All of the 16 yards have now been cleaned up and painted. Smaller details such as jackstays (the stanchions for these are already in place), eyebolts and the irons for studding-sail booms will be added later.
I've revised my method for attaching the removable yards to the masts, to give a more "scale" appearance. The lifts are now attached to small blocks which have a brass wire peg fitted, which fits into a hole drilled in the mast cap. Note that I used black thread to represent the lifts, rather than the usual pale beige used for running rigging to represent untarred rope, as the ones on the real ship are made from metal cable.
The lower topsail yards don't have lifts, but are rigged to the yard above with "downhauls" which run through blocks.
Also, the topmast crosstrees are now permanently glued in place, with only the topgallant masts removable. This will make rigging easier, particularly the topmast shrouds which will not have to be made removable. The yards on the topgallant masts will be permanently fixed to the mast, along with the associated rigging, so everything above the crosstrees can be removed in one piece for transportation or storage.
With the yards in place the model is starting to look like a ship at last! The yards on the topgallants, and the jib + boom on the mizzen mast, still need to be added.
All of these yards are removable but are securely held in place both by the lifts and the hooks that attach them to the masts.