woodrat
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Zackly. Which is why, when I hear the term "replica" applied to ancient and mediaeval vessels and to paraphrase Fat Herman, I reach for my gun. We, after all, are only making hobby models, so a little slack can be cut for us. Let us not get too precious. Cheers😎 Dick -
I have commenced researching this famous roman shipwreck. It was discovered off the coast of Toulon in 1967 at a depth of about 20 metres. The hull was largely intact, sufficiently so for reasonably reliable reconstruction to be made of its lines. It appears to be a very large merchantman of about 400 tons with a length of about 40 metres. At the time of its demise in the middle of the first century BCE it was carrying a cargo of wine in amphorae and glazed pottery. The cargo has protected the hull timbers. Excavations led by Andre Tchernia and later by Patrice Pomey of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique have revealed one the best preserved shipwrecks of the ancient mediterranean world and have made it a suitable subject for a detailed model. I hope to proceed much along the same method as I used for my venetian round ship reconstruction. Wish me luck! Cheers Dick
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The port side of the false deck has been fitted. This consists of rectangular floors fitted between rebated cross-beams. Each floor has a central recessed lifting ring. This false deck was meant to accommodate additional passengers such as scientists, artists etc in what was a cargo carrying vessel. The deck is meant to be temporary and would be removed after the completion of the voyage. The pictures are self explanatory. Cheers Dick
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This one. You can see how a mosaicist with little nautical knowledge would mistakenly think that the rudder went through the hull but is actually encased beside the hull. Dick
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I'm sorry Steven, but I feel I should put an oar into the water here. I think it would be an error to put your quarter rudders through the hull just to prove it could be done. Having oblique rudders makes no sense and would detract from an otherwise excellent model. Have a look at the Ostia ship as a solution. There, I've said it.🙂 Dick
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This vessel is of an era preceding the use of the large athwartship transom timber at the stern to support the sterncastle. In its absence, it will be necessary to insert curved support timbers which are seen in many of your illustrations. Dick
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This image is not detailed enough to be sure, but that sure looks like a "hockey stick" poking out the front of the mast . Above it is a smaller mast with a crows nest behind it. I have seen this image before but dont have a large version of it. Can you give me the reference? In my opinion the hockey stick was only used to pull the yard away from the mast to enable lowering as I tried to show in my Yenikapi 12I I have just found a more detailed pic which looks even more hockey stick like Cheers Dick
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As regards the rather bright ropes hanging over the side, there are a number of illustrations which show this. There is no need to imagine prayer beads or pearls. It was just sloppy seamanship. The ships were probably initially sketched at their moorings with their ropes all ahoo. As to their being bright, the following pic shows bright ropes over the side AND dark pendant ropes. I think the pendant ropes are tarred and the bright ropes normal hemp. The last pic clearly shows the anchor cable bright. It was just the way they painted rope against a dark hull. Cheers Dick
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Whatever you choose to do, the top must NOT project forward of the mast since the yard has to be able swing past the front of the top when tacking or gybing. This is what was done in latin rig of the time, as you know. This is John Pryor's concept: Dick
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Shown is the reconstructed (imagined) steering mechanism. At this stage of evolution only one steering oar would be present. It was later in the Iron Age that steering oars would appear on both quarters. As it was a requirement that the steering oar have the capacity to be rapidly rotated into a horizontal position during beaching, there must have been a mechanism whereby the steering can be released rapidly from its upright and pulled into a horizontal position by an up haul. I have shown a possible mechanism whereby this could be done. Dick
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Exactly, Grant. They would hug the coast, beach it at night and snug down in inclement weather. They also would have many stone anchors for ballast. But still not a very stable vessel although the oars would help stability a bit Dick
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No, I was forced to shorten the lower bank oars a little. The lower bank oars were probably stored separate to the upper bank when not in use. Maybe they were colour-coded? Dick
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Well.... it isn't a turnip but it's turnipish. It's actually an acanthus seed. The acanthus seed was regarded as a martial symbol by the greeks as its seed is catapulted out of its pod (look it up, it's fascinating). One image of a a bronze age galley from Tragana shows a stern ornament like an acanthus seed. I have made the oars and tentatively fitted two of them Dick
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This is a photo of the 14th century galley found in San Marco di Boccalama in the venetian lagoon. Note the coffer dam around it. The lower third of the hull is intact and beautifully demonstrates the carved mast-step supports in the floors. I think the central three supports are integral with the floors but the others may be separate from the floors these are the mast step supports for the flat bottomed rascona found near the galley with separate knees to buttress the mast-steps (INA Quarterly spring 2003 D'agostino and Medas) So this type of mast-step was widespread at least in Venice and the Adriatic. Dick
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If you look very carefully at the photo of the Contarina mast-step, you can actually see the wooden wedge blocks that fell out when the mast was removed. Dick
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I followed the Contarina 1 wreck which indicates the floors are carved in such a way as to support two short planks. the mast is held between these planks and blocks fore and aft which may well be part of the keelson. In other words, the mast sits on the keelson but the side planks are held by the floor and against the keelson. Weird, eh! Dick
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Steven I notice that you are building your round ship with a straight keel. The keels on mediaeval round ships and galleys in the mediterrranean were slightly rockered. They did this by using a catenary curve made by a rope suspended between two stakes at each end of the ship. Its not much of a curve but it will make a difference to the end result. Dick
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The venetians, having laid the master frame on the keel, then fitted every fifth frame and trued them. The intermediate frames were then fitted. Yoy will need spacers to maintain the space between frames. Dont forget that the mast step supports were part of the floors. Good luck. Have you got a disc sander or is that for next birthday? Dick
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The cunning plan has succeeded! Two tarred cables joined at the bow pass into either side of the bow and along beneath the main beams back to the stern platform where they emerge and are attached to a primitive "pulley". the other side of the pulley is attached to a "bridle" or koruphaia looped around the stern. The "pulley" is tightened by a drum windlass. This then tightens the hogging truss. Gad! How do I DO it? Dick
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I opine that the eyes on the Duck are the eyes of the god. The oculi on the bow are the eyes of the boat. How else could it see where to go? You wouldn't trust a duck! Dick
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Yes, I agree with your first and third option. It is likely that bright primary colours were used (the greeks loved painting up their sculptures) and addition of geometric patterns such as zigzag lines and spirals will help break up the cartoon like appearance. Also the knobs on the head will need to be extended along the beak I also plan some oculi even though they are not seen on the pottery images. But I cant imagine any mediterranean sailor going to sea without them! The eyes on the duck are not enough. Dick
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