popeye2sea

For my SR I am definitely making my own t'gallant masts from wood.  I am still debating replacing the top masts.  They seem sturdy enough but I am just not sure. I am not that concerned with the length of the top masts. As Marc mentioned, the French seemed to go for longer top masts.

Regards,

Henry

Bill,

They are made in two pieces. A round ring shaped to fit the mast cut from flat styrene sheet stock, and another ring bent to fit the mast from quarter round styrene stock on top.

I actually placed them on the mast in a position to help hold the deck down against the upward pull of all the rigging. There are additional stanchions placed amidships below the deck that help make the deck more rigid against downward flex also.

Regards,

Henry

15 hours ago, Bill97 said:

Henry what do you think of my topcoat issue?  Leave it alone or try to fix it?

I had the same issue when I put a topcoat on my upper bulwarks to protect the gold paint.  The finish was considerably more dull than the finish on the quarter galleries and stern.  I debated putting the same finish on the stern or putting a more glossy finish on the sides. In the end, I decided that I liked the contrast with the stern decoration. It makes the stern stand out more.

TLDR: I would leave it alone.

Regards,

Henry

Navigating along a particular latitude was not that hard.  All you needed was to keep the sun at the same declination. You could measure the angle with a quadrant, octant, or sextant.  That is one of the reasons we have trade routes.  In the North Atlantic, for example, you would sail south from Europe until you picked up the right latitude to catch the westerly trade winds then turn west and cross the Atlantic till you made landfall in South America or the Caribbean.  To head back East, the return route was to sail North till you pick up the proper latitude to catch the easterly trade winds, turn East and sail till landfall in Europe.

Figuring out how far East or West you were along that latitude, in other words calculating longitude, was a more difficult beastie. For that you needed accurate time keeping.

Regards,

Henry

Welcome, Jakub.

Regards,

Henry

Kuba,

What I gave you was a general rule of thumb for ship rigged vessels of that era.  Personally, I think that a 1.4 or 1.5mm rope will probably look just fine. But if you wish to go a bit larger, have at it.  Whatever you feel looks good to your eye is what is important.

BTW, I'm guessing that Kuba is not your real name. We are a fairly friendly bunch here on MSW. We like real names (no pressure).

Regards,

Henry

The Main Stay circumference should be half of the greatest diameter of the Main mast.

In order to get the diameter of the main:

Thickest part of main mast is at deck level.

Diameter equals one inch for every 3 feet of mast length.

Main mast length is approx. 2.5 times the beam of the vessel

So, for example, vessel has 30 foot beam

Main mast length 30 x 2.5= 75 feet

Main mast diameter 75 / 3 = 25 inches

Main stay circumference 25 / 2 = 12.5 inches

Main stay diameter 12.5 / 3.14 = 3.98 inches

At 1:36 scale a 4 inch diameter rope will be 0.11 inches or 2.8 mm

Hope that helps.

Regards,

19 hours ago, Bill97 said:

Henry how did you treat the back side of these two guys (paint I mean). Did you paint the back to match the front even though the moldings are not present, or did you paint the back one solid color?  Also do the top ends attach to the sides off the bowsprit or do they just flank it without being attached?  I am moving in that direction and I am wondering if I need to go ahead and install the bowsprit first. These guys also need gold leaf. 

I actually have not painted the inside of mine yet beyond the bit of gold detail that is on the reverse of the medallion.  I will be painting them blue to match the outside.  The medallion does not actually attach to the bowsprit.  In fact these head rails do not sit very well into position at all and there is very little to attach them to.  I may even have to pare away some of the round house for the seats of ease in order to make them fit. And I am pretty sure that I have to remake my forward most headrail support timber; it is not long enough to reach the inside of the head rails.

All of this adjusting and fiddling is the reason for not painting the inboard side yet. I am thinking that I may also make some small pockets on the inside surface to take the ends of the support timbers in order to make a stronger joint with more glue surface area. Or, I may make small pins to join them. There seems to be a lot of bending stress to get the head rails into place.

Regards,

Henry

Ah, but Constitution is only 30 years younger than Victory.  Her original wood will be there for many years to come.

Regards,

Henry

I think red was the cheapest color available. Also the reason most barns in New England are painted red.

Regards,

Henry

14 hours ago, dafi said:

Reminds me on a certain ship in Portsmouth ...

 

... and one in Boston ...

 

... me heratic ..

 

...

 

XXXDAn

USS Constitution still has about 12% of her original wood.  Doesn't fit the conundrum.

Regards,

Henry

3 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

Sorry to rain on your parade, here, but i think you have to move the main knighthead as well (to the other side). The instructions show a singular stay on the mizzen top that goes down to the main base. Henry didn't even do this. However, we have the same issue on the main. 

You are correct. The main halliard knight has the same interference problems. But for the same reasons that Bill mentioned in his post above, I did not move my main halliard knight.  Making the collar of the mizzen stay longer around the mast to pass on either side of the halliard will alleviate this problem.  The reason I chose to make the change for the fore knight is because the main stay is much more complicated and of much heavier construction than the mizzen stay.

Regards.

Henry

A Tipple of moonshiners.  There, I just made one up.😉

Regards,

Henry

Good job with the re-positioned halliard knight.

Regards,

Henry

Were they talking about the water line or the sheer? 

Regards,

Henry

That is the piece.  There is also another  2 parts that will come in handy here. One is shaped like a cylinder, the other is a ring. You use them to push the "petals" up evenly so that the tops of the crown can be fixed properly around the base of the lantern. Mine were labelled "x" and "y" and molded in clear plastic.

Regards,

Henry

After having sailed for 24 years in the Navy, one thing I can definitely tell you is that anything that can break loose WILL break loose.  I seriously doubt that cannon shot was not secured in some way.

Side note: I was always under the impression that like the modern Navy, the ammo stored near the guns is only ready service ammo. Would the cannon balls not be struck below into the shot lockers when not readied for immediate use?

Regards,

Henry

Offer up the quarter gallery to the hull. Lightly run your x-acto blade along the edge to be scraped to make a mark. Scrape along the inside of the line to expose the bare plastic.

Regards,

Henry

On 5/19/2023 at 2:42 PM, Bill97 said:

Marc I know you did but Henry I could not tell from your build. Since you opened the side galleries did you create floors/decking inside for the two levels on each side?

Yes, I created floors. It was a bit tricky fitting them. There was a lot of test fitting and trimming required to keep the floors from pushing the quarter galleries out away from the hull.

Regards,

1 hour ago, Bill97 said:

Marc or Henry did either of you add any material to improve the cannon hatch cover glue service at the hull?

My starboard side ports are all closed. For the port side gun ports I intend to add hinges to attach the lids that I purchased from Syren.  I have not tried them yet. Debating whether to add fleurs-de-lys.

4 hours ago, Bill97 said:

Thanks Henry. Will surly let you know.  Is that the way your kit corbels are as well?

My corbels were numbered 150 (8 shorter) and 151 (4 longer).  The four longer corbels were positioned 2 under the center of the 2nd battery balcony and 2 under the center of the 3rd battery balcony. The eight shorter ones went to either side of both balconies.

Regards,

Henry

Bill,

If you ever need spare parts, I have almost an entire second kit worth.

Regards,

Henry

Just a minor point to add to what Peter said above.  When an anchor cable is said to be belayed to the riding bitts, it is not at all similar to belaying a normal line to, say, a cleat.  Anchor cables are far too thick for a normal belay.  The cable would at most have taken a single turn around the bitts before being led below.  The riding bitt, therefore, serves to provide some much needed friction in order to hold the cable.  In fact, the cable would almost certainly be constantly monitored and veered or slacked as necessary. The actual securing of the cable was by means of stoppers.

Regards,

Henry

Yes, that is correct.

In between the capstan and the hawse hole the cable would be passed around the cable bitts. Sometimes there were stoppers on ring bolts attached to the bitts also.

Regards,

Henry

Does it need to be a Presidential Eagle? Can you use a different representation like a Federal Eagle?

Regards,

Henry

I doubt that the anchor cable was tied off anywhere in board.  The bulk of the cable would be below deck coiled on the cable tier.  Stoppers would be employed on the deck to check the movement of the cable. The stoppers are what would be eye spliced to ring bolts in the deck with their ends hitched around the anchor cable to hold it fast. Perhaps the bitter end of the cable was made fast to a ring somewhere in the cable tier but, this is just a last ditch measure to try to prevent the complete loss of a cable overboard. It was never used to hold fast the cable in regular use.

Regards,

Henry