el cid

I think some of the old movies (e.g., Mutiny on the Bounty) show sailors scrambling up to the top.  Makes me queasy just thinking about it.
 
Cheers,
 
Keith

Details:  Main traveler,base for winch, leads for control lines and digital repeater for GPS, wind speed and direction, etc.
 

Base for traveler.  Winch made from styrene tube and sheet.
 

Running control lines.
 

Rigging traveler.
 

Control lines with jam cleats.
 

Self tailing winch.
 

Spinnaker sheet cheek blocks
 

Wire (rod) rigging.  Adjustment below deck.  Used 24 G soft wire requiring practicing my soldering technique.  Also, I threw out the mast and boom supplied with the kit (square with the slot off center) replacing them with dowels, tapered and using styrene 1/4 round for the sail slot.
 

 

Spinnaker sheets and launching chute.  Also, base for self furling jib with roller control below deck.
 

Tiller with hiking extension arm.

Per,  The Dragon has been around for almost 90 years, but I still think of it as a "modern" classic. Does that mean that I'm getting old? 
Popeye,  Why did I think that you would pick up on the random coloring of the lines?  A good observer.  Actually, the control lines are not port and starboard and not mainly for the jib.  I didn't list them for fear of offering  more information than the reader wanted. BUT SINCE YOU PICKED UP ON IT...................
 
The control lines would be:
1.   Main halyard
2.   Main outhaul
3.   Main downhaul
4.   Boom vang
5.   Jib halyard
6.   Roller furling jib stay
7.   Spinnaker halyard
8.   Spinnaker chute open
9.   Spinnaker chute close
10.  Spinnaker cage to douse the spinnaker
 
The main sheet goes to the traveler.  Jib sheets go to the block on the jib track and then to the winch. Spinnaker sheets go to the aft cheek blocks and then to the cockpit.
 
I may be a bit too detail oriented, but it's still fun.
Cheers, Gil
 

Climbing in the rig is exhilarating! Its the best part about traditional sailing, in my opinion. Nearly EVERY modern ship has mandatory safety harness wearing policies and these will have a three foot long lanyard with a double locking snap hook or caribiner on its end which the climber can quickly and easily clip onto any convenient bit of standing rigging. Typically when going over the futtocks a climber pauses and clips in to a spot above their heads then climbs up with the secure knowledge that if they fall the harness will save them. The problem is that the larger the ship, the greater the distance you must cover. On a smaller ship one may stand at the highest ratline and be able to reach the top with your hand. On big ships you can't and must commit to climbing the futtocks WITHOUT being able to hold onto anything above the level of the top. This is disconcerting. And in situations like this, your safety lanyard becomes paradoxically dangerous since you want to clip into the futtocks, but as you climb up to this point you now are obliged to unclip and reposition your safety lanyard to a higher spot. This makes you more vulnerable than if you had not clipped on in the first place since now you're hanging on one-handed while you re-clip. To deal with this many modern ships have a dedicated safety line running from above the top down to the highest ratline level. Clipping into this allows you to use both hands for the climb but if you do fall, you fall the full length of the safety line + landyard length before you fetch up. I saw this happen to a guy once.

I crewed on this vessel.  Let me tell you, the first few times going up the rig are breath taking.  I got used to it.  And remember, the rig is moving around even more than the ship.  Doing the same at night with a star filled sky...PRICELESS!

Well right or wrong here is the halyard and tackle belayed to itself.  Oh the magic we do with CA glue
 

 

 
 
 
 

I think people are confused about what Frapping is and what it's intended to do. It's NOT a method of using up extra line. It's a method of drawing two tight lines together and making them both tighter, tighter than mere manpower alone could make them. The configuration of lines on the French guns in the photos is NOT a haphazard unseamanlike jumble, it's a clever calculated method of providing a secure hold on the guns.
Here are two drawings illustrating the concept-the First is a simplified schematic showing the concept at work: two legs of a tackle lying between the two blocks are taken up on and made as tight as can be managed through muscle power alone. When the Frapp goes on it pulls the two legs together and this increases the power of the purchas the blocks are providing. More frapping turns put on serve to draw the two legs even closer together, creating tremendous force on the two legs, which were already tight to begin with. The second illustration shows the training tackle on the French guns, the Frapping Turn is going around the near training tackle, over the gun to the far training tackle, then back again, drawing the legs of the training tackle together and thus increasing the strain of the carriage  against the bulwark eyebolts, making the gun more secure than muscle power alone could have madde it.. More Fraps ( not illustrated in the drawing but plainly visible in all the above photos) go around the two legs of the breaching rope. Since the breaching rope was kinda slack to begin with, a lot of Fraps are put around the two legs of this line and you can see them in a row across the top of each gun. 

Hey Mike,
 
Are you familiar with the crew manual at Brig Niagara website (http://ssvniagara.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/niagara-crew-handbook.pdf)?  On page 45 it provides a belaying diagram that shows the topgallant halyard (I think that's what your diagram is describing) belayed to a pinrail on the starboard side.  Don't know which source should be judged most definative, but perhaps an option.
 
HTH,
 
Keith 

I'm no expert on the rigging question, but considering the purpose of this line, I would think it would be cleated off on something, not half-hitched to itself.  Would it be wrong to have a cleat mounted on the mast there?  
 
Sorry I can't help resolve conclusively (but you probably won't go too astray if you think like a sailor, they were/are pretty practical).
 
Cheers,
 
Keith

Good discussion and I'll add my 2 cents re: the "flemishing" of lines when not in use.  I doubt this was common practice, except as someone mentioned, in preparation for an inspection or other ceremony when not underway.  For longer lines that needed to run cleaning and quickly, "faking" the line on deck ensures it runs without twisting or tangling, flemishes don't necessarily run out cleanly.  A longer line might also be neatly coiled on deck in what we referred to as a "birds nest."  Warships are typically kept clean and orderly and I doubt lines were left faked, coiled, or flemished on deck for significant periods of time.  Ships are very dynamic (rocking and rolling, shipping water on deck, etc) and crowded, so prudence would dictate that everything is well secured when underway.  Found the below image from a modern US Navy training manual: 

Cheers,
 
Keith

This paper back supplement to volume IV of the The Fully Framed Model Swan series is a little gem.  For those who may not see themselves building the Swan ship, but are looking for a well thought out approach to scale sails which can be displayed deployed or furled, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of this booklet.  David presents his approach, including a multi-part jig, in clear and logical steps.  The example sail he presents is square rigged sail for Swan, though one can easily employ his approach for triangular or other configurations.  I plan on using this approach on my schooner's sails - none of which are square.
 
David uses what I will refer to as mixed media as a means of achieving his scale sails, with the basic sail material being silk span.  His results are impressive, and his process appears to me that one, with a little practice, can achieve a surprisingly realistic set of scale sails.  My experience with silk span sails in the past was mixed - owing to the materials and process I had read of and employed on my Oneida brig.  While my sails would furl, I couldn't keep bolt ropes attached, I had difficulty with cringes, etc.  I had used a PVA glue/water/acrylic paint applied to the sail, and PVA glue for all of the attached strips and ropes.  [writer's note - do not follow my aforementioned materials - they will lead you to frustrating times].  David's set of materials and approach allows for clear panel lines, tablings, grommets, cringles, and reefing points.  He shows how sails present light as both front and back lit, and his approach yields a very realistic semi-transparent panels and overlaps.  At the end of the supplement he provides guidance on bending the sail to a yard, reeving details, and then how to furl the sails.  
 
Highly recommended!
 
Elia Gianopulos

I'm no expert on the rigging question, but considering the purpose of this line, I would think it would be cleated off on something, not half-hitched to itself.  Would it be wrong to have a cleat mounted on the mast there?  
 
Sorry I can't help resolve conclusively (but you probably won't go too astray if you think like a sailor, they were/are pretty practical).
 
Cheers,
 
Keith

Good discussion and I'll add my 2 cents re: the "flemishing" of lines when not in use.  I doubt this was common practice, except as someone mentioned, in preparation for an inspection or other ceremony when not underway.  For longer lines that needed to run cleaning and quickly, "faking" the line on deck ensures it runs without twisting or tangling, flemishes don't necessarily run out cleanly.  A longer line might also be neatly coiled on deck in what we referred to as a "birds nest."  Warships are typically kept clean and orderly and I doubt lines were left faked, coiled, or flemished on deck for significant periods of time.  Ships are very dynamic (rocking and rolling, shipping water on deck, etc) and crowded, so prudence would dictate that everything is well secured when underway.  Found the below image from a modern US Navy training manual: 

Cheers,
 
Keith

Good discussion and I'll add my 2 cents re: the "flemishing" of lines when not in use.  I doubt this was common practice, except as someone mentioned, in preparation for an inspection or other ceremony when not underway.  For longer lines that needed to run cleaning and quickly, "faking" the line on deck ensures it runs without twisting or tangling, flemishes don't necessarily run out cleanly.  A longer line might also be neatly coiled on deck in what we referred to as a "birds nest."  Warships are typically kept clean and orderly and I doubt lines were left faked, coiled, or flemished on deck for significant periods of time.  Ships are very dynamic (rocking and rolling, shipping water on deck, etc) and crowded, so prudence would dictate that everything is well secured when underway.  Found the below image from a modern US Navy training manual: 

Cheers,
 
Keith

Good discussion and I'll add my 2 cents re: the "flemishing" of lines when not in use.  I doubt this was common practice, except as someone mentioned, in preparation for an inspection or other ceremony when not underway.  For longer lines that needed to run cleaning and quickly, "faking" the line on deck ensures it runs without twisting or tangling, flemishes don't necessarily run out cleanly.  A longer line might also be neatly coiled on deck in what we referred to as a "birds nest."  Warships are typically kept clean and orderly and I doubt lines were left faked, coiled, or flemished on deck for significant periods of time.  Ships are very dynamic (rocking and rolling, shipping water on deck, etc) and crowded, so prudence would dictate that everything is well secured when underway.  Found the below image from a modern US Navy training manual: 

Cheers,
 
Keith

In English practice in the late 18th century the false keel was applied late in building just before launching. At that point the hull was not coppered. The ship was docked for coppering after launching and checking for any leaks. Therefore it is safe to assume that the copper was laid over the false keel, but not between it and the keel proper.

Hi Scott,
 
I'm new to NRG and wooden ship modeling, but have dabbled in plastic and resin for some time.  If you're not aware, there's another modeling site that tends to focus more on "modern" warships, primarily plastic and resin, and I've found the guys there very helpful (like NRG guys).  There's actually a specific thread there on the Queen Elizabeth class battleships:
(http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=4719)
 
If you don't get a response here, you might try asking over there.  Moderators, I trust I'm not violating forum policy by linking to another site, if so please delete and I'll refrain from doing it anymore.
 
HTH,
 
Keith 
 

OHIO STATE FAIR FINE ARTS DISPLAY

I am proud member of the Shipwrights of Central Ohio model club.  Each year, the club reserves a table at the Ohio State Fair in the Fine Arts Building, to promote ship building and to display member projects. I attended this past Friday and brought my Niagara and some rigging tools and spent the afternoon rigging the ship for interested Fair Patrons. 

We had a number of folks come through the building.  For anyone that has done something like this, the predominate comment we receive from the public is that they don’t have the patience to do something like that. However, I was lucky to attract two young boys, about 12 years old, who watched me rig the Topmast Staysail Halliard. They hung out for over a half hour. They watched me strop the block, tie it to the Main topmast stay (I should have done that before I mounted the yards) and then run the lines through the blocks and tie them off to the pin rails.

They asked a number of questions, and watched with genuine interest in the project.  I gave them some suggestions on some styrene model kits, and may get one of them to join the modeling club with his father.

I have seen many posts on how we need to get younger people interested in our hobby. I never had a good answer to that question, but now I do. Getting out and doing some “field” work may have inspired some young boys to pick up this great hobby.

If you ever get a chance to do something like this, please consider it.  It is not easy to transport a work in progress (I spent the first hour fixing the block I knocked off of the spanker boom), and it does take some time. But from experience, it is the best way to get folks interested in this hobby.  

It was great to get back to working on the Niagara. The road trip gave me some well needed inspiration to forge ahead.
 
Here are a few photos.
 

Another very cheap paint used at the time was red oxide using iron oxide mixed with a binding agent such as linseed oil.  The linseed oil would harden, providing a durable finish.  The iron oxide pigment was finely ground iron ore bearing dirt.  Before the development of UV inhibited varnishes, non-pigmented finishes could be quickly degraded by sunlight.
 
Red oxide primer, now produced in a low VOC water based form is still used as a cheap construction primer.  We used barrels of it in the pipe fabrication industry as a temporary coating for piping that would later be insulated.
 
Roger
 

Possibly for the same reason that New England barns were usually painted red: Red ochre was the least costly paint pigment to make.
 
(It was not to help cows find their way home in a Vermont snow squall, as has been given.)

The bags over the davit held "monkey lines" (at least that's what we called them in the modern USN).  They were for the safety of the boat crew as the boat was lowered or raised...gave them something to hold onto if the boat fell.
 
HTH,
 
Keith

The bags over the davit held "monkey lines" (at least that's what we called them in the modern USN).  They were for the safety of the boat crew as the boat was lowered or raised...gave them something to hold onto if the boat fell.
 
HTH,
 
Keith

The bags over the davit held "monkey lines" (at least that's what we called them in the modern USN).  They were for the safety of the boat crew as the boat was lowered or raised...gave them something to hold onto if the boat fell.
 
HTH,
 
Keith

The bags over the davit held "monkey lines" (at least that's what we called them in the modern USN).  They were for the safety of the boat crew as the boat was lowered or raised...gave them something to hold onto if the boat fell.
 
HTH,
 
Keith