Well, gang, it's been a while since the last post...Holidays, work and playing Santa have taken up a bit of my time. :roll: I did manage through it all to do some little things, none of which warranted an update as such, but I figured it was high time to post another update just to show you all where I am at this point.
I have been working on the gun deck gunports on the port side...same procedure as the starboard...but it did take me a little time to remember how to thread those little laniards into those little holes. :lol: I also spent some time punching out the portlight rims and water deflectors and installing them on the port side, as well as the mooring rings. Now they're all done! I still have to finish up the gunport with the stubby barrels; I started making the tubes, punching out the ends and gluing them in place, so maybe I can get them done tomorrow.
I also built the anchor port supports, which the kit does not provide for, so I scratch built them. They came out fairly well and didn't take as much time as I had thought they might. I also started the catheads, but so far only got the starboard one almost done...I need to figure out the cat face that goes on the ends and to finish them up on both sides. I also added the striped trim sheets to the port head rails in the same manner as I did on the starboard side. Next up in the head rails are the fore tack bumkins that fit into and through the head rails...another feature the kit doesn't show. :?
I've also been playing around with the rudder chain. The smallest I was able to find was 42 links per inch chain, but after fooling around with it I thought that chain still looked too out of scale to use, so I ended up using some knoted thread instead. Not exactly the way I wanted them to look, but I feared if I borrowed the small chain I saw in my wife's jewelery box I would be pulling an angry tiger's tail, so I settled for the thread. :lol: It was a bear to fit the "chain" under the transom, but I figure it looks somewhat convincing even though it's not the way I really wanted them to come out.
I also played around with the carronades, which will be the first things I install on the spar deck once the hull exterior is just about done. Instead of using the barrel parts from the kit, I decided it would be easier and hopefully come out better to roll my own, so to speak.
This is one of those tedious parts of the build...it will take twenty carronades and two bow chasers to fit out the spar deck battery...so I figured no time like the present to start playing with a construction method. Luckily I have a few photos of the real thing, so I have been modifying the kit parts a bit...surprise, surprise. :lol: In the last photos of tonight you'll see the barrels under construction and the carriages beginning to take shape. I also posted a few photos of the prototype used to work out the construction method. They will each require a breech rope (it runs through the ring on the back end of the barrel and is bolted to the bulwarks), and four sets of tackle, two each for the lower carriage and two for the slide (that's the upper part that holds the barrel). Each tackle is supposed to be made up of a single block with a becket (that's the little eye to which the line is spliced and is the beginning point of the line used in the tackle) and a double block. I'm going to be busy, once I figure out how I want to make the blocks, because I'll have to make up 80 of each. :shock:
So, I've got my work cut out for me...and I haven't even started the rigging! Something tells me this one is not going to be ready by New Years Eve. :lol: But it's a blast figuring out and making all of these little bits.
I hope you find something of interest in this update...sorry it took so long to get something posted. :roll:
Cheers!
Jim
