shipmodel

The testing of various ways of dealing with the small fittings is now completed for the most part,
 

 
and the final model parts in scale are coming together well. That said I am contemplating the false union at the junction with the cylinder and wondering if I can actually make one that works as a real union. Cutting a thread on some 1/8th diameter is not a problem usually the standard thread in imperial being a 5x40 the only problem is that at this scale that is an extremely coarse thread.
 
The elements are now in scale and the tubing is 3/32.
 

 

 

 
I am thinking that if I can make a thread cutter that will cut say 5x80 then that would be a much better size for the union, the concern that I have is if the whole lot were soldered together then separating the cylinder from the crankcase would be problematic, because there would be too much piping hanging off the cylinder and therefore easy to damage. In making the union actually work like a union it eliminates that problem.
 
The saga continues.
 
Thanks to all who are following along and commenting, providing useful tips, and for the likes.
 
I am happy that some of the methods I am using are useful to some of you. it is the least I can do for all the knowledge I have gained from you all who share your methods and tips.
 
Michael
 
 

Hello again -
 
Thanks for the likes and comments, and a happy Christmas Eve to everyone.
 
Just a quick post about the last bit of work before I go on vacation for two weeks.
 
Since the last posting the standing rigging has been completed.  Here are two shots of the overall model with the upper standing rigging complete.  No different techniques were used, just a selection of thinner lines as the rig got higher.  The final lines, the fore t'gallant stay and the outer bobstay, are tensioned by lanyards between eyes worked into the ends of the lines.
 
1
 
1a
 
Here is a closeup of the foretop before any of the running rigging goes on.  You can see that the upper deadeyes are not in a perfect line.  I have seen similar irregularities in photographs of later, much later, working merchant sailing ships.  I do not think that pirates would have been as careful as the Royal Navy, or even the French navy, at such details, so leaving one a little shorter adds to the realism.
 
1b
 
 
The first element of the running rigging was the spritsail, the spar handling lines, a furled sail, and the sail lines.  Here is how I approached it.  The spar is simple.  A properly sized length of square maple stock was planed to an octogon.  The center section which remained octagonal was marked off, then the spar was tapered and rounded with a small plane, Dremel sanding drums, then a sheet of sandpaper glued flat to a piece of acrylic.  This procedure is exactly like that used to shape the masts in an earlier log entry, just carried forward till the spar was properly tapered.  Cleats were mounted in the center section and stop cleats glued and pinned at either end.
 
3
 
The first lines to go on were the stirrups and footropes.  Since the ship was quite small the spritsail only needed one stirrup on each side.  These were made by laying up an eye in the end, then wrapping the running end over the spar twice, leaving enough hanging down so the eye came 3 feet (1" in scale) below the top of the spar.  This would allow a sailor to stand on it and reach over to furl the sail.  An eye was siezed into the ends of the footropes sized to slip over the spar ends.  The free end of the footrope was slid through the eye in the stirrup and a small eye worked into its end.  According to Budriot the ends of the footropes were not lashed to the spar or to any of the lines circling the spar, but laced to each other.  
 
Once the lengths had been adjusted and set, and the center lashing tied, a series of small weights were used to make the stirrups and footropes  hang vertically, as if by gravity.
 
4
 
In the closeup you can see the first heavy steel clip pulls the footrope down near its seizing, while the second pulls down the stirrup.  The two smaller aluminum clamps were set on either side of the stirrup to mimic the footrope sag. 
 
5
 
 Once I liked the look the lines were painted with water to assist in the penetration of dilute white glue which was left to dry to set  the sag permanently.  
 
The various blocks and rigging fittings were added to the spar.  The first was the line for the sling.  An eye was spliced into one end which was wrapped around the spar and under the center cleat on the port side.  A round seizing secured it in place.  The running end was left free until it was time to lash the spar to the bowsprit.  It did, however, provide a way of temporarily securing the spar while various measurements were made.
 
Moving outward, the clew blocks were tied to the spar so they hung down, then the small deadeyes for the standing lift which sit on the forward face of the spar.  At the end of the spar a large single block was spliced on facing forward for the running lift, and a similar single block on a short pendant for the brace.
 
Not shown in the photo are a large single block tied to the center of the spar for the halyard, a small block in the center for the leach line, and the clew lines themselves which tie to the spar just ouboard of the clew blocks.
 
6
 
Then I turned to the sail itself.  The first choice was what to make it out of.  Working in 1/36 scale allowed me to use actual cloth rather than silkspan or other paper-based product.  I haunted fabric stores and searched the internet for the thinnest that I could find.  I found it at the New York Fashion Center.  Their Imperial Batiste measured out to 0.008" (0.288" in scale, or just over 1/4") which was acceptably thin.  As you can see in the photo, you can read through it.  Best of all, it is quite reasonably priced.
 
7
 
Now, how to shape it to a furled look.  Although most of my ideas on this topic have been developed over many years, they are succinctly stated in an article by Professor John Tilley of Texas A&M which can be found on this website at this location: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Rigging_and_Sails/ScaleSails.pdf 
 
The first idea is that a furled sail has to have less bulk than a full one, and that this has to start out as a trapezoid, because the outer ends of the furl are even less bulky than the middle.  I modified this to add two triangles of cloth that would hang down as representing the clews of the sail.  To this shape a series of panel lines were drawn on.  The outer ones were angled to lie parallel with the outer edge of the sail.
 
8
 
After that a lot of experimenting went on to get the size, layout and panel lines adjusted.  Then the edges of the sail were painted with white glue.  When dry the sail was cut out, the tabling folded and ironed, and the sail mounted on the spar.  It was soaked in clear acrylic matte finish and teased into furls that were tied with gaskets to the spar.  The teasing process continued throughout the drying process.  Where I was unhappy, water was liberally painted on the problem section to soften the cloth and the sail adjusted some more. I was so caught up in the process that I failed to take photos of my techniques, but I will do that with the fore and main courses, which will be furled in similar fashion.
 
9
 
With the sail mounted to the spar the sling was tied and siezed.  The halyad, the standing and running lifts, and the braces were tied, run through the appropriate blocks, and then to their belaying points.  Several, including the running lifts and clew lines, go through a long gammon block with six sheaves lashed to both sides of the gammoning.
 
10
 
At the belaying points, whether cleat or timberhead, the lines were secured with hitches. not knots or glue, leaving long tails for further adjustments.  Pirate Pete is supervising to make sure.
 
11
 
So here is where it is as I leave for Santa Fe.  I know that there are some items that I will have to adjust when I get back, and please, please, if you spot any that you question, let me know so I can correct them before I go too far past to easily redo.
 
12
 
My very best wishes to you all and your families.  I will see you in the New Year. 
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

Log 29 – lower standing rigging
 
Two weeks ago there were no masts or rigging set up.  The channels weren’t even on.
 
1
 
Today, with the invaluable help of JerseyCityFrankie, the lower standing rigging is done and the upper rigging well on its way.
 
2
 
Here is how it was done. 
 
First came the channels.  They are all situated in the line of the second molding, just under the blue painted bulwarks and above the gunports.  In typical fashion they are stylishly curved at each end, with a cap strip that captures the deadeye “chains”.  They are located such that the foremost deadeye lines up with the center of the mast.  In the photo you can see how I miscalculated this and the main channels had to move aft about half an inch, leaving a gap in the molding that had to be filled later.  Unlike English practice which usually had the supports under the channel, French practice at the time was for wooden knees above the platform.
 
3
 
For the lower masts, the rule of thumb is that deadeyes are half the diameter of the mast, while for upper masts they are more closely the size of the mast.  For this 17mm main mast the deadeyes are 9mm boxwood ones purchased from Model Shipways and stained.  Each hole was opened a little and a lanyard groove cut for each hole on an angle to ease the bend in the lanyard line.  In my restoration work it is almost invariably true that the rigging line fails at these sharp corners in deadeyes and blocks, so wherever possible I will be preparing the rigging fittings this way.
 
The deadeye “chains” are not the three links that are seen on later ships, but solid iron straps that are bolted through the hull at the bottom.  At the top there is a loop that hooks through a raised section of the deadeye strop.  This setup has been seen in contemporary drawings and confirmed by artifacts discovered in the excavation of La Belle, LaSalle’s ship when he explored Texas in 1674.  La Belle is a little early and about half the size of the QAR, but the rigging fittings should be similar so I have decided to go with this.  I will be taking many cues from the La Belle excavation as reported by Glenn Greico in his Master’s dissertation, available here: http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/pdf-files/Grieco-MA2003.pdf
 
My deadeye straps were made from brass strip, with a narrow section ground and bent to a hook, then chemically blackened.  They are pinned to the hull with half inch roundhead steel nails that are glued into holes that angle upward slightly to counteract what will be some pretty high stresses as the shrouds are tensioned.
 
4
 
The metal strops were formed from stiff iron wire.  (Yes, there are straps, strips, and strops.  Sorry about that, but I’ll try to keep them straight).  Here is the jig that I used.  It is for the deadeyes in the tops which have long legs to go through the top, but the principle is the same.
 
5
 
A length of wire is bent around the middle pin, which is there to keep the loop open for the later hook.  The legs pass between the pair of larger pins and are then bent out in a straight line.  A deadeye is held hard against the center point and the legs are bent by hand into the groove till they cross at the top.  Using the legs as handles the strop is spread apart until the deadeye can be popped out.  A bit of epoxy is laid into the strop groove and the deadeye is put back into the strop and rotated as needed to line up properly.  The legs of the strop are clipped short and the ends bent down into the groove with pliers.  When the epoxy dries they are ready for use.  Although the gap in the strop used to worry me, I have never had one open up.  Besides, if the stresses are that great, I would rather that the strop open up than have the entire channel pulled up.
 
With the deadeyes all strapped and stropped to the channels the rigging could begin.  I did this from aft to forward, with one exception.  The very first piece of rigging was the gammoning around the bowsprit.  This is important because all of the stresses and tensions of the standing rigging are anchored here.  You can see the way the lines cross as they wrap from aft to forward on top of the bowsprit, but from forward to aft within the gammon hole in the stem.  The gammoning is finished with a few round turns just above the grating in the head.
 
6
 
You can also see in the photo that the seat of ease has been lined with lead like the scuppers.  I would not otherwise show this feature, but the excavation of the QAR has turned one up, so it has been added.
 
7
 
Beginning with the mizzen mast the deadeyes were turned into the shrouds and given three seizings.  The shrouds were made from linen line sourced from a pool cue manufacturer who uses the line to make non-slip grips.  The line comes in unbleached white, which was dyed with RIT liquid black dye according to the package instructions. 
 
8
 
As was consistent for almost all ships of this period, whatever their origin, the deadeyes were laced with oiled line.  The lacing had to be protected from salt water, but could not be tarred since it must have been adjusted fairly often as the shrouds stretched from the strains of sailing and weather.  This has been represented with a dark brown line rather than the darker black of the tarred shrouds.
 
9   
 
At the mizzen top the shrouds are served as they go over the trestletrees and around the masthead.  Under the top are several blocks for the running rigging and for the crojack yard halyard.  The mizzen stay is served and an eye worked into the end.  A mouse is raised on the stay to form the loop that drops over the masthead and the heads of the shrouds.  The mouse is shaped with the bulbous end down, in the French fashion, so the bulb jams against the eye.  English practice is to have the tapered “tail” of the mouse slide through the eye until it has no more space to run.  I don’t know why there is this difference, or whether one or the other conveys any kind of advantage.
 
10
 
At the lower end I ran into a problem.  Although never detailed, it is clear that the mizzen stay has to set up to a collar on the main mast.  However, if the stay is centered it interferes with the ramshead block and tie for the main spar.  I decided to offset the collar to starboard with a bullseye seized into it.  A set of double blocks were seized into the lower end of the stay and the upper end of the collar, then joined with a lanyard.  The lower end of the collar is belayed to one of the large mast cleats.
 
11
 
The shrouds for the main mast are set up much like those of the mizzen.  There are five heavy shrouds with large deadeyes, and two more on the aft end of the channel for the topmast shrouds. 
 
12
 
For the main shrouds the forward one is served its whole length to protect it from chafing by the mainyard sail.  The other shrouds are served only where they go around the masthead and then for a short distance below the top where they are seized to each other in pairs.  The three futtock shrouds have been hooked into the strops of the upper deadeyes then turned around a futtock stave that is seized across the shrouds.  You can also see the pendants that hang below the top, which are served all over with an eye worked into the end.  They were used as anchor points for hauling up the ship’s boat, supplies, etc. 
 
12a
 
Here in a later photo they are shown with a double block hooked into the eye, the running line goes down to a corresponding block at the deck which is hooked into an eyebolt near the base of the mast.
 
13
 
These hooks were made up in my usual way, by turning an eye into appropriately sized iron wire using orthodontic wire bending pliers.  The wire is then turned back over the pliers and clipped off.  For the larger hooks used for the pendants the clipped end was further tapered with a grinding drum, then the tip was recurved as in full sized practice.
 
14
 
Aft of the mast a set of catharpins are laced to the futtock staves and pull them inward against the strain of the futtock shrouds.  According to R.C. Andersen this diagonal pattern was used by the French, probably to leave space immediately behind the mast for the main yard ties and other rigging lines.  They were installed on all three masts as they were rigged.
 
15
 
The main stay is set up with an eye and mouse, just as the mizzen stay was.  Although this is the largest of the rigging lines on the ship I decided not to worm it, nor to have a preventer stay.  I reasoned that a small ship that had been a slaver for several years and was now in the hands of pirates would not have the spare manpower to maintain lines that would not be called on except in battle, which the pirates avoided at all costs.  The collar is set up in the French fashion, served all over and anchored around the base of the bowsprit.  The two legs are seized together at the bow and then on both sides of the foremast.  Large triple blocks are seized into the ends of the stay and collar and laced together.
 
16
 
In this close-up you can see the blocks, which the French used rather than hearts favored by the English.  You can also see the thumb cleats that secure the collar to the mast on either side.
 
17
 
The standing rigging to the foremast is identical to that of the main mast, except that the stay goes to a collar on the bowsprit.  You can see most of what has been discussed in this one photo.
 
18
 
The fore and main masts had crowsfeet laced from the top to the stay to prevent the lower edge of the topsails from curling under the top and fouling all the lines and blocks that live there.  These were made by first shaping the euphroes out of pear.  They are about ¾” long, with a strop groove cut in all around the edges.  Since there are 16 holes in the forward edges of the tops, the euphroe has 8 corresponding holes.  A strop was seized into the groove with the tails left on which were used to attach the euphroe to the stay.
 
19
 
The crowsfoot was formed by lacing the line up through the hole in the top closest to the center cleat on the starboard side.  A stopper knot under the top prevented it from pulling through, much like the deadeye lanyards.  The line laced down and through the top hole in the euphroe, up and over the lip of the top on the port side, down through the first port side hole, and up the second port side hole.  It continued down and through the second euphroe hole, up over and down the second starboard hole, and up the third starboard hole.  The lacing continued loosely back and forth in this manner until the line reached the outermost starboard hole.  All the lines were tightened and a knot was worked close under the top and the excess line snipped off.  To strengthen it all the lines were painted with dilute PVA glue.
 
20
 
The final element for the lower standing rigging is the ratlines.  The line itself was selected to scale out to ¾” diameter, suitable for the weight of a man, and spaced 10mm apart, which converts to 15” in real space.  As for tying them, many others have gone over the lacing of ratlines, so I will not repeat that here.  Suffice to say that they are attached to the outermost shrouds of each gang with an overhand loop, which makes the smallest bulge around the shroud, and secured to the inner shrouds with clove hitches.  This is not nearly as daunting as it may seem.  Once a rhythm is established it goes rather quickly, like knitting.  Frank and I tied all the ratlines for all the lower shrouds in just four hours.  No special effort was made to have the ratlines sag between the shrouds, but they naturally take on a mild curve as the tying proceeds.  This can be increased or reduced by gently tugging on the appropriate knots until the desired look is achieved.  Once I was happy with the overall look the entire shroud gang was painted with dilute glue and, when the glue was dry, the tails were clipped as close to the shrouds as could be managed.
 
21
 
I hope to have another report out before Christmas, with the completion of the standing rigging and the beginning of hanging the spars and sails. 
 
If not, a very Happy Holiday Season to all and I will be back in the New Year.
 
Dan

Ed, thank you, your comment means a great deal to me.
 
this evening I am having a hard time wiping the silly grin off my face.
 
Beginning cuts
 

 
Half a day later the last tooth cut
 

 
Back to the lathe for some rough shaping
 

 
I ground up a bit of a form tool to get the curved recess better.
 

 
After parting it off I slipped it onto the camshaft .
 

 

 

 
It is actually on the shaft backwards I have to set it up in a fixture on the four jaw chuck now and machine the eccentric cam for the water pump then it can be flipped to finish the front side.
 
It did mesh nicely though even without any clean up yet,
 
Michael

Hi Michael - 
 
Just back from 10 days vacation and was impressed with all the excellent work that you've done, and your similarly excellent explanations and photos.  I'm learning so much about engine construction and metalwork.
 
As the hula dancer said when the bovine nipped at her costume:  Moo Chews Grassy *** . . .
 
Be well
 
Dan

Log 29 – lower standing rigging
 
Two weeks ago there were no masts or rigging set up.  The channels weren’t even on.
 
1
 
Today, with the invaluable help of JerseyCityFrankie, the lower standing rigging is done and the upper rigging well on its way.
 
2
 
Here is how it was done. 
 
First came the channels.  They are all situated in the line of the second molding, just under the blue painted bulwarks and above the gunports.  In typical fashion they are stylishly curved at each end, with a cap strip that captures the deadeye “chains”.  They are located such that the foremost deadeye lines up with the center of the mast.  In the photo you can see how I miscalculated this and the main channels had to move aft about half an inch, leaving a gap in the molding that had to be filled later.  Unlike English practice which usually had the supports under the channel, French practice at the time was for wooden knees above the platform.
 
3
 
For the lower masts, the rule of thumb is that deadeyes are half the diameter of the mast, while for upper masts they are more closely the size of the mast.  For this 17mm main mast the deadeyes are 9mm boxwood ones purchased from Model Shipways and stained.  Each hole was opened a little and a lanyard groove cut for each hole on an angle to ease the bend in the lanyard line.  In my restoration work it is almost invariably true that the rigging line fails at these sharp corners in deadeyes and blocks, so wherever possible I will be preparing the rigging fittings this way.
 
The deadeye “chains” are not the three links that are seen on later ships, but solid iron straps that are bolted through the hull at the bottom.  At the top there is a loop that hooks through a raised section of the deadeye strop.  This setup has been seen in contemporary drawings and confirmed by artifacts discovered in the excavation of La Belle, LaSalle’s ship when he explored Texas in 1674.  La Belle is a little early and about half the size of the QAR, but the rigging fittings should be similar so I have decided to go with this.  I will be taking many cues from the La Belle excavation as reported by Glenn Greico in his Master’s dissertation, available here: http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/pdf-files/Grieco-MA2003.pdf
 
My deadeye straps were made from brass strip, with a narrow section ground and bent to a hook, then chemically blackened.  They are pinned to the hull with half inch roundhead steel nails that are glued into holes that angle upward slightly to counteract what will be some pretty high stresses as the shrouds are tensioned.
 
4
 
The metal strops were formed from stiff iron wire.  (Yes, there are straps, strips, and strops.  Sorry about that, but I’ll try to keep them straight).  Here is the jig that I used.  It is for the deadeyes in the tops which have long legs to go through the top, but the principle is the same.
 
5
 
A length of wire is bent around the middle pin, which is there to keep the loop open for the later hook.  The legs pass between the pair of larger pins and are then bent out in a straight line.  A deadeye is held hard against the center point and the legs are bent by hand into the groove till they cross at the top.  Using the legs as handles the strop is spread apart until the deadeye can be popped out.  A bit of epoxy is laid into the strop groove and the deadeye is put back into the strop and rotated as needed to line up properly.  The legs of the strop are clipped short and the ends bent down into the groove with pliers.  When the epoxy dries they are ready for use.  Although the gap in the strop used to worry me, I have never had one open up.  Besides, if the stresses are that great, I would rather that the strop open up than have the entire channel pulled up.
 
With the deadeyes all strapped and stropped to the channels the rigging could begin.  I did this from aft to forward, with one exception.  The very first piece of rigging was the gammoning around the bowsprit.  This is important because all of the stresses and tensions of the standing rigging are anchored here.  You can see the way the lines cross as they wrap from aft to forward on top of the bowsprit, but from forward to aft within the gammon hole in the stem.  The gammoning is finished with a few round turns just above the grating in the head.
 
6
 
You can also see in the photo that the seat of ease has been lined with lead like the scuppers.  I would not otherwise show this feature, but the excavation of the QAR has turned one up, so it has been added.
 
7
 
Beginning with the mizzen mast the deadeyes were turned into the shrouds and given three seizings.  The shrouds were made from linen line sourced from a pool cue manufacturer who uses the line to make non-slip grips.  The line comes in unbleached white, which was dyed with RIT liquid black dye according to the package instructions. 
 
8
 
As was consistent for almost all ships of this period, whatever their origin, the deadeyes were laced with oiled line.  The lacing had to be protected from salt water, but could not be tarred since it must have been adjusted fairly often as the shrouds stretched from the strains of sailing and weather.  This has been represented with a dark brown line rather than the darker black of the tarred shrouds.
 
9   
 
At the mizzen top the shrouds are served as they go over the trestletrees and around the masthead.  Under the top are several blocks for the running rigging and for the crojack yard halyard.  The mizzen stay is served and an eye worked into the end.  A mouse is raised on the stay to form the loop that drops over the masthead and the heads of the shrouds.  The mouse is shaped with the bulbous end down, in the French fashion, so the bulb jams against the eye.  English practice is to have the tapered “tail” of the mouse slide through the eye until it has no more space to run.  I don’t know why there is this difference, or whether one or the other conveys any kind of advantage.
 
10
 
At the lower end I ran into a problem.  Although never detailed, it is clear that the mizzen stay has to set up to a collar on the main mast.  However, if the stay is centered it interferes with the ramshead block and tie for the main spar.  I decided to offset the collar to starboard with a bullseye seized into it.  A set of double blocks were seized into the lower end of the stay and the upper end of the collar, then joined with a lanyard.  The lower end of the collar is belayed to one of the large mast cleats.
 
11
 
The shrouds for the main mast are set up much like those of the mizzen.  There are five heavy shrouds with large deadeyes, and two more on the aft end of the channel for the topmast shrouds. 
 
12
 
For the main shrouds the forward one is served its whole length to protect it from chafing by the mainyard sail.  The other shrouds are served only where they go around the masthead and then for a short distance below the top where they are seized to each other in pairs.  The three futtock shrouds have been hooked into the strops of the upper deadeyes then turned around a futtock stave that is seized across the shrouds.  You can also see the pendants that hang below the top, which are served all over with an eye worked into the end.  They were used as anchor points for hauling up the ship’s boat, supplies, etc. 
 
12a
 
Here in a later photo they are shown with a double block hooked into the eye, the running line goes down to a corresponding block at the deck which is hooked into an eyebolt near the base of the mast.
 
13
 
These hooks were made up in my usual way, by turning an eye into appropriately sized iron wire using orthodontic wire bending pliers.  The wire is then turned back over the pliers and clipped off.  For the larger hooks used for the pendants the clipped end was further tapered with a grinding drum, then the tip was recurved as in full sized practice.
 
14
 
Aft of the mast a set of catharpins are laced to the futtock staves and pull them inward against the strain of the futtock shrouds.  According to R.C. Andersen this diagonal pattern was used by the French, probably to leave space immediately behind the mast for the main yard ties and other rigging lines.  They were installed on all three masts as they were rigged.
 
15
 
The main stay is set up with an eye and mouse, just as the mizzen stay was.  Although this is the largest of the rigging lines on the ship I decided not to worm it, nor to have a preventer stay.  I reasoned that a small ship that had been a slaver for several years and was now in the hands of pirates would not have the spare manpower to maintain lines that would not be called on except in battle, which the pirates avoided at all costs.  The collar is set up in the French fashion, served all over and anchored around the base of the bowsprit.  The two legs are seized together at the bow and then on both sides of the foremast.  Large triple blocks are seized into the ends of the stay and collar and laced together.
 
16
 
In this close-up you can see the blocks, which the French used rather than hearts favored by the English.  You can also see the thumb cleats that secure the collar to the mast on either side.
 
17
 
The standing rigging to the foremast is identical to that of the main mast, except that the stay goes to a collar on the bowsprit.  You can see most of what has been discussed in this one photo.
 
18
 
The fore and main masts had crowsfeet laced from the top to the stay to prevent the lower edge of the topsails from curling under the top and fouling all the lines and blocks that live there.  These were made by first shaping the euphroes out of pear.  They are about ¾” long, with a strop groove cut in all around the edges.  Since there are 16 holes in the forward edges of the tops, the euphroe has 8 corresponding holes.  A strop was seized into the groove with the tails left on which were used to attach the euphroe to the stay.
 
19
 
The crowsfoot was formed by lacing the line up through the hole in the top closest to the center cleat on the starboard side.  A stopper knot under the top prevented it from pulling through, much like the deadeye lanyards.  The line laced down and through the top hole in the euphroe, up and over the lip of the top on the port side, down through the first port side hole, and up the second port side hole.  It continued down and through the second euphroe hole, up over and down the second starboard hole, and up the third starboard hole.  The lacing continued loosely back and forth in this manner until the line reached the outermost starboard hole.  All the lines were tightened and a knot was worked close under the top and the excess line snipped off.  To strengthen it all the lines were painted with dilute PVA glue.
 
20
 
The final element for the lower standing rigging is the ratlines.  The line itself was selected to scale out to ¾” diameter, suitable for the weight of a man, and spaced 10mm apart, which converts to 15” in real space.  As for tying them, many others have gone over the lacing of ratlines, so I will not repeat that here.  Suffice to say that they are attached to the outermost shrouds of each gang with an overhand loop, which makes the smallest bulge around the shroud, and secured to the inner shrouds with clove hitches.  This is not nearly as daunting as it may seem.  Once a rhythm is established it goes rather quickly, like knitting.  Frank and I tied all the ratlines for all the lower shrouds in just four hours.  No special effort was made to have the ratlines sag between the shrouds, but they naturally take on a mild curve as the tying proceeds.  This can be increased or reduced by gently tugging on the appropriate knots until the desired look is achieved.  Once I was happy with the overall look the entire shroud gang was painted with dilute glue and, when the glue was dry, the tails were clipped as close to the shrouds as could be managed.
 
21
 
I hope to have another report out before Christmas, with the completion of the standing rigging and the beginning of hanging the spars and sails. 
 
If not, a very Happy Holiday Season to all and I will be back in the New Year.
 
Dan

Hello again -
 
Thanks for the likes and comments, and a happy Christmas Eve to everyone.
 
Just a quick post about the last bit of work before I go on vacation for two weeks.
 
Since the last posting the standing rigging has been completed.  Here are two shots of the overall model with the upper standing rigging complete.  No different techniques were used, just a selection of thinner lines as the rig got higher.  The final lines, the fore t'gallant stay and the outer bobstay, are tensioned by lanyards between eyes worked into the ends of the lines.
 
1
 
1a
 
Here is a closeup of the foretop before any of the running rigging goes on.  You can see that the upper deadeyes are not in a perfect line.  I have seen similar irregularities in photographs of later, much later, working merchant sailing ships.  I do not think that pirates would have been as careful as the Royal Navy, or even the French navy, at such details, so leaving one a little shorter adds to the realism.
 
1b
 
 
The first element of the running rigging was the spritsail, the spar handling lines, a furled sail, and the sail lines.  Here is how I approached it.  The spar is simple.  A properly sized length of square maple stock was planed to an octogon.  The center section which remained octagonal was marked off, then the spar was tapered and rounded with a small plane, Dremel sanding drums, then a sheet of sandpaper glued flat to a piece of acrylic.  This procedure is exactly like that used to shape the masts in an earlier log entry, just carried forward till the spar was properly tapered.  Cleats were mounted in the center section and stop cleats glued and pinned at either end.
 
3
 
The first lines to go on were the stirrups and footropes.  Since the ship was quite small the spritsail only needed one stirrup on each side.  These were made by laying up an eye in the end, then wrapping the running end over the spar twice, leaving enough hanging down so the eye came 3 feet (1" in scale) below the top of the spar.  This would allow a sailor to stand on it and reach over to furl the sail.  An eye was siezed into the ends of the footropes sized to slip over the spar ends.  The free end of the footrope was slid through the eye in the stirrup and a small eye worked into its end.  According to Budriot the ends of the footropes were not lashed to the spar or to any of the lines circling the spar, but laced to each other.  
 
Once the lengths had been adjusted and set, and the center lashing tied, a series of small weights were used to make the stirrups and footropes  hang vertically, as if by gravity.
 
4
 
In the closeup you can see the first heavy steel clip pulls the footrope down near its seizing, while the second pulls down the stirrup.  The two smaller aluminum clamps were set on either side of the stirrup to mimic the footrope sag. 
 
5
 
 Once I liked the look the lines were painted with water to assist in the penetration of dilute white glue which was left to dry to set  the sag permanently.  
 
The various blocks and rigging fittings were added to the spar.  The first was the line for the sling.  An eye was spliced into one end which was wrapped around the spar and under the center cleat on the port side.  A round seizing secured it in place.  The running end was left free until it was time to lash the spar to the bowsprit.  It did, however, provide a way of temporarily securing the spar while various measurements were made.
 
Moving outward, the clew blocks were tied to the spar so they hung down, then the small deadeyes for the standing lift which sit on the forward face of the spar.  At the end of the spar a large single block was spliced on facing forward for the running lift, and a similar single block on a short pendant for the brace.
 
Not shown in the photo are a large single block tied to the center of the spar for the halyard, a small block in the center for the leach line, and the clew lines themselves which tie to the spar just ouboard of the clew blocks.
 
6
 
Then I turned to the sail itself.  The first choice was what to make it out of.  Working in 1/36 scale allowed me to use actual cloth rather than silkspan or other paper-based product.  I haunted fabric stores and searched the internet for the thinnest that I could find.  I found it at the New York Fashion Center.  Their Imperial Batiste measured out to 0.008" (0.288" in scale, or just over 1/4") which was acceptably thin.  As you can see in the photo, you can read through it.  Best of all, it is quite reasonably priced.
 
7
 
Now, how to shape it to a furled look.  Although most of my ideas on this topic have been developed over many years, they are succinctly stated in an article by Professor John Tilley of Texas A&M which can be found on this website at this location: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Rigging_and_Sails/ScaleSails.pdf 
 
The first idea is that a furled sail has to have less bulk than a full one, and that this has to start out as a trapezoid, because the outer ends of the furl are even less bulky than the middle.  I modified this to add two triangles of cloth that would hang down as representing the clews of the sail.  To this shape a series of panel lines were drawn on.  The outer ones were angled to lie parallel with the outer edge of the sail.
 
8
 
After that a lot of experimenting went on to get the size, layout and panel lines adjusted.  Then the edges of the sail were painted with white glue.  When dry the sail was cut out, the tabling folded and ironed, and the sail mounted on the spar.  It was soaked in clear acrylic matte finish and teased into furls that were tied with gaskets to the spar.  The teasing process continued throughout the drying process.  Where I was unhappy, water was liberally painted on the problem section to soften the cloth and the sail adjusted some more. I was so caught up in the process that I failed to take photos of my techniques, but I will do that with the fore and main courses, which will be furled in similar fashion.
 
9
 
With the sail mounted to the spar the sling was tied and siezed.  The halyad, the standing and running lifts, and the braces were tied, run through the appropriate blocks, and then to their belaying points.  Several, including the running lifts and clew lines, go through a long gammon block with six sheaves lashed to both sides of the gammoning.
 
10
 
At the belaying points, whether cleat or timberhead, the lines were secured with hitches. not knots or glue, leaving long tails for further adjustments.  Pirate Pete is supervising to make sure.
 
11
 
So here is where it is as I leave for Santa Fe.  I know that there are some items that I will have to adjust when I get back, and please, please, if you spot any that you question, let me know so I can correct them before I go too far past to easily redo.
 
12
 
My very best wishes to you all and your families.  I will see you in the New Year. 
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

Hello again -
 
Thanks for the likes and comments, and a happy Christmas Eve to everyone.
 
Just a quick post about the last bit of work before I go on vacation for two weeks.
 
Since the last posting the standing rigging has been completed.  Here are two shots of the overall model with the upper standing rigging complete.  No different techniques were used, just a selection of thinner lines as the rig got higher.  The final lines, the fore t'gallant stay and the outer bobstay, are tensioned by lanyards between eyes worked into the ends of the lines.
 
1
 
1a
 
Here is a closeup of the foretop before any of the running rigging goes on.  You can see that the upper deadeyes are not in a perfect line.  I have seen similar irregularities in photographs of later, much later, working merchant sailing ships.  I do not think that pirates would have been as careful as the Royal Navy, or even the French navy, at such details, so leaving one a little shorter adds to the realism.
 
1b
 
 
The first element of the running rigging was the spritsail, the spar handling lines, a furled sail, and the sail lines.  Here is how I approached it.  The spar is simple.  A properly sized length of square maple stock was planed to an octogon.  The center section which remained octagonal was marked off, then the spar was tapered and rounded with a small plane, Dremel sanding drums, then a sheet of sandpaper glued flat to a piece of acrylic.  This procedure is exactly like that used to shape the masts in an earlier log entry, just carried forward till the spar was properly tapered.  Cleats were mounted in the center section and stop cleats glued and pinned at either end.
 
3
 
The first lines to go on were the stirrups and footropes.  Since the ship was quite small the spritsail only needed one stirrup on each side.  These were made by laying up an eye in the end, then wrapping the running end over the spar twice, leaving enough hanging down so the eye came 3 feet (1" in scale) below the top of the spar.  This would allow a sailor to stand on it and reach over to furl the sail.  An eye was siezed into the ends of the footropes sized to slip over the spar ends.  The free end of the footrope was slid through the eye in the stirrup and a small eye worked into its end.  According to Budriot the ends of the footropes were not lashed to the spar or to any of the lines circling the spar, but laced to each other.  
 
Once the lengths had been adjusted and set, and the center lashing tied, a series of small weights were used to make the stirrups and footropes  hang vertically, as if by gravity.
 
4
 
In the closeup you can see the first heavy steel clip pulls the footrope down near its seizing, while the second pulls down the stirrup.  The two smaller aluminum clamps were set on either side of the stirrup to mimic the footrope sag. 
 
5
 
 Once I liked the look the lines were painted with water to assist in the penetration of dilute white glue which was left to dry to set  the sag permanently.  
 
The various blocks and rigging fittings were added to the spar.  The first was the line for the sling.  An eye was spliced into one end which was wrapped around the spar and under the center cleat on the port side.  A round seizing secured it in place.  The running end was left free until it was time to lash the spar to the bowsprit.  It did, however, provide a way of temporarily securing the spar while various measurements were made.
 
Moving outward, the clew blocks were tied to the spar so they hung down, then the small deadeyes for the standing lift which sit on the forward face of the spar.  At the end of the spar a large single block was spliced on facing forward for the running lift, and a similar single block on a short pendant for the brace.
 
Not shown in the photo are a large single block tied to the center of the spar for the halyard, a small block in the center for the leach line, and the clew lines themselves which tie to the spar just ouboard of the clew blocks.
 
6
 
Then I turned to the sail itself.  The first choice was what to make it out of.  Working in 1/36 scale allowed me to use actual cloth rather than silkspan or other paper-based product.  I haunted fabric stores and searched the internet for the thinnest that I could find.  I found it at the New York Fashion Center.  Their Imperial Batiste measured out to 0.008" (0.288" in scale, or just over 1/4") which was acceptably thin.  As you can see in the photo, you can read through it.  Best of all, it is quite reasonably priced.
 
7
 
Now, how to shape it to a furled look.  Although most of my ideas on this topic have been developed over many years, they are succinctly stated in an article by Professor John Tilley of Texas A&M which can be found on this website at this location: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Rigging_and_Sails/ScaleSails.pdf 
 
The first idea is that a furled sail has to have less bulk than a full one, and that this has to start out as a trapezoid, because the outer ends of the furl are even less bulky than the middle.  I modified this to add two triangles of cloth that would hang down as representing the clews of the sail.  To this shape a series of panel lines were drawn on.  The outer ones were angled to lie parallel with the outer edge of the sail.
 
8
 
After that a lot of experimenting went on to get the size, layout and panel lines adjusted.  Then the edges of the sail were painted with white glue.  When dry the sail was cut out, the tabling folded and ironed, and the sail mounted on the spar.  It was soaked in clear acrylic matte finish and teased into furls that were tied with gaskets to the spar.  The teasing process continued throughout the drying process.  Where I was unhappy, water was liberally painted on the problem section to soften the cloth and the sail adjusted some more. I was so caught up in the process that I failed to take photos of my techniques, but I will do that with the fore and main courses, which will be furled in similar fashion.
 
9
 
With the sail mounted to the spar the sling was tied and siezed.  The halyad, the standing and running lifts, and the braces were tied, run through the appropriate blocks, and then to their belaying points.  Several, including the running lifts and clew lines, go through a long gammon block with six sheaves lashed to both sides of the gammoning.
 
10
 
At the belaying points, whether cleat or timberhead, the lines were secured with hitches. not knots or glue, leaving long tails for further adjustments.  Pirate Pete is supervising to make sure.
 
11
 
So here is where it is as I leave for Santa Fe.  I know that there are some items that I will have to adjust when I get back, and please, please, if you spot any that you question, let me know so I can correct them before I go too far past to easily redo.
 
12
 
My very best wishes to you all and your families.  I will see you in the New Year. 
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

Hello again -
 
Thanks for the likes and comments, and a happy Christmas Eve to everyone.
 
Just a quick post about the last bit of work before I go on vacation for two weeks.
 
Since the last posting the standing rigging has been completed.  Here are two shots of the overall model with the upper standing rigging complete.  No different techniques were used, just a selection of thinner lines as the rig got higher.  The final lines, the fore t'gallant stay and the outer bobstay, are tensioned by lanyards between eyes worked into the ends of the lines.
 
1
 
1a
 
Here is a closeup of the foretop before any of the running rigging goes on.  You can see that the upper deadeyes are not in a perfect line.  I have seen similar irregularities in photographs of later, much later, working merchant sailing ships.  I do not think that pirates would have been as careful as the Royal Navy, or even the French navy, at such details, so leaving one a little shorter adds to the realism.
 
1b
 
 
The first element of the running rigging was the spritsail, the spar handling lines, a furled sail, and the sail lines.  Here is how I approached it.  The spar is simple.  A properly sized length of square maple stock was planed to an octogon.  The center section which remained octagonal was marked off, then the spar was tapered and rounded with a small plane, Dremel sanding drums, then a sheet of sandpaper glued flat to a piece of acrylic.  This procedure is exactly like that used to shape the masts in an earlier log entry, just carried forward till the spar was properly tapered.  Cleats were mounted in the center section and stop cleats glued and pinned at either end.
 
3
 
The first lines to go on were the stirrups and footropes.  Since the ship was quite small the spritsail only needed one stirrup on each side.  These were made by laying up an eye in the end, then wrapping the running end over the spar twice, leaving enough hanging down so the eye came 3 feet (1" in scale) below the top of the spar.  This would allow a sailor to stand on it and reach over to furl the sail.  An eye was siezed into the ends of the footropes sized to slip over the spar ends.  The free end of the footrope was slid through the eye in the stirrup and a small eye worked into its end.  According to Budriot the ends of the footropes were not lashed to the spar or to any of the lines circling the spar, but laced to each other.  
 
Once the lengths had been adjusted and set, and the center lashing tied, a series of small weights were used to make the stirrups and footropes  hang vertically, as if by gravity.
 
4
 
In the closeup you can see the first heavy steel clip pulls the footrope down near its seizing, while the second pulls down the stirrup.  The two smaller aluminum clamps were set on either side of the stirrup to mimic the footrope sag. 
 
5
 
 Once I liked the look the lines were painted with water to assist in the penetration of dilute white glue which was left to dry to set  the sag permanently.  
 
The various blocks and rigging fittings were added to the spar.  The first was the line for the sling.  An eye was spliced into one end which was wrapped around the spar and under the center cleat on the port side.  A round seizing secured it in place.  The running end was left free until it was time to lash the spar to the bowsprit.  It did, however, provide a way of temporarily securing the spar while various measurements were made.
 
Moving outward, the clew blocks were tied to the spar so they hung down, then the small deadeyes for the standing lift which sit on the forward face of the spar.  At the end of the spar a large single block was spliced on facing forward for the running lift, and a similar single block on a short pendant for the brace.
 
Not shown in the photo are a large single block tied to the center of the spar for the halyard, a small block in the center for the leach line, and the clew lines themselves which tie to the spar just ouboard of the clew blocks.
 
6
 
Then I turned to the sail itself.  The first choice was what to make it out of.  Working in 1/36 scale allowed me to use actual cloth rather than silkspan or other paper-based product.  I haunted fabric stores and searched the internet for the thinnest that I could find.  I found it at the New York Fashion Center.  Their Imperial Batiste measured out to 0.008" (0.288" in scale, or just over 1/4") which was acceptably thin.  As you can see in the photo, you can read through it.  Best of all, it is quite reasonably priced.
 
7
 
Now, how to shape it to a furled look.  Although most of my ideas on this topic have been developed over many years, they are succinctly stated in an article by Professor John Tilley of Texas A&M which can be found on this website at this location: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Rigging_and_Sails/ScaleSails.pdf 
 
The first idea is that a furled sail has to have less bulk than a full one, and that this has to start out as a trapezoid, because the outer ends of the furl are even less bulky than the middle.  I modified this to add two triangles of cloth that would hang down as representing the clews of the sail.  To this shape a series of panel lines were drawn on.  The outer ones were angled to lie parallel with the outer edge of the sail.
 
8
 
After that a lot of experimenting went on to get the size, layout and panel lines adjusted.  Then the edges of the sail were painted with white glue.  When dry the sail was cut out, the tabling folded and ironed, and the sail mounted on the spar.  It was soaked in clear acrylic matte finish and teased into furls that were tied with gaskets to the spar.  The teasing process continued throughout the drying process.  Where I was unhappy, water was liberally painted on the problem section to soften the cloth and the sail adjusted some more. I was so caught up in the process that I failed to take photos of my techniques, but I will do that with the fore and main courses, which will be furled in similar fashion.
 
9
 
With the sail mounted to the spar the sling was tied and siezed.  The halyad, the standing and running lifts, and the braces were tied, run through the appropriate blocks, and then to their belaying points.  Several, including the running lifts and clew lines, go through a long gammon block with six sheaves lashed to both sides of the gammoning.
 
10
 
At the belaying points, whether cleat or timberhead, the lines were secured with hitches. not knots or glue, leaving long tails for further adjustments.  Pirate Pete is supervising to make sure.
 
11
 
So here is where it is as I leave for Santa Fe.  I know that there are some items that I will have to adjust when I get back, and please, please, if you spot any that you question, let me know so I can correct them before I go too far past to easily redo.
 
12
 
My very best wishes to you all and your families.  I will see you in the New Year. 
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

Hello again -
 
Thanks for the likes and comments, and a happy Christmas Eve to everyone.
 
Just a quick post about the last bit of work before I go on vacation for two weeks.
 
Since the last posting the standing rigging has been completed.  Here are two shots of the overall model with the upper standing rigging complete.  No different techniques were used, just a selection of thinner lines as the rig got higher.  The final lines, the fore t'gallant stay and the outer bobstay, are tensioned by lanyards between eyes worked into the ends of the lines.
 
1
 
1a
 
Here is a closeup of the foretop before any of the running rigging goes on.  You can see that the upper deadeyes are not in a perfect line.  I have seen similar irregularities in photographs of later, much later, working merchant sailing ships.  I do not think that pirates would have been as careful as the Royal Navy, or even the French navy, at such details, so leaving one a little shorter adds to the realism.
 
1b
 
 
The first element of the running rigging was the spritsail, the spar handling lines, a furled sail, and the sail lines.  Here is how I approached it.  The spar is simple.  A properly sized length of square maple stock was planed to an octogon.  The center section which remained octagonal was marked off, then the spar was tapered and rounded with a small plane, Dremel sanding drums, then a sheet of sandpaper glued flat to a piece of acrylic.  This procedure is exactly like that used to shape the masts in an earlier log entry, just carried forward till the spar was properly tapered.  Cleats were mounted in the center section and stop cleats glued and pinned at either end.
 
3
 
The first lines to go on were the stirrups and footropes.  Since the ship was quite small the spritsail only needed one stirrup on each side.  These were made by laying up an eye in the end, then wrapping the running end over the spar twice, leaving enough hanging down so the eye came 3 feet (1" in scale) below the top of the spar.  This would allow a sailor to stand on it and reach over to furl the sail.  An eye was siezed into the ends of the footropes sized to slip over the spar ends.  The free end of the footrope was slid through the eye in the stirrup and a small eye worked into its end.  According to Budriot the ends of the footropes were not lashed to the spar or to any of the lines circling the spar, but laced to each other.  
 
Once the lengths had been adjusted and set, and the center lashing tied, a series of small weights were used to make the stirrups and footropes  hang vertically, as if by gravity.
 
4
 
In the closeup you can see the first heavy steel clip pulls the footrope down near its seizing, while the second pulls down the stirrup.  The two smaller aluminum clamps were set on either side of the stirrup to mimic the footrope sag. 
 
5
 
 Once I liked the look the lines were painted with water to assist in the penetration of dilute white glue which was left to dry to set  the sag permanently.  
 
The various blocks and rigging fittings were added to the spar.  The first was the line for the sling.  An eye was spliced into one end which was wrapped around the spar and under the center cleat on the port side.  A round seizing secured it in place.  The running end was left free until it was time to lash the spar to the bowsprit.  It did, however, provide a way of temporarily securing the spar while various measurements were made.
 
Moving outward, the clew blocks were tied to the spar so they hung down, then the small deadeyes for the standing lift which sit on the forward face of the spar.  At the end of the spar a large single block was spliced on facing forward for the running lift, and a similar single block on a short pendant for the brace.
 
Not shown in the photo are a large single block tied to the center of the spar for the halyard, a small block in the center for the leach line, and the clew lines themselves which tie to the spar just ouboard of the clew blocks.
 
6
 
Then I turned to the sail itself.  The first choice was what to make it out of.  Working in 1/36 scale allowed me to use actual cloth rather than silkspan or other paper-based product.  I haunted fabric stores and searched the internet for the thinnest that I could find.  I found it at the New York Fashion Center.  Their Imperial Batiste measured out to 0.008" (0.288" in scale, or just over 1/4") which was acceptably thin.  As you can see in the photo, you can read through it.  Best of all, it is quite reasonably priced.
 
7
 
Now, how to shape it to a furled look.  Although most of my ideas on this topic have been developed over many years, they are succinctly stated in an article by Professor John Tilley of Texas A&M which can be found on this website at this location: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Rigging_and_Sails/ScaleSails.pdf 
 
The first idea is that a furled sail has to have less bulk than a full one, and that this has to start out as a trapezoid, because the outer ends of the furl are even less bulky than the middle.  I modified this to add two triangles of cloth that would hang down as representing the clews of the sail.  To this shape a series of panel lines were drawn on.  The outer ones were angled to lie parallel with the outer edge of the sail.
 
8
 
After that a lot of experimenting went on to get the size, layout and panel lines adjusted.  Then the edges of the sail were painted with white glue.  When dry the sail was cut out, the tabling folded and ironed, and the sail mounted on the spar.  It was soaked in clear acrylic matte finish and teased into furls that were tied with gaskets to the spar.  The teasing process continued throughout the drying process.  Where I was unhappy, water was liberally painted on the problem section to soften the cloth and the sail adjusted some more. I was so caught up in the process that I failed to take photos of my techniques, but I will do that with the fore and main courses, which will be furled in similar fashion.
 
9
 
With the sail mounted to the spar the sling was tied and siezed.  The halyad, the standing and running lifts, and the braces were tied, run through the appropriate blocks, and then to their belaying points.  Several, including the running lifts and clew lines, go through a long gammon block with six sheaves lashed to both sides of the gammoning.
 
10
 
At the belaying points, whether cleat or timberhead, the lines were secured with hitches. not knots or glue, leaving long tails for further adjustments.  Pirate Pete is supervising to make sure.
 
11
 
So here is where it is as I leave for Santa Fe.  I know that there are some items that I will have to adjust when I get back, and please, please, if you spot any that you question, let me know so I can correct them before I go too far past to easily redo.
 
12
 
My very best wishes to you all and your families.  I will see you in the New Year. 
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

Log 29 – lower standing rigging
 
Two weeks ago there were no masts or rigging set up.  The channels weren’t even on.
 
1
 
Today, with the invaluable help of JerseyCityFrankie, the lower standing rigging is done and the upper rigging well on its way.
 
2
 
Here is how it was done. 
 
First came the channels.  They are all situated in the line of the second molding, just under the blue painted bulwarks and above the gunports.  In typical fashion they are stylishly curved at each end, with a cap strip that captures the deadeye “chains”.  They are located such that the foremost deadeye lines up with the center of the mast.  In the photo you can see how I miscalculated this and the main channels had to move aft about half an inch, leaving a gap in the molding that had to be filled later.  Unlike English practice which usually had the supports under the channel, French practice at the time was for wooden knees above the platform.
 
3
 
For the lower masts, the rule of thumb is that deadeyes are half the diameter of the mast, while for upper masts they are more closely the size of the mast.  For this 17mm main mast the deadeyes are 9mm boxwood ones purchased from Model Shipways and stained.  Each hole was opened a little and a lanyard groove cut for each hole on an angle to ease the bend in the lanyard line.  In my restoration work it is almost invariably true that the rigging line fails at these sharp corners in deadeyes and blocks, so wherever possible I will be preparing the rigging fittings this way.
 
The deadeye “chains” are not the three links that are seen on later ships, but solid iron straps that are bolted through the hull at the bottom.  At the top there is a loop that hooks through a raised section of the deadeye strop.  This setup has been seen in contemporary drawings and confirmed by artifacts discovered in the excavation of La Belle, LaSalle’s ship when he explored Texas in 1674.  La Belle is a little early and about half the size of the QAR, but the rigging fittings should be similar so I have decided to go with this.  I will be taking many cues from the La Belle excavation as reported by Glenn Greico in his Master’s dissertation, available here: http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/pdf-files/Grieco-MA2003.pdf
 
My deadeye straps were made from brass strip, with a narrow section ground and bent to a hook, then chemically blackened.  They are pinned to the hull with half inch roundhead steel nails that are glued into holes that angle upward slightly to counteract what will be some pretty high stresses as the shrouds are tensioned.
 
4
 
The metal strops were formed from stiff iron wire.  (Yes, there are straps, strips, and strops.  Sorry about that, but I’ll try to keep them straight).  Here is the jig that I used.  It is for the deadeyes in the tops which have long legs to go through the top, but the principle is the same.
 
5
 
A length of wire is bent around the middle pin, which is there to keep the loop open for the later hook.  The legs pass between the pair of larger pins and are then bent out in a straight line.  A deadeye is held hard against the center point and the legs are bent by hand into the groove till they cross at the top.  Using the legs as handles the strop is spread apart until the deadeye can be popped out.  A bit of epoxy is laid into the strop groove and the deadeye is put back into the strop and rotated as needed to line up properly.  The legs of the strop are clipped short and the ends bent down into the groove with pliers.  When the epoxy dries they are ready for use.  Although the gap in the strop used to worry me, I have never had one open up.  Besides, if the stresses are that great, I would rather that the strop open up than have the entire channel pulled up.
 
With the deadeyes all strapped and stropped to the channels the rigging could begin.  I did this from aft to forward, with one exception.  The very first piece of rigging was the gammoning around the bowsprit.  This is important because all of the stresses and tensions of the standing rigging are anchored here.  You can see the way the lines cross as they wrap from aft to forward on top of the bowsprit, but from forward to aft within the gammon hole in the stem.  The gammoning is finished with a few round turns just above the grating in the head.
 
6
 
You can also see in the photo that the seat of ease has been lined with lead like the scuppers.  I would not otherwise show this feature, but the excavation of the QAR has turned one up, so it has been added.
 
7
 
Beginning with the mizzen mast the deadeyes were turned into the shrouds and given three seizings.  The shrouds were made from linen line sourced from a pool cue manufacturer who uses the line to make non-slip grips.  The line comes in unbleached white, which was dyed with RIT liquid black dye according to the package instructions. 
 
8
 
As was consistent for almost all ships of this period, whatever their origin, the deadeyes were laced with oiled line.  The lacing had to be protected from salt water, but could not be tarred since it must have been adjusted fairly often as the shrouds stretched from the strains of sailing and weather.  This has been represented with a dark brown line rather than the darker black of the tarred shrouds.
 
9   
 
At the mizzen top the shrouds are served as they go over the trestletrees and around the masthead.  Under the top are several blocks for the running rigging and for the crojack yard halyard.  The mizzen stay is served and an eye worked into the end.  A mouse is raised on the stay to form the loop that drops over the masthead and the heads of the shrouds.  The mouse is shaped with the bulbous end down, in the French fashion, so the bulb jams against the eye.  English practice is to have the tapered “tail” of the mouse slide through the eye until it has no more space to run.  I don’t know why there is this difference, or whether one or the other conveys any kind of advantage.
 
10
 
At the lower end I ran into a problem.  Although never detailed, it is clear that the mizzen stay has to set up to a collar on the main mast.  However, if the stay is centered it interferes with the ramshead block and tie for the main spar.  I decided to offset the collar to starboard with a bullseye seized into it.  A set of double blocks were seized into the lower end of the stay and the upper end of the collar, then joined with a lanyard.  The lower end of the collar is belayed to one of the large mast cleats.
 
11
 
The shrouds for the main mast are set up much like those of the mizzen.  There are five heavy shrouds with large deadeyes, and two more on the aft end of the channel for the topmast shrouds. 
 
12
 
For the main shrouds the forward one is served its whole length to protect it from chafing by the mainyard sail.  The other shrouds are served only where they go around the masthead and then for a short distance below the top where they are seized to each other in pairs.  The three futtock shrouds have been hooked into the strops of the upper deadeyes then turned around a futtock stave that is seized across the shrouds.  You can also see the pendants that hang below the top, which are served all over with an eye worked into the end.  They were used as anchor points for hauling up the ship’s boat, supplies, etc. 
 
12a
 
Here in a later photo they are shown with a double block hooked into the eye, the running line goes down to a corresponding block at the deck which is hooked into an eyebolt near the base of the mast.
 
13
 
These hooks were made up in my usual way, by turning an eye into appropriately sized iron wire using orthodontic wire bending pliers.  The wire is then turned back over the pliers and clipped off.  For the larger hooks used for the pendants the clipped end was further tapered with a grinding drum, then the tip was recurved as in full sized practice.
 
14
 
Aft of the mast a set of catharpins are laced to the futtock staves and pull them inward against the strain of the futtock shrouds.  According to R.C. Andersen this diagonal pattern was used by the French, probably to leave space immediately behind the mast for the main yard ties and other rigging lines.  They were installed on all three masts as they were rigged.
 
15
 
The main stay is set up with an eye and mouse, just as the mizzen stay was.  Although this is the largest of the rigging lines on the ship I decided not to worm it, nor to have a preventer stay.  I reasoned that a small ship that had been a slaver for several years and was now in the hands of pirates would not have the spare manpower to maintain lines that would not be called on except in battle, which the pirates avoided at all costs.  The collar is set up in the French fashion, served all over and anchored around the base of the bowsprit.  The two legs are seized together at the bow and then on both sides of the foremast.  Large triple blocks are seized into the ends of the stay and collar and laced together.
 
16
 
In this close-up you can see the blocks, which the French used rather than hearts favored by the English.  You can also see the thumb cleats that secure the collar to the mast on either side.
 
17
 
The standing rigging to the foremast is identical to that of the main mast, except that the stay goes to a collar on the bowsprit.  You can see most of what has been discussed in this one photo.
 
18
 
The fore and main masts had crowsfeet laced from the top to the stay to prevent the lower edge of the topsails from curling under the top and fouling all the lines and blocks that live there.  These were made by first shaping the euphroes out of pear.  They are about ¾” long, with a strop groove cut in all around the edges.  Since there are 16 holes in the forward edges of the tops, the euphroe has 8 corresponding holes.  A strop was seized into the groove with the tails left on which were used to attach the euphroe to the stay.
 
19
 
The crowsfoot was formed by lacing the line up through the hole in the top closest to the center cleat on the starboard side.  A stopper knot under the top prevented it from pulling through, much like the deadeye lanyards.  The line laced down and through the top hole in the euphroe, up and over the lip of the top on the port side, down through the first port side hole, and up the second port side hole.  It continued down and through the second euphroe hole, up over and down the second starboard hole, and up the third starboard hole.  The lacing continued loosely back and forth in this manner until the line reached the outermost starboard hole.  All the lines were tightened and a knot was worked close under the top and the excess line snipped off.  To strengthen it all the lines were painted with dilute PVA glue.
 
20
 
The final element for the lower standing rigging is the ratlines.  The line itself was selected to scale out to ¾” diameter, suitable for the weight of a man, and spaced 10mm apart, which converts to 15” in real space.  As for tying them, many others have gone over the lacing of ratlines, so I will not repeat that here.  Suffice to say that they are attached to the outermost shrouds of each gang with an overhand loop, which makes the smallest bulge around the shroud, and secured to the inner shrouds with clove hitches.  This is not nearly as daunting as it may seem.  Once a rhythm is established it goes rather quickly, like knitting.  Frank and I tied all the ratlines for all the lower shrouds in just four hours.  No special effort was made to have the ratlines sag between the shrouds, but they naturally take on a mild curve as the tying proceeds.  This can be increased or reduced by gently tugging on the appropriate knots until the desired look is achieved.  Once I was happy with the overall look the entire shroud gang was painted with dilute glue and, when the glue was dry, the tails were clipped as close to the shrouds as could be managed.
 
21
 
I hope to have another report out before Christmas, with the completion of the standing rigging and the beginning of hanging the spars and sails. 
 
If not, a very Happy Holiday Season to all and I will be back in the New Year.
 
Dan

Hello again -
 
Thanks for the likes and comments, and a happy Christmas Eve to everyone.
 
Just a quick post about the last bit of work before I go on vacation for two weeks.
 
Since the last posting the standing rigging has been completed.  Here are two shots of the overall model with the upper standing rigging complete.  No different techniques were used, just a selection of thinner lines as the rig got higher.  The final lines, the fore t'gallant stay and the outer bobstay, are tensioned by lanyards between eyes worked into the ends of the lines.
 
1
 
1a
 
Here is a closeup of the foretop before any of the running rigging goes on.  You can see that the upper deadeyes are not in a perfect line.  I have seen similar irregularities in photographs of later, much later, working merchant sailing ships.  I do not think that pirates would have been as careful as the Royal Navy, or even the French navy, at such details, so leaving one a little shorter adds to the realism.
 
1b
 
 
The first element of the running rigging was the spritsail, the spar handling lines, a furled sail, and the sail lines.  Here is how I approached it.  The spar is simple.  A properly sized length of square maple stock was planed to an octogon.  The center section which remained octagonal was marked off, then the spar was tapered and rounded with a small plane, Dremel sanding drums, then a sheet of sandpaper glued flat to a piece of acrylic.  This procedure is exactly like that used to shape the masts in an earlier log entry, just carried forward till the spar was properly tapered.  Cleats were mounted in the center section and stop cleats glued and pinned at either end.
 
3
 
The first lines to go on were the stirrups and footropes.  Since the ship was quite small the spritsail only needed one stirrup on each side.  These were made by laying up an eye in the end, then wrapping the running end over the spar twice, leaving enough hanging down so the eye came 3 feet (1" in scale) below the top of the spar.  This would allow a sailor to stand on it and reach over to furl the sail.  An eye was siezed into the ends of the footropes sized to slip over the spar ends.  The free end of the footrope was slid through the eye in the stirrup and a small eye worked into its end.  According to Budriot the ends of the footropes were not lashed to the spar or to any of the lines circling the spar, but laced to each other.  
 
Once the lengths had been adjusted and set, and the center lashing tied, a series of small weights were used to make the stirrups and footropes  hang vertically, as if by gravity.
 
4
 
In the closeup you can see the first heavy steel clip pulls the footrope down near its seizing, while the second pulls down the stirrup.  The two smaller aluminum clamps were set on either side of the stirrup to mimic the footrope sag. 
 
5
 
 Once I liked the look the lines were painted with water to assist in the penetration of dilute white glue which was left to dry to set  the sag permanently.  
 
The various blocks and rigging fittings were added to the spar.  The first was the line for the sling.  An eye was spliced into one end which was wrapped around the spar and under the center cleat on the port side.  A round seizing secured it in place.  The running end was left free until it was time to lash the spar to the bowsprit.  It did, however, provide a way of temporarily securing the spar while various measurements were made.
 
Moving outward, the clew blocks were tied to the spar so they hung down, then the small deadeyes for the standing lift which sit on the forward face of the spar.  At the end of the spar a large single block was spliced on facing forward for the running lift, and a similar single block on a short pendant for the brace.
 
Not shown in the photo are a large single block tied to the center of the spar for the halyard, a small block in the center for the leach line, and the clew lines themselves which tie to the spar just ouboard of the clew blocks.
 
6
 
Then I turned to the sail itself.  The first choice was what to make it out of.  Working in 1/36 scale allowed me to use actual cloth rather than silkspan or other paper-based product.  I haunted fabric stores and searched the internet for the thinnest that I could find.  I found it at the New York Fashion Center.  Their Imperial Batiste measured out to 0.008" (0.288" in scale, or just over 1/4") which was acceptably thin.  As you can see in the photo, you can read through it.  Best of all, it is quite reasonably priced.
 
7
 
Now, how to shape it to a furled look.  Although most of my ideas on this topic have been developed over many years, they are succinctly stated in an article by Professor John Tilley of Texas A&M which can be found on this website at this location: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Rigging_and_Sails/ScaleSails.pdf 
 
The first idea is that a furled sail has to have less bulk than a full one, and that this has to start out as a trapezoid, because the outer ends of the furl are even less bulky than the middle.  I modified this to add two triangles of cloth that would hang down as representing the clews of the sail.  To this shape a series of panel lines were drawn on.  The outer ones were angled to lie parallel with the outer edge of the sail.
 
8
 
After that a lot of experimenting went on to get the size, layout and panel lines adjusted.  Then the edges of the sail were painted with white glue.  When dry the sail was cut out, the tabling folded and ironed, and the sail mounted on the spar.  It was soaked in clear acrylic matte finish and teased into furls that were tied with gaskets to the spar.  The teasing process continued throughout the drying process.  Where I was unhappy, water was liberally painted on the problem section to soften the cloth and the sail adjusted some more. I was so caught up in the process that I failed to take photos of my techniques, but I will do that with the fore and main courses, which will be furled in similar fashion.
 
9
 
With the sail mounted to the spar the sling was tied and siezed.  The halyad, the standing and running lifts, and the braces were tied, run through the appropriate blocks, and then to their belaying points.  Several, including the running lifts and clew lines, go through a long gammon block with six sheaves lashed to both sides of the gammoning.
 
10
 
At the belaying points, whether cleat or timberhead, the lines were secured with hitches. not knots or glue, leaving long tails for further adjustments.  Pirate Pete is supervising to make sure.
 
11
 
So here is where it is as I leave for Santa Fe.  I know that there are some items that I will have to adjust when I get back, and please, please, if you spot any that you question, let me know so I can correct them before I go too far past to easily redo.
 
12
 
My very best wishes to you all and your families.  I will see you in the New Year. 
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

Log 29 – lower standing rigging
 
Two weeks ago there were no masts or rigging set up.  The channels weren’t even on.
 
1
 
Today, with the invaluable help of JerseyCityFrankie, the lower standing rigging is done and the upper rigging well on its way.
 
2
 
Here is how it was done. 
 
First came the channels.  They are all situated in the line of the second molding, just under the blue painted bulwarks and above the gunports.  In typical fashion they are stylishly curved at each end, with a cap strip that captures the deadeye “chains”.  They are located such that the foremost deadeye lines up with the center of the mast.  In the photo you can see how I miscalculated this and the main channels had to move aft about half an inch, leaving a gap in the molding that had to be filled later.  Unlike English practice which usually had the supports under the channel, French practice at the time was for wooden knees above the platform.
 
3
 
For the lower masts, the rule of thumb is that deadeyes are half the diameter of the mast, while for upper masts they are more closely the size of the mast.  For this 17mm main mast the deadeyes are 9mm boxwood ones purchased from Model Shipways and stained.  Each hole was opened a little and a lanyard groove cut for each hole on an angle to ease the bend in the lanyard line.  In my restoration work it is almost invariably true that the rigging line fails at these sharp corners in deadeyes and blocks, so wherever possible I will be preparing the rigging fittings this way.
 
The deadeye “chains” are not the three links that are seen on later ships, but solid iron straps that are bolted through the hull at the bottom.  At the top there is a loop that hooks through a raised section of the deadeye strop.  This setup has been seen in contemporary drawings and confirmed by artifacts discovered in the excavation of La Belle, LaSalle’s ship when he explored Texas in 1674.  La Belle is a little early and about half the size of the QAR, but the rigging fittings should be similar so I have decided to go with this.  I will be taking many cues from the La Belle excavation as reported by Glenn Greico in his Master’s dissertation, available here: http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/pdf-files/Grieco-MA2003.pdf
 
My deadeye straps were made from brass strip, with a narrow section ground and bent to a hook, then chemically blackened.  They are pinned to the hull with half inch roundhead steel nails that are glued into holes that angle upward slightly to counteract what will be some pretty high stresses as the shrouds are tensioned.
 
4
 
The metal strops were formed from stiff iron wire.  (Yes, there are straps, strips, and strops.  Sorry about that, but I’ll try to keep them straight).  Here is the jig that I used.  It is for the deadeyes in the tops which have long legs to go through the top, but the principle is the same.
 
5
 
A length of wire is bent around the middle pin, which is there to keep the loop open for the later hook.  The legs pass between the pair of larger pins and are then bent out in a straight line.  A deadeye is held hard against the center point and the legs are bent by hand into the groove till they cross at the top.  Using the legs as handles the strop is spread apart until the deadeye can be popped out.  A bit of epoxy is laid into the strop groove and the deadeye is put back into the strop and rotated as needed to line up properly.  The legs of the strop are clipped short and the ends bent down into the groove with pliers.  When the epoxy dries they are ready for use.  Although the gap in the strop used to worry me, I have never had one open up.  Besides, if the stresses are that great, I would rather that the strop open up than have the entire channel pulled up.
 
With the deadeyes all strapped and stropped to the channels the rigging could begin.  I did this from aft to forward, with one exception.  The very first piece of rigging was the gammoning around the bowsprit.  This is important because all of the stresses and tensions of the standing rigging are anchored here.  You can see the way the lines cross as they wrap from aft to forward on top of the bowsprit, but from forward to aft within the gammon hole in the stem.  The gammoning is finished with a few round turns just above the grating in the head.
 
6
 
You can also see in the photo that the seat of ease has been lined with lead like the scuppers.  I would not otherwise show this feature, but the excavation of the QAR has turned one up, so it has been added.
 
7
 
Beginning with the mizzen mast the deadeyes were turned into the shrouds and given three seizings.  The shrouds were made from linen line sourced from a pool cue manufacturer who uses the line to make non-slip grips.  The line comes in unbleached white, which was dyed with RIT liquid black dye according to the package instructions. 
 
8
 
As was consistent for almost all ships of this period, whatever their origin, the deadeyes were laced with oiled line.  The lacing had to be protected from salt water, but could not be tarred since it must have been adjusted fairly often as the shrouds stretched from the strains of sailing and weather.  This has been represented with a dark brown line rather than the darker black of the tarred shrouds.
 
9   
 
At the mizzen top the shrouds are served as they go over the trestletrees and around the masthead.  Under the top are several blocks for the running rigging and for the crojack yard halyard.  The mizzen stay is served and an eye worked into the end.  A mouse is raised on the stay to form the loop that drops over the masthead and the heads of the shrouds.  The mouse is shaped with the bulbous end down, in the French fashion, so the bulb jams against the eye.  English practice is to have the tapered “tail” of the mouse slide through the eye until it has no more space to run.  I don’t know why there is this difference, or whether one or the other conveys any kind of advantage.
 
10
 
At the lower end I ran into a problem.  Although never detailed, it is clear that the mizzen stay has to set up to a collar on the main mast.  However, if the stay is centered it interferes with the ramshead block and tie for the main spar.  I decided to offset the collar to starboard with a bullseye seized into it.  A set of double blocks were seized into the lower end of the stay and the upper end of the collar, then joined with a lanyard.  The lower end of the collar is belayed to one of the large mast cleats.
 
11
 
The shrouds for the main mast are set up much like those of the mizzen.  There are five heavy shrouds with large deadeyes, and two more on the aft end of the channel for the topmast shrouds. 
 
12
 
For the main shrouds the forward one is served its whole length to protect it from chafing by the mainyard sail.  The other shrouds are served only where they go around the masthead and then for a short distance below the top where they are seized to each other in pairs.  The three futtock shrouds have been hooked into the strops of the upper deadeyes then turned around a futtock stave that is seized across the shrouds.  You can also see the pendants that hang below the top, which are served all over with an eye worked into the end.  They were used as anchor points for hauling up the ship’s boat, supplies, etc. 
 
12a
 
Here in a later photo they are shown with a double block hooked into the eye, the running line goes down to a corresponding block at the deck which is hooked into an eyebolt near the base of the mast.
 
13
 
These hooks were made up in my usual way, by turning an eye into appropriately sized iron wire using orthodontic wire bending pliers.  The wire is then turned back over the pliers and clipped off.  For the larger hooks used for the pendants the clipped end was further tapered with a grinding drum, then the tip was recurved as in full sized practice.
 
14
 
Aft of the mast a set of catharpins are laced to the futtock staves and pull them inward against the strain of the futtock shrouds.  According to R.C. Andersen this diagonal pattern was used by the French, probably to leave space immediately behind the mast for the main yard ties and other rigging lines.  They were installed on all three masts as they were rigged.
 
15
 
The main stay is set up with an eye and mouse, just as the mizzen stay was.  Although this is the largest of the rigging lines on the ship I decided not to worm it, nor to have a preventer stay.  I reasoned that a small ship that had been a slaver for several years and was now in the hands of pirates would not have the spare manpower to maintain lines that would not be called on except in battle, which the pirates avoided at all costs.  The collar is set up in the French fashion, served all over and anchored around the base of the bowsprit.  The two legs are seized together at the bow and then on both sides of the foremast.  Large triple blocks are seized into the ends of the stay and collar and laced together.
 
16
 
In this close-up you can see the blocks, which the French used rather than hearts favored by the English.  You can also see the thumb cleats that secure the collar to the mast on either side.
 
17
 
The standing rigging to the foremast is identical to that of the main mast, except that the stay goes to a collar on the bowsprit.  You can see most of what has been discussed in this one photo.
 
18
 
The fore and main masts had crowsfeet laced from the top to the stay to prevent the lower edge of the topsails from curling under the top and fouling all the lines and blocks that live there.  These were made by first shaping the euphroes out of pear.  They are about ¾” long, with a strop groove cut in all around the edges.  Since there are 16 holes in the forward edges of the tops, the euphroe has 8 corresponding holes.  A strop was seized into the groove with the tails left on which were used to attach the euphroe to the stay.
 
19
 
The crowsfoot was formed by lacing the line up through the hole in the top closest to the center cleat on the starboard side.  A stopper knot under the top prevented it from pulling through, much like the deadeye lanyards.  The line laced down and through the top hole in the euphroe, up and over the lip of the top on the port side, down through the first port side hole, and up the second port side hole.  It continued down and through the second euphroe hole, up over and down the second starboard hole, and up the third starboard hole.  The lacing continued loosely back and forth in this manner until the line reached the outermost starboard hole.  All the lines were tightened and a knot was worked close under the top and the excess line snipped off.  To strengthen it all the lines were painted with dilute PVA glue.
 
20
 
The final element for the lower standing rigging is the ratlines.  The line itself was selected to scale out to ¾” diameter, suitable for the weight of a man, and spaced 10mm apart, which converts to 15” in real space.  As for tying them, many others have gone over the lacing of ratlines, so I will not repeat that here.  Suffice to say that they are attached to the outermost shrouds of each gang with an overhand loop, which makes the smallest bulge around the shroud, and secured to the inner shrouds with clove hitches.  This is not nearly as daunting as it may seem.  Once a rhythm is established it goes rather quickly, like knitting.  Frank and I tied all the ratlines for all the lower shrouds in just four hours.  No special effort was made to have the ratlines sag between the shrouds, but they naturally take on a mild curve as the tying proceeds.  This can be increased or reduced by gently tugging on the appropriate knots until the desired look is achieved.  Once I was happy with the overall look the entire shroud gang was painted with dilute glue and, when the glue was dry, the tails were clipped as close to the shrouds as could be managed.
 
21
 
I hope to have another report out before Christmas, with the completion of the standing rigging and the beginning of hanging the spars and sails. 
 
If not, a very Happy Holiday Season to all and I will be back in the New Year.
 
Dan

Log 29 – lower standing rigging
 
Two weeks ago there were no masts or rigging set up.  The channels weren’t even on.
 
1
 
Today, with the invaluable help of JerseyCityFrankie, the lower standing rigging is done and the upper rigging well on its way.
 
2
 
Here is how it was done. 
 
First came the channels.  They are all situated in the line of the second molding, just under the blue painted bulwarks and above the gunports.  In typical fashion they are stylishly curved at each end, with a cap strip that captures the deadeye “chains”.  They are located such that the foremost deadeye lines up with the center of the mast.  In the photo you can see how I miscalculated this and the main channels had to move aft about half an inch, leaving a gap in the molding that had to be filled later.  Unlike English practice which usually had the supports under the channel, French practice at the time was for wooden knees above the platform.
 
3
 
For the lower masts, the rule of thumb is that deadeyes are half the diameter of the mast, while for upper masts they are more closely the size of the mast.  For this 17mm main mast the deadeyes are 9mm boxwood ones purchased from Model Shipways and stained.  Each hole was opened a little and a lanyard groove cut for each hole on an angle to ease the bend in the lanyard line.  In my restoration work it is almost invariably true that the rigging line fails at these sharp corners in deadeyes and blocks, so wherever possible I will be preparing the rigging fittings this way.
 
The deadeye “chains” are not the three links that are seen on later ships, but solid iron straps that are bolted through the hull at the bottom.  At the top there is a loop that hooks through a raised section of the deadeye strop.  This setup has been seen in contemporary drawings and confirmed by artifacts discovered in the excavation of La Belle, LaSalle’s ship when he explored Texas in 1674.  La Belle is a little early and about half the size of the QAR, but the rigging fittings should be similar so I have decided to go with this.  I will be taking many cues from the La Belle excavation as reported by Glenn Greico in his Master’s dissertation, available here: http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/pdf-files/Grieco-MA2003.pdf
 
My deadeye straps were made from brass strip, with a narrow section ground and bent to a hook, then chemically blackened.  They are pinned to the hull with half inch roundhead steel nails that are glued into holes that angle upward slightly to counteract what will be some pretty high stresses as the shrouds are tensioned.
 
4
 
The metal strops were formed from stiff iron wire.  (Yes, there are straps, strips, and strops.  Sorry about that, but I’ll try to keep them straight).  Here is the jig that I used.  It is for the deadeyes in the tops which have long legs to go through the top, but the principle is the same.
 
5
 
A length of wire is bent around the middle pin, which is there to keep the loop open for the later hook.  The legs pass between the pair of larger pins and are then bent out in a straight line.  A deadeye is held hard against the center point and the legs are bent by hand into the groove till they cross at the top.  Using the legs as handles the strop is spread apart until the deadeye can be popped out.  A bit of epoxy is laid into the strop groove and the deadeye is put back into the strop and rotated as needed to line up properly.  The legs of the strop are clipped short and the ends bent down into the groove with pliers.  When the epoxy dries they are ready for use.  Although the gap in the strop used to worry me, I have never had one open up.  Besides, if the stresses are that great, I would rather that the strop open up than have the entire channel pulled up.
 
With the deadeyes all strapped and stropped to the channels the rigging could begin.  I did this from aft to forward, with one exception.  The very first piece of rigging was the gammoning around the bowsprit.  This is important because all of the stresses and tensions of the standing rigging are anchored here.  You can see the way the lines cross as they wrap from aft to forward on top of the bowsprit, but from forward to aft within the gammon hole in the stem.  The gammoning is finished with a few round turns just above the grating in the head.
 
6
 
You can also see in the photo that the seat of ease has been lined with lead like the scuppers.  I would not otherwise show this feature, but the excavation of the QAR has turned one up, so it has been added.
 
7
 
Beginning with the mizzen mast the deadeyes were turned into the shrouds and given three seizings.  The shrouds were made from linen line sourced from a pool cue manufacturer who uses the line to make non-slip grips.  The line comes in unbleached white, which was dyed with RIT liquid black dye according to the package instructions. 
 
8
 
As was consistent for almost all ships of this period, whatever their origin, the deadeyes were laced with oiled line.  The lacing had to be protected from salt water, but could not be tarred since it must have been adjusted fairly often as the shrouds stretched from the strains of sailing and weather.  This has been represented with a dark brown line rather than the darker black of the tarred shrouds.
 
9   
 
At the mizzen top the shrouds are served as they go over the trestletrees and around the masthead.  Under the top are several blocks for the running rigging and for the crojack yard halyard.  The mizzen stay is served and an eye worked into the end.  A mouse is raised on the stay to form the loop that drops over the masthead and the heads of the shrouds.  The mouse is shaped with the bulbous end down, in the French fashion, so the bulb jams against the eye.  English practice is to have the tapered “tail” of the mouse slide through the eye until it has no more space to run.  I don’t know why there is this difference, or whether one or the other conveys any kind of advantage.
 
10
 
At the lower end I ran into a problem.  Although never detailed, it is clear that the mizzen stay has to set up to a collar on the main mast.  However, if the stay is centered it interferes with the ramshead block and tie for the main spar.  I decided to offset the collar to starboard with a bullseye seized into it.  A set of double blocks were seized into the lower end of the stay and the upper end of the collar, then joined with a lanyard.  The lower end of the collar is belayed to one of the large mast cleats.
 
11
 
The shrouds for the main mast are set up much like those of the mizzen.  There are five heavy shrouds with large deadeyes, and two more on the aft end of the channel for the topmast shrouds. 
 
12
 
For the main shrouds the forward one is served its whole length to protect it from chafing by the mainyard sail.  The other shrouds are served only where they go around the masthead and then for a short distance below the top where they are seized to each other in pairs.  The three futtock shrouds have been hooked into the strops of the upper deadeyes then turned around a futtock stave that is seized across the shrouds.  You can also see the pendants that hang below the top, which are served all over with an eye worked into the end.  They were used as anchor points for hauling up the ship’s boat, supplies, etc. 
 
12a
 
Here in a later photo they are shown with a double block hooked into the eye, the running line goes down to a corresponding block at the deck which is hooked into an eyebolt near the base of the mast.
 
13
 
These hooks were made up in my usual way, by turning an eye into appropriately sized iron wire using orthodontic wire bending pliers.  The wire is then turned back over the pliers and clipped off.  For the larger hooks used for the pendants the clipped end was further tapered with a grinding drum, then the tip was recurved as in full sized practice.
 
14
 
Aft of the mast a set of catharpins are laced to the futtock staves and pull them inward against the strain of the futtock shrouds.  According to R.C. Andersen this diagonal pattern was used by the French, probably to leave space immediately behind the mast for the main yard ties and other rigging lines.  They were installed on all three masts as they were rigged.
 
15
 
The main stay is set up with an eye and mouse, just as the mizzen stay was.  Although this is the largest of the rigging lines on the ship I decided not to worm it, nor to have a preventer stay.  I reasoned that a small ship that had been a slaver for several years and was now in the hands of pirates would not have the spare manpower to maintain lines that would not be called on except in battle, which the pirates avoided at all costs.  The collar is set up in the French fashion, served all over and anchored around the base of the bowsprit.  The two legs are seized together at the bow and then on both sides of the foremast.  Large triple blocks are seized into the ends of the stay and collar and laced together.
 
16
 
In this close-up you can see the blocks, which the French used rather than hearts favored by the English.  You can also see the thumb cleats that secure the collar to the mast on either side.
 
17
 
The standing rigging to the foremast is identical to that of the main mast, except that the stay goes to a collar on the bowsprit.  You can see most of what has been discussed in this one photo.
 
18
 
The fore and main masts had crowsfeet laced from the top to the stay to prevent the lower edge of the topsails from curling under the top and fouling all the lines and blocks that live there.  These were made by first shaping the euphroes out of pear.  They are about ¾” long, with a strop groove cut in all around the edges.  Since there are 16 holes in the forward edges of the tops, the euphroe has 8 corresponding holes.  A strop was seized into the groove with the tails left on which were used to attach the euphroe to the stay.
 
19
 
The crowsfoot was formed by lacing the line up through the hole in the top closest to the center cleat on the starboard side.  A stopper knot under the top prevented it from pulling through, much like the deadeye lanyards.  The line laced down and through the top hole in the euphroe, up and over the lip of the top on the port side, down through the first port side hole, and up the second port side hole.  It continued down and through the second euphroe hole, up over and down the second starboard hole, and up the third starboard hole.  The lacing continued loosely back and forth in this manner until the line reached the outermost starboard hole.  All the lines were tightened and a knot was worked close under the top and the excess line snipped off.  To strengthen it all the lines were painted with dilute PVA glue.
 
20
 
The final element for the lower standing rigging is the ratlines.  The line itself was selected to scale out to ¾” diameter, suitable for the weight of a man, and spaced 10mm apart, which converts to 15” in real space.  As for tying them, many others have gone over the lacing of ratlines, so I will not repeat that here.  Suffice to say that they are attached to the outermost shrouds of each gang with an overhand loop, which makes the smallest bulge around the shroud, and secured to the inner shrouds with clove hitches.  This is not nearly as daunting as it may seem.  Once a rhythm is established it goes rather quickly, like knitting.  Frank and I tied all the ratlines for all the lower shrouds in just four hours.  No special effort was made to have the ratlines sag between the shrouds, but they naturally take on a mild curve as the tying proceeds.  This can be increased or reduced by gently tugging on the appropriate knots until the desired look is achieved.  Once I was happy with the overall look the entire shroud gang was painted with dilute glue and, when the glue was dry, the tails were clipped as close to the shrouds as could be managed.
 
21
 
I hope to have another report out before Christmas, with the completion of the standing rigging and the beginning of hanging the spars and sails. 
 
If not, a very Happy Holiday Season to all and I will be back in the New Year.
 
Dan

Hello again -
 
Thanks for the likes and comments, and a happy Christmas Eve to everyone.
 
Just a quick post about the last bit of work before I go on vacation for two weeks.
 
Since the last posting the standing rigging has been completed.  Here are two shots of the overall model with the upper standing rigging complete.  No different techniques were used, just a selection of thinner lines as the rig got higher.  The final lines, the fore t'gallant stay and the outer bobstay, are tensioned by lanyards between eyes worked into the ends of the lines.
 
1
 
1a
 
Here is a closeup of the foretop before any of the running rigging goes on.  You can see that the upper deadeyes are not in a perfect line.  I have seen similar irregularities in photographs of later, much later, working merchant sailing ships.  I do not think that pirates would have been as careful as the Royal Navy, or even the French navy, at such details, so leaving one a little shorter adds to the realism.
 
1b
 
 
The first element of the running rigging was the spritsail, the spar handling lines, a furled sail, and the sail lines.  Here is how I approached it.  The spar is simple.  A properly sized length of square maple stock was planed to an octogon.  The center section which remained octagonal was marked off, then the spar was tapered and rounded with a small plane, Dremel sanding drums, then a sheet of sandpaper glued flat to a piece of acrylic.  This procedure is exactly like that used to shape the masts in an earlier log entry, just carried forward till the spar was properly tapered.  Cleats were mounted in the center section and stop cleats glued and pinned at either end.
 
3
 
The first lines to go on were the stirrups and footropes.  Since the ship was quite small the spritsail only needed one stirrup on each side.  These were made by laying up an eye in the end, then wrapping the running end over the spar twice, leaving enough hanging down so the eye came 3 feet (1" in scale) below the top of the spar.  This would allow a sailor to stand on it and reach over to furl the sail.  An eye was siezed into the ends of the footropes sized to slip over the spar ends.  The free end of the footrope was slid through the eye in the stirrup and a small eye worked into its end.  According to Budriot the ends of the footropes were not lashed to the spar or to any of the lines circling the spar, but laced to each other.  
 
Once the lengths had been adjusted and set, and the center lashing tied, a series of small weights were used to make the stirrups and footropes  hang vertically, as if by gravity.
 
4
 
In the closeup you can see the first heavy steel clip pulls the footrope down near its seizing, while the second pulls down the stirrup.  The two smaller aluminum clamps were set on either side of the stirrup to mimic the footrope sag. 
 
5
 
 Once I liked the look the lines were painted with water to assist in the penetration of dilute white glue which was left to dry to set  the sag permanently.  
 
The various blocks and rigging fittings were added to the spar.  The first was the line for the sling.  An eye was spliced into one end which was wrapped around the spar and under the center cleat on the port side.  A round seizing secured it in place.  The running end was left free until it was time to lash the spar to the bowsprit.  It did, however, provide a way of temporarily securing the spar while various measurements were made.
 
Moving outward, the clew blocks were tied to the spar so they hung down, then the small deadeyes for the standing lift which sit on the forward face of the spar.  At the end of the spar a large single block was spliced on facing forward for the running lift, and a similar single block on a short pendant for the brace.
 
Not shown in the photo are a large single block tied to the center of the spar for the halyard, a small block in the center for the leach line, and the clew lines themselves which tie to the spar just ouboard of the clew blocks.
 
6
 
Then I turned to the sail itself.  The first choice was what to make it out of.  Working in 1/36 scale allowed me to use actual cloth rather than silkspan or other paper-based product.  I haunted fabric stores and searched the internet for the thinnest that I could find.  I found it at the New York Fashion Center.  Their Imperial Batiste measured out to 0.008" (0.288" in scale, or just over 1/4") which was acceptably thin.  As you can see in the photo, you can read through it.  Best of all, it is quite reasonably priced.
 
7
 
Now, how to shape it to a furled look.  Although most of my ideas on this topic have been developed over many years, they are succinctly stated in an article by Professor John Tilley of Texas A&M which can be found on this website at this location: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Rigging_and_Sails/ScaleSails.pdf 
 
The first idea is that a furled sail has to have less bulk than a full one, and that this has to start out as a trapezoid, because the outer ends of the furl are even less bulky than the middle.  I modified this to add two triangles of cloth that would hang down as representing the clews of the sail.  To this shape a series of panel lines were drawn on.  The outer ones were angled to lie parallel with the outer edge of the sail.
 
8
 
After that a lot of experimenting went on to get the size, layout and panel lines adjusted.  Then the edges of the sail were painted with white glue.  When dry the sail was cut out, the tabling folded and ironed, and the sail mounted on the spar.  It was soaked in clear acrylic matte finish and teased into furls that were tied with gaskets to the spar.  The teasing process continued throughout the drying process.  Where I was unhappy, water was liberally painted on the problem section to soften the cloth and the sail adjusted some more. I was so caught up in the process that I failed to take photos of my techniques, but I will do that with the fore and main courses, which will be furled in similar fashion.
 
9
 
With the sail mounted to the spar the sling was tied and siezed.  The halyad, the standing and running lifts, and the braces were tied, run through the appropriate blocks, and then to their belaying points.  Several, including the running lifts and clew lines, go through a long gammon block with six sheaves lashed to both sides of the gammoning.
 
10
 
At the belaying points, whether cleat or timberhead, the lines were secured with hitches. not knots or glue, leaving long tails for further adjustments.  Pirate Pete is supervising to make sure.
 
11
 
So here is where it is as I leave for Santa Fe.  I know that there are some items that I will have to adjust when I get back, and please, please, if you spot any that you question, let me know so I can correct them before I go too far past to easily redo.
 
12
 
My very best wishes to you all and your families.  I will see you in the New Year. 
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

Hello again -
 
Thanks for the likes and comments, and a happy Christmas Eve to everyone.
 
Just a quick post about the last bit of work before I go on vacation for two weeks.
 
Since the last posting the standing rigging has been completed.  Here are two shots of the overall model with the upper standing rigging complete.  No different techniques were used, just a selection of thinner lines as the rig got higher.  The final lines, the fore t'gallant stay and the outer bobstay, are tensioned by lanyards between eyes worked into the ends of the lines.
 
1
 
1a
 
Here is a closeup of the foretop before any of the running rigging goes on.  You can see that the upper deadeyes are not in a perfect line.  I have seen similar irregularities in photographs of later, much later, working merchant sailing ships.  I do not think that pirates would have been as careful as the Royal Navy, or even the French navy, at such details, so leaving one a little shorter adds to the realism.
 
1b
 
 
The first element of the running rigging was the spritsail, the spar handling lines, a furled sail, and the sail lines.  Here is how I approached it.  The spar is simple.  A properly sized length of square maple stock was planed to an octogon.  The center section which remained octagonal was marked off, then the spar was tapered and rounded with a small plane, Dremel sanding drums, then a sheet of sandpaper glued flat to a piece of acrylic.  This procedure is exactly like that used to shape the masts in an earlier log entry, just carried forward till the spar was properly tapered.  Cleats were mounted in the center section and stop cleats glued and pinned at either end.
 
3
 
The first lines to go on were the stirrups and footropes.  Since the ship was quite small the spritsail only needed one stirrup on each side.  These were made by laying up an eye in the end, then wrapping the running end over the spar twice, leaving enough hanging down so the eye came 3 feet (1" in scale) below the top of the spar.  This would allow a sailor to stand on it and reach over to furl the sail.  An eye was siezed into the ends of the footropes sized to slip over the spar ends.  The free end of the footrope was slid through the eye in the stirrup and a small eye worked into its end.  According to Budriot the ends of the footropes were not lashed to the spar or to any of the lines circling the spar, but laced to each other.  
 
Once the lengths had been adjusted and set, and the center lashing tied, a series of small weights were used to make the stirrups and footropes  hang vertically, as if by gravity.
 
4
 
In the closeup you can see the first heavy steel clip pulls the footrope down near its seizing, while the second pulls down the stirrup.  The two smaller aluminum clamps were set on either side of the stirrup to mimic the footrope sag. 
 
5
 
 Once I liked the look the lines were painted with water to assist in the penetration of dilute white glue which was left to dry to set  the sag permanently.  
 
The various blocks and rigging fittings were added to the spar.  The first was the line for the sling.  An eye was spliced into one end which was wrapped around the spar and under the center cleat on the port side.  A round seizing secured it in place.  The running end was left free until it was time to lash the spar to the bowsprit.  It did, however, provide a way of temporarily securing the spar while various measurements were made.
 
Moving outward, the clew blocks were tied to the spar so they hung down, then the small deadeyes for the standing lift which sit on the forward face of the spar.  At the end of the spar a large single block was spliced on facing forward for the running lift, and a similar single block on a short pendant for the brace.
 
Not shown in the photo are a large single block tied to the center of the spar for the halyard, a small block in the center for the leach line, and the clew lines themselves which tie to the spar just ouboard of the clew blocks.
 
6
 
Then I turned to the sail itself.  The first choice was what to make it out of.  Working in 1/36 scale allowed me to use actual cloth rather than silkspan or other paper-based product.  I haunted fabric stores and searched the internet for the thinnest that I could find.  I found it at the New York Fashion Center.  Their Imperial Batiste measured out to 0.008" (0.288" in scale, or just over 1/4") which was acceptably thin.  As you can see in the photo, you can read through it.  Best of all, it is quite reasonably priced.
 
7
 
Now, how to shape it to a furled look.  Although most of my ideas on this topic have been developed over many years, they are succinctly stated in an article by Professor John Tilley of Texas A&M which can be found on this website at this location: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Rigging_and_Sails/ScaleSails.pdf 
 
The first idea is that a furled sail has to have less bulk than a full one, and that this has to start out as a trapezoid, because the outer ends of the furl are even less bulky than the middle.  I modified this to add two triangles of cloth that would hang down as representing the clews of the sail.  To this shape a series of panel lines were drawn on.  The outer ones were angled to lie parallel with the outer edge of the sail.
 
8
 
After that a lot of experimenting went on to get the size, layout and panel lines adjusted.  Then the edges of the sail were painted with white glue.  When dry the sail was cut out, the tabling folded and ironed, and the sail mounted on the spar.  It was soaked in clear acrylic matte finish and teased into furls that were tied with gaskets to the spar.  The teasing process continued throughout the drying process.  Where I was unhappy, water was liberally painted on the problem section to soften the cloth and the sail adjusted some more. I was so caught up in the process that I failed to take photos of my techniques, but I will do that with the fore and main courses, which will be furled in similar fashion.
 
9
 
With the sail mounted to the spar the sling was tied and siezed.  The halyad, the standing and running lifts, and the braces were tied, run through the appropriate blocks, and then to their belaying points.  Several, including the running lifts and clew lines, go through a long gammon block with six sheaves lashed to both sides of the gammoning.
 
10
 
At the belaying points, whether cleat or timberhead, the lines were secured with hitches. not knots or glue, leaving long tails for further adjustments.  Pirate Pete is supervising to make sure.
 
11
 
So here is where it is as I leave for Santa Fe.  I know that there are some items that I will have to adjust when I get back, and please, please, if you spot any that you question, let me know so I can correct them before I go too far past to easily redo.
 
12
 
My very best wishes to you all and your families.  I will see you in the New Year. 
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

Log 29 – lower standing rigging
 
Two weeks ago there were no masts or rigging set up.  The channels weren’t even on.
 
1
 
Today, with the invaluable help of JerseyCityFrankie, the lower standing rigging is done and the upper rigging well on its way.
 
2
 
Here is how it was done. 
 
First came the channels.  They are all situated in the line of the second molding, just under the blue painted bulwarks and above the gunports.  In typical fashion they are stylishly curved at each end, with a cap strip that captures the deadeye “chains”.  They are located such that the foremost deadeye lines up with the center of the mast.  In the photo you can see how I miscalculated this and the main channels had to move aft about half an inch, leaving a gap in the molding that had to be filled later.  Unlike English practice which usually had the supports under the channel, French practice at the time was for wooden knees above the platform.
 
3
 
For the lower masts, the rule of thumb is that deadeyes are half the diameter of the mast, while for upper masts they are more closely the size of the mast.  For this 17mm main mast the deadeyes are 9mm boxwood ones purchased from Model Shipways and stained.  Each hole was opened a little and a lanyard groove cut for each hole on an angle to ease the bend in the lanyard line.  In my restoration work it is almost invariably true that the rigging line fails at these sharp corners in deadeyes and blocks, so wherever possible I will be preparing the rigging fittings this way.
 
The deadeye “chains” are not the three links that are seen on later ships, but solid iron straps that are bolted through the hull at the bottom.  At the top there is a loop that hooks through a raised section of the deadeye strop.  This setup has been seen in contemporary drawings and confirmed by artifacts discovered in the excavation of La Belle, LaSalle’s ship when he explored Texas in 1674.  La Belle is a little early and about half the size of the QAR, but the rigging fittings should be similar so I have decided to go with this.  I will be taking many cues from the La Belle excavation as reported by Glenn Greico in his Master’s dissertation, available here: http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/pdf-files/Grieco-MA2003.pdf
 
My deadeye straps were made from brass strip, with a narrow section ground and bent to a hook, then chemically blackened.  They are pinned to the hull with half inch roundhead steel nails that are glued into holes that angle upward slightly to counteract what will be some pretty high stresses as the shrouds are tensioned.
 
4
 
The metal strops were formed from stiff iron wire.  (Yes, there are straps, strips, and strops.  Sorry about that, but I’ll try to keep them straight).  Here is the jig that I used.  It is for the deadeyes in the tops which have long legs to go through the top, but the principle is the same.
 
5
 
A length of wire is bent around the middle pin, which is there to keep the loop open for the later hook.  The legs pass between the pair of larger pins and are then bent out in a straight line.  A deadeye is held hard against the center point and the legs are bent by hand into the groove till they cross at the top.  Using the legs as handles the strop is spread apart until the deadeye can be popped out.  A bit of epoxy is laid into the strop groove and the deadeye is put back into the strop and rotated as needed to line up properly.  The legs of the strop are clipped short and the ends bent down into the groove with pliers.  When the epoxy dries they are ready for use.  Although the gap in the strop used to worry me, I have never had one open up.  Besides, if the stresses are that great, I would rather that the strop open up than have the entire channel pulled up.
 
With the deadeyes all strapped and stropped to the channels the rigging could begin.  I did this from aft to forward, with one exception.  The very first piece of rigging was the gammoning around the bowsprit.  This is important because all of the stresses and tensions of the standing rigging are anchored here.  You can see the way the lines cross as they wrap from aft to forward on top of the bowsprit, but from forward to aft within the gammon hole in the stem.  The gammoning is finished with a few round turns just above the grating in the head.
 
6
 
You can also see in the photo that the seat of ease has been lined with lead like the scuppers.  I would not otherwise show this feature, but the excavation of the QAR has turned one up, so it has been added.
 
7
 
Beginning with the mizzen mast the deadeyes were turned into the shrouds and given three seizings.  The shrouds were made from linen line sourced from a pool cue manufacturer who uses the line to make non-slip grips.  The line comes in unbleached white, which was dyed with RIT liquid black dye according to the package instructions. 
 
8
 
As was consistent for almost all ships of this period, whatever their origin, the deadeyes were laced with oiled line.  The lacing had to be protected from salt water, but could not be tarred since it must have been adjusted fairly often as the shrouds stretched from the strains of sailing and weather.  This has been represented with a dark brown line rather than the darker black of the tarred shrouds.
 
9   
 
At the mizzen top the shrouds are served as they go over the trestletrees and around the masthead.  Under the top are several blocks for the running rigging and for the crojack yard halyard.  The mizzen stay is served and an eye worked into the end.  A mouse is raised on the stay to form the loop that drops over the masthead and the heads of the shrouds.  The mouse is shaped with the bulbous end down, in the French fashion, so the bulb jams against the eye.  English practice is to have the tapered “tail” of the mouse slide through the eye until it has no more space to run.  I don’t know why there is this difference, or whether one or the other conveys any kind of advantage.
 
10
 
At the lower end I ran into a problem.  Although never detailed, it is clear that the mizzen stay has to set up to a collar on the main mast.  However, if the stay is centered it interferes with the ramshead block and tie for the main spar.  I decided to offset the collar to starboard with a bullseye seized into it.  A set of double blocks were seized into the lower end of the stay and the upper end of the collar, then joined with a lanyard.  The lower end of the collar is belayed to one of the large mast cleats.
 
11
 
The shrouds for the main mast are set up much like those of the mizzen.  There are five heavy shrouds with large deadeyes, and two more on the aft end of the channel for the topmast shrouds. 
 
12
 
For the main shrouds the forward one is served its whole length to protect it from chafing by the mainyard sail.  The other shrouds are served only where they go around the masthead and then for a short distance below the top where they are seized to each other in pairs.  The three futtock shrouds have been hooked into the strops of the upper deadeyes then turned around a futtock stave that is seized across the shrouds.  You can also see the pendants that hang below the top, which are served all over with an eye worked into the end.  They were used as anchor points for hauling up the ship’s boat, supplies, etc. 
 
12a
 
Here in a later photo they are shown with a double block hooked into the eye, the running line goes down to a corresponding block at the deck which is hooked into an eyebolt near the base of the mast.
 
13
 
These hooks were made up in my usual way, by turning an eye into appropriately sized iron wire using orthodontic wire bending pliers.  The wire is then turned back over the pliers and clipped off.  For the larger hooks used for the pendants the clipped end was further tapered with a grinding drum, then the tip was recurved as in full sized practice.
 
14
 
Aft of the mast a set of catharpins are laced to the futtock staves and pull them inward against the strain of the futtock shrouds.  According to R.C. Andersen this diagonal pattern was used by the French, probably to leave space immediately behind the mast for the main yard ties and other rigging lines.  They were installed on all three masts as they were rigged.
 
15
 
The main stay is set up with an eye and mouse, just as the mizzen stay was.  Although this is the largest of the rigging lines on the ship I decided not to worm it, nor to have a preventer stay.  I reasoned that a small ship that had been a slaver for several years and was now in the hands of pirates would not have the spare manpower to maintain lines that would not be called on except in battle, which the pirates avoided at all costs.  The collar is set up in the French fashion, served all over and anchored around the base of the bowsprit.  The two legs are seized together at the bow and then on both sides of the foremast.  Large triple blocks are seized into the ends of the stay and collar and laced together.
 
16
 
In this close-up you can see the blocks, which the French used rather than hearts favored by the English.  You can also see the thumb cleats that secure the collar to the mast on either side.
 
17
 
The standing rigging to the foremast is identical to that of the main mast, except that the stay goes to a collar on the bowsprit.  You can see most of what has been discussed in this one photo.
 
18
 
The fore and main masts had crowsfeet laced from the top to the stay to prevent the lower edge of the topsails from curling under the top and fouling all the lines and blocks that live there.  These were made by first shaping the euphroes out of pear.  They are about ¾” long, with a strop groove cut in all around the edges.  Since there are 16 holes in the forward edges of the tops, the euphroe has 8 corresponding holes.  A strop was seized into the groove with the tails left on which were used to attach the euphroe to the stay.
 
19
 
The crowsfoot was formed by lacing the line up through the hole in the top closest to the center cleat on the starboard side.  A stopper knot under the top prevented it from pulling through, much like the deadeye lanyards.  The line laced down and through the top hole in the euphroe, up and over the lip of the top on the port side, down through the first port side hole, and up the second port side hole.  It continued down and through the second euphroe hole, up over and down the second starboard hole, and up the third starboard hole.  The lacing continued loosely back and forth in this manner until the line reached the outermost starboard hole.  All the lines were tightened and a knot was worked close under the top and the excess line snipped off.  To strengthen it all the lines were painted with dilute PVA glue.
 
20
 
The final element for the lower standing rigging is the ratlines.  The line itself was selected to scale out to ¾” diameter, suitable for the weight of a man, and spaced 10mm apart, which converts to 15” in real space.  As for tying them, many others have gone over the lacing of ratlines, so I will not repeat that here.  Suffice to say that they are attached to the outermost shrouds of each gang with an overhand loop, which makes the smallest bulge around the shroud, and secured to the inner shrouds with clove hitches.  This is not nearly as daunting as it may seem.  Once a rhythm is established it goes rather quickly, like knitting.  Frank and I tied all the ratlines for all the lower shrouds in just four hours.  No special effort was made to have the ratlines sag between the shrouds, but they naturally take on a mild curve as the tying proceeds.  This can be increased or reduced by gently tugging on the appropriate knots until the desired look is achieved.  Once I was happy with the overall look the entire shroud gang was painted with dilute glue and, when the glue was dry, the tails were clipped as close to the shrouds as could be managed.
 
21
 
I hope to have another report out before Christmas, with the completion of the standing rigging and the beginning of hanging the spars and sails. 
 
If not, a very Happy Holiday Season to all and I will be back in the New Year.
 
Dan

Hello again -
 
Thanks for the likes and comments, and a happy Christmas Eve to everyone.
 
Just a quick post about the last bit of work before I go on vacation for two weeks.
 
Since the last posting the standing rigging has been completed.  Here are two shots of the overall model with the upper standing rigging complete.  No different techniques were used, just a selection of thinner lines as the rig got higher.  The final lines, the fore t'gallant stay and the outer bobstay, are tensioned by lanyards between eyes worked into the ends of the lines.
 
1
 
1a
 
Here is a closeup of the foretop before any of the running rigging goes on.  You can see that the upper deadeyes are not in a perfect line.  I have seen similar irregularities in photographs of later, much later, working merchant sailing ships.  I do not think that pirates would have been as careful as the Royal Navy, or even the French navy, at such details, so leaving one a little shorter adds to the realism.
 
1b
 
 
The first element of the running rigging was the spritsail, the spar handling lines, a furled sail, and the sail lines.  Here is how I approached it.  The spar is simple.  A properly sized length of square maple stock was planed to an octogon.  The center section which remained octagonal was marked off, then the spar was tapered and rounded with a small plane, Dremel sanding drums, then a sheet of sandpaper glued flat to a piece of acrylic.  This procedure is exactly like that used to shape the masts in an earlier log entry, just carried forward till the spar was properly tapered.  Cleats were mounted in the center section and stop cleats glued and pinned at either end.
 
3
 
The first lines to go on were the stirrups and footropes.  Since the ship was quite small the spritsail only needed one stirrup on each side.  These were made by laying up an eye in the end, then wrapping the running end over the spar twice, leaving enough hanging down so the eye came 3 feet (1" in scale) below the top of the spar.  This would allow a sailor to stand on it and reach over to furl the sail.  An eye was siezed into the ends of the footropes sized to slip over the spar ends.  The free end of the footrope was slid through the eye in the stirrup and a small eye worked into its end.  According to Budriot the ends of the footropes were not lashed to the spar or to any of the lines circling the spar, but laced to each other.  
 
Once the lengths had been adjusted and set, and the center lashing tied, a series of small weights were used to make the stirrups and footropes  hang vertically, as if by gravity.
 
4
 
In the closeup you can see the first heavy steel clip pulls the footrope down near its seizing, while the second pulls down the stirrup.  The two smaller aluminum clamps were set on either side of the stirrup to mimic the footrope sag. 
 
5
 
 Once I liked the look the lines were painted with water to assist in the penetration of dilute white glue which was left to dry to set  the sag permanently.  
 
The various blocks and rigging fittings were added to the spar.  The first was the line for the sling.  An eye was spliced into one end which was wrapped around the spar and under the center cleat on the port side.  A round seizing secured it in place.  The running end was left free until it was time to lash the spar to the bowsprit.  It did, however, provide a way of temporarily securing the spar while various measurements were made.
 
Moving outward, the clew blocks were tied to the spar so they hung down, then the small deadeyes for the standing lift which sit on the forward face of the spar.  At the end of the spar a large single block was spliced on facing forward for the running lift, and a similar single block on a short pendant for the brace.
 
Not shown in the photo are a large single block tied to the center of the spar for the halyard, a small block in the center for the leach line, and the clew lines themselves which tie to the spar just ouboard of the clew blocks.
 
6
 
Then I turned to the sail itself.  The first choice was what to make it out of.  Working in 1/36 scale allowed me to use actual cloth rather than silkspan or other paper-based product.  I haunted fabric stores and searched the internet for the thinnest that I could find.  I found it at the New York Fashion Center.  Their Imperial Batiste measured out to 0.008" (0.288" in scale, or just over 1/4") which was acceptably thin.  As you can see in the photo, you can read through it.  Best of all, it is quite reasonably priced.
 
7
 
Now, how to shape it to a furled look.  Although most of my ideas on this topic have been developed over many years, they are succinctly stated in an article by Professor John Tilley of Texas A&M which can be found on this website at this location: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Rigging_and_Sails/ScaleSails.pdf 
 
The first idea is that a furled sail has to have less bulk than a full one, and that this has to start out as a trapezoid, because the outer ends of the furl are even less bulky than the middle.  I modified this to add two triangles of cloth that would hang down as representing the clews of the sail.  To this shape a series of panel lines were drawn on.  The outer ones were angled to lie parallel with the outer edge of the sail.
 
8
 
After that a lot of experimenting went on to get the size, layout and panel lines adjusted.  Then the edges of the sail were painted with white glue.  When dry the sail was cut out, the tabling folded and ironed, and the sail mounted on the spar.  It was soaked in clear acrylic matte finish and teased into furls that were tied with gaskets to the spar.  The teasing process continued throughout the drying process.  Where I was unhappy, water was liberally painted on the problem section to soften the cloth and the sail adjusted some more. I was so caught up in the process that I failed to take photos of my techniques, but I will do that with the fore and main courses, which will be furled in similar fashion.
 
9
 
With the sail mounted to the spar the sling was tied and siezed.  The halyad, the standing and running lifts, and the braces were tied, run through the appropriate blocks, and then to their belaying points.  Several, including the running lifts and clew lines, go through a long gammon block with six sheaves lashed to both sides of the gammoning.
 
10
 
At the belaying points, whether cleat or timberhead, the lines were secured with hitches. not knots or glue, leaving long tails for further adjustments.  Pirate Pete is supervising to make sure.
 
11
 
So here is where it is as I leave for Santa Fe.  I know that there are some items that I will have to adjust when I get back, and please, please, if you spot any that you question, let me know so I can correct them before I go too far past to easily redo.
 
12
 
My very best wishes to you all and your families.  I will see you in the New Year. 
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

Hello again -
 
Thanks for the likes and comments, and a happy Christmas Eve to everyone.
 
Just a quick post about the last bit of work before I go on vacation for two weeks.
 
Since the last posting the standing rigging has been completed.  Here are two shots of the overall model with the upper standing rigging complete.  No different techniques were used, just a selection of thinner lines as the rig got higher.  The final lines, the fore t'gallant stay and the outer bobstay, are tensioned by lanyards between eyes worked into the ends of the lines.
 
1
 
1a
 
Here is a closeup of the foretop before any of the running rigging goes on.  You can see that the upper deadeyes are not in a perfect line.  I have seen similar irregularities in photographs of later, much later, working merchant sailing ships.  I do not think that pirates would have been as careful as the Royal Navy, or even the French navy, at such details, so leaving one a little shorter adds to the realism.
 
1b
 
 
The first element of the running rigging was the spritsail, the spar handling lines, a furled sail, and the sail lines.  Here is how I approached it.  The spar is simple.  A properly sized length of square maple stock was planed to an octogon.  The center section which remained octagonal was marked off, then the spar was tapered and rounded with a small plane, Dremel sanding drums, then a sheet of sandpaper glued flat to a piece of acrylic.  This procedure is exactly like that used to shape the masts in an earlier log entry, just carried forward till the spar was properly tapered.  Cleats were mounted in the center section and stop cleats glued and pinned at either end.
 
3
 
The first lines to go on were the stirrups and footropes.  Since the ship was quite small the spritsail only needed one stirrup on each side.  These were made by laying up an eye in the end, then wrapping the running end over the spar twice, leaving enough hanging down so the eye came 3 feet (1" in scale) below the top of the spar.  This would allow a sailor to stand on it and reach over to furl the sail.  An eye was siezed into the ends of the footropes sized to slip over the spar ends.  The free end of the footrope was slid through the eye in the stirrup and a small eye worked into its end.  According to Budriot the ends of the footropes were not lashed to the spar or to any of the lines circling the spar, but laced to each other.  
 
Once the lengths had been adjusted and set, and the center lashing tied, a series of small weights were used to make the stirrups and footropes  hang vertically, as if by gravity.
 
4
 
In the closeup you can see the first heavy steel clip pulls the footrope down near its seizing, while the second pulls down the stirrup.  The two smaller aluminum clamps were set on either side of the stirrup to mimic the footrope sag. 
 
5
 
 Once I liked the look the lines were painted with water to assist in the penetration of dilute white glue which was left to dry to set  the sag permanently.  
 
The various blocks and rigging fittings were added to the spar.  The first was the line for the sling.  An eye was spliced into one end which was wrapped around the spar and under the center cleat on the port side.  A round seizing secured it in place.  The running end was left free until it was time to lash the spar to the bowsprit.  It did, however, provide a way of temporarily securing the spar while various measurements were made.
 
Moving outward, the clew blocks were tied to the spar so they hung down, then the small deadeyes for the standing lift which sit on the forward face of the spar.  At the end of the spar a large single block was spliced on facing forward for the running lift, and a similar single block on a short pendant for the brace.
 
Not shown in the photo are a large single block tied to the center of the spar for the halyard, a small block in the center for the leach line, and the clew lines themselves which tie to the spar just ouboard of the clew blocks.
 
6
 
Then I turned to the sail itself.  The first choice was what to make it out of.  Working in 1/36 scale allowed me to use actual cloth rather than silkspan or other paper-based product.  I haunted fabric stores and searched the internet for the thinnest that I could find.  I found it at the New York Fashion Center.  Their Imperial Batiste measured out to 0.008" (0.288" in scale, or just over 1/4") which was acceptably thin.  As you can see in the photo, you can read through it.  Best of all, it is quite reasonably priced.
 
7
 
Now, how to shape it to a furled look.  Although most of my ideas on this topic have been developed over many years, they are succinctly stated in an article by Professor John Tilley of Texas A&M which can be found on this website at this location: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Rigging_and_Sails/ScaleSails.pdf 
 
The first idea is that a furled sail has to have less bulk than a full one, and that this has to start out as a trapezoid, because the outer ends of the furl are even less bulky than the middle.  I modified this to add two triangles of cloth that would hang down as representing the clews of the sail.  To this shape a series of panel lines were drawn on.  The outer ones were angled to lie parallel with the outer edge of the sail.
 
8
 
After that a lot of experimenting went on to get the size, layout and panel lines adjusted.  Then the edges of the sail were painted with white glue.  When dry the sail was cut out, the tabling folded and ironed, and the sail mounted on the spar.  It was soaked in clear acrylic matte finish and teased into furls that were tied with gaskets to the spar.  The teasing process continued throughout the drying process.  Where I was unhappy, water was liberally painted on the problem section to soften the cloth and the sail adjusted some more. I was so caught up in the process that I failed to take photos of my techniques, but I will do that with the fore and main courses, which will be furled in similar fashion.
 
9
 
With the sail mounted to the spar the sling was tied and siezed.  The halyad, the standing and running lifts, and the braces were tied, run through the appropriate blocks, and then to their belaying points.  Several, including the running lifts and clew lines, go through a long gammon block with six sheaves lashed to both sides of the gammoning.
 
10
 
At the belaying points, whether cleat or timberhead, the lines were secured with hitches. not knots or glue, leaving long tails for further adjustments.  Pirate Pete is supervising to make sure.
 
11
 
So here is where it is as I leave for Santa Fe.  I know that there are some items that I will have to adjust when I get back, and please, please, if you spot any that you question, let me know so I can correct them before I go too far past to easily redo.
 
12
 
My very best wishes to you all and your families.  I will see you in the New Year. 
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

Log 29 – lower standing rigging
 
Two weeks ago there were no masts or rigging set up.  The channels weren’t even on.
 
1
 
Today, with the invaluable help of JerseyCityFrankie, the lower standing rigging is done and the upper rigging well on its way.
 
2
 
Here is how it was done. 
 
First came the channels.  They are all situated in the line of the second molding, just under the blue painted bulwarks and above the gunports.  In typical fashion they are stylishly curved at each end, with a cap strip that captures the deadeye “chains”.  They are located such that the foremost deadeye lines up with the center of the mast.  In the photo you can see how I miscalculated this and the main channels had to move aft about half an inch, leaving a gap in the molding that had to be filled later.  Unlike English practice which usually had the supports under the channel, French practice at the time was for wooden knees above the platform.
 
3
 
For the lower masts, the rule of thumb is that deadeyes are half the diameter of the mast, while for upper masts they are more closely the size of the mast.  For this 17mm main mast the deadeyes are 9mm boxwood ones purchased from Model Shipways and stained.  Each hole was opened a little and a lanyard groove cut for each hole on an angle to ease the bend in the lanyard line.  In my restoration work it is almost invariably true that the rigging line fails at these sharp corners in deadeyes and blocks, so wherever possible I will be preparing the rigging fittings this way.
 
The deadeye “chains” are not the three links that are seen on later ships, but solid iron straps that are bolted through the hull at the bottom.  At the top there is a loop that hooks through a raised section of the deadeye strop.  This setup has been seen in contemporary drawings and confirmed by artifacts discovered in the excavation of La Belle, LaSalle’s ship when he explored Texas in 1674.  La Belle is a little early and about half the size of the QAR, but the rigging fittings should be similar so I have decided to go with this.  I will be taking many cues from the La Belle excavation as reported by Glenn Greico in his Master’s dissertation, available here: http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/pdf-files/Grieco-MA2003.pdf
 
My deadeye straps were made from brass strip, with a narrow section ground and bent to a hook, then chemically blackened.  They are pinned to the hull with half inch roundhead steel nails that are glued into holes that angle upward slightly to counteract what will be some pretty high stresses as the shrouds are tensioned.
 
4
 
The metal strops were formed from stiff iron wire.  (Yes, there are straps, strips, and strops.  Sorry about that, but I’ll try to keep them straight).  Here is the jig that I used.  It is for the deadeyes in the tops which have long legs to go through the top, but the principle is the same.
 
5
 
A length of wire is bent around the middle pin, which is there to keep the loop open for the later hook.  The legs pass between the pair of larger pins and are then bent out in a straight line.  A deadeye is held hard against the center point and the legs are bent by hand into the groove till they cross at the top.  Using the legs as handles the strop is spread apart until the deadeye can be popped out.  A bit of epoxy is laid into the strop groove and the deadeye is put back into the strop and rotated as needed to line up properly.  The legs of the strop are clipped short and the ends bent down into the groove with pliers.  When the epoxy dries they are ready for use.  Although the gap in the strop used to worry me, I have never had one open up.  Besides, if the stresses are that great, I would rather that the strop open up than have the entire channel pulled up.
 
With the deadeyes all strapped and stropped to the channels the rigging could begin.  I did this from aft to forward, with one exception.  The very first piece of rigging was the gammoning around the bowsprit.  This is important because all of the stresses and tensions of the standing rigging are anchored here.  You can see the way the lines cross as they wrap from aft to forward on top of the bowsprit, but from forward to aft within the gammon hole in the stem.  The gammoning is finished with a few round turns just above the grating in the head.
 
6
 
You can also see in the photo that the seat of ease has been lined with lead like the scuppers.  I would not otherwise show this feature, but the excavation of the QAR has turned one up, so it has been added.
 
7
 
Beginning with the mizzen mast the deadeyes were turned into the shrouds and given three seizings.  The shrouds were made from linen line sourced from a pool cue manufacturer who uses the line to make non-slip grips.  The line comes in unbleached white, which was dyed with RIT liquid black dye according to the package instructions. 
 
8
 
As was consistent for almost all ships of this period, whatever their origin, the deadeyes were laced with oiled line.  The lacing had to be protected from salt water, but could not be tarred since it must have been adjusted fairly often as the shrouds stretched from the strains of sailing and weather.  This has been represented with a dark brown line rather than the darker black of the tarred shrouds.
 
9   
 
At the mizzen top the shrouds are served as they go over the trestletrees and around the masthead.  Under the top are several blocks for the running rigging and for the crojack yard halyard.  The mizzen stay is served and an eye worked into the end.  A mouse is raised on the stay to form the loop that drops over the masthead and the heads of the shrouds.  The mouse is shaped with the bulbous end down, in the French fashion, so the bulb jams against the eye.  English practice is to have the tapered “tail” of the mouse slide through the eye until it has no more space to run.  I don’t know why there is this difference, or whether one or the other conveys any kind of advantage.
 
10
 
At the lower end I ran into a problem.  Although never detailed, it is clear that the mizzen stay has to set up to a collar on the main mast.  However, if the stay is centered it interferes with the ramshead block and tie for the main spar.  I decided to offset the collar to starboard with a bullseye seized into it.  A set of double blocks were seized into the lower end of the stay and the upper end of the collar, then joined with a lanyard.  The lower end of the collar is belayed to one of the large mast cleats.
 
11
 
The shrouds for the main mast are set up much like those of the mizzen.  There are five heavy shrouds with large deadeyes, and two more on the aft end of the channel for the topmast shrouds. 
 
12
 
For the main shrouds the forward one is served its whole length to protect it from chafing by the mainyard sail.  The other shrouds are served only where they go around the masthead and then for a short distance below the top where they are seized to each other in pairs.  The three futtock shrouds have been hooked into the strops of the upper deadeyes then turned around a futtock stave that is seized across the shrouds.  You can also see the pendants that hang below the top, which are served all over with an eye worked into the end.  They were used as anchor points for hauling up the ship’s boat, supplies, etc. 
 
12a
 
Here in a later photo they are shown with a double block hooked into the eye, the running line goes down to a corresponding block at the deck which is hooked into an eyebolt near the base of the mast.
 
13
 
These hooks were made up in my usual way, by turning an eye into appropriately sized iron wire using orthodontic wire bending pliers.  The wire is then turned back over the pliers and clipped off.  For the larger hooks used for the pendants the clipped end was further tapered with a grinding drum, then the tip was recurved as in full sized practice.
 
14
 
Aft of the mast a set of catharpins are laced to the futtock staves and pull them inward against the strain of the futtock shrouds.  According to R.C. Andersen this diagonal pattern was used by the French, probably to leave space immediately behind the mast for the main yard ties and other rigging lines.  They were installed on all three masts as they were rigged.
 
15
 
The main stay is set up with an eye and mouse, just as the mizzen stay was.  Although this is the largest of the rigging lines on the ship I decided not to worm it, nor to have a preventer stay.  I reasoned that a small ship that had been a slaver for several years and was now in the hands of pirates would not have the spare manpower to maintain lines that would not be called on except in battle, which the pirates avoided at all costs.  The collar is set up in the French fashion, served all over and anchored around the base of the bowsprit.  The two legs are seized together at the bow and then on both sides of the foremast.  Large triple blocks are seized into the ends of the stay and collar and laced together.
 
16
 
In this close-up you can see the blocks, which the French used rather than hearts favored by the English.  You can also see the thumb cleats that secure the collar to the mast on either side.
 
17
 
The standing rigging to the foremast is identical to that of the main mast, except that the stay goes to a collar on the bowsprit.  You can see most of what has been discussed in this one photo.
 
18
 
The fore and main masts had crowsfeet laced from the top to the stay to prevent the lower edge of the topsails from curling under the top and fouling all the lines and blocks that live there.  These were made by first shaping the euphroes out of pear.  They are about ¾” long, with a strop groove cut in all around the edges.  Since there are 16 holes in the forward edges of the tops, the euphroe has 8 corresponding holes.  A strop was seized into the groove with the tails left on which were used to attach the euphroe to the stay.
 
19
 
The crowsfoot was formed by lacing the line up through the hole in the top closest to the center cleat on the starboard side.  A stopper knot under the top prevented it from pulling through, much like the deadeye lanyards.  The line laced down and through the top hole in the euphroe, up and over the lip of the top on the port side, down through the first port side hole, and up the second port side hole.  It continued down and through the second euphroe hole, up over and down the second starboard hole, and up the third starboard hole.  The lacing continued loosely back and forth in this manner until the line reached the outermost starboard hole.  All the lines were tightened and a knot was worked close under the top and the excess line snipped off.  To strengthen it all the lines were painted with dilute PVA glue.
 
20
 
The final element for the lower standing rigging is the ratlines.  The line itself was selected to scale out to ¾” diameter, suitable for the weight of a man, and spaced 10mm apart, which converts to 15” in real space.  As for tying them, many others have gone over the lacing of ratlines, so I will not repeat that here.  Suffice to say that they are attached to the outermost shrouds of each gang with an overhand loop, which makes the smallest bulge around the shroud, and secured to the inner shrouds with clove hitches.  This is not nearly as daunting as it may seem.  Once a rhythm is established it goes rather quickly, like knitting.  Frank and I tied all the ratlines for all the lower shrouds in just four hours.  No special effort was made to have the ratlines sag between the shrouds, but they naturally take on a mild curve as the tying proceeds.  This can be increased or reduced by gently tugging on the appropriate knots until the desired look is achieved.  Once I was happy with the overall look the entire shroud gang was painted with dilute glue and, when the glue was dry, the tails were clipped as close to the shrouds as could be managed.
 
21
 
I hope to have another report out before Christmas, with the completion of the standing rigging and the beginning of hanging the spars and sails. 
 
If not, a very Happy Holiday Season to all and I will be back in the New Year.
 
Dan

Hello again -
 
Thanks for the likes and comments, and a happy Christmas Eve to everyone.
 
Just a quick post about the last bit of work before I go on vacation for two weeks.
 
Since the last posting the standing rigging has been completed.  Here are two shots of the overall model with the upper standing rigging complete.  No different techniques were used, just a selection of thinner lines as the rig got higher.  The final lines, the fore t'gallant stay and the outer bobstay, are tensioned by lanyards between eyes worked into the ends of the lines.
 
1
 
1a
 
Here is a closeup of the foretop before any of the running rigging goes on.  You can see that the upper deadeyes are not in a perfect line.  I have seen similar irregularities in photographs of later, much later, working merchant sailing ships.  I do not think that pirates would have been as careful as the Royal Navy, or even the French navy, at such details, so leaving one a little shorter adds to the realism.
 
1b
 
 
The first element of the running rigging was the spritsail, the spar handling lines, a furled sail, and the sail lines.  Here is how I approached it.  The spar is simple.  A properly sized length of square maple stock was planed to an octogon.  The center section which remained octagonal was marked off, then the spar was tapered and rounded with a small plane, Dremel sanding drums, then a sheet of sandpaper glued flat to a piece of acrylic.  This procedure is exactly like that used to shape the masts in an earlier log entry, just carried forward till the spar was properly tapered.  Cleats were mounted in the center section and stop cleats glued and pinned at either end.
 
3
 
The first lines to go on were the stirrups and footropes.  Since the ship was quite small the spritsail only needed one stirrup on each side.  These were made by laying up an eye in the end, then wrapping the running end over the spar twice, leaving enough hanging down so the eye came 3 feet (1" in scale) below the top of the spar.  This would allow a sailor to stand on it and reach over to furl the sail.  An eye was siezed into the ends of the footropes sized to slip over the spar ends.  The free end of the footrope was slid through the eye in the stirrup and a small eye worked into its end.  According to Budriot the ends of the footropes were not lashed to the spar or to any of the lines circling the spar, but laced to each other.  
 
Once the lengths had been adjusted and set, and the center lashing tied, a series of small weights were used to make the stirrups and footropes  hang vertically, as if by gravity.
 
4
 
In the closeup you can see the first heavy steel clip pulls the footrope down near its seizing, while the second pulls down the stirrup.  The two smaller aluminum clamps were set on either side of the stirrup to mimic the footrope sag. 
 
5
 
 Once I liked the look the lines were painted with water to assist in the penetration of dilute white glue which was left to dry to set  the sag permanently.  
 
The various blocks and rigging fittings were added to the spar.  The first was the line for the sling.  An eye was spliced into one end which was wrapped around the spar and under the center cleat on the port side.  A round seizing secured it in place.  The running end was left free until it was time to lash the spar to the bowsprit.  It did, however, provide a way of temporarily securing the spar while various measurements were made.
 
Moving outward, the clew blocks were tied to the spar so they hung down, then the small deadeyes for the standing lift which sit on the forward face of the spar.  At the end of the spar a large single block was spliced on facing forward for the running lift, and a similar single block on a short pendant for the brace.
 
Not shown in the photo are a large single block tied to the center of the spar for the halyard, a small block in the center for the leach line, and the clew lines themselves which tie to the spar just ouboard of the clew blocks.
 
6
 
Then I turned to the sail itself.  The first choice was what to make it out of.  Working in 1/36 scale allowed me to use actual cloth rather than silkspan or other paper-based product.  I haunted fabric stores and searched the internet for the thinnest that I could find.  I found it at the New York Fashion Center.  Their Imperial Batiste measured out to 0.008" (0.288" in scale, or just over 1/4") which was acceptably thin.  As you can see in the photo, you can read through it.  Best of all, it is quite reasonably priced.
 
7
 
Now, how to shape it to a furled look.  Although most of my ideas on this topic have been developed over many years, they are succinctly stated in an article by Professor John Tilley of Texas A&M which can be found on this website at this location: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Rigging_and_Sails/ScaleSails.pdf 
 
The first idea is that a furled sail has to have less bulk than a full one, and that this has to start out as a trapezoid, because the outer ends of the furl are even less bulky than the middle.  I modified this to add two triangles of cloth that would hang down as representing the clews of the sail.  To this shape a series of panel lines were drawn on.  The outer ones were angled to lie parallel with the outer edge of the sail.
 
8
 
After that a lot of experimenting went on to get the size, layout and panel lines adjusted.  Then the edges of the sail were painted with white glue.  When dry the sail was cut out, the tabling folded and ironed, and the sail mounted on the spar.  It was soaked in clear acrylic matte finish and teased into furls that were tied with gaskets to the spar.  The teasing process continued throughout the drying process.  Where I was unhappy, water was liberally painted on the problem section to soften the cloth and the sail adjusted some more. I was so caught up in the process that I failed to take photos of my techniques, but I will do that with the fore and main courses, which will be furled in similar fashion.
 
9
 
With the sail mounted to the spar the sling was tied and siezed.  The halyad, the standing and running lifts, and the braces were tied, run through the appropriate blocks, and then to their belaying points.  Several, including the running lifts and clew lines, go through a long gammon block with six sheaves lashed to both sides of the gammoning.
 
10
 
At the belaying points, whether cleat or timberhead, the lines were secured with hitches. not knots or glue, leaving long tails for further adjustments.  Pirate Pete is supervising to make sure.
 
11
 
So here is where it is as I leave for Santa Fe.  I know that there are some items that I will have to adjust when I get back, and please, please, if you spot any that you question, let me know so I can correct them before I go too far past to easily redo.
 
12
 
My very best wishes to you all and your families.  I will see you in the New Year. 
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

Hello again -
 
Thanks for the likes and comments, and a happy Christmas Eve to everyone.
 
Just a quick post about the last bit of work before I go on vacation for two weeks.
 
Since the last posting the standing rigging has been completed.  Here are two shots of the overall model with the upper standing rigging complete.  No different techniques were used, just a selection of thinner lines as the rig got higher.  The final lines, the fore t'gallant stay and the outer bobstay, are tensioned by lanyards between eyes worked into the ends of the lines.
 
1
 
1a
 
Here is a closeup of the foretop before any of the running rigging goes on.  You can see that the upper deadeyes are not in a perfect line.  I have seen similar irregularities in photographs of later, much later, working merchant sailing ships.  I do not think that pirates would have been as careful as the Royal Navy, or even the French navy, at such details, so leaving one a little shorter adds to the realism.
 
1b
 
 
The first element of the running rigging was the spritsail, the spar handling lines, a furled sail, and the sail lines.  Here is how I approached it.  The spar is simple.  A properly sized length of square maple stock was planed to an octogon.  The center section which remained octagonal was marked off, then the spar was tapered and rounded with a small plane, Dremel sanding drums, then a sheet of sandpaper glued flat to a piece of acrylic.  This procedure is exactly like that used to shape the masts in an earlier log entry, just carried forward till the spar was properly tapered.  Cleats were mounted in the center section and stop cleats glued and pinned at either end.
 
3
 
The first lines to go on were the stirrups and footropes.  Since the ship was quite small the spritsail only needed one stirrup on each side.  These were made by laying up an eye in the end, then wrapping the running end over the spar twice, leaving enough hanging down so the eye came 3 feet (1" in scale) below the top of the spar.  This would allow a sailor to stand on it and reach over to furl the sail.  An eye was siezed into the ends of the footropes sized to slip over the spar ends.  The free end of the footrope was slid through the eye in the stirrup and a small eye worked into its end.  According to Budriot the ends of the footropes were not lashed to the spar or to any of the lines circling the spar, but laced to each other.  
 
Once the lengths had been adjusted and set, and the center lashing tied, a series of small weights were used to make the stirrups and footropes  hang vertically, as if by gravity.
 
4
 
In the closeup you can see the first heavy steel clip pulls the footrope down near its seizing, while the second pulls down the stirrup.  The two smaller aluminum clamps were set on either side of the stirrup to mimic the footrope sag. 
 
5
 
 Once I liked the look the lines were painted with water to assist in the penetration of dilute white glue which was left to dry to set  the sag permanently.  
 
The various blocks and rigging fittings were added to the spar.  The first was the line for the sling.  An eye was spliced into one end which was wrapped around the spar and under the center cleat on the port side.  A round seizing secured it in place.  The running end was left free until it was time to lash the spar to the bowsprit.  It did, however, provide a way of temporarily securing the spar while various measurements were made.
 
Moving outward, the clew blocks were tied to the spar so they hung down, then the small deadeyes for the standing lift which sit on the forward face of the spar.  At the end of the spar a large single block was spliced on facing forward for the running lift, and a similar single block on a short pendant for the brace.
 
Not shown in the photo are a large single block tied to the center of the spar for the halyard, a small block in the center for the leach line, and the clew lines themselves which tie to the spar just ouboard of the clew blocks.
 
6
 
Then I turned to the sail itself.  The first choice was what to make it out of.  Working in 1/36 scale allowed me to use actual cloth rather than silkspan or other paper-based product.  I haunted fabric stores and searched the internet for the thinnest that I could find.  I found it at the New York Fashion Center.  Their Imperial Batiste measured out to 0.008" (0.288" in scale, or just over 1/4") which was acceptably thin.  As you can see in the photo, you can read through it.  Best of all, it is quite reasonably priced.
 
7
 
Now, how to shape it to a furled look.  Although most of my ideas on this topic have been developed over many years, they are succinctly stated in an article by Professor John Tilley of Texas A&M which can be found on this website at this location: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Rigging_and_Sails/ScaleSails.pdf 
 
The first idea is that a furled sail has to have less bulk than a full one, and that this has to start out as a trapezoid, because the outer ends of the furl are even less bulky than the middle.  I modified this to add two triangles of cloth that would hang down as representing the clews of the sail.  To this shape a series of panel lines were drawn on.  The outer ones were angled to lie parallel with the outer edge of the sail.
 
8
 
After that a lot of experimenting went on to get the size, layout and panel lines adjusted.  Then the edges of the sail were painted with white glue.  When dry the sail was cut out, the tabling folded and ironed, and the sail mounted on the spar.  It was soaked in clear acrylic matte finish and teased into furls that were tied with gaskets to the spar.  The teasing process continued throughout the drying process.  Where I was unhappy, water was liberally painted on the problem section to soften the cloth and the sail adjusted some more. I was so caught up in the process that I failed to take photos of my techniques, but I will do that with the fore and main courses, which will be furled in similar fashion.
 
9
 
With the sail mounted to the spar the sling was tied and siezed.  The halyad, the standing and running lifts, and the braces were tied, run through the appropriate blocks, and then to their belaying points.  Several, including the running lifts and clew lines, go through a long gammon block with six sheaves lashed to both sides of the gammoning.
 
10
 
At the belaying points, whether cleat or timberhead, the lines were secured with hitches. not knots or glue, leaving long tails for further adjustments.  Pirate Pete is supervising to make sure.
 
11
 
So here is where it is as I leave for Santa Fe.  I know that there are some items that I will have to adjust when I get back, and please, please, if you spot any that you question, let me know so I can correct them before I go too far past to easily redo.
 
12
 
My very best wishes to you all and your families.  I will see you in the New Year. 
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

Hello again -
 
Thanks for the likes and comments, and a happy Christmas Eve to everyone.
 
Just a quick post about the last bit of work before I go on vacation for two weeks.
 
Since the last posting the standing rigging has been completed.  Here are two shots of the overall model with the upper standing rigging complete.  No different techniques were used, just a selection of thinner lines as the rig got higher.  The final lines, the fore t'gallant stay and the outer bobstay, are tensioned by lanyards between eyes worked into the ends of the lines.
 
1
 
1a
 
Here is a closeup of the foretop before any of the running rigging goes on.  You can see that the upper deadeyes are not in a perfect line.  I have seen similar irregularities in photographs of later, much later, working merchant sailing ships.  I do not think that pirates would have been as careful as the Royal Navy, or even the French navy, at such details, so leaving one a little shorter adds to the realism.
 
1b
 
 
The first element of the running rigging was the spritsail, the spar handling lines, a furled sail, and the sail lines.  Here is how I approached it.  The spar is simple.  A properly sized length of square maple stock was planed to an octogon.  The center section which remained octagonal was marked off, then the spar was tapered and rounded with a small plane, Dremel sanding drums, then a sheet of sandpaper glued flat to a piece of acrylic.  This procedure is exactly like that used to shape the masts in an earlier log entry, just carried forward till the spar was properly tapered.  Cleats were mounted in the center section and stop cleats glued and pinned at either end.
 
3
 
The first lines to go on were the stirrups and footropes.  Since the ship was quite small the spritsail only needed one stirrup on each side.  These were made by laying up an eye in the end, then wrapping the running end over the spar twice, leaving enough hanging down so the eye came 3 feet (1" in scale) below the top of the spar.  This would allow a sailor to stand on it and reach over to furl the sail.  An eye was siezed into the ends of the footropes sized to slip over the spar ends.  The free end of the footrope was slid through the eye in the stirrup and a small eye worked into its end.  According to Budriot the ends of the footropes were not lashed to the spar or to any of the lines circling the spar, but laced to each other.  
 
Once the lengths had been adjusted and set, and the center lashing tied, a series of small weights were used to make the stirrups and footropes  hang vertically, as if by gravity.
 
4
 
In the closeup you can see the first heavy steel clip pulls the footrope down near its seizing, while the second pulls down the stirrup.  The two smaller aluminum clamps were set on either side of the stirrup to mimic the footrope sag. 
 
5
 
 Once I liked the look the lines were painted with water to assist in the penetration of dilute white glue which was left to dry to set  the sag permanently.  
 
The various blocks and rigging fittings were added to the spar.  The first was the line for the sling.  An eye was spliced into one end which was wrapped around the spar and under the center cleat on the port side.  A round seizing secured it in place.  The running end was left free until it was time to lash the spar to the bowsprit.  It did, however, provide a way of temporarily securing the spar while various measurements were made.
 
Moving outward, the clew blocks were tied to the spar so they hung down, then the small deadeyes for the standing lift which sit on the forward face of the spar.  At the end of the spar a large single block was spliced on facing forward for the running lift, and a similar single block on a short pendant for the brace.
 
Not shown in the photo are a large single block tied to the center of the spar for the halyard, a small block in the center for the leach line, and the clew lines themselves which tie to the spar just ouboard of the clew blocks.
 
6
 
Then I turned to the sail itself.  The first choice was what to make it out of.  Working in 1/36 scale allowed me to use actual cloth rather than silkspan or other paper-based product.  I haunted fabric stores and searched the internet for the thinnest that I could find.  I found it at the New York Fashion Center.  Their Imperial Batiste measured out to 0.008" (0.288" in scale, or just over 1/4") which was acceptably thin.  As you can see in the photo, you can read through it.  Best of all, it is quite reasonably priced.
 
7
 
Now, how to shape it to a furled look.  Although most of my ideas on this topic have been developed over many years, they are succinctly stated in an article by Professor John Tilley of Texas A&M which can be found on this website at this location: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Rigging_and_Sails/ScaleSails.pdf 
 
The first idea is that a furled sail has to have less bulk than a full one, and that this has to start out as a trapezoid, because the outer ends of the furl are even less bulky than the middle.  I modified this to add two triangles of cloth that would hang down as representing the clews of the sail.  To this shape a series of panel lines were drawn on.  The outer ones were angled to lie parallel with the outer edge of the sail.
 
8
 
After that a lot of experimenting went on to get the size, layout and panel lines adjusted.  Then the edges of the sail were painted with white glue.  When dry the sail was cut out, the tabling folded and ironed, and the sail mounted on the spar.  It was soaked in clear acrylic matte finish and teased into furls that were tied with gaskets to the spar.  The teasing process continued throughout the drying process.  Where I was unhappy, water was liberally painted on the problem section to soften the cloth and the sail adjusted some more. I was so caught up in the process that I failed to take photos of my techniques, but I will do that with the fore and main courses, which will be furled in similar fashion.
 
9
 
With the sail mounted to the spar the sling was tied and siezed.  The halyad, the standing and running lifts, and the braces were tied, run through the appropriate blocks, and then to their belaying points.  Several, including the running lifts and clew lines, go through a long gammon block with six sheaves lashed to both sides of the gammoning.
 
10
 
At the belaying points, whether cleat or timberhead, the lines were secured with hitches. not knots or glue, leaving long tails for further adjustments.  Pirate Pete is supervising to make sure.
 
11
 
So here is where it is as I leave for Santa Fe.  I know that there are some items that I will have to adjust when I get back, and please, please, if you spot any that you question, let me know so I can correct them before I go too far past to easily redo.
 
12
 
My very best wishes to you all and your families.  I will see you in the New Year. 
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

Hello again -
 
Thanks for the likes and comments, and a happy Christmas Eve to everyone.
 
Just a quick post about the last bit of work before I go on vacation for two weeks.
 
Since the last posting the standing rigging has been completed.  Here are two shots of the overall model with the upper standing rigging complete.  No different techniques were used, just a selection of thinner lines as the rig got higher.  The final lines, the fore t'gallant stay and the outer bobstay, are tensioned by lanyards between eyes worked into the ends of the lines.
 
1
 
1a
 
Here is a closeup of the foretop before any of the running rigging goes on.  You can see that the upper deadeyes are not in a perfect line.  I have seen similar irregularities in photographs of later, much later, working merchant sailing ships.  I do not think that pirates would have been as careful as the Royal Navy, or even the French navy, at such details, so leaving one a little shorter adds to the realism.
 
1b
 
 
The first element of the running rigging was the spritsail, the spar handling lines, a furled sail, and the sail lines.  Here is how I approached it.  The spar is simple.  A properly sized length of square maple stock was planed to an octogon.  The center section which remained octagonal was marked off, then the spar was tapered and rounded with a small plane, Dremel sanding drums, then a sheet of sandpaper glued flat to a piece of acrylic.  This procedure is exactly like that used to shape the masts in an earlier log entry, just carried forward till the spar was properly tapered.  Cleats were mounted in the center section and stop cleats glued and pinned at either end.
 
3
 
The first lines to go on were the stirrups and footropes.  Since the ship was quite small the spritsail only needed one stirrup on each side.  These were made by laying up an eye in the end, then wrapping the running end over the spar twice, leaving enough hanging down so the eye came 3 feet (1" in scale) below the top of the spar.  This would allow a sailor to stand on it and reach over to furl the sail.  An eye was siezed into the ends of the footropes sized to slip over the spar ends.  The free end of the footrope was slid through the eye in the stirrup and a small eye worked into its end.  According to Budriot the ends of the footropes were not lashed to the spar or to any of the lines circling the spar, but laced to each other.  
 
Once the lengths had been adjusted and set, and the center lashing tied, a series of small weights were used to make the stirrups and footropes  hang vertically, as if by gravity.
 
4
 
In the closeup you can see the first heavy steel clip pulls the footrope down near its seizing, while the second pulls down the stirrup.  The two smaller aluminum clamps were set on either side of the stirrup to mimic the footrope sag. 
 
5
 
 Once I liked the look the lines were painted with water to assist in the penetration of dilute white glue which was left to dry to set  the sag permanently.  
 
The various blocks and rigging fittings were added to the spar.  The first was the line for the sling.  An eye was spliced into one end which was wrapped around the spar and under the center cleat on the port side.  A round seizing secured it in place.  The running end was left free until it was time to lash the spar to the bowsprit.  It did, however, provide a way of temporarily securing the spar while various measurements were made.
 
Moving outward, the clew blocks were tied to the spar so they hung down, then the small deadeyes for the standing lift which sit on the forward face of the spar.  At the end of the spar a large single block was spliced on facing forward for the running lift, and a similar single block on a short pendant for the brace.
 
Not shown in the photo are a large single block tied to the center of the spar for the halyard, a small block in the center for the leach line, and the clew lines themselves which tie to the spar just ouboard of the clew blocks.
 
6
 
Then I turned to the sail itself.  The first choice was what to make it out of.  Working in 1/36 scale allowed me to use actual cloth rather than silkspan or other paper-based product.  I haunted fabric stores and searched the internet for the thinnest that I could find.  I found it at the New York Fashion Center.  Their Imperial Batiste measured out to 0.008" (0.288" in scale, or just over 1/4") which was acceptably thin.  As you can see in the photo, you can read through it.  Best of all, it is quite reasonably priced.
 
7
 
Now, how to shape it to a furled look.  Although most of my ideas on this topic have been developed over many years, they are succinctly stated in an article by Professor John Tilley of Texas A&M which can be found on this website at this location: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Rigging_and_Sails/ScaleSails.pdf 
 
The first idea is that a furled sail has to have less bulk than a full one, and that this has to start out as a trapezoid, because the outer ends of the furl are even less bulky than the middle.  I modified this to add two triangles of cloth that would hang down as representing the clews of the sail.  To this shape a series of panel lines were drawn on.  The outer ones were angled to lie parallel with the outer edge of the sail.
 
8
 
After that a lot of experimenting went on to get the size, layout and panel lines adjusted.  Then the edges of the sail were painted with white glue.  When dry the sail was cut out, the tabling folded and ironed, and the sail mounted on the spar.  It was soaked in clear acrylic matte finish and teased into furls that were tied with gaskets to the spar.  The teasing process continued throughout the drying process.  Where I was unhappy, water was liberally painted on the problem section to soften the cloth and the sail adjusted some more. I was so caught up in the process that I failed to take photos of my techniques, but I will do that with the fore and main courses, which will be furled in similar fashion.
 
9
 
With the sail mounted to the spar the sling was tied and siezed.  The halyad, the standing and running lifts, and the braces were tied, run through the appropriate blocks, and then to their belaying points.  Several, including the running lifts and clew lines, go through a long gammon block with six sheaves lashed to both sides of the gammoning.
 
10
 
At the belaying points, whether cleat or timberhead, the lines were secured with hitches. not knots or glue, leaving long tails for further adjustments.  Pirate Pete is supervising to make sure.
 
11
 
So here is where it is as I leave for Santa Fe.  I know that there are some items that I will have to adjust when I get back, and please, please, if you spot any that you question, let me know so I can correct them before I go too far past to easily redo.
 
12
 
My very best wishes to you all and your families.  I will see you in the New Year. 
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

I have got the gearbox to the point where I can now move on to the driving portion of this engine namely the pistons and associated gubbins.
 

 

 

 
First I needed to machine up some blank pistons these are .311" (7.89mm) in diameter and .372" (9.52mm) high
 
these were then set into a fixture to drill the wrist pin holes and to machine the squarish hole inside.
 

 

 
they are fiddly little things to work with, popping the O ring on is easy getting the ring off is another story.
 

 

 
they slide up and down nicely in the cylinder head.
 

 
 
Merry Christmas everyone
 
michael