jud

Admire your work, hope you continue posting. I do have a ship in mind that has a long history and still serves in the South China Sea. A bit of self interest because I was a Gunners Mate aboard her when she was the Harnett County LST 821, TF 116, TU 76.8.3, one of four LST's in that role and would puff up like a balloon if you found her worthy of a drawing. Brown Water Navy.  http://defensestatecraft.blogspot.com/2014/04/treasure-of-sierra-madre-wwii-lst-in.html
 

South of Boardman, Oregon the Navy has a Bombing Range that started out as a WW 2 US Army Air Force bombing Range, still is in active use. In 64 I was running a John Deere 95 Combine like the one in the photo and in similar country on top and on the East side of Rock Creek. Navy often used to fly over as in your above painting and the pilots loved to buzz you. Usually could detect them and enjoy the flyover except for the one that caught me with my rear to the West on the crown of a hill he was skimming, set a record shutting down a 95 H when his shadow and engine noise struck at the same time, high heart rate for about 30 minutes. Think it was that shadow along with the sound that triggered that reaction, the shadow had not went over me during previous flyovers.                                                                                                                                                                                                 
 

http://www.navyhistory.org/2012/01/brown-water-navy-in-vietnam/
 
Might take a look at the 30 minute film River Patrol within the above address.

The hooks sound like a good idea, but will an adhesion problem revel itself at a bad moment? The twisted wire method that many use on this site has some real advantages.  When it comes to staying where placed, the built in twist in those twisted eyes provide good surfaces for a secure grip.
jud

That makes sense. Tea chests are relatively easy to manhandle, though the dummy wool sacks on display in the hold today look like they’d have been heavy work. But all the same, they’d have had to be moved around by hand in the hold.

Suspect that the cargo was manhandled to the main deck using carts, 2 wheeled trucks and slides, then block and tackles or slides were used to move it below, where manhandling was again used to secure it for sea. When the sails were replaced with steam power, there was room previously not available to rig windless with swinging booms to move cargo directly from dockside directly into the holds where manpower was used to stack and secure for sea.. Think the hand powered windless seen about he decks were primarily used to manage the needs of the ship and her sails. Took a long time to load a ship in those days and large Stevedore gangs were common. 

Darcy Lever's "Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor" (section 69) describes catting and fishing the anchor. This is a general description but probably represents the common method for handling the anchor on British and American vessels in the 19th century.
 
The cat tackle (cathead sheaves, cat block and hook) are used to raise the anchor up under the cathead (this is "catting the anchor"). Then a stopper (rope) is used to secure the arms (top) end. One end of this stopper is either secured around the cathead ot reeved through a hole in the cathead with knots to prevent the rope from pulling through. The loose end of the stopper is run through the anchor hoop and then secured to a timberhead on the rail or a stout cleat attached to the cathead.
 
After the stopper is secured the cat tackle can be removed from the anchor. The stopper supports the and of the anchor. However, it seems to be more common in ship models to leave the cat tackle attached to the anchor hoop. Even so, the tackle is not supporting the anchor and is slack.
 
A separate fish tackle is used to raise the fluke end of the anchor. The fish tackle and boom are temporary rigs and are stowed after the anchor is raised, so they are not usually modeled. But the "fish hook" on the end of the fish tackle is hooked under the inner arm of the anchor and the tackle hauls the fluke end up to the rail (this is "fishing the anchor").
 
Then the shank painter (another stopper of rope or chain) is looped around the anchor shaft and the crown (where the fluke arms meet the anchor shaft). One end of the shank painter is secured to a timber head on the rail (or a stout cleat on smaller ships). The running end is hauled up and secured to another timber head or cleat. Then the fish tackle is removed. The inner fluke arm was often brought up and over the rail, while the stock (wooden arms at the top) are pulled flat against the hull.
 
When the anchor is stowed this way the head is supported by the stopper on the cathead and the fluke end is supported by the shank painter. On some ships the anchor cable was removed from the anchor hoop and stowed below but most models show the cable still attached.
 
Dropping the anchor was more or less the opposite procedure. The anchor was suspended below the cathead by the stopper, and the anchor was dropped by releasing the end of the stopper that was attached to the cleat or timberhead.

Terry, it's very hard to find photographs of the anchor release gear, however here is a description and some drawings from John Bowen's excellent little book, "A Ship Modelmaker's Manual" which might be of some use to you.

John

This topic pertains to the proper securing of bower anchors in latter 19th-century merchant ships.
 
I have several poor-quality photos of the foredeck of a brigantine merchant ship (the Galilee) taken sometime during 1905–1908, showing how her anchors were secured when underway. This is probably the best of the lot.

Photo showing the brigantine Galilee being fitted out as a geomagnetic research vessel in 1905, probably somewhere in the vicinity of San Francisco Bay, California. The circled area is where the chains/lines securing the lower end of the anchor were tied off.
(This and following photos Courtesy of the Carnegie Science Library.)
 

Closeup of the area circled in the above photo.
 
I am in the process of adding the remaining deck furniture and fittings to my digital model of Galilee. My questions pertain to the size, shape, and orientation of the cleats evidently used to secure the lower end of the anchors.
What would be the size of the cleat? I've seen the rule of 1 inch of cleat length per 1/16 inch of line diameter. However, in many diagrams showing stowed anchors, it is small chain that was used for this purpose. So, what is the rule if chain is used? Galilee's anchors would have been a minimum of 600 lb. each, about half of which would have been borne by the anchor cleat. Would this have been a factor in selecting the cleat size? Determining the likely shape of the cleat is important for a historically-accurate model. I have found a source of so-called "antique" cleats here. The shapes are quite varied as one can see.  Would the type most likely be just a basic cleat such as this one? I have read about—and also experienced—the proper orientation of lines taken to mooring cleats. Typically, the line secured to a cleat should run horizontally perpendicular (or tangentially) to the cleat. Cleats are weakest when the tension pulls upward. So would a cleat securing an anchor likely be bolted to side of a rail or to the deck adjacent to the rail? The latter configuration would result in a more upward tension. However, Figure 430 in Plate 94 of the USNA's Text-book of Seamanship (Luce, 1884) suggests this could have  been the case.
Diagram of the method for securing a bower anchor in a mid-19th-century warship from the cited USNA reference. The circled cleat appears to be fastened to the deck or a waterway. (The image is found in Plate 94 located between pages 246 and 247.)
 
    Any comment or directions to other sources to resolve these questions would be very much appreciated.
 
Terry

You might look for how chess/checker boards are made in the wood working magazines.  However, I think that the diamond pattern may have been a painted canvas rug in many cases...
 

I have built neither, so I cant really give you any solid advice on which one to get. But at least I can sort out the Mamoli business 🙂
 
Mamoli is, or actually was, an Italian kit manufacturer that was around for a long time. If memory serves me, a fire destroyed most of their factory about 10 years ago or so. I believe they were family owned, and they decided not to rebuild the business.
 
However, the up-and-coming (sort of) company, Dusek ship kits, secured the rights to the Mamoli designs, and have since then reintroduced most of the Mamoli range. As I understand it, Dusek has made improvements to most kits, in terms of laser cutting, easing construction. Maybe they also uppgraded fittings and castings, I am less sure about that. 
 
Dusek kept the Mamoli brand for their Mamoli kits, at least here in Europe. So two things to keep in mind when searching for the Mamoli Rattlesnake is 1) check both Dusek and Mamoli tabs on webshops it you at first can't find it, and 2) When you find one, ask if it is an "original" Mamoli or an "upgraded" Dusek, if it matters to you how much laser cutting is involved. (if the box looks like this, you can be sure its upgraded) 
 
I have built some other Mamoli kits years ago, my favourite being the Yacht Mary. I simply "click" with Mamoli kits, everything feels right, even if they never were state of the art. 
 
Should you like to follow other peoples bulilds and logs, I think there are far more on the MS Rattlesnake than the Mamoli one. Studying pictures alone (which I have done many times thinking about getting one myself), I dont see any clear advantage of the MS one, out of what is in the box. But I know nothing of the accuracy hull lines and such. I am sure others on this forum does 🙂

You could give any of the Rattlesnake kits a pass.  The S.I. has 3 sheets of plans - $35 total - the plans are about as complete as you are likely to get - outside of a monograph - in which  the details for more than what the plans for this ship provides are likely just speculation by the author of the monograph.   There are plans for a few ships in the NMM which have several sheets instead of one.  These ships are usually class leads and the additional sheets are individual decks.  The sort of details there are more like motel layouts than structural component details. 
Even if you lack power tools, you can easily replicate what a current mass market kit provides for a spine and molds using the S.I plans and a good quality fret saw.  Thicker plywood can used and you can make sure at HD or Lowes or local building supply that the plywood sheets are dead flat.  With a bit of simple lofting - the number of molds can be doubled or more and a single layer of planking used.  A good quality wood species be used to do it.

Fill he hull with foam, Drill a hole and put an open cell foam in, from a rattle can then patch the hole.
 

Fill he hull with foam, Drill a hole and put an open cell foam in, from a rattle can then patch the hole.
 

Fill he hull with foam, Drill a hole and put an open cell foam in, from a rattle can then patch the hole.
 

Fill he hull with foam, Drill a hole and put an open cell foam in, from a rattle can then patch the hole.
 

"The body of the carriage recoils and is run out guided by a groove in the slide, which is pivoted at its outboard end; trucks at its inboard end make it easy to traverse the mounting. If the pivot pin was located inside the gunport – called the ‘inside principle’ – the port could be smaller, but those over the channels might pose a danger to the shrouds from blast; the alternative ‘outside principle’, with the pivot stepped on the outboard edge of the sill, required a larger port, making the crew more vulnerable when reloading."
source: https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2020/10/14/the-true-frigate-1748-1778-part-iii/

Nice try.  Keep at it.  But yes you need to probably increase twists on both ends quite a bit.  Probably by a multiple of 5 or more.   Dont be afraid to really twist it.   Those examples are much to loose.
 
For comparison ...look at this rope.   The lay should almost be at 90 degrees to the rope before you cut it free.   Then harden the rope and it will relax a bit more and up with the correct angle and tighter lay.
 
If built properly the head stock will not (should not) rotate when you start laying up the rope.  If it does, that means your gears are way too loose.  If in the rare event that you build up so much tension in the head stock eye hooks that it starts unwinding.  You should either tighten the gears more or place a clamp on one eye hooks to prevent it from spinning.   But that should not happen unless you are making huge rope with a ton of tension being built up.  I can tell from your photos however, that you are under-twisting by a whole lot.......a whole lot.
 
 

This is a very simple rope walk to build with parts easily obtainable. I built this some years ago and with a little bit of experience turns out beautiful rope. I used the motor off an old Emesco dentist drill which gives me the capability to throw a switch and reverse the direction of the motor. I also purchased the “Jim” rope walk but was in the middle of rigging a model and did not have time to devote to learning the nuances of the machine at the time to produce really nice rope. That is on my list of things to do in the near future. Just really wanted to praise the simplicity and value of the “Phil Kroll” model for anyone considering building one. 

Search for AlexBaronov and Imperial Yacht.
 
The process is galvanoplastic, which has been used for some 150 years to duplicate objects. Alex uses a sort of inverse lost-wax casting. The core is CNC-milled from jeweller wax and then coated in a conductive paint. On this copper is deposited electrolytically to a sufficient thickness. The core is simply melted out.
 
Another technique used is metal spinning.

Thanks for all the hints - I think based on all the findings, will take the minimalist approach, maybe just a water cask, will see
 

This might be a case where you should  visualize a story and then put items on the deck to support it.  This would also affect your decisions regarding sails, anchors, etc.  The idea being that everything “hangs together.”
 
A couple of ideas:
The Schooner at sea, processing a catch.
Alongside a pier.
 
It might be difficult to find and get delivered to Estonia but an author with the  name of Albert Cook Church wrote a book titled  American Fishermen back in the 1950’s That is loaded with excellent photographs taken aboard working fishing Schooners.  Look for used copies on online used book sites.
Roger

Fishermen who spend their lives afloat would figure it out and each solution and the details would vary from boat to boat, man to man and from each type of container. It's contents and intended use would dictate the where. You need to make a decision on contents and intended use to make a good decision on location. Having chased 8" projectile's, a fork lift and hundreds of random items around the decks of rolling modern ships I have learned something about securing for sea. Movement of any kind is the killer, no matter how small it may be, it will grow and if not stopped will break out. However you chose to secure the barrels they must be hard against a structural part of the ship or the lines, straps or chains secured directly to the ship and need to be easily adjusted. Make your choice on the reason for the barrels being there in the first place then secure them for sea where they can be used for their intended purpose or leave them in a box near your work bench.
 

Indeed, it would have been highly doubtful practice to leave such barrels on deck to be broken up by overcoming seas. Without salt, you may as well sail home.
 
The only barrel/cask that was often stored on deck, securely fastened in chocks and with lashings, was that for a few days worth of drinking water from which the crew and the kitchen drew. It would be placed in a reasonably protected area.