The upper standing rigging is essentially a paired down version of the lower standing rigging with shrouds, deadeyes, stays, and ratlines. However, since the upper masts are much smaller and more delicate than the lower masts, all of the upper standing rigging is subsequently more finicky. The tensions of the lines are also more delicate and more difficult to keep the upper masts balanced and prevent them from listing from one side to the other.
Burton Pendants
Before the shrouds can be added the burton pendants (same as the lower masts) must be added. The upper burton pendants are done basically the same as the lower ones with a couple of exceptions – they’re only on the main and fore masts and they’re a bit smaller. So instead of using the little nuts I shaved down for the lowers, I used a brass tube notched, cut, and sanded. The line is listed as 3″, so I’m using .35mm served it’s length and then tied with eyes around the thimbles.
Mizzen Upper Shrouds & Back Stay
Starting from the aft of the ship, the mizzen shrouds are 2.5″ circular, translating to .32mm in diameter with .15mm lanyards. As with the lower shrouds, the foremost shroud is served its full length and the other shrouds are served just below the hounds. Again like the lower shrouds, they are looped around the head in pairs with the aftmost line serving as the backstay.
The overall process is the same as the lower shrouds using a smaller version of the “deadeye measurer” illustrated in the Lower Shrouds post. I measure out the shroud, mark the necessary length that needs to be served with a tiny spot of white paint, serve the line, then rig it to the mast. Once again, I go back and forth from port to starboard to make sure the mast ends up straight.
All that said – the backstay did present me with a choice to make. Chris Watton’s Pegasus instructions show the backstay attached to deadeyes hooked into eyebolts just forward of the quarter badge. Lees has the backstay attached to a deadeye plate bolted into the ship just above the badge, and The Fully Framed Model shows a small stool fitted above and aft of the quarter badge. Although I’ve been leaning toward TFFM with most things, I simply do not have the room around my quarter badge to accommodate a ledge. So I opted for my own version – an eyebolt and deadeye plate just above the badge, but I also attached the deadeye to a plate/chain then the eyebolt. I realize this departs from accuracy slightly, but it keeps lines from being fouled and is also pleasing to the eye to me. It was definitely a bugger getting the deadeye evenly rigged amongst all the things happening back there however.
As mentioned above, it is difficult to create an equal amount of tension across all of the shrouds and the back stay, so the lanyards that connect the deadeyes remain loose until all the shrouds are initially rigged. Then, each lanyard is tightened alternating between port and starboard until the upper shrouds are tightened evenly. Only then are the upper loops seized permanently and all the lanyards are tied off.
Finally, the back stay is permanently rigged to the deadeye affixed to the eyebolt and plate above the quarter badge.
A last detail to the shrouds are sister blocks attached to the top between the two foremost shrouds. Two create the sister blocks, I took two of my older unused basic blocks and sanded the tops flat to glue them together. Additional holes were drilled and the blocks are seized to the shrouds at the top, bottom, and middle.
Mizzen Topmast Stay
The mizzen topmast stay extends the other direction from the back stay and serves as its counter stabilizing the mast from the front by attaching to the main mast. It also represented another decision point. Based on both David Steel and The Fully Framed Model, there are a couple of different options regarding how this stay was rigged to the mainmast. Steel has the stay extending to a thimble lashed below the topmast then reeved through a couple of thimbles lashed around the main mast just below the catharpins and rigged together by a lanyard. This is also displayed in TFFM’s illustrations. However, another option explained as an alternative in TFFM has the stay extending through the block at/above the topmast then feeding down the length of the main mast to a pair of blocks connected by a lanyard and hooked into an eyebolt at the base of the mast. This is the method I’m opting to use as it is a cleaner look to me. Either way, the mizzen stay is 3″ (.38mm at scale) and .15mm for the lanyard. The block is rigged in the typical arrangement with a served line ending in two eyes and lashed to the mainmast.
I knew this was going to be a very tight area to rig at the base of the mainmast with the water pumps and half a dozen other things populating the area. My plan was to seize the hook to the bottom block, seize the block to the end of the stay, attach a loose lanyard, hook the line, then tighten the lanyard. This plan was moderately successful, but still took a combination of my dental loops, my longest and narrowest tweezers, and an abundance of patience to accomplish.
The bottom hook is attached to the aftmost eyebolt on the starboard side. A look at the final arrangement – apologies for the slightly out of focus shot of the lower block rigging, but it was a little challenging getting a lens to pick up what I needed.
Foremast Upper Shrouds & Back Stays
Moving onto the foremast – the shrouds are the same – no mystery here; the foremost shroud is once again served it’s length and the others served a few feet down from the heads to the hounds. The aftmost line being the backstay and attaching to the smaller deadeye aft of the others.
One thing worth noting as I rigged these upper shrouds. The plastic hooks I’m using at the futtocks were NOT very strong – and on more than one occasion tightening the deadeye lanyards caused these plastic hooks to separate from the deadeye chains. A bit of a pain. Had I to do this again, I’d forego the plastic hooks and manufacture my own out of stiff wire or a suitable substitute. As it stood I needed to provide tension on the deadeye lanyards very carefully alternating from port to starboard until all was even and consistent. I also ended up replacing a few of these hooks and re-rigging some futtock shrouds and ratlines.
Fore Topmast Stays
The foremast stay and foremast preventer stay are similar to other stays on the ship originating with a served loop over the head that includes a mouse. The Stay is 5″ (.65mm) and the Preventer is 4″ (.50mm) and they both extend down to the sheaves in the bee blocks. Worth noting – the preventer stay is wrapped above the stay on the mast head. Down at the bee blocks, the stay goes through the aft starboard sheave and ends fitted with a violin block that has a lanyard connecting to a 7″ single block stropped to an eyebolt in the knighthead. The preventer stay takes the same route, except through the foremost sheave on the port side of the bee blocks. It ends the same with a violin block and lanyard attached to the single block and knighthead.
Main Back Stay Planning
As work continues on the shrouds and stays, I’ve noticed some conflicting information regarding the number of deadeyes and their corresponding back stays. This is certainly something of which to be wary when one is working off a few different plans – i.e., kit plans created by Chris Watton, the fundamentals of rigging by David Steel, The Fully Framed Model, and sometimes James Lees. TFFM has the fewest stays – and Chris Watton’s plans for the Peg have the most. TFFM specifically mentions the Swan class only having single stays off the masts which corroborates with Steel who specifically mentions three pairs for ships of 74 guns or larger, two pairs for 74 to 20 guns, and a single pair for 18 guns and smaller (the Pegasus is a 14-gun sloop). However Chris’ plans show multiple stays off the main and fore.
Chris’ plans also show Royal Stays and a shifting back stay off both main and foremasts – which are not shown in TFFM. As a result – if I continue to progress using primarily TFFM – I’ll end up with some unused deadeyes. In fact – even on the final reference images of TFFM’s Swan – there are unused deadeyes.
Here’s the thing – I definitely don’t like the idea of having unused deadeyes on the channels, so I’ll be diverting from TFFM and Steele and including enough additional stays to use the deadeyes. Obviously this deviates from accuracy since a 14-gun sloop only had single backstays. I’ll have two back stays and one t’gallant stay on the fore topmast, three backstays and a t’gallant on the main topmast. I’ll forego Royals (Lees says they weren’t introduced until after 1810) and shifting backstays – because I’m running out of room on the top masts. So here’s what I’ll have:
Mainmast Upper Shrouds & Back Stays
The mainmast upper shrouds are virtually identical to the foremast upper shrouds. I did however figure out (way too late) a solution to my plastic hooks snapping off. I inserted a toothpick in the chain below the mast top to hold the deadeye firm until the lanyard was rigged. This kept the pressure off of the hook and futtock shroud until everything was tied off.
As mentioned above – I attached three back stays to the mainmast to use the associated deadeyes that were attached much earlier in the build. Once again, this many backstays would have been a massive overkill on a ship this size, but still looks good overall and is much better than having unattended deadeyes.
Mainmast Stays
Like the foremast, the mainmast has two stays that extend from the upper mast to the foremast and tie off down at the deck. The main topmast stay and main topmast preventer stay obviously follow the same pattern as the foremast – though they are reversed in their placement. Meaning, the preventer stay is laid over the masthead first, then the main topmast stay. The preventer is a 4″ line – .50mm at scale – served to just past the mouse as with the others. The line feeds through an 11″ (4.5mm) block that is lashed to the foremast just below the hounds and above the catharpins. The block is stropped with a fully served .38mm line. I used the FFM’s version of this strop – an eye on one end, wrapping around the block, then the free end looping around the mast, through the eye, and tied off against itself.
The bottom tackle of the preventer (as well as the main topmast stay) is made up of a violin block at it’s top and a single block attached to a hook that is secured to one of the eyebolts in the deck at the base of the foremast. The preventer is secured to the port side foremost eyebolt. This was a tricky bit to get measured properly. My process was to first secure the single block to the hook then measure it’s length to find a reference point on the mast. Then, I laid the violin block against the stay pulling it down the mast until I found a reasonable distance between the blocks for the lanyard. In this case, it was about 7mm. Then, I unhooked the hook and added the lanyard using .30mm line without securing one end of the line. Finally, I re-hooked the bottom block into place, tightened the lanyard and stay, and secured the lanyard to the bottom end of the tackle.
This process is repeated for the main topmast stay with the line being 5.5″ – .70mm at scale – and using an 14″ inch (5.5mm) block that is stropped and lashed to the masthead above the stays and jeer tie lashings. The bottom tackle is the same and hooked to the starboard side eyebolt at the front of the foremast.
There’s still a long way to go, but at this point, she’s starting to fill out a bit and look like a real rigged ship.
Futtock Staves
Like the lower masts, the upper masts have futtock staves that provide a stiff rig across the shrouds to serve as a base for the futtock shrouds. If we recall, I used served sewing pins for the futtock staves on the lower masts, providing something a bit more firm than just a served line. The futtock staves on the upper masts are smaller in circumference however, so instead of pins I opted for #28 beading wire – which worked quite well. I did have to put a very, very thin coat of tacky fabric glue on the wire before I served it however to get the thread to stay put instead of just having the wire rotate with the thread doing it’s job.
Next step was measuring the length of the stave for the given mast – which ended up being 7mm for the main and 5mm for the fore mast. This small size was quite tricky to work with – so I coiled a knot on each end first, then attached it to the shrouds. As a note – I touched each end of the stave where it was cut with a black sharpie to cover the exposed wire. The staves were attached just far enough below the sister blocks to allow for the two foremost shrouds to be pulled apart a bit and all four shrouds to be evenly separated as they have a tendency to overlap where they come together in the limited space below the heads.
Ratlines and Shroud Cleats
As with the lower masts – the ratlines and the shroud cleats need to be added. These are done virtually the same as the lower shrouds using 5mm graph paper as a template, rigging every few lines, then filling in the gaps. I did have to re-rig the ratlines on one side of the main futtock shrouds after having to repair the hooks to the deadeye chains. The cleats are added with a touch of super glue then seized around their center.
The Lehman Shipyard 