Dr PR

There were two common ways to get up the mast without rat line. One was to climb the mast hoops - only works when the gaff sail is raised. The other was a bosun's chair - basically a plank in a harness at the bottom of a halyard run through a block at the mast top (or just tie a line around a sailor and haul him up with the halyard). Capelle's books show smaller vessels (less than 40 tons) without ratlines. Larger vessels (40-90 tons) may or may not have them - usually masts with square sails had ratlines, fore-and-aft sail mast did not. The largest vessels (100+ tons) usually had rat lines. The advantage of the fore-and-aft gaff sails is that all the lines can be worked from the deck, and they can be reefed from the deck. Ratlines not needed. But square sails almost always required sailors to go aloft, especially to reef or furl the sails. Ratlines allowed many men to go aloft in a short time. The exception with square sails is that smaller sails (topsails and topgallants on schooners, royals and skysails on large square riggers) could be rigged to the spars on deck and the rigged spar and sail lofted into place quickly. This still might require a man aloft to secure things. But these spars/sails could also be lowered to the deck quickly. So a lot of men aloft weren't needed, nor were ratlines high aloft.

Very, very nice!

I have some progress to report. When I find time I have been adding the bolt ropes to the sails. Here is a photo of the sail loft with work underway on the fore course and a finished fore staysail. It is monotonous work. The rope tends to wander off from where I want it so I can glue only fairly short lengths to the sail edge at one time. I use a tool to hold down the loose end and "paint" diluted (1:1 with water) white glue along the sail edge, While the glue is still damp I use the brush to push the rope into place along the sail edge. The glue doesn't stick to the parchment paper on the work surface. Here are the completed triangular sails laid out on the sail loft (kitchen) floor. Now I am working on the larger sails (course, topsail, fore sail and main sail). They should be finished in a week or two. Then I have to put on all the reef points. So far I have found no reference that says what diameter/circumference line was used for reef points. One source does say they were flat braided straps that came to a point. Well, I am not going to try to do anything like that. I think I will just use the smallest thread I have. While adding the bolt rope I had a sudden "oh, no!" moment. The triangular sails used a lot of the 0.008" tan rope, and I realized that when I did the calculations to determine how much of each rope size I need I didn't include the bolt ropes! I went back to my spreadsheet and added up the lengths of bolt rope. Fortunately, I have a lot of extra rope on hand. I should have about nine feet (3 meters) of the 0.008" left after the model is finished.

Experiment first in an inconspicuous place on the model or a separate piece of similar plastic. Some paint removers will melt plastic and distort the surface. Some paint removers use ethylene glycol (brake fluid).

There is a discussion of carriage gun rigging here: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/21776-carriage-gun-rigging/?do=findComment&comment=652700

Gregory, I saw George Wales' drawing of the Rattlesnake in "American Sailing Ships" about 55 years ago and thought it was a beautiful ship (I really like vessels with tumblehome). I started redrawing Chapelle's plans by hand, scaling them to 1:48, with the intention of making a scratch build model. However the little fuss in Vietnam brought that effort to a halt. About 25 years ago I saw the Mamoli kit in a local hobby shop and bought it on the spot. However my job, marriage and a couple of houses to keep up put the kit on the shelf, where it has been ever since. But someday I intend to bring it out and start building it. Hence my interest in your project. I will be following it closely, taking notes for when I start work on the Rattlesnake.

Tom, Here is a link to a discussion about heating Titebond Original glue: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/37071-planking-without-clamps-clean-up-or-drying-time-a-new-way-to-use-titebond-original/?do=findComment&comment=1060839

I have decided to make a small change of plans. I originally intended to lay the decking directly on the bulkheads, and the tops of the bulkheads were dimensioned for this. The decking is 1/16 x 1/16 inch (1.6 x 1.6 mm) basswood sticks. These will not be very strong and might break easily. Looking at other builds I see that a subdeck of thin plywood is common, with the deck planking laid on this. I decided to use some of the extra 1/64 inch (0.4 mm) plywood for the base deck material and plank on top of this. I reduced the height of the bulkheads by 1/64 inch to allow for the thickness of the plywood. I plan to try the technique mentioned in recent posts of using Titebond Original glue and heating it to fasten the planks in place. First the subdeck will be coated with a thin layer of the glue. Each plank will also have one side coated with glue. After the glue dries the planks will be put in place and then I will use my spiffy new small quilting iron/plank bending tool to heat the planks, melting the glue.

An interesting follow on to square rigger tackles - in the modern US Navy the heavy lifting tackle is called the Burton tackle, and the associated winch is the Burton winch. So the name persists today.

Here are a few thoughts. 1. The fairleads in this position were common, so they were used for something. 2. The open top fairleads/chocks are used when you need to lead a line temporarily and be able to move it quickly. 3. They are above the well deck, so they were probably associated with something there. 4. There are life boats on the well deck of the Cecilie. 5. The deck plan drawing marks "boat skids" port and starboard. Perhaps these were portable skids to allow the boats to be moved. We had essentially the same thing on the cruiser I was on. 6. The boats are positioned under the shrouds. It would be necessary to haul them aft before lifting them over the sides. 7. The lines to move the boats could be lead through the fairleads and back to a capstan.

The model is looking good!

Jim, Good to hear from another CLG sailor - if you will excuse me calling a Marine a "sailor." This thread isn't very active. The CAD model is finished, mostly. I guess I should put a Kaman SH-2B Seasprite on the fantail (the Admiral's helo) but I haven't found any good plans to work from.

Mark, I worked pretty closely with the MARDET on the Okie Boat. They guarded the nuclear weapons spaces. I also have a few tales about those guys, but this isn't the place to tell them.

Mark, The sheave could be used for the flag halyard. In some cases the halyard ran though a small "jewel" block hanging from the end of the gaff. Either way would work. I have seen examples where the ends of the flag halyard was belayed to a cleat on the boom. This way the lines moved with the boom and gaff. You really can't tie them off to anything else (like the bulwarks). On schooners that flew gaff topsails the topsail sheet sometimes ran through a sheave at the end of the gaff. Maybe the model plans just copied the gaff drawing from a schooner. On square riggers it was not common to have a gaff topsail above the spanker/driver. However, I have seen at least one instance where a gaff topsail was used on the mizzen above the spanker. Sometimes such additional sails were rigged in light winds but not normally flown.

Rob, Very nice work! For me making a bunch of tiny complicated parts like this is like banging my head against the wall - because it is so nice when it stops.

Welcome! If you are going to build a grand banks fishing schooner I strongly recommend getting Howard Chapelle's The American Fishing Schooners 1825-193 (W. W. Norton & Company, New York and London, 1971). It has an amazing amount of information about these vessels and a 370 page "Notebook" (Appendix) with drawings and details from real fishing schooners. It will help you understand how these boats were built and rigged.

I have been ordering supplies for my next build, the USS Cape MSI-2, and planning my next moves on the Albatros. Before continuing with the rigging I need to clean up some loose ends (literally) on the deck. I have belayed a few lines but I need to add the rope loops. While fiddling with some of these I broke a hook on the static lines positioning the pivot gun. I just bumped the cannon barrel and pop! one of the hooks broke. I have broken a couple other hooks while assembling the model, and this has made me rethink what I want to use for the rest of the rigging. I have been using the Syren plastic hooks (left in the photo). These are the 4mm hooks, and I am also using a few 3mm and 5mm hooks. They look good and are a uniform size. But I don't want to have to be replacing broken hooks after I have a lot of the lines already in place. I decided to make some hooks from brass wire (right in the photo). I used 0.024 inch (0.6 mm) wire and formed it around drill bits that were the same diameter as the openings in the Syren hooks. The loops were soldered closed and then they were blackened with Brass Black. I was trying to make 4mm hooks, but as you can see my hooks are not as uniform as the Syren parts. Some look more like 5mm hooks. I will use the metal parts as insurance against broken hooks. The model won't have a lot of hooks side by side in any place, so slight size differences won't matter.

Very nice. I find the nibbing to be relaxing and fun!

Mark, We may be laughing, but not at you. We are recalling the frustration we all had when in the same situation. When it comes to rigging, few authors ever agree on anything! There were possibly as many ways to rig a ship as there were vessels! The gaff sail outhaul is often rigged similar to what you show in your drawing. One variation I have seen is for the forward block to be attached to the boom jaws instead of the mast. But otherwise the operation of the tackle is the same. The one rule for rigging is that lines must not foul each other, and should run free without chafing on other lines or spars. Generally, lines that originate lower on the mast and yards belay forward, and lines from higher up belay aft. Lines that originate on the mast or from points/blocks close to the mast belay around the base of the mast (fife rails). Lines that originate out near the ends of yards usually belay on the bulwarks (pin rails or cleats). An exception on ships with many topsails, topgallants and royals will see the lines for these sails that originate near the masts lead outboard through fairleads on the shrouds to belay on the bulwarks/pin rails. A very good reference for rigging is Darcy Lever's The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor (1808).

Mark, I am glad you enjoy the tales. I have been collecting materials for the build. Here is a photo of wood for a do-it-yourself MSI kit. I will be using 1/8 inch (3.18 mm), 1/16 inch (1.59 mm), 1/32 inch (0.79 mm) and 1/64 inch (0.40 mm) plywood for the hull bulkheads, center frame (keel), and the superstructure bulkheads. Much of the original superstructure was constructed of 3/4 inch (19 mm) marine plywood. There are 60 1/16 x 1/6 inch (1.59 x 1.59 mm) basswood sticks for the deck planking and 80 1/16 x 3/16 inch (1.59 x 4.76 mm) basswood sticks for the hull planking. A 4 inch x 1/16 inch (101.6 x 1.59 mm) basswood sheet will provide the planksheers, nibbing/margin boards, equipment foundations and other irregular pieces. I have some 1/8 x 1/8 inch (3.18 x 3.18 mm) basswood sticks to serve as internal support for the deckhouse bulkheads. There are a few sticks of various sizes for the bilge keels and rub rails around the deck edge. The winches and minesweeping machinery will be made of brass mostly. I have a stock on hand, but will also try to acquire more as I go along. The "pigs" (minesweeping floats), acoustic sounder and details like bitts and chocks may be 3D printed. However, I am not enamored with 3D printing, so I may decide to make these things out of more traditional materials. **** Here is a little more about the Cape and minesweeping. Here is a very young Ensign Hays fresh out of Officer Candidate School leaning on the Cape's main armament - a M2 Browning .50 caliber machine gun - attempting to look like a fierce warrior. The machine gun wasn't provided to repel boarders or attack other vessels, although it could be used for that if war ever came to Long Beach. Minesweepers operated in formations. I included a photo in post #28 above of minesweepers in formation. The first ship (the Cape in this picture) spread sweep gear to both sides. A cable rigged between the ship and the pigs (floats) was fitted with cable cutters to slice the mooring cables for moored mines. The following vessels lined up to one side or the other, with their bows following the pig of the ship ahead, and streamed sweeps to that side only. This produced a wide sweep pattern with each run through a mine field. Each ship was protected by the sweeps of the ships ahead - except the lead ship. If a ship did cut free a mine it popped to the surface ahead of the following ship. It was a threat to all the other minesweepers following in the formation. This is where the machine gun came in. It was mounted on the bulwark near the bow. When a mine popped up ahead we opened fire with the machine gun to try to detonate it. Minesweepers typically had a relatively high superstructure forward. Lookouts were posted on top of the pilot house to search for any mines visible in the water or those that were cut free by leading ships. A couple of fellows had M1 Garand rifles and I was stationed there with a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle). If we saw a mine we opened fire primarily to mark the position for the machine gun crew, and maybe blow up the mine before the machine gun got it. This was a "high pucker factor" operation. Mines were designed to sink large ships like battleships and aircraft carriers. Minesweepers were tiny by comparison, and if they hit a mine they could be blown to splinters in an instant. We occasionally practiced target shooting using 50 gallon barrels as target "mines." The machine gun had a semi-automatic mode where you could fire one shot at a time. This let you see where the bullets hit after you took aim. In fully automatic mode these guns just sprayed a bunch of bullets in an elliptical path all around the target and you really couldn't get a good idea how to aim the gun. I also had my own Colt M1911 .45 caliber pistol. I am not really sure why and I never fired it while on the Cape. However, I had to qualify with the .45 when I went aboard the Oklahoma City because I was a nuclear weapons courier, classified document courier and payroll courier. And I had my trusty sword that officers were required to buy. I did use it occasionally in fancy full dress uniform for change of command ceremonies and such. But we were never boarded by pirates or pleasure boaters.

I second that Toolmaker said - the tungsten carbide bits are VERY fragile and break if they are slightly bent. You cannot se the smallest bits in hand held tools - at least not for very long. And if they break off flush with the surface you eitherr leave them in place - blocking the hole you are trying to drill = or dig them out leaving behind a crater. High speed steel is what you want for pin vices and other hand tools. I have used the "aluminum wrap" technique with pin vices with collets that do not close entirely. It works sometimes, sometimes not. I am not entirely certain I got the four "machinists'" pin vices from Micromark - I am sure they are made in China and they seem to be available from many sources on the Internet. The smallest holds a #80 drill bit very firmly with the collet tightened hand tight (no tools needed). The entire shaft is hollow so very long drill bits can be used with the larger devices. And to steady your drilling in tight places you can insert a wooden dowel in the back end to fix the axis of rotation. I have used this method to drill holes in the inner side of bulwarks from across the model and through standing rigging. A good source for tools and materials is McMaster-Carr. We used the for decades at work. Good quality tools and materials. They sell small quantities to hobbyists. https://www.mcmaster.com/

I bought a set of four machinists" pin vices with collets from Micro Mark with the smallest closing down to essentially nothing. It holds the smallest drill bits I have found. These "pin vices" do not have a "head" so they can be fit into collets in a milling machine. How true they are for use a a drill press or milling machine I do not know. But they work fine for hand tools. I have been satisfied with them for hand use. 4-piece Machinist's Pin Vise Set $18.95 https://micromark.com/products/4-piece-machinists-pin-vise-set-1?variant=44018022318251&frt=15&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8OO3pNDBiAMVEw2tBh1YPjleEAQYASABEgL1jPD_BwE

Here are two images that illustrate the yard and stay tackle operation to launch a boat (I don't recall where these illustrations came from). Here is the detailed rigging: Note that there are eight tackles for lifting and moving the boat, and four guys to control it while it is moving. The top burton and rolling tackles keep the yard horizontal. They all have to be handled in coordination. One capstan isn't enough. All of the falls would have been handled by teams of sailors. Here is the process: The stay tackles lift the boat from its cradle. The yard tackles haul it outboard. Then the yard tackles are let out to lower the boat, while the stay tackles are slacked so as to not interfere. Bringing the boat back on board is the reverse of this process. The distance between the stay tackles is varied by setting the length of the triatic stay, longer for longer boats and shorter for smaller boats. The lower block of one stay tackle can be hooked to the upper block of the other to make a rig with just the second tackle lifting while the first moves the rig fore and aft between the masts. Adding a yard tackle hooked to the object being lifted allows using the rig to move objects around on deck, fore and aft and side to side. This type of rig was used to move cannon and other large objects. Just about every imaginable combination of these basic tackles could be hooked together to handle whatever needed to be moved. Anchors were fished up to the rail with the fore stay or burton tackles, and could be moved back to positions farther aft with the yard tackles. A winch or capstan could be used for these operations using only one lifting tackle at a time.

Art supply stores sometimes have ponce wheels. Also check model railroading supply places.

Very nice. I see there is some personal history there.