Ferrus Manus
-
Posts
1,339 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Events
Everything posted by Ferrus Manus
-
That's an interesting rigging setup on the guns! I think the looped thread looks just fine. Like i said before, the company that made this model has no excuse not to give you at least some instruction on the rigging. My recommendation is to look up rigging plans of similarly rigged ships, or see other MSW modelers rig their kits. -
I would like @Louie da fly to come and check if, other than the flags, anything else is needed that i missed in my research. I don't want to end up leaving anything out that should be there. Granted, i did more in the way of detail work than i usually do.
-
The mizzen sail was very easy to make. One of the reasons i love silkspan is that it's so scale-accurate. I have not cut anything down, that's the entire sail. After that i made the anchors, which were very easy to rig.
-
Let me finish off this sail by telling you guys that i'm using Heller blocks, which almost pass for medieval blocks, but are damn near unusable. I also was not provided any kind of kit string, but that's typical for Heller. IF they give you any line whatsoever, it's going to be worthless and model-ruining. The same goes for Revell kits pre-1990. I also have a solution for the bendy mizzen yard, and it's sitting right in front of you. My idea is that the mainsail is perfectly sufficient to propel the ship, and knowing Medieval sailing techniques, the mizzen sail was likely used more as directional trim; a "wind rudder" more than actual propulsion. Because of the toggled blocks, i would have to just include the toggles and tyes, and the halyard. No blocks or lines, just the furled sail. This is the box art. The box art does a pretty good job of depicting the proportions of the actual model, and that includes the yards. The mizzen yard is shown inboard the shrouds and parallel (kind of) to the keel. They are either raising or lowering sail, because the blocks are still attached to the yard. They probably would have taken those off to clear up the deck when the sail wasn't being used. The artist also depicted the men on the ship as significantly smaller than 1/75, more like 1/96. Multiple historical images also depict caravels sailing with only the main, although the mizzen sail is basically always depicted as being furled aloft rather than on the deck. These images are, however, all significantly later than 1441.
-
I've made a flimsier yard work, so there's no reason for this one not to. I just have to be gentle. Maybe the next kit will involve the replacement of yards. ...What i'm thinking is a generic English galleon rechristened the Queen Elizabeth, for a friend of mine. Obviously with historically accurate fittings.
-
Oh, stop! You really are that persistent, are you? Don't think i don't notice. For now, it's good to watch you build Medieval ships. You already know my first wood ship will be the S.F.
-
To everyone here, I am currently working on a 15th century caravel, the Sao Paulo. You can see it in the pre-1500 kit builds.
-
Actually, i'm happy i get to give it to someone else! I am happy that someone thinks highly enough of my models as to ask for one for himself. I am happy that my creation will get to be viewed and enjoyed by someone other than me, and whenever i hear that someone saw and liked one of my ships, i get the same enjoyment.
-
I will continue to say that for a first model, your Mayflower is better than most. You can talk to me anytime, i will always be here. Happy belated New Year, William!
-
Now that the rigging of masts is complete, we can start in on the yards. Yes, you saw right. The main yard is 1.5x the LOA of THE SHIP. Each individual one of the spars that are tied together to make the yard are individually as long as the distance between the bottom of the keel and the top of the flagpole. It also might be an issue that i'm not using the plastic kit-provided "sails", because the mizzen yard is the second or third flimsiest yard i've ever received in a kit. I just got done painting the rest of the blocks and will begin stropping them at some point today.
-
Just save yourself some time and sanity like I did, and junk the shroud loom. However, you could very well make it work and prove us all wrong.
-
I also plan to use toggles on the vangs and braces for both sails, 8 lines in total.
-
For being the most complex shrouds i have ever rigged (looks can be deceiving!) I like the overall appearance. I agree with your assessment, however, from a distance it isn't really seen. 1441 exactly? The open flame technique worked miserably on the Golden Hinde, breaking several lines, and i never tried it again. I am open to the waxing technique though, i bought several pots of finger-apply lip balm just for this. I have never used it as lip balm.
-
These are the rest of the components for the shrouds: If you think you'll ever find a painting of any medieval ship that's accurate and detailed, just throw in the towel and go home. However, we think we know how late medieval shrouds were attached to the mast. This is a picture painted by our wonderful friend Vittore Carpaccio in 1490. Look at the top of the mizzen mast of the first carrack closest to us. It seems as though the shrouds were attached the normal way, then wrapped with lashings around the mast, probably as preventers.
-
That plank was found to be suffering from dry-rot before the voyage, and was replaced, hence the cleaner appearance.
-
The structure of the shrouds are, from top to bottom, the shroud line itself, the toggle with a loop around it, the upper block with a loop slightly bigger, the lanyard, and the looped lower block.
-
The lower shroud blocks are made up of a loop tied around the block, then tied to the rail.
-
Alright, today i finished the deck fittings for the Sao Paulo. The scratch-built pieces on the deck are the main halyard knight, the windlass, and the pumps. If you are wondering about the reasoning behind me using a block for the mizzen halyard instead of a knight, this is because a knight would have to extend all the way down to at least the main deck, and that isn't possible as anything extending down past the level of the quarterdeck aft of the mast would foul the tiller. This is the mechanism that was used on ships in the 16th century. On the ship is a more realistic solution for the 15th century handle. Now the next issue. Neither mast is properly stepped. For this reason, i can choose any rake i want for both. The mainmast is stepped considerably aft of what i think is reasonable, but i have a solution. Almost all the caravels in this map from 1513 show the mainmast raked significantly forward. This is likely following a tradition in earlier caravels, and the even earlier Mediterranean tradition of 12th-13th century fore-and-aft rigs.
-
The shroud loom that Heller gives you is worthless, and the deadeyes are absolutely unusable. Buy aftermarket deadeyes and rig the shrouds and ratlines using techniques on MSW.
Our Emblem ®
