The first running rigging I installed is the staysail halyards and downhauls, since they are on the stays at the centerline of the ship. The halyards and downhauls would be tied together when the staysails are not installed, so I used one length of thread instead of two tied together.
The Spencer and Mizzen gafs were installed and their topping lifts rigged. No other rigging on these is done until later.
For the yardarms, I like to work from the mizzen mast foreword and from the top down. So I started by removing just the mizzen yard arms I need from the spru trees. This will prevent mix-ups. I cleaned up the excess molding flash and removed the molded on eyebolts.
The kit instructions do not include installing foot ropes and stirrups but I rigged them anyway, using thin wire for stirrups. Jackstays, made from thin wire, were also installed using super glue. The yards were then painted flat black. After the paint dries, the blocks needed for the running rigging should now be tied to the yards. This requires a decision as to how much running rigging will be installed. Since I will be building the model without sails, I chose to install all the running rigging which will still be on after the sails are removed. This includes : halyards, topping lifts and standing lifts, braces, sheets and clew lines. Using the rigging instructions as a reference, I tied the blocks needed onto the yardarms. Now is the time to do this. For me, trying to tie blocks onto the yards after they are installed usually results in damaging the parts or rigging I’ve already installed. 
The mizzen royal yard was installed in the lowered position, making sure it is square and level with the mast. Before installing any other yards, I installed the halyard and standing lift. Next, the mizzen topgallant yard was installed in the lowered position. The halyard, standing lift , sheet and clew lines were now installed.
This process was repeated for all the yards on all the masts. The braces were not installed until last, when all the other rigging was finished. The rigging instructions from the kit are very good and combined with this sequence the results should look pretty good . When installing the braces, again, start with the mizzen and work from the top down. The braces on the mizzen yards should not be tied to the ends of the yards, as shown in the instructions, they will interfere with the main yard braces and the mainmast backstays. They should be tied to the yards approx. 1/3 of the way inboard from the ends.
2 comments:
You truly are an artist. I always was trying to do as well as my older brother when it came to model building since he was two years older, and had more patience than I. I have begun this same kit that I purchased in 1982. I This is my second ship model, the first being over 30 years ago. But I am taking it slow and researching all the pics and tips I can find online. Yours is the most accurate I have found so far, including the actaual red painted area on the outlines of the deck, which all others I've seen completed fail to or chose not to include. My model does not include the portholes as the original ship does, but that's life. I saw a newer plastic kit that did have them, but I am not giving up on this one. Your details are helpful and I appreciate sites like yours. Awesome job.
Thanks Ray for the nice comment. I found pictures of the cutty sark on the cutty sark website very helpfull.I've found doing the research almost as much fun as building the model. Good idea to take your time, this is a big project. About 10 years ago I built Revells USS United States in 1/96 scale. Took all of 2 years to complete........John
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