allanyed

Hi Harry,
Have you looked at the Young America 1853 build log here at MSW and/or Ed's book and plans on her?  Maybe it will be applicable to Flying Cloud.  If you have not already seen it go to post #131 in https://modelshipworld.com/topic/10678-young-america-1853-by-edt-finished-196-pob-extreme-clipper/#comment-322547    It continues for a number of posts on planking the various decks.
 
 
Allan

I believe the most common species for keels were oak and elm as pine was relatively weak for large vessels.  Regardless you may find all of these are much too grainy for your model.   The below shows these species compared to a couple other choices commonly used on model ships, Alaskan cedar and Castello boxwood.   English/European box is great but costly.   Basswood and poplar is less grainy but you might find them too soft for a keel.
Allan

Paul,
The link is  https://modelshipworld.com/topic/3453-young-america-by-edt-finished-extreme-clipper-1853/#comment-96388 or you can go to the search box and type in Young America.  Once you open it the rigging is far down in the topic  (after page 100) 
Allan

There were wooden wedges between the mast and the partners. These were then often covered with canvas so you can just add a painted ring before you set the masts.  Below is a sketch of a wedge ring that is actually just the ring and without the wedges going down and through the partners.  They can be glued on top of the partners (or planking) as is.  In reality the planking ends at the partners but this does not look possible on your model.  The second picture is from Goodwin's  The Construction and Fitting of English Ships of War. 
Allan

Hi Richard
Strakes on a ship usually consisted of planks about 25 feet to 30 feet long so about 3 1/2" long at your scale.  It may be easier to install full length planks and cut butts with a scalpel so it appears they are individual pieces of planking making up a strake. Does the kit show  planking where all strakes end at the rabbet (unless a drop strake is needed)?  If any amount of realism is of interest, the planking methods in the four part videos by Chuck Passaro are of great help if you are using precut strips.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCWooJ1o3cM    You might get some ideas if you take a look at a planking expansion drawing such as ZAZ3918 of the Sphinx on the RMG Collections site for an idea of how the planking was done outboard and inboard.  It gives the lengths of the planks on each strake and shapes and tapering as well.
Allan
 
 
 

Hi Bill,
What nation and which lines are you referring to for the long tackle blocks (fiddle blocks)? I cannot speak for earlier dates or nations, but according to James Lees on page 68 of The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War, fiddle blocks  were used from 1719 until 1806.  On page 166 he describes them being used on yard arms and where ordinary double blocks could foul up.   Regarding those on the yard arm, before and after that period two single blocks were stropped together.  Hope this helps
Allan

I am pretty sure you have nothing more to do other than start the program by hitting the enter data button at the top,  but you put the two dimensions  in the first rate box.   Your ship is closer to a fifth or sixth rate.  I have no idea if the results would actually change.
 
Long hand using the ratios in Lees 
 (88+26)/2=57
57/3= 19 so the mast diameter is 19 inches
The circumference of the main stay is 0.5X 19=9.5"
The circumference of the shroud is 9.5X 0.6 =5.7"
The diameter/thickness is 5.7/3.14159= 1.81"    
At a scale of 1:48 it is 0.0377" or 0.96mm so 1mm should do well for you if you are building to 1:48 scale.
The diameter for the foremast will be smaller and for the mizzen smaller still.  For the foremast most people would not notice if you use the same diameter as for the foremast.
 
For buying rope, where are you located?

Depends on whether or not the Victory Models Vanguard plans are correct.  You may want to check those plans against contemporary based sources to see if they are accurate.  Rigging sizes and configurations did not change a lot from 1719 until 1806 so you can probably use James Lees' Masting and Rigging English Ships of War figures which can also be found here at MSW in the Articles section as done by Danny Vadas for more exact information.  
Allan
 

Nate, Depends on the era and maybe the nationality.  From James Lees' Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War, pages 2-4 ----The head of the mast was typically left square and did have iron bands and battens.  Below the head of the masts, until 1800 there were rope wooldings with a width of 12 inches.  There were wooden hoops nailed to the mast at the top and bottom of each woolding.  Iron bands replaced the rope wooldings after about 1800. 
Allan

Have you studied any contemporary plans?   There are some of Victory1765 so the layout may be different than her refit about 1803.  You can also see similar layouts of other first rates at RMG Collections as well.
https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-79914       https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-79912
https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-79949       https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-79948  These are all low resolution but you can buy high res from RMG. 
 
There are  free high resolution drawings of 98 gun ships on the Wiki site, Boyne 1790. Boyne 1810, Glory 1788, Union 1811 and Impregnable 1786.  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Ship_plans_of_the_Royal_Museums_Greenwich&fileuntil='Hayling'+(1760)+RMG+J0259.png#mw-category-media
 
Sometimes, on smaller ships,  in lieu of an orlop deck, there were platforms.  In addition there were the magazines and filling rooms below the orlop deck.   The drawings will show these better than words.
 
Allan
 

You are of course right Ron.   What I do to get a light color on a dark background is use light grey or thistle in TCW.   Not a pure white for sure, but maybe an option.
Allan

Hi Charlie
Which Black Prince, there were a number of them?  James Lees' The Masting & Rigging of English Ships of War gives a very detailed and complete order of dressing on pages 158-160, It covers from circa 1611 through circa 1860 as the order did change over time as the configuration of masts, spars, and rigging changed.   If your particular model is the USS Alfred 1774 later renamed the Black Prince,  the order of dressing likely would still apply. 
 
Regarding your questions regarding the shrouds, it depends.  Again from Lees' book, this is described in great detail on page 42.   For the most part the forward most shrouds are in pairs, that is two starboard, then two port, two starboard, two port and so on.   The bight round the mast was between one and a quarter and one and a sixth the circumference of the mast head. If there was an odd number of shrouds,  the swifter (the aft most shroud) was fitted round the mast head with an eye splice (center splice) as you describe.   
 
Hope this helps
 
Allan

A little more info from the scantlings book.  

 
 
 

For some years prior to copper sheathing the bottom was coated with what I believe was a mixture of pitch and tallow and this was possibly applied liberally over everything below the water line, including the pintles and gudgeons (the banding you mention).  To the contrary, the beautiful paintings of 17th century ships in The Master Shipwrights Secrets show the pintles and gudgeons darker, but these are modern paintings rather the contemporary.   A search of contemporary models on the RMG Collections site might show some examples for you to consider.
 
For the future, maybe take a look at contemporary drawings to get an idea of the size and design of real pintles and gudgeons.  As you know there were recent posts in  https://modelshipworld.com/topic/33530-frigate-diana-by-rossr-occre-185/page/3/#comment-996293 regarding the sizes and such of these rudder components and how to accurately depict them at various scales.   
Allan

Hi Mr. Herbert,
Which size fishing schooners?  If your are talking about chain link length something may be amiss if they had the tiny links you describe.  A description of link sizes can be found in The American Fishing Schooner, by Chapelle on page 318 where a link is shown and dimensions given.  I doubt that anyone can make this as a blanket statement but Chapelle gives schooners of 75 feet or more using chain with links as much as 5 " long.  Smaller schooners had links about 4 1/4" X 2 1/2"     The stock (diameter of the material used to make a link) would be about 3/4" to 7/8" diameter.
  
Chain at Model Expo is usually sold in links per inch.  For 1:48 each length it would be 10 to 12 links per inch. (4 to 5 links per centimeter)  Unfortunately Model Expo chain is for smaller scales as they show none in the right size for schooners at 1:48 (if one agrees that Chapelle is giving accurate information.)  There are other sources that I found with a quick search.  One example is at https://cloverhouse.com/Cart/product_info.php?products_id=13498 
I have no idea where you are located, so this may be a useless source for you as it is in the USA.   
Allan
 

Arnold
Ratlines were spaced 13 to 15 inches apart - David Lees The Masting and Rigging of British Ships of War, page 44. 
So for your scale it would be 0.1625" to 0.1875" (4.12mm to 4.76mm)  This does not mean they can vary on a given set of shrouds within that range though. Whatever space you choose, it should be the same for every ratline on every set of shrouds on every mast of your particular model.  

K,
For blocks and deadeye, it as Keith posted. 
 
What ship/year/nation?  Blocks are sized for the line size which is based on a formula involving mast size, hull size and so on.   It is not as hard as it sounds as there is a spread sheet here at MSW that will crank out everything you need once you put in the few initial figures.
 
Same goes for cannon and ship's boats. It depends on the nation, size of the ship and era.  If you can indicate which ship, the answers to your questions are not really that difficult to find.
 
Bells varied a bit as well and I for one would love to know if there was a regulation in the past for various nations as there has been for U.S. Coast Guard regs in recent years:  §83.33 Equipment for Sound Signals (Rule 33)
 
Allan

Your model, your choice.  I believe that in reality the running rigging lines would be made of the same material, thus the same color when first rigged.  Weather and time will change the colors so any new lines would probably look different color-wise than rigging that has been in place for some amount of time.
Allan

Joe,
 
There is a spread sheet prepared by the late Danny Vadas for British ships that will give you the sizes of masts, spars, standing and running rigging for every line in the Articles database here at MSW .  It is based on the ratios in the James Lees' book The Masting and Rigging mentioned by Gregory in his post above.  One exception, do NOT use it for the period 1670 through 1710 as the base formula Danny came up with for that period is completely wrong so all dimensions that result from your initial input will be incorrect. Other periods are identical to those in Lees' book.  Go to https://thenrg.org/resource/articles and scroll down to rigging articles.
 
Allan 

It depends on the time period.  I cannot speak for the kit designs or Dutch ships, but, according to Peter Goodwin in The Construction and Fitting of English Ships of War, page 217, the British Admiralty ordered the abolition of the shot garlands in 1780.
 
The king plank was on the center line, if there was one, and the binding strakes ran along the hatches.  The binding strakes were the same width as the other deck planks but 1" to 1.5" thicker than the flat of the deck. but they were scored at the beams and let down so the top of the binding strakes were even with the surrounding planking. For modeling purposes, it is probably easiest to use the same thickness material for the binding strakes.
 
Allan

Welcome to MSW Tony.  Please post an intro about yourself in the new member forum. 🙂
 
CA changes the color of the rope where it is applied, and it can be prone to breakage as Ross mentions because it has low shearing strength.   I believe diluted white PVA or shellac are the most commonly used as they work well and are very easy to loosen with IPA. (not the beer, the solvent 😁)
 
Allan
 

The determination of the lengths varied with the era.  What ship/nation/year are you interested in?  Lees' information was developed from contemporary masting tables and from proportionate tables given in contemporary books and manuscripts. If you use Danny Vadas' spread sheets in the Articles Database here at MSW which are based on David Lee's formulas in The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War (except do not use for ships built between 1670 and 1710 as the formula he made up is wrong) you should be close.  There are contemporary drawings of the masts and yards available at the RMG Collections site and on the Wiki Commons website for specific ships but i have no idea if they are appropriate without knowing which vessel you have in mind.
 
The era is very important as the lengths of the yards were sometime a proportion of the length of the mast, sometimes, the length of the keel, and others as a proportion of the length of the gundeck.
 
If  you are referring to the 1492 carrack (Santa Maria??) that you mentioned in previous posts, consider using Lees earliest era formula
 
Length of main yard is 5/6 the length of the keel.  
0.833X41=34.17 feet   
This is close to the double the beam length which would give you main yard of 36 feet long.
The foreyard would be 0.80 the length of the main yard.
The lengths of the upper yards are all a proportion of the lower yards. 
Allan

This is a euphroe and it is an easy piece to make.   From Lees' Masting and Rigging page 44. The euphroe tackle comprised a single block stropped to the euphroe block and another block seized to the stay.  The standing part of the fall was made fast to the upper block.  The running part, after reeving through both blocks was either hitched to the stay below the lower block or was made fast round the tackle. 
Allan
 

There are block size charts for several similar schooners in Chapelle's American Fishing Schooners that will give you all the block sizes on pages 341-347 along with many other details you may find useful for the Bluenose.  I would post these but there is far too much to copy here without possibly violating copyrights.  Those vessels Chapelle lists regarding blocks include Dunton, Ed Bosley, Grampus, and Columbia.  There is a used copy on line at Abe Books for $17.
 
Allan

Bee  
Try posting photos as jpgs or pngs.  They will appear on the post rather than a box (at least on my computer) and more people may look at it.  My first reaction was to ignore your post when I saw the box instead of a photo but I did get it open.    Regarding your dilemma, sorry I have no answer, but it sounds like Dziadeczek has a good method for you to try.    
 
Allan