Buccaneer 1:100 by Occre - Build log

[HughLo]

5/20/26 to 5/21/26
I will be building the mizzenmast in the same way as the foremast and mainmast, including building it off the ship as well as building it in sections.

Being the third mast, and all three have been pretty much the same, it goes together very quickly.

First there are only 2 sections. Second, I have made two others very recently. Third, I have learned from my previous mistakes.

The top went together quickly and while it was drying, I seized the shrouds. There are six shrouds (two pairs and two shifters) off the mast and then with the mast head open, I placed them over the mast head and tightened them up. All shrouds were marked with which deadeyes they would go to.

The topmast was installed.

Very quick build. And then while writing this I realized that I forgot to put the four wooldings on. Argh. Not a difficult fix, but I hate it when I get moving faster than I should.


The masts are complete.




Next up… stepping the masts and the tying the lower shrouds.

Time for this portion: 4 hours
Total time to date: 295.5 hours

 

[FriCap]

Great job! Good luck to fit rigging!

 

[HughLo]

5/22/26 to 5/28/26
I will be carrying on with posting a less wordy and condensed build log but will attach the full unredacted build log as a pdf for those who want it.

I know I have been working on rigging for a little bit, but I am finally going to get to do what I envisioned as “rigging” when I picked up the hobby, when I purchased my Bluenose way back in October of 2000, and again when I started the hobby in earnest in March of 2023 (again with my Bluenose). That vision was of attaching lines from the top of the masts to the deck.

Over the past few years, I have learned that those lines are called shrouds and they do not attach to the top of the masts, nor do they attach directly to the deck.

Today I attached the first two lower shrouds on both the starboard and port sides of my Molino to their respective deadeyes.

But let us take a step back as the first thing I did was step the three masts.

I glued them in place one by one aligning them both by themselves and in relation to the other masts. I used a couple of clamps to hold them in place while the glue dries.


I decided to try twisting the wires together again. I had tried this previously, but it just did not work as there was a lot of play between the wires.

It took a few tries, but it worked. I now have the twisted wires “X” to hold the deadeyes apart. And they work much better than the single or double wires.


The process is fairly straightforward. It starts with the two foremost starboard deadeyes and then switches to the port side. This back-and-forth pattern continues through all the shroud pairs (and swifters) for all the masts.




I took an extra step of putting a second seize on each shroud, slightly above the seize right at the deadeye.




Two key takeaways were:

• Although stressed earlier, it makes life a whole lot easier if you have extra thread on the shrouds, seizes, and reeving. Short threads take a lot more time to tie than longer ones.
• Remember the reeving pattern, and that the pattern on the starboard and port sides are mirror images of each other. Reeving always starts at the fore most lower hole of the upper deadeye.

Next up… the ratlines.

Time for this portion: 13.5 hours
Total time to date: 309 hours

 

[HughLo]

5/29/26 to 6/2/26

Finally the ratlines…

While prepping for the shrouds, I had seen a little information on the small boards on the shrouds directly above the upper deadeyes so I thought I would dig a bit deeper into what they are along with anything else associated with the ratlines.

Ouch, either that little research was a big mistake or a good thing as I found several items that are part of the shrouds/ratlines but were not included in the kit or the instructions. I am game for learning about ship design and construction and since the Molino is a fictional ship, I have complete artistic freedom over my build so instead of my planned jump into the ratlines, I will first be adding the following:

• Sheer poles
• Futtock staves
• Catharpins
• Futtock shrouds
• Rat-boards (or shroud boards)

And then finally the rope ratlines.

I guess only time will tell if adding all of these was good decision or not.

First up are the sheer poles which are considered the baseline anchor of the shrouds. They are installed directly above the upper deadeyes.

At scale they are only 0.5mm in diameter, so I am going to use some wire. After a little sanding and two coats of flat black paint, they are glued onto the seizes above upper deadeyes.

Once the glue dried, I tied a clove hitch topped with a half knot at each shroud/deadeye using small brown thread to simulate how the sheer pole was attached.



The sheer poles really helped with squaring up the deadeyes to the ship and kept them from spinning/twisting. So far or at least adding sheer poles look to be a genuinely nice add.






I was only able to do about half of the knots as we were heading back to the states for our first time after moving here. On our trip we will be splitting time between Colorado and North Carolina before returning here in early July. It will be great to see friends and family, but it will be a month away from the Molino.

I will finish up the knots on the sheer poles upon my return and then add the futtock staves and the catharpins.

Time for this portion: 3 hours
Total time to date: 312 hours

 

[HughLo]

7/10/2026 to 7/18/2026

I will be carrying on with posting a less wordy and condensed build log but will attach the full unredacted build log as a pdf for those who want it.

Thirty-three days away from home and in the States. We have been back for almost a week, and I am finally at the point of working on my Molino.

Next up are the futtock staves.

The futtock staves are made with 0.7mm x 0.7mm dark wood and will be tied to each shroud with a double overhand knot.

I use a thin brown thread (ran across beeswax) capped off with a drop of glue.

I have realized that because there are no shrouds above the top of the mizzenmast, there should not have been staves, but instead of cutting and removing them, I will leave them in place.





The catharpins brace the upper masts from extreme weather by pulling the lower shrouds inward (hence why there are none on this ship’s mizzenmast).

I will make mine using 0.5mm dark brown thread. The number of shrouds determines how many catharpins there should be. The foremast has 5 shrouds per side so it will have 3 catharpins while the mainmast has 6 shrouds meaning it will have 4 catharpins.

I tied one to the port side and topped it with a drop of glue and then ran the long end of each catharpin up and over the stave of the other side. I put a small clamp on each one to give it a little weight and the put a drop of glue on it. They are not yet tied, but once the glue is dried, the line will be taunt and should be easy to add a knot.

At this point I noticed that the foremast staves were not at the same height. I will not attempt to fix it but will use it as a learning experience for next time.

The futtock shrouds are supposed to connect the lower deadeyes to the staves and catharpins but on my kit, the deadeyes have already been connected to eyebolts attached to the top. To simulate the proper connection as best as possible, I tied a knot in a short piece of 0.5mm dark brown thread and feed it through the eyebolts using a needle threader, then routed the thread over the edge of the circular top, and down to the staves where it was tied off. Not perfect, but it looks nice.



I will have only one rat board (in addition to the sheer pole) at the bottom of each set of shrouds. They will be 3.7mm above the sheer poles. I will use 0.4mm x 0.4mm dark wood and tie them in place using 0.15mm dark brown thread.

Rat boards are used instead of rope ratlines because the shrouds spread widest near the deck, leaving too much unsupported space for a safe, comfortable foothold.

And now it is really time for the ratlines!

I am starting with the ratlines on the port side mizzenmast. It only has three shrouds per side. It will be a good first attempt.

I will be following a process a Rocky Mountain Shipwrights member detailed on Reddit a few months ago. He referenced a post on MSW, but it was posted by a “guest” several years ago, prior to MSW’s crash. I had unsuccessfully tried to reach out to the guest, so now I guess I will say it is from James Webster, and we've posted it on the club's YouTube channel.

The process starts with two pieces of stock that are longer than the widest set of shrouds, and whose width is that of the desired spacing of the ratlines. Thin strips of sandpaper (around 200 grit) are glued to the pieces of stock. The pieces are placed on either side of the shrouds and held in place with light clips. The idea is that the sandpaper holds the shrouds in place and the width of the stock gives you a straight line to run the ratlines at the desired spacing.

The ratlines spacing on my Molino is between 3.3mm and 3.8mm and with a bit of good luck the sanding sticks I have are 3.6mm… perfect width. I cut a 220-grit stick in half and held them in place directly above the rat board.

This is a task that takes me back to 2000 when I bought my first model (Model Shipways Bluenose). In those days, I thought rigging was so amazing, and I thought ratlines WERE the rigging. This step was huge for me.

I held the thread and shakily tied my first clove hitch, then my second, and then my third and final one. I had done it… my first ratline. I removed the two pieces of stock and admired my first ratline. Yes, it looked like my first one as neither looked particularly good. I almost immediately decided to remove it and start over.

I put the pieces of stock back in place and tried again. My second attempt looked a lot better and I kept it. I then moved the pieces of stock up to sit on top of the first row and tied my second one. My speed and quality improved until about two hours later, the tying of the port side mizzenmast ratlines were done.









I diluted some white glue with water and used a paint brush to apply it to each of the 54 knots.

Once the glue was dried, I trimmed the tails. My first ratlines were complete.

One area I can improve on is that of holding the thread in place while tying the first knot of the ratline. I struggled with it and ended us using a light clip to hold the thread in place to the pieces of stock. It worked well and I removed it as soon as the first knot was tied, but I should be able to do it without the clip.

Time for this portion: 13 hours
Total time to date: 322 hours

 

[Magic Mike]

7/10/2026 to 7/18/2026

I will be carrying on with posting a less wordy and condensed build log but will attach the full unredacted build log as a pdf for those who want it.

Thirty-three days away from home and in the States. We have been back for almost a week, and I am finally at the point of working on my Molino.

Next up are the futtock staves.

The futtock staves are made with 0.7mm x 0.7mm dark wood and will be tied to each shroud with a double overhand knot.

I use a thin brown thread (ran across beeswax) capped off with a drop of glue.
View attachment 620452
I have realized that because there are no shrouds above the top of the mizzenmast, there should not have been staves, but instead of cutting and removing them, I will leave them in place.
View attachment 620453

View attachment 620454

View attachment 620455
The catharpins brace the upper masts from extreme weather by pulling the lower shrouds inward (hence why there are none on this ship’s mizzenmast).

I will make mine using 0.5mm dark brown thread. The number of shrouds determines how many catharpins there should be. The foremast has 5 shrouds per side so it will have 3 catharpins while the mainmast has 6 shrouds meaning it will have 4 catharpins.

I tied one to the port side and topped it with a drop of glue and then ran the long end of each catharpin up and over the stave of the other side. I put a small clamp on each one to give it a little weight and the put a drop of glue on it. They are not yet tied, but once the glue is dried, the line will be taunt and should be easy to add a knot.
View attachment 620456
At this point I noticed that the foremast staves were not at the same height. I will not attempt to fix it but will use it as a learning experience for next time.

The futtock shrouds are supposed to connect the lower deadeyes to the staves and catharpins but on my kit, the deadeyes have already been connected to eyebolts attached to the top. To simulate the proper connection as best as possible, I tied a knot in a short piece of 0.5mm dark brown thread and feed it through the eyebolts using a needle threader, then routed the thread over the edge of the circular top, and down to the staves where it was tied off. Not perfect, but it looks nice.
View attachment 620457

View attachment 620458
I will have only one rat board (in addition to the sheer pole) at the bottom of each set of shrouds. They will be 3.7mm above the sheer poles. I will use 0.4mm x 0.4mm dark wood and tie them in place using 0.15mm dark brown thread.
View attachment 620459
Rat boards are used instead of rope ratlines because the shrouds spread widest near the deck, leaving too much unsupported space for a safe, comfortable foothold.
View attachment 620460
And now it is really time for the ratlines!

I am starting with the ratlines on the port side mizzenmast. It only has three shrouds per side. It will be a good first attempt.

I will be following a process a Rocky Mountain Shipwrights member detailed on Reddit a few months ago. He referenced a post on MSW, but it was posted by a “guest” several years ago, prior to MSW’s crash. I had unsuccessfully tried to reach out to the guest, so now I guess I will say it is from James Webster, and we've posted it on the club's YouTube channel.

The process starts with two pieces of stock that are longer than the widest set of shrouds, and whose width is that of the desired spacing of the ratlines. Thin strips of sandpaper (around 200 grit) are glued to the pieces of stock. The pieces are placed on either side of the shrouds and held in place with light clips. The idea is that the sandpaper holds the shrouds in place and the width of the stock gives you a straight line to run the ratlines at the desired spacing.

The ratlines spacing on my Molino is between 3.3mm and 3.8mm and with a bit of good luck the sanding sticks I have are 3.6mm… perfect width. I cut a 220-grit stick in half and held them in place directly above the rat board.
View attachment 620461
This is a task that takes me back to 2000 when I bought my first model (Model Shipways Bluenose). In those days, I thought rigging was so amazing, and I thought ratlines WERE the rigging. This step was huge for me.

I held the thread and shakily tied my first clove hitch, then my second, and then my third and final one. I had done it… my first ratline. I removed the two pieces of stock and admired my first ratline. Yes, it looked like my first one as neither looked particularly good. I almost immediately decided to remove it and start over.
View attachment 620462
I put the pieces of stock back in place and tried again. My second attempt looked a lot better and I kept it. I then moved the pieces of stock up to sit on top of the first row and tied my second one. My speed and quality improved until about two hours later, the tying of the port side mizzenmast ratlines were done.
View attachment 620463

View attachment 620464

View attachment 620465

View attachment 620466

View attachment 620468
I diluted some white glue with water and used a paint brush to apply it to each of the 54 knots.
View attachment 620469
Once the glue was dried, I trimmed the tails. My first ratlines were complete.
View attachment 620470
One area I can improve on is that of holding the thread in place while tying the first knot of the ratline. I struggled with it and ended us using a light clip to hold the thread in place to the pieces of stock. It worked well and I removed it as soon as the first knot was tied, but I should be able to do it without the clip.

Time for this portion: 13 hours
Total time to date: 322 hours

Congrats Hugh on your first ratlines. Nicely done! Magic Mike