Yes sir, right away sir! Message understood ... no perpetual black-out, soft glow candlelights, romantic ambience, full re-fit. I'll get onto it yesterday, Captain!
I have discovered that rigging tiny little gun carriages is not a job for the faint-hearted, or certainly not the impatient, and I question now my wisdom in opting for the Fly 'upgrade' kit and all its gun carriage parts instead of simply using the original kit's all-in-one cast metal pieces. Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound. The wooden carriages had at least been assembled earlier on in the build, and now require the hardware necessary to rig them to the gun deck. 28-gauge black wire is used to strop the tiny 2mm blocks, six of which are required for each carriage. Later on, the .25mm rope will be used for the in- and out-haul tackle and the thicker .7mm beige rope will be used for the breeching lines.
The copper eyebolts have an inner diameter of 1mm which helps to keep the scale of the tiny gun carriages in perspective, and are painted black to match the colour of the strops and general colour scheme of the carriage. Ten eyebolts are required per gun and care was taken to position each one appropriately in readiness for the rigging ropes later on.
Eight carriages down, eight to go. It took hours to get this far, and I am very tempted to rig only those guns that will ultimately be visible on the gun deck. Not sure you would have got away with that in the Royal Navy back in the day, so I might just go full monty and rig the whole lot.
The cannons are placed loosely on the carriages for now. They will be one of the final items of the gun ensemble to be fixed in place, by fitting impossibly small capsquares over the trunnions, once the carriages and all their attendant rigging is ready to go.
The copper eyebolts have an inner diameter of 1mm which helps to keep the scale of the tiny gun carriages in perspective, and are painted black to match the colour of the strops and general colour scheme of the carriage. Ten eyebolts are required per gun and care was taken to position each one appropriately in readiness for the rigging ropes later on.
Eight carriages down, eight to go. It took hours to get this far, and I am very tempted to rig only those guns that will ultimately be visible on the gun deck. Not sure you would have got away with that in the Royal Navy back in the day, so I might just go full monty and rig the whole lot.
The cannons are placed loosely on the carriages for now. They will be one of the final items of the gun ensemble to be fixed in place, by fitting impossibly small capsquares over the trunnions, once the carriages and all their attendant rigging is ready to go.
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Good morning Mark. Looking spot on. Placing the capsquires for the trunnions are always a mission for myself so good luck. Very nice detail. A question. are you going to cut/file down the length of the trunnions to lie flush with the carriages. If so, I would do this before placing the capsquires or the painting will be mission. You are making a brilliant HMS Fly Mark. Cheers Grant
Looking good Mark! These will be a massive improvement over the cast metal variety.
Thanks Grant. I never really thought about filing the trunnions to be honest, didn't know it was a thing. Will look further into that, thanks for the heads-up. Of course, any modification has to be multiplied by sixteen every time. How many guns did you have on Victory? I can't even begin to imagine rigging all the guns on a ship of the line
Good morning Mark. Luckily most of my guns were dummy guns. I only had 22 to make but I did not add too much detail as only 8 are visible and rigged. I remember Sasha and Jim (I think) showed me that the trunnions must lie flush with the carriage. It does finish the cannons off nicely. Cheers GrantThanks Grant. I never really thought about filing the trunnions to be honest, didn't know it was a thing. Will look further into that, thanks for the heads-up. Of course, any modification has to be multiplied by sixteen every time. How many guns did you have on Victory? I can't even begin to imagine rigging all the guns on a ship of the line
Great work thus far Mark! She is looking better all the time! 
Four ringbolts are required to attach a single gun ensemble to the hull, two on either side of each gunport opening. A template helps to keep each hole equidistant in relation to the deck and consistent with all the other gunports across the length of the ship.
The inhaul and outhaul tackle lines are rigged with 2mm blocks and demanded a bit more of my wandering attention-span to ensure that they were all rigged identically.
The length of the breeching line is imperative - about three times the length of the gun bore - to flow seamlessly around the gun carriage and loop over the cascabel. The tackle ropes are yet to be laid off in neat little coils on deck.
Tiny things, these little gun carriage assemblies. I highly recommend a good magnifying glass lamp when doing this type of work for the sake of your eyesight and ongoing sanity
One gun down, just a few more to go. Luckily the Fly only has sixteen of them. I am still haunted by the words that Paul (@dockattner) posted on this blog a little while ago...
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The inhaul and outhaul tackle lines are rigged with 2mm blocks and demanded a bit more of my wandering attention-span to ensure that they were all rigged identically.
The length of the breeching line is imperative - about three times the length of the gun bore - to flow seamlessly around the gun carriage and loop over the cascabel. The tackle ropes are yet to be laid off in neat little coils on deck.
Tiny things, these little gun carriage assemblies. I highly recommend a good magnifying glass lamp when doing this type of work for the sake of your eyesight and ongoing sanity
One gun down, just a few more to go. Luckily the Fly only has sixteen of them. I am still haunted by the words that Paul (@dockattner) posted on this blog a little while ago...
Thanks for checking in
Good morning Mark. Wow- excellent. Good to see you playing with your Fly again…(sounds weirdFour ringbolts are required to attach a single gun ensemble to the hull, two on either side of each gunport opening. A template helps to keep each hole equidistant in relation to the deck and consistent with all the other gunports across the length of the ship.
View attachment 376925
The inhaul and outhaul tackle lines are rigged with 2mm blocks and demanded a bit more of my wandering attention-span to ensure that they were all rigged identically.
View attachment 376926
The length of the breeching line is imperative - about three times the length of the gun bore - to flow seamlessly around the gun carriage and loop over the cascabel. The tackle ropes are yet to be laid off in neat little coils on deck.
View attachment 376927
Tiny things, these little gun carriage assemblies. I highly recommend a good magnifying glass lamp when doing this type of work for the sake of your eyesight and ongoing sanity
View attachment 376928
One gun down, just a few more to go. Luckily the Fly only has sixteen of them. I am still haunted by the words that Paul (@dockattner) posted on this blog a little while ago...
View attachment 376929
Thanks for checking in
). Awesome tip to create a stencil. I will use this from now on. Cheers Grant
Very weel build and completely correct Rigged -uk rig.Four ringbolts are required to attach a single gun ensemble to the hull, two on either side of each gunport opening. A template helps to keep each hole equidistant in relation to the deck and consistent with all the other gunports across the length of the ship.
View attachment 376925
The inhaul and outhaul tackle lines are rigged with 2mm blocks and demanded a bit more of my wandering attention-span to ensure that they were all rigged identically.
View attachment 376926
The length of the breeching line is imperative - about three times the length of the gun bore - to flow seamlessly around the gun carriage and loop over the cascabel. The tackle ropes are yet to be laid off in neat little coils on deck.
View attachment 376927
Tiny things, these little gun carriage assemblies. I highly recommend a good magnifying glass lamp when doing this type of work for the sake of your eyesight and ongoing sanity
View attachment 376928
One gun down, just a few more to go. Luckily the Fly only has sixteen of them. I am still haunted by the words that Paul (@dockattner) posted on this blog a little while ago...
View attachment 376929
Thanks for checking in
Great work Mark, love the ringbolt template and canon rigging.
Yup. I just broke out in hives looking at your photo of rigged guns...Four ringbolts are required to attach a single gun ensemble to the hull, two on either side of each gunport opening. A template helps to keep each hole equidistant in relation to the deck and consistent with all the other gunports across the length of the ship.
View attachment 376925
The inhaul and outhaul tackle lines are rigged with 2mm blocks and demanded a bit more of my wandering attention-span to ensure that they were all rigged identically.
View attachment 376926
The length of the breeching line is imperative - about three times the length of the gun bore - to flow seamlessly around the gun carriage and loop over the cascabel. The tackle ropes are yet to be laid off in neat little coils on deck.
View attachment 376927
Tiny things, these little gun carriage assemblies. I highly recommend a good magnifying glass lamp when doing this type of work for the sake of your eyesight and ongoing sanity
View attachment 376928
One gun down, just a few more to go. Luckily the Fly only has sixteen of them. I am still haunted by the words that Paul (@dockattner) posted on this blog a little while ago...
View attachment 376929
Thanks for checking in
Nice and fine detailed rigging on the cannons, Mark.Four ringbolts are required to attach a single gun ensemble to the hull, two on either side of each gunport opening. A template helps to keep each hole equidistant in relation to the deck and consistent with all the other gunports across the length of the ship.
View attachment 376925
The inhaul and outhaul tackle lines are rigged with 2mm blocks and demanded a bit more of my wandering attention-span to ensure that they were all rigged identically.
View attachment 376926
The length of the breeching line is imperative - about three times the length of the gun bore - to flow seamlessly around the gun carriage and loop over the cascabel. The tackle ropes are yet to be laid off in neat little coils on deck.
View attachment 376927
Tiny things, these little gun carriage assemblies. I highly recommend a good magnifying glass lamp when doing this type of work for the sake of your eyesight and ongoing sanity
View attachment 376928
One gun down, just a few more to go. Luckily the Fly only has sixteen of them. I am still haunted by the words that Paul (@dockattner) posted on this blog a little while ago...
View attachment 376929
Thanks for checking in
Cheers Grant. I've made a note to stop playing with my fly, at least not in publicGood morning Mark. Wow- excellent. Good to see you playing with your Fly again…(sounds weird
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Thanks El Capi, appreciated. There are a few shortcomings however, such as the axles not rounded off and the trunnions not entirely flush with the carriage cheeks. But I'm happy enough with this first attempt and quite enjoyed the process, my main aim being to get the rigging right and consistent across all of the guns. In future builds I may consider better quality cannons and additional work to the carriage hardware
Thanks Daniel. I think you completed your entire Vasa in the time it took me to rig these little suckers
Hives, scattered brain matter ... and here I am trying to convince the Admiral that model ship building is good for the soul, a healthy and wholesome pursuit
Thanks Peter, trying desperately hard to keep up with the high standards set on this ship modelling forum!
do not try to be perfect with the first one, what to do after then. I have more than 50 years on my back, long before laser cuts, drawing programs, computers etc. have built in my time more than 30 ships. below the ship i felt in love with. between the pics 40 yearsThanks El Capi, appreciated. There are a few shortcomings however, such as the axles not rounded off and the trunnions not entirely flush with the carriage cheeks. But I'm happy enough with this first attempt and quite enjoyed the process, my main aim being to get the rigging right and consistent across all of the guns. In future builds I may consider better quality cannons and additional work to the carriage hardware
N01 1991-1TH LASER GUT FROM BILLING BOAT
-SECOND 1921- RESTORRING. THE ORIGINAL WAS FROM 1973