Albatros by Dr PR - Mantua - Scale 1:48 - Revenue Cutter kitbash about 1815

[Bill Hudson]

Looks good Phil.  We are almost neighbors. I live in Eugene. 

 

Bill

[Dr PR]

For the last several months I have been planning and working on small details on deck furniture, and puzzling over how the rigging was belayed on deck. Very few books go into detail about schooner rigging, and those that do give good details how the rigging is arranged aloft and then say the lines "go to the deck." That isn't a lot of help!! The Mantua plans show only the standing rigging and say nothing of the running rigging. There are not nearly enough belaying points (pin rails, ring bolts, cleats, etc.) to handle the running rigging.

 

I have finally come up with a rigging plan and belaying plan that I intend to use on the model. First the full rigging illustration:

 

 

 

This is a bit different from my earlier plan. Instead of a spar gaff topsail on the fore mast I am using a main top staysail. And I am still considering adding a traveller to the jib boom for the flying jib rigging.

 

Here is the belaying plan:

 

 

 

This plan was made a bit more complicated by the pivot gun that fires above the bulwarks. Several lines might optimally be located along the bulwark between the middle and aft cannons, but these would be blown away by the pivot gun. Several belaying point shuffles were necessary to get everything tied down without fouling the lines. Of course this is preliminary. When I start rigging the model I may have to rearrange some of the lines to avoid tangling and chafing the lines.

 

I have also attached a PDF file listing all the lines (standing and running), their termination points and lengths (dimensions are in inches). Part of this exercise was to calculate the lengths of the lines so I know what to order. There are a little over 200 lines totaling about 182 feet (55.47 meters), and that doesn't count coils of rope at the belaying points, or the cannon rigging.

Revenue Cutter Rigging Terminations.pdf

Edited November 11, 2021 by Dr PR

[georgeband]

Phil,

 

Excellent work, as always. I have been postponing similar planning for my Whiting (Ballahoo schooner) and can see that I can use yours as a basis.

 

I went through the same exercise with Sherbourne (cutter) and it was tight to find enough belaying points. On Sherbourne I had a few timber heads where two ropes were tied off, and I made a couple of cleats that fixed to the shrouds to belay another line. The rope coils were also a snug fit below the belaying pins, mostly because the diameter of the ropes was too large for scale and the coils were too bulky. 

 

At some point you have to stop tweaking the design and start modelling. Will you attach the rigging to the masts and yards before they join each other and the hull, or will you step the masts and fit the spars and then start rigging? I found it better to pre-rig where I could so that I was not trying to perform detailed work at the ends of wobbly sticks, with only my elbows braced for support. The ratlines were one exception where I tied them on after the shrouds had been fitted. 

 

More please! I am glad that you are ahead of me with your Albatros because I can make use of your research and analysis. 

 

George

 

[Dr PR]

George,

 

In the past I have always assembled the masts before stepping them. This allows me to add all the details, such as mast bands, blocks, etc., while the masts are on the work bench. I will add all the rigging to the spars before attaching them to the masts.

 

I will add the shrouds and standing rigging first. This is essential for getting the masts straight and at the proper angles. I may rig these to the masts on the work bench and then attach them to belaying points afterward.

 

However, some of the backstays were "portable" with tackle and hooks that allowed them to be tightened or moved depending upon the tack and positions of the fore and main gaff sails. These can be rigged to the masts on the bench and attached to the belaying points later, after other running rigging is put in place.

 

I will probably follow the general practice of working from bow to stern, starting with the bowsprit. But right now I can't say what sequence I will use. It depends upon what things look like as the build progresses.

[Dr PR]

I should also note that I have not used some common belaying methods in this plan, and possibly I should. For example, on some ships lines were belayed to the knight heads, the fife rail posts, timberheads, cavils and cleats on the bulwarks, cleats pinrails and and spiderbands on the masts and bowsprit, and to cleats lashed to the shrouds. There were many different ways to belay lines!

 

I will be using the timberheads at the bow for the anchor rigging.

Edited November 11, 2021 by Dr PR

[Dr PR]

It has been a while since I posted an update. I am still working on the belaying plan, and I have added a few details like the side ladders.

 

 

I have drawn up plans for the masts and bowsprit. The kit came with dowels and I was originally going to use them. But I decided to make more realistic masts and bowsprits. After all, this is a learning exercise, and I wanted to have a go at making the masts and spars from square stock.

 

 

I have started on the bowsprit. I have a 3/8" (0.375 inch or 9.52 mm) square piece of mahogany. The maximum diameter of the bowsprit is 0.322 inch (8.18 mm), so I needed to remove about 0.05 inch (1.3 mm). But the piece I am using was slightly curved, so the first thing I had to do was sand two adjacent sides to get flat surfaces for further shaping.

 

I didn't want to try to reduce the size of the piece by sanding - that would take a long time and a lot of elbow grease. So I decided to use my 40+ year old Dremel motor tool, speed control and drill press as a milling machine.  I have used this rig before - the sides for the cannon carriages were made with it. The drill press is a piece of junk, as many have commented before. The motor tool is fixed in position and the table moves up and down. But the table won't stay locked in the vertical position and the vibration from the tool causes it to slowly lower, so I occasionally had to reposition it and start over. But it did the job,

 

 

 

 

I have been waiting for warm dry weather so I could do this outside. Removing that much material makes a lot of dust! I did trim the piece down to 0.322 +/- 0.001 inch (8.18 mm). I am really thinking about getting a Sherline mini mill for this type of work! But first I need to build a shop to put it in!!

 

The next thing to do was enlarge the opening in the bow. The original dowel was 0.303 inch (7.69 mm) diameter. The part of the bowsprit that penetrates the bow (the bed) will be 0.322 inch square. With a bit of filing I opened the hole so the new piece would fit.

 

 

Then I used a saw and files to shape the tenon at the foot of the bowsprit to fit into the timberhead step. When this was done the rough bowsprit fit into place.

 

 

The base of the bowsprit will be tapered and the housing will be shaped octagonal. I am also thinking of adding some knightheads right at the bow to support the bowsprit.

Edited April 30, 2022 by Dr PR

[Dr PR]

More work on the bowsprit. I needed to make a section of the spar round and tapered. I wanted to use the square-octagonal-rounded technique because I had never done this before. So the first thing I did was taper the part forward of the bed (where the bowsprit passes through the bulwarks).

 

 

The section between the blue tapes is the part to be  rounded. To achieve the taper I just sanded each side of the piece to reduce the width of the part forward of the bed (blue tape on the left). There is extra material on the forward end that will be removed to make the tenon to fit into the bowsprit cap.

 

There is a pretty simple trick for tapering a stick. Lay a sheet of sandpaper (100 grit in this case) on the workbench/table. Hold the piece of wood so the part to have the most material removed (the forward end of the bowsprit in this case) is on the sandpaper and the part you don't want to trim as much is off the paper. Now just move the wood back and forth, on and off the sandpaper, keeping the narrow end on the paper at all times, but moving the wider end on and off the paper. The narrow end is always in contact with the grit and has more material removed than the wider end that doesn't spend as much time in contact with the sandpaper. The result is an even taper.

 

Next I used a knife and file to shave off each corner of the four sided piece between the bed and the bees (the forward end of the bowsprit) to make the section octagonal. Then I repeated the process on all eight edges to make it sixteen-sided.

 

 

I wasn't too careful to get precisely straight edges because the next step was to file and sand the part to get the tapered conical section between the bed and the bees.

 

 

For this I used a file with a flat side and a rounded side. The rounded side was used to get the transitions between the square sections and the round part. Then I chucked the piece in a hand drill and used fine grit sandpaper to get a smooth finish.

 

 

The transitions from square to round are OK, but they would have come out better if I used a lathe with the round file positioned in the tool post. Also, I let the sandpaper ride up on the square parts a bit and this rounded what should be sharp corners.

 

 

It looks like the bed extends a bit too far forward. The gammoning will go right in front of it. I may need to extend the round section a bit farther back.

 

I also think I will need to replace the knee under the bowsprit with a longer piece. About 3/8 inch was broken off between when I started this hull back in the '80s and when I resumed the build a couple years ago. There isn't much left for the gammoning to be secured to.

 

This was my first attempt to taper and round a spar starting with square stock and it was pretty easy. Finding the right size square stock was the hardest part!

Edited April 30, 2022 by Dr PR

[Oldsalt1950]

Nice work Phil. Much better than the kit supplied stock.

[Dr PR]

Thanks. I will add a lot of details that weren't in the kit plans.

 

Up to this point everything went pretty smoothly. But yesterday it turned into a minor nightmare.

 

 

I cut the forward end of the bowsprit to length and then sawed and filed the tenon for the bowsprit cap. Then when I was fitting the cap the tenon broke off! This was a surprise because the wood seemed to be very strong. I contemplated starting over and didn't like the thought of having to repeat the work already done. So I came up with a solution to drill out the end of the bowsprit and make a part with a cylindrical end to fit into the hole and a square part for the tenon.

 

I started with a 1/16 inch drill in a pin vise and made a hole about 1/2 inch deep. Then I used sequentially larger drill bits to create a hole 1/8 inch diameter. But part way through this process a corner of the end broke off! Now it really was a mess! I didn't stop to make photos, but you can see the seam where the corner broke off in the picture above.

 

I went ahead and finished drilling out the hole. Then I looked through all the wood I had to try to pick the sturdiest piece to work with - I didn't want the thing to break off again after I glued the repair part in place. You can see from the photo above that I eventually got it glued together, including the broken corner. So that was all of Thursday, just to make a simple tenon.

 

Today went a lot better.

 

 

I tapered the housing of the bowsprit (the part between the bed and the foot) and trimmed it to an octagonal cross section. I also cut back the round to square transition at the forward end of the bed to make a bit more room for the gammoning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next I will attach the bee blocks and start work on the jib boom and boom saddle.

Edited April 30, 2022 by Dr PR

[Dr PR]

I have added some small details to the bowsprit assembly:

 

 

The gammoning cleats (also called thumb cleats) are to prevent the gammoning ropes from pulling back farther on the bowsprit:

 

 

 

The bees and bee blocks fit onto the forward end of the bowsprit behind the bowsprit cap. They have holes for the jib stay (starboard) and preventer (port).

 

 

 

Behind the bees are three more thumb cleats to hold the bobstay collar in position. The jib boom saddle fits right behind the cleats to support the foot of the jib boom. The jib boom crupper (essentially the same as gammoning rope) fits around the bowsprit and jib boom immediately behind the saddle. I fashioned a new bowsprit cap that makes a slip fit onto the tenon on the front end of the bowsprit. There will be some ring bolts added to the cap and a dolphin striker will fasten to the front of the cap.

 

 

I created a short octagonal base on the jib boom. Sometimes there was a sheave near the base of the boom for the jib boom outhauler that was used to pull the boom outward into position after it had been unseated and retracted inboard when docking at a short berth. There also should be two sheaves at the forward end of the boom for the fore top stay and the traveler outhaul.  However, the boom is only about 0.130 inch (3.3 mm) diameter at the base, and 0.075 inch (1.9 mm) diameter at the front. I might be able to drill out narrow slots for the lines to pass through, but I doubt that I will put actual sheaves in the boom.

Edited April 30, 2022 by Dr PR

[Oldsalt1950]

Exceptionally nice work on the bow sprit. This coupled with your new and much improve rigging plan should make for an extraordinary ship model.

[Dr PR]

Thanks.

 

Although I am happy with the rigging plan I came up with I am still ruminating about the belaying points. It seems to me there are too many lines crowded around the base of the fore mast.  Some of the lines could be belayed to cleats fastened to the shrouds. Also, I have no provision for studding sail rigging and belaying. I guess these lines could be belayed on pins already in use for the topsail rigging.

 

I will place two ordinary cleats on the housing of the bowsprit about half way between the foot and the bed. One will be the attachment point for the jib boom outhaul. The other could be for a traveler inhaul. These cleats cannot be installed until after the bowsprit is permanently in place.

 

I should also add that I am following plans and descriptions in four books to develop the bowsprit and its rigging:

Darcy Lever's "The Young Sea Officers Sheet Anchor."

Karl Heinz Marquardt's "The Global Schooner."

James Lees' "The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War."

John Leather's "The Gaff Rig Handbook."

Edited July 20, 2023 by Dr PR

[Dr PR]

To finish the bowsprit cap and install the dolphin striker I had to make a few parts and finish the fitting of the cap.

 

 

I drilled holes for the ring bolts and dolphin striker fasteners before attaching the cap to the bowsprit. The tenon was a bit too long so I used a file and sandpaper to finish the end of the tenon smooth with the face of the cap.

 

 

 

The dolphin striker straps were cut from 0.005 inch (0.127 mm) brass sheet, and the ring bolts are from 0.020" (0.51 mm) brass rod. I soldered the gap in the ring bolts. The "bolts" are 7 mm brass nails that have been cut to length. I cut a short piece of 0.0625 inch (1.6 mm) brass tubing for the sheave in the dolphin striker and pined it in place with brass rod.

 

The fitting at the bottom of the dolphin striker was made from 0.005 inch brass sheet that was folded and soldered. It is for the martingale stay and backstays.

 

 

 

 

Assembly was pretty straight forward. I used Duco cement to glue the bowsprit cap in place, and also put a bit in each of the holes for the ring bolts and nails. I probably spent more time on my hands and knees looking for wayward tiny parts than I did with the assembly.

 

 

 

 

The ring bolts on the face of the cap are there in case I discover I need them. I originally thought that one would be used for the traveler outhaul,  But if I use this configuration the flying jib stay would be attached to the traveler and run through a block or sheave at the mast top, and back down to a tackle somewhere on deck near the base of the fore mast. But this is already too crowded with belaying points.

 

The sheave in the dolphin striker will allow me to attach the flying jib stay to the mast top, run it through a thimble on the traveller, then through a sheave/block at the end of the jib boom, down through the sheave in the dolphin striker and then to a tackle attached somewhere in the bow. In this way the stay acts as a support for the sail and as the traveler outhaul.

 

The two ring bolts on the back side of the cap are for the jib boom outhaul. I need to put a sheave in the base of the jib boom for this rig.

 

Edited May 3, 2022 by Dr PR

[Oldsalt1950]

Nice work Phil, and the thinking ahead with the extra ring bolts is genius.

[georgeband]

Beautiful workmanship here, Phil, and I admire your photography. I am relieved that you managed to find the bits on the floor before the carpet monster devoured them. 

Marquardt describes a jack staff mounted in a groove on the bowsprit cap to carry a jack (flag) on English vessels. He also shows a 'continental' alternative which does not have the jack staff. I took 'continent' to mean 'European continent' but it could also be American. Petrejus in his superb book shows the same groove and states that Irene, in the Dutch navy, had a small copy of the Dutch flag on the jack staff. I have not checked copies of contemporary paintings of American vessels to see if a they show a flag on a jack staff, and have no idea about regulations at the time. What do you think about American practice? Did they have a flag on a jack staff?

 

George

[Dr PR]

George,

 

I thought about a jackstaff, but it I don't know if smaller vessels flew the jack. Although the US Navy technically had a Union Jack with white stars on a blue field (like the US Ensign). But the first Navy Jack was the "Don't Tread On Me" flag with red and white stripes and a rattlesnake.  I don't know when it became common practice to fly it - and where. Some illustrations show the jack flying from the top of a mast.

 

Virtually no drawings or illustrations of American schooners show a jackstaff or jack. But this could be simply due to the fact the jack is flown only in port when anchored, moored or tied up to the pier. Even in the Navy today the jack is raised when the anchor is dropped or the first mooring line goes over to the pier, and it is pulled down when the ship signals "under way" (three toots on the ship's whistle). Most drawings and illustrations show vessels at sea, when the jack wasn't flown. Very few of these drawings show a jackstaff.

 

It is common on modern ships to lower the jackstaff after getting underway. I wonder if it was the practice in sailing ship days to remove the jackstaff after getting under way? Having a pole sticking up on the bowsprit would certainly foul a fore sail when the vessel tacked.

 

I have seen a drawing somewhere of a jackstaff that was attached to the bowsprit cap with metal straps (without a notch in the cap).

[Oldsalt1950]

Phil, it is conjecture that the first Union Jack had the rattlesnake and: "Don't tread on me" on it. What is known is it had 13 alternating stripes of red and white first adopted in 1776. It changed to a blue field and a star for each state/colony in 1777 and has been updated when each state joined the union. The :Rattlesnake" jack was first flown in modern times for the Bi-Centennial and again during the War on Terror 2002 - 2019.

[Dr PR]

OS50,

 

Thanks. I have seen several variations of designs for jacks. I think some may have been for State vessels and some private. We often forget that the US was originally a loose confederation of colonies and some had vessels of their own. And the US Navy didn't have formal rules for painting and such until well into the 1800s. A lot of what a vessel looked like was the prerogative of the ship owner or Captain. Many American vessels followed British practice.

 

So unless you have information specific for a particular vessel I guess you can do pretty much as you please with a model so long as it isn't too far out of line.

 

Right now I am trying to determine the color of the masts, mast tops, spars, bowsprit and bowsprit head. In the late 1800s white was popular for the doublings on the masts. But I read somewhere that white wasn't used early in the century because it would be too easy to spot at a distance. Frankly, I think this is nonsense! A little bit of white on a mast carrying huge sheets of canvas isn't going to make any difference. At sea a tall mast with sails cannot be camouflaged!

 

Some people say the tops were painted black, and I have seen some models painted that way. But I haven't found anything definite about the color of masts and spars.

[Oldsalt1950]

Masts and spars, and what colors they are is pretty much an "I think I'll go with this ", for that time period. I never subscribed to the they didn't use white because it could be seen theory. They use a grey to green color now and you can spot a mast as soon as it pokes over the horizon. A ship with sails would be real easy unless of course it is foggy.

 

Jim

[Dr PR]

 

I am continuing with the masts. The first step was to reduce the 3/8 inch (9.5 mm) square dowels to the desired mast diameters of 0.350 and 0.322 inch (8.9 mm and 8.2 mm). The fore masts on topsail schooners often were larger diameter than the main masts. The fore mast carried square sails and their rigging in addition to the gaff sails so they needed to be sturdier. However, it was also common for both masts to be the same diameter.

 

I used the Dremel power tool and "drill press" to cut off the excess material from the sides and create the rough taper. Then I sanded the masts down to the finished dimensions.

 

 

 

 

 

The next step was to trim the square cross section to octagonal. For this I used a tiny Stanley plane that I have carried in my tool kit for decades. It made short work cutting the parts down to size, and I used the file to finish them.

 

Then I planed the eight edges to get sixteen-sided pieces, again finishing the job with the file.

 

After this I chucked the masts into a drill and sanded them with 100 grit sandpaper to finish rounding them. Again, I have to say it is really easy to make masts this way!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The masts were rounded to just below the hounds and were left square where the cheeks would attach. Above the hounds the size was reduced to 0.219 inch (5.6 mm) square for the fore mast and 0.200 inch (5 mm) square for the main mast head.

 

Part of the head was champfered and the top was trimmed to create a 0.125 inch (3.2 mm) tenon for the mast cap. The excess tenon length will be trimmed after the cap is in place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cheeks were glued in place, and then I used 7 mm brass nails to simulate bolt heads.

 

After the glue had dried I used round files to trim the square part of the mast round and curved to match the curvature of the cheeks.

 

I should note that larger vessels often had much longer cheeks that extended down the mast below the hounds for a length about equal to the length of the mast head. They were also tapered toward the bottom. But smaller ships often just had this simple arrangement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having completed the masts this far I was ready to assemble the trestletrees and cross trees for the top "platforms." They will look like this:

 

The trestletrees run fore-and aft, resting on top of the cheeks, flush against the sides of the square part of the lower mast and top of the cheeks . Crosstrees run athwart-ships (port to starboard) and rest on the trestletrees (actually set into notches in the trestletrees). The after crosstree on the fore mast had fairleads to guide rigging coming from above.

 

This looks pretty straight forward, but what should the dimensions of these pieces be? I obviously had something in mind when I created the drawing, but I didn't remember the source I used for the dimensions! So I went back through the literature and discovered a problem. I looked in eight different references, and most of them gave different answers!

 

Anderson, R. C., "Seventeenth Century Rigging." 1955

Chapman, Frederick, "Treatise of Shipbuilding" ("Architectura Navalis Maercatoria"), 1820

Cock, John, "A Treatise  on Mast Making," 1840

Hedderwick, Peter, "A Treatise on Marine Architecture," 1830

Kipling, Robert, "Rudimentary Treatise on Masting, Mastmaking and Rigging," 1864

Lees, James, "The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War," 1979

Marquardt, Karl, "The Global Schooner," 2003

Mondfeld, Wolfram, "Historic Ship Models," 1989

 

The main problem is that most of these references do not mention schooners, and treat wooden vessels as if every one was a 100 gun square rigged ship of the line.  Cock and Marquardt do describe schooner rigs but they give very different definitions for the dimensions of the parts of the tops. Another problem was that the older references used  a different English than is spoken today - at least here in North America - and some translation was necessary. After wading through a lot of apparently contradictory formulas it was clear that they all gave pretty different results.

 

Another problem was that most of the references described complex tops for the lower masts, again like would be found on a large man of war. The dimensions for these lower tops were always given in terms of the dimensions of the larger top platforms. Schooners had very simple tops with no platforms.

 

Trestletrees

 

The trestletree centers should be aligned with either the center of the lower mast, or the front edge of the lower mast top. Trestletrees were notched to hold the crosstrees.

 

Length.

 

The length of the trestletrees on lower mast tops were usually defined in terms of the top platform size, usually the same length fore-and-aft as the top platform, or 2/3 to 1/2 the top platform width. But that's not very helpful if there is no platform.

 

One author says trestletree length was 5 times the diameter of the mast at the hounds (the hounds was the part of the mast the cheeks fastened to, just below the trestletree). Another author says the length was 5 1/2 to 6  diameter of the mast at the hounds.

 

Other definitions are 3 3/4 inch per yard of the topmast length (0.104 times the topmast length), or 3 1/2 inch for every yard of topmast length (0.097 times the topmast length).

 

I used fairly average mast lengths and diameters for my schooner model. The foremast diameter at the hounds is 0.270 inch (6.8 mm). So the trestletree length would be 5 to 6 times this diameter, or 1.35 to 1.62 inches  (34.3 mm to 40.8 mm). The topmast length is 7.5 inches (190.5 mm) so the trestletree would be 0.104 to 0.097 this length, or 0.78 to 0.73 inches (19.8 to 18.5 mm). Clearly these different methods do not generate the same results!

 

Height

 

The height of the trestletrees is said to be 1/2 the diameter of the mast at the hounds, but a different author said it was 5/6 the diameter of the mast at the hounds.

 

Another author said the height was 1/2 the diameter of the mast at the partners (the partners is where the lower part of the mast passes through the ship's deck).

 

One source says the height in inches was the topmast length in feet divided by four, less half an inch.

 

Or the height is 1 inch per foot length of the trestletree (1/12 the length or 0.083 times the length). But another author say the height is 1 1/8 inch  for every foot of trestletree length (length x 0.094).

 

Using my model mast dimensions I get a trestletree height of 0.135, 0.23, 0.175 or 0.145 inches (3.4, 5.7, 4.4 or 3.7 mm). It's better than the length calculations, but still highly variable.

 

Width

 

The trestletree width is given as 1/3 the diameter of the mast at the hounds, or 3/7, 1/2, 2/3 and 5/7 of the trestletree height. Take your pick!

 

Crosstrees

 

The crosstrees were notched to fit into the notches in the trestletrees, typically the depth of the notch was 1/2 the crosstree height.

 

Length

 

The length of the crosstrees for the lower masts was often given as a fraction of the ship's beam width. It was 1/2, 5/9 or 11/24 of the beam width.

 

Sometimes it was specified relative to the trestletree length, 1 1/3 to 1 2/3 the trestletree length.

 

One author said it was the length of the masthead, or a little more.

 

Height

 

The crosstree height was usually a fraction of the trestletree height, 3/7, 1/2, 7/8 and 1 times the trestletree height.

 

One author said it was 1/13 the trestletree length.

 

Width

 

The crosstree width was said to be 7/8, 9/10 , 1 or 1 1/4 that of the trestletrees.

 

Or it was 2/3 or 5/6 of the crosstree height.

 

****

 

Well that is as clear as mud!

 

I guess I will just use the original dimensions I came up with for the drawing shown above. No matter what they are they will probably be close to what one or two of the authors said they should be!

Edited July 20, 2023 by Dr PR

[Oldsalt1950]

Nice work Phil.

 

Jim

[Dr PR]

I decided to take all of the conflicting dimensions for trestletrees and crosstrees and average them to get values for my model. That is how I determined the mast dimensions that I am using. Here are all of the "rules":

 

Trestletree Dimensions

 

Cock:
    Length = 5 x diameter of mast at hounds
    Height = ½ diameter of mast at hounds
    Width = 1/3 diameter of mast at hounds
    Trestletrees are bolted through the mast with 2 bolts and are centered on the lower mast.

 

Hedderwick:
    Size = 7/8 diameter of mast at partners (not less than ¾)
    Length = 5 ½ to 6 times diameter of mast OR ½ breadth of top
    Height = 5/6 diameter of mast at hounds
    Width = 3/7 of the trestletree height

 

Kipling:
    Length = top length fore and aft = 2/3 to ½ top width
    Height = ½ diameter of mast at partners
    Width = ½ trestletree height
    Top width = 1/2 molded beam

 

Chapman:
    Height (inches) = topmast length (feet)/4 – ½ inch
    Width = 5/7 trestletree height

 

Mondfeld:
    Length = 0.3 to 0.35 beam
    Height = 0.08 x trestletree length
    Width = 0.9 x trestletree height

 

Lees:
    Length = 3 ¾ inch per yard of topmast length (0.104 times topmast length)
    Height = 1 inch per foot length (1/12 length or 0.083 times length))
    Width = 2/3 trestletree height
    Lower tops width (transverse) = 1/3 length of topmast. Length (longitudinal) 3/4 top width.

 

Marquardt:
    Length = 3 ½ inch for every yard of topmast length (0.097 times topmast length)
    Height = 1 1/8 inch for every foot trestletree length (0.094 times length)
    Width = 2/3 trestletree height
 
Crosstree DImensions

 

Cock:
    Length = (11/12 x beam)/2
    Height = ½ trestletree height/depth
    Width = same as trestletree breadth/width

 

Hedderwick:
    Length = breadth of top = 5/9 beam
    Height = 5/6 trestletree height
    Width = 3/7 crosstree height

 

Kipling:
    Length = width of top = ½ molded beam
    Height = same as trestletree height = ½ diameter of mast at partners
    Width = 2/3 crosstree height

 

Chapman:
    Height = 3/7 trestletree height
    Width = ¾ crosstree height

 

Anderson: (for circular top trestletree length = crosstree length)
    Length= masthead length or a little more
    Height = 1/13 trestletree length
    Width = 7/8 or 9/10 trestletree height
    He cites other references that say the length should be 1/3 the beam, ranging from 0.36 to 0.25 times the beam for smaller ships

 

Lees:
    Length = 1 2/3 times length of trestletree
    Height = 7/8 x height of trestletree
    Width = same as trestletree (2/3 trestletree height)

 

Marquardt:
    Length = 1 1/3 trestletree length
    Height = 7/8 trestletree height
    Width = 1 ¼ trestletree width

 

References:
Anderson, R. C., “Seventeenth Century Rigging,” 1955
Chapman, Frederick, “Treatis of Shipbuilding,” 1820 (Archetectura Navalis Mercatoria)
Cock, John, “A Treatise on Mast Making,” 1840
Hedderwick, Peter, “A Treatise on Marine Architecture,” 1830
Kipling, Robert, “Rudimentary Treatise on Masting, Mastmaking and Rigging,” 1864
Lees, James, “The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War,”1979
Marquardt, Karl, “The Global Schooner,” 2003
Mondfeld, Wolfram, “Historic Ship Models,” 1989

 

I think the large differences for some of the results are caused by some of the authors giving rules for tops with platforms, where the trestletrees will be much longer than for tops without platforms. Other than those numbers all of the calculations gave values that were pretty close to each other.

 

After averaging the results from all of these calculations  - excluding those results that were 2X or more than the other values - I found that the dimensions in my original drawings fell within the range of values from the calculations. So I will go with what I already came up with.

[John Ruy]

Wow 😮 How about we do some Math.

I’m impressed with the research 🧐 

[Dr PR]

 After all that fuss I made the tops according to my original plan with a few minor tweaks to fit the masts.

 

 

 

Since the top masts are the same on both fore and main masts the tops are also the same. There are few  additions I will make before finishing them - bolsters and such. The wood is pretty grainy so I need to seal with sanding sealer or maybe shellac. The tops will be painted so the different colors of the wood won't matter.

[Dr PR]

Here is a bit more progress. I have made all of the wooden parts of the mast tops and trimmed everything to fit. All parts need sealer and sanding.

 

Above the cheeks on the mast head is a spacer block that is a rest for the topmast heel. The crosstree assembly has the bolsters and guides for topmast rigging. The topmast stays will be rigged to the ends of the crosstrees.  The topmast lower part has been shaped and has the fid hole - the fid is the small piece of wood. The mast cap has a snug fit on the top of the lower mast tenon and a loose fit for the topmast. The parts of the fore top are shown on the left. The main mast (right) doesn't have a square topsail so the rigging is much simpler and the guides for the rigging aren't needed.

 

 

The topmast slips into the crosstree assembly from below and then passes through the hole in the top. After the mast is full up the fid is inserted to hold it in place. This is how the real topmasts worked. I haven't cut the slot for the sheave for the uphaul rope. Also missing are  bunch of ring bolts for all the stays and tackles that attached to the tops.

 

 

 

I should have created a 3D CAD model before moving on to cutting wood. There are a couple of less than perfect parts. The bolsters are too beefy. This is basically because the trestletrees are probably a bit to wide, but they are still within the extreme ranges of the calculations mentioned a few posts above. I think I will file the bolsters to remove some material from the tops.

 

The other problem is the position of the guides for the topmast rigging on the fore mast. These allow routing the topsail running rigging clear of other rigging to ensure the lines do not foul other rigging. The guides are very close to the trestletrees, and the lower mast shrouds have to pass between them and the trestletrees. Fortunately there aren't a lot of shrouds (three per side on the fore mast plus the fore tackle/burtoning tackle. The clearances between the shrouds and running rigging looked good on the 2D drawings. I may have to move the guides, and that could be tricky. I was surprised that I could make the tiny pieces without them breaking apart when I drilled the holes. The holes are 0.057 inch (1.4 mm) diameter on 0.1 inch (2.54 mm) spacing.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Dr PR

[Oldsalt1950]

Looking really sharp, Phil.

[Dr PR]

This is a test.

[Dr PR]

I enlarged the mounting holes in the deck and installed the masts (temporarily).

 

 

 

I made the mast coats to fit around the bases of the masts.

 

 

 

 

These things were quite a challenge! They are 0.5 inch (12.7 mm) diameter. I figured if I tried to make them from an ordinary sheet of wood they would break apart while I was shaping them. So I decided to use 1/8 inch (3.2mm) plywood, hoping the cross grains would hold them together.

 

I picked a piece out of my scrap box, and I have no idea how old it was. But in hindsight it could have been left over from a kit from the 1960s. That stuff wasn't very good plywood to begin with, and the glue they used to hold the laminations together was pretty poor. I think the wood was holding the glue together.

 

Again and again pieces of the outer layers chipped off and I had to recover them and glue (Duco Cement) them back on. In some cases the pieces went to never never land and I had to strip a bit of a layer from scrap plywood, shape it and glue it in place. You can see one of these patches in the left hand part.

 

 

But as you can see I eventually got the parts shaped suitably. I will seal them and paint with the same brown as the bulwarks.

 

Edited July 20, 2023 by Dr PR

[Dr PR]

I performed surgery on the bow of the ship. The "knee" that projected under the bowsprit wasn't long enough or thick enough for the gammoning that was needed. Between the 1980s when this project was started and through several moves about 1/2 inch (12.5 mm) was broken off the tip. I decided it was about time to replace the knee.

 

The amputation began with a series of saw cuts to remove material. I was a bit anxious about working on this because the plywood the stem was made of was quite old and the layers might separate. However the wood was soft and cut easily.

 

 

 

 

The operation was successful and the cut area cleaned up nicely.

 

The next step was to fashion the prosthesis out of a (relatively) new piece of plywood. I selected a piece from my scrap box and shaped one edge to fit the place on the hull. After that I used a coping saw  to rough out the part.

 

Then I used files to refine the edges to fit the hull and the bowsprit. Finally I finished shaping the part so the curves matched the curves of the hull.

 

 

 

 

After cutting the hole for the gammoning rope I drilled three 1/16 inch (1.5 mm) holes through the part for wooden pegs to give strength to the joint when it was glued to the hull. I made the pegs from bamboo cooking skewers. The new knee served as the template for drilling holes in the hull for the pegs.

 

 

The photo on the left shows the part temporarily pegged in place. On the right is the finished part glued in place, with some putty to fill in a few chips and create a filet where the planking met the stem. The repair is very sturdy.

 

It looked as if the knee might be a bit too long so I took measurements from a dozen drawings in Marquardt's "The Global Schooner" and averaged the results. The length of the knee was compared with the bowsprit length from the hull planking to the bowsprit cap. The length of the knee varied from 0.17 to 0.39 times the length of the bowsprit outside the hull, with an average of 0.25. The new piece was a bit longer than average but I trimmed it back to 1/4 the length of the bowsprit outside the hull.

 

Now I just need to seal the wood and paint the bow.

Edited June 2, 2023 by Dr PR

[Oldsalt1950]

Very nice work, Phil. Once painted you'll never know that surgery was performed.