But it sure looks good now!
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USS Constitution - Model Shipways
- Thread starter Der Alte Rentner
- Start date
- Watchers 29
Man, oh man, is this time consuming...
To redo just these four shrouds took way too many hours.. I'm not sure that it's actually faster to do this off the ship. The clip hackle pliers should be in today's delivery from Amazon. I'm going to try those tomorrow with the shrouds on the boat. There's got to be a faster way.
To redo just these four shrouds took way too many hours.. I'm not sure that it's actually faster to do this off the ship. The clip hackle pliers should be in today's delivery from Amazon. I'm going to try those tomorrow with the shrouds on the boat. There's got to be a faster way.
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don't get discouraged. It looks really nice! Congratulations
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It was worth the effort, and I think the result turned out really well. The only way to get through the rigging quickly is to rush it and cut corners but if you want to do it properly, you have to invest the time. I started my rigging back in November 2025, and I’m still working on it today. That’s just the nature of the job: it demands patience, but the reward is seeing the rigging come together the right way.
Keep it up, Peter, you’re on the right track!
Thanks Mustafa, I think things will go more smoothly after I get a bit more of that learning curve behind me.
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This is my seventh sailing ship model, and believe me, the more you learn, the longer the process takes.
My Essex model had almost the same level of detail and workload as the Constitution, yet I finished its rigging in just six months. With Connie, it’s been nearly a year and I’m still working on it. The reason is simple: I keep learning new things along the way and trying to apply them to the build. 
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Isn't that the truth. For me it's an endless process. As I discover new things, I drift away from actual model making. But eventually I get fed up and move on from that topic. I do use AI too but I have learned that you have to double check information because AI makes up things. It's unreliable and although helpful can take a long time to give you a workable solution. It also goes into logic loops which are sometimes hard to get out of thus wasting time.
Hopefully that doesn't happen to me. Rope Walker? Some assembly required. (not all of the parts are in yet)
I tried it both ways. While there's not much of a difference, it is still slightly easier to do the rigging off the ship. The clip Hackle pliers helped in both cases.
I did learn that trying to do four of these in one day is pushing it. I started to get antsy. As a consequence I'm not a hundred percent satisfied with some of the knot tying, but I'm going to live with the way it is.
I did learn that trying to do four of these in one day is pushing it. I started to get antsy. As a consequence I'm not a hundred percent satisfied with some of the knot tying, but I'm going to live with the way it is.
I'm always antsy! Impatient by nature. That's where this ship modeling hobby has helped me... forcing me to be a patient man. No hurry in finishing.
I had never heard of Hackle pliers and must have missed Tom using them on his ship, but I'm not a fly fisherman, so that would explain it. If I follow what you are doing, though, this may be similar to small alligator clips that I use to hold rope together when needed.
I like the way these shrouds and deadeyes came out, Peter. I know you were cursing through the re-do, but it was worth it. Nice work. Ratlines next? Enjoy!
Better than alligator clips. These are quite light, and the hooks/clips easily grab different diameter ropes. I did have to slightly pry one clip a little wider to accommodate 2 ea. 1.0 mm ropes.I had never heard of Hackle pliers and must have missed Tom using them on his ship, but I'm not a fly fisherman, so that would explain it. If I follow what you are doing, though, this may be similar to small alligator clips that I use to hold rope together when needed.
I like the way these shrouds and deadeyes came out, Peter. I know you were cursing through the re-do, but it was worth it. Nice work. Ratlines next? Enjoy!
What's next? A heck of a lot of more shrouds. Though, I may switch to ratlines on the main first, to see what the experience is like and to make sure I haven't screwed something up here.
Call me crazy, but I may yet switch to cotton rope, as I have learned that this poly rope is very slippery. I'm afraid that every clove hitch knot on the ratlines may need to be glued to keep it in place. I think that, going forward, it might actually be easier to lash all of the deadeyes together first, then seize them to the shrouds on the ship. If I go that re-do route, I may as well switch to cotton rope.
I am reluctant to redo these though, given that there's three days of effort just in these 8 shrouds. In for a penny, in for a pound? We'll see...
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Hey Jack, my A/I agent insisted that 100 rpm was the optimal speed for the motors of the rope walk I plan to build. Having wired one up for a test drive, I think that will be insanely slow, even given the doubling of rpm at the smaller spur gears. What rpm does your rig operate at? and do you have any thoughts about rpm for horizontal rope walks?