rybakov

So, you are new to wooden ship building and are wondering where to start to learn the terminology, methodology and all that sort of stuff.  Don’t feel bad – it is intimidating at times and can seem like a foreign language!
 
Figuring out where to start to try and understand the ins and outs is a challenge.  There are, to be sure, many exceptional books that describe the process of building a model.  Some, more than others, relate the process back to the days of old when a shipwright worked as much from intuition and experience as from formal plans and blueprints.  To understand how the shipwrights of old built a wooden ship is an interesting (and sometimes confusing) journey.  The brief list of references provided below are not intended to cover the total breadth of shipbuilding, but rather to allow you to sample the flavors and textures over a period of about 120 years.  There are, to be sure, older references, and there are newer ones, but these will place you in the heart of the most heavily modeled time periods.
 
The following list of downloadable resources is far from complete – in fact, it is only a beginning.  There are so many more!  It is also, and for this I apologize up front, nearly exclusively in the English language.  You see, I don’t read nor speak anything other than English and some teenagerisms (and a smattering of baby talk), so I really couldn’t say whether a French or Dutch document was describing building a boat or baking a cake, so to avoid leading you too far astray I have steered away from those resources.  I do have a few which, if you speak the language, I will gladly share.
 
So – in no particular order, and for your reading pleasure, here is what I would consider to be the Introduction to Shipbuilding 101 list of readings (all are no longer protected by copyright).
 
David Steel - The shipwright's vade-mecum (1805)
http://archive.org/details/shipwrightsvade00steegoog
 
John Fincham - An introductory outline of the practice of ship-building (1825)
http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009723747
 
John W. Griffiths - Treatise on marine and naval architecture; or, Theory and practice blended in ship building (1854)
http://archive.org/details/treatiseonmarin00grifgoog
 
----- The ship-builder's manual: and nautical referee (1856)
http://books.google.com/books?id=el9JAAAAYAAJ
 
------ The Progressive Ship Builder, Volume 1 (1875)
http://books.google.com/books?id=IoJIAAAAYAAJ
 
------ The progressive ship builder, Volume 2 (1876)
http://books.google.com/books?id=CIJIAAAAYAAJ
 
Richard Montgomery Van Gaasbeek - A practical course in wooden boat and ship building (1919)
http://books.google.com/books?id=MvsOAAAAYAAJ
 
Charles G. Davis - The building of a wooden ship (1918)
http://books.google.com/books?id=Zu4OAAAAYAAJ
 

I just wanted to advise users of Google books for pdf downloads that I've found some books that weren't available for download on the English language Google site were available on the German language site and probably on other language sites as well.  

This post is not intended as a definitive discussion on the subject and there are other options used in the real world.  It simply provides some background information and is an update of a post I placed on MSW 1.0.
Even in modern naval and merchant ship seamanship practice, the state/look of the ship depends on her current employment.  If at sea, ropes, tails and fag-ends are left in a secure (won't move around) but ready to use state.  In harbour, especially if under their lordship's eyes, most ropes are made up to look neat and tidy (exceptions might be the boat rope etc if at anchor or at a buoy).
In the days of sail, there were many lines and ropes used, and most running rigging had a tail that needed to be secured for ready use and/or be presented in a more tidy manner when in harbour / not underway.
When making up rope/lines ready for use, they are either coiled or flaked out.  The greatest care is taken to prevent two things: the rope/line will run out freely without snagging, and minimising the chance of injury to crew and equipment.
The left/right twist of a rope needs to be considered when making-up a coil.  Try making up a rope, especially natural fibre ropes, against their lay and you will soon get snarls/kinks.  Once made-up, the coil can be put down opposite to its lay, but the direction of the lay of the coil (rope itself) will not change, only the aspect/perspective of the lay as you look at it.
Short story depending on the aspect you wish to model – steady state at sea or in harbour, or preparing for getting under way, will determine how to depict the ropes.
 
Flaking
Flaking a rope is to arrange it on the deck ready for easy use or made up as a decorative finish for the rope while in harbour etc.
 
The Flemish Flake (or Flemish Coil) provides an attractive, neat way of temporarily stowing the end of a rope.  A Flemish flake/coil, also called a cheesed coil, is a flat coil of rope with the end in the centre and the turns lying against, without riding over, each other.  Flemish coils were, and still are, used by the 'Grey Funnel Line' (Navy) and by yachties when they want everything to look especially neat and tidy.  See:
http://ikstremdom.is-a-chef.com/outdoor/rope/animatedknots/flemish/index.htm or
http://www.animatedknots.com/flemish/index.php?Categ=ropecare&LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com

From: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/dsL-IPHIfHWmxdkiOjOBLg
 
For larger ropes where the tail end is very long, an alternate pattern can be made-up by first laying the rope down flat on the deck, in long concentric loops.  Take a bight (all loops) from the end opposite to the direction of the standing end, flip and draw it across itself to form the figure eight (as shown).  The finished result is represented below in a more 'artistic' display which does not show the standing end.

From: http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/getout/artdescriptions_2011.asp
This decorative rope finish is not to be confused with a working flake of a similar name 'the figure 8 flake'.  See: http://www.animatedknots.com/fig8flake/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com
 
Another working flake is the zigzag or snaking flake also called 'faking' depending on whom you talk to, and is often used where you need the rope to run out without catching, snubbing or otherwise.  This is normally only used when the rope is being, or about to be worked.

 
For working with running rigging, a more modern practice is to use the Ballantine Coil for the halyards when a sail is raised.  With masts that may rise over 100 feet above the water, the halyards are quite long requiring very careful coiling to keep the lines organised so they will run free if needed and not become tangled.  The Ballantine Coil builds a stable coil that is compact and stable.

See http://captnmike.com/2011/10/03/coiling-line-using-the-ballantine-coil-on-the-adventuress/ for details on how to make this coil up.
 
Line Coils

The tail end of a rope is always coiled with the direction of the twist.  If the rope is the tail end of a halyard or such, which is to be belayed, the loops are started about half an arm’s length (adjust to scale) along the standing end from the belaying pin.  Once the loops have been formed, a bight is taken in the standing-end, drawn through the top of the eye in the loops, and hung from the belaying pin, cleat or staghorn as shown in the following links.
http://ikstremdom.is-a-chef.com/outdoor/rope/animatedknots/coilattached/index.htm  or
http://www.animatedknots.com/coilattached/index.php?Categ=ropecare&LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com
 
Some modellers prefer to form these coils off the model and hang it from the belaying pin which, at scale, covers the securing knot/line on the belaying pin which masks whether it has been formed on or off the model.  As I prefer to be authentic, I prefer to form these on the model just as in real life using a few rigging tools.  This should not done until all rigging (associated with these belaying pins/fixtures) has been completed and the final tensions applied to the ropes.  Secure the rope-ends as you would in real life to that fitting (pin, cleats etc), dab it with a touch of diluted PVA glue, then form the loops over the end of one tool.  Use the other tool or a pair of tweezers to
pull the bight through and loop it over the pin going to the side of the tool on which the loops have been formed.
 
Some associated useful links include:
Knots:
http://www.animatedknots.com/indexboating.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com
Whippings:
http://www.animatedknots.com/indexropecare.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com or
http://ikstremdom.is-a-chef.com/outdoor/rope/animatedknots/sailmakers/index.htm
Splices:
http://www.animatedknots.com/indexsplicing.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com or
http://ikstremdom.is-a-chef.com/outdoor/rope/animatedknots/backspliceropecare/index.htm

Hi Daniel
 
I really don't have any answers to your questions, but...
I found this pictures on the Museu da Marinha site that might be of some help
 
By the way the scale is 1/20, it's on the first photo but probably too small to read
 
Hope it may help
 
all the best
Zeh

Hi Daniel
 
I really don't have any answers to your questions, but...
I found this pictures on the Museu da Marinha site that might be of some help
 
By the way the scale is 1/20, it's on the first photo but probably too small to read
 
Hope it may help
 
all the best
Zeh

Okokok, back to business,
 
To restart I thought to start with a small quiz ...
 
As you know, a lot of parts are nice models on their own right, as already seen with the knightheads :-)
 
So what is this beautiful part for??
 

 

 
Have fun, Daniel

Thank you trippwj for the update, I reckon it should have gone into that forum, but it seemed to me here would be a good place to start.
Anyway just for the sake of continuity here goes a link to Chapman's Architectura Navalis Mercatoria drawings
 
http://www.sjohistoriska.se/en/Collections/Archives/ChapmanNet/ChapmanNet/Drawings/?pressimagepage=1
 
Enjoy
Zeh

I remember that there used to be a sticky post with some links to books on 18th/19th century shipbuilding and seamanship, so to start again here are some download sites :
From Google books Pdf download:
A treatise on marine architecture - Peter Hedderwick 1830
A treatise on masting ships and mastmaking - John Fincham 1843
A treatise on shipbuilding and navigation - Mungo Murray 1754
The shipwright vade-mecum - P. Steel 1805
The young officer's sheet anchor with additions by GW Blunt  - Darcy Lever 1853
 
http://hnsa.org/doc/steel/index.htm for The elements and practice of seamanship by David Steel 1794
 
Hope it will be of some use
 
All the best to everybody
Zeh
 

I remember that there used to be a sticky post with some links to books on 18th/19th century shipbuilding and seamanship, so to start again here are some download sites :
From Google books Pdf download:
A treatise on marine architecture - Peter Hedderwick 1830
A treatise on masting ships and mastmaking - John Fincham 1843
A treatise on shipbuilding and navigation - Mungo Murray 1754
The shipwright vade-mecum - P. Steel 1805
The young officer's sheet anchor with additions by GW Blunt  - Darcy Lever 1853
 
http://hnsa.org/doc/steel/index.htm for The elements and practice of seamanship by David Steel 1794
 
Hope it will be of some use
 
All the best to everybody
Zeh
 

I remember that there used to be a sticky post with some links to books on 18th/19th century shipbuilding and seamanship, so to start again here are some download sites :
From Google books Pdf download:
A treatise on marine architecture - Peter Hedderwick 1830
A treatise on masting ships and mastmaking - John Fincham 1843
A treatise on shipbuilding and navigation - Mungo Murray 1754
The shipwright vade-mecum - P. Steel 1805
The young officer's sheet anchor with additions by GW Blunt  - Darcy Lever 1853
 
http://hnsa.org/doc/steel/index.htm for The elements and practice of seamanship by David Steel 1794
 
Hope it will be of some use
 
All the best to everybody
Zeh