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Louie da fly
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Everything posted by Louie da fly
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Looks very good. That's going to be a superb model. So the layers on the mast fish are the grain of the timber? Or do I still have it wrong and the fish itself is made of plywood? I take it if you stain it again it won't change anything - that the different colours will still be obvious? I had a look at the red painted fish on the Sea Stallion and because it's a fairly subdued red it actually looks pretty good. -
That's looking very good, Christos. I do know how you feel making all those oars . . .
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That's a very good figurehead indeed. Very much in the spirit of the Viking carvings of this type that have been found in archaeology, and well carried out. Regarding the eyes, most seem to have just been carved into the wood, but there is one, by an unknown artist modernly known as the Academician because of the sophistication of his work, that has little metal plates (probably silver) as the eyes. Not suggesting you try for this level of result at home kiddies, but it does support your idea of making the eyes different.
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I'm rather uncertain about the arrangement for the anchor cables on my dromon. I'm working on putting the anchors in place. Here's a test placement (disregard the way I've tied the rope that fishes the anchor - it's just to keep it in place for the time being). I'm not sure what I need to do with the anchors and windlass - are the anchor cables supposed to be attached to the windlass when the ship is sailing, or is that only for when she's raising the anchors? And if the cable isn't attached to the windlass when under way, what should it be attached to? Should it be tied to (say) the peribolos (pseudo-cathead) and then coiled on the deck? Or what? I suspect this isn't the way anchors were dealt with in later ships and that may introduce uncertainty, but any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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I'm working on putting the anchors in place. Here's a test placement (disregard the way I've tied the rope that fishes the anchor - it's just to keep it in place for the time being). I'm not sure what I need to do with the anchors and windlass - are the anchor cables supposed to be attached to the windlass when the ship is sailing, or is that only for when she's raising the anchors? And if the cable isn't attached to the windlass when under way, what should it be attached to? Should it be tied to (say) the peribolos (pseudo-cathead) and then coiled on the deck? Or what? I suspect this isn't the way anchors were dealt with in later ships and that may introduce uncertainty, but any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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I'd second Jeff's recommendation of a magnifying headset. I use it for all fine work. I wear my normal glasses underneath. It's very good for seeing details I otherwise wouldn't, but it did take a little getting used to. The paintwork is looking very good, at least from the photos. Keep at it. You'll get there with time and patience.
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Thanks everybody. Sceatha, I might just leave it as is. As I've already installed the ropes, I might do more harm than good trying to wax them (wax on - wax off!). It's a shame about the fluffy texture, but it shows up more on the photos than in real life.
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Looking very good indeed. I like the "weathered" look, particularly of the castles. She looks like a ship that's a workhorse rather than a luxury yacht and has been worked hard.
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Yes, I'd agree with your assessment. Your solution - fixing the stay to the beakhead knee - is better from a structural perspective.
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Hmm, I'll have to do some thinking about that. I've already (unfortunately, as it now turns out) used beeswax on the shrouds. We'll just have to see how they last. In the meantime, I've made a flagpole, cut a hole in the deck for it and installed it. Note that the flagpole had to go one side of the ship's "tail". The flag is cotton fabric which I painted with acrylic, so thickly that it's been integrated into the fabric itself. That gave it the stiffness that allowed me to introduce some "flutter" into it. and some more work on the rigging. Coils of rope for the "free ends" of the shroud tackle (left) and the halyard tackle (right - hanging on the mast crutch) Blocks for the halyard trusses (which hold the yard to the mast): and I added an eyebolt to secure the tackle for it on the foremast. But when I tried to make a hole for an eyebolt for the after mast . . . . !!! I cut a new piece to fill the gap - allowing for a hole for the second eyebolt. I'm letting it dry then I'll put in the eyebolt. In the meantime, here's the tackle for the fore halyard truss - the fixed end tied to the eyebolt and the free end attached to the cleat on the mast. Just waiting for the glue to dry. And here's the upper end of the tackle, showing the block in place.
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Nice realisation of a delicate piece of equipment (the boat's first thole-pin). What are its dimensions?
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Honestly, it's not obvious from the photo. So the manufacturers supplied plywood for the oars? I'm a little surprised at that. I'd have thought it wouldn't be that hard to do it with solid bits of wood.Or were the oars lasercut from plywood sheets along with the frames etc?
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And this is a Turk's head (for obvious reasons) Very nice work so far. The mainstay problem is annoying, though. Is it supposed to be fixed to the foredeck? Maybe instead you could attach it to the lower end of the foremast? It should still do the same job (I think - not an expert with rigging).
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I fired a repro 17th century matchlock once (friends of mine re-enacted the Thirty Years War). I was told "lean in to the weapon - a true musketeer has no eyebrows". A different time during a public display one of these guys (they were firing with powder only - not ball) forgot to take his wooden ramrod out of the barrel before he fired. It went into the chest of the guy on the other side and exploded into a thousand pieces within his chest. He was in hospital for a long time. The police put it down as "accidental". Both these guys were good friends of mine. The perpetrator was devastated (of course so was the victim).
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I've been looking at what happens to the free end of the ropes for the blocks etc I've been working on so far. Normally there'd be a coil to take up the surplus rope at the end. I've tried making a coil copying a technique used by others on MSW but it's pretty difficult if I'm making it out of the surplus rope at the free end. I think it's probably better to just make separate coils and attach them to make it look like they're part of the main rope. Wrapping the free end around the end of a pen and gluing the coils together (later I had to remove the grey hair that had somehow got itself mixed up with the coil). Then I added an extra bit of cord to simulate the bit that winds around the coil to keep it in shape. And a clothes-peg to hold it all together till the glue dried. And the coil in place next to the oarsman in green. Note also the free end of the vang being held by the standing crewman. My understanding is that it would just lie there on the deck until the operation was over, then be coiled up properly. And another bit of housework - the free ends of the robands and gaskets were sticking out at all angles - a combination of the springiness of the cotton thread and the presence of random dabs of the glue I used to hold them to the yard. They should be hanging down under gravity. So I've started glueing them in a "natural" position. The left-hand photo is "before", the right-hand isn't so much "after" as "during". The 5th and 7th ties from the end of the yard show the difference. A lot to do here - it'll take a while.
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This is beautiful work, and I'm impressed with the well thought-out solutions to problems of design. I'm really enjoying following this build. And it looks like the solution to attaching the yard to the bipod mast is well under way, as well.
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Both of those are possibilities. The only thing I can think of is to do some testing on a piece of scrap - try waiting different lengths of time between coats, try thinner coats - see if it has any effect. If your temperatures are in the 90's there shouldn't be any problem with "extended" waiting times because of temperature, so you can probably dismiss that one as a factor. Other than that, I'm stumped. Maybe something wrong with the paint itself? (I'm assuming the primer and the paint are compatible?) Paint's not my strong point. Maybe others can help more.
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That's looking very good, mate. Such a beautiful, elegant ship - I have no idea why anybody would want to do Gokstad after seeing this. I don't think there's any real need for stanchions under the thwarts. They're sitting on a beam - that should be enough. The thwarts/benches on one of the Yenikapi galleys from Istanbul were slotted into the hull (the wreck contained a wale with slots in it approx 900mm apart just at the right height for the benches - and they found quite a few of them, as well. They were just planks). Yes, but that may have been done as part of the burial, though the shield fittings were the genuine article - the bosses were good steel ones and there were holes around the rim which were probably where the thread/lacing was to hold the (probably leather) shield rim on. However, I have serious doubts about shields being on the sides of a ship except for display or battle (and possibly not for battle either - except as they rowed toward the enemy. Once contact was made I'd assume everybody would pick up his shield and fight with it in his hand).
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I've been having a few problems with the rigging - particularly with belaying points, but I'm making slow but steady progress. My original idea for the foretacks was to run each one to a turn around a "bollard" on the forecastle which acted as a fairlead, to a point aft of the mast so the yard could be pulled back behind the mast when tacking. Only problem was - it wouldn't have worked (which I realised when I was in bed, where all one's best ideas arrive - usually at some ungodly hour of the morning). I had run the tack under the benches would have made it impossible to pull the yard back. So I re-ran the tacks, still with a turn around the "bollard", but then outside the shrouds. (The clothes-peg is just holding the rope in place while the glue dries on the bollard.) Fixed the "bitter end" around an upright of the pavesade aft of the mast, and tied off the free end to the pavesade rail nearby. Then the vangs. One end of the port vang is fixed around an oarbench, the other to the rail of the pavesade. The starboard vang is still loose: And both fore-vangs tied off: Now for the after yard. I added the crewmen hauling up the yard: Unfortunately the rope they're all holding just couldn't be a straight line due to the one of the guys standing on the hatch cover. In the real world they would have adjusted their grip to allow for that. Not so easy with carved figures . . . However, it's a small issue and I'm not going to bother about it. I know about it, and now you do as well - but I doubt anyone else will ever notice . . . Here all the ropes for the yard are loose - bosun very unhappy. So I put the fellow in yellow to work, holding the port tack so the yard doesn't swing around as it's raised. Sorry about the picture quality. The other tack will be loose, as will the vangs, as the yard is in the process of being raised. Now I'm trying to work out how to produce a natural catenary curve in the loose ropes. Cotton thread is "springy" and doesn't naturally fall into such a curve. I'm experimenting with wetting the thread and with soaking it with a weak solution of PVA (white) glue. But if anyone can make suggestions or has been in the same position I'd be grateful for advice.
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Problems with a medieval bipod mast
Louie da fly replied to Brinkman's topic in Masting, rigging and sails
Yes, sheer legs. But regarding the fixing of the yard - perhaps a vertical "topmast" above the bipod? Then the parrel could swivel without hindrance. Otherwise it might be possible to have some kind of adjustable truss which could be loosened every time you tacked - somewhat like this one marked trozza (used on a lateen sail), but allowing for the bipod? Might be completely impractical, but it's a thought. The other thing would be to look at how the yard was held on Egyptian ships, if it's known. Unfortunately Sceatha's magnificent Byblos ship has the mast lowered and no yard fitted, or you might be able to get some ideas from his. However, on page 1 of his log there's a picture of a ship with the yard fitted, and it seems to be perched on the very top of the bipod, where the legs come together. -
That's a much more interesting name than the English one - just boring "mast cap". The Italians, on the other hand, call it a testa di moro - "Moor's head". But we make up for it with deadeyes - because they look a bit like a skull. The French call them caps de mouton - sheep's caps (unless it's an old name incorporating the Latin capitum - "head". Somehow sheep's head sounds more poetic.
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Thanks for the info.I use white glue as well, and I've just tried the water on q-tip method. Seems to work well. That's beautiful clean work, by the way.
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Very nice. Looking forward to seeing he rigging in place. But should you also be looking at having mediaeval pyrate figures (such as Eustace the Monk ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eustace_the_Monk ) or Roger de Flor ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_de_Flor ) rather than 18th century? Or am I being too picky?
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