La Couronne by EJ_L - FINISHED - Corel - 1:100 - 1637 Version

[EJ_L]

Back to work on La Couronne this week and I have started to build the foremast yards. Not a whole lot to do for them as far as blocks go and since there were no foot ropes in this part of the 17th century I don't have to worry about those either. It is interesting to note that in the earlier part of the 17th century, the rigging attachments to the yards was relatively simple but once off the yards, it became much more complex as it travels through a series of blocks and crows feet down to the deck. As time goes on and we come to the late 17th and 18th centuries, the rigging becomes more complex on the yard itself and simpler as it travels down to the deck.

 

Tonight I start building the parrels and halyards. I need to go bead shopping first on my way home from work. I found some beads that I think will work at Hobby Lobby a few months back. My main concern is if they are too big for the scale. They do not have to be an exact match but if 3 beads goes around the mast that will not work! Anyway, till then here is a picture of the yards so far.

[Sjors]

Nice!

 

sjors

[EJ_L]

First of the parrels have been made. I also started working on the halyards which are not pictured. Should have the course yard bent to the mast tonight if all goes well.

[Hubac's Historian]

Interesting insight into the evolution of rigging, EJ, and the transfer of complexity closer to the working areas of the yardarms.  Must have made for less clutter and tangle of lines, especially in the heat of battle when damage is making a mess of the decks.

[EJ_L]

Rigging definitely became simpler towards the end of the 17th century and into the 18th. Doing away with the crows feet and relocating the vast majority of the blocks on the running rigging to working areas of the yards instead of out in the open spaces between the masts made a much cleaner and simpler system for operating the yards and sails. During battle this would have been a huge benefit as now instead of having the complicated rigging of a crows foot shattered, only one rope would need splicing or replacing. 

 

What is sometimes hard to imagine is why it took so long for these things to gt figured out. Most of us have grown up with information mostly readily available. Even before the internet there were libraries and mail through which knowledge could be gained and shared. Record keeping has been fairly standard for most of the past 2 centuries and so to think back to a time where things changed so slowly due to the amount of time it took a new idea to travel is hard to imagine.

[EJ_L]

Well I managed to get the fore course yard bent and rigged. That one was by far the easiest of the three yards to rig as the top and top gallant both use crows feet on their halyards... so that will be fun...  Also I will add rope coils on the belaying pins once all the rigging is secure. I don't want to clutter up the places I need to work any more than they already are till the end. 

 

It is nice to finally see the yards going on though. These are the last major components before completion. I still have other work to do with the lanterns and anchors, not to mention the miles of rigging just to get the yards up but, still it is another big step closer.

 

Now to the pictures because, that's what we are really here for anyway...

[donrobinson]

Looking mighty fine E.J. I'm looking forward to seeing your rigging progress, you have some complicated things ahead of you that I am interested in seeing.

[EJ_L]

Thanks Don! I'm both scared of and excited for that complicated rigging. Those crows feet are difficult to build although, now that I have done a couple I have a better idea of how to do them. What is worrying me about these next ones though is that they attach to the stays which, while tight, when I go to tension the crows feet are going to want to pull upwards. The first one I did attached to the bowsprit which was solidly fixed and the last pulled on the shrouds and while they had some play, they were a lot stiffer than the forestays are. To help with this I am going to have to put more tension on the yard and mast and create downward pressure on the stay to counter the upward pull of the crows feet. I know I can make it happen but it will be a slow process with continual adjusting until it is right. I start working on it tonight so we shall see what develops.... 

[donrobinson]

B.E.(Blue ensign) had a similar problem and he "stiffened" his crowsfeet with wallpaper paste with this being done less tension was required, resulting in no distortion of the stays. Might be something to look into.

[EJ_L]

I had not thought of wallpaper paste. I was thinking of adding a stiffener of some kind so I will have to look into that. Thanks!

[Hubac's Historian]

Hi E.J.,

Is that a mast plate I see at the base of the foremast?  If so, was thst stock or an add-on.  I ask because I often wonder what I will do when it is time to step masts.  On such a big ship, a re-enforcing mast plate makes sense to me.  Or would mast-partner (I think they are called?) wedges be adequate.  Curious what your thoughts are on this issue.

[Eddie]

Hey howya goin E.J. mate, your doing a fine job on her mate and riggings coming along nicely. Would love to get my hands on this kit.  

[EJ_L]

Yes. All three of my Couronne's masts have plates. That was a detail I picked up from looking at the Vasa and while I cannot confirm that Couronne had them, it makes sense that she would based on her size and size of the masts. I have used a lot of details from Vasa on this build as she is the best example of ship building practices of that time period. While I know there were many differences between Dutch and French practices, I feel safe to say that those plates were probably a common item.

[Tallshiptragic]

Looking superb EJ! I love the rigging stage even though it can take as long as the hull itself. I've still a long way to go on my Sovereign before I can think about stepping the masts

[md1400cs]

Nice work going forward.

 

Interesting idea of comparing Dutch and French building of the same era - Anderson, as you know, does a lot of those same comparisons as well - including the English. Fun learning all of this. Your post regarding yard rigging changes is very interesting...

 

Cheers,

[yancovitch]

crows feet....what i've done is, after they've been tied, rigg up something to keep them stretched, and run i bit of thin ca along the lines......so the will appear taunt even without pressure.....i very quickly dampen the lines with a kleenex or whatever so any buildup of ca won't look shiny...

[EJ_L]

Small update of the top yard with the lifts in place. Tonight I start working on the halyard and crows foot rigging.

[popeye the sailor]

hey there E.J.......sweet look'in ship you've got here!  been mean'in to pop in here to see her    

[EJ_L]

Thanks Popeye! I know the feeling of trying to keep up with all the builds on here and how it is easy to fall a few updates behind. There are just so many great builds that keep grabbing my attention and adding to my list of logs I follow. The best part is the logs are always here for when we finally get the time to catch up.

[EJ_L]

Well here she is with top yard crows feet rigged. I'm not fully happy with it as I wish the ropes were a little tighter but I have no way of providing any more downward tension until I rig the braces as they have blocks that attach to the stay along side the crows feet before running to the deck and their belaying points. I may play with it some more tomorrow and see what I can do as I may be able to stretch and pull some here and there to take out a little more slack. I just have to be careful to not apply too much tension as it can move the masts and loosen other lines. Rigging is definitely a balancing act between many different forces. It is kind of fun seeing how it all works but frustrating when you just want to get something done after several hours.

[donrobinson]

Looking good 

[EJ_L]

Well the fore top gallant yard has been bent in place and the rigging done. Admittedly I've been struggling with getting the crows feet tensioned properly. I just do not have enough downward pull on the stay to keep them tight. I think when I rig the braces I will be able to get the proper pull then as all of the lines run through blocks attached to the stays at the feet of the crows feet. I have a feeling I will be adjusting them till the end. I will finally either find that magic pull or give up and case her. I left a few ropes loose so I can keep making adjustments as more rigging goes up. 

 

In the meantime, with all of the foremast yards in place, she will be going back under the bag as the ship yard crew switches over to S.R. for a little while. This is actually fighting against my desire to keep pushing to finish her up. I'm surprisingly not tired of rigging but, with so much work still to be done on S.R., I figured I had better leave some work on Couronne to give me relief from that build. So I will go work on S.R. for a while but when I return it will be time for the main mast yards to go on. Another milestone will be reached then as once the main yard is in place, she will have reached her widest dimension.

[Heronguy]

Awesome work.  

[Sjors]

Very, very nice !

 

Sjors

[popeye the sailor]

really nice rigging E.J.  looks like the crows feet need to be adjusted at the stay.  lots of food for thought there.......I'll be doing some soon enough  

[EJ_L]

Thank you to all the kind words, likes and simply following along!

 

I have a feeling there will be some rework done on the top gallant crows foot, if not both of them, when I switch back to this build. I have a couple of ideas that may work for straightening the ropes out and taking care of the tension problems. It will involve reworking parts of the rig but, the work will be worth it. I think this is just one of those situations where I need to take a step back from the project for a little while to clear my head. I know I start getting impatient when I get frustrated and just want it done which leads me to settle on a less than my best result. It's a bad habit I am trying to put behind me and working on two ships at the same time is helping. When I hit those times I can simply switch over to the other build while my head clears to allow for the fix it ideas to come in.

 

 

[Sjors]

I'm just thinking how I have done those crowfeet....

These are different ones then what I have.

Maybe a way is, put a rope to the stay direction deck.

Enough tension to let it straight.

Do the same upwards and then make the feet with enough tension.

 

Good luck.

 

Sjors

 

[Tallshiptragic]

For those I would suggest fixing the rope to the stay and once threaded through the block weight the running end down and apply a drop of glue at the block. This will keep the line taught - let it dry before fixing the running end to the stay. This should keep the tension in the lines, this is how I do my lines which need to remain taught without putting too much pressure on the stay and pulling it out of whack. 

[ca.shipwright]

Beautiful wok EJ.

 

 

[EJ_L]

La Couronne's ship yard is open again this weekend. Didn't get as much build time in as I was planning but I still managed to get the main course yard bent to the main mast and all the associated rigging in place. With that yard, she has reached her widest dimension at 13". What is nice about that milestone is now that I now have verified all three dimensions that I need to accurately design her display.

 

Next up will of course be the main top and main top gallant yards. Rigging the main top yard is fairly straight forward and as I already have it shaped and blocks attached, it won't take much to finish. the top gallant though has another crows foot rig which have been equaling a full days worth of work by themselves. Maybe next weekend....

 

Enjoy the update!