I glued each cannon into position taking careful note to check the position of each from multiple angles, especially from outboard. I hung the ends of the rigging rope over the sides to keep them out of the way.

While the glue was drying I created a small right using a piece of scrap wood and several nails. I paired two nails a few mm apart and did this eight times. I then cut a piece of rope the same scale as the rope used for the cannon rigging and taped one end to the scrap wood. I then wrapped the rope around the two nails 4 times and then taped the remaining end to the scrap wood as well. Once I had done this process eight times (I had eight sets of nails in the scrap wood) I then applied a coat of watered down wood glue (approximately 30 percent glue and 70 percent water) and let that dry thoroughly. Once dried I was able to easily free the rope loops from the jig yet the loops were able to retain their shape. Also, I choose to use watered down wood glue as opposed to CA glue because CA glue tends to make the rope not only discolored but also brittle...I just don't like the look of rigging with CA glue so I avoid it unless absolutely necessary.

Once I had all 8 sets of rope free from the jig I went ahead and snipped one tail nice and close so you couldn't see the end of it. I snipped the other tail with a little length left on it. I then glued each one into its appropriate place on the deck near the cannons.

Finally, I took the long remaining lengths of rigging on the cannons and cut them so the ends would rest nicely within the piles of rope I just glued to the deck. The end result is the rigging looks like it goes through the wood blocks, comes down to the deck, and forms several loops before terminating in a small bit sticking out from the rope pile.

Time to complete the ship's wheel and all the rigging that exists between the wheel and the tiller.

To start, I followed the same process as I did on preparing the block for the cannons, I took the annealed black wire and created 10 single blocks with hooks.

Next, I cut a piece of 8mm wooden dowel as instructed. I glued it onto the wheel and then test fit it. It took several attempts at fitting, sanding, and repeating until I had a very nice fit. I then glued the assembly into the supports of the wheel.

Because we need to wrap a rope around the ship's wheel we cannot simply pre rig everything prior to installing on the ship. So it was time to get to it. I started by tying two half hitches on the stern most eyebolt on the tiller's port side. I would then thread the rope through the first 5 blocks and then hook each of those blocks into place following the "connect the dots" format in the instructions.

Next, I did four loops around the ship's wheel. I am not certain how many there should be for historical accuracy, so I just went with what I thought was pleasing to the eye. Once I had the loops completed I threaded the end of the rope through the next five blocks and then hooked those into place per the instructions.

Finally, I used some tweezers and carefully pulled the rope taught, but not too much, and carefully positions the blocks so they looked natural. I worked my way around from the first block, tweaked the loops on the wheel, and through to the final block. Then I tied the end of the rope off on the last eyebolt on the starboard side of the tiller with two half hitches. I gave everything one last look over to ensure it was as it should be and then I applied some watered down wood glue to each of the knots on the tiller.

Once the glue on the know had completely dried I simply trimmed the ends and the rigging for this section was complete.

Note: The stern lanterns are to be installed at this point in the build, according to the instructions. However, because they are extremely delicate, and there is still some solid work to be done on this thing, I have chosen to leave these as the very last thing to do. This way there is no chance that I accidentally break them while trying to finish up the build. I will have a post on these at the very end.

The main mast is made with a 10mm dowel cut to the specified length. Again, I eyeballed the angle at the top end (around 60 degrees) and then carefully carved the square bit on the bottom end with a sharp blade. After sanding the entire thing with 320 grit I then marked the location for each metal ring.

To determine where to place the metal rings I first made a tick mark for the bottom most one as indicated in the instructions. The mark I made indicated the bottom of the ring. I did this in pencil and made the mark very light and small...just enough so I could see it when gluing the ring in place.

The instructions call for a distance of 18mm between rings. Because each ring is 2mm thick this meant there was 20mm between the bottoms of each ring (bottom to bottom). So I then made 5 more tick marks, each one 20mm further up the mast from the previous one. I purposely make these marks at the bottom of the ring since, once assembled, it would not be visible from the admirers perspective, but it is visible when positioning the rings for glueing in place.

I then sanded the base piece per the instructions, being sure to remove all the char. A test fit of the mast and it slid into place rather smoothly, so I glued it and the base piece into place.

The fore mast is nearly a replica of the main mast except you need a 8mm dowel and only 5 rings (the main mast had 6). Once both masts were in place and the glue had dried I went ahead and applied a coat of wipe on poly. I also applied a coat of poly to the mizzen mast since I had forgotten to do it earlier.

If you recall, on an earlier post I mentioned that I needed to open up the hole in the stem to allow for the bowsprit rope to pass under the decorative bits. Guess it is time to tackle that.

I used a 1.5mm drill bit and put a hole through the stem from port to starboard. I made a second hole a few mm away, basically the two endpoint for the hole I needed. I then took a sharp blade and carefully removed the bit of wood remaining between the two holes. A bit of clean up and it was ready. Now I can move onto the bowsprit ropes.

There is a bit of work needed in order to slide the belaying pins into place. The laser cut holes are just a bit too small and you definitely do not want to try and force the pins into those holes. There is such a thin layer of wood grain between the holes and the face of the pin rails. If you force the belaying pins into place with much more than a simple tap then you are likely to break the pin rail.

To correct this I took a drill and opened up each hole in the pintail until the belaying pins were able to slide in fairly easily. They didn't rest in the hole loosely and instead fit just barely snug. Enough so that no glue is needed. It was then a matter of putting each pin into place. Be extra careful with the pins at the end of each pin rail...the pin rail is extra, extra thin in these spots and can very easily break.

There wasn't really much to this step, but it is a satisfying one. Something about seeing the belaying pins in place make the deck look complete. Not much more to do and this build is done. I took several random shots across the deck showing some of the various pin rails with belaying pins in place.

Thank you for following this build. Great to have you onboard.

Now we need to lash the main anchor rope to the ring. Using the large rope supplied with the kit I created a loop through the ring and then tied that loop into place with a long piece of .5mm line. I used a simple square know for this, being sure that I ended up with two fairly equal lengths of line at each end of the know.

It is important to have enough line at each end to finish up the lashing and in my experience it is much easier to work with a line that is more than long enough for the job. It is extremely difficult to try to wrap and tie lines when you have very little to work with.

Once I had the square know tightened and the loop around the ring at the size I wanted I then took one end of the line and created a loop back along the main anchor rope. Next, I took the other end of the line and wrapped it around the loop I just created 6 or 7 times. I am not sure if there is a real world number of times to do this and I simply did enough loops so that it was visually pleasing to me.

After 6 or 7 loops I then pull the rest of the looped end through the remaining eye - this is the end of the loop that I created earlier. Finally, I gently tug at both ends to pull everything tight and adjust as I ago along to ensure everything nestles properly into place. I also pull until the eye ends up under the loops. This helps lock everything into place.

I then apply some watered down wood glue and let the whole thing dry thoroughly. When it is dry I trim the excess ends.

The second lashing is done in the exact same way minus the initial square know.

You may notice the tiny little blotches of red on the finished lashings. This is because I accidentally caught myself with the blade when trimming the loose ends. I don't know about others, but I tend to always leave some bio-marker behind on every build I do. It used to bother me, but now I simply view it as my signature of sorts. Maybe in a thousand years when a future archeologist digs this ship out of the ground they can trace it back to me and get it into the hands of my descendants.

Time to serve a line on the cathead. Using 5mm line I looped one end through the eye in the cathead and then created a single lashing. To do this I followed the exact same process as I did with lashing the anchor line except only using a single lashing in this instance. I then applied some watered down wood glue to the lashing and let it dry.

While the lashing was drying I went ahead and put the double block together. The kit provided us with two pre-fabricated hooks as part of the brass pieces. After cleaning these up and annealing them I was able to easily bend them around the double block. I then applied some black paint to the brass. As this is a fairly large block I wanted to give it a bit of realism, so I also drilled two additional holes to simulate what a real block would look like. Then I added a very small amount of black paint to simulate the wheels of the block.

Finally, after trimming the loose ends of the lashing I went ahead and wove the line through the block and the cathead as indicated in the instructions.