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rodricbraithwaiteRodric

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    rqbraithwaite@mac.com

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    Wimbledon, London
  • Interests
    International affairs, Russia, History, Nautical history,

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  1. Dave/Allan I've just caught up with this post. I've got to the same ppint in my Alert build, and I know I couldn't reeve the deadeyes once the chainplates were installed. So I'm doing it in advance. I'd be glad to know how the experiment worked out with you. Rodric
  2. Thucydides I forgot to thank you for the reference to the NMM document on Alert’s rigging. I’m studying it. Richard (who also has a log on Model Ship World) was alerted to your log by Ropes of Scale, whom he consulted about the rigging for his trireme. Rodric
  3. Thucydides Thank you for this very helpful reply. Your log is a model, not least because of the internal links which make it much easier to navigate. It’s widely consulted (not least by my son Ricahrd, who’s building a spectacular 1/25 scale model of the replica Greek trireme Olympias). Many of the models (Speedy, Cheerful) are indeed later than Alert. But Sherbourne is earlier (though smaller), and Ancre have an excellent monograph on the French cutter Le Cerf , which was a contemporary of Alert and much the same size. I’ve also read Blue Ensign carefully: his model is a spectacular piece of craftsmanship and a pleasure. And his arguments about the rigging are fascinating even if I don't find all of them convincing. But on the whole I remain unconvinced by the Hawke arrangement, and I shall almost certainly stick with the more orthodox precedents. If I do, I shall indeed put the topgallant before the mainmast. Best Rodric
  4. Gregory Thank you. Chuck and Thucydides are stars, and I have read them closely. I can’t begin to compete with the craftsmanship of either. But the fundamental problem is that there appear to be no reliable contemporary sources for Alert’s rigging. Instead everything seems to be conjecture, based on models. Goodwin refers to two models, both in the National Maritime Museum: a contemporary model of a similar boat, the Hawke, which shows the shrouds fixed most unusually over a collar on the masts; and a model of an unnamed cutter, whic h was completed by the NMM in 1960 and shows the shrouds rigged in the conventional way over the trestle trees. My own strong feeling is that the first version is wrong, arrogant though it may seem to disagree with Goodwin and the contemporary craftsman who modelled Hawke. But I’ve asked the NMM for comments. Rodric
  5. Wefalck - Thank you for the advice. The messages still don’t come up automatically, and I haven’t cr acked the reason. I’ll go on trying. This website seems more tricky than most, but perhaps that’s just my imagination. Best Rodric
  6. Apologies to everyone. I’ve only just found the replies and comments on my original post of 21 January 2022. I’m afraid I still haven’t mastered this website, and I only came across the old replies while I was navigating around my latest post on the rigging of the Alert (I have a serious problem with the standard interpretation by Godwin). I’m seriously grateful to Derek, wefalck, and all the others who took the trouble to comment. Best Rodric
  7. I’m just about to start rigging the Vanguard Alert, and I’d be very grateful for advice. Working on the hull has been a great pleasure, thanks to the thought and ingenuity Chris has put into designing the kit. I’ve learned a great deal from the logs of masters like Blue Ensign and Thukydides. I’ve followed some of their departures from the kit, and made my own adaptations to cope with my lack of skill and my shaky 92 year-old hands and eyes. I’ve kept a log. Now I’m about to start dressing the mast, and I need to decide how the shrouds are attached. Goodwin (and the kit) shows them fixed to a collar some way below the cheeks. I don’t find Goodwin easy to understand, but his source seems to be the contemporary model of Hawke. I’ve not come across this practice elsewhere, and Goodwin apparently offers no further evidence. The shrouds are usually looped over the trestle trees, where their downward tension is countered by the cheeks. Nor does Goodwin explain the Alert’s departure from normal practice. Goodwin says Alert was rerigged in 1780s with the standard three yards (c.f. Sherbourne and Cheerful), when the Admiralty abandoned the four yard rig. That would be a simple solution to my problem. I’d be very grateful for comments. Is it conceivable that the Hawke model is wrong, unlikely though that seems? Rodric
  8. Could anyone tell me what is the best parting tool for the ProxxonMini Lathe DB-250? Many thanks. Rodric
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