allanyed

Pieter, My misunderstanding. I thought you were referring to the sheer , cap, counter and other rails on the sides of the ship, not at the stair openings. Cheers Allan

Pieter The short answer is I do not think there were any brass railings on any ship of the line in the 18th century. These would all be wood, and most likely painted or other wise protected. If you choose to go with wood they are easy to make with home made cutters made from pieces of an old hacksaw blade or stiff back single edge razor. That said, if you choose to use the brass in the kit, I imagine they can be painted any color you feel is appropriate, be it black, a wood tone, or left alone as you mention. Allan

Paul I may be way off base here, but I don't think there are supposed to be gun ports cut into the bulkhead for the chase guns. Photos of Artois class ships, including Diana, at the NMM Collections site do not have ports for these guns. The photo below is from NMM for Diana http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/66533.html Allan

If you cannot make a master yourself, maybe just buy one of each size then make a mold and cast your own as suggested above. The cost of making a silicone mold then casting with resin or pewter or similar lead free metal will be less than buying all of them. There was a recent post on casting barrels here, so could give you an idea on what is involved if want to go in that direction. If you do buy a single barrel for each size, be sure they are to scale for your needs and contemporary in design as there were differences over the years in both long guns and differences in carronades, albeit smaller differences. Good luck Allan

I realize this string is over a year old now, but as I just ordered a set of chisels from Mihail that he is targeting to ship early February I would like any information on sharpening based on members' experience that have used his or similar sized micro chisels. I use the Veritas for relatively larger chisels but gather from earlier posts that this does not work for the micro chisels. I am envisioning a triangular block with various angles of 25 degrees, et al to hold the chisel at the proper angle when honing on a stone and then stropping but this seems almost too simple. In addition, I have a small leather stropping pad and stropping compound, but if there are suggestions on a better stropping device, I am all ears. Allan

Hi Bill You can download the thesis on slavers by Jessica Glickman and there is a lot of information, including a large bibliography that might lead you to appropriate plans of a slaver. https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1668&context=theses Allan

Paul, You may be correct in that there may have been a few fingers on the deck, but keep in mind these sails were not used except with lighter winds, or as Harland describes in Seameanship in the Age of Sail, in reasonable conditions. In these conditions, when the wind was near abeam, the weather side studdingsails might come out. The lee side would not be used unless the wind was about dead aft. Keep in mind, the topsail yard studding sails and even the topgallant yard studding sails saw more use than the lower yard studding sails. Regarding the lower yards, the foreyard studding sails were used far more than the those on the main yard. The main lower studdingsails fell out of use completely after about 1800. There was a lot of rigging involved with the sails themselves and described in great detail on how they were rigged and used in Harland's book for anyone interested. Allan

Hi Antonio Your photo appears to the booms tied to the spar with line instead of mounted with iron rings. What ship/year/nation is your model? The mounting varied with nation and era, but I do not believe they were ever tied with rope of any kind. For example for British ships that carried stunsail booms there were two boom irons on each side of the yard. For British ships the rings through which the booms passed lean forward 45 degrees up to 1850 then they were at 22.5 degrees. They do not sit straight up on the spar nor do they lay in a flat plane as you show in your photo. The outboard ring through which the boom passes had a roller in them after 1773. The inner ring through which the boom passes was hinged after 1773. Dutch ships carried the booms abaft the yards. The outer rings were fitted with straps and bolts to the end of the yard and the inner rings were about 1/3 of the length of the boom in from the end of the yard. Hope this helps. Lees shows some very detailed drawings of the boom irons. Allan

Further to the comments above, many of the bowlines would have had bridles, with two to four ropes hitched to the yards depending on the era, size of the ship and yard, when no sails are rigged. Allan

Looking at contemporary model photos, there seems to be no end to the shapes on each model, but Ed's tutorial should work well for any of them, just be careful whether your ship's blocks would have had rope strops or metal as on the more "modern" clipper. I saw a video or series of photos quite a while ago that showed shaped cutting bits used on a mill to cut the outside shape so every block was shaped the same. Each size block had a different cutter, but they were beautifully done. Barring the above, I would go with Chuck's blocks. Allan

Antonio FWIW the sling cleats in the center don't look quite right and I doubt very much that there would be the partial ring shown on the kit yard to attach to the mast. The yards would likely use parrels and or some type of sling. The cleats at the end of the yard should hold up well with just gluing them on with carpenter's glue, no need to make a slot. There are Connie experts on this forum and can probably share more details with you. Be sure to rig the various buntline blocks, lift blocks, brace pendants, etc. to the yard before putting the yards to the masts. It is much easier to seize these to the yards while off the model. Good luck on your build!! Allan

Ed There are probably several good sources, but Lees Masting and Rigging is a great source to get into the details down to attaching buntlines, leech lines, bowlines &c. to the sails themselves as well as the rigging from the sails to their belaying points. Allan

I am awed at your work Doris. This may have been asked before, so apologies if this is a repeat question. Do you have any problems with the wax paper melting in the oven? I did little reading on this subject and have seen recommendations to use parchment paper in place of wax paper. Thank you for sharing your work with us. Allan

Thank you Dave and Henry Henry, I was actually looking for the belaying point of the fore topsail buntlines not the bowlines. I did have the same description for the bowlines that you gave from several sources, so we are in agreement, thank you very much for your reply. The fore topsail buntlines appear to belay to the main topsail bowline bitts and that was my dilemma, finding where these bitts were located. Dave you pegged it, I found them on the one drawing in Lees and it is shown as you described it. My fault for not searching a "bitt" harder. Thanks again Allan

This is probably an easy one for someone out there, but I have not been able to find where the main top bowline bitts are located. These are referenced in various sources as a belaying point for the main topsail buntlines, but I cannot find a drawing that shows where these are actually located. Thank you for any help that can be provided. Allan

Hi Anderson also states that the clew is secured to the yard with a timber hitch so it appears this was the method from the 17th century to the 19th century. Allan

A bit late for you to try this Art, but another way to skin a cat...…. Assemble, then finish with your lathe. Pictures are easier to see what I mean.

Sorry for the very late reply, been traveling a bit this past week. 1. what rubber mould brand did you use? I used Micro-Mark 1-to-1/ Rapid RTV Silicone, and it was surprisingly fragile. You can see how it broke out in the mould I showed earlier. Did you find something more durable? I purchased molding and casting materials from Polytek (https://www.polytek.com/) They were extremely helpful in selecting the right materials a they have many. The next time I am in need I will likely use them again. 2. Did you provide any vents for gasses, or is it not needed with such a simple form? No vents were used, but I was careful to tap and vibrate the mold for some minutes to bring any air to the top. 3. When you pour the metal, do you leave the rubber mould in its forming box so it doesn't distort? Yes, for both resin or metal. For the resin I left the material in the mold for some hours to be sure it was cured. For metal, I left it until cool enough to touch without burning fingers. 4. Do you use the Micro Mark lead free pewter? The pewter was given to me by a friend/client some years back. Their business is machining to make a variety of molds and items and had a lot of experience with materials, but I don't know any details on the metal itself. They gave me about 5 or 10 pounds of the stuff so enough for a LOT of cannon barrels. FYI If you go to resin, there are dies that can be added to make black barrels rather than painting, but I have not tried it. Allan

I may be going out on a limb, but I think you are correct, there is no such rigging as shown in the photo. Crow's feet of various designs were used in this area on many nationalities' ships. I have not seen any description (so far) of rigging as shown in the photo you posted in Lees, Anderson, or other credible sources. The crow's feet came in a variety of designs from simple to complex. The sketch below I THINK is more typical than that shown in the photo. Where the photo shows knots, there would be blocks, and where the photo shows a single block, there likely would be a long block. Is this model a kit of the Gallicia or some other vessel? Allan

Mark One more option that you may want to consider. I have never been able to cast the cannon with a mold made of two sides without a seam, no matter how careful and accurate the molds are made. They have to be filed and finished which takes a lot of time and there is still the possibility of leaving filing and finishing marks on the surface. I experimented and succeed using a one piece silicone rubber mold that eliminated the seam. The barrels can be removed with little effort and no damage to the mold in my experience. I tried both lead free pewter and casting resin. Both worked well. The only part that creates a problem are the trunnions which I added to the cast barrels separately as can be seen in the photo of the casting resin barrel. Just another idea you might want to consider.

Just one more to throw in. The following close up shows lines secured to a rail. This same model of a British fourth rate from 1695 has several running rigging lines made fast to the belfry rail as well. Allan

Thank you gentlemen. I did purchase higher resolution photos of a 1695 50 gun fourth rate from NMM and they are somewhat of a help, albeit not as good as actually having a chance to stand in front of the model and drawing the belaying points for each line. With these photos, Lees, Anderson and a myriad of other sources, I do hope it will be as detailed and accurate as possible. There are some conflicts between the sources, but I believe that is not unusual when doing any kind of research in this hobby of ours. Allan

I am looking for definitive information on running rigging belaying points for a fourth rate of 1695. I have scoured Lees and Anderson and there is a lot of information there that is helpful, but in the words of R.C. Anderson It would be impossible - for me at any rate - to give a complete list of the type and position of the fastening of every rope. It is many years since he wrote that statement so I am hoping someone can lead me to THE definitive source on belaying points for this era. There is a model of a 50 gun fourth rate of 1693 (possibly the Portland), and a model of a 60 gun of 1703 at Annapolis for which I have photos from the past but I only have a few photos and they were not taken with the thoughts of following running rigging lines. If necessary I will have to go back up to Maryland and spend a day or two photographing and sketching lines, but would love to avoid that if possible. There is a fully rigged model of a 50 gun of 1695 at NMM, but going there and getting to the model and taking photos is probably not possible. Any leads, information, and help of any kind would be most welcome. Allan

Thanks Dave. This makes sense and I have strong doubts that the figures in Steel would be that far off so will go with that information. Regarding rounding to the nearest 1/2", even if that is not the case for real world sizing, it is likely fine for 3/16" or 1/4" scaling. Those were my thoughts for when it comes time to make or buy rope. Allan

I think Lees has erred in his formula regarding brace pendants and braces, but who am I to judge? Again, reference is to Litchfield, a fourth rate of 1695. For the main yard brace, using his calculations, the pendant is 4" circumference, the brace is 2 1/4" circumference. The foreyard brace pendant is 3 1/8" and the brace itself is 1 7/8" (I have rounded to the nearest 1/8th.) Now is the problem, using his calculations, the cross jack brace pendant is 5" and the brace is 2 3/4" circumference. This makes not sense to me as the cross jack is much smaller than the lower main yard yet the brace pendants and braces are larger than both the foreyard and main yard brace pendants and braces. Any help will be greatly appreciated as always! Allan