marktiedens

I would say you could go either way,but you may want to set the deck in place & mark the extensions at the level of the deck first so you won`t have a dip when you lay the deck planks. In other words, the extensions should be cut off at the same level as the false deck. Hope that helps.
 
Mark 

Hola:
 
I have been a little slow but anyway the work that must be done with the bowsprit is more that it seems at first glance, specially because there are some metal pieces that must to be weld and bend in a precise way. Also there are pieces not included in the Kit and have to be done (metal  and wood). For example:   I made the Jibboom spreader  thinning toothpicks and making very small holes instead of the notches that are mention in the instructions (I insert little pieces of thread to show them). Here some pictures of my advance.
 

I would think that the lateen yard would be semi-permanently mounted since the topsail yard braces run through blocks attached to the upper end. Also,which side of the mast would it normally be attached to - port or starboard side?
 
Mark

I would think that the lateen yard would be semi-permanently mounted since the topsail yard braces run through blocks attached to the upper end. Also,which side of the mast would it normally be attached to - port or starboard side?
 
Mark

Hello friends,
 
Thank you all for the compliments and the likes.
And a warm welcome to Ulises, Denis, Piet, Richard and Sean,
 
It is high time for an update, however small.
 
Glued the lining onto the interior of the frames.
Made an offset in the lining in the areas coinciding with the support for the crossbeams.
Cut the crossbeams to size.
 

 
 
 
Planked the forecastle deck.  In contrast to the waist deck, I decided to simulate caulking.
For this I used India ink fro Faber-Castell (PITT artist pen, black 199 ***).
 
It is a bit getting used to, because the planks are so thin. But it looks better with than without the caulking.
 


 
 
Dry fitted the forecastle, the sections of the hold deck, the sections of the quarter deck and the crossbeams.
 

 
 
 
So far, so good. To be continued..........
Thank you for watching,
 
Regards,
Anja

I would think that the lateen yard would be semi-permanently mounted since the topsail yard braces run through blocks attached to the upper end. Also,which side of the mast would it normally be attached to - port or starboard side?
 
Mark

Pete,
 


I think the answer to your last point is that the lateen yard would rarely be shifted from one side of the mast to the other.  You can see the same thing in Arab dhows today, where they seem to perform almost as well with the sail pressed to the mast as they do on the other tack.
 


There is a frustrating lack of information in the reference books about the handling of lateen sails.  Steel doesn’t seem to mention them (though the absence of any index, combined with the small print, makes a detailed search difficult).  The only possibly useful pointer I have found is an illustration in Harland (p.181), apparently from Van de Velde, which seems to show a fluit tacking without shifting the lateen or disturbing the mizzen topsail.


 

 
Without informed guidance, it is worth going back to basic principles.  The purpose of the lateen sail (and, to a lesser extent, the later driver) is principally to provide balance to the rig (i.e. lateral drag) rather than forward drive.  In the absence of a working sail aft to push the stern round, it would be virtually impossible for a square rigger to pass through stays.  For that reason alone, it is extremely unlikely that the lateen would be brailed up during a tack.  As forward drive is less important, any loss of aerodynamic efficiency on one tack rather than the other would be fairly unimportant.
 


Remember also the previous discussion about the location of the mizzen topsail braces.  Attempting to swing the lateen yard vertical would sacrifice any control of the mizzen topsail, which would then flog uncontrollably – just what one needed at that moment!  Note, too, that the Van de Velde drawing shows no suggestion of the mizzen topsail being brailed up or allowed to flog.
 


I would suggest, then, that this is the answer to the apparent paradox of a truss that made it difficult to tip the yard vertically: it would be done only occasionally and at leisure, once the ship was settled on a very long reach (i.e. hours if not days) and the truss could be freed off, the mizzen topsail handed, and the yard swung vertical.

Another update - the main mast was built identical to the fore mast,except larger. Hard to get a good picture of it since the height is about 770mm above deck level.
 
Mark

Yahoo ... now its looking like a real ship. Great 'stickability' there Mark and well done.
Pete

Another update - the main mast was built identical to the fore mast,except larger. Hard to get a good picture of it since the height is about 770mm above deck level.
 
Mark

Another update - the main mast was built identical to the fore mast,except larger. Hard to get a good picture of it since the height is about 770mm above deck level.
 
Mark

Reminds me of my daughter when she about 5.  I walked into the kitchen where she was holding a glass of water.  She promptly let go and the glass and water was all over.  I said " Annie, why did you do that?" She responded that it wasn't her fault "it was gravity.........it's everywhere".  True story.
 
Best,
John

Another update - the main mast was built identical to the fore mast,except larger. Hard to get a good picture of it since the height is about 770mm above deck level.
 
Mark

Thanks to Mark, JerseyCity Frankie, John Garnish and davyboy for your replies. I really appreciate your comments but the one thing I have learnt through all my research is that very little definitive material is available on the rigging of the lateen yard. Sure, I have looked at both Lees and Anderson in particular and tend to lean heavily on what they say but even so, one cannot take their dates as absolute. Different ships, different shipyards, different countries... there will always be variations.
 
As I understand it, the lateen yard was not the easiest of things to shift from one side of the mizzen mast to the other and the one significant thing required was to bring this yard into a near vertical position before shifting its position. That is why the truck and rib or the normal rope truss would just not work. I am just trying to keep an open mind about the truss used but frustrated with lack of information.
 
Pete
 

I started installing the ratlines the other day. I have a lot of them to tie.

Thanks Lawrence - rigging is not really my favorite thing to do,but I will do my best.
 
Mark

Cannon assembly line update. (With special mention to Sjors and Anja  )
 
First, a bunch of eyebolts in two different sizes had to be made.

 
I am starting with these 12 cannons that go on the upper deck. Here, holes for eyebolts have been drilled

 
Here eyebolts are glued and attached and coat of BLO applied

 
Cannons in place. This is one of the rare occasions in which I use cyanoacrilate (Super glue)

 
Here hinges have been placed
 

 
A piece of rope tied to the cannon bell
 

 
Process of tying the eyebolt
 

 
Two cannons rigged
 

 

 
These 12 cannons are now ready to be mounted.

 
To be continued...
 
I don't know how to remove a photo. This next one wasn't intended to be here 
Ahhh- The delete button is well hidden!

Update - after a lot of cutting,shaping,filing,& sanding the foremast has been assembled & painted.
Mark
For some reason,all the pictures are in reverse order.
 

Hi Greg - I have taken a bit of a break due to catching a cold a couple of weeks ago & feeling lousy. I am much better now & should be up to speed soon. I have made a little progress on the bowsprit. The dowels were tapered & shaped according to the plans,then the top was cut from the supplied 1mm plywood & planked on both sides with a 1x3mm strip glued around the outside edge.The trestle trees & cross trees were then cut & shaped to fit & glued in place. The whole top assy. was then painted black. The chainplates were made by bending some .8mm brass wire around the deadeyes & soldered shut. The lower end was flattened in a vice & holes were drilled for nails. The design of the bowsprit is a little different than I have seen before - the top is offset to one side & the jibboom goes through the top rather than under it.
 

 

 

 

 

 
Mark

Update - moving right along,I added some cat heads to the catheads . Then I added the staghorn cleats to the quarterdeck bulwarks. I am pretty sure the hull is now complete  except for the stern lanterns,which will be installed later .
 

 

 

 

 

 
Mark

Update - The next thing I did was make up the anchors. The kit provides 4 anchors of 2 different sizes. The flukes were a little too wide so I narrowed them down & filed down the mold lines. The stocks were of the generic kind & way too fat & short,so I made some new ones with the correct dimensions. a groove was filed around them to look like 2  pieces & the iron bands were simulated by using some heat shrink tubing. New rings were made from some .8mm brass wire & wrapped with black thread for the puddening.      Next,the anchor buoys are provided in the kit as barrel shaped wood pieces,which I made  slings for with some .6mm black rope. They don`t look the best,but they were difficult to hold & get all the ropes tied on.
 

 

 

 
Mark

Hi all - another little update. first of all the two small brackets for the ensign staff were shaped & glued in place at the stern.
 

 
Then I figured it would be a good time to build the stern lanterns. They come as a central former with 6 window sections for each one. They fit nicely with very little clean up needed. I decided to cut out the "glass" sections of the windows as I did with all the other windows on the ship. The center section of the former was painted a combination of bright yellow & orange to try & simulate a flame. The window frames were then painted gold & liquid glass maker was used to make the windows. All frames were then glued to the formers & after a little filler & some filing on the edges I finished painting the tops & bases. I didn`t quite get the look I was after,but I think they still look better than just painting the window areas. They won`t be fixed in place until much later & some side supports will be added at that time.
 

 

 
Mark 

Update  - all the guns & lids are now in place so she can defend herself. The tangs on the lid hinges were inserted in small holes drilled in the hull & with the ropes attached they are fairly sturdy. The ropes for closing the lids were simply tied to the pins on the backs of the dummy guns before gluing them in place. Happy new year to all & thanks for looking in.
 

 

 
Mark

Update - chainplates are now installed. I substituted the lower links from the kit with smaller links because the kit links(on the left in the first picture)had holes that I thought were way too big & out of scale. I used a string & some stub masts to set the angles of the chainplates. Unfortunately,the chains were supposed to reach the middle wale but due to my error in positioning the wale too low they don`t quite reach. To make them long enough to reach the wale,they would be way too long.
 

 

 

 

 
Mark

Update - all the gun port lids on the closed ports are now in place. The hinges are from Rick at Modelers Workshop - the kit hinges are way too short. Rick`s hinges are a little short for the middle & lower lids,but still better than I could find elsewhere. Short sections of wale planking were added to the lids that cut into the wales. The ropes are still to be added. Also made & installed sheaves just forward of the side entries. There are 2 chesstrees per side which I made using some lion heads left over from a previous build. The "mouth" was drilled out for the rope to pass through. I then made the rigols above the ports in some .8x1.5mm brass strip,forming them with a combination of looping & needle nose pliers. The port side still needs to be finished up.
 

 

 

 

 

 
Mark
 
edit - the hinge parts of the closed lids were simulated by cutting the heads off some black HO railroad nails,bending them 90 degrees,& drilling small holes,were pushed in to meet the top of the hinge straps.