Louie da fly
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Everything posted by Louie da fly
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Those guys were a lot tougher than we are today - no footropes, just shimmy up the yard - no problem! (I'm scared of heights anyway, so I'd be no use whatsoever.) Here's another picture of the same thing, by the Portuguese painter João José Vaz (1859 - 1931)
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I've made and installed the tillers for the side rudders (steering oars) and put the rudders in place. I discovered I'd slightly miscalculated the position and angle of the holes for the brass pins mentioned above. The tillers were too high and instead of facing directly across the ship they were angled a little aft. So I drilled new holes in the rudder shafts - fortunately the old holes are hidden by the shafts themselves when the rudders are in place. I have yet to add the rope lashings that supposedly hold the rudders in place, finish the steersman I've already made (he's just standing there loose fitted at the moment), and carve another steersman for the other rudder. I've been tidying up the free ends of the rigging (the bosun will be pleased) - adding coils to the ends of the loose ropes, particularly for the after yard where the tacks and vangs aren't yet ready to be pulled tight (and shortening the ropes - so the coils take the place of the bit I've cut off). That way they're not all over the decks. I'm still thinking about the free end of the halyard tackle the crewmen are pulling on to haul up the yard. By rights, there should be a lot of it - if you take into account all the rope that runs between the blocks of the tackle. But I'm thinking of cheating and just cutting it shorter - otherwise it's just going to mess up the deck. And I forgot earlier to post the fact that I've added ladders to access the side castles. I had to put them at the after end of the castles so they didn't get in the way of the oarsmen getting to their benches - they can just get in through the side of the castle, (except the man right in line with the ladder, who can get to his own bench by climbing over the back of it).
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I haven't been looking at this build for a while. Your progress is very impressive, and the boat just keeps getting more and more beautiful. And I think I'll steal your idea for the sail!
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- fishing boat
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Just a note with the hearts - make the hole before you cut the block out. That way you can avoid the problem of splitting the block when you drill the hole (don't ask me how I know!) The shoulder pieces would be a good idea for keeping everything in place, but given the purpose of your model it's not vitally necessary. It's down to how good a model you want to make. I can see the lure of the Dark Side has gotten to you . . . By the way, I do like the toggle through the side of the ship that you've used to terminate the lower end of the shroud.
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Very interesting video. It looks like a lot of fun. I wasn't sure about the reef points - how far back reef points go - I thought they didn't come in until later but on investigation I found this picture which is supposed to be late 13th century but judging by the armour (something I do know about) it dates to about the middle of the 14th - and it does have reef points. But in fact the longship from Skamstrup in my post above also has them, so you the problem I was concerned about didn't really exist. (Nonetheless, I think it was worth going to the trouble of checking.)
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That's very interesting. I hadn't known about the "light" trieres at Salamis. I'm enjoying following your historical research.
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"Butterfly cleat" sounds good. But they've only been found on Viking ships and yours is several hundred years later. I'd be going with hearts myself, as attested by this one from about 1390-1400. According to the report "A number of loose rigging items were found, including six complete or partial blocks and two possible deadeye fragments . . .The largest block has seven holes but the others have only one or two" It appears the report doesn't distinguish between hearts and conventional blocks with sheaves, but the one below at least is definitely a heart, and possibly the others are too. Looks like one end has been cut off?
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Thanks, Wolf. That's very flattering (blush) Okay, I bit the bullet and installed the anchors and cables without involving the windlass - they're catted and fished, and the cables vanish under the forecastle as though they're coiled there. I'm not sure if I should cut the free end of the anchor cable a little shorter. It looks like it might be a little long. And I did something I've been wanting to do for a long time, and which I wasn't willing to do until I was near the end in case I broke it while working on other things - I've finally added the chain that supports the ramming spur at the bow. I attached the chain to one of the eyebolts I'd prepared earlier. Then made an "iron" (actually thin aluminium from a catfood container) strap to go around the spur. And drilled a hole in the front face of the forecastle, inserted the eyebolt and added a dab of CA glue to keep it in place. I cut the chain to length and added another ringbolt on the other end. Then put the strap on the spur and glued it on with CA, and drilled a hole in the top for the second ringbolt. And inserted the ringbolt and glued it in place. VOILA! And I've started making the tillers, using the "poor man's lathe" That's all till next time.
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It seems a bit of a shame to do all that work for something so beautiful, that won't be seen when you're finished. The sigmoid scarphs (wonderful term) are very attractive, both on the "gunwale" (guns haven't been invented yet) and the planking.
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Maybe these would be more up your alley. They're pre- Viking (mid 7th century), so not really appropriate to your build - the first is the British Museum's replica of the helmet found at Sutton Hoo in the U.K., the second is one of several found at Vendel in Sweden. I like the way the eyebrows form the wings of the dragon on the sutton Hoo helmet.
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Nice idea, Pat. But I don't want to go all "19th century sophisticated" on this - I'd like to keep everything as simple as possible, as it was before 700 years of extra evolution. I'll just cat and fish the anchors, lead the cables under the forecastle and leave it at that.
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It certainly looks like one. If so, it's the earliest representation I know of. The oldest I've previously come across were early 15th century. This is a really interesting build, of a unique vessel. Keep up the good work. By the way, I think you're right in using the reconstruction as a guide but making your own judgments about the original form of the ship for your model.
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I'm enjoying following this one - if only to see the physical results of all that theoretical preparation you did.
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I thought of that, Phil. Unfortunately there's nowhere to put one without it getting in the way. Druxey, that was terrible (but in a good way) . Yes, whatever else, if I install a windlass in a future build I'll have a better idea of how it all works in relation to everything else. I have to say I'm learning a lot. They reckon that the best way to avoid Oldtimer's disease is to create lots of new neural pathways by doing and learning new things. At this rate, I'll never get it.
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What's wrong with these photos? For those who answered "the anchor cable is at the wrong angle to the windlass" go to the top of the class. And there's no way I can move the windlass to change the angle - there's no room. Looks like I won't be using the windlass for the anchors after all (sigh). Oh, well -the crew will just have to rely on brute force to raise the anchors.
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Ahh, there's nothing like positive thinking. And that's certainly nothing like positive thinking . . .
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Double spritsail rigging
Louie da fly replied to Thanasis's topic in NAUTICAL RESEARCH GUILD - News & Information
Yes, it appears to be a similar rig to a Maltese Luzzu, though your photo shows only one diagonal sprit per mast. (Apparently these vessels no longer exist - a pity, they're really cool).
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Hmm, interesting point. There's another ship in the same fresco - quite a different type. And there's no rudder shown at all! Go figure.
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You're embarking on a whole new adventure! Make sure you read the planking tutorials (if you haven't already). Quite a lot to know and work out. Take your time, think it through and don't be afraid to undo it if you're not happy with it. With care and application, you'll get there.
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I like the protruding eye, and it is similar to other "figureheads". The colour scheme sounds good - I'm sure they would have made it nice and colorful just to show off. If anything, you might be being a bit too conservative!
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That's a difficult bit of carving. It'll need a lot of care to avoid it breaking - they're quite thin. How many do you have to do? Ah, just checked the diagrams - looks like you'll need four. I can't answer your first question but for the second, the piece carries out the same function as a deadeye, so in the absence of an official name that's probably as good as anything else. I suppose you could put quotes around it and call it a "deadeye" to indicate that it really isn't one.
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I like your new configuration for the bowsprit. It makes sense. and . . . Sounds good to me . . .
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Very nice work on the counterweights. Unless I miss my guess, that is the stone called soapstone in English, or steatite. Sceatha used it for his ship, too.
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While I'm thinking about the anchors, I'm also working on the side-rudders (steering oars if you prefer) . I'd originally intended to attach the rudders to the lower through-beam on each side, but I realised it wouldn't be able to pivot upwards if I did, so I used the upper beam instead. So I had to cut a hole in the planking on top of the support structure, for the rope that fixes the rudder to the beam. The rope allows the rudder to pivot around its vertical axis (for steering), and with a bit of luck it will also allow it to swing upwards out of the way when only one rudder is in use. The kind of lashing or whatever that was used is (of course) unknown, so I'm going with the theoretical one from the TAMU paper "The Development of the Rudder, 100-1600 A.D.: A Technological Tale" by Lawrence V. Mott ( https://nautarch.tamu.edu/academic/alum.htm) to see if it works. I drilled a hole in each rudder and inserted a brass pin. and a corresponding hole in the upper beam on each side of the ship Here are the rudders dry fitted There is only one Byzantine picture that shows a tiller on a side rudder: I'm probably going to copy that for my own. To get the tillers at the right height I put the steersman in place next to one rudder and marked where the hole for the tiller would have to be. Note that I haven't yet finished the steersman's arms - I'm holding off till the tillers are in place. I wasn't sure if I wanted one tiller to be swung up out of the way, but I think it'll look better with them both in operation. Which means I have to carve another steersman.
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