Louie da fly

I think I've found evidence to support your crew's choice of clothing . . . 
 

 
Steven

For the foremast I realised there just wasn't enough room on the forecastle for the knight and a capstan - so I've cut a hole in the forecastle deck to lead the ties down to a supposed knight and capstan conveniently hidden belowdecks.
 

 
Then the problem was to lead those ties down and fix their ends belowdecks. So, I led the ties as a loop through the hole in the forecastle deck and made a wire hook to grab the loop and pull it out through the "doorway" at the break of the forecastle. I got the inspiration for this method from C.S. Forester's  Lieutenant Hornblower (where a gunner uses it to repair an unbushed cannon).
 

 

 
 
And then I put a bit of wood through the loop and glued it in place.
 

 
Then slid the piece of wood through the "doorway" and glued it in place on the inner deck.
 
Next I put cheeks with sheaves on the foremast and threaded the ties through them.
 
 
 
Needs a bit of tidying up. You can see the hole in the mast where I'd originally intended to put a single tie - until I did some reading and realised they were always double. A bit of filler will fix that.
 
And I've been working on the stand. Not finished yet, but well on the way.
 

 
Dry fitted.
 

 
Steven
 
 
 
 

Druxey, thanks for the possible explanations. 
 
It felt like I'd been working on this project since before Covid, but I just looked and I'd started it just about a year ago. So, thanks! I'll blame it on "Covid Lockdown Brain", though advancing years may actually be the true culprit. 
 
Anyway, I just came out of quarantine, which I had gone into due a client I saw recently having gotten sick, then diagnosed Covid positive(!). Fortunately, their symptoms have been mild and I've come through testing negative. So, all is sort of well.
 
Gave me more time to deal with ship modeling projects. 
 
Only problem is that the weather here has been gorgeous, and my cat is seriously distracting me with her shows of "cuteness".
 

 

 

For the foremast I realised there just wasn't enough room on the forecastle for the knight and a capstan - so I've cut a hole in the forecastle deck to lead the ties down to a supposed knight and capstan conveniently hidden belowdecks.
 

 
Then the problem was to lead those ties down and fix their ends belowdecks. So, I led the ties as a loop through the hole in the forecastle deck and made a wire hook to grab the loop and pull it out through the "doorway" at the break of the forecastle. I got the inspiration for this method from C.S. Forester's  Lieutenant Hornblower (where a gunner uses it to repair an unbushed cannon).
 

 

 
 
And then I put a bit of wood through the loop and glued it in place.
 

 
Then slid the piece of wood through the "doorway" and glued it in place on the inner deck.
 
Next I put cheeks with sheaves on the foremast and threaded the ties through them.
 
 
 
Needs a bit of tidying up. You can see the hole in the mast where I'd originally intended to put a single tie - until I did some reading and realised they were always double. A bit of filler will fix that.
 
And I've been working on the stand. Not finished yet, but well on the way.
 

 
Dry fitted.
 

 
Steven
 
 
 
 

That should make it very secure, Dick, and your take on it seems very logical.
 
Steven

For the foremast I realised there just wasn't enough room on the forecastle for the knight and a capstan - so I've cut a hole in the forecastle deck to lead the ties down to a supposed knight and capstan conveniently hidden belowdecks.
 

 
Then the problem was to lead those ties down and fix their ends belowdecks. So, I led the ties as a loop through the hole in the forecastle deck and made a wire hook to grab the loop and pull it out through the "doorway" at the break of the forecastle. I got the inspiration for this method from C.S. Forester's  Lieutenant Hornblower (where a gunner uses it to repair an unbushed cannon).
 

 

 
 
And then I put a bit of wood through the loop and glued it in place.
 

 
Then slid the piece of wood through the "doorway" and glued it in place on the inner deck.
 
Next I put cheeks with sheaves on the foremast and threaded the ties through them.
 
 
 
Needs a bit of tidying up. You can see the hole in the mast where I'd originally intended to put a single tie - until I did some reading and realised they were always double. A bit of filler will fix that.
 
And I've been working on the stand. Not finished yet, but well on the way.
 

 
Dry fitted.
 

 
Steven
 
 
 
 

That's pretty much what Woodrat decided to do with the mast on his Frumious Hulc.
 
Steven

I think I've found evidence to support your crew's choice of clothing . . . 
 

 
Steven

For the foremast I realised there just wasn't enough room on the forecastle for the knight and a capstan - so I've cut a hole in the forecastle deck to lead the ties down to a supposed knight and capstan conveniently hidden belowdecks.
 

 
Then the problem was to lead those ties down and fix their ends belowdecks. So, I led the ties as a loop through the hole in the forecastle deck and made a wire hook to grab the loop and pull it out through the "doorway" at the break of the forecastle. I got the inspiration for this method from C.S. Forester's  Lieutenant Hornblower (where a gunner uses it to repair an unbushed cannon).
 

 

 
 
And then I put a bit of wood through the loop and glued it in place.
 

 
Then slid the piece of wood through the "doorway" and glued it in place on the inner deck.
 
Next I put cheeks with sheaves on the foremast and threaded the ties through them.
 
 
 
Needs a bit of tidying up. You can see the hole in the mast where I'd originally intended to put a single tie - until I did some reading and realised they were always double. A bit of filler will fix that.
 
And I've been working on the stand. Not finished yet, but well on the way.
 

 
Dry fitted.
 

 
Steven
 
 
 
 

For the foremast I realised there just wasn't enough room on the forecastle for the knight and a capstan - so I've cut a hole in the forecastle deck to lead the ties down to a supposed knight and capstan conveniently hidden belowdecks.
 

 
Then the problem was to lead those ties down and fix their ends belowdecks. So, I led the ties as a loop through the hole in the forecastle deck and made a wire hook to grab the loop and pull it out through the "doorway" at the break of the forecastle. I got the inspiration for this method from C.S. Forester's  Lieutenant Hornblower (where a gunner uses it to repair an unbushed cannon).
 

 

 
 
And then I put a bit of wood through the loop and glued it in place.
 

 
Then slid the piece of wood through the "doorway" and glued it in place on the inner deck.
 
Next I put cheeks with sheaves on the foremast and threaded the ties through them.
 
 
 
Needs a bit of tidying up. You can see the hole in the mast where I'd originally intended to put a single tie - until I did some reading and realised they were always double. A bit of filler will fix that.
 
And I've been working on the stand. Not finished yet, but well on the way.
 

 
Dry fitted.
 

 
Steven
 
 
 
 

I think I've found evidence to support your crew's choice of clothing . . . 
 

 
Steven

For the foremast I realised there just wasn't enough room on the forecastle for the knight and a capstan - so I've cut a hole in the forecastle deck to lead the ties down to a supposed knight and capstan conveniently hidden belowdecks.
 

 
Then the problem was to lead those ties down and fix their ends belowdecks. So, I led the ties as a loop through the hole in the forecastle deck and made a wire hook to grab the loop and pull it out through the "doorway" at the break of the forecastle. I got the inspiration for this method from C.S. Forester's  Lieutenant Hornblower (where a gunner uses it to repair an unbushed cannon).
 

 

 
 
And then I put a bit of wood through the loop and glued it in place.
 

 
Then slid the piece of wood through the "doorway" and glued it in place on the inner deck.
 
Next I put cheeks with sheaves on the foremast and threaded the ties through them.
 
 
 
Needs a bit of tidying up. You can see the hole in the mast where I'd originally intended to put a single tie - until I did some reading and realised they were always double. A bit of filler will fix that.
 
And I've been working on the stand. Not finished yet, but well on the way.
 

 
Dry fitted.
 

 
Steven
 
 
 
 

For the foremast I realised there just wasn't enough room on the forecastle for the knight and a capstan - so I've cut a hole in the forecastle deck to lead the ties down to a supposed knight and capstan conveniently hidden belowdecks.
 

 
Then the problem was to lead those ties down and fix their ends belowdecks. So, I led the ties as a loop through the hole in the forecastle deck and made a wire hook to grab the loop and pull it out through the "doorway" at the break of the forecastle. I got the inspiration for this method from C.S. Forester's  Lieutenant Hornblower (where a gunner uses it to repair an unbushed cannon).
 

 

 
 
And then I put a bit of wood through the loop and glued it in place.
 

 
Then slid the piece of wood through the "doorway" and glued it in place on the inner deck.
 
Next I put cheeks with sheaves on the foremast and threaded the ties through them.
 
 
 
Needs a bit of tidying up. You can see the hole in the mast where I'd originally intended to put a single tie - until I did some reading and realised they were always double. A bit of filler will fix that.
 
And I've been working on the stand. Not finished yet, but well on the way.
 

 
Dry fitted.
 

 
Steven
 
 
 
 

For the foremast I realised there just wasn't enough room on the forecastle for the knight and a capstan - so I've cut a hole in the forecastle deck to lead the ties down to a supposed knight and capstan conveniently hidden belowdecks.
 

 
Then the problem was to lead those ties down and fix their ends belowdecks. So, I led the ties as a loop through the hole in the forecastle deck and made a wire hook to grab the loop and pull it out through the "doorway" at the break of the forecastle. I got the inspiration for this method from C.S. Forester's  Lieutenant Hornblower (where a gunner uses it to repair an unbushed cannon).
 

 

 
 
And then I put a bit of wood through the loop and glued it in place.
 

 
Then slid the piece of wood through the "doorway" and glued it in place on the inner deck.
 
Next I put cheeks with sheaves on the foremast and threaded the ties through them.
 
 
 
Needs a bit of tidying up. You can see the hole in the mast where I'd originally intended to put a single tie - until I did some reading and realised they were always double. A bit of filler will fix that.
 
And I've been working on the stand. Not finished yet, but well on the way.
 

 
Dry fitted.
 

 
Steven
 
 
 
 

I think I've found evidence to support your crew's choice of clothing . . . 
 

 
Steven

I've been doing some more fiddly things. Funny, my list of things to do seems to expand - even as I'm crossing items off it more suggest themselves to me.
 
I had to dye some thicker thread for the halyards etc to match the thin cotton I'm using for the lanyards - a mix of brown, tan and green fabric dye. I've wrapped a length of the thicker thread around the reel of the thinner thread. I'm pretty happy with the colour match
 

 
And I decided the knight needed four sheaves instead of three, as the Lomellina (the ship I copied the knight from) was quite a bit smaller than the Great Harry. I followed the outline in The Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast. Though it deals with ships of maybe 100 years later, a lot of things seem to have already been in use considerably earlier. And also Wolfram zu Modfeld's Historic Ship Models.
 
   
 
 

 
Here is the knight and the "ramshead" block that goes with it.
 
 
          
 
 
And I added cheeks with hounds (sheaves) to the mainmast for the halyard ties.   
 
        
 
 
Again I'm in a bit of a quandary. The idea was to keep the restoration as close as possible to the original model, but as I hadn't bothered myself with the halyards it had no cheeks or hounds on the masts - in fact it didn't even have crosstrees and trestletrees to support the tops. And rather than being looped around the top of the mast, the tops of the shrouds were just glued to the sides of the mast.
 
So to put halyards on, I needed to make the ties and cheeks and hounds. And to add the cheeks I had to remove the shrouds that were already in place and I'll have to re-glue them in position - to the sides of the new cheeks.  I've stopped short of adding trestletrees and crosstrees - otherwise it just gets too far away from the original.
 
And here's the railing for the foretop, made out of a thin sliver of wood curved in a circle around the lid of a plastic bottle. I'll be putting it on in due course.
 

I came to think on another reason why the original ship might not have needed to worry about replacing the keelson due to wear from the halyard. On the reconstruction we are not using natural hemp fibers. Instead we us rope of hemp imitation, probably of polyester. This material is probably much harder than real hempen rope and cause much more wear on the wood.

About raising and lowering the mast. My understanding is that it was done like the midsummers pole, put the lower end towards the stop and then walk under it successively raising it. Like in this picture. It's the same procedure described for my 19th century boat as well.

Remember the figures I made in CAD back in december? My friend had problems with printing them and I couldn't think about it during the move but last week I sent them to a company and now they came back. And were better then I could have hoped for!
 


The guy on the fore deck is sounding, here just shown holding a thread.
 
And I think the bailer and bucket look pretty correct in scale

 
Lets see if I can dress them now...

As there seems to be some discussion around nordic mast-steps, here is my take on it. The mast foot is introduced into the step slot at an angle then raised upright between the guides. The lower part of the mast abuts the vertical branch of the keelson. A rectangular timber is inserted behind the mast and wedged in place to hold and lock the mast . The mast is then lashed to the upper beam.
 

 

 

 

 

 
Cheerio
Dick
 
 

After looking in on Chuck Seiler's Wütender Hund builds in card and wood, I'm inspired to get my own cog project completed.
 
 
But, I had one of those bewildering moments today regarding this project that's making me question my sanity...
 
You might have noticed that there is still a big opening in the center of the deck. Way back in the build, around the time the deck was laid, there was supposed to be a coaming put in place around this opening, just forward of the mast. 
 

 
Now, I skipped this step for a long time because I was sure I made the coaming and misplaced it. I finally figured I must have accidentally put it into a stack of things to throw out. 🤨
 
For the longest time, I had resigned myself to the idea that I'd have to make a new coaming from scratch.
 
So, today, I was back to working on the model, which is pretty close to completion, so the number of parts remaining on the sheets is dwindling. Then, I noticed some parts on the sheets that seemed curious. I looked for them in the instructions and, lo and behold, here were the parts for the hatch coaming!
 
It seems that I never actually did construct it. My recollection was completely wrong. I can't imagine how I could have ever thought I'd lost something I never built. Apparently, I'm losing my mind!
 
 
Well, I finally put the parts together, and now have a completed hatch coaming on deck. 
 

 

 

 
I don't think I've recovered my sanity, and I may not any time soon, but at least my model is one step closer to completion.
 
 
 
 

I've been doing some more fiddly things. Funny, my list of things to do seems to expand - even as I'm crossing items off it more suggest themselves to me.
 
I had to dye some thicker thread for the halyards etc to match the thin cotton I'm using for the lanyards - a mix of brown, tan and green fabric dye. I've wrapped a length of the thicker thread around the reel of the thinner thread. I'm pretty happy with the colour match
 

 
And I decided the knight needed four sheaves instead of three, as the Lomellina (the ship I copied the knight from) was quite a bit smaller than the Great Harry. I followed the outline in The Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast. Though it deals with ships of maybe 100 years later, a lot of things seem to have already been in use considerably earlier. And also Wolfram zu Modfeld's Historic Ship Models.
 
   
 
 

 
Here is the knight and the "ramshead" block that goes with it.
 
 
          
 
 
And I added cheeks with hounds (sheaves) to the mainmast for the halyard ties.   
 
        
 
 
Again I'm in a bit of a quandary. The idea was to keep the restoration as close as possible to the original model, but as I hadn't bothered myself with the halyards it had no cheeks or hounds on the masts - in fact it didn't even have crosstrees and trestletrees to support the tops. And rather than being looped around the top of the mast, the tops of the shrouds were just glued to the sides of the mast.
 
So to put halyards on, I needed to make the ties and cheeks and hounds. And to add the cheeks I had to remove the shrouds that were already in place and I'll have to re-glue them in position - to the sides of the new cheeks.  I've stopped short of adding trestletrees and crosstrees - otherwise it just gets too far away from the original.
 
And here's the railing for the foretop, made out of a thin sliver of wood curved in a circle around the lid of a plastic bottle. I'll be putting it on in due course.
 

I've been doing some more fiddly things. Funny, my list of things to do seems to expand - even as I'm crossing items off it more suggest themselves to me.
 
I had to dye some thicker thread for the halyards etc to match the thin cotton I'm using for the lanyards - a mix of brown, tan and green fabric dye. I've wrapped a length of the thicker thread around the reel of the thinner thread. I'm pretty happy with the colour match
 

 
And I decided the knight needed four sheaves instead of three, as the Lomellina (the ship I copied the knight from) was quite a bit smaller than the Great Harry. I followed the outline in The Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast. Though it deals with ships of maybe 100 years later, a lot of things seem to have already been in use considerably earlier. And also Wolfram zu Modfeld's Historic Ship Models.
 
   
 
 

 
Here is the knight and the "ramshead" block that goes with it.
 
 
          
 
 
And I added cheeks with hounds (sheaves) to the mainmast for the halyard ties.   
 
        
 
 
Again I'm in a bit of a quandary. The idea was to keep the restoration as close as possible to the original model, but as I hadn't bothered myself with the halyards it had no cheeks or hounds on the masts - in fact it didn't even have crosstrees and trestletrees to support the tops. And rather than being looped around the top of the mast, the tops of the shrouds were just glued to the sides of the mast.
 
So to put halyards on, I needed to make the ties and cheeks and hounds. And to add the cheeks I had to remove the shrouds that were already in place and I'll have to re-glue them in position - to the sides of the new cheeks.  I've stopped short of adding trestletrees and crosstrees - otherwise it just gets too far away from the original.
 
And here's the railing for the foretop, made out of a thin sliver of wood curved in a circle around the lid of a plastic bottle. I'll be putting it on in due course.
 

I've been doing some more fiddly things. Funny, my list of things to do seems to expand - even as I'm crossing items off it more suggest themselves to me.
 
I had to dye some thicker thread for the halyards etc to match the thin cotton I'm using for the lanyards - a mix of brown, tan and green fabric dye. I've wrapped a length of the thicker thread around the reel of the thinner thread. I'm pretty happy with the colour match
 

 
And I decided the knight needed four sheaves instead of three, as the Lomellina (the ship I copied the knight from) was quite a bit smaller than the Great Harry. I followed the outline in The Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast. Though it deals with ships of maybe 100 years later, a lot of things seem to have already been in use considerably earlier. And also Wolfram zu Modfeld's Historic Ship Models.
 
   
 
 

 
Here is the knight and the "ramshead" block that goes with it.
 
 
          
 
 
And I added cheeks with hounds (sheaves) to the mainmast for the halyard ties.   
 
        
 
 
Again I'm in a bit of a quandary. The idea was to keep the restoration as close as possible to the original model, but as I hadn't bothered myself with the halyards it had no cheeks or hounds on the masts - in fact it didn't even have crosstrees and trestletrees to support the tops. And rather than being looped around the top of the mast, the tops of the shrouds were just glued to the sides of the mast.
 
So to put halyards on, I needed to make the ties and cheeks and hounds. And to add the cheeks I had to remove the shrouds that were already in place and I'll have to re-glue them in position - to the sides of the new cheeks.  I've stopped short of adding trestletrees and crosstrees - otherwise it just gets too far away from the original.
 
And here's the railing for the foretop, made out of a thin sliver of wood curved in a circle around the lid of a plastic bottle. I'll be putting it on in due course.
 

I used a hand drill and a mini-hacksaw, sawing gently back and forth.
 
https://modelshipworld.com/topic/12426-henry-grace-a-dieu-great-harry-by-louie-da-fly-scale-1200-repaired-after-over-50-yrs-of-neglect/page/4/
 
 
The first results were a bit rough but as I got more practice "I got better" (like John Cleese after being turned into a newt).