Now that I've started work on the rigging and need my ship to remain upright, the quick-and-nasty stand I made for it earlier (from a board of wood and a few blocks of balsa for the false keel to sit in) just won't do anymore. As long as nothing is touching any part of the ship, she sits fine in it. But the second I pull on a piece of rigging, creating any level of tension, the ship either leans to the side or completely capsizes. It's only a matter of time before she falls over on top of a fragile part and I end up doing major repairs, so I'm wondering if any of you guys with plenty of experience building these things has an easy way to make a sturdy stand for working on delicate things like the rigging without the ship wobbling around while I do it.
Please bear in mind, I don't have loads of money or a garage full of power tools to build one with (part of the reason i chose a kit that was one of the 3 cheapest for my first one), and I'd hate to leave the ship sitting there for several weeks while I save up the money to get the materials/tools to build a stand.
Any suggestions would be appreciated, I've searched high and low on the net but I have yet to find a better resource for information on this hobby than right here.

 

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There are 2 stands on the market that I know of. They're called keel clamps. One is made of metal and may be sturdier than the wooden one but it's $70 USD. The wooden one worked fine for my first project and is doing just as well for my second.
I would recommend getting a turntable and mounting the clamp on it. I mounted my clamp on a metal bracket with 4 wing nuts so that I can not only swivel it 360 degrees, I can also tilt it up or down and left and right.
Make sure your keel is well attached before using it. I counter sunk thin brass screws into the keel on my first project and nails on the second. Either one worked well for me.
P.S. I went on Model Expo and West Coast hobby and neither had the clamp I bought anymore but if you look around I'm sure it's still available. The clamp, turntable ("lazy susan" at Walmart or whatever store you've got that sells home and kitchen stuff) and hardware won't cost more than $30 USD.
Pete

 

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Working cradles are easy to build. I built one for my current model using a coping saw and some scrap wood. Don't have a good picture of it, but you get the idea of it here:
 
Shot with DSC-P73 

I basically picked a station line from each end of the ship and traced it onto the scrap wood. I only went up to the water line, in case I would need to touch up the paint in spots. After I cut out the supports, I screwwed them to the remainder of the piece of scrap wood I was working with. I then covered the support area with felt (used the sticky-back felt that they sell for the bottom of furniture so you don't scratch your hardwood floors) and viola! a working cradle.

since you will be padding it with felt, you'll need to make your cut-out slightly over-sized, but it also means that you don't have to be exact in your cut.

 

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This is the cradle I built for my Sultana. Coverd cradles with felt.
Dennis

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Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll try my favourite hobby store on the weekend and see if they stock any keel clamps, as that seems to be my best bet. One of the few things NOT laying around in our garage is spare wood (hence the reason I built the temporary cradle from balsa scraps) and i'm not sure I want to go out and buy a bunch of timber just for building cradles for my next few ships, as it's quite expensive around here even for the cheaper quality woods.
If my hobby shop doesn't stock them already, chances are they can order in a keel clamp for me. If that ends up taking a few weeks,then so be it and I can continue working on my current project using the cheap-and-nasty method I used earlier this evening: place it in my balsa stand and sit a couple of heavy glasses either side of the ship to stop it capsizing.
I know it's unreliable, but darn it no matter how hard I try, I can't leave it alone for more than 2 hours!

 

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You've got to be able to find some scrap wood somewhere, all you need is a very small amount. I used a piece that's about 12"x3". You can build one with a few cents worth of materials, or you can buy the Amati Keel Klamper for 50 bucks. Surely a neighbor has some scrap wood.

 

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Brad ~~~ This might suffice for a temporary cradle: Take a cardboard box like a kleenex box shorter than your hull. Cut semi-circular cuts in the ends to fit your hull. Pad the ends if you wish (eg a towel) You can glue the box bottom on a board for steadiness.............Just an idea..............BRINY..........Bernie

 

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It kinda makes sense to me to just buy one at this point, especially if the commercial clamps are adjustable to whatever project you're working on. With my current one nearly finished (only one more sail and the anchors to go on, then a bit of spit and polish) it would be a waste to custom-build a cradle for it, then another for whatever I work on next. At present i'm not even sure what that will be...i'm seriously considering trying one of AL's "intermediate" level kits before working on my grandfather's one, since the Swift only took me 4 weeks to complete. I know I've made more than a few mistakes on my current build, and it's far from perfect, but then nobody's first attempt at anything really is. I've looked at AL's other entry-level kits and the ones I've seen don't really appeal to me...they're either too ugly or too simple. A few of them I'd most likely be able to finish in a single week, and I'd prefer my next project to take me a lot longer than the Swift has.
I'm not saying i'm disappointed with the Swift, far from it, I just never expected to find myself actually wanting to spend 5-7 hours a day working on it!
So, i'll try and get my hands on a commercial clamp if they're usable for just about any project, and that way I save myself a lot of time and hassle over the next half-dozen ships I build making new cradles for each of them.

 

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Brad,

Here is a keel clamp I made. Pretty simple to make and doesn't cost to much.
I am not using for my Zellars project (pictured) but I probably will for my Enterprise Constructo kit.

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