USS Constitution 1:70 Scratch

[mtbediz1]

The mizzen royal and topgallant yard braces are now rigged. There are no blocks on these yards for the braces. The standing ends are secured to the ends of the respective yards, while the running ends pass through double blocks previously attached to the aft side of the main topmast trestletrees. From there, the brace lines run down to deck level and are belayed to the pins on the main fife rail.

 

[mtbediz1]

I have read this building report. Very impressive! High level of craftmanship

Thanks for stopping by, I'm glad you liked it.

 

[Der Alte Rentner]

You're on the home stretch now, Mustafa! While I continue to get sidetracked with research into pesky details, you just march along. One of those details may be addressed in on of your next posts, as I'm considering the construction of the stern bumpkins

Impressive, excellent workmanship as always..

 

[mtbediz1]

You're on the home stretch now, Mustafa! While I continue to get sidetracked with research into pesky details, you just march along. One of those details may be addressed in on of your next posts, as I'm considering the construction of the stern bumpkins

Impressive, excellent workmanship as always..

Instead of focusing on whole detail, I prefer to concentrate only on the next step. That way, I don’t let the work become tedious. I also make the necessary parts or materials only when I need them, which keeps me away from repetitive, boring tasks. My advice to you would be to fix the masts in place right away, attach the shrouds, and start the rigging. As they say, starting is half the battle and rigging is actually much more enjoyable than you might think.

 

[Der Alte Rentner]

I was adding the trestles to the main mast today and got the pendants started. When I get back to the shipyard next week, I'll be doing exactly what you suggested - rigging the shrouds.

 

[mtbediz1]

The brace lines for the mizzen topsail yard are now complete. The standing end is secured to a single block attached to the cap at the top of the mainmast. From there, the brace runs through a single block on the yard, returns to the block on the cap, and then leads down to the deck, where it is belayed to a pin on the main fife rail.

 

[mtbediz1]

The fore and main royal yard braces have now been completed as shown in the MS plans. The only braces left to do are those on the lowest yards, which I’ll tackle later. For now, I’m going to work on the spanker boom and gaff.

 

[mtbediz1]

I’d also like to show how I made the belaying pins. Hopefully, this will be useful not only to those following this build log now, but also to anyone who may come across it later.

Once again, I made good use of the capabilities of my MF70 milling machine. The only difference this time was that I clamped the milling cutter in the vise and kept it stationary, while mounting the piece of stock in the rotating chuck.

So, in effect, I used the milling machine as a small lathe.

This is a very useful little trick, and it can be used not only for making belaying pins, but also for machining various other small parts.

 

[mtbediz1]

Today I worked on the spanker boom. It will be painted black.

 

[mtbediz1]

The spanker boom and gaff are now complete.

 

[KAYA61]

It is impossible not to admire it.

 

[mtbediz1]

It is impossible not to admire it.

Thank you.

 

[Der Alte Rentner]

Hi Mustafa, since you seem to be online at the moment, could you please take a closeup picture of the aft end of the base of the main mast? I'd like some clarity on the arrangement on deck for the mizzen stays. I'm thinking there are a total of nine eyebolts (or six and three "hearts"(?)". The three on the aft end of the mast are the ones I am most concerned about at the moment. I want to make sure I'm not overlooking anything before I glue in the main mast.

 

[mtbediz1]

Hi Mustafa, since you seem to be online at the moment, could you please take a closeup picture of the aft end of the base of the main mast? I'd like some clarity on the arrangement on deck for the mizzen stays. I'm thinking there are a total of nine eyebolts (or six and three "hearts"(?)". The three on the aft end of the mast are the ones I am most concerned about at the moment. I want to make sure I'm not overlooking anything before I glue in the main mast.

Peter, as you can see in the photo, I installed only three eyebolts on the aft side of the mast because I won’t need any more. If you look closely, you’ll notice that I had to shift the middle eyebolt toward the port side because the space between the fife rail and the mast is very tight. However, that was my own mistake. The eyebolt should normally have been positioned right in the center. You may not run into this problem on your model.

 

[Der Alte Rentner]

Thank you, Mustafa. That's exactly what I needed to see.

I have more room between the mast and the fife rail, so thankfully, I won't run into that problem. I'm glad to see that it's just a matter of installing eye bolts. I saw in the plans the other six, and I'm thinking about installing them as well, even if I don't end up using them. It's easier to do it without the mast and fife rail in the way.

 

[mtbediz1]

The spanker mast, boom and gaff are now in place. The gaff has been rigged with both the peak halliards and the throat halliards.

For those building the Constitution, I’d like to remind you that before securing the mizzen fighting top, you should install an eyebolt on the crosstree beneath the top for the throat halyard and mount a single block on each trestletree for the topping lift. Once the fighting top is fixed in position, adding these fittings becomes extremely difficult.