Thanks for looking in guys and the positive comments.

The next job was to rig the stays. First a line was wrapped around the upper main mast just above the upper bracket and tied with brown sewing thread, Pic 1.

The knots throughout the rigging can be sealed using a drop of diluted white glue or super glue but if using super glue, first test it on a scrap bit of thread as the thread supplied with one model I made reacted with the super glue and actually ‘smoked. The thread/super glue combo this time however was ok.

The line was then wrapped around the foremast just above the step and again tied off with thread, Pic 2. A second stay was then run from the top of the foremast to an eyelet half way along the bowsprit, Pic 3. Pic 4 shows a general shot of the Swift with the stays rigged.

Next was to rig the deadeyes using the wire and thread provided. I followed the method in the instructions and found it to work pretty well.

First an eyelet was fitted into a small pin vice and the pin vice held in a bench vice, Pic 5. Next a length of wire was cut (I found 160mm was sufficient) and passed through the eyelet and bent at the midpoint, then twisted together (using pliers) until the twisted length was ~ 15mm, Pics 6 & 7. A deadeye was then held between the wire ends and the wire twisted around the deadeye ensuring the wire stayed within the groove, Pic 8 – a little bit fiddly but you soon get the hand of it. The excess wire is then cut off and the twisted stub bent back onto the deadeye, Pic 9. If the holes in the deadeye are not in the correct orientation then the deadeye can be turned within the wire – I did this by inserting the tips of a pair of fine tweezers into two of the holes and twisting.

A second deadeye was then rigged to the first by tying a knot in the end of the thread then passing it through the holes in both deadeyes in the sequence shown in the instructions, Pics 10 & 11. This was repeated for all eight pairs of deadeyes.

The twisted wire on each of the pairs of deadeyes was passed through the appropriate chainwale and a suitable drill bit passed through the loop in the end of the wire and a hole drilled in the hull ensuring the deadeye was up tight to the chainwale. A drop of super glue was put onto the end of a pin and the pin passed through the wire loop and into the hull, Pic 12.

The shrouds were then rigged. Each pair of shrouds was made with a single length of thread looped around the upper mast and run down to the pair of deadeyes on the chainwale. The shroud was passed around the upper deadeye, pulled reasonably tight – ensuring not to bend the mast – and held in place with a crocodile clip, Pic 13. The shroud was tied off with sewing thread and the tail of the deadeye rigging thread was pulled to tighten the shroud – again ensuring that you do not bend the mast. The tail of the deadeye rig was then passed, from the rear, through the gap formed between the upper deadeye and the tied off shroud and then lashed to the shroud. The shroud was lashed a second time just above the first and the excess shroud thread cut off, pic 14.

That’s it for now

Graeme

Very tidy work on the rigging.



Regards
delboy271155
(Derek)

Great looking build!!

Just one question, is this the AL kit, or the DeAgostini kit you can buy here. I think I may buy this kit as it's for beginners and that's what I am.

Hi Roger, this is the kit available on the MS website.

Graeme

Nice work Greame, she certainly looks the part

Hi Graeme,
fantastic update. I admire your attention to detail.
Kind regards,
Garth

Thanks for looking in and the comments.

Now to start the running rigging. First, the gaffs were each rigged with two lines, the first runs from the base of the gaff, through the mast and down to the deck and the second form the tip of the gaff, through three blocks and down to the deck. Pics 1 & 2 show the main gaff and Pics 3 & 4 show the fore gaff. All these lines were left untied so the gaff could be adjusted once the sail is fitted.

The main sail was then tied to the gaff, Pic 5 and then the mast rings were opened up slightly, passed through the sail and then closed again, Pic 6. The sail was then rigged to the boom, Pic 7 and the gaff lines tightened, Pic 8, and tied off. Pic 9 shows the boom rigged to the deck.

Pics 10 & 11 show the fore sail rigged in a similar way to the main and Pic 12 shows both sails rigged.

The inner jib sail was next to rigged and was attached to the fore stay with small rings. These were first opened up, Pic 13, passed through the edge of the sail, Pic 14, then around the stay, Pic 15 and closed up again. A line was then tied to the top corner of the sail, passed through a block on the fore mast and tied off at a cleat on the lower fore mast, pics 16 & 17. Lines were then tied to the fore and aft corners of the sail, the line was passed through the sail using a sewing needle, Pic 18 and tied to the sail, Pic 19. The aft line was tied off at the deck, Pic 20, whilst the fore line was passed through a block midway along the bowsprit and tied off at a cleat on the aft end of the bowsprit, Pic 21.

Three lines were tied to the corners of the outer jib sail, Pic 22. The upper line was rigged through a block at the top of the fore mast in the same way as the inner jib. The lower foremost line was passed through a block at the end of the bowsprit, Pic 23 and tied off at the same cleat as the inner jib, Pic 21 again. The remaining corner line was tied off at a ring on the deck, Pic 24.

That’s it for now. All that remains is to fit the anchors, various deck clutter and the name plate.

Graeme

Outstanding result Graeme.



Look forward to seeing the finished build pics.

Regards
delboy271155
(Derek)

Looks great Graeme, really nice work you've done on this.....

Regards

Alan