Elizabethan merchantman - photos

Here are some shots, thanks to my friend Marc, whose hosting them. Sorry about the light quality!

The masts are painted and dry fitted at this point.



Here is a detail of the stern, showing the new ribs where the poop cabin was. The deck has not been glued, and the leaded glass windows need to be installed.



Here is a detail of the bow. The plastic ship's bell was removed and a brass HO or S scale locomotive bell will be hung in its place. Then the cap can go on.



This is my first ship build, and I can see where I need to improve in a lot of areas, so thanks for all the advice and direction.

The hull is almost complete and its time to start rigging! The forward sheave post is inside the forecastle, with the fore halyard and lift rising out of an opening in the forecastle deck. It has to be set up before the deck can be installed.

Brian Lavery's rigging plan for Susan Constant shows the plan here, but I'm wondering how high the halyard would rise (half up the mast? not even out of the forecastle?) and what type of thread - maybe something sturdy, given its use?

[edit] Now I see - the lifts need to be at least long enough to allow the yard room to lower to the deck, so its calculation based on the mast size. But it does look that the "rope" size would be sturdy enough to support the weight of the yard, and it does not look like it would be tarred.