Masts on Plans

[mikiek]

The MS Niagara plans show all the masts "looking to port". This killed me right off. I translate that to mean looking towards the port side from starboard. The problem was all the deck angles were backwards. So what that really means is looking towards the starboard side from port? Sort of a rhetorical question. The plans are showing me the port side of the masts.

 

My real question also pertains to this  side view - whatever side it is. Since there is only one view - and it is a side view - when I see cleats and other items mounted, is it a given that the same items are also on the other side? I see no notes to that effect in the plans.

 

Just came up with another. The plans for the spanker mast show "12 laser cut hoops mounted". Mounted to what? I can slide them on the spanker but then what? Are they loose? Glued?

 

More to come I'm sure. Seems like this portion of the plans are really lacking - at least for a newbie.

[Jaager]

Which edge of the plan has the bow?   If it is at the right - you are seeing the starboard side.   Most plans are oriented this way -  my guess: most draftsmen are right handed - thus the bias.

 

I would go with there being left:right symmetry - including the fittings such as cleats.

 

The mast hoops are  for the large sail oriented along the midline of the vessel.  Some are 4 sided - with a spar at the top edge.  Some are 3 sided - with a line holding up the top.  In any case, the sail is raised and lowered like an upside down Venetian blind.  So that it does not flap and spill the wind, an edge the of sail needs to be fixed to the mast.  It must also be able to go up and down easily.  This is done using the hoops.  Depending on design, they either slide on the lower mast itself, or a thinner mast mounted just behind and parallel to the Main mast - if the Main mast assembly is too complicated to allow something to slide on it easily.  In your case, twelve hoops are lashed to the front edge of the sail at equally spaced intervals.    If you do not intend to mount sails,  the hoops would be in a stack at the bottom of the mast. 

[JerseyCity Frankie]

You put the hoops on ahead of time, long before you will need them, because at the end of the build the tops of the masts- the trestle trees and cross trees- will prevent the hoops from simply being slipped over the top of the naked mast. Its a LOT easier to slip the hoops on when the spar is a simple cylinder compared to having to  individually form eight or twelve hoops on a completed glued in place mast when the built up tops will prevent you from slipping hoops on.

[mikiek]

Great explanations from both of you. Thanks!

 

I got to thinking about those loops and came to the same conclusion. As a kid I used to sail a Sunfish, and the boom and spar were attached to the mast via loops. As the MS kit has no sails and I don't intend on adding them, the loops will just lay at the base of the spanker mast.

[Stockholm tar]

Mike,

 

Good advice from Frankie. It's easy enough to overlook the mast hoops, which is what I did on my Sherbourne – forgetting them completely, instead concentrating on gluing the crosstrees, trestletrees and topmast and then stepping complete mast into the hull.

 

Having calmed down (both in self and language ) I decided the only thing to do was make them out of metal (they were originally to be wood). I used an easily bendable aluminium strip, each cut off hoop first being painted a suitable wood colour and formed into a round shape slightly larger than the mast. These were then opened just enough to pass around the mast, before being closed up and attached to the sail.

 

As with most problems, there is usually a way around it.

Edited January 4, 2016 by Stockholm tar

[mikiek]

Stockholm tar - I'm still at the construction phase so dropping them on the spanker mast is easy.  However, I do like your idea of metal loops instead of the laser cut wood ones in the kit.

 

I have a mini torch and silver solder coming this week. I believe I will give that a go.

[GuntherMT]

Consider before making them out of round metal, that in the real world, the hoops are not round, nor are they made out of metal.

 

Photos of mast hoops on various ships in San Diego last September:

 

America (replica) - Gaff schooner that won the Cup in 1851:

 

American Pride - 3 masted 130' schooner launched in 1941:

 

Bill of Rights - 136' gaff rigged schooner:

 

Californian - Top sail schooner built in 1984 as a replica of the revenue cutter "Lawrence" from the 1850's.  

 

Detail where hoops attach to the sail:

 

 

[mikiek]

Brian - thank you for the pix. I would not have considered that the hoops were actually wood. I figured that was just a quick way out for the kit manufacturer. Good timing too. I'll probably be installing the spanker mast tomorrow. I made some brass hoops, but now I will consider using the laser cut version from the kit.

[GuntherMT]

Metal is certainly usable to make the hoops, I just mis-read the earlier posting and for some reason thought you were going to solder bar (round) stock into the hoops.  Using metal bar/strip stock would work, but should be painted so that it is not obvious it's metal.  I actually used the kit provided brittania cast metal hoops (they are the correct shape, not round stock) on my AVS, and just painted them black, but if I were making my own I would try to use wood strips like I've seen used by some others on the forum, depending on scale.

 

Mostly just wanted to show you what all of the hoops I've seen on real ships looked like so that you'd be in a better position to decide what you wanted them to look like on your finished kit.

 

Good luck!

[mikiek]

Brian - I'm glad you chimed in when you did. I didn't realize something that small  - in real life - could be made from wood and still withstand the stress. I did make hoops from brass rod. Had them all painted, but decided to use the laser cut wood parts from the kit, based on your pix.