Bob Legge

There is a PDF copy of the whole (untranslated) manuscript at https://digital.blb-karlsruhe.de/blbhs/content/titleinfo/7061 (click on PDF) which can be greatly enlarged in a PDF reader (page 108). Edit: file size 128MB
 
 

Barrels, Sea chest, Bucket

In providing equipment I decided at least on the barrels, sea chest and bucket in addition to the oars. I’m still debating whether to try to make a portable binnacle, but reckon this boat would not have been used for any journeys requiring its use – so may decide to leave it out.


 
Barrels

As I had not made barrels before, I looked into the different ways of making them, and decided to try two of them. The first method was using a solid core of a wood dowel to which is added the width at the middle by ringing it with wood strip or, as I did, a strip of masking tape.


 
There were a number of problems with this method. The first was that no glue I used would stick satisfactorily to the masking tape. That is why it would have been preferable to use paper strips or else strips made of very thin wood shavings. I ended up using excessive quantities of PVA.


 
The second problem was that given the compressibility of the tape, it was difficult to keep to the width of the staves so that all would have the recommended 4” width (at scale). As a result there was a lot of variation in the width – which was to some extent compensated by sanding.


 
The big advantage of this method is that the staves overlap the ends of the barrel, so requiring no further drilling out to leave an overlap. The planking on the ends of the barrel is of course placed first, before placing the staves.


 
I found it was useful to soak the staves first and curve them in a template jig using a hair dryer for rapid shaping.

 


The second method involves cutting long angled strips of wood and gluing them together to form a cylinder. I chose to have 20 staves cut to an 180 angle (20 x 18 = 360). This was because the stave width at the circumference of a 10mm diameter cylinder would then be equivalent to 4” at full size.


 
I found this part to be very simple to do using the Proxxon FET bench saw angle function which has a nice accurate guide to the degree of rotation. The barrel was then fixed on to a dowel which could be held in the lathe, and it was shaped to the correct curvature using a template.

 


The barrel was then stained using walnut crystals, and bands placed with strips of black card. You’ll see the photos later in this post.

Sea chest

I made the chest using a card base on to which wooden planks were glued. A locking plate (made of card) and stanchion (0.4mm copper wire) were added, along with rope handles, two 0.5mm brass rod hinges and two supporting bands of black card over the curved top.


 



Bucket

Making the bucket was initially very puzzling to me. I could see others have made the bucket using the same method as for the barrels – namely the making of angled strips bundled together to form a cylinder, shaped and then hollowed out. I just could not see a simple way of hollowing it out while keeping the angle of the staves.


 
In the end all I did was make the staves individually using as a guide the end dimensions of 10mm tall with a 7mm base. In order to keep it simple I restricted myself to 8 staves for which I made a pattern, glued to a strip of wood, then cut and angled the edges with a razor.


 
I then took the gamble of just gluing the edges to each other, one stave at a time, in the knowledge that the grip of PVA would be sufficient to keep the parts together while adding them to one another and then curving into a cylinder. I left the cylinder to dry overnight, then glued the base on. As I had used white maple, I tried staining with my walnut crystal stain, but it didn’t alter the colour very well, so I had to paint with brown acrylic and finish off with a home-made shellac varnish.


 
I added a rope as a handle.

 



This now leaves me with the choice of whether to go with a binnacle and a boat hook. I can’t see my way to the method of making either one, but I’ve asked a question on the forum about the binnacle and I’ll see what answers I get.


 
Otherwise I’ll be labelling this build as complete.


 
Tony

 

The oven:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good morning.

Thank you everybody for your kind words and encouragements. You know, I really hate to be an unreliable man, and I feel unconfortable with saying I will post pics and I can't. But everytime I think I will have some time to go back to the workshop the amount of work (my real work I mean) increases and I'm away from home much more than I would like to... And as you can imagine with the Covid-19, things are not going to be better anyway soon. But that's my job and of course it is the priority.
Anyway, I have at last some real improvement to show so here are the pics !
At first I had to make some shaped pieces of wood (lisses de rabattues, don't know the english word, wich are molded) with a tarabiscot. Then I can plank the rest of the ship. I had to correct my drawings concerning the sheer cap railing (rabattues) and make them more parallel to the other "préceintes". (I don't find the english word, but I suppose it makes sense anyway). It came from an advice Marc gave me a few years ago. I did not make them more curve, in fact I even made them more straight, but I gave them less a "fan" shape. 
So at last it goes forward. The left side is a little late but will be done in a few days. 
Thank you for your interest, regards,
Marc

 
 

A former colleague at the Rijksmuseum, Susan Meyer, suggested i should use 'voile cotton' for sails and she gave me a piece, which I used for this ship, with the result shown here-fore. She also mentioned the name of an English company which was most helpful in finding the right material after a sample of the wanted textile was sent to them. It is a remarkable company, called Whaleys (Bradford) located at Harris Court, Great Horton, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD7 4EQ in England. I sent them a sample of the very fine cotton I used until my stock (which existed of a sort of textile, I removed from old maps, soaked in water) was gone and I had to find a replacement. Today I received an answer with several samples of cloth that were very close. Indeed, like my colleague suggested 'voile cotton' was one of them, but there was another, called 'Navara fine lawn white', which seems even slightly better. It is slightly less transparent and very closely woven.
It costs 22,74 pound per meter (1.55 m wide) and if more than 2 meters are purchased the price is 18,95 pound. 'Voile cotton cream' is slightly cheaper but comes with a width of 1.40 m.

I supposed some of you just wanted to know.
 

Just a note that I finished the man-of-war. These are the results:

Not very spectacular from the side view.
 


The quarter views are OK though.
 

And the sails look like sails. I'm a happy man.
 
Ab

More enthusiasm than I anticipated, thank you very much. It's just pottery, little more.
 
Wefalck: the scale is 1/77 and the sails were simply sprayed with a spray can of starch your mother probably used while ironing the sheets. Her hairdryer did the rest (together with some pushing and pulling of course).
 
'Hans' We can discuss some ins and outs for the kits you sell, if you like.
 
GrandpaPhil: Your own efforts with paper are not too bad either...
 
Druxey: I'm flattered being told that by you. You are not particularly from the easy approach like I demonstrate here.
 
Petr: Thanks, but in your country there are so many better builders, you included.
 
Marcus: I missed your recent updates about planking the fluit. Problems?

Hello and many thanks for your likes,
 
it is done, all cannons are ready! Here they are all together at the gun deck, or at least there carriages.

And that they are



I have one question to an administrator. Did you change there something with the likes? They did't turn up in my notifications. There are now only the comments listed. The last time I have much trouble to open this site, I think because of too much traffic when in the US starts the day now in the Corona time. So some times I shut down this site when it was't open correctly. It takes sometimes up to 10 minutes with a traffic of 1-5 KB/s. 🤨 Many thanks in advance 

Wonderful work, an interesting vessel.

Just... WOW!  Beautiful.

I started with the realization of the hooks for the blocks made with brass wire and with tin welding, they will be put under some blocks


for the realization of the shrouds of the other two trees, the foresail and the after mast, I used the usual system, I reported on the 2mm plywood the drawing of the shrouds and ropes


always align the bigots to the "tarozzo" which is the first wooden step, in the shrouds made on the foresail in which there is a shroud formed by a row of simple ratlines
I also finished the stay of the major mast, creating the horizontal support in which the maneuvers of the bowsprit will be tied

I continued with the work for a few days, finishing the maneuvers, you know the shrouds and backstays, I am attaching a series of images that show the construction phases in progression




after finishing the rigging with the ratlines I removed the support

fixing them with bigots to put them under tension

details


to hear from you soon
black Wolf
 
 

Having looked for images related to the model of Santa Maria taken from the studies carried out by Fernandez - Duro and from the construction plans of Adametz, stimulated me to deepen the research related to this model that was made in 1892 for the commemoration of the 4th centenary of the discovery from America, I managed to find some photos and honestly they seem very beautiful to me, the world of the internet allows you to carry out searches which, in the absence of this tool, would be very complex to carry out, some photos are taken from the historical archive of Canarias, others, I presume, that are from private individuals available on the net, even if some time and experience are necessary to carry out the research.
Certainly the photographs, even if "ancient", allow us to have "certainties" of some details of the model I am making, which surely is not what Columbus' carack should have been, given that there are few certainties on this medieval ship,
surely the photos found allow me to have "certainties"
relating to the model built in 1892 and which I am making
beginning from the oldest photo, it is a postcard from 1892 in which you can see the Santa Maria together with the other ships in the port of Tenerife

the following show the ship anchored at the port in 1893, people probably came to the dock to admire it

ready for navigation with the other two ships

dropped anchor

at full sail

detail of the stays of the major tree, called "fork"

construction updates will follow
black Wolf

Hi Patrick,
the question you ask me is a question that I cannot answer with certainty, the material on medieval ships is always "uncertain" what I have are the Adametz construction plans attached to the book "The ships of Columbus" by Winther and information taken from the book "The ships of Christopher Columbus" by Pastor, both in the construction plans of Adametz and in the ship built to commemorate 400th anniversary of the European discovery of America, I attach the images

the cable is a backstay, but honestly I don't know if it was already in use in the late 1400s,
also from this photo it seems that it is present on the replica of the Columbus ship,
and just because the material and information are few, requests for further information and additional information are welcome
 

I put the little man (with a nickname "sardine") near the griselle to see and compare the situation, surely the rise of 40 cm is not little but it is feasible.


to the next
black Wolf

Great work
 
Are you sure of these 2 ropes. I think this method was only used a few centuries later.

I thank my friends for the "likes"
unfortunately the translator, although very useful, does not correctly translate the meaning of the terms and this can create problems of mutual understanding unfortunately, however you have to be satisfied or learn English better, maybe I'll do it when I retire, maybe ,,,
 
I came back too late to turn on the stove in the laboratory for which I update the building site (not in real time, but we miss a little), obviously gradually the jobs go on, very slowly, we go up higher,

and gradually the distance between the shrouds decreases, so that making the ligatures and the knots becomes impossible because of the little space between the shrouds, for this the last "steps" I realize with a thread of smaller diameter, it should be 0,2mm all 'roughly, I take off the template that I used because I reached the last ratlines (grisella) , in addition to the tailoring it is also visible the Forestay itself greater of the tree strap on the fly with two small springs

the photo was taken when both shrouds were made)
the next photo is a detail of the bigotte (?)  and alignment with the tarozzo (?)
(alignment to be respected in the realization of the upper ratlines - griselle )

and below, the diagonal view from "port"

The next step was the redundancy (Turn Buckle) of the "bigotte", for the realization of the "runner / CORRIDORE" or the cable connecting the bigots, ( shroud-laid rope )  I always used a Gutermann yarn (the yarn is always "flat" so if the thickness is of the yarn is correct, it is used directly, the argument on the making of cables, perhaps, would need a deepening, but I don't want to "weigh down" too much the update)
the color used is the one that in my opinion approaches the untreated rope with the anti-fouling systems of the time,
I insert an image "in which some of the" technical "terms I used, of which I am not sure of the correct translation (hopefully well ...)
 
seen from inside the ship


the "flat" work is opposite to that used for the production of shrouds (torticcio cable) the reticulation was carried out after the "tarozzo" was scraped and as I said the method of using the shroud printing pasted on the 2mm plywood and positioned later on the parasartie and under the crow's nest it allows the realization of the various parts that make up the shrouds with relative ease, due to the fact that stopping the bigots with pins you have the space, pulling forward the bigoted, to work well, repositioning them later without losing the fundamental alignment (a method that I would advise) it is necessary to avoid the gluing of the runner until one is sure of having finished the work, obviously the displacement of the bigots necessarily causes the lengthening of the thread (runner) and in following the shortening, manageable or very difficult maneuvers, if the wire has been glued


the next step will be on making the "griselle" translation permitting,
to the next
black Wolf
 
 

Hello,
meanwhile I made the various blocks with spliced Stropps.

 

An update on the painting of the pseudopation:
Masking:

Masking taken off:

 
It does look better to the naked eye than on a close-up photo, but I'm still not totally happy with the precision of the decorated border. However,  I think I can improve on it before I finalise the whole thing, add the lower oars and close up the upper deck. 

@aviaamator
Thanks!
 
Hello friends of model making,
that is the current state of my model:

 

Friday I spent almost all day researching the above. Out of numerous articles that I have read (so far), not one discusses this. But I did find other interesting info about Fluits. How they are related to hekboten, katten en boyers. 
Marcus 

There is a plan in the NMM.
 
Belle Poule fl.1780 (French, captured) ZAZ3117 J6627
 
An image can be seen here:
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/82908.html

Sister Ships DÉDAIGNEUSE 1776, AMPHITRITE 1768, TOURTERELLE 1770


 
Also:
Catalogue des Plans - Les Archives de la Marine


 
2030 Page 176 Frégate << La Belle Poule >>. << Construite à Bordeaux en 17.. par M GUIGNACE. L'Enphitrite & La Tourterelle ont pareillement été faites à Baux par le même ingénier .. Non signé ni daté [vers 1764].

Tracé des formes de la coque : pl. vertical. Encre noire. Dim. 0.53 x 0.40.

2G4.3, no 65


Regards,
 
Bob.
 

There is a plan in the NMM.
 
Belle Poule fl.1780 (French, captured) ZAZ3117 J6627
 
An image can be seen here:
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/82908.html

Sister Ships DÉDAIGNEUSE 1776, AMPHITRITE 1768, TOURTERELLE 1770


 
Also:
Catalogue des Plans - Les Archives de la Marine


 
2030 Page 176 Frégate << La Belle Poule >>. << Construite à Bordeaux en 17.. par M GUIGNACE. L'Enphitrite & La Tourterelle ont pareillement été faites à Baux par le même ingénier .. Non signé ni daté [vers 1764].

Tracé des formes de la coque : pl. vertical. Encre noire. Dim. 0.53 x 0.40.

2G4.3, no 65


Regards,
 
Bob.
 

There is a plan in the NMM.
 
Belle Poule fl.1780 (French, captured) ZAZ3117 J6627
 
An image can be seen here:
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/82908.html

Sister Ships DÉDAIGNEUSE 1776, AMPHITRITE 1768, TOURTERELLE 1770


 
Also:
Catalogue des Plans - Les Archives de la Marine


 
2030 Page 176 Frégate << La Belle Poule >>. << Construite à Bordeaux en 17.. par M GUIGNACE. L'Enphitrite & La Tourterelle ont pareillement été faites à Baux par le même ingénier .. Non signé ni daté [vers 1764].

Tracé des formes de la coque : pl. vertical. Encre noire. Dim. 0.53 x 0.40.

2G4.3, no 65


Regards,
 
Bob.
 

There is a plan in the NMM.
 
Belle Poule fl.1780 (French, captured) ZAZ3117 J6627
 
An image can be seen here:
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/82908.html

Sister Ships DÉDAIGNEUSE 1776, AMPHITRITE 1768, TOURTERELLE 1770


 
Also:
Catalogue des Plans - Les Archives de la Marine


 
2030 Page 176 Frégate << La Belle Poule >>. << Construite à Bordeaux en 17.. par M GUIGNACE. L'Enphitrite & La Tourterelle ont pareillement été faites à Baux par le même ingénier .. Non signé ni daté [vers 1764].

Tracé des formes de la coque : pl. vertical. Encre noire. Dim. 0.53 x 0.40.

2G4.3, no 65


Regards,
 
Bob.