ancre La Créole 1827 by archjofo - Scale 1/48 - French corvette

[archjofo]

Preparing the final rigging

I cleaned up my small basement shipyard as much as I could and took the little French girl out of her "exile" (dust cover). She was then positioned on my height-adjustable platform so that she could be accessed from two sides for rigging, as far as space allowed.

It has been a long time since I did the final rigging of a model ship (over three decades). So I tried to refresh my modest knowledge of rigging work for the running rigging of sailing ship models, to acquire new knowledge about it and to think about the further process.

I had already raised the question in various forums about which direction and order the model should preferably be rigged in? There was a mixed opinion about when to start rigging, whether at the front or the back. However, everyone agreed that rigging should be done from the bottom up. Contemporary works note that the usual rigging process began with the bowsprit.
In order to have fewer disruptions caused by ropes that have already been set, I follow the philosophy of starting from the beginning and then working yard by yard from bottom to top and from belaying point to belaying point.
For belaying pins and cleats, I use a belaying needle that I had used as a boy when building the "Adler von Lübeck". I made this according to Graupner's instructions from a steel knitting needle that is around 27 cm long and has a handle and is slightly bent at the other end over a length of around 10 mm. I forged out the front end of the bent part and shaped it accordingly with a file. Close to the filed front edge, I drilled a hole with a diameter of 0.5 mm, similar to the eye of a needle.
Many people will certainly know that Karl Heinz Marquardt was responsible for the plan processing for Graupner's "Adler von Lübeck" and was involved in the development of the kit. In this respect, I assume that the description for making this belaying needle also comes from him or was suggested by him. He was also an excellent model maker. What I often see is that many model makers mainly use hooks or tweezers for belaying. However, I have managed very well with my homemade belaying needle so far, as the rope can be guided safely and tightly even in hard-to-reach areas. Therefore, I will continue to use it, including for this model.

With the next picture, I want to illustrate how this belaying needle is basically used.

 

Following the recommendations of fellow model makers, I also got myself a pair of Castroviejo micro scissors in order to sensibly expand my rigging equipment.
In the following picture I show a compilation of my most important tools for rigging:

-Belaying needle
-Stand for thread rolls

-Superglue with cannula (ø 0.3 mm)
-Hollow spike, ø 1.2 mm and ø 0.8 mm for splicing
-Micro scissors according to Castroviejo
-Thread scissors, straight and curved
-Tweezers, straight, curved and offset
-Scalpel
-Shoemaker's wax for "sailor's thread"

 

This article heralds the last chapter of the model building of the French corvette "La Creole" on the long road to the goal. Once again I would like to thank my many companions, with the hope that they will get through the final stretch with me.

So, see you soon... 

[Keith Black]

 So we come to the final chapter of a wonderfully beautiful story. Thank you for showing us your rigging tools, Johann. 

[druxey]

I've not seen a belaying needle before. Very clever!

[Thukydides]

I really appreciate these tool posts. Gives me so many ideas about how to better do rigging.

 

Looking forward to watching you get through the final stretch.

[Dr PR]

Johann,

 

I have been following this build and am always impressed with the extraordinary detail you manage to put into the model, especially the rigging.

 

I'll have to think a bit about your belaying needle. I have been pretty lucky belaying lines to the pins in the pin rails on the bulwarks of my model, even though the gaff sails block cross hull access and I have to work blind from the outboard side of the pin rails (I do have a dental mirror, but I need a third hand to hold it). But rigging to the fife rails on the center line becomes difficult as more and more lines enclose it in a web of ropes.

 

I need a tool that is designed to give better control in these hard to reach places and your belaying needle, or a variation thereof, may be the answer.

 

Thanks for posting your build, and for the excellent photos that show what and how you have been making it.

[archjofo]

@Keith Black

@druxey

@Thukydides

@Dr PR

I am very grateful for your interest and the nice comments.
I would also like to thank everyone else for the LIKES.

 

Hello Phil,

I'm very pleased if my reports are of any use to you. I also benefit from other colleagues. My understanding of a forum of this kind is give and take, to help us all become better model builders.

Hopefully the belaying needle can be a solution to your rigging problems.

 

 

Addition: Securing the ropes of the running rigging with a belaying needle
It is obvious to me how the last loop is to be guided when securing the ropes of the running rigging with a belaying needle. However, this is not clear from my previous illustration on this subject.

A model maker colleague asked a question on this.
In this respect, I would also like to explain this step here with this additional explanation:

As can be seen in Fig. 1, the rope can be guided under the last loop with the belaying needle. In the second step, the rope is then unthreaded by pulling it back, if necessary with the help of tweezers in hard-to-reach places. Fig. 3 shows that the belaying needle can simply be pulled out of the loop by tightening the rope.

 

I hope I have explained it clearly enough. For me, these processes are easy to carry out, as I have already done them many times.

 

[jdbondy]

I am going to be referencing this build log for many years to come! Thanks Johann for all these clever rigging insights!

[Knocklouder]

I have this log book marked and most definitely going to learn some great stuff.    I am off to make a belaying needle, thanks for taking the time to post this log I know it will help make my models look way better. Thank you. 😊 

Knocklouder. 

[archjofo]

@jdbondy

@Knocklouder

 

Thank you for your interest and the nice comments.
Also, thank you all for the likes.

 

Attaching the Yards with Running Rigging: Foreyard - Vergue de misaine
The final rigging of the model of La Créole began with the attachment of the fore yard and running rigging.
The first step is to suspend the yard using the slings. These consisted of strong ropes with a diameter of 43 mm (0.90 mm in 1:48), fully served.
While jeer blocks were probably a permanent part of the rigging in the past, towards the end of the 18th century the French began removing the jeer blocks after hoisting the lower yards, as they realized they were not absolutely necessary for holding the yards. Thus, the slings carry the weight of the yard. This was certainly a relief and an advantage when sailing sharply.

For the model, I first provisionally positioned the foreyard using the lifts, so that I could then place the slings around the mast and connect them using seizing.
The required seizing must be applied directly to the model. Getting this done cleanly and correctly will certainly not be easy.

But more on that soon...

[wefalck]

I wish you a steady hand, and strong arm- and back-muscles to see you through this part of the project 👍🏻

[jdbondy]

Wow! Following with great interest, Johann.

[matiz]

Fantastic☺️

[albert]

Wonderful work.

[archjofo]

 

@wefalck

@jdbondy

@matiz

@albert

Thank you very much for your encouragement. It's very motivating, especially when it comes to the very tricky work in the rigging. You always have to be extremely careful not to get caught on something.
Also, many thanks to everyone for the likes.

 

Continuation: Attaching the fore yard - Vergue de misaine - with the running rigging
Attaching the seizings to the slings was child's play compared to tying thimbles to the ends of the truss pendants.

The prepared truss tackles will then be hooked into these thimbles. Therefore, the thimbles could only be tied in afterward. Before doing so, a section of the serving at the rope ends had to be removed.

As already mentioned, I then hooked the prepared truss tackles into these thimbles and the corresponding eyebolts on the cap and led the running ropes down over redirection blocks to the fife rail behind the foremast for belaying.

More on this soon...

Edited Thursday at 09:03 AM by archjofo

[KORTES]

Unattainable level of work.

[druxey]

Superb. That's all one can say.

[dvm27]

Your work is truely inspirational Johann. Could you have worked the thimbles into the pendants prior to installing them under the shrouds?

[archjofo]

@dvm27

 

Hello Greg,

Thanks for your interest, and I'm genuinely happy if I can give a master model maker some inspiration.

Obviously, my translation is a little misleading, so I apologize for that.

But I tried to explain that the ends of the truss pendants with the integrated thimbles don't go through the sheaves in the trestle trees. Therefore, the thimbles can only be inserted after the ends of the truss pendants have been pulled through, as in the original.

For a better understanding, I've illustrated this situation with a picture.
I think this type of truss pendant is probably very specific to French rigging in the early 19th century.

 

[archjofo]

Continuation: Attaching the fore yard - Vergue de misaine - with running rigging
Following up to my previous post, here are two more pictures and a brief explanation of how to make a seizing for the sling directly on the model.
The first picture shows me holding and securing the two sling ropes together with tweezers on the left. Using the tweezers on the right, I then wrapped the yarn (spun yarn) around the two ropes. I then pulled the yarn through twice between the ropes, perpendicular to the winding. Finally, the end was tucked under one of the two yarns and pulled tight in the middle. I only soaked the free end of the yarn with a tiny amount of superglue. Thin superglue penetrates the yarn well, so that even after trimming off the excess yarn, it is still sufficiently secured.

The goal is to make the superglue completely unnoticeable, which doesn't always work perfectly. It's very important not to get the superglue on the seizing itself. Otherwise, the superglue will negatively affect the appearance of the seizing.

The result can be seen in the second picture:

I hope I made that clear.

To be continued ...

[albert]

Hi Johann your model ship is masterpiece.