Louie da fly

Current state of play:

A new pair of blocks on the stay for the two maintopsail bowlines (the pegs are just weights, to tension it all till the glue dries)

And with the bowlines in place:

And just below the top you can see the two-sheaved block the bowlines run through to the deck.

I realised I'd misinterpreted Anderson's book for the topgallant sheets. In fact, they double as topsail lifts; there are only separate lifts on the topgallant yard. So I had to undo the sheets and add a new pair of blocks just below the topmast top to take the sheets/lifts, and run them through those. 

Unfortunately, I'd made the same mistake on the foretopsail sheets (though I'd added the extra blocks, I hadn't run the sheets/lifts through them).

But it would now be much too difficult to correct, so I'm going to leave it as-is, as a reminder to make sure I've really understood the instructions.
 
Steven
 
 

More rigging; now I've got the main topsail in place. I had quite a bit of trouble getting the original "parrel truck" (really made out of cotton thread) to fit back onto the mast - it got all mutant on me for a while and I had to pretty much force it into the right shape - not really what I wanted to do. But eventually it worked and I was free to start rigging.
 
First, the topgallant sheets now had a spar to hold them (sorry about the photo quality). The sheets run through a block on each topsail yardarm

then along the yard to a block near the mast

And down to the bitts

Then - disaster! I snapped the larboard topsail yard (they're VERY thin!) and at the same time the block for the clewline pulled away from the sail. Then the sheet pulled away from the sail as well. This photo was taken the next day; I'd already mended the yardarm with CA, but still had to fix the clewline block back in place - you can see the dislocated block in the top right of the red rectangle.
 
This took far longer than I'd expected - several failed attempts before I got it right. Here's the repaired assembly, roughed out:

And trimmed:

and I've added brace pendants for the topsails
 

A match to show how very thin the yards are - very easy to snap.

And the brace pendant on the starboard side (a bit blurry, sorry):

And trimmed to length:

And I've now started adding a two-sheaved block to the foremast to take the topsail bowlines. A lot of swearing at this point - I was trying to get the strop around the foremast past all the ropes that were already there. Absolute murder, and I finally gave up and just looped a length of cotton thread around the mast (not very visible I'm afraid - all you can see are the loose ends):

And added the block to the loop (in the centre of the red rectangle, just above the parrel truck)

Adding blocks to the mizzen shrouds to take the main topsail braces:
 
  
And trimmed off.
 

Lots of fiddly stuff. But slowly getting there.
 
Steven
  
 
 
 

Thanks, mate. But I have space limitations. Never going to do 1:200 again, but I've done 1:50 and 1:75, and I'll probably keep on with 1:75 as my "default" scale. And of course, if all the models are to the same scale you can compare them.
 
Steven
 

Here's the mainsail with the bowlines added (I had to pull them out sideways so they'd be visible).

And far too late I realised I needed knights for the mizzen and bonaventure mizzen lateen halyards. I had to somehow drill holes in the deck past all the shrouds and other rigging.

Here are the knights dry fitted. I'll need to run the lanyards through them before I glue them in place. It won't be feasible afterwards.


But I have no idea how I'm going to do the halyards for the  lateen topsails. And Anderson's The Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast, for a change, is no help at all. I'm sure I'll figure something out.
 
Steven

The site I got these pictures from interpreted the two figures as Adam and Eve, and I got the impression that this is the academically accepted interpretation (though that doesn't by any means prove it!)
 
Steven

I found this on Facebook.
 
"Stillingfleet. Yorkshire. The church is Norman. The ironwork hinges and decoration on the south door date to much earlier, probably to the middle of the 10th century when York formed part of a Viking kingdom. That would mean that either there was a church here several centuries earlier than was thought, or, more likely, that the door was brought here from elsewhere."
 
  

The ship appears to be incomplete - by rights it should have an upcurving bow similar to the stern, but it's presumably been lost over the centuries.
 
Steven

I found this on Facebook.
 
"Stillingfleet. Yorkshire. The church is Norman. The ironwork hinges and decoration on the south door date to much earlier, probably to the middle of the 10th century when York formed part of a Viking kingdom. That would mean that either there was a church here several centuries earlier than was thought, or, more likely, that the door was brought here from elsewhere."
 
  

The ship appears to be incomplete - by rights it should have an upcurving bow similar to the stern, but it's presumably been lost over the centuries.
 
Steven

Here's the mainsail with the bowlines added (I had to pull them out sideways so they'd be visible).

And far too late I realised I needed knights for the mizzen and bonaventure mizzen lateen halyards. I had to somehow drill holes in the deck past all the shrouds and other rigging.

Here are the knights dry fitted. I'll need to run the lanyards through them before I glue them in place. It won't be feasible afterwards.


But I have no idea how I'm going to do the halyards for the  lateen topsails. And Anderson's The Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast, for a change, is no help at all. I'm sure I'll figure something out.
 
Steven

Here's the mainsail with the bowlines added (I had to pull them out sideways so they'd be visible).

And far too late I realised I needed knights for the mizzen and bonaventure mizzen lateen halyards. I had to somehow drill holes in the deck past all the shrouds and other rigging.

Here are the knights dry fitted. I'll need to run the lanyards through them before I glue them in place. It won't be feasible afterwards.


But I have no idea how I'm going to do the halyards for the  lateen topsails. And Anderson's The Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast, for a change, is no help at all. I'm sure I'll figure something out.
 
Steven

Here's the mainsail with the bowlines added (I had to pull them out sideways so they'd be visible).

And far too late I realised I needed knights for the mizzen and bonaventure mizzen lateen halyards. I had to somehow drill holes in the deck past all the shrouds and other rigging.

Here are the knights dry fitted. I'll need to run the lanyards through them before I glue them in place. It won't be feasible afterwards.


But I have no idea how I'm going to do the halyards for the  lateen topsails. And Anderson's The Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast, for a change, is no help at all. I'm sure I'll figure something out.
 
Steven

Here's the mainsail with the bowlines added (I had to pull them out sideways so they'd be visible).

And far too late I realised I needed knights for the mizzen and bonaventure mizzen lateen halyards. I had to somehow drill holes in the deck past all the shrouds and other rigging.

Here are the knights dry fitted. I'll need to run the lanyards through them before I glue them in place. It won't be feasible afterwards.


But I have no idea how I'm going to do the halyards for the  lateen topsails. And Anderson's The Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast, for a change, is no help at all. I'm sure I'll figure something out.
 
Steven

I found this on Facebook.
 
"Stillingfleet. Yorkshire. The church is Norman. The ironwork hinges and decoration on the south door date to much earlier, probably to the middle of the 10th century when York formed part of a Viking kingdom. That would mean that either there was a church here several centuries earlier than was thought, or, more likely, that the door was brought here from elsewhere."
 
  

The ship appears to be incomplete - by rights it should have an upcurving bow similar to the stern, but it's presumably been lost over the centuries.
 
Steven

The site I got these pictures from interpreted the two figures as Adam and Eve, and I got the impression that this is the academically accepted interpretation (though that doesn't by any means prove it!)
 
Steven

Here's the mainsail with the bowlines added (I had to pull them out sideways so they'd be visible).

And far too late I realised I needed knights for the mizzen and bonaventure mizzen lateen halyards. I had to somehow drill holes in the deck past all the shrouds and other rigging.

Here are the knights dry fitted. I'll need to run the lanyards through them before I glue them in place. It won't be feasible afterwards.


But I have no idea how I'm going to do the halyards for the  lateen topsails. And Anderson's The Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast, for a change, is no help at all. I'm sure I'll figure something out.
 
Steven

Here's the mainsail with the bowlines added (I had to pull them out sideways so they'd be visible).

And far too late I realised I needed knights for the mizzen and bonaventure mizzen lateen halyards. I had to somehow drill holes in the deck past all the shrouds and other rigging.

Here are the knights dry fitted. I'll need to run the lanyards through them before I glue them in place. It won't be feasible afterwards.


But I have no idea how I'm going to do the halyards for the  lateen topsails. And Anderson's The Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast, for a change, is no help at all. I'm sure I'll figure something out.
 
Steven

Making fiddle blocks for the mainsail martnet tackles.
 
Holes drilled in blank

Cut to shape

Glued and clamped after it split  Note the tiny plastic pegs (available from craft shops)

And with tackle going through both holes (temporary - just to demonstrate).


 
Steven

Luckily there's no history of Christians reinterpreting pagan imagery to suit their narrative.

Yep. 
 

 
Steven

Hi Dick,
 
I just came across these articles, which may have some bearing on your build - https://medium.com/the-bronze-age/the-ships-of-the-sea-peoples-part-1-994249af5304 , https://medium.com/the-bronze-age/the-ships-of-the-sea-peoples-part-2-2bed75f8e05c
 
I realise these are just someone's interpretations of the original, but I hope they are of some use to you.
 
Steven

The site I got these pictures from interpreted the two figures as Adam and Eve, and I got the impression that this is the academically accepted interpretation (though that doesn't by any means prove it!)
 
Steven

I found this on Facebook.
 
"Stillingfleet. Yorkshire. The church is Norman. The ironwork hinges and decoration on the south door date to much earlier, probably to the middle of the 10th century when York formed part of a Viking kingdom. That would mean that either there was a church here several centuries earlier than was thought, or, more likely, that the door was brought here from elsewhere."
 
  

The ship appears to be incomplete - by rights it should have an upcurving bow similar to the stern, but it's presumably been lost over the centuries.
 
Steven

I found this on Facebook.
 
"Stillingfleet. Yorkshire. The church is Norman. The ironwork hinges and decoration on the south door date to much earlier, probably to the middle of the 10th century when York formed part of a Viking kingdom. That would mean that either there was a church here several centuries earlier than was thought, or, more likely, that the door was brought here from elsewhere."
 
  

The ship appears to be incomplete - by rights it should have an upcurving bow similar to the stern, but it's presumably been lost over the centuries.
 
Steven

I found this on Facebook.
 
"Stillingfleet. Yorkshire. The church is Norman. The ironwork hinges and decoration on the south door date to much earlier, probably to the middle of the 10th century when York formed part of a Viking kingdom. That would mean that either there was a church here several centuries earlier than was thought, or, more likely, that the door was brought here from elsewhere."
 
  

The ship appears to be incomplete - by rights it should have an upcurving bow similar to the stern, but it's presumably been lost over the centuries.
 
Steven

I found this on Facebook.
 
"Stillingfleet. Yorkshire. The church is Norman. The ironwork hinges and decoration on the south door date to much earlier, probably to the middle of the 10th century when York formed part of a Viking kingdom. That would mean that either there was a church here several centuries earlier than was thought, or, more likely, that the door was brought here from elsewhere."
 
  

The ship appears to be incomplete - by rights it should have an upcurving bow similar to the stern, but it's presumably been lost over the centuries.
 
Steven

I found this on Facebook.
 
"Stillingfleet. Yorkshire. The church is Norman. The ironwork hinges and decoration on the south door date to much earlier, probably to the middle of the 10th century when York formed part of a Viking kingdom. That would mean that either there was a church here several centuries earlier than was thought, or, more likely, that the door was brought here from elsewhere."
 
  

The ship appears to be incomplete - by rights it should have an upcurving bow similar to the stern, but it's presumably been lost over the centuries.
 
Steven