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I have reached the last phase in the building of the "Oranje": putting up the rigging of mast and cargo booms. In pic 1 the mast is in place. It is made of a wooden round stick, and sanded to the correct shape. At various positions, I drilled 0.5 mm holes for passing through the rigging thread.
The "Oranje" only had one mast, for the aft cargo holds were designed for light, small cargo and for passenger luggage only, so light deck cranes were sufficient for that function. It also saved weight, not to install a rear mast. Rigging is done with smooth cotton thread, which has no fluffing.
Rigging thread runs through the holes in the cargo booms and the mast and is secured with a drop of glue. A clothes pin puts weight and tension on a thread, so that it will dry in a taut shape. The winches on the poopdeck at the bottom of the mast were constructed with long strands of thread glued in place on the cabledrums. Then the complete winches were glued in their appropriate locations on the deck. That's why the ship looks a bit untidy in pic 1 with all the loose threads curling all over the place.
Pic 2 shows some details of work in progress.
The final steps will be putting in the small details, such as adding deck chairs and passenger figures etc.
Cheers for now!
Robert
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