Broken Masts

Arrrgh me hearties!

No I haven't died. You know the old saying, "Old soldiers never die, they just smell that way!" Just a case of long time no speak!

However, I noticed a post on broken masts and I thought I would contribute my 2 bobs worth, (5 cents for the Americans watching), as I have just repaired a broken Mizzen Mast on HMS Genereux. The mast broke about 2mm above the deck making the repair a tad awkward, however here's what I did.

I cut away the broken mast from about half way below the Mizzen Top. This left the Spanker and Boom hanging in mid air. I then got a piece of Plastruct rod, cut to length and super glued it in place of the piece cut away. On the deck, I carefully drilled out a conical recess in the top of the 2mm of mast sticking out of the deck. After filing a pointed end on the bottom of the new mast and super glued it in place.

I have attached a pic which shows my dreadful attempt at painting. I do not have a steady hand at such things, but in real life it looks okay! You will also notice that I have just broken the top of the Main Mast. It never ends!

You might notice the non issue insert in the plastic base. I have been working on this for a while now and will explain my logic (???) in another post.

Best wishes to all for a very Happy New Year and may 2015 bring all that you wish for.

Happy 2015, which I believe you are already well into in Australia!

Thanks for the informational post. While one doesn't wish to break game pieces on a regular basis I think the important point is when it does occur you can usually find an acceptable way to repair the damage. As it turns out I had a similar break happen when I clumsily caught the mizzen mast with a shirt sleeve and snapped the mast off right below the mizzen top. Super glue and both standing rigging and running rigging made for a solid fix.

Just noticed one of my starter box masts was broken just above the deck, so figured it was worth a go with the arsenal of adhesive products at my disposal.

• Loctite super glue gel: fail. Would not bond in the amount of time I could hold it still
• Army Painter super glue: as above. I suspect the spray accelerator would have got round this, but there's a local ordinance from the Domestic Authority prohibiting its use in the kitchen
• Humbrol 'yellow' liquid poly: tube gunked up, non-starter. :D
• EMA Plastic Weld brush-on liquid poly: instant success (should have tried it first except it was out in the workshop) :D

Of course, if I'd read my own blog post on the subject, I might have remembered this....

Well done, Brad and Mike, at finding solutions to this problem.:thumbsup: