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woodrat

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  1. Steven, I just realised that I have been remiss in not commenting on the wonderful nef you have reconstructed. The figures add a good impression of the scale and the realities of working a vessel with just wind and muscles. I hope that the trumpeters were expected to pull on a rope too! Splendid work and I love the barrels. What about putting it in a diorama? Dick😃
  2. Welcome back. 1/36 scale. You must have a bigger bench than me. Very neat work. Dick
  3. Thanks, Steven. I was feeling a mite guilty because the thing sat in its building frame for years glaring balefully at me from the back of the workshop. It's now starting to look like a ship and hopefully a happy one! Here is the view from below out of the frame It was necessaery to measure, remeasure and re-remeasure the position of the deck clamp as this is the most vital for all other measurements. Also the deck must end up horizontal. fortunately with the building frame holding the hull strongly in a vertical position, it was possible to measure directly off the plan and transfer the measurement directly to the frames The main deck clamp ready for insertion The main deck clamp fixed in position and horizontality checked The main deck clamp installed Cheers dick
  4. The construction of the keelson: The keelson is made from several overlapped pieces Which are joined Mortices are cut with a jeweller's saw. I find this safest. and chisel (made from a small screwdriver) Keelson in place Framed hull taken out of building jig (but only for a little while. I like to leave it in the jig until all stabilising longitudinal structures are in place) Cheers Dick
  5. Thanks for choosing this beautiful topic. I would imagine this beast would be paddled not rowed because of its low freeboard and this fits with the maori waka or war canoe concept as Louie da Fly suggests. Do you think this would have been coated in pitch? But the grain of the wood is pretty. A lovely piece it will be. Dick🙂
  6. The double main wales have been affixed with pins and will be treenailed later. The sheer has been cut. The next step will be adding the keelson. Cheerio Dick
  7. As the immortal Arnie says: "I'm bark". After being derailed by two other builds I have girded the proverbial loins and cut some serious wood to finally finish all the frames for the legendary "Fat Belly". The frames have been cobbled onto the keel and not yet fully trued. Here are some piccies of the Beast: As you can see, the jarrah frames from years ago which were oiled are considerably darkened and make a contrast with the new frames which have yet to be oiled. Much happy and dusty woodcutting to come. Cheers Dick
  8. Oh, just the usual thimgs: tidy up ropes tie down the anchors, make a stand. But is any ship model truly "finished"? Dick
  9. I have spent some time cogitating over the mechanism of the hooked calcet and have been helped by the fact that a calcet (the hooked carving seen at the top the mast in mediaeval and older ships of the Mediterranean) has been found in a wreck in the eastern Mediterranean, the Michael Ma'agan B. Also found were two pulley-like wooden carvings attached to the calcet. Having pondered mightily for some weeks, I have come up with a suggestion which I humbly suggest may be a working solution to the way the calcet worked to make raising or lowering the yard, as well as tacking, much easier. This system could be managed by a crew of two. The yard is raised and lowered by the halyard. The yard slides loosely held to the mast by a rope sling (or rope parrel with leather sleeve. I am doubful that parrels with trucks existed in the 7th-9th century). The rope sling is tightened when the yard is the correct level by a "throat tackle". In order for this sliding of the yard to occur, the yard must be held away from the mast. The forward slope of the mast assists in this. The purpose of the hooked calcet is to pull the halyard further forward once the throat tackle is loosened. the throat tackle has been released. The rope sling (parrel) is loose. the throat tackle is hauled thereby tightening the rope sling A rope which I call the cacet rope passes over a woodeen pulley on the calcet, thence to a thimble roped to the end of the hook and, through this, to another thimble which can slide on the halyard. Hauling on the the calcet rope pulls the halyard forward and the yard away from the mast. note halyard is close to mast I hope this is easy to follow and of course is only one possible solution. Cheers Dick
  10. It's a famous relief from Ostia. 1st century CE. Just search on Roman merchant ship and Ostia Dick
  11. No, No No.....!! Bad idea! I had forgotten the KISS principle and was guilty of overbuilding. 😕Plus the construction for the rudder looked ugly. So off it comes and back to minimalist. Looks better I have completed the standing rigging. The rope at the base of the shroud goes through holes either side of a frame a bit like as seen in roman merchant ships The hooked pulley to allow the yard to fall away from the mast when tacking Cheers Dick
  12. The rudder doesnt have to swing all the way up but if it did it would be lashed to the bitt. In any case it would only be raised when on the windward side and be out of the water. The tiller would be withdrawn before raising the rudder. Dick
  13. Now to finish the Yenikapi. Sometimes it's good to step away from a model for a while then come back to it with a fresh eye. Having done that, I was not happy with the rudder housing and have redone it. When this is finished it will look almost like the rudder goes inside the hull as many pictures suggest. But it doesn't! If the rudder went through a hole in the hull, it would be impossible to raise the rudder for landing and we know they did this!. Also when docking it would be necessary to protect the rudder with some casing. We see on many ships pictures with quarter rudders a structure which is triangular and I have tried to show one reason for this. This is the framing showing rudder in lowered and raised position. Planking will be installed to cover this Cheers Dick
  14. Now we're lookin good. You will need to think carefully about the frames forward and aft of the tail frames. I was forced to use some cant frames as the bevelling is otherwise too much. Dick
  15. Thanks, Ferrus, most kind. I suppose I could open a shop but I suspect I would starve to death! Cheers Dick
  16. It is most kind of you to suggest this Ferrus. I would of course love to see my models in a museum but I doubt that the local Western Australian Maritime Museum would be interested in any of my models as they have no link to Western Australia or its history. I am not sure what their fate will be when I'm gone. Hopefully the family will value them or they may end up in some yacht club. Who knows? Dick
  17. Thanks, Roger and thanks to all the MSW people who provided feedback and likes. This was a project I almost gave up twice as too quixotic but I am glad I persisted as the model is quite attractive. The stability concerned me but the method of construction dictated the outcome as Roger says. I believe these hulcs were best suited for work in riverine conditions and shallow seas but clearly unsuited for open ocean. The question arises, if they were so unstable, why haven't we found any wrecks. The cynics would of course sneer: because they didn't exist, mate! I'm off to finish the Yenikapi vessel. I'll get out of your way now. Cheers Dick
  18. Modified decoration and perspex hull supports. Not much more to do except tidy up and put in a case (underway) Cheers Dick😎
  19. But comparisons are odious. Might be a good way to lose friends,too 😏 I have a better idea. You refit the Great Harry and I'll work on Le Gros Ventre which languishes. Cheers Dick
  20. Well. Damme ! You must be psychic! This is exactly what I was considering as a future build. I look forward to seeing your reconstruction of All the weaponry poking out of the sterncastle.😁 Cheers Dick
  21. Thanks, Mark. The poem is an old Mother Goose nursery rhyme. Ta, Roger. The likely thing is that we already have found remains of hulcs but have labelled them as clinker built nefs. It is my view that the term hulc encompassed a range of mostly clinker built broad beamed and bluff bowed cargo nefs. Maybe there was a cohort of reverse-clinker hulcs but no evidence of them yet that is convincing. Dick
  22. Some views of the vessel with sail deployed. Almost finished I saw a ship a-sailing, A-sailing on the sea, And it was full of pretty things For baby and for me. There were sweetmeats in the cabin, And apples in the hold, The sails were made of silk, And the masts were made of gold. The four-and-twenty sailors That stood between the decks, Were four-and-twenty white mice, With chains about their necks. The captain was a duck, With a packet on his back, And when the ship began to move, The captain cried, "Alas, alack!" I saw a ship a-sailing, A-sailing on the sea, And it was full of pretty things For baby and for me. Merry Xmas Dick
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