After I finished the starboard futtock stays, I realized my cascade of lines for the main yard made no sense. It took a while to rethread the lines properly on the starboard side. Port side was easy because I didn't have the futtock stays on yet.
Working on the yards. Getting the 8 sided center was impossible with my new sander using the supplied dowels. I used a squared piece, hand carved/sanded and it came out pretty good. Went to taper the ends with the sander.... and the sander ate the yard..... 
Luckily dowels can be replaced at a home improvement store. It's easiest if the kit dowel and the replacement are both either metric or English standard.
Bass wood, picked it up at the local hobby store. I think I was angling the wood wrong. Was a lot of work just to have it destroyed. I don't think I can get the 8 sides carved out if I round the wood first.
I also picked up some thicker dowels, not sure what type of wood they are but they aren't bass. I'll see if I can do something with those.
The hairy areas where it was sanded makes me think it is cheap basswood. Replacing it with poplar dowel would be an improvement. Poplar can be very white or a darker gray or brownish gray. I like the darker ones. They take less stain to look like dark timber and the grain is finer, so sanding it doesn't turn it into a furball.
Something that really made me think today. At the hobby shop, dedicated, not a chain store. They only had balsa or bass, not a big deal, I'll check out to Home Depot tomorrow and see what they have.
What really saddened me was I looked around at the other models. There were some good plastic models of tanks, ships, and cars. The prices were unbelievable. USD $40 was the base price for everything. From there it went up to a couple hundred dollars. A Tamiya 1/35 T-62 was 40, a Tamiya.T-72M was 130. When I was a kid, you.could find models at most drug stores. The higher quality ones were at hobby stores but those were around 15-20 USD. You could also get to the stores by taking a bus. Now, the dedicated hobby stores; you need to get mom or dad to drive you.to and then the prices are through the roof.
Sad, very sad.
What really saddened me was I looked around at the other models. There were some good plastic models of tanks, ships, and cars. The prices were unbelievable. USD $40 was the base price for everything. From there it went up to a couple hundred dollars. A Tamiya 1/35 T-62 was 40, a Tamiya.T-72M was 130. When I was a kid, you.could find models at most drug stores. The higher quality ones were at hobby stores but those were around 15-20 USD. You could also get to the stores by taking a bus. Now, the dedicated hobby stores; you need to get mom or dad to drive you.to and then the prices are through the roof.
Sad, very sad.
There are premium hobby shops that carry walnut and cherry and basswood strips in various sizes. One of them is Hub Hobby. Model railroad hobby shops also carry wood strips in addition to brass and styrene strips. The scarcity of wood strips goes along with the scarcity of this type of hobby.
Happy birthday Paul!
Happy birthday PGN!
Happy Birthday, PNG!! 
Thank you all for the birthday wishes.
Third try, almost there. Used a dowel that I bought at a hobby shop. I just did a home depot run. I'm going to try using an oak dowel for the 4th attempt.
Also, I won't bother measuring out the 3" for the octagonal shape. I'll get the required measurement when I taper the arm.
Also, I won't bother measuring out the 3" for the octagonal shape. I'll get the required measurement when I taper the arm.
A very happy birthday Paul and a good moment to applaud your enjoyable log and Rattlesnake build.
Still having problems getting the 8 sides even. I'm going to make some kind of a jig to do it.
Also, I don't know what kind of wood this is. I picked it up at Home Depot, from Vietnam. It is actually pretty good to work with. The oak dowel, not so good.
Also, I don't know what kind of wood this is. I picked it up at Home Depot, from Vietnam. It is actually pretty good to work with. The oak dowel, not so good.