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- Oct 21, 2022
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Setting the bowsprit aside for now, here is what I tried to do with my first attempt at masts with the foremast.
I was able to square off the top of the lower foremast and then add the smaller square on top of that for the forecap. Squaring off things is MUCH easier than trying to add 6 or 8 sided shapes.
I shaved off the sides for the cheeks but may have gone too far or too deep in my first run at it.
I also started with the first platform. You need to add 1.5x1.5mm strips to the top of the platform. Some have traced the pattern on the blueprints and then using carbon paper and tracing paper, drew these patterns over the platform. That would work, but I didn't have either close my. So I kind of laid the platform over the blueprint and marked the battens locations.
One of the issues that arose was the completion or finish of the lower masts and how they will look. The cheeks require banding under and over them and then there is a paunch that goes over all the banding of the front of the mast. All of this creates spaces between the various wood pieces as they sit on the bandings.
In my case, I used 2mm wide strips of styrene, which have a thickness to them. The directions call for the use of cartridge paper, which I assume is what we call construction paper. Hardly thicker than regular paper. I have ordered some thin brass, but it comes in sheets, not strips, but I'll see if when I get it I can cut it with a paper cutter...to insure consistency in the width.
Meanwhile, I used the styrene with CA glue and it just sucks. The styrene breaks at hard angles and the glue gets all over everything....it was the second planking all over!
I also wasn't as diligent in making sure the bandings are even/level as they circle the mast. I will have to to a better job on the rest.
Once completed, I looked for pics of other builds and live shots. It appears in the few good live shots that the cheeks and paunches were grooved so that the bandings fit under and were tight. It appears in builder blogs that people used putty to fill the voids.
That is what I did. It's sloppy and requires a lot of sanding and cleaning after the fact. Hopefully a few heavy coats of paint will blend it all in.
Working on the top mast and t'gallant mast required some detailed work creating 8 sided shapes. On the top mast, you have to add a small octagon and is offset from the main one. Also, these mast sections are much thinner and 8 sided shapes tend to get lost due to their small size. Once done as best as I could, I created the crosstrees and the foremast cap.
The foremast cap (#66) require the adding of foremast saddles (#340, 348), however, there is little to convey what that means. I finally found a side view on one of the blueprints and those 5 pieces fit together to create a groove for future lashings...
You also have to add bolster to the platform and crosstrees to help keep the various upper mast sections in place. These are bigger 3x3 or 4x4 pieces, that are fairly small in length (5-10mm). I used tweezers or clamps to hold them as I filed them into quarter rounds.
It may be better to apply these after the masts are set up, but my way didn't interfere in the end.
I also added most of the various blocks to the forecap, crosstree and platform before assembly. The directions don't call for this at their point, but it seems to me to be far easier to do all of this while the various bases are free and easy to move.
I also added some pics of what the 3 mast sections will look like assembled. They aren't 100%, just an idea of what I was going to have to deal with at the end.
I was able to square off the top of the lower foremast and then add the smaller square on top of that for the forecap. Squaring off things is MUCH easier than trying to add 6 or 8 sided shapes.
I shaved off the sides for the cheeks but may have gone too far or too deep in my first run at it.
I also started with the first platform. You need to add 1.5x1.5mm strips to the top of the platform. Some have traced the pattern on the blueprints and then using carbon paper and tracing paper, drew these patterns over the platform. That would work, but I didn't have either close my. So I kind of laid the platform over the blueprint and marked the battens locations.
One of the issues that arose was the completion or finish of the lower masts and how they will look. The cheeks require banding under and over them and then there is a paunch that goes over all the banding of the front of the mast. All of this creates spaces between the various wood pieces as they sit on the bandings.
In my case, I used 2mm wide strips of styrene, which have a thickness to them. The directions call for the use of cartridge paper, which I assume is what we call construction paper. Hardly thicker than regular paper. I have ordered some thin brass, but it comes in sheets, not strips, but I'll see if when I get it I can cut it with a paper cutter...to insure consistency in the width.
Meanwhile, I used the styrene with CA glue and it just sucks. The styrene breaks at hard angles and the glue gets all over everything....it was the second planking all over!
I also wasn't as diligent in making sure the bandings are even/level as they circle the mast. I will have to to a better job on the rest.
Once completed, I looked for pics of other builds and live shots. It appears in the few good live shots that the cheeks and paunches were grooved so that the bandings fit under and were tight. It appears in builder blogs that people used putty to fill the voids.
That is what I did. It's sloppy and requires a lot of sanding and cleaning after the fact. Hopefully a few heavy coats of paint will blend it all in.
Working on the top mast and t'gallant mast required some detailed work creating 8 sided shapes. On the top mast, you have to add a small octagon and is offset from the main one. Also, these mast sections are much thinner and 8 sided shapes tend to get lost due to their small size. Once done as best as I could, I created the crosstrees and the foremast cap.
The foremast cap (#66) require the adding of foremast saddles (#340, 348), however, there is little to convey what that means. I finally found a side view on one of the blueprints and those 5 pieces fit together to create a groove for future lashings...
You also have to add bolster to the platform and crosstrees to help keep the various upper mast sections in place. These are bigger 3x3 or 4x4 pieces, that are fairly small in length (5-10mm). I used tweezers or clamps to hold them as I filed them into quarter rounds.
It may be better to apply these after the masts are set up, but my way didn't interfere in the end.
I also added most of the various blocks to the forecap, crosstree and platform before assembly. The directions don't call for this at their point, but it seems to me to be far easier to do all of this while the various bases are free and easy to move.
I also added some pics of what the 3 mast sections will look like assembled. They aren't 100%, just an idea of what I was going to have to deal with at the end.
![20241222_205427[1].jpg](https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/data/attachments/475/475763-be77412e78de4c15ca02d93ff08237dc.jpg?hash=348YUHvMcB "20241222_205427[1].jpg")
