Lindberg Jolly Roger float test.

Yeah dudes if you   look closely,the main mast is clearly longer than the foremast.

Further progress.   

Mounted up the mizzen and rigged the shrouds and the first course of ratlines on the port side.The shrouds are very structural as they stiffen the plastic masts noticeably.           

I would like to offer up some hopefully positive and helpful suggestions.

First.

It looks like you are rigging your lines too tightly. You can see this by the slight bow in the main mast. Kits w/ plastic masts and spars are notorious for doing this. Rigging does not need to be so tight that you can pluck it like a guitar string, but just enough to "look" reasonably tight, that is, not sagging. You can get away with much tighter rigging by replacing the masts and spars with wood or brass rod [some go together in two pieces and are hollow in the middle, perfect for reinforcement w/ some brass rod] Plastic gets particularly flimsy when you get to any masts or spars above the top mast. Even lower at smaller scales.

Second.

A good way to ensure that your rat lines come out clean is to first figure out how far apart you want them, then draw horizontal lines on a piece of paper or index card the same distance apart. Place it behind the shrouds and use that as a guide for spacing your rat lines and keeping them level.

There are probably a dozen if not more threads in this forum that go into detail about these things if you want/need more detailed information.

You have not done very much rigging at this point, so going back and loosening a few spots should not be that much work.

Hope this does not sound too critical. I have personally always been very grateful when others here offer up perspectives that have helped me with what I was working on.

That said... I can not wait to see her fully fitted out and afloat. Thats a challenge I am not willing to take on myself.

Yes thanks for the tips.My previous rigging on my wooden Sark was different because the wood dowels are much stronger and did not bend.The ratlines need improvement that hopefully I can do better with my next ship model.

I decided to use the vac form sails.I used a microdrill to drill the holes  used to lace the sails onto the yard.I used one long piece of thread to do so.  

Of course you did. Easy way to do it.

Yes it is an effective method.

Lacing up more sails.  

arnie60, I actually have found out smaller scales are more forgiving when it comes to plastic spars bending under tension. Small scale spars are usually a bit over scale in diameter, and since they are shorter than larger ones, they do not bend that much. The jib boom in the Heller Victory, for example, is flimsy as hell and NEEDS replacing, but that of the Revell kit is perfectly straight after being rigged and took quite a bit of tension.

I have found that use of thread to be effective in correcting the warp at the top of the foremast.

Sewed on the jibs and bow sails.   

clic the pic to view the clip

Nice video. Will you do one when you float it? I'm doing a wood kit, a flattie that has been requested to see how it does in the tub. Not sure I want to do that though.

EJ

Yes i will!By flattie do you mean aircraft carrier?

OK!Can you post a pic of it?

Did I read the scale o nthe box right, and that's 3/8" = 1'-0" ?  This can be a great scale to work in with the Midwest kits.

Looks really good!

Thanks guys. I like the wood kits, especially the boats, like the flattie, Titanic lifeboat, Lobster smak and skiff. They are quick to put together, plus, having been a builing contractor and carpenter most of my life, working wood just seems to come natural. Plus, they are a 'change up" from plastic kits so I don't get bored.

EJ

Finished up the rigging but the float test did not go well!The ship either listed to port or starboard and the addition of lead shot only caused water to pour in and sinkit!I guess it will have to remain in dry dock display!   

IF you ever decide to try a floater again, three things.

1. There's no point in ballasting the hull ahead of time. As you foud out, it can create all kinds of fit problems later. And you couldn't accurately predict the final weight of the model.

2. All of the mast gear weighs so much more in comparison to that hull, that you created an artificially high center of gravity. So it tips over.

3. The only way to make a pond sailer reliable is to have an artificial keel. Well maybe not the only way, but certainly the most reliable and practical way. If I were to do it, I would have put a downward pointing keel dead center front to back, 2" fore/aft in width and 12" or 2/3 the height of the masts downward length. Something fairly rigid like a piece of 18 gage aluminum.

Set it in the pond, and assuming it doesn't immediately sink, clamp a small weight on the bottom end of the keel. Then adjust the amount of weight until the waterline is where you want it, with a margin of safety.

Then try moving the weight up the keel, testing its stability as you go. When you get to a comfortable point, stable but a little soft as far as heeling, clamp it permanently, cut off the remaining aluminum and paint it all black.

Thats how I do my pond sailboats.

Makes you wonder how the real ships were ballasted.Who would have thought the plastic masts ,yards and rigging would add up to throw the balance off so radically !

You know the saying "scale doesn't fly".

We can add the saying "scale don't float".

I wonder if I can ballast my 1/600 Titanic or wold it dot he same thing?

Proff.

I do have to agree with you . I built one of these as a gift and the lowest flange on the foremast is supposed to be sitting right on the deck ! I would worry about that height , definitely .

Philo426

    The real ships were ballasted mostly with a stone that was chosen for the job . Round smooth river stones .Then the Cannon Balls not on deck and Most of the stores and powder as well as spare mast parts and spars were carried well even with or below the water line .

   Even the addition of her rig and guns were taken into account . I think some of those boys back then knew about how much the bare ship weighed too ! When I did my " Constitution " in Cal . I had a two and a half inch false bottom on her ( outside ) to allow for the weight and masts .The keel was about four pounds total and hidden by the false bottom .           T,B.

Wow!4 pounds!

NNNggghhhh...

About the only thing you can do is hope to replicate the vertical center of gravity- in every other way scale will defeat you because for every increase in a given dimension, the mass increase is a cube.

I'd guess the center of gravity on that ship was well below the waterline.

But getting to that waterline is the trick. In addition to whatever mass you need to get the CG low, you also need mass to displace the water. I can't guess the displacement volume to the waterline of that model, but let's say it's 24 cubic inches- 12" x 2" x 1'". A cubic inch of water weighs about 0.6 ounces (did the math).

So the displaced weight is 14 ounces, almost a pound. And that all has to be below the waterline along with whatever you need to account for everything above the waterline.

That gets you to the tipping point.

Thats all I wish to contribute.