The Mayflower. A kit build

By Hillro 9 entries 14 Aug 2020 — 15 Aug 2020
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Hillro Opening post

The Mayflower. A kit build

This was my first attempt at building a desk top sailing vessel.
The kit came with everything you need except the hand tools.
The kit had two plans and an instruction book.
The first stage was to read the book a few times and examine the plans, parts etc.
First stage was to put together the hull parts, these came laser cut from sheet material. Tidying up with sandpaper as required.
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The Mayflower. The hull planking

i bought a book to find out how this is done. it is very technical, calculating the various tapers applied to the planks.
The planks are glued and pinned using brass pins.
I bought a hand mini drill to pre drill the pin locations in the planks.
To bend the planks i soaked them in water for 15minute and used the back of a soldering iron to assist in the bending.
Starting at the gunwales and the keel working couple of planks at a time to reduce the risk of twisting the hull.
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The Mayflower. The decks

These were made from limewood strips, using pencil for the caulking.
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The Mayflower Superstructure

Planking, handrails and detail added.
Holes drilled for masts. This took a bit of care as the mast slope slightly to the stern.
Gunports cut out
Rudder fitted.
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The Mayflower. Deck Fittings

Ladders, hatches, bilge pump manufactured and assembled ready for fitting.
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The Mayflower. Fitting deck stuff

Fitting out things like gun ports, poop windows, ladders etc.
Beginning to look the part.
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The Mayflower Masts

The kit has all the parts to put together the masts and rigging.
The rope whipping on the masts renewed my skills from as a teenager making my own fishing rod. Whipping all the rod eyes to the rod.
The shrouds took a while, over 800 knots. This took a while and a load of patience.
Tapering of the masts and spars were undertaken using a band Sander. This saved a lot of time.
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The Mayflower Rigging and Sails

To finish off the model the spars, sails, and all the associated blocks, ropes, etc.
Quite a challenge, i tried were possible to fit the correct lengths of rope meaning lots of slack to be hung up on the rope racks, if that's what they're called.
Also as a little detail have the flags fluttering in the correct direction.
Also anchors shown .
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