luponero

After a long time I go back to the construction site, more or less four months have passed since I finished the sleeping maneuvers, in this period I made the lifeboats (fourteen!) of the battleship Potemkin, it is a sailing model that we had to bring to the Veronese exhibition with the group of models in which I collaborate, so in January I started working on lifeboats with a "strong" rhythm to be ready for the exhibition, but at the end of February when I was almost finished the lifeboats the situation deriving from the covit 19 virus means that the exhibition did not take place, we were at the beginning ... However, now I have resumed the work on Santa Maria, the lifeboats will finish them later, then the resumption of the work began with the construction of the sails (I had to start again ...), to make them I used an old bed sheet for "children "made with cotton called" egg skin ", famous for being thin and soft, used to make clothes and sheets for" children "a lady gave it to me, my neighbor and the child who used it is now a man of forty years, time passes ... to be more sure of the translation, I bring an image with an egg that indicates the parts that compose it, the cotton fabric called in Italy "egg skin" refers to the membranes and the characteristic of being thin and soft, like the cotton used to make sheets and clothes for children, and in my case the sails of the ship. for the realization I made some cardboard models to bring the shape of the sails onto the fabric, after having reported the outline I have reported with the pencil the seams of the iron and the reinforcements, as in the drawings carrying all the sails of the Santa Maria on the sheet done this the next step was the beginning of the stitching, with thin Gutermann thread, of the lines of the stitching of the iron, which in reality should be double, but being in scale 1 to 50 it is almost impossible to double them because the distance between the seams, which in reality had to be about 10 cm, scaling it would mean making two straight seams at half a mm distance (impossible for me!) so I decided to make only one seam, preferring simplicity to specular and impossible realization for myself, see you next time black Wolf

I thank my friends for the appreciation and the "likes", both very welcome The time had come to work on the scraps, both the forestay itself of the cage and the foresail tree, but before starting it was necessary to prepare smaller blocks than the previous ones, I made them with the usual system but this time I used brass washers, left over from previous work, with a diameter of 1.5 mm finish with the burnisher and straw oil some details made previously are visible only in some circumstances of light and positioning of the hull, surely after the finished model they will be invisible, such as bilge pumps After making the "twist" cable called "S" I made the stay of the "cage" tree and I replaced the two blocks made on the straglio of the main tree with the smaller ones (also visible in the "ancient" photos of the Santa Maria) the aluminum "hair clip" is used for hair by ladies, but in these cases it is also very useful for modeling the forestay and the counter-stanchion of the foresail was then made (I don't know if the translator did a good translation ...) I attach a series of photos related to the job perhaps they explain better and with these I greet you, wishing you a Happy and Merry Christmas black Wolf

I wish all friends and fans of MSW a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year, Fabio said black wolf

I am very pleased with the opportunity to wish a Happy Christmas and happy holidays to all fans of model shipbuilding luponero

I started with the realization of the hooks for the blocks made with brass wire and with tin welding, they will be put under some blocks for the realization of the shrouds of the other two trees, the foresail and the after mast, I used the usual system, I reported on the 2mm plywood the drawing of the shrouds and ropes always align the bigots to the "tarozzo" which is the first wooden step, in the shrouds made on the foresail in which there is a shroud formed by a row of simple ratlines I also finished the stay of the major mast, creating the horizontal support in which the maneuvers of the bowsprit will be tied I continued with the work for a few days, finishing the maneuvers, you know the shrouds and backstays, I am attaching a series of images that show the construction phases in progression after finishing the rigging with the ratlines I removed the support fixing them with bigots to put them under tension details to hear from you soon black Wolf

Having looked for images related to the model of Santa Maria taken from the studies carried out by Fernandez - Duro and from the construction plans of Adametz, stimulated me to deepen the research related to this model that was made in 1892 for the commemoration of the 4th centenary of the discovery from America, I managed to find some photos and honestly they seem very beautiful to me, the world of the internet allows you to carry out searches which, in the absence of this tool, would be very complex to carry out, some photos are taken from the historical archive of Canarias, others, I presume, that are from private individuals available on the net, even if some time and experience are necessary to carry out the research. Certainly the photographs, even if "ancient", allow us to have "certainties" of some details of the model I am making, which surely is not what Columbus' carack should have been, given that there are few certainties on this medieval ship, surely the photos found allow me to have "certainties" relating to the model built in 1892 and which I am making beginning from the oldest photo, it is a postcard from 1892 in which you can see the Santa Maria together with the other ships in the port of Tenerife the following show the ship anchored at the port in 1893, people probably came to the dock to admire it ready for navigation with the other two ships dropped anchor at full sail detail of the stays of the major tree, called "fork" construction updates will follow black Wolf

If it is not a problem I would be in the school desk with Patrick, I know I am a little late, but to recover I cut a cherry tree, a pear tree, an apple tree, a plum tree and then my wife "inflated" me! apart from the "jokes" I follow you willingly black Wolf

Hi Patrick, the question you ask me is a question that I cannot answer with certainty, the material on medieval ships is always "uncertain" what I have are the Adametz construction plans attached to the book "The ships of Columbus" by Winther and information taken from the book "The ships of Christopher Columbus" by Pastor, both in the construction plans of Adametz and in the ship built to commemorate 400th anniversary of the European discovery of America, I attach the images the cable is a backstay, but honestly I don't know if it was already in use in the late 1400s, also from this photo it seems that it is present on the replica of the Columbus ship, and just because the material and information are few, requests for further information and additional information are welcome I put the little man (with a nickname "sardine") near the griselle to see and compare the situation, surely the rise of 40 cm is not little but it is feasible. to the next black Wolf

The major tree forestay is among the thickest cables, it is a "torticcio" cable made with four strands (shrouds with three) the thickness in 1/50 scale is scarce 2mm, in reality a cable from about 10 cm, (only the anchor line should be larger) following a schematic image found on the internet, with the direction of the cables being made (torticcio and piano) and the direction of rotation starting from the strands (composed of lint, if I remember correctly) it can be useful to try to commit the cables, need to self-realize or buy the contractor) the "torticcio" cable is formed by four "cords" which are nothing more than "flat" cables, however, this image shows the made of the main shaft which for now is the only shaft fixed / glued The forestay is fixed with two bigots bigger than those used for shrouds the blocks that will later be used for the spars and "antenna" are visible on the bridge those that follow illustrate the "bifurcation" of the staysail (?) obtained with the splicing of the cables (in reality, instead I worked, "shredded" the cables to make them more spiral and wrap with the thin wire) the little man I need to estimate the height of the horizontal table placed over the bigots in which ankles are housed end with detail of the staysail and sail blocks to the next black Wolf

I thank my friends for the "likes" unfortunately the translator, although very useful, does not correctly translate the meaning of the terms and this can create problems of mutual understanding unfortunately, however you have to be satisfied or learn English better, maybe I'll do it when I retire, maybe ,,, I came back too late to turn on the stove in the laboratory for which I update the building site (not in real time, but we miss a little), obviously gradually the jobs go on, very slowly, we go up higher, and gradually the distance between the shrouds decreases, so that making the ligatures and the knots becomes impossible because of the little space between the shrouds, for this the last "steps" I realize with a thread of smaller diameter, it should be 0,2mm all 'roughly, I take off the template that I used because I reached the last ratlines (grisella) , in addition to the tailoring it is also visible the Forestay itself greater of the tree strap on the fly with two small springs the photo was taken when both shrouds were made) the next photo is a detail of the bigotte (?) and alignment with the tarozzo (?) (alignment to be respected in the realization of the upper ratlines - griselle ) and below, the diagonal view from "port"

The next step was the tying of the griselle to the shrouds, a clarification that I had not previously reported (the bigots are shown on the template practicing on it the holes from which the "runner" will pass with a tip of 0.7mm + or -, to rub the bigoted with their own tailoring it is necessary to stop the bigotas on the template on the three holes of the runner using the classic brass nails, to avoid the "rotations" of the same one, after the rubbing the nails come off and in their place is used the pin, to make the movements towards the outside and their positioning towards the inside) the thread used for griselle is in cotton (found in a workshop of a cobbler "a rarity" of these times) the diam. is roughly 0.3 mm, (committed to the right so a "flat" cable carries an image of the shroud-laid rope making bandages with the finest thread at the beginning and at the end of the grisella is not easy, especially if you want to respect the scale (1/50) also in the binding of the griselle the "dima" (the design of the shrouds) is very useful following the lines the grisella is laid precisely, the "rise" between grisella and grisella is 8 mm (40 cm real), in the following picture you can see the binding of the final part, the thread is bent and the thread of a d is prepared. very thin with a simple open knot, slips into the folded part and pulls, repeating several passes, previously I had wrapped in cable for the affected stretch, sliding to the right point to make the curved part (gassa) while in this photo we see the "clove hitch." knot pulling it from the extremities, and in reality with the weight of the sailor we will be strongly to the sartia, like all the nodes once learned the system if they realize quickly to the next black Wolf

The next step was the redundancy (Turn Buckle) of the "bigotte", for the realization of the "runner / CORRIDORE" or the cable connecting the bigots, ( shroud-laid rope ) I always used a Gutermann yarn (the yarn is always "flat" so if the thickness is of the yarn is correct, it is used directly, the argument on the making of cables, perhaps, would need a deepening, but I don't want to "weigh down" too much the update) the color used is the one that in my opinion approaches the untreated rope with the anti-fouling systems of the time, I insert an image "in which some of the" technical "terms I used, of which I am not sure of the correct translation (hopefully well ...) seen from inside the ship the "flat" work is opposite to that used for the production of shrouds (torticcio cable) the reticulation was carried out after the "tarozzo" was scraped and as I said the method of using the shroud printing pasted on the 2mm plywood and positioned later on the parasartie and under the crow's nest it allows the realization of the various parts that make up the shrouds with relative ease, due to the fact that stopping the bigots with pins you have the space, pulling forward the bigoted, to work well, repositioning them later without losing the fundamental alignment (a method that I would advise) it is necessary to avoid the gluing of the runner until one is sure of having finished the work, obviously the displacement of the bigots necessarily causes the lengthening of the thread (runner) and in following the shortening, manageable or very difficult maneuvers, if the wire has been glued the next step will be on making the "griselle" translation permitting, to the next black Wolf

very good, (I agree with Steven) beautiful and precise realization sincere congratulations black Wolf

After the alternate laying with hatchings of the master mast (one on each side) I started to position the bigoted ones, the printing of the shrouds cloned from the construction planes and glued on a 2 mm plywood sheet positioned on the parasartie, allows the precise positioning of the bigoted (?) unfortunately it is not possible to correctly translate many ancient nautical terms, as "BIGOTTE" the translator distorts the meaning of many terms by which I use an image, bringing the term of the object into it, as follows the use of pins, allows the forward and backward movement of the cables by not losing the alignment of the "bigotte" this system is also useful after how much "griselle" will be laid, finish the ties over the bigotte, later I tied the "tarozzo" which is the first step of the griselle, it is a wooden step that is tied on the shrouds above the bigots and from the alignment to the "griselle", I put an image where the "tarozzo" is reported and the "griselle" ligation method the next step is the union of the bigots (arridatura), those on the parasartie with those of the shrouds, (the translation of ancient nautical terms becomes very complex ...) to the next black Wolf

I stayed with the construction of the blocks, I always did some with the usual technique changing the typology, (these are blocks used in the Middle Ages many times with a single pulley) once the necessary quantity has been estimated I have completed the various forms Once the blocks are finished, it is time to think about the creation of the rope for the maneuvers. I started to prepare the ropes for the "sleeping" maneuvers, that is the ropes that had to hold firm trees against the action of winds and waves, to guarantee this condition the shrouds, shovels and backstays that were put in tension were necessary with the repetition carried out with the bigots and blocks. For the realization of the cordage I started with the production of cable-laid rope , for the committing of the cables I used Gutermann polyester yarns and a sewing machine, I had equipped myself also for seaming the sails, but the realization of the cordame was longer than expected, I started with the preparation of cables with both three and four strands, using different thicknesses of the yarns (wood) obtaining three-dimensional twisted cables, for the mainmast sheave and for the shrouds and backstay, trying to bring them back to scale (the shredder should be a cable of about 10 cm (on a scale of 1/50 = 2mm), sheaves greater than 8 cm (on a 1.7mm scale) the backstays of 6 cm ( 1.4mm) thus exchanging the various yarns I made the skeins (the machine has a seaming system that allows the realization of spools of continuous thread) in the following photo, the sewing machine and the one for committing cables (hoping that the translation is understandable) follow the various strings and ligature of the same ligatures (flat gassa) are taken from a volume very famous for naval modeling in Italy "Naval models of Curti" followed by some cables made while the photo that follows this photo is the binding of the first double rigger in the mast inside the Crow's Nest cordage is a very important and complex part, certainly a good "rope" made the difference for which there were different types of ropes and antifouling treatments, which I will illustrate later to the next black Wolf