popeye2sea

I almost don't know how to answer this because I hesitate to suggest a path that you may find tedious or frustrating, but to my mind nothing looks better than the real thing. Knots were never used to fasten anything on a ship. There were bends, hitches, splices, seizings, lashings, etc. You may want to reference a copy of something like The Art of Rigging by Steel to get an idea of what was used where. For instance, deadeyes are turned in on the end of shrouds using a throat seizing and two round seizings. Blocks were lashed to other lines through the eye of their strop or attached to a spar by a rose lashing. Depending on the scale of your model these can be replicated, but to do so adds a bunch more work and time. You may find that this is too much effort, but the results can add an amazing look of authenticity to your rigging. As far as whipping goes, I would only do it on the larger lines like shrouds or stays. It really wouldn't be very visible on smaller stuff. I would combine the whipping with the end seizing by simply continuing to take 4 or 5 turns around the bitter end of the shroud finishing the whipping by passing the end under the last two turns or make a clove hitch. A drop of white glue will secure the hitch and then trim the shroud above the whipping. All that being said about no knots. One of my best friends is the constrictor knot. It is basically a clove hitch with an extra tuck under one of the turns. When you pull it tight it will not loosen. I have used it to start seizings, lashings, and servings. The neat thing about it is you do not end up with a big unsightly knob of a knot. (Try using the constrictor for the last two turns of the whipping. You might not even need any glue to secure it after that!). Like I mentioned, all that is a lot of extra effort. There are a lot, lot, lot of modelers that will give you simple, easy, effective methods of fastening, but me being something of a rigging nerd, I thought I would put my two cents in. Regards,

The purpose of the lanyards was to be able to adjust the shrouds as needed. There are occasions were additional tension was applied to counteract forces on the mast. The foremost shroud was occasionally slacked off to allow for bracing the yard up more sharply. Also, no matter how well set up the mast would 'work' or move to some extent. There would always be some adjustment of the shrouds necessary at some point. Conversely, shrouds set up too tightly might cause a mast to be sprung because it was too stiff and could not work. Lanyards (with deadeyes or hearts) are employed because in a block and tackle the enormous forces involved would be concentrated on two points; the pins of the sheaves of the blocks. Lanyards and deadeyes allow you to spread that load over six solid points not susceptible to breakage like a sheave pin. Regards,

Here is the info that I have. It may be that it varied somewhat for different rigs. 1. the jib downhaul would be led through a few hanks to keep it from hanging loose. 2. The tack runs to an eyebolt at the deck near the mast. Sometimes with a tackle. 3. The boom topping lift is double. 4. Brails are paired and bend seperately to the sail on either side of the same cringle. Regards,

Another take this for what it's worth item: All rope was tarred during the laying up process of making it. It is just a matter of how much tar was then added to prevent the wet from getting into the fibers that determined how dark the line got. Bottom line. You really can't go wrong with whatever color you choose. Just don't choose white. Regards,

I know it is common for the main and fore knights and even other knights located about the deck. For those it is absolutely necessary to have the line pass through a sheave at the bottom. You would have massive problems if you tried to belay directly to the head of the knight. But I have not seen it before at the beakhead bulkhead. The line there can be redirected using the rail itself. Regards,

As far as I can tell during this period the tacks and sheets did not come inboard through sheaved holes. Sometimes they used decorated holes (lion heads and such) and other times they used chesstrees as fairleads. I am not sure what would be proper about belaying pins. My reading is that they were not much used in this period, however I have been leaning towards using the pin locations on the side bulwarks but replacing the plastic ones with brass. I know that they would have been wood but I like the contrast with the royal blue bulwarks. The lines to the beakhead bulkhead will remain tied off to the rail stanchions. Speaking of the beakhead bulkhead, I have seen a model of the SR (I believe it is M. Saunier's) with sheaves let into the base of the rail stanchions to redirect the lines up to the stanchion head. Do you know if this was actually done? I am thinking of adding them into mine. The list of upgrades keeps getting longer I wish I had more time to get back into the model. It is sitting here by my desk calling to me. I am getting some outstanding projects finished that should free up a bit of time. Regards,

It's really very simple. Everything in the rigging needs to get to or be fixed in to position in three dimensions: up/down, right/left, and forward/back. Now put a rope on everything such that it pulls in those directions (down is mostly taken care of by gravity). If the object is heavy add a way to multiply the force (block and tackle). Try not to foul or tangle the lines. There, I just described 99% of the rigging for all ships! Sounds silly but it's true. Regards,

I wonder what would happen if you were even just a little off in alignment of the mast or deadeyes. Even a minor adjustment looks like it would pull the whole array out of wack. Regards,

To be honest, it seems rather strange to me to have a gaff rigged sail here in the first place. A better option, especially with a square fore sail set, would be a stay sail. Regards,

I suspect that the sail would be set outside the stays and not between them. It also looks like the sail is too big. I doubt it would extend beyond the main mast. The lee sheet would be slack over the stays. That is how the sail gets to the other side on the opposite tack. The sail would be brailed up and the clew hauled over the stay using the sheet. Regards,

That is an amazingly life-like painting!! Regards, Henry

The word is actually a multiple contraction similar to Fo'c'sle for forecastle. It's really spelled stu'n's'l. Regards,

In many cases the weather deck was not intended to be watertight. Some ships, if they had enough free board, even did away with gunport lids. Regards,

Here are my thoughts on this subject, and I may be wrong, but I think a little common sense may apply. The reason to have the knight on a lower deck was to have it on the same level as the capstan. The hole for the halliard should be just large enough or slightly larger than will fit the six parts of the tackle fall plus the top rope so that they run fair to the rams head block on the tye. The hole should be above the knight otherwise you will have much abrasion and loss of purchase due to friction. The halliard would be free of any service to allow it to pass readily through the sheeves on the knight and rams head blocks. Regards,

I would hate to be using the latrine when the quarter gallery sheared off.

The one with the screw elevation is a true carronade. It is also mounted differently to it's slide with a pin that runs underneath the barrel. The other type of cannon is called a gunnade and is more like a cross between a carronade and a traditional cannon in that it has trunnions and a quoin but is mounted on a slide. Also the carronade carriage is fixed in place via a pintle inside the gun port. The gunnades were made for the ship in error during her 1920's refit. Currently the ship has only two carronades. Oops, didn't read on in the posts. Already explained!! Regards,

In your last picture it looks to me like the companionway will interfere with the working of the capstan. Regards,

In my experience a companionway and a ladderway are synonymous. A companionway will always have a ladder. The skylight is a separate thing entirely; it only provides light to the lower deck. There is no place for your `companions` to make their `way`below deck. Zu Mondfeld is wrong. Regards,

She's a beauty. Quite an accomplishment.

I see. Interesting that the one 3 beams aft of the beam ends is wish bone shaped also. Regards,

Not familiar with that term. What is a beam arm? Regards,

I think that you may have to make custom ones any way. By changing the width of the bow you have significantly increased the length of the span between the side of the beakhead bulkhead and the stem piece at the figurehead. Regards,

Just glad to see they are working out. Can't wait to see what's next.

It fills the need of having a large knot put into the end of two married up lines that can be thrust through the clew. Large enough to not pull out on its own, but still able to be removed from the sail when necessary.

Here is a two part answer. The lead of the spritsail sheet varied by country and by date. Some, at the middle of the century had very short or no pendants. The standing part of the sheet is made fast somewhere near the fore shrouds and the hauling part goes inboard abaft the fore rigging. Towards the end of the century the English, the Danish, and the Dutch took to using very long pendants that came well aft, sometimes abaft the fore channel. The pendant passed trough a bullseye or thimble either affixed to the fore channel or hanging from the fore most shroud. This would answer your last point as to how to keep the sheet from dragging in the water. As you can see in your diagram the spritsail sheet block is unusual. It has a rim or collar around the top and the strop is fitted in a particular way. The ends of the strop are put through holes in the rim so that the block lies in the bight and the two ends go to the clew of the sail forming the pendant. The two legs of the strop were twisted together into a sort of cable laid arrangement and the ends were formed into a spritsail sheet knot which goes through the clew of the sail. The spritsail sheet knot is a special form of wall and crown knot made from all six strands of the two legs of the strop instead of the usual three strand wall and crown. Probably more info than you needed, but interesting anyway. Regards,