Well, it's been a while since we last saw this old lady, but it's time to revisit this build with a new vigor. 
I was able to get back into the swing of things after a long lay-up for the summer, and some distractions, and she's back on the top of the list in the shipyard.
The port side gun tackles were, well, "tackled" over the last few days and I came up with a new method for making the gun tackles. :roll: It's basically the method I used for Krakow's cargo rigging, and it seems to work out better than the prior methods. Basically, I used glue stiffened string as the core for the blocks and wound the tackle line around it using a jig. It's a rather simple jig, just a long piece of cardboard on which I scribed two lines to get the spacing between the blocks. The glue stiffened string is strung across the jig and secured on both ends using a combination of a slit through which the ends are snugged and a clip for good measure. This way, I could build a whole slew of gun tackles at once, and this really made the process move along quickly. I used a needle to get some daylight under the threads, which made weaving the gun tackle line and tying them off a lot easier.
Here is a picture of the jig:
The end result is a ladder like structure which contains all the gun tackles of this particular length.
These individual "rungs" are then carefully cut from the glue soaked thread leaving only a stub on each end which is the block.
I left the tails on the ends to make it easier to apply the "block" which is just a dab of brown paint on each end.
Then they were carefully trimmed to final form, leaving a fairly nice tackle.
All in all, the whole process of making eight sets of double short and long tackles (32 gun tackles in all for the eight carronades) took about four hours, including drying time (well, I had to watch my Philadelphia Eagles rout the 49er's, so there was some down time in the process)...a big improvement over the last method which was a tedious process of using small eyelets, rigging each tackle separately...and I don't think they look any worse. :lol:
I used the same procedure for installing the carronades and tackles as I did previously, and this is the result.
It took me all of just a few hours to put them all in, but I think by now it was just a matter of following the old routine so it went faster as I went along...I actually installed the carronades two and three at a time. Here's a close up view of the port side battery.
So, now she finally has her full complement of guns installed!
I don't know, I think this fills out the quarterdeck rather nicely.
One final view, just for the heck of it. :lol:
Now, it's on to the final additions to the quarterdeck, which includes the pin rails, horse tackles, gratings, helm and skylight...and some further fittings to be used when rigging the ship begins. It's still a long way to go, but at least she now has all of her teeth!
I hope to be able to work on her more steadily, as time permits, and I hope you'll all visit from time to time to see how she's fitting out.
Thanks for taking a look!
Cheers!
Jim
I was able to get back into the swing of things after a long lay-up for the summer, and some distractions, and she's back on the top of the list in the shipyard.
The port side gun tackles were, well, "tackled" over the last few days and I came up with a new method for making the gun tackles. :roll: It's basically the method I used for Krakow's cargo rigging, and it seems to work out better than the prior methods. Basically, I used glue stiffened string as the core for the blocks and wound the tackle line around it using a jig. It's a rather simple jig, just a long piece of cardboard on which I scribed two lines to get the spacing between the blocks. The glue stiffened string is strung across the jig and secured on both ends using a combination of a slit through which the ends are snugged and a clip for good measure. This way, I could build a whole slew of gun tackles at once, and this really made the process move along quickly. I used a needle to get some daylight under the threads, which made weaving the gun tackle line and tying them off a lot easier.
Here is a picture of the jig:
The end result is a ladder like structure which contains all the gun tackles of this particular length.
These individual "rungs" are then carefully cut from the glue soaked thread leaving only a stub on each end which is the block.
I left the tails on the ends to make it easier to apply the "block" which is just a dab of brown paint on each end.
Then they were carefully trimmed to final form, leaving a fairly nice tackle.
All in all, the whole process of making eight sets of double short and long tackles (32 gun tackles in all for the eight carronades) took about four hours, including drying time (well, I had to watch my Philadelphia Eagles rout the 49er's, so there was some down time in the process)...a big improvement over the last method which was a tedious process of using small eyelets, rigging each tackle separately...and I don't think they look any worse. :lol:
I used the same procedure for installing the carronades and tackles as I did previously, and this is the result.
It took me all of just a few hours to put them all in, but I think by now it was just a matter of following the old routine so it went faster as I went along...I actually installed the carronades two and three at a time. Here's a close up view of the port side battery.
So, now she finally has her full complement of guns installed!
I don't know, I think this fills out the quarterdeck rather nicely.
One final view, just for the heck of it. :lol:
Now, it's on to the final additions to the quarterdeck, which includes the pin rails, horse tackles, gratings, helm and skylight...and some further fittings to be used when rigging the ship begins. It's still a long way to go, but at least she now has all of her teeth!
I hope to be able to work on her more steadily, as time permits, and I hope you'll all visit from time to time to see how she's fitting out.
Thanks for taking a look!
Cheers!
Jim
