druxey

One small addition to the good advice: never use power equipment if you are tired or in a hurry!

One small addition to the good advice: never use power equipment if you are tired or in a hurry!

One small addition to the good advice: never use power equipment if you are tired or in a hurry!

Next step was to furl the sail as much as possible off the build before attaching the gaff to the main mast:

 



 

 

I was able to completely furl the head area along the gaff up to the throat of the gaff.  You'll see I used three gasket type lines to hold the furl here, to somewhat represent the brail lines.  Not sure if this would be accurate as I think the brail lines actually ran through brail blocks at the gaff, and then were belayed down to the deck.  But, this would have been overly complicated at this scale, not to mention that multiple pins and cleats would have to be added.  So, I went with these three gasket type lines.  Ultimately, I went with two along the gaff, and moved the remaining line to the throat area of the sail (and not at the throat of the gaff itself).

 

I was also able to get the luff edge furled pretty well at this stage as well.  My plan of not angling the foot worked out pretty well, as you can see that the bulk is greatly reduced at the tack, with most of the bulk at the throat.  In case you're wondering, I'm using napkins under the red clothespins because I've found that the color on these colored clothespins can rub off on the sail cloth 

 

From there, it was a matter of installing the gaff and lacing it to the mast.  As noted above, the lacing for the mast is a bit different than the lacing to the gaff - I think zu Mondfeld has 10 different approaches in his book.  From my research, part of the reason for the different lacing was so that the sail could slide more easily up and down the mast.  I used the mast lacing pattern as in this diagram:

 



 

 

Next I furled the rest of the sail, and added two more brail lines against the mast.  I also added a block and tackle arrangement at the deck as you can see in the third picture below.  I'm also planning on adding the outhauler line, which would run from the tack clew, through a sheeve at the end of the boom, and belayed at a deck cleat at the base of the main mast.  The kit plans have two pairs of deck cleats to be installed at the base of the main mast, with only one pair used, so all I needed to do was add an extra pair of eyebolts to the deck.

 



 

 



 



 

 

They still need some work to try and get in some folds, etc., but overall it came out somewhat ok I think.  I'd also note that in addition to real drivers having brail lines and blocks, there are a number of other inhauler/outhauler lines at the peak, as well as lines at the end of the boom.  For my build, I thought they would add too much complication given the kit's pin and cleat configuration, and I had already installed them per the kit plans before deciding on the furled sails.

 

So that's how I added a furled driver.  There are probably better ways of doing this, but hopefully this helps give people a jump start on how to approach them - I had searched all over the internet for methods on how to install a furled driver, but couldn't find any so hopefully this helps a bit.  

 

Thanks for reading!

Well getting closer to completion.........
 
Shrouds, anchor and touch-up left
 
Sam

Some extremely quick update pics
 
I'll post better and with description(s) next week
 
Happy New Year everyone! 
 
Sam

More changes!!!
 
After talking with Chuck, I decided to attempt to include a detail shown on an 18th century long boat that is pictures in the amazing book 17th and 18th Century Ship Models from the Kreigstein Collection. 
 
In it a long boat is shown with a roller to starboard of the stem. This would have been used when working anchors. A temporary one of the stern would have been on a davit that was removable (see Lavery).
 
This feature would include me relocating the boawsprit assembly to the port side of the stem.  I decided to keep the inboard brace for the bowsprit running to the floor as opposed to the one pictured that rests on the thwart.
 
Sam
KRIEGSTEIN LONG BOAT.pdf

Progress (I think?)
 
The ensign staff on the bowsprit is per Lavery. The darn cap is off center a bit. Sorry about that I'll have to reset it for the hundreth time! It's so samll!!
 
 

Ridiculous prices! Sorry to disappoint you, but several copies are currently available for $250.00 or less on abebooks.com

double-sided final checks on the imitation keel curved

Frame

more

more

Time to get back to work on the Echo Section.  First thing is to modify the well with ventilation holes per the new instructions.  Support is necessary behind the boards, so I cut a piece of scrap lumber to the inside dimensions of the well and then drilled 2" (to scale) holes.
Maury

Interesting strategy for the channels, E&T. Have a fun weekend!

I did consider a mirror and tried one but, because of the thickness of glass over the silvered layer, it looked like there was a huge gap down the middle of the ship and I gave up on the idea. Besides, there is a venerable tradition of half-hull models and I rather like the way they look.
 
 
Thank you Louie for the article on Master W A +. This will be very useful. I think Landstrom in his excellent book uses the Mataro nao but lengthens in in the mid section to make it seaworthy. the wooldings on the masts in two of the pictures indicating masts made of several pieces of wood whereas the small nao by W A has a one piece mast. Also noteworthy is that, in the first picture, the yard has been lowered to the deck, presumably it was the way they did a harbour furl.
 
The dragon

The engraver Master W.A. (Willem A. Cruces, ca. 1468) can be very useful for rigging, though as he was based in Flanders it's a moot point how much of the rigging he shows is appropriate to Venice. this link is to a pdf on the rigging in his engravings and those of others. WARNING - it's at least 10 MB of download.
 
There's also the ships of the Beauchamp Pageant (English, about the same time)shown here. Unfortunately the pictures are extremely faint, but there is a good zoom function and you can get pretty good detail despite the faintness. You can see ships at pages 17,19,29,31,45,49,51,71,73,97 and 99. Again, perhaps not appropriate to Venice.
 
I've also attached a few contemporary pictures that may be of help. Unfortunately the tapestry of Vasco da Gama's arrival in India was done not in Portugal (which might have helped with Mediterranean rigging) but in Tournai in Flanders.
 
I'm going to have a look at my copy of Landstro"m's The Ship. I'm pretty sure it has more pics of Mediterranean vessels of the the right period which might be of help.

BOXING SCARPH
 
This section represents the final piece of the keel for my model and was the most difficult to make. I temporarily glued a paper template to the swiss pear blank, then I cut it out with a mini table saw and scroll saw. I sanded the piece to the precise dimensions using a spindle sander and modeler’s files. The box scarph was carved by hand using a small chisel, and then scraped flat with a razor blade. Like the rest of the keel, I lined the boxing with vellum to simulate tarred flannel. 
 

Cutting the aft part of the keel section. 
 

Chiseling out the box scarph.
 

Finished scarph compared to plans. 
 

Plain scarph at aft of keel section. 
 

Gluing the vellum in place. 
 

Vellum trimmed to fit. 
 

Finished box scarph. 
 

Section glued to the rest of keel. 

After the holidays it starts again with the square frames
 

 

 

 

Absolutely stunning, Doris. 

So, the gauntlet has been picked up! I'll look forward to seeing the result. Good move, sir.

Interior Fit:
 
While also working on the exterior some of the main deck components have been assembled.
 
Capstan Step,
I think this was Holly - It's been oiled so looks different in the last photos to the deck planking.  It's 3 individual pieces slotted together.

 
Gratings and Coamings:
 
Gratings were manufactured from Boxwood, one side notched, with straight pieces glued across the notches.  I made larger then cut them down to size.  The coamings are of jarrah, beveled, rounded off, cambered, and I used a camber on the inner face to force the gratings to bend a little to reduce the sanding involved in shaping them.
 


 
Ladders:
jarrah and holly, coamings made the same way.
 

 
Mainmast partners:
Made from Holly.  This was one of the interesting components to build, as the plans disagree on different views.  Some views they are notched to allow for the outboard leg of the chainpump to pass by, in other views it clears the partners and no notch is needed.  Building the chainpumps showed the latter was correct.

 
When you put them all together...



 
You can see also in this the riding bitts have been completed and are in place as well.  Deck planking between the structures has started there as well.
 
Colin

Continuing on.
 
Getting there.
 
I can't find any pics of the lower hull planking in progress apart from this .

 
Coppering:
Coppering is done with individual plates, prestamped with a nail pattern.  I bought 7/16" (I think) adhesive copper, and cut into 3/4" lengths.  I was really pleased to find a width of copper that was exactly right at my scale.  For the whole hull I used an entire 32yd roll with about 100 to spare.
 

 
I tried an experiment to get the nail pattern right.  I took a 2mm thick peice of strip, glued a nail pattern on and drilled holes in the appropriate place.  Then I used acupuncture needles through the holes and on 2 edges.  The AP needles are 0.25mm diameter, so are actually pretty close in scale to the nails.  The nail pattern I produced was like this...
 


 
Pros: good pattern that burnishes down beautifully.
Cons: Fiddly.  There are 40 odd needles that need to be in place, even depth, glued down.  They are smaller than the smallest holes you can easily drill.  They are designed to pierce skin easily. They do blunt, and bend.   To make the press easier to hold, I created a handle out of scuply around the rear side of the needles.  
 
I got delayed in coppering so the first few plates went on about 6mo before the rest.  I decided to take a pic to show people what you can expect from copper that has been handled, and exposed to air.
 

 
Progress....





 
Just visible in the last pic is the batten along the top edge of the copper.
 
Colin
 
 

The chocks were fitted next.  The edges were highlighted with pencil to make the seams stand out.
 

 

 
The assemblies were then glued in place.  The aft partner was glued using the log pumps to help alignment.  
 

 
After the glue was dry, I cut the mortises for the ledges between the partners carlings and the middle carlings.  Because of the locations of the pumps and the main topsail sheet bitts, only two ledges would fit.  The multiple bolts were added and a coat of finish was applied to seal the bolts in place.  I typically dry-fit the bolts, only using glue if the hole is too large.  The last photo shows how it will look with all six pumps in position.  
 

 

 
 
 
 

Thanks everyone for the "Likes".  
 
My next project is beam set 12, which includes the main mast partners.  The beam set itself is straight-forward.  The main mast partners is similar to the fore mast partners...only larger.  The carlings are half- mortised into beams 11 and 12.  I had previously made the decision not to cut the mortises on beam 11 ahead of time because any mistakes would be very obvious.  My intention was to cut them in once I had the mortises cut on beam 12 so they would be exactly parallel.  I could not cut them to my satisfaction because the upper well was in the way of the chisel.  I did not wish to remove the upper well and possibly damage it so I faked the fore tenon.  In the pictures you can see the recess cut into the carlings for the partners as well as the difference in the thickness of the fore and aft tenons.
 

 

 

 
The next pictures show the fore and aft ends of the carlings after they were installed and before final sanding.
 

 

 
The aft partner was addressed next.  This has octagonal holes cut into it for the pumps.  Now comes the tricky part.  These log pumps extend through the previously cut holes in the lower deck main mast partner and insert into the pump intake lateral to the keel.  They also need to be perpendicular to the keel and slightly canted away from each other.  The holes in the lower deck partner needed to be "adjusted" to accommodate this three dimensional arrangement.  That's a euphemism for totally trashing the holes.  After the aft partner was temporarily glued in place, I inserted the logs down to the hold.  I made a veneer of boxwood and planked over the lower deck partners to disguise the error.  In the third photo you can see the widened hole in the lower deck partner before the repair.  The fore partner was made and the last picture shows it in place.