rybakov

Another factor in which sails to furl and which to leave set and drawing is based on the concept of sail balance.  the "center of effort" of the sails will shift to the bow or the stern depending on which sails you set. You will note that there are a bunch of fore and aft sails on the bowsprit and jibboom. If all of them are set it makes the rudder less effective since the rudder is acting on the opposite end of the ship: If the wind is blowing from the West and I am sailing North with all my sails set, and I want to turn in a North West direction, the wind filling the headsails is going to be opposing the rudder forces I exert with the steering system. I may have to take in some of the headsails if I need good rudder control. But if I am running before the wind with the wind at my back, I will need more sails on the front of the ship to keep it pointing downwind. If I had all my sails on the after side set, with the wind at my back, the stern of the ship will tend to want to swing around like a weathervane. So I need to imagine where this "center of effort" is at all times and adjust its fore and aft location via setting and dousing sails depending on my point of sail.

Since you are building an existing and well documented ship, I would rely on photos of the actual ship! Constitution and other three masted square rigged ships would have all some or none of their sails set depending on the captains intention and the sea state and wind conditions. Picture all sail set: This is only possible if the weather allows for it. leaving all the sails up as the wind increases in force is going to make the ship sail faster, but it will mean the possibility of damage to the spars. A prudent sailor reduces canvas as the wind increases. The sails are furled from the highest point first. The lightest and smallest uppermost sails are furled first as the wind increases- you will never see a ship furl a topsail BEFORE furling the sails above it. The larger lower sails are on stronger parts of the rig and can take the force of the winds better and remain in use longer. So you can chose which sails are going to be furled, but only furl a sail if all the sails above it are going to be furled too. (the exception being the lowest square sails, the Courses, which were furled independently of the rest of the rig from time to time)  Someone mentioned the removal of sails from the yards. To my knowledge this doesn't happen. If the ship is sound and in commission and not undergoing an extensive period of repair, all sails are going to remain on the spars at all times. Occasionally sails will be swapped out for heavier canvas as the ship changes latitude or the sails need repair, but they are never struck below to save on wear and tear, they remain on the yards. As with most things there are exceptions to most of the above. For instance some topsail schooners will set a small uppermost square sail from the deck- with the yard too- and then strike the sail and the yard it is on back to the deck when the weather forbids its use. And then there are Stunsails, which Constitution had. And the Crossjack Yard seldom has a sail bent to it although its possible to find examples that do.

I'm more than 1/4 way through the planking now. It's not as tidy as I'd like - I've learnt a lot of lessons during the process about proper preparation of the substructure (i.e. getting all the frames at exactly the same level) which I didn't do this time. I first cut grooves in the plug for the frames, then I changed my mind and decided to get rid of the grooves and have the frames stand out proud of the plug - which is what I should have done in the first place.
 
But because I couldn't cut the grooves precisely enough to the same depth with a handsaw they were all at slightly different depths and even after smoothing off the plug some of the frames still sit in the remnants of the grooves, while others sit fully proud of the plug. So I end up with wobbly planks.
 
I've fixed that to a certain degree using filler made from white glue and wood dust. But I should have used dust from the (pine) planks instead of re-using the stuff from the (plane tree) frames and wales, because the colour of the filler doesn't match the planks. Not a big problem - I'm going to paint the bottom of the ship black to simulate pitch or tar, and the sides will be red and yellow, as befits the Imperial dromon.
 
Five planks (plus garboards) in place:
 


 
Another problem that has arisen is that the planks seem to tilt somewhat, so the edge of the new plank is a little higher than the edge of the previous one. I think this is because I've been using push pins to hold the planks in place as the glue dries. The pins push on only one side of the plank, so no matter how careful I am, it tilts a little. I can  sand this smooth, but it offends me that I couldn't get it right first time. I'll have to find a better method of holding the planks in place.
 
Putting the sixth in place:
 


 
By the way, with the last plank so close to the wale, the flanges of the push pins were getting in the way, so I trimmed off one side of each flange and it fitted well. Dunno what I'm going to do with the last plank - nowhere for the pin to go - maybe I'll just have to hold the plank in place with my fingers till the glue dries . . .
 
But if I ever make another dromon (fat chance!) I'll know what mistakes to avoid. All part of life's rich tapestry.
 
I've also done preliminary painting on my two figures. Haven't sanded fully enough (a fact that isn't obvious until you take a detailed close-up photo) and I have yet to paint faces and the guardsman's hair, add shading etc etc , but it's starting to look good.
 

 
Steven
 
 

I think the photo says it all.   With a little watered down glue....rub the three strands against the rope and wait for it to dry.  You can also open up the rope where you want to begin the splice and run the three strands through.  But it isnt necessary.  You could just wrap them and glue them, especially with smaller ropes. 
 

 
Chuck

I’ve finally started the planking on my dromon. It’s been a long time coming.
 
I’m very grateful to Woodrat who heard I had no proper bench saw of my own so he cut sheets of pine half a millimetre thick and sent them right across Australia for me to make my planks from (the guy across the road had cut some for me, but though I appreciate the gesture they were 50% thicker at one end than the other and really weren’t usable).
 
I did a lot of reading on planking techniques, because I really wasn’t confident I knew what I was doing. I decided to use the planking guide I found on the MSW site but I had trouble working out how to go, and after a lot of thought I worked up a template that suited my style of working. It may not suit everybody or every ship, but it seems to work for me. Following the method I got from MSW, I made up strips of paper to determine the width of each plank where it crossed a frame, dividing the distance between the keel and the first wale by the number of strakes  (in this case 8, including the garboard strake).
 

 
But then I went off on my own – I made up a template that covered the whole area between the keel and the wale from end to end of the ship and using the strips I marked the strake widths where they crossed the frames, and then joined the marks to draw the strakes on the template (along with placing the scarph joints).
 

There are three planks in each run, and they are joined end to end with a long S-shaped scarph joint based on those of the Byzantine galeae found in the silted up Harbour of Theodosius in Istanbul (the Yenikapi ships). This kind of joint is needed because the frames are so thin it would be impossible to butt-join planks at a frame. So the joint is spread over several frames, with fixings at each frame. Surprisingly, on the Yenikapi ships these joints aren’t spaced as far apart on adjacent planks as we’d normally expect. But that is probably compensated for by the strength of the scarph.
 
Then I photocopied the template and glued it onto card. I cut it into three sections – to make the three planks in each run.

After that I could cut out individual plank templates from the card and transfer them to the wood of the strakes.

Then it was a matter of trimming the edge of the strake so it fitted exactly against the keel (for the garboard strake) or the edge of the next strake. Very fiddly.
 
After that I used my strips of paper to check that I had the width of the strake right. It was always too wide – maybe the pencil wasn’t sharp enough - so then I marked the right width at each frame and drew a freehand curve to join the marks and trimmed the strake to width.
 
Checking the strake width with the guide.
 

 
I used push pins to hold the planks in place. This meant I had to drill a whole lot of 1mm diameter holes in the plug (with a hand-held drill, so always running the risk of breaking the drill) to hold the pins. I put glue on each frame (just the width of the strake) and glued along the inner edge of the strake and along the scarph joint.
 
I started with the garboard strake – not the starboard garboard; it was the larboard garboard. So far I have both garboard strakes and three planks on one side . It’s very fiddly and demanding work and takes much more time and effort than I’d expected. But it’s very rewarding.
 
Here's the first plank dry fitted.

And glued down.

Here's the garboard and the first run of planks  (the pale blue rectangle is the packet of pine sheets Woodrat sent me). 


 
And the second run of planks fitted and glued in place.
 

I’ve also been working on the Imperial guardsman to accompany the Emperor on board the ship. I’ve done the detail work on his armour and his hair. He just needs a bit of sanding and painting and he’s complete. Matchstick included for scale.




 
I made him taller than everybody else – he’s going to be one of the Emperor’s Varangian (Russian Viking) guards. The Vikings of Russia were described by the Arab traveller and chronicler Ibn Fadlan as “Blonde-haired, ruddy and taller than date palms”.
 
I think my carving’s getting better. Unfortunately, this makes me a little dissatisfied with my earlier efforts and want to re-do them. But that way lies madness . . .
 
The detail of these figures is sufficient for the scale they’re in, and anyway they’re just accessories for atmosphere - they’re not supposed to distract the attention from the ship itself. Currently I’m at the limit of the detail I can put in just wearing my normal glasses. If I wanted to improve it I’d have to invest in a super-duper magnifying glass, which I’m not prepared to do.
 
Steven
 

Update :
 
here we have the captain, just behind the the stb. bridge bulwark. He is proudly watching his baby plough the Atlantic, as the bow wake browses by. This little figurine, together with the gentleman and the two lady passengers in conversation two decks below, I`m proud to posess. They are a gorgious gift from MSW member "TLC", who saw that I was on the look for certain figurines in scale 1:144 or 1:160 N-gauge, specialy  the captain, and he so kindly merged the make of these with a young Bulgarian artist, who was producing miniature dolls and dollhouse articles. She herewith, first time attempted, custom made,  to do a long time searched for captain for the KWdG, and I know she did a top job on it.
Many thanks again at this ocasion to "TLC" and the young artist...
Now is the time to have these figurines boarding and placed on board at exponated positions.
 
Also today I received the etched brass wheels from "M.Z. Modellbau", Manfred Zinneckers webshop and they are correct in size and look top, so the telemotors could be completed, installed, and the hydraulics connected thereto. The bridge crew is now complete and doing its job...
 
Nils
 

Captain in scale 1:144 with moustarch and in his Norddeutscher Lloyd uniform....
 

the litte group of passengers, two ladies in their 1900- 1910 fashions in conversation with the gent at the railing on the forward promenade deck
 

one of the two telemotors after completion...
 

the little Revell color can for scaling
 
 

the nautical crew at work, hopefully they bring her safe to the port of destination
 

 
 

 
 

Fantastic model Nils.

Small update....
 
I`m still looking for a suitable set of steering wheels in scale 1:144......
Have made the two bearing compasses for the outer end bridge wings, the two machine telegraphs, and the main bridge compass-column with it`s trimming magnets for nautical alignment setting
 
Nils
 

 
 

I'm currently working on shaping the "tails" of the gunwales so they fit smoothly with the gunwales themselves and with the "tail" of the sternpost (I really don't have a worthwhile name for them). Photos shortly.
 
In the meantime I thought I'd put up these pictures of the Emperor on board a galley (perhaps a dromon, even though it only has one bank of oars - the picture may have been simplified by the artist - as far as I know there are no contemporary Byzantine pictures of double-banked galleys).
 
The Greek text in the first picture says the ship of the Emperor.
 

 

These are from the mid-12th century illustrated copy in the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid of the chronicle of Byzantine history written by John Skylitzes. Almost all the  illustrations of Byzantine galleys in the Skylitzes Chronicl, show them with black hulls, but both of these, with the Emperor and his courtiers aboard, show them in red and yellow. So perhaps this colour scheme was reserved for the Emperor's own ship. Also, though many illustrations show double-ended "banana boats", the first shows a ship with a bow suitable to take a ramming "spur" (and very similar to the intended shape of my dromon) and the second shows one (admittedly a banana boat) with what may well be a spur.
 
I intend to use these two as models to draw from for the colour scheme of my own dromon, and also for such details as the banners etc. There are certainly differences between these pictures and my own proposal - for example both of these galleys have two "wings" at the stern rather than a single "tail"  - but from what scant information is available the double wings appear to have been a development of the 12th century; the only picture of a Byzantine galley I know of dating to the 11th century (from the Cynegetica of Pseudo-Oppian) shows a single "tail", which is what I've based my own upon. I've also taken from this 11th century illustration such details as the shape of the oars and the side rudder, though the 12th century ones are very similar anyway. And unlike any other picture I know of, this one shows a tiller on the side rudder of the ship on the left. 
 
And these two galleys are multi-coloured - not only are the bow and stern different from the rest of the hull, but the main part of each is green with a red stripe. Even allowing for artistic licence, this may perhaps indicate that other Byzantine galleys were brightly painted.
 
By the way, the third figure from the left is the archetype for my carved flute player. 
 
 

 Steven
 
 

Thanks! I don't think I am going to lay carpet but, I was considering a rug...
 
So more progress tonight. Support columns dividing the sleeping area from the main space have been installed. Doors are also in place closing off the forward cabins. Little by little she is coming together. Next up I have started to build the table and then the chairs which are still under design. I think I am going to have a lot of good build time this weekend and if so then we may just see this cabin finished out.

John,
 
thank you for your nice compliment,
much appreciated
 
here is a small update on the bridge wing cabs (raw version)
The last days I was having trouble with my PC in booting on from the moment I switched on.... (it would`nt show anything),... it started with 1/2 hour, then 45 min, then 2 hours.
Fortunately I saved up my old monitor with square formate, and installed it instead, and "Bingo" the screen was there again, otherwise I could`nt do any more updates..., looks as if it was only a monitor issue (hopefully)
 
Thanks also to all the "likes" for clicking on....
 
Nils
 

Glassing like at the middle panel
 

made from 0,3 mm brass sheet
 

a bit of filler material to smoothen the bulwark joint ( not sanded yet )
 

bridge bulwark at elbow hight
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 

little update :
 
made and attached two deck lights (one one the midships plattform, one under the bridge deck)
and made braces for supporting the bridge wing cabs from underneath.....
 
Nils
 

 
 

did`nt apply filler here yet
 
 

 
 

in the background, the plastic foil that covers the model when not working on it

Busy doing the rigging. A horrible task to find out how all the lines and blocks has to go and actually making them to do so. It looks like one big spagethis to me sometimes.
Untitled by Model Fishingships, on Flickr
 
After some hours all the rigging is ready
Untitled by Model Fishingships, on Flickr
 
And I tested the leds (again) and thankfully they all work
Untitled by Model Fishingships, on Flickr
 
Untitled by Model Fishingships, on Flickr
 
Untitled by Model Fishingships, on Flickr
 
Untitled by Model Fishingships, on Flickr
 
Untitled by Model Fishingships, on Flickr
 
Untitled by Model Fishingships, on Flickr
 
And a temporally fit on the baseplate. The baseplate has a contact for the powersupply and a switch for the lights
Untitled by Model Fishingships, on Flickr
 
Next time I hope to show you the final pictures of this triplet.
 
See you then (and after that for a new fishingship offcourse)
 

Artillery is made completely (two sets), a master model is made and it is possible to start making matrices for the grinding of parts (from injected wax).

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 204 – Tops and Futtock Shroud Wrap-up
 
I am happy to be finished with the dust case and to resume the model work.  The completion of the three mast assemblies with their pre-erection detailing, including their futtock shrouds, required just a bit more work and is now complete.  The first two pictures show the mizzen top with its futtock shrouds installed.
 

 
As mentioned earlier, these shrouds are served, fitted with brass thimbles at both ends, hooked to the deadeye straps at the top and secured to eyes on the mast band with lashings.  The futtocks are 4 1/2" rope (5 ¼" on the main and fore), spun from three strands of linen thread, right-handed.  The rope was dyed black with diluted India ink.  Making these was described earlier in Part 196.
 

 
The last task on the lower mizzen mast was fitting of the mast coat at the base.  This is shown in the next picture.
 

 
The next picture shows the model with the three completed lower masts fitted – still temporarily.
 

 
The next step will be to make the lower shrouds.  The next picture shows numbers 1 and 2 on the fore mast, port side, looped temporarily over the mast head.
 

 
These two will actually go over the corresponding starboard pair.  In each case the #1 shroud is served over its full length.  The serving on #2 extends down to the futtocks as it will do on all the other shrouds.  Parcelling has been wrapped over the serving around the mast head down to the top of the seizing, but has not yet been "tarred."  More on all this in the next post.
 
 
Ed

There is more to pins than simply belaying though, pins are also used to ease lines under strain. Let's say you have a eight hundred pound load on a line belayed on a pin. You want to lower the load six feet then belay it again at a height above the deck with the line still holding the weight.  One person can do this singlehanded even though it may have taken six or more sailors to initialy raise the load. The sailor takes the First of the three turns off the top and bottom of the pin and holds the line tight then pauses to observe. Did the line start to creep around the pin? If he or she takes the second of three turns off, the line may start to creep on its own around the pin, the weight it's holding being so great, and this is what the sailor wants, but he or she wants to CONTROL the speed at which the line creeps or renders around the pin. The line starts to render slowly so the sailor has time in which to act. Maybe the two remaining turns are still providing enough friction to hold the line in place? But the sailor WANTS to lower the eight hundred pound load so he NEEDS the line to render so they have to remove more friction. He or she then takes a turn off the top or bottom of the pin, again keeping the line in their hands tight between them and the pin.now the friction the belay had provided has been reduced by more than half and the line does start to render around the pin, the sailor feels it moving in his or her hands and can see and hear it too. The weight above begins to lower toward the deck. But the sailor can control the speed at which the line eases off the pin by taking off or putting back on the turns AND by adjusting the angle the line takes from their hands to the pin. The sailors muscle power is the determining factor in how fast the line eases at this point, but the sailor has first managed the friction the pin provides so that the forces involved are comfortably within their muscles ability to control the line. It's all a matter of observation and judgment on the part of the sailor. It NEVER takes two or more people to ease on a pin, regardless of the weight of the load.
Often the order is to simply cast off the line and "let it run". In this case the sailor makes sure the coil is free to run and quickly takes all three turns off the pin in quick succession and the coil runs out on its own. Note that in All these descriptions the pin itself never moves. It doesn't even rotate in its hole as the crossing turns always oppose the rotating tendancy even when the line is under tremendous strain. Nobody ever pulls a pin out as a way of freeing up a line or letting it run. Note also that in nearly everything I've said above, the two horns of a cleat could be substituted, the operation for handling a line on a pin is exactly the same for the use of line on a cleat, from line as thin as a signal halyard up to the size of a dock line.

Update :
 
ladders to the midships platform, railings to the lower bridge, and supports for the upper bridge (railings still require some straight bending, wooden handrails and paint)
the structures in the light tower areas require some filler material before final painting....
 
Nils
 

several stairways attached
 

 
 

boats winch in foreground, the whole boatsdeck is crowded with "detail structures", I`m quite pleased that all could find its place in accordance with the actual ship
 

supports for upper bridge, railings for lower bridge, light tower areas require some filler and repainting. Left some fingertips in the pic for scaling
 

 
 

all fragile parts, I do`nt think its so wise to choose that small scale again 
 

those upper railing wires hardly withstand touching, structure here filler is needed
 
 
 

Coming along nicely, mate!
 
Beware rings on hatch boards!  As shown on most kits they would tear the hatch covers to shreds.  Hatches on sailing ships had individual boards that could easily be lifted by hand.  This type of board persisted well into the power driven ship era except that some later hatch boards had lifting rings that were inset into the board so that they would lie flush with the board when not in use.
 
Below are a couple of photos that show hatch boards.
 

Hi Carl,
 
in answer to your earlier question, I would like to provide this illustration :
 
this is what the funnel guy wires will be like, here I started with funnel 3 + 4
The steel wires are 0,3 mm diam. normaly used for wire controlled model aircraft. The fact that they are tin-galvanized coated provides excellent soldering possibilities. The buckle screws are smallest I could find (M1,4 left /right thread), I blackened these chemically.
The small center drilled nickel beads are from a fashion jewelery store
 
Nils
 

 

We tend to think too much in terms of (building) rules, regulations and standards - because they have become so prevalent and institutionalised since the early 19th century. We also tend to think that any material could be 'ordered' at any time. However, wood is a natural material with limited supplies of the qualities and dimensions the builders may have wanted. So in practice, they may have had to make do with whatever was available in a particular yard. (Hard)wood supplies tend to follow an annual cycle, with wood being cut during the winter, transported to the rivers for rafting during the high-waters in spring. You couldn't just place an order for a particular kind of timber, when you ran out of it ...
So one should expect a lot of variations dictated by these boundary conditions.

Flat surfaces would be subject to shear forces and would need reinforcement with trenails , bolts or nails, all of which would weaken the wood and lead to splitting. the concave /convex joint reinforced with rope is strong and not rigid. Moreover iron hoops are difficult to make and apply and rope is readily available and cheap.
Dick

Update
Build log part 54
 
railing has been added to the mid ship platform, and funnel 3 + 4 understructures have the lights fitted. Also all vents and gratings fitted.
The upper platform is supported from the lower deck at both outer sides. These supports fit between two davits in order to enable their swing function...
 
Nils
 

foreground (bottom, left) are the boats winches
 

The command bridge area now requires some attention
 

I`m pleased with the progress, its not so very far more to go...
 

the model is comprising 86 vents in different sizes
 

must be thousands of "rivets" holding the plates together...
 

one of the deck-crew taking a rest on the aft anchorchain gear
 

deck curvature can be noticed here...
 

Update.....
 
Build log part 52
 
today is the day where the forward boats deck will be permanently glued on. Between brass frame and deck I use CA and  white wood glue between the lower deckhousings and the boatsdeck.
On this part I did not forget to place the connection holding points for the funnel stays. On the lower bridge its a bit tricky to get the convex deck curvature correct and adjusted to the forseen places of the nav light towers, here also used CA, hope its strong enough...
 
Also today a last chance to have a look into the inside of this liner, as it is now closed for ever after. Like on all my ships I put a short note (description, year of build, etc . ) into the hull before closing the last opening.
 
Nils
 

 
little red tags mark the places for putting the clamps on (whist glueing)
 
 

 
last look at the inside of the hull
 
 

 
below the deck to go on....
 
 

 
the nav light towers are the forward "anchoring points" for the boats deck
 
 

 
forecastle deck
 
 

 
 

 
aft deck
 
 

 
deck glued on and clamped down
 
 

 
the boss with the screw is just to curve down the lower bridge wings during glue curing
 
 

 

Hi Nils
 
I've been following your build with interest, beautiful craftmanship and what's more you manage to capture a flavour
of a type of shipbuilding. There were still some very similar (tough some forty years youger) old ships around when I started at sea.
Now to buoys: there was a shipwreck near Oporto in 1913 and the helm and a buoy were preserved.
Most passangers were saved althoug there were casualties, to add a little atmosphere watch the video of 
passenger transfer
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eVpSa8k1QQ
 
 
hope that helps
 
Zeh
 

Thank you very much Denis, and B.E.
for you kind comments...
 
the nearly midship bridge platform goes over the whole ship width and allows a good sight alongsides for the crew (and passengers).
There still needs to be the upper railing attached and the platform fitted out.
The dark grey horizontal tank with the two vents on top, is the one for daily warm water and is heated by exhaust gasexchanger of the second funnel
On the platform where the tank is standing on, there are brought in 4 interlocked eyelets with counter flat heads from below to take up some of the appropriate funnel stays safely
 
Also many thanks to all the "Likes"
 
Nils