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popeye2sea

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Everything posted by popeye2sea

  1. popeye2sea
    You should make your hole diameter 6.4 or 6.5 mm, based on the drawings you have shown above. The variation in the width of holes depicted in the drawings is due to perpective only. Notice that the vertical positions of the holes does not change relative to the line of the plank strakes from one drawing to the next.
  2. popeye2sea
    I wish I had known about these before I undertook making my own. What a pain in the butt that was
  3. popeye2sea
    The light they provide is really not much. Look at my two pictures from below the fitting. The first was with the camera flash and the second without. You can see that there is a definite glow from the prism. But, considering that they are the only source of light other than a lantern, I think they do an admirable job. Regards,
  4. popeye2sea
    Wow, truly extraordinary and elegant. A most fitting display.
  5. popeye2sea
    The english equivalent to what you describe is called a fascine. Pretty close to vasa, I would say.
  6. popeye2sea
    The case looks superb. A fitting display for a beautiful model. Regards,
  7. popeye2sea
    Rich, It's not all that difficult. Once you figure out one yard the rest are the same. You need something to hold the masts up: shrouds, stays, and backstays You need to raise the yard = halyards or jeers You need to hold the yard in to the mast = trusses or parrels You need a line to control moving the yard horizontally = braces You need a line to control the yard vertically = lifts You need to hold the corner of the sail down = sheets and tacks You need to haul the corner of the sail up = clew You need to gather the foot of the sail up for furling = buntlines You need to gather the sides of the sail up for furling = leech lines There are variations in style and detail from era to era but the basics stay constant. Fore and aft sails are slightly different: Hoist the sail = halyard or uphaul Lower the sail = downhaul Hold the corner of the sail down = sheet Some stay sails were trapezoidal so they had another line at the lower front corner = tack Regards,
  8. popeye2sea
    Not having seen the plans, I really could not say. But I do think that problems arise with the rigging if people are not sure of the purpose of each line. The rigging of these ships is actually very straightforward and logical if you think about what is needed to control each yard and sail. For instance, look at the various rigging plans that omit the sheaves or holes for the tacks and sheets, or have them leading in on the wrong deck. The tacks and sheets are coming from points far outboard of the ship. It would be a very poor lead to bring them directly over the gunwale to a cleat. Therefore they must come through the hull at some point. Also, on the Constitution at least, there were no lines worked from the gun deck so plans that show them leading in there are incorrect. Now, you may notice that the tacks and sheets seem to rub against the shrouds at times, but consider that they would only do this when the course was clewed up or furled and therefore there would be no tension on them. When these sails were set the tacks and sheets would run far enough outboard to clear everything. A line called a "timenoguy" was sometimes rigged from the top of the anchor stock to the side of the ship to keep the fore tack from falling behind it and getting fouled. That would be the closest thing in concept to what was described in the posts above. Any line that does not give a fair lead for it's intended purpose is probably wrong. The Bo'sun would probably flog the sailor that did that.
  9. popeye2sea
    My apologies, but I do not believe that your descriptions of the rigging in these pictures is accurate. The braces run as you described (from the ends of the yards aft. In your pictures you can see the cluster of three blocks at about the midpoint of each side of the yard. The upper one is the clue, the lower forward is the tack, and the lower aft one is the sheet. The sheet runs down and aft through sheaves in the hull, while the clew runs up to the yard through another block inboard and then down to the deck at the base of the mast. The curious tackle hanging from a very long pendant attached at the yardarm and guyed in by a leading block attached to the shrouds I can only describe as a yard tackle. It really has nothing to do with sail handling and would be rigged as such to lift objects on and off the ship.
  10. popeye2sea
    I have some timber from USS Constitution that were removed from the ship in her 1970's and 1990's refits. I have no idea when they were originally installed. A few MSW members are recycling pieces of the ship into their builds. I am really looking forward to getting some of the white oak plank material for the next refit. Regards,
  11. popeye2sea
    I have one manufactured by the Alvin company, 18 x 24" It is double sided, one side is green the other black and it is printed with a 1/2 inch grid, 30 - 60 and 45 degree diagonals, and ruled on the horizontal and vertical to the 1/4 inch. I have owned it for a while now. If the first side wears out I'll just flip it over.
  12. popeye2sea
    I went aboard the ship today to search out the deck prisms. These are let into the gun deck to focus light down into the berth deck. There are a few of them located in the officers berthing area (ward room) aft on the berth deck. As you can see they are hexagonal and flat on top and shaped like a prism from below. By the way the extra shoring beams are there in preparation for the upcoming dry docking. Here is the top of one on the gun deck just forward of the Captains cabin. And here is from below: Regards,
  13. popeye2sea
    The dry dock is the second oldest in the country. Constitution was the first ship in.
  14. popeye2sea
    Because of all of the weather delays the scheduled March 20 dry docking has been pushed to April. She is going to be there for three years. I say "there" like it is so far away, but in reality the dry dock is just on the other side of the pier from where she is now. So far the Navy anticipates the ship will stay open for visitors depending on the scope of work going on at the time. Obviously, there are safety concerns with a ship being worked on over a 40 foot deep hole in the ground.
  15. popeye2sea
    If there wasn't so much snow around here I'd go take a picture for you.
  16. popeye2sea
    I think Mark is right. You are getting chatter from the unsupported piece passing between the blade and the fence.
  17. popeye2sea
    Of course, here in Boston color is pronounced "cullah" while coller is pronounced "collah"
  18. popeye2sea
    I think you have to remember that those yards were not small. A person could easily walk out on one of them. Especially since there are plenty of things to hold on to: studdingsail booms, lifts, etc. Next, bringing the sail up to the spar was pretty well accomplished by hauling the clews, leech lines or martinets, and bunt lines. Then, at sea the gasket was very long and one started from the yardarm. Passing it in spiral fashion in from the yard arm it would gradually gather up even more of the sail. You would only have to deal with a lot of bagging to hand up at the middle of the yard. Last, when the sail was furled under the yard there was not much concern with getting that tight roll that we are used to seeing when the sail is furled on top. The sail hung in irregular bags and sags. Top gallants and royals were relatively light and could be furled with only a couple of men. Once the gasket was worked in from the yardarm on a top sail the rest could be accomplished from the top. The courses were the only significant amount of canvas to be handed. Rolling the sail on top of the yard inside of a tight skin of canvas was an innovation that came about because with the sail hanging more loosely under the yard the wet could get into the folds, bags, and rolls of the canvas. Jack stays were another innovation that came about because with the downward pull of the sail and its gear gaps and sags would form at the head between the bolt rope and the yard. Most of the the rigging that seems logical to us today was the result of someone having an ah-ha moment and finding ways to make it better. Reefing sails and all the attendant changes to the yard was one of those.
  19. popeye2sea
    Here is what I have found out about this matter. The change from the sail hanging from the base of the yard to hanging in front of the yard corresponded with the advent of reefing. Prior to the practice of reefing sails (late 1600s) sails were bent to the yards with long robands that passed entirely around the yard. The sail hung from under the yard. A perforated bending strip was nailed under the center portion of the yard in order to pass robands so that they were clear of all the slings and halyards. Also linked to this time period was the fact that there were no foot ropes on the yards and the studdingsail booms were lashed abaft the top center of the yard. Sailors straddled or laid down on the yards to furl the sails. Sails were also furled under the yard. An interesting note: topsails were furled around the mast because, the geometry of the sail being much broader at the base, caused a lot of material to be gather up at the center of the yard. Once reefing started to come into vogue foot ropes were added to the yards. The topsails were the first sails to take reefs. Also at this time the studdingsail booms move towards the front of the yards to accommodate the sailors using the footropes. Jackstays, initially of rope then metal, started to be used around 1800. At this point the sail was bent to the jackstays and hung before the yard. Shorter robands were employed, sometimes they were fixed to the head rope and sometimes they were stapled to the yard. Also at this time sails were furled on top of the yards making a much neater and more water resistant bundle. By the way, the English adopted reefing prior to the French, so Hermione may in fact be correct.
  20. popeye2sea
    I'm not saying that because I just want Chuck to get more business. I think that he has the best product out there; both line and blocks. Before I saw Chucks line I looked at a number of suppliers and ordered my whole rigging plans worth of Morope. It looks really nice; clean, crisp and no fuzz. The only drawback I found after I started to work with it is the material is nylon. That is what gives it the clean look, but it s t r e t c h e s a lot. It will also unravel instantly when cut. But that is easily controllable with a dab of CA before you cut it. So, given it all over again, I would order Chucks line. That said, there have been some newer members on MSW who are producing rigging line for sale. I have not had the chance to check out their product yet. If you look in the Traders/Dealers threads you will find some , I think.
  21. popeye2sea
    Enough said !!
  22. popeye2sea
    Kilo66, that object is painted red because it is part of the modern damage control systems (fire suppression) on the ship. I believe that it is a riser for attaching a fire hose to and it comes up through the deck behind the bilge pump. There is probably a fire hose mounted on the beam right next to it. Also in a bracket next to it would be a spanner wrench (painted red) used to attach the hose to the riser. I'll have to check my pictures to confirm. Not sure which item you have in your picture. If you post your picture (perhaps in another thread, so we do not continue to hijack Evans) I will be able to help you more.
  23. popeye2sea
    Worming and parceling are a lot of extra work, and some say not worth the trouble. To my mind parceling is overkill as it probably adds too much thickness to the line, especially given that whatever material you use to parcel with is going to be completely out of scale. However, worming gives a nice smooth appearance to the finished service. If the line is served without worming you end up still seeing the lay of the rope. On the other hand, I have read that not all servicing was done with worming. Some sailors believed that the worming trapped moisture against the line and promoted rot. It really is up to you, and whatever you do will just enhance the already beautiful work of art you have done. Regards,
  24. popeye2sea
    Says a lot for your solid construction. If I did that with mine you would hear the loose cannon rolling across the gun deck. Seems the crew did not get the word early enough to lash the great guns properly when the ship pitched deep. I even managed to recreate Constitutions damage from the collision of 1803 with President. Although truth be told my models sudden pitching forward was not planned or controlled like yours. Regards,
  25. popeye2sea
    Been good John. No tours on the Conny for a while. Getting more work done on the Le Soleil Royale, but a little thing like my job keeps me busy. Your Morgan is looking ship shape. Regards,

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