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

[Dziadeczek]

The best and most detailed rigging I have ever seen on a model!!!    😃 👍

Spoiler

 

 

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Stunning work! Just beautiful!

 

Don

[albert]

Hi Johann your work is fantastic, your model is masterpiece.

 

[AJohnson]

Stunning work Johann! 😲 👏

[Pirate adam]

The rigging is amazing Johann.  I'm not sure I've ever really seen anything quite like it.  I am going to read this section again and again before I do any rigging on my model.

 

 

[archjofo]

@Dziadeczek

@Nunnehi (Don)

@albert

@AJohnson

@Pirate adam

First of all, I would like to thank you very much for the interest in my work and the nice comments. Also I would like to thank you for the many LIKES. 

 

Continuation: Standing rigging for jib boom and flying jib boom - Bâton de foc et bâton de clinfoc
On a grommet strop (ring rope) as a base, the standing rigging for the jib boom was laid on top. Building on this, first come the footropes, which are slipped over the boom with a served cut splice. At both ends the footropes had a served eye for tying to the top of the bowsprit at the back eyebolts, to which the single blocks for the bowlines of the fore top sails were also attached.
In order to guarantee the sailors a secure hold during their work, knots were worked into the 22 mm (ø 0.46 mm in model scale) thick rope of the footropes at intervals of two feet, e.g. as Turkish head knots. In 1:48 scale, I think it seems quite sufficient in this case to make overhand knots.
After the abolition of spritsail yards in the 19th century, the jib boom guy and flying jib boom guy were often spread to the cathead by means of iron outriggers, thus giving the jib boom and flying jibboom greater strength laterally. Accordingly, this was also the case with the La Créole. The rigging was mounted on iron spike-like outriggers on the fore channels.
In principle, the jib boom guys perform the same function as the shrouds, hence their designation by the French, such as Haubans bout-dehors beaupré, which corresponds to the jib boom guy.
The jib boom of this corvette had two 22 mm dia. ropes on each side, one of which was stiffened with tackles and double blocks.
The jib boom guys were attached individually with served eyes to the top after the footropes, and as already described, led through the outriggers to the cathead to the fore channels for mooring. The area of the lead through the booms was served against rubbing.
Next came the jib boom stay, also a 22 mm dia. rope. This was slipped over the top with a served eye and attached to the iron martingale in a groove provided for it. Underneath, the two jib boom stays were slipped over as counterparts, which were then attached to eyebolts on the port and starboard sides of the bow.

With the already shown triple block for the bowlines and the fore topgallant stay, the rigging of the jib boom came to an end.

The following picture shows the rigging elements that were partially mentioned before.

The second picture shows the finished jib boom top. After all, six ropes have been laid there, as well as the grommet and the triple block strop.

And in the last step, the flying jib boom was rigged, as can be seen in the last picture.

Building on the grommet, the following ropes were stripped over the flying jib boom top:
- footrope ø 19 mm (ø 0.40 mm in model scale)
- flying jib boom guys ø 22 mm (ø 0.40 mm in model scale)
- pair of flying jib boom guys ø 19 mm
- strop with 2 thimbles for the bowlines 

Finally, the fore topgallant stay ø 15 mm (ø 0.35 mm in model scale) could be passed through a disc in the flying jib boom top and fitted in the forecastle.

See you soon ...

 

Edited July 23, 2022 by archjofo

[French Mr Bean]

Nice work ! Thanks for the detailed explanations.

[druxey]

Such neat splices! Beautifully done, Johann.

[Wishmaster]

This is probably best built I ever saw  No words Johann. Museum piece! 

[archjofo]

@Wishmaster

Thank you vor the kind words. And to all the others, thanks for the LIKES,

 

The days are getting shorter again, so the times spent in the basement shipyard are getting a bit longer again ... 😁

 

Continuation: Standing rigging for jib and outer jib boom - Bâton de foc et bâton de clinfoc
This is a continuation of my last construction report.
To finish the rigging work for the standing rigging of the bowsprit with the jib boom and outer jib boom, the jib boom and flying jib boom stays still had to be fastened. The jib boom was stabilized laterally with two jib guys on each side, one of which was fixed by means of a tackle.

 

Source: Monograph La Creole by J. Boudriot p. 129

 

For the detail of the tackle I followed the model of L'Inflexible and the Atlas du Génie maritime.

 

Source: Extract from Atlas du Génie maritime, annexe No. 1, Pl. 10

 

Attached are two pictures of the implementation and the completed tackles, consisting of double blocks. The ends of the jib guys are then fastened by means of thimbles and seizings.

See you soon ...

 

[mbp521]

Beautiful work as always Johann! Glad to see you’ll be getting to spend more time at the bench. That means more eye candy for us. 
 

-Brian

[Dziadeczek]

Fabulous, as always!!!   😲
Isn't there a double strop on the right block D' of the tackle, you have shown on your drawing?

[archjofo]

@Dziadeczek

Hello,
you are right, but in this drawing I was only concerned with the connection of the guys by means of thimble. I based the tackle on the model of the L'Inflexible.

Edited October 6, 2022 by archjofo

[Dziadeczek]

12 hours ago, archjofo said:

@Dziadeczek

Hello,
you are right, but in this drawing I was only concerned with the connection of the guys by means of thimble. I based the tackle on the model of the L'Inflexible.

I get it. Thanks!

[archjofo]

Hello colleagues,

I am very pleased that despite a long break there is still interest in the progress of my model.
A hearty thank you for it.

Completion: Standing rigging for jib and outer jib boom - Bâton de foc et bâton de clinfoc
After the final work on the standing rigging for the jib boom and the outer jib boom, I can also finish this chapter. So the standing rigging for the French corvette is finished except for a few minor details.
Accordingly, here are a few pictures that give an overview of the bowsprit rigging.

 

 

 

Soon I will dedicate myself to the production of the yards. So I am looking forward to work more intensively with wood again.
To be continued ...

 

[archjofo]

Making the yards - Main yard - Grande vergue
Before starting to make the yards, I made myself a planing jig in advance, inspired by Ed Tosti's build report for the clipper "Young America" in the MSW, as shown in the drawing below. Rotating and locking clamps allow lumber of various widths and lengths to be fixed in place for machining, especially with a wood planer. 
 
To make the main yard, I prepared a drawing with dimensions based on the plan by J. Boudriot.

 
The next two pictures show how the holding device mentioned at the beginning of the report can be used in practice. 
It performs valuable services in the manufacture of yards. For example, a wooden strip with a V-shaped groove was clamped in place. A square timber inserted in this way can easily be planed into an octagonal timber. In this case for the main yard and later for the leeward spars. These timber blanks are then much easier to machine on the lathe. In addition, they are used to roughly preform the octagonal areas of the yards or studding sail booms. 

   
With the following pictures I illustrate the further processing steps in the yard production. 

       
In contrast to the main yard, the studding sail booms are much more delicate logs with diameters of 3.7 to 2.2 mm, which had to be machined. So that this succeeds also without breakage, I built for this with simple means a small steady rest. With this I can bring small ball bearings for round timber with diameters of 1 - 10 mm into position for support. In the meantime, the small tool has already proven itself very well. 

On the last picture you can see the first results.

 
To be continued ...

 

 

Edited October 24, 2022 by archjofo

[Gahm]

Wonderful! . . . the next inspiration for my build 🙂

 

Thomas

[matiz]

Fantastic job☺️

[FriedClams]

Beautiful work!

 

Gary

[Vladimir_Wairoa]

This is maybe best build I ever saw, including beautiful photography , light & background, premium ropes and tratment. thank you fro treat, inspiration  and happy continuation. V. 

[dvm27]

Your steady rest is ingenious Johann!

[archjofo]

@Gahm

@matiz

@FriedClams

@Vladimir_Wairoa

@dvm27

Hello,

I am very grateful for your interest and the nice comments, as well as for the many LIKES. That motivates immensely.

 

Continuation: Production of the yards - Vergues
We continued with the production of the yards. With the help of G. Delacroix I was able to clarify a few questions about the dimensions of the yards. Accordingly, I used the following table for the dimensions of the masts, yards and spars of the "La Blonde", which is identical in construction to the "La Créole".

 

Source: Monograph on La Créole by J. Boudriot, page 56

 

There, among other things, the diameters are given in addition to the lengths. As a rule, the small diameter of a yard is 2/5 of the large diameter, as I could learn from G. Delacroix.
As you can see on the following pictures, the lower yards with the studding sail booms have been made so far in the meantime. Various details on the yard arms, such as for the installation of sheaves for the sheets still require final clarification.

Also with the studding sail booms there are still questions about details, as shown in the following example of the model of the "Le Cotre 1830".
I would be very grateful for any suggestions and hints.

 

Source: Modèles Historiques au Musée de la Marine - Volume 2 - Jean Boudriot

 

To be continued ...

 

Edited November 11, 2022 by archjofo

[archjofo]

Continuation: Making the yards - Fore topsail yard - Vergue de petit hunier
After making the lower yards, I started working on the topsail yards. In contrast to the yardarms of other navies in the comparable period, the ones of the French navy seem adventurous. Probably due to a higher flexibility of the sailing maneuvers, these topsails are a certain challenge for the modeler, as can be seen on the following pictures for the mizzen topsail -, fore topsail - and main topsail yard of the La Créole.

Source: Monograph La Creole by J. Boudriot 

 

Unfortunately, I do not have sufficiently sharp images of the original model from which one could derive further details. So I rely on the plan drawing of the monograph except for the formation of the studding sail booms at the yards of the mizzen mast. For this I again follow the original model, which clearly shows no studding sail booms at the mizzen mast. Further research shows that many contemporary French models also do not have studding sail booms at the yards of the mizzen mast. John Harland in his book "Seamanship in the Age of Sail" writes about studding sails on the mizzen mast that in his opinion they were neither popular nor particularly practical. 
After several attempts, the fore topsail yard seems to have succeeded according to the drawing specifications, at least I am satisfied. 

The next picture shows the fore topsail yard compared to the main yard, where the yard arm has a simpler design. 

The drawing with dimensions for the main topsail yard is already available.
 
Soon it will go further ...

 

Edited November 14, 2022 by archjofo

[G. Delacroix]

Hello,
Please note that the cleats on the yardarms are not square, they have this shape (the front part of the yard is at the top of the picture):

 

Example on Le Rivoli :

 

GD

[archjofo]

@G. Delacroix

 

Thank you in advance for the valuable information.
I obviously misinterpreted the drawing by J. Boudriot. Now following your hint I see that it only works graphically as an oval.
I also researched my picture collection again and found a picture of the Le Neptune 1836 from the Musée national de la Marine Paris. A yard can be seen there as a reserve, comparable to that of the Rivoli.

Allowed me to include your drawing and that of J. Boudriot in this example.

Source: Musée national de la Marine Paris, G. Delacroix, J. Boudriot

I also found a very interesting picture of a yardarm from the mizzen topsail yard of Le Sphinx 1829.

Source: Musée national de la Marine Paris

 

Will now try to make the yardarms of the topsail yards for the La Créole in the oval version according to the drawing by J. Boudriot.

I am very open and grateful for further hints and examples.

 

Edited November 15, 2022 by archjofo

[archjofo]

 

Continued: Clarifying the yardarms

 

After an extensive web search I came across this book: "Description de l'art de la Mâture" (published in 1778) by Charles Nicolas Romme.

Below are excerpts of the yardarms: Fig. 38 clearly explains the "oval" cross-sections in the area of the cleats on the yardarms.

In connection with the design of the yardarms for the La Créole, the question of the chronological classification naturally arises: The Le Rivoli is from 1810, the Le Sphinx from 1829 and the Le Neptune from 1836. In this respect, this is for the epoch of the La Créole applicable.

 

Apparently I'm not the only one who stumbled across this problem. So thanks again to G. Delacroix who gave me the crucial hint.

For my model, however, the question now arises as to how I can reconcile this detail with the drawings by J. Boudriot. I would prefer to stick to the original model. Unfortunately I don't have any meaningful detailed pictures. Ultimately, I will have to make a decision about this detailed design, even with the risk that it will not be entirely correct.

 

 

[jdbondy]

I am scratching my head over M. Delacroix's comment that the "front surface of the yard is at the top of the picture". Does that mean that the attached stuns'l boom is located forward of the yard? I thought it would rest on the top surface of the yard. 

[G. Delacroix]

Hello,

 

At that time, the studding sail boom is either placed at 45° or forward to the yardarm in order to slide into this fittings :

 

 

[jdbondy]

Merci Gerard, that helps a great deal.

 

[archjofo]

At LA CRÉOLE the stun'sail boom irons probably looked like this: