The Gaff rests against the mast with Gaff jaws or a Gaff saddle to hold it in place. The first photo is from John Leather's book "Gaff Rig" which I have found invaluable during this build.

I decided to opt for a Gaff saddle made in brass (what else!).The separate components for the saddle were cut from various thicknesses of brass sheet and then silver soldered together. Once cleaned up, the inside face of the saddle was lined with leather to avoid damage to the mast.

The socket to fit the end of the Gaff spar was made by rolling a strip of 0.5mm brass sheet into a tube and soldering the joint. Masking tape was then used to mark the cutting lines to cut away the surplus material.

A strip of brass was cut and drilled to form the attachment point for the throat halliard and the mainsail.

Finally several hardwood balls were turned to thread on to the parrel line. These reduce friction when the Gaff is hoisted into position.

(Has anyone spotted the (not so) deliberate mistake?

Continuing with the construction of the mast, a gooseneck fitting is required to attach the boom to the mast. There are many different designs for these fittings, but I decided to model the design shown in the first photo (without the roller reefing, which I think might just be a step too far!)

To make the central pivot the ends of a length of brass rod were turned down to form the pivots. The central section of the rod was then sawn, drilled and filed to produce the finished pivot. The second, composite, photo shows the steps along the way.

This central pivot is attached to the mast with two band clamps. The various pieces were cut and formed from brass strip. Once all the pieces were prepared, they were held together with temporary wires and then silver soldered.

All the pieces were then cleaned up and a trial assembly made on a length of dowel. The two mast band clamps are not quite identical but I don't think anyone will notice except me (and you now I have pointed it out 🙄)

Finally, a couple of M2 brass bolts were made for the clamps and the complete assembly was fitted onto the mast. Strips of thin leather under the band clamps ensure a secure fit to the mast. The final photo is to give you an idea of the scale

The mast is made from a 1220mm length of 16 x16 mm European redwood. The first stage was to taper the bottom 120mm down to 12 x 12mm square and the top 1000mm to 10mm square. The four corners were then planed off to produce a tapered octagonal shape. Finally the mast was sanded to remove all the corners to produce a (roughly) circular cross section.

There are several fittings needed near the top of the mast for attaching the rigging. The first to be tackled was the Crane. This provides an attachment point for the Gaff halyard block and holds the block away from the mast. The plan suggests the Crane is made from a cotter pin, but I decided to cut one from brass. Two brass pins, silver soldered to the Crane were used to attach it to the mast using epoxy. At the same height on the mast, two wooden cheeks were added for the Shrouds to rest on.

Opposite the Crane, an brass eye was added to attach the Stay Sail block. This was also made from brass and threaded to ensure a secure fix into the mast. The hole in the mast was filled with CA and the eye quickly screwed in before the glue set.

Further up the mast, two attachment points are needed for the Peak Halyard and the Jib Halyard. These were made as mast bands from a strip of brass formed into a ring and silver soldered. Attachment eyes were added before the fittings were cleaned and polished. They were then fixed in position with brass pins.

At the top of the mast, fittings were added for the Pennant. The Pennant was made from orange ripstop nylon mounted onto a stainless steel wire. It slides through a brass eye at the top of the mast and down into a wooden block below.

I have been using photos of Luke Powell's Cutter 'Tallulah' for many of the details I've added to the model. The first photo shows Tallulah.

Before painting the hull, there were a couple more details to add. An anchor point is needed on the stem to attach the Bobstay which runs up to the forward end of the bowsprit. A paper template was made and glued to brass sheet. It was then cut out, bent to shape and a brass loop soldered in position as the attachment point for the Bobstay. The completed fitting was epoxied to the stem with brass rivets through the stem to make it secure.

A distinctive feature which can be seen in the photo of Tallulah is the decoration around the gunwale fairleads either side of the stem. The detail from the photo was enlarged to the appropriate size and a print was glued to a double thickness of 0.8mm brass sheet. The double thickness was formed by gluing two pieces of sheet together with epoxy. The shape was then cut out using a piercing saw thus ensuring that two identical trims were being produced. Once the shape had been cut out, the brass was heated with a blowtorch to soften the epoxy and separate the two pieces which were then cleaned up and trial fitted on the hull.

The hull was first painted with brush applied grey primer. The waterline was marked using a pencil taped to a carpenter's square. Crude but effective. Below the waterline, the hull was then painted with brush applied red primer. Next the gunwales were masked and painted with a Navy Blue rattle can. Finally the remainder of the hull, between the gunwales and the waterline was masked and painted white, again using a rattle can. Eventually, I will be giving the entire hull a coat or two of lacquer.

Having completed the painting of the hull, it feels like I have made some progress 👍. Only the mast, spars, rigging, sails and keel to complete. Doesn't sound much if you say it quickly!🤔

As anticipated by jbkiwi 👍, the next task is to add a mahogany capping to the gunwale.

To accommodate the length and curvature of the gunwales, the capping along each side has to be made up of three pieces. This is the same approach a I took with my Bionic Bill rowboat last year. Lengths of hardboard were held in position along the gunwales and scribed on the underside against the rubbing strip which had been fitted earlier in the build. The hardboard was then cut along the line giving an accurate curved template for the outside shape of the gunwales. Dividers, set to the desired width of the capping strip, were then used to scribe the inner edge of the templates. Once the templates were cut to the correct width and curvature, scarf joints were marked and cut on the ends.

With the templates complete, the outlines were transferred onto lengths of 25mm x 5mm mahogany and the shapes cut out using a bansdaw.

A hardboard template was also produced for the transom capping piece. This was used to mark out a wider piece of mahogany which was also cut on the bandsaw. All the capping strips were then glued and pinned in place using brass pins which were punched below the surface. The holes were filled with Brummer stopping. Fitting the transom piece proved to be a challenge owing to the complex shape It took many trial fittings before I was happy with the final fit.

Holes had to be cut through the capping strips on either side to allow the chainplates to pass through.

Two jib sheets run through blocks attached to the gunwale capping on each side of the hull. I found a photo of such a setup on a full size cutter and used it as a guide to make mounting eyes for the blocks. A piece of circuit board was used as a template for drilling the holes in the base plates. The eyes were bent from 2mm brass rod. I was not happy with the result, as it was difficult to bend the rod (despite it being annealed several times) and the eyes did not sit well on the mounting plates. An alternative approach was taken to making another set of eyes using two pieces of brass. One was bent into a loop and the other piece silver soldered to it. This gave a more consistent result which was a much better fit to the mounting plate.

The completed mounting eyes were fitted to the gunwale capping. They fit through a hole in the capping and screw into a small threaded brass angle plate which in turn is soldered to a rivet passing through the side of the gunwale rubbing strip. Four brass pins attach the mounting plate to the mahogany capping strip. More for show than for security.

Finally, the mahogany was given a first coat of yacht varnish.

With the deck glued in place, time to fit the timberheads.

The edge of the deck was masked with tape and then a 'washer' used to mark a constant width from the gunwale. The masking tape was then trimmed back to the marked line with a sharp scalpel. Doing it this way ensures a constant width margin around the deck.

To ensure that there will be no leaks, the seam between the deck and gunwale was sealed with 'Sticks like' white filler and adhesive. Individual timberheads were then cut and glued equally spaced along the gunwales. At the stern, a couple of shaped timberheads were fitted, the masking tape having first been cut away underneath them.

Four scuppers were cut through the gunwales on either side of the hull, level with the deck to drain any water that comes over the sides when the boat is heeled over.

Four fairleads (two either side) were added to the gunwales for rigging cords to pass through from the bowsprit. These fairleads were made from brass tube, cut on an angle with a copper wire hoop soldered on and shaped to give a flared end.

The gunwales and timberheads were then painted and the masking tape removed before the paint hardened. There were a couple of places where the paint had crept under the tape, but as this was not yet hard, it was easily removed by careful scraping with a knife.

It is much easier to rig the two winch servos before the deck is fixed in position.

Each servo has a closed loop of cord running round the sheaves at the other end of the hull. The sheet for the main sail attaches to one of these loops and then passes through three ceramic fishing rod eyes before going up through the fairlead in the deck to the main sail. I've used a temporary blue string to test out the routing and to ensure it runs smoothly.

A pair of sheets for each of the foresails attach to either side of the other closed loop. This allows control of the foresails on either tack, one sheet being pulled in as the other is let out. These sheets run through the guides towards the stern of the hull before passing through the previously installed fairleads in the deck.

The cord used for the closed loops on each servo is 1mm Dynema 12 strand braided. This does nor stretch or twist so is ideal for the purpose. However, as the cord is wound from one end to the other on the servo drum, the loop does slacken due to the effective change in diameter of the drum caused by the overlapping turns. To overcome this, and avoid the risk of the cord coming off the sheaves, a spring tensioner was added to each loop. These were made from a short spring with two pieces of stainless steel wire bent and threaded through the spring.

With this rigging in place and tested the deck, which has been varnished, was glued into position with two part epoxy adhesive. The hatches give good access to the installed servos and rigging. It will be possible to remove and replace all the rigging below deck through the hatches (hopefully that won't be necessary 🤞).

Winches

▶️

Having sealed the inside of the hull with two part epoxy, it was given a couple of coats of white Hammerite to ensure that there will be no water damage, and to make it easier to see inside the hull once the deck is fitted.

There are two winch servos to be installed. One will control the main sail and the other will control the stay sail and jibs. Mounting rails were made from european redwood. These are bolted in position onto the support blocks that were attached to the bulkheads early in the build. The servo mounting plates, cut from 3mm ply bolt onto the mounting rails through elongated holes that allow for some adjustment of the servo positions.

Nylon sheeves fitted with ball bearings are bolted to the mounting rails. There are two for each servo. These will be used for the rigging cords. Thread locking compound was used on the nuts. Adjacent to the forward pair of sheeves, a ceramic fishing rod eye is attached to the mounting rail. This will be used to assist with routing of the main sheet.

Two pairs of copper fairleads were made with flared ends as described in an earlier post. These were soldered to copper plates which were then painted and attached adjacent to the rear pair of sheeves. These will help with routing of the sheets for the stay sail and jibs.

Next time - starting the rigging....

I found a length of timber to make the deadeyes from among the bits and pieces I got from Dad. I think it is probably Ebony, based on the colour and grain. Eight deadeyes are needed to link the shrouds to the Chainplates.

The timber was turned to a diameter of 16mm and then grooved using the parting tool to form the deadeyes with a space between each for separation. I made 9 in all, in case one ended up vanishing on the workshop floor with all the other bits I've lost 🙄 Four of the deadeyes have a wide groove for the fixing strap, and four have a narrow groove for the bottom end of the shroud.

The deadeyes were sawn from the turned strip and a simple jig was used to drill the three eyes in each one. Each deadeye was positioned in turn in the hole in the wooden jig and the aluminium plate placed over it. The plate locates on two nails. Once in position, the eye holes were drilled in the deadeye using the holes in the plate to fix the positions.

An abrasive bit in the Dremel was used to chamfer each of the eye holes where the lanyard will pass through. The lanyard will be black elastic cord which I am hoping will apply enough tension to keep the shrouds taught.

The four lower deadeyes need a metal strap which fits in the groove around the circumference and attaches to the top of the chainplate. An outline for the strap was drawn on the computer and then printed out four times onto a sticky label. The label was stuck onto to a length of brass and the strap was then cut out with the piercing saw. After tempering, the straps were bent to shape around the deadeyes.

The last photo shows one of the deadeyes fitted in position. It is attached to the chainplate with a 'R' clip. It should be bolted in place but the 'R' clip is a compromise to make it easier to rig the boat at the lakeside. I don't think it will be too noticeable.

Having completed all the major fittings that needed to attach to, or pass through, the deck it's time to get back to making progress on the hull. 👍

The exterior of the hull was glassed with two coats of epoxy resin. The inside of the hull was also given a sealing coat of epoxy resin.

The plans I'm working to suggest that the mast stays are attached to the gunwales with bent metal hooks referred to as 'pelican hooks'. It is necessary to be able to release the stays so that the mast can be removed for transport. I'm beginning to realise just how big this model will be, and how much rigging will be necessary at the lakeside. 👎

Rather than use the suggested Pelican hooks, I decided I would prefer to come up with a solution that looks more like that used on the full sized Cutters, using Chainplates and Deadeyes. There are two stays from the mast on either side of the hull, so four chainplates were made from brass strip with a short length of brass tube silver soldered to the top edge. A temporary mast was fitted (sorry no photo) and a length of string used to mark out the angle for the chainplates on the side of the hull so that they will be in line with the stays running down from the mast. The chainplates were then fitted using brass rivets which pass through the plates and the hull. Separate fixings for the end of the bowsprit stays were also made from brass and fitted to the hull sides.

On the inside of the hull, the rivets were soldered to brass backing plates and the excess length trimmed back.