Good evening Peter. Brilliant! Building the same kit I am aware of the amount of scratch work, changes and in some aspects complete redesign (especially the rigging) you have done to build the best “Cazador “ Xebec I have seen. All the woodwork involved in redoing most of the kit parts and making those main blocks, sheaves etc is massive and masterfully executed. And as for your carving…..well it is there for us all to marvel over. Bravo. You have skills. A Xebec to be proudly displayed Peter.The final chapter....
Hello everybody,
As you can see this will be the last building chapter of this model. She is finished! It has been a journey and the end is a bit bittersweet. Sure I'm proud I finished this model and the way it came out, but on the other hand it was a real joy to work on her and by finishing the build, this stops...
However, it's not entirely finished, I still need to make a presentable stand and a complete photoshoot has to be done as well. This is for later...
For now let me take you on the final steps of the build of the mizzenmast, sail and rigging.
After sewing on the boltrope, I attached the sail to her yard. While under tension, I used boiled potato starch on the cloth and some sugar in a plastic bag to bring the sail to shape. It takes about 12-24 hours to dry and then the sail holds it's final shape.
To hoist the yard, I needed to fabricate the ramshead blocks. In this case this was not an easy job to do. On this scale 1:60, they are really, really small and I wanted to make these blocks the same as the others. So with working sheeves and all......
The upper block is 2mm in width, with sheeves of 2mm in diameter and 0,5mm thick. Again the process is similair as the other blocks and are made out of laminated 0.5mm veneer strips.
When a knife is sharp enough, slices can be cut of the upper block to get to the right size.
I somehow lost the photo of the final product, ah well....they are the same as the others but smaller. Here you see them installed on the ship.
While working on the ship all kinds of hazards and dangers came up her path. In this case a big black and white one who seems to love attention and playing with scale ropes..... No worries, we are good friends and we have a very good mutual understanding. Touching the ship shortens lifes rapidly....
Some kitparts are not needed anymore and are thrown into the bin....
Back on rigging....The principle of the mizzenyard / sail is the same as the two others, however the masthead contains only two sheeves instead of four. Both are used to hoist the yard. Also the parrel is different and much easier constructed. In this case only the trunks (beads) are used. The end of the parrel is tied off beneath the mast foot.
And then the end result. So a final photoshoot will occur soon, but in the mean time this is how she looks!
I have tried to push my limits with the construction of this ship and can say that I succeeded. Pretty much everything about the kit has been changed and I can easily estimate a little over 2500 hours of work that went into this model. Not all hours are construction hours. I suspect I've spent over 250 hours of research and study just trying to figure out specifics about this type of ship. Unfortunately, generalities are known, but the details are missing from these types of ships and there is also very little documentation to be found. Everything is made by hand, the carvings of course gives an extra special character to this ship. The sails and rigging are fully in accordance with a famous French Xebec from the 18th century called Le Requin, the museum model Singe of 1762. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_xebec_Singe_(1762)
I am also very happy and blessed with you guys as followers who have accompanied and assisted me on this adventure. Thank you so much for the interest, reactions, likes, loves and especially support. My gratitude to you all is not easily expressed in words but I wish I meet you guys all one day in person and shake your hand and have a chat about this great hobby of ours. Thank you!!!
I hope you will follow me again on the next journey. I have already done a lot of research for this model and that project will also be quite a challenge.
The next update will be a photoshoot with a lot of pictures....
The end.
Peter
Cheers Grant
