Issue 107 - Contains the fore topgallant sail, dummy 32-pounder guns & blocks., and has instructions for preparing the fore topgallant yard & sail, rigging the fore topgallant, adding the lifts and braces, further rigging of the mizzen and securing the staysails.

Preparing the fore topgallant yard - This was assembled in Issue 73. Use 0.25mm natural thread for the rigging, and if you are making a bare spars model, omit Steps 2 and 3.

Attach the footropes (horses) as shown in Issue 104, page 13, step 3.

Rigging the fore topgallant - For the 'bare spars' model, omit all but the first three steps, which add the tye that supports the yard.
Tie a 700mm length of 0.25mm natural thread to the centre of the yard by wrapping it around the yard twice and securing it with two half-hitches close to one end. (This forms the tye). Then feed the tye through the upper hole in the fore topgallant, just below the octagonal collar.
Drop the tye down through the hole in the fore top and secure it to the pin second from the left (port) side in the rack behind the fore mast, pulling the yard up as high as it will go.

Adding the lifts and braces - Fit these lines whether or not you are adding sails and use 0.25mm natural thread throughout.
These are similar to the previous lifts & braces, which for clarity are best followed via the steps., other than to say that for the bare spars version, and of no sail weight being upon the yard, you will need to adjust the lifts and braces together so that slight tension is upon the yard to make the ropes appear taught.

Rigging the mizzen - The mizzen was rigged in Issue 103 but does not yet have all the lines that control the sail. Use 0.25mm natural thread throughout. Omit Steps 8-14 if you are making a 'bare spars' model.

Tie 300mm lengths of thread just above both blocks on the end of the driver boom. Then Lace each of these threads to one of the single blocks on the outboard eyebolts on the taffrail. Feed the thread through the block on the taffrail, back through the block hanging from the boom, and finally secure the thread to the eyebolt itself.

Tie a 5mm single block to some thread, leaving a 150mm tail. Tie this to the gaff boom next to the double blocks, so that the block hangs down about 80mm from the boom.

Tie a 550mm length of thread to the block and thread it to the unused outer block mounted on the taffrail, in the same way as Step 2. Repeat on the other side of the sail.

Tie a 650mm length of thread to the end of the driver boom and lead it diagonally up the sail. Then thread it through the single block just below the mizzen mast cap.

Feed the thread down the holes in the sides of the mizzen top, and secure the thread to the first belaying pin on the mizzen mast. Repeat on the other side of the model.

Securing the staysails - Omit these lines if you are making the 'bare spars' model, but you may wish to fit the eyebolts.
Carefully drill 0.7mm holes just inboard of the ladders leading up to the poop deck on both sides of the model, and fit two eyebolts.
Drill two more 0.7mm holes and fit two more eyebolts about 6mm from the poop deck bulwark, level with the second hammock crane.

That's it for this week, carefully store the remaining parts.

Future issues:

Issue 108 - Contains the main sail, parrel spacers, blocks, glass beads, eyebolts and a 12-pounder gun kit., and has instructions for fitting the main sail, rigging the main yard & sail, and adding the forecastle guns (Victory carried two at Trafalgar).

Issue 109 - Contains parts to built the 18ft cutter, figurehead castings & thread., and has instructions for making the 18ft cutter, adding the figurehead and rigging the spritsail.

Issue 110 - Contains the main topsail, blocks, parrel spacers, dummy guns, glass beads & eyebolts., and has instructions for the fitting of the main topsail and yard, rigging the main topsail, fitting the sprit sail, topsail yard and sail

Issue 111 - Contains the main topgallant sail, dummy guns & blocks., and has instructions for fitting the main topgallant yard & sail, and rigging the main topgallant.

Issue 109 - Contains parts to built the 18ft cutter, figurehead castings & thread., and has instructions for assembling the 18ft cutter, adding the figurehead and spritsail yard - a lot to do!

Making the 18ft cutter - The process is similar to that of constructing the Launch. Refer to Issues 6 and 7 for general guidance on planking the cutter. You can use superglue to construct the cutter, but use it sparingly to avoid gluing your fingers to the planks!

Carefully remove the frame base and frames 3 to 10 from the ply sheet. Glue frames 4 to 10 to the base, ensuring that they are all upright and in line, then glue the frames into position

Remove the keel and transom (11) parts from the sheet, then chamfer the edge of slot 11 in the ply base so the transom can lean forward.
Locate the transom in place ensuring it is in line with the other frames, trimming the sides of the tab if necessary.
Lay the keel in place and angle the transom so its tip meets the end of the keel - DO NOT glue the keel into place at this stage.
Glue the transom in place ensuring that the side with the etched line faces outwards.

Use a small sanding block or nail emery board to fair the edges of the frames to follow the curve of the hull. Taper the bow frame (3) on both sides so it comes to a point.

Bend a length of 0.6 x 3mm plank and glue it so that the lower edge sits on the steps in the frames. Then trim the front end of the plank so that it ends on the centre of the bow. Repeat on the other side of the boat.

Glue garboard planks either side of the keel. Again, trim the front ends to meet at the bow. Then add another plank next to the garboard plank. This plank should be tapered so that it fits neatly, (refer to issue 7 for tapering instructions). Trim the planks at the stern so they are flush with the transom.

Continue to plank the rest of the hull, working from keel to gunwale. When the planking is complete, carefully scrape away any glue or pencil marks.
Give the model a coat of sanding sealer and then gently sand it with fine sandpaper. Be careful not to sand right through the planks, as they are very thin!

Carefully sand a flat on the bow until the pointed edge of frame 3 just starts to show, then glue the keel into place ensuring that it run straight and level.

Add the floorboards, by glueing two 43mm-long strips of 1 x 3mm wood to the bottom of the boat, leaving a small gap between them, then fit another two strips of 1 x 3mm wood after tapering them at the front and back to fit the hull profile.
The bow and stern grids are supplied oversized and need trimming to fit your model. Cut them with scissors so that they rest on the ends of the planks just fitted, the steps say to glue them in place though I opted to see how the boat will be finished, you might also want to do the same for the floorboards.

The rest of the hull will be fitted out later on, so carefully store the boat, grids and remaining ply parts until then.

The figurehead - In addition to the metal castings supplied with this issue, you will need the figurehead support bracket that was supplied with issue 86.
Start by attaching the crown to the top of the shield. File a flat on the top of the scroll above the shield and glue the crown in place with super glue.
Glue the shield assembly to a scrap of plank, using a drop of super glue to provide a handle that will make it easier to hold while painting.

Carefully follow the magazine steps for painting the shield, cherubs, support bracket & motto strip, and use a fine brush for picking out the details.
I chose to further detail the support bracket using black paint, by filling in the background areas.

Attaching the shield to the stem post - Start by releasing the bowsprit shrouds and bobstays.
You may need to reduce the height of the step in the stem post so that the crown is just below the bowsprit.
Hold the top of the shield in line with the top of the stem post, with its crown just below the bowsprit. Mark the bottom of the shield on the stem post. Then cut away the wood on the stem post with a razor saw.

Glue the shield in place using superglue, make sure it is central and upright.
Carefully bend the motto strip around the base of the shield, then trim the ends to length with scissors. Prime the strip, paint it blue and pick out the lettering in gold.
Hold the strip in position and glue the support bracket in place, ensuring you don’t cover the bobstay hole. Then fix the ends of the strip with spots of superglue.

The cherubs are handed, glue the cherubs to the back of the shield and position so that the raised hand is resting on the crown.

Re-fix the bowsprit rigging, then seal and trim the lashings.

Attaching the spritsail yard - The spritsail yard was prepared in issue 104. The buntlines, clewlines and lifts have a very similar arrangement to those previously fitted.

Note - You should omit steps 12 to 15 if you are building the 'bare spars' version of the model, (the magazine text says omit 12 to 16).

Start by drilling three equally spaced 0.7mm holes on the top of both roundhouses. Glue an eyebolt (provided in issue 108) into each hole.

Take the spritsail and yard (or just the yard for the 'bare spars' option), and tie 250mm of 0.5mm thread about 5mm to the port of centre, this is the Sling.

Hold the yard centrally under the bees and loop the thread over the end of the bees from left to right.
Tie the other end of the sling to the other side of the yard, so the yard hangs just below the bowsprit, then seal and trim the knots.

To make the travelling guys (rope A), tie two 500mm lengths of 0.25mm thread to the bowsprit, halfway between the middle and upper bindings. Lead one out to port, and one to starboard.

Tie both guys to the spritsail yard near to the outer footrope supports. Rig both sides at the same time to make sure that the yard is straight and true. Pass the thread over the yard, and under the yard from the back, then tie the knot and lead the spare thread aft. Use a simple overhand knot, which is easy to adjust.
Tie both threads to the inboard eyebolts, making sure that the yard is still straight and true.

The guy pendants (rope B) are rigged much like the travelling guys. Tie two 550mm lengths of 0.25mm thread close to the end of the bowsprit, and knot them around the yard about 5mm further out from the travelling guy, so that they end up as shown in step 10. Tie them off to the middle eyebolts, as shown in step 11.

The flying jibboom guys (rope C) follow a similar route to the others. Tie 600mm lengths of thread to the end of the flying jibboom and lead them back on each side of the bowsprit.

Knot the guys around the yard about 5mm further out from the guy pendants and tie the threads off to the outermost eyebolts on top of the roundhouses.

Note - On the 'bare spars' version, you will need to tie two single blocks just forward of the mast cap on the bowsprit. These were omitted from the 'bare spars' build as they were not star marked on the plan for placement on this version, (they are shown on the plan in relation to the version with sails).

To rig the spritsail yard lift ropes (F), tie 600mm of 0.25mm thread to the eyebolt on the bowsprit cap, run it down to the block on the end of the yard, back to the block just forward of the cap, and tie off to the same timberhead as the buntline (just inboard of the U-channel on top of the bulkhead). Repeat on the other side.

(Ropes 'D' and 'E' relate to the version with sails).

That's it for this week, carefully store the remaining parts.

Future issues:

Issue 110 - Contains the main topsail, blocks, parrel spacers, dummy guns, glass beads & eyebolts., and has instructions for the fitting of the main topsail and yard, rigging the main topsail, fitting the sprit sail, topsail yard and sail

Issue 111 - Contains the main topgallant sail, dummy guns & blocks., and has instructions for fitting the main topgallant yard and sail, and rigging the main topgallant.

Issue 112 - Contains the mizzen topsail, assorted blocks, glass beads and parrel spacers., and has instructions for fitting the cross jack yard & mizzen topmast yard and sail.

Issue 113 - Contains the mizzen topgallant sail, assorted blocks, glass beads, parrel spacers, oars, brass gratings, diecast barrel & bucket, bras wire & strip., and has instructions for fitting and rigging the mizzen topgallant yard & sail and fitting the mizzen bowlines.

Issue 114 - Contains dummy gun barrels, anchor kit, blocks and thread., and has instructions for fitting the anchors and adding the bowsprit yard braces.

Issue 115 - Contains frame parts for the 28ft Pinnace boat, blocks & dummy guns., and has instructions for continuing the bowlines and the construction of the Pinnace boat.