Young America by EdT - FINISHED - extreme clipper 1853

[EdT]

Thank you both for your comments and all others for the likes.

 

Scott, the blue cast is due to an over-correction of the pictures color balance.  Due to lighting differences (mix of florescent, incandescent, LED) in the workshop I need to normalize the color balance on most images to make them appear as they do by eye.  Sometimes this results in the effect you see.  The shackle,  hook and iron strap are blackened copper.  The other block strapping is made cotton rope dyed with india ink to a very dark grey.

 

Here is a more realistic representation with some more careful adjustment - perhaps a little more vivid than real life but close to the right colors.

 

 

Ed

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 282 – Main Yard Rigging 3

 

Bowlines were used to control the leeches on large sails.  When the sails were bent, bowline bridles were lashed to cringles on the sides (leeches) of the sails.  On the model without sails, the bridles are tied off to the jackstays where they would be accessible to topmen when rigging the sail.  The first picture shows the bowline gear.

 

 

The bowline bridles, in this case two-legged, have eyes spliced in each end and pass through bullseyes at one end of each "lizard".  The bowlines, themselves, pass through the bullseyes at the opposite ends.  The standing ends of the bowlines are made fast to the lower ends of the topmast stays, pass through the lizard eyes, and are belayed on the foremast fife rail.  To avoid the falls rubbing on the roof of the main cabin, the two lead blocks shown in the picture were secured to the stay below the standing end fastening.  The attachment of the bridles and the upper ends of the lizards are shown in the next picture.

 

 

These lines serve well to square the model main yard and assist in holding it down.  The bridles are tied off at locations on the yard near where the cringles on the sail would be when it was raised as a rolled up package.  These and the other lines would then be fastened before the sail was loosed.

 

I have expected that belaying lines in the confined space between the cabin and fife rail would be one of the major rigging challenges on the model. I wasn't disappointed.  The next three pictures showing this work and the belaying of the main topmast staysail downhauler illustrate the problem.

 

 

First, the staysail halyard and downhauler were rigged.  The halyard may be seen running parallel and below the topmast stay.  Its lower block is shackled to the downhauler that passes through a smaller lead block on the stay and belays on the athwartship fife rail just forward of the cabin.  The two bowline lead blocks are also fastened to the stay legs below the downhauler block.  These are then also belayed on the fife rail. The next picture shows the tangle of lines involved and the small working space.

 

 

Apart from the difficulties of belaying lines in this small space with interferences from the shrouds and other obstacles, the two bowlines had to be tensioned together to hold the yard square.  Both were looped under their pins, adjusted to square the yard, then each belayed on top.  Finally, another view of the work in progress.

 

 

This job took special tools, quite a few hours, and a number of expletives.  The last picture shows this stage of the main yard rigging completed.

 

 

 

You may note in this picture that the shroud lanyards that have been seen loose in previous pictures have now been wrapped and secured.  Some rope coils have begun to be fitted forward where belaying is complete.  There is still much of this to do and also quite a bit of ratline work on the upper main mast and mizzen.

 

Ed

[druxey]

Aiee! You are including every possible running line? Incredible, Ed.

[Maury S]

Ed, I think this is the most complex (and complete) rigging on a model I've ever seen.  Kudos for even attempting such a challenge, and don't expect me to follow you down that hole.

Maury

[BANYAN]

Even more impressive when noting at 1:72 - are you doing the same on the other model at smaller scale again Ed?

 

cheers

 

Pat

[EdT]

Thanks everyone for your responses to this post.  Always a pleasure for me to see.  Especially thanks for the comments and the questions.

 

Pretty much everything but the studding sail rigging, Druxey - a decision I made early on when deciding on the level of detail to include in the hull.  I wanted the rigging detail to be consistent with that - or was it just an engineer's mentality run amok? 

 

Maury, thanks.  I would not fault anyone for not wanting to crawl into this rabbit hole.  Fortunately there is no need to if you wish to build the model.  I crawled in not really knowing if I could make it out, but after the work completed so far, including the tangle in the last post, I can begin to see light at the end of the tunnel.  Now it is just execution.

 

Thank you, Pat.  I have no plans to put more work into the 1:96 POB demo model,  but I have no doubt that the same rigging could be added to that smaller hull.  I have given this some thought in developing the drawings and methods that are/will be included in the books.  Simplifications and compromises must be made as scale gets smaller.  Scale is only an issue it you set the same expectations across the range for modeling detail and perfection in all the parts.  As a matter of personal objective, I think of the YA model as a whole piece, not a collection of perfect parts. To each his own.

 

Ed

[davyboy]

Hello Ed,absolutely superb work. I can well imagine that the air was blue when belaying in such a confined area. I had a similar problem belaying,what I did was pass the line through the pinhole then placed the pin in. This let me adjust the tension as necessary then leaving the line in place pushed the pin tight,belaying the line on the pin as normal. When the rope coil is hung on the pin this can't be seen. A fiddle of course but it saves a lot of cursing etc etc.

 

Dave 

[EdT]

That is a very good idea, Dave.  Thanks - and thanks for the compliment.

 

Ed

[Mirabell61]

Hi Ed,

I like the idea with the horizontal installed deadeys for lead-lines in the lower shrouds...

 

Nils

[EdT]

Thank you, Nils.  These "fairleads" are very similar to deadeyes with their three bored holes.  The groove around the outside is shallower and wider than a deadeye groove - to take the small rope lashing that holds it to the shroud.  There is also a groove on the perimeter to seat the fairlead to the shroud.  Here is a photo of an actual shroud fairlead and a second photo from an earlier post showing model fairleads:

 

The holes are not easily seen in this photo due to the bright background.

 

In this photo the lashing thread is first glued to the fairlead to make installation easier.

 

Ed

[Tigersteve]

I look forward to how you address the specifics of rigging the 1:96 POB version as I intend on building that version some point in the future. 

Steve

[EdT]

I expect it to be pretty much the same, Steve, but some of the smaller parts may need to be simplified and some of the sizing, for example chain, may require different representaion.  Some of the smallest blocks may need upsizing.  The 1:96 model is 3/4 the size of the 1:72.  Most of the adaptations will be common sense decisions that you will be able to decide.

 

ed.

[dvm27]

Great photo, Ed! I'd never seen those fairleads before. I also appreciate the way the ratline ends were spliced. I don't recall how you handled these in your build but if you managed to splice them on your model I'd need to rate your model an 11 (ala Monty Python) instead of a perfect 10.

[Mirabell61]

11 hours ago, EdT said:

Thank you, Nils.  These "fairleads" are very similar to deadeyes with their three bored holes.  The groove around the outside is shallower and wider than a deadeye groove - to take the small rope lashing that holds it to the shroud.  There is also a groove on the perimeter to seat the fairlead to the shroud.  Here is a photo of an actual shroud fairlead and a second photo from an earlier post showing model fairleads:

 

 

Thanks for your explaination Ed..

 

Nils

[allanyed]

Ed,

 

I ran out of words to describe the beautiful work you have been doing a long time ago.  The little things you have shared can be such a huge help.   Not sure if it was mentioned previously as I have likely missed some posts, but the stand to hold the spares with the alligator clips is simple but brilliant.   One of those background things to find while looking at the details on the rigging itself.      

Allan

[stm]

I once contacted Bill Crothers concerning fairleads asking him why some of his clipper ship plans show theses and some do not. His reply was that his earlier plans had not jelled yet and if he was designing them today he would have included them. He also stated that sometimes the practice was not to use fairleads, but to lash a wood stave across the shrouds. The purpose of either approach was to help lead the lines to their respective belaying points and to prevent rope from draping over the deck when slack and interfering with the crews work. From the photos Ed provided us earlier, YA used fairleads. 

 

To share an observation, I used the two photos that Ed provided us of YA. I noticed that on the one taken of the starboard side there was something lashed to the mizzen shrouds. I thought it might be the leads placed higher in the shrouds then the fore and main to account for the higher level of the aft deck. I then realized that in actuality they were the spars of a ship in the back ground whos mast was being hidden by Young Americas mizzen.

 

Ed thanks for the explanation earlier on how lighting can affect the outcome of photos in your shop. This was a reminder to me that one has to be careful in using pictures from the 1800s. Saw a photo once where the author was explaining how colors can be distorted with the use of photography in the past. The example he gave was a ship that he new had the chain plates and lower mast bands painted red. In the photo they being shown as bright white. 

 

Scott

[EdT]

Thank you for these comments.

 

Scott, the clipper drawings by Bill Crothers were made, as I recall, in the 1970's.  When I met with him a few years ago he was finishing up his book on masting.  There are various differences from information he researched in between - mostly minor changes.  Drawings and his books are still great references.

 

Greg, I have been working on ratlines steadily over the past week  It seems an endless job - and pretty tedious.  I will probably be showing some of this recent work in upcoming posts, but here are three pictures from post 213 that sort of illustrate the process.  The splicing fixture has been improved since then.  The 2 1/2" rope for these is No. 80 crocheting cotton dyed black with dilute India Ink.  One splice is made on the fixture then lashed to the shroud using finer black thread.  Intermediate knots are clove hitches.  The second eye splice is made in place after lashing that end by passing a needle through the rope inside the shroud.  All is then sealed using diluted darkened wood glue.  

 

Although the work is repetitive, it is fairly easy to do with some practice and goes quickly.

 

First a simple eye splice made by passing the thread through itself, pulling taut and gluing:

 

 

Finished splices - one end:

Removing excess fron glued second splice:

 

Ed

[rwiederrich]

Fantastic work Ed..one question..what is that chain doing in the inside ceiling framing of the deckhouse....?

 

Rob

Edited April 23, 2018 by rwiederrich

[EdT]

Looks like a scrap of broken chain, Rob - waiting for the cleanup crew.

 

Ed

[rwiederrich]

Thank the Lord for masking tape.......

 

Great job Ed..fantastic work.

 

Rob

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 283 – More on Ratlines

 

There have been some questions on splicing and lashing ratlines at this scale, so the process I use is outlined below in more detail than I usually put in these posts.

 

There are perhaps about 500 individual ratlines on the model.  For the past ten days or so, I have been working diligently to get caught up with these.  It is fairly easy, dull work but it can be a nightmare in the presence of other rigging - as I have learned while installing some on the fore mast after much of the surrounding rigging was in place.  Not a good idea.  At this stage I have settled on a process for this work that is described below.

 

The ratlines are 1½" rope, about .007" diameter at 1:72 scale.  I used No. 80 crocheting cotton for these, dyed with dilute India ink and de-fuzzed by passing twice through the flame of an alcohol burner.  The ends of each ratline have eye splices that are lashed to the outer shrouds, with clove hitches on the intermediate shrouds.  I used No. 100 mercerized cotton polyester thread for the lashings. 

 

One of the eye splices is put on each ratline at the workbench in batches of about 15 lines.  The first step is shown below.

 

 

A needle is passed through the ratline, then threaded and pulled through to form a loop.  This is then placed over a pin on the splicing fixture, pulled taut and touched with slightly dilute, darkened wood glue as shown in the next picture.

 

 

Both ends are held taut by pressing on two-faced carpet tape on the fixture.  When the glue has completely dried, the short end is cut off as shown below.

 

 

Small, sharp scissors seem to be best for this, cutting off the loose end and part of the hardened glue to simulate the shape of a splice.   Finished splices are shown in the next picture from an earlier post.

 

 

The spliced end is lashed to the outer shroud as shown in the next pictures.

 

 

The lashing is passed through the eye and around the shroud twice, then secured with an overhand knot.  When pulled tight the height may be adjusted by eye to set the correct uniform spacing.  Clove hitches are then used on the intermediate shrouds.

 

The next picture shows ratlines on the port lower mizzen shrouds.  The left lashing has been secured and the center clove hitch tied.  The remaining pictures show the method for forming and lashing the second eye splice.

 

 

In this picture the first of two passes of lashing thread is being looped over the ratline and around the right hand shroud.  An overhand knot is then tied, positioned and the ratline pulled through as shown in the next picture.

 

 

The ratline is then threaded on a needle that is passed through the ratline just inside the shroud as shown next.

 

 

The last picture shows the formed eye and the lashing being pulled tight.

 

 

The knots are wetted with dilute glue to keep them from loosening. The ends are clipped off short to avoid entanglements with following work.  When the glue has dried these ends are clipped off as close to the knot as possible.

 

Ed

Edited May 11, 2018 by EdT

[druxey]

Nice going, Ed. And congratulations on the 100th page of this thread!

[realworkingsailor]

For most of us ratlines are a mind numbing chore..... with the level of detail you put in to yours, if you don't mind me asking, how do you avoid ending up in the corner curled up in the foetal position ranting gibberish?

All kidding aside, congrats on page 100 and well done!

 

Andy

[BANYAN]

Your work continues to astound for the level of detail and the quality you achieve at this scale Ed.  Your posts educate and show what is possible.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[gjdale]

10 hours ago, realworkingsailor said:

if you don't mind me asking, how do you avoid ending up in the corner curled up in the foetal position ranting gibberish?

...and what makes you think he doesn’t Andy? 

 

Seriously though, just wonderful, educational and inspirational work Ed. 

[cog]

I know what you do, but is it visible in real life, or just as hard to spot as on the photograph - actually I can't see the details ... at all

[rwiederrich]

Ed...Only 450 to go.......   What a champ!

 

Not only is your model exceptional...your use of time management is as well.

 

I don't have the same hours in a day as you do apparently.....

 

Rob

Edited May 1, 2018 by rwiederrich

[PETERPETER]

18 hours ago, cog said:

I know what you do, but is it visible in real life, or just as hard to spot as on the photograph - actually I can't see the details ... at all

Maybe the attached refined photos will help you to visualize the ratline details

[EdT]

Thanks to everyone for comments and likes.

 

Thanks, Druxey.  That first post doesn't seem that long ago.

 

Andy. perhaps what keeps me out of the corner is knowing that I would get no sympathy whatever.

 

Cog, with my eyesight I can't distinguish every detail, but I like knowing it is there.

 

Rob, I wish my time management was better.  Perhaps the 4 1/2 years on this model would be less.  Right now I am averaging about 2 hours per day.

 

Thank you Peter.  The high contrast photos accentuate detail - even unwanted detail.  The biggest issue with work like this is clipping off the excess ends neatly.

 

Ed

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 284 – Last Post on Ratlines

 

While there is still some further ratline work ahead, that will await further mast erection.  For now, I have reached a stopping point after a few weeks work on this.  Other work has been progressing and I will describe that in later posts.  For now, I will just show the present status of the ratlines – and the overall model.  The first picture shows the ratlines completed to this stage.

 

 

Some minor replacement/rework is still needed – revealed in part on some of these pictures, but what is shown here is essentially finished.  The next picture shows work below the foretop that I should have done much earlier to avoid having to tie ratlines in the congested rigging shown.

 

 

The next picture shows the same work around the main top – much easier.

 

 

The topmast ratlines extend across the topmast backstays under the crosstrees as shown in the next picture.

 

 

The futtock ratlines here will be installed later.  Finally, another view from above.

 

 

 

 

The way is now open to work on the main topsail yards and other things.

 

 

Ed