a two pass process with which I'm sure you are familiar. But you know how it is with YouTube, I was shown a link to a video where "Walnut and Tung Oil"s demonstrates a single pass system.

Unfortunately, his machine is a one-off, which is hand made with lego parts and commonly available wood materials. No plans exist, so some research will need to be invested in the making of this machine.

Have you tried either?


BTW. I just looked at a video for the vertical machine you mentioned. Even simpler?

 

[Jack Sparrow]

While sitting home, keeping an eye on some workmen, I used my idle time to peruse rope walking videos. I have to assume you've been through all of this before you invested in your high tech gear, but I'm curious why didn't choose Chuck Passaro's Syren Rope Rocket. This seems to be a two pass process with which I'm sure you are familiar. But you know how it is with YouTube, I was shown a link to a video where "Walnut and Tung Oil"s demonstrates a single pass system.

Unfortunately, his machine is a one-off, which is hand made with lego parts and commonly available wood materials. No plans exist, so some research will need to be invested in the making of this machine.

Have you tried either?


BTW. I just looked at a video for the vertical machine you mentioned. Even simpler?

Threre is a fellow that makes the horizontal ropewalk machines and sells them. I don't remember his name, but I'll try to find it.
I have not tried the Passaro machine.
I wanted something that I can make a lot of rope and not a piece at a time. That's the only reason I chose the planetary machine.
I don't understand why people don't like the European one. The fellow that built the machine seems to be very responsive to questions. Maybe he would implement some improvements if someone mentioned that to him...

 

[mtbediz1]

Beautiful workmanship. And, thanks for all the detailed photographs of rigging intricacies. I will be consulting these long after you've moved on to your next project. Begging the question, what will you be doing with Connie? Displaying her in your home? Selling her? Donating her to a maritime museum?

Thanks Peter. I’ve built a total of six ship models so far, and I’ve given four of them as gifts to close relatives. Right now, I have two models displayed at home, and Connie will be added to them. So I won’t be making any effort to sell my work. That said, it doesn’t mean I would automatically refuse if someone approached me wanting to buy her.

 

[Der Alte Rentner]

I mounted the tackle equipped stay on the port side of the main mast. By the way, I call this rope a stay, but I'm not sure if that's the correct name.

My search for "swifter" failed to find this post of yours because you didn't know the name of this particular "tackle".


This particular shroud, the first , is called the swifter.

For the benefit of others building the Constitution and following the Hunt practicum:
1. Hunt instructs to rig this before the rest of the shrouds.
2. Hunt, in chapter 3 of the rigging practicum seizes all shrouds (including the swifter) around the mast first, but doesn't attach these to their tackle until chapter 5.
3. Hunt ignores the pendants altogether, which the MS plans say to rig first.
4. The MS plans order of rigging is: pendants first, then shrouds.
5. The MS plans are very vague on the details of the first shroud, aka the "swifter" and how its rigged or when, hence my rooting around SoS in search thereof.


Thank you Mustafa for providing the picture of the USS Constitution's swifter in the previous post (#899, see below). It confirms that your construction is spot on.

 

[Jack Sparrow]

did you settle on a rope making machine?

 

[Der Alte Rentner]

Not yet. While interesting, it's a bit of a distraction keeping me from progressing on the rigging. I have enough on hand to keep me busy for a few days. I'll decide whether or not to invest in that vertical setup from Poland, as it seems to be the only one available right now. I'm not going to go into a major construction project for this, just now..

 

[mtbediz1]

Not yet. While interesting, it's a bit of a distraction keeping me from progressing on the rigging. I have enough on hand to keep me busy for a few days. I'll decide whether or not to invest in that vertical setup from Poland, as it seems to be the only one available right now. I'm not going to go into a major construction project for this, just now..

There is really no need to spend a lot of money on a commercially made ropewalk. It took me only about a week, including the trial and error, to get my machine up and running.
I built this ropewalk myself five years ago, and since then I have used it to rig two ships. I am currently using it to rig my third one.
I used simple plastic gears, bolts, and shafts that I bought commercially, along with some 4 mm plywood and other pieces of wood I already had on hand. I use my drill to drive the ropewalk.
Anyone who is capable of taking on a challenging model like the Connie can build a machine like this.
If anyone is interested, I can include a drawing of the machine's internal structure here.

 

[Jack Sparrow]

That type seems to be the most commonly used; ie horizontal ropewalk. I am an outlier with my planetary machine.

 

[Der Alte Rentner]

I don't disagree with you, Mustafa. I really just don't want to be distracted for at least a week, though I am frustrated that I have the wrong size rope at hand today to get anywhere on the "Swifter" (forward most shroud - the one with the blocks, vs the rest that are rigged with deadeyes.)

Because I'm using the physically smaller Syren blocks, the 1.1 mm rope that I used for shrouds one and two, is just a little too thick to strop the 5/32" (4mm) double block. Even swapping that block out for the next size larger one - 3/16" (4.8mm) doesn't yield satisfactory results.

I have several sizes of rope coming from ropes of scale, but probably not enough of anyone to finish all of the shrouds.

for now I'm going to try stropping the 1.1 mm rope to the 4.8 mm double block, just to see how it looks. If I deem it unacceptable, then rope walker I will become.

Actually, come to think of it, I know someone nearby who has a rope walker. I wonder if he'll lonel it to me... at least long enough to make a copy of it for myself.

 

[Jack Sparrow]

Hi,
I was just wondering. How much space do you need for the horizontal ropewalk machine? 1 metre 2 metres?

 

[mtbediz1]

Hi,
I was just wondering. How much space do you need for the horizontal ropewalk machine? 1 metre 2 metres?

I have 2.7 meters of space, and I am producing 1.7-meter ropes.

 

[Jack Sparrow]

I have 2.7 meters of space, and I am producing 1.7-meter ropes.

awesome. you have a lot of room. I am very limited in terms of space.

 

[mtbediz1]

Actually, come to think of it, I know someone nearby who has a rope walker. I wonder if he'll lonel it to me... at least long enough to make a copy of it for myself.

The only solution is to make your own rope, Peter; otherwise, you may end up paying as much for the rigging as you did for the kit itself. You're going to need a lot of ropes.

 

[Jack Sparrow]

or using the kit supplied rope, which is crap. lol

 

[Der Alte Rentner]

The only solution is to make your own rope, Peter; otherwise, you may end up paying as much for the rigging as you did for the kit itself. You're going to need a lot of ropes.

Frankly, I would have to check the math but, I'm pretty darned close to having paid for the ship already in rigging.

I'm ready to invest the time and resources to get into making my own rope.

 

[Jack Sparrow]

half the battle is figuring out what stock thread you will need to get the desired rope.

 

[Der Alte Rentner]

I received a copy of a tutorial on rigging from Thrasher. I just found it and I'm leafing through it now. Some of the things you were discussing are addressed. I'm jealous, he's got the Byrnes rope walking machine!!!

 

[Jack Sparrow]

is that a good machine? I am not familiar with it