Terry Nice job on the lumber hooker.Like the ingot loading scene and how it ties into the industry. You've encouraged me to start on a Sylvan lumber schooner. What did you use for the lines/rigging?
Thanks for the kind comments. The vessel is still incomplete, as I have to add a number of details and weather it so she looks like she has seen a lot of service. I was very happy with this Sylvan kit. The castings were crisp and straight and largely flash free. My only complaint was that the masts were somewhat bent. I tried immersing them in hot water, straightening them and then plunging them in cold water to set them, but my attempt was unsuccessful. So I ended up making the masts out of birch dowel and tapering them on the belt sander while rotating them in a drill, which came out well. I then stained them and gave them a couple of coats of varnish and think they actually look better than the painted resin would have looked. While I still have some rigging left to do, I used some hemp string that I picked up at Hobby Lobby. I made the blocks myself from styrene and bent the rings from fine florist wire using round jewelry pliers. The instructions on rigging were pretty vague, so I winged it. With there being so much more rigging on a schooner, I would think that Sylvan would provide more in-depth instruction in their schooner kit.
Terry
ReplyDeleteNice job on the lumber hooker.Like the ingot loading scene and how it ties into the industry. You've encouraged me to start on a Sylvan lumber schooner. What did you use for the lines/rigging?
Stephen,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind comments. The vessel is still incomplete, as I have to add a number of details and weather it so she looks like she has seen a lot of service. I was very happy with this Sylvan kit. The castings were crisp and straight and largely flash free. My only complaint was that the masts were somewhat bent. I tried immersing them in hot water, straightening them and then plunging them in cold water to set them, but my attempt was unsuccessful. So I ended up making the masts out of birch dowel and tapering them on the belt sander while rotating them in a drill, which came out well. I then stained them and gave them a couple of coats of varnish and think they actually look better than the painted resin would have looked. While I still have some rigging left to do, I used some hemp string that I picked up at Hobby Lobby. I made the blocks myself from styrene and bent the rings from fine florist wire using round jewelry pliers. The instructions on rigging were pretty vague, so I winged it. With there being so much more rigging on a schooner, I would think that Sylvan would provide more in-depth instruction in their schooner kit.
Good luck with the kit.