Breeching lines gun carriage

[Smelly]

Hello all, i am buildings uss connie ...what scale size to use for the breeching lines on the gun carriages. Thank you for your interest.

[Gregory]

Use whatever size makes them look like this:

 

 

I'm sort of joking with you, but I'm sure someone else may give you a better answer, based on the scale. 

 

Which kit/scale are you building?

Edited October 12, 2019 by Gregory

[Smelly]

Yes that is what i am refrring to. But to be familiar with the scales , what i wanted to know ,is what scale the ropes are that come in the conine box. There are several bobins of thread in the kit. 4 tan color and a black. There is also a large piece of rope for the anchor, about eight inches long.

[Dr PR]

Breeching ropes were three times the bore length of the cannon, and were about 1/3 the bore diameter, depending upon the size of the gun.

 

You can find a great deal of information about guns and tackle (and a lot more) in this book:

 

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=aztFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

This is a table from the book:

 

Note: the "size" is the circumference, not the diameter of the rope. (Thanks to xodar461 - Jeff - for pointing this out).

 

If you know the scale of the model (1:64, etc.) and the size of the guns (24 pounder, 6 pounder, etc.) you can calculate the appropriate diameter for the breeching ropes. A 12 pounder at 1:48 scale would have breeching ropes 5 inches circumference, or 5/3.14 = 1.6 inches diameter. At 1:48 scale this is 0.033 inch (0.85 mm) diameter.

 

Another rule of thumb for breeching rope diameter is about 1/3 the gun bore/shot diameter, and this gives dimensions pretty close to those in the table. Gun carriages were generally of a standard design with actual dimensions based upon the shot diameter.

 

Here are some good discussions of cannon rigging:

 

 

 

Edited October 18, 2019 by Dr PR

[Gregory]

1 hour ago, Smelly said:

Yes that is what i am refrring to. But to be familiar with the scales , what i wanted to know ,is what scale the ropes are that come in the conine box. There are several bobins of thread in the kit. 4 tan color and a black. There is also a large piece of rope for the anchor, about eight inches long.

Which kit do you have?

 

Did it provide rope that will look like the picture above if you lay it next to the cannon provided in the kit.

You can get bogged down in precise measurements based on practice, but in the end does it look good?

 

You only stand to suffer disappointment if a crew member from the Connie inspects your build with a micrometer and informs you that the breeching ropes are all wrong..

Edited October 12, 2019 by Gregory

[Smelly]

I am doing the revell connie 1/96

[Gregory]

Something to keep in mind.

 

The cannon rigging on the gun deck will not be visible on the completed model for all practical purposes..   You might consider not bothering with the eye bolts and breeching ropes as shown on the plans.

 

Just go for a nice look on the cannon barrels, as seen from the gun ports..

[xodar461]

"Breeching ropes were three times the bore length of the cannon, and ranged from 4 to 6 inches diameter, depending upon the size of the gun."

 

In the table above, the size of the breechings is given in inches.  This is not the diameter of the rope but rather the circumference.  When a reference book gives the size of a rope or cable, the measurement is typically the circumference.  For model kit rope and those that can be bought independently (IE Siren), the measurement given is the diameter.   Therefore you have to calculate the scale size rope needed using  D=C/π and maybe convert from imperial to metric measurements.  A 2.6 mm breeching rope would be way out of scale at 1:48.  A 5 in breeching rope at 1:48 would correspond to a 0.8 mm diamter rope.    

 

Jeff

[jud]

Been waiting for someone to let it out of the bag about how Fiber Rope is measured. My 5th edition of the American Merchant Seaman's Manual lists as 12" in circumference as the largest manila rope in their sizing table, its says it is 3 3/4" in diameter, manufactured in 1200 ft coils weighing 5,225 pounds +/-, breaking strength of 102,000 pounds.

 

 

Edited October 17, 2019 by jud

[Dr PR]

Jeff,

 

Duh! I knew that. Thanks for pointing out the mistake!

 

I'll correct my earlier post (and check to see if I made the same mistake elsewhere).

Edited October 18, 2019 by Dr PR