ZHL Royal Caroline Kit, scale 1/30

[neptune]

Ah well now it is back to boats,



the black rope at the top is mine and the brown under it is the bought rope, I'm still not sure whether to use the
black or the brown,



I have a fair amount of the brown in different sizes,



I also have a lot of the lighter coloured rope in different sizes and I will be using these,



this is the 3mm cable,



and these last four coils are from a Spanish supplier,



close up of the largest dia,

.

 

[Maarten]

Great ropes, I would go for brown as it is closer to reality of you tar with stockholmer tar.

Stockholmer tar is applied on the left side of the rope.

 

[neptune]

Constructing the tops, the four center sections glued together,



after gluing the sections together, you cut the middle piece of the plywood out and the sections drop into the hole
that is left, and then you build the top supports onto the base, this one is the Mizzen top,



in this pic you can see the laser cut parts at the top of the pic, these will be glued around the outer top rim,



the parts being glued in place,



all the parts now in place, just got to be sanded,


.
and another view,

 

[Uwek]

View attachment 149361
Constructing the tops, the four center sections glued together,


View attachment 149362
after gluing the sections together, you cut the middle piece of the plywood out and the sections drop into the hole
that is left, and then you build the top supports onto the base, this one is the Mizzen top,


View attachment 149363
in this pic you can see the laser cut parts at the top of the pic, these will be glued around the outer top rim,


View attachment 149364
the parts being glued in place,


View attachment 149366
all the parts now in place, just got to be sanded,


View attachment 149367.
and another view,

Very clever Idea !!

 

[neptune]

The mizzen top glued to the trestle tree's, but not yet glued to the mast,



another couple of views,






the main top nearly finished,



and finished, I say finished but it still has to have a few extra's fitted yet,



and all three tops togther,

.

 

[Kurt Konrath]

Jig looks like it makes assembly much easier and quicker.

Tops look very good! Can't wait to see them mounted and full of rigging....

 

[neptune]

I remade the mizzen top mast cap, the one supplied seemed a bit on the thin side, new one at the front,



The mizzen mast assembly,



close up view,



and the mizzen mast sitting in place with the top now glued in place on the trestle tree's,

.

 

[neptune]

The fid in place,



and the top mast now glued to the mizzen,



and just sitting on the ship,

.

 

[neptune]

the top mast trestle tree's glued up,



Making the supports for the top mast trestle tree's, I forget the proper name of this part, in the kit you get 8 pieces
of wood like the one sitting on the part in the lathe, to get them to fit around the mast you would have to bevel
the back and sides of each piece, so i decided just to turn up some english box wood that i had, I drilled it out first
so that it would slide over the mast,



then while it was still in the lathe I shaped it out roughly to what i wanted, for this operation the lathe was
not turned on, I just rotated it by hand to each position for filing down to shape,



then i finished with a fine file, once glued on the masts I will still have to finish them off,


.

 

[neptune]

And each one just sitting in place not yet glued, once glued they will have a final sanding down to size,



the mizzen top mast trestle tree glued in place,



and with the top gallant mast cap etc glued in place,



and the pin rail at the base of the mizzen mast, still have the wooldings and a few other bits to do,
I have to drill for a few sheave holes as well

.

 

[Kurt Konrath]

Great photos of the work completed, keep them coming.

 

[Maarten]

Itching my vingers to start this stage of the build John.

 

[Canoe21]

Hello John, That sure is a nice compact Rope Walker that you built. Sure would like to build one but it would not fit in my Old Ship Yard. You sure are Turing out some very nice looking ropes. Nice work on your masts and platforms, that kit sure has a lot to offer. You are turning into a Chief or is it you are taking credit from your Admiral.
Regards Lawrence

 

[neptune]

Hello John, That sure is a nice compact Rope Walker that you built. Sure would like to build one but it would not fit in my Old Ship Yard. You sure are Turing out some very nice looking ropes. Nice work on your masts and platforms, that kit sure has a lot to offer. You are turning into a Chief or is it you are taking credit from your Admiral.
Regards Lawrence

Great photos of the work completed, keep them coming.

Thank you for the nice comments Lawrence and Ken, Lawrence the rope walk is only six feet long, thats why i like it as i can easily stand it in a corner when not using it.

As for the cooking I do it all myself, or should I say I do 95% of it, also do all the shopping as the Admiral cannot get about so easily, means that I can buy what I like , after being together for 52 years I know what she likes and as it happens we both like the same things, I do Roast meals, Stews, Casseroles, Curries etc, I try to keep a varied Menu, you will have to pop in one day and try something,

best regards john,

 

[neptune]

This is one set of two pulleys that go at the top of the Top masts,



and one fixed in place,




a rear view with both now attached,



Finishing the tenon of the Fore Top mast,



Testing for fit before gluing,

.

 

[neptune]

I have to fit a couple of cleats on the Jack staff to tie the ropes from the flag to, I have these small ones that I
bought awhile ago, and they were just the right size, this is how they come 10 in a pack laser cut to the side
profile and also laser cut to the plan profile,




attached to the Jack staff support,



and one fitted each side,

.

 

[neptune]

There was one other thing that i had to do to the masts and that was to make the sheaves for
the top ropes, they give you brass sheaves, but i wasn't too sure about fitting them and I didn't
want to mess up the masts now, ( really I should have fitted them before I had assembled the masts )
there are two sheaves on the top mast, this one is the sheave that goes diagonally through the
top mast and comes out on the other side at the back, you fix an eye bolt up under the front of
the mast cap and a rope is secured to it, the rope then comes down through this sheave and goes
up to a block which is secured to another eye bolt which is under the cap at the back and from
there it goes down to the deck,



I try to explain it a bit better with this pic, this is the other top mast rope that is attached to an eye bolt fixed at the
front of the cap on the other side to the one above, the rope on the right comes down and goes through a sheave
at the base of the top mast, it goes through the sheave and come out at the back of the mast behind the fid, it then
goes up to a block that will be attached at the back of the underneath of the cap, then it will go down to the deck,
I hope all this is clear if not just ask any questions that you want,


.

 

[neptune]

Now its on to the yards, they supply the yards turned to shape and also supply the battens to go on the yards,
my understanding of it is that in real practice if they had timber long enough they would shape the yard in the
middle as 8 sided and then taper the outer parts of the yard, and if they didn't have timber long enough, then
they would splice two pieces together and nail 8 battens around the middle, so I have decided to attach the
battens as per the instructions.
You have too make sure the first batten is laying exactly along the yard as above,



Also each batten has to have each side beveled so that it fits tight up against the previous batten,



and a couple of pics of some of the finished yards,




.

 

[Bryian]

You have been a busy boy. Great update John.

 

[Maarten]

Great update John. Do you keep the masts in natural wood colors?