Revell Cutty Sark bow sprit-jib boom connection?

Thanks Big Jake,  I have referenced your photos before, and will again during this build.  I have drilled out the bow sprit to take a 1/8th inch aluminum rod, all the way in (about 3 inches). I will place a slightly larger aluminum tube over it and out the remaining inches for the jib boom. I will file it down and then add the styrene end of the kit jib boom with CA, getting it looking good.  It will not bend at all this way. The kit provided part is a very weak joint, at least in this kit I have.

I've built about 24 of these and never had a problem.  You talking about the 1/96th scale right.  Even the small18" version, I've never had a problem with.  Take a look at my Cutty Sark Album for some close ups of that area.

Jake

I built the 1/96th Cutty in about '60 or '61, and the jibboom broke where it connects to the bowsprit.  I didn't have any little bitty drills, so I cut straight pin to about 1/2" long.  I used a candle to get it red-hot, and shoved it into the head of the bowsprit.  Then I repeated the process for the buttend of the jibboom.  The two pieces never did match up perfectly, but I won a blue ribbon at the NM state fair with it, and it sat around my folks' house for 35 years.  Mom finally threw it away without asking me if I wanted it.  That joint never did fail as far as I know.

If I were doing the same operation today, I'd probably rebate the butt of the jibboom and drill the head of the bowsprit to take maybe .030 or .040 of the rebated portion.  That would only be a few scale inches.

As far as using wood, I've turned some hickory dowell down to .022 (measured by a pretty fair caliper) and it's a heck of a lot stronger than an equal bit of plastic.

Thanks for the response , however I'm afraid that the thinness of this scale piece sanded down from a dowel would not be much better than the kit piece.

A lot of people have built this Revell kit.

Has no one out there had this problem?

 

   I would, most probably replace the plastic jibboom with wood. I have done this in the past, and it seems to be the best way for me. In other threads here, the use of brass rod is also a way to provide stronger spars, and prevent deformation caused by rigging tension.