Many thanks guys!
Next item on the workbench: topmasts.
These require less details, but their basic shape is a bit more complicated with wider parts both at the top and bottom, square and octagonal in section.
I started with the round part, turned in the Dremel and kept stable in a groove in a piece of MDF as I learned from Jim on this forum:
Yes, I’m also using that same piece of MDF as a workbench protection when drilling…
After using this file and a finer one, the surface was finished with a couple of increasingly finer grades of abrasive paper.
Now, the mast head was filed square, tapering to the top. For ease of working, I clamped the mast in the plastic clamp I showed some posts ago.
The hounds were next. First I filed them square, tapering to the bottom.
The corners were next filed down, so the final shape is octagonal.
The same was done to the part between the heel and the lower cap: first filed square, and then octagonal.
The heel was kept a little wider, almost square.
And the block at the lower end of the mast was again thinner and completely octagonal.
Finally, the mast could be cut of from the remaining piece of brass rod (which was 2,5mm diameter BTW).
A word of caution when turning things in a Dremel: this happened when I tried turning the mast AFTER squaring the lower parts of the mast. The lower parts had become too thin while the upper parts remained too heavy, causing the brass rod to bend en spin out of control.
If this breaks or flings out of the Dremel, this could be very harmful! So, at all times wear eye protection and keep a finger on the ‘off’ switch.
After this incident, I stopped using my powerful classic Dremel tool for this task and started using my much less powerful Dremel Micro. Its lower power feels safer, and I have better control over the speed.
For installing the topmast, first a mast cap was fashioned from 1,5 mm plastic sheet and glued to the lower mast:
And the topmast was glued in place (after adding a bit of battle damage to it):
And finally some details were added: a cap shore, fid, and part of the cleats for the lower yard jeers (this will become the bow-shaped cleats after I add the rigging, Dafi
). Note how the gaps in the cap around the topmast (because of the oversized hole I drilled) were filled with Magic Sculp.
The topgallant mast more or less followed the same procedure (but starting from thinner rod). Turning the correct diameter and taper:
Next the heel and the part up to the upper cap were filed square:
The heel was left square, while the part above was now filed octagonal:
And the mast was cut from the remaining rod:
Because this mast is so thin, I didn’t try to file the hounds from the brass rod. Instead, I added a ‘blob’ of Magic Sculp, that I sanded to shape after hardening. On the very top of the mast, a 1mm diameter disc (punched from 0,4mm plastic sheet) was glued.
Note that I managed to get my oversized match back from Aaron!
Now, the topmast trestletrees and crosstrees were made from plastic sheet.
I like gluing small flat items like these with a piece of paper on the workbench. If any glue is spilled, this is soaked up by the paper and evaporates quickly, preventing the plastic piece from being accidentally glued to the workbench. In this case, it was also helpful for lining everything up.
Now, the crosstrees were bent to their correct shape:
The assembly was glued to the topmast, and bolsters and copper wire (top of the shrouds) added:
Again, a cap was made (this time from 1mm sheet), and the topgallant mast was glued in place. The fid (2 tiny pieces of stretched sprue at both sides of the heel) and a strip of plastic sheet (mimicking a double sheave block) were added.
And the fore mast was finished:
The main topgallant mast was shot away, so that one was made from plastic:
And the mizzen was simpler yet: I modelled the topmast broken above the lower cap:
And the lower mast was broken too. The fighting top will be hanging over the stern.
The damage was simply carved and cut with a sharp scalpel.
With help from Dafi (thanks!), I added some more damage to the lower masts too:
And a family photo of all Vic’s masts:
Now on to the yards...
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