HMS Snake by Mike_H - FINISHED - Caldercraft - 1:64

[Mike_H]

On 2/9/2022 at 10:03 PM, AJohnson said:

Well done Mike, looking very shipshape, as you say a significant milestone.  👏  Are you doing another model while you pause for breath on your Snake build?

Thanks Andrew - no ship building. Traveling, cycling and some sun. I’ll be back ship building soon enough - absence makes the heart grow fonder. 

[Mike_H]

So, 7 months later I'm back - 3 months downunder, a month cycling and then a kitchen to build.  Re-engaged with some anchors and some stays.

[AJohnson]

Good to see you back in the shipyard Mike! 😁

[Mike_H]

That's the standing rigging done.  Took quite some effort - in part because there are more backstays than I thought, but to an extent because of kit issues.  There are no instructions on the rigging - actually, one paragraph - but the drawings are reasonably complete.  But they miss out a great deal of detail over how to belay the backstays, and incorrectly label the double blocks as singles.  Turns out I was missing a significant number of blocks and small deadeyes.  Caldercraft were very helpful in shipping me what I needed - at no charge.  So marks off for instructions, but bonus marks for customer service.

 

Anyway, to the results.  I had a go at making rigging mice from thread, but had no success at all.  Decided to makes them from dowel, turned down to an appropriate size and shape and then painted.  I don't think I got it quite right, but it the results was far better than anything else I produced, and from any kind of distance look fine.

 

In the pics below you can see that there are now a few belayed lines, so the next, indeed current, project is making hanks to put on the pins and cleats.

[AJohnson]

Looking very tidy Mike, good tip to watch out for the backstays when I eventually get around to my “Snake”

[Mike_H]

Rope Hanks

I guess everyone starting on model boat building eventually confronts the making of high-class rope hanks to hang on their belaying pins.  That is the stage I have reached.  And most people who have a Jokita/Caldercraft kit finds that doing so, particularly for the 0.25 mm thread used for most of the running rigging, is not trivial.  The problem is that the thread is not really made up as though it were a rope.  I might-well have chosen to buy some higher quality thread, but I already had quite a few lines rigged, and in any-event, I have more-or-less decided to build the kit as supplied.  

 

So here's my journey of discovery

 

The points of departure were:

1. @Beef Wellington's  Snake, which hangs the whole hank on the pin.  This seemed quite common some years ago, but @BenD in his role as Rope Police, points out that's not really right.   You can see what really good thread looks like, but that's not going to help me! He also links to a video of a method developed by Tom Laurier - see 3, below.
2. My first real attempt was to use a method developed by @Peta_V. I had two problems - first I couldn't have pin 2 close enough to the top of the wooden block, so the coils hang too low on the belaying pins, and second, my scrawny thread did not drape at all well.  I also found that the loop pulled-out to hang on the belaying pins inevitably sat-off to one side, and finally my thread loves CA glue - so much that a tiny spot of quite-thick glue wicks all over the place and stains the hank. I switched to PVA both for this technique and later, but ultimately I wasn't't happy that I could make decent hanks this way.
3. Next up was Tom Laurier's technique mentioned in 1, above.  I gave this quite a few attempts, but as I will explain later, with skinny thread the hanks look more like a rubber band than a proper hank.  But, with the addition of a more-or-less historical binding around the middle, or waist, of the hank, thought this would be the way forward.
4. Finally I came across a method on YouTube by PeterBurton50, that he developed for his HMS Diana (a Caldercraft heavy frigate) that not surprsingly works with their thread.  

Here's some glimpses of that journey.  The figure below is the development of a jig - that can now be found on the reverse side.  The first iteration is on the RHS with successive iterations moving to the left.  The first 4 are Tom Laurier's technique from 4, above.  You can see the holes for the pins, and note in particular the pair of holes/pins at the top (see his video to understand why).

 

With the addition of a clove hitch around the waist of the hank (iterations 2,3 and 4 above)  things were better.

Although these were neat, and very reproducible, when installed on the model, they looked far too neat and far too reproducible.

Iteration 5 is a hybrid of Laurier's method (with half-hitch) and Peta_V's, but still not right.  At this point I stumbled across PeterBurton's method, trialled in iteration 6. 

 

Here's the production jig in plan view loaded with six hanks-in-making.

 I use 1.5 mm brass rod so don't need WD40, and have also found I don't need the plastic sheet.  In part because I keep the hanks elevated (hence the little walnut blocks.

As per the Method, a little bit of dilute PVA is added at the top of the hank-proper, which I dry in 1 min using a hairdryer, to give.  

The Method then has one of the loose ends trimmed (the one nearest the belaying pin) and the loop pulled through and glued while threaded on a nail (see the video).  I borrow from Peta_V and use a second row of pins on the jig instead of the nail.

The results are pleasing to my eye!

[Mike_H]

4 minutes ago, SpyGlass said:

Just a reminder of what real hanks look like.

 

Well yes, but only if all are fully sheeted home.  But since my Snake has yards in the lower position most lines will be at their maximum extension so the quantity of rope in the hanks will be much reduced.  

[Mike_H]

On 10/24/2022 at 10:40 AM, SpyGlass said:

It was just a pic to illustrate - same thing  more or less no matter what length of line is  being stowed  .

Interesting.  My hanks are about 0.4 m in length, so about 25 m at scale.  Having now done most of the running rigging, quite a lot of the lines are longer than that by a factor of two or three - once the rigging of blocks is taken account of - but most wouldn't have that length on the pins.  Even so, I'm surprised at the number of coils shown in the hanks in your earlier pic.  Better modelling thread is probably the answer

[Mike_H]

Quick update after a bit of a tidy-up prior to a final push on the rigging.  The running rigging is complete on the mizzen and on the upper yards of the main and fore mast, apart from most of the braces.  So braces, and lower yard tack, sheets and clew lines to go.  The pics don't really show much detail and the 0.25 mm natural cord needs  careful lighting.

 

I have learnt an enormous amount in the last couple of weeks mainly by reading (or rather staring at) Petersson's Rigging Period Ship Models.  In fact I've got the names of so many lines in my head I'm going to write them down on a belaying diagram before I move on. The names matter because they tell the function and the location, and slowly those two things make sense of the vast spider's web that is a square-rigged ship's rigging.  Naturally the kit instructions - and drawings - are silent on the topic.

 

The yellow masking tape visible is mainly a warning to me not to whack the ends of the spars with my hands (I've unshipped the peak halliard on the mizzen three times - fortunately it always fails where a block is attached to the cap, and is easy to get at.

[Mike_H]

Just a brief update, before something much more exciting in a day or two.  I've been rigging full time, but ran out of 0.5 mm thread (Jotika were fantastic and had two rolls with me in under 2 days, despite me giving them an expired credit card number).  In the mean time I sorted out the anchors.  I'd built up the anchors themselves some time back, and make brass rings by bending wire around a pice of dowel.  First task was to apply the "metal" hoops on the stocks using the same technique of tack-then-glue that I used on the masts.  Next was to pudden the rings which went much more quickly than expected.  The ring was held in a pair of locking forceps which in turn were held in a small vice.  The thread was tacked (to itself) with CA near the join in the ring and then just wound around.  About every 90º I tacked the thread again.

I then added some seizings and fitted the rings to the anchors

The kit drawings suggest just binding the anchors to the rigging, but having out sheaves in the cathead I fancied catting, if not fishing two of them

The effect is quite pleasing, if slightly unrealistic for a ship with no sails rigged.  I might yet fish one or more of them, but no rush.

 

{Edit} Here are both starboard anchors and an image of the cable newly dyed so as to look a little less pristine

I also frapped (I think that is the term) the closed hearts on the fore stays

And as to what is next - here's a sneak preview

 

Edited November 23, 2022 by Mike_H
Added pics of anchors with dyed cable

[Mike_H]

Rigging

 

This has been quite a journey, for much of which I felt quite lost.  It was only towards the end that, to carry on with the metaphor, I could see the wood for the trees, and understood where I was going.  

 

The kit plans show pretty much all the rigging that needs to be added, identify the blocks (with about 95% accuracy) and numbers the belaying points (nearly all of them).  But what was missing was a narrative e.g what are all these lines for? It was only when I worked that out, that I understood what I was doing.  It should be said, though, that I only think I understand.  If you think I might not quite, please do comment and say so.  I and any readers would be very grateful.

 

Essential in this process of discovery was Lennath Petersson’s Rigging Period Ship Models.  It shows exactly how a particular three-masted, square-rigged ship, the Melampus of 1785, was rigged.  Snake is both younger by 12 years and smaller, but Petersson’s rigging plan matches those provided with the kit, so well, that I suspect that is no coincidence.  But even so, I had to create my own narrative before I felt that I knew what I was doing.  I have used Petersson’s naming and spellings, and also opted to capitalise most rigging-specific names, essentially for clarity, if not grammatical correctness.

 

When I started this build log, I claimed that 

“ I plan to show other novices the process of climbing the learning curve”

I cannot say that for the last 6 months I have been a good guide, but I will now attempt to record my rigging narrative.

 

The standing rigging is, I think pretty self-explanatory.  The shrouds support the masts laterally, and to an extent fore and aft towards the stern, the stays support fore-and aft either towards the bow, or in the case of back-stays, towards the stern. The standing rigging around the bowsprit creates a set of triangles or diamonds to give both lateral and vertical (downwards) support.

 

Moving on to the less obvious, but things I think I knew. 

• The lower yards (Fore, Main and Cross Jack) are not intended to be raised or lowered in normal use, though the upper – topsail and topgallant – are.
• Not all the running rigging is present, since there are no sails
• The sails, were they present hang from their respective yards and are secured to the yard beneath them (but wait!)

 

Two crucial things that I could have known but didn’t seem to

• Two of the lines that are shown for all the square sails, the Sheets and the Clue Lines, would normally be secured to the lower corners of the sails (the Clues).  Since there are no sails they cannot be!  Instead they are secured to each other and hauled tight.
• The lower sails, while hanging from the lower yards, clearly cannot be secured to yet-lower yards.  Instead a set of substantial lines running forward – the Tacks – are secured to the Clues so that the Sheets, Clue Lines and Tacks provide a triangle of forces.  Once again, in these absence of sails, these three lines are joined.

 

With that, the narrative for the square sails is straight forward.  There are lines to:

 

1.   Secure the yards to the mast and hold them aloft  – Slings, Jeers, Trusses and Parrals

The Slings are substantial loops of rope around the Fore and Main yards that in each case loop over the lower mast cap, holding the yards permanently aloft.

The Jeers are substantial blocks with lines made fast on deck, used for raising the two largest spars.

The three lower yards are made fast to their masts with Trusses with pendants brought down to deck.  The yards are not intended to move vertically when the Trusses are hauled tight.

Finally all of the upper yards are able to be raised and lowered so are attached to their masts with a kind of set of wheels (Trucks) held together by Ribs, to create a Parral.

The Fore Yard, and Fore Topsail Yard

 

2.   Raise and lower the yards, and square them up – Halliards and Lifts

Each of the upper yards can be raised or lowered by hauling on one or two Halliards (belayed on deck) with suitable mechanical advantage via sets of blocks.

The angle a yard makes to its mast is controlled by Lifts - lines extending from the mast above the highest point to which the yards can be raised, out to the ends of the yard.  The Lfts also support the yard when the crew are working on it.

Fore Topsail and Topgallant Yards

 

3.   Rotate the yards – Braces

In order for the square sails to catch the wind, the yards must be rotated – braced – in a horizontal plane.  The Braces are long lines belayed on deck running to blocks which in turn are connected to the yard-ends by stout brace pendants. The  Braces have a standing part frequently made fast to a stay.

Fore Topgallant Brace

 

4.   Set and reduce sail – Clue Lines, Sheets and Tacks

Hauling on the Sheet pulls the corner (the Clue) of the sail down from the yard. For the upper yards, the Sheet runs from the deck where it is belayed, up to blocks on the yard beneath the sail, near the mast, and then out along that yard to blocks at the yard end and then up to the Clue.  On the upper yards the Sheet pulls the Clue out to the end of the yard below.  On the lower yards it pulls the Clue aft.

 

Conversely the Clue Line hauls the Clue up to its yard thus largely taking the wind out of the sail (cue Jack Aubrey shouting “clew up! clew up” when Surprise is caught in a squall).  The Clue line is belayed on deck, runs up to a block on the sail’s yard near the mast, and then diagonally down to the Clue.  On the model, without sails, the Sheet and the Clue Line are joined by means of a loop and toggle (which is far from obvious on the plans).

 

Finally the Tack is a heavy line that is coupled to the Clue Line and Sheet on the Fore and Main sails and then taken forward to the Boomkin for the Fore sail and near the Fore Chains for the Main.  The couoling of the lines is very elegant with the Sheet and Clue blocks both being stropped with a loop: the loop from the Sheet passing through the loop from the Clue and the Tack passing through the loop from the Sheet.  The Tack is prevented from pulling through by a large stylised Tack Knot.  The Sheet runs directly aft.

Main Brace, Sheet, Tack and Clue Line (see picture under 2. for upper yard lines)

 

Bowsprit

The running rigging provided on the bowsprit are the Spritsail Lift, The Spritsail Braces and the Spritsail Halliard, all playing much the same role as their equivalents on the yards (though in planes lifted up by 20º).  The Spritsail Boom is made fast to the Bowsprit by a Truss.  While not part of the running rigging,  Fore Topgallant stay comes down to the end of the Jib Boom via a block at its outer extremity to be made fast on the Bowsprit.

Bowsprit Running Rigging

 

Spanker

The Spanker, or the large fore and aft sail abaft the Mizzen, is well described in the kit’s plans, and is just like the gaff-rigged dinghies I sailed as a lad.  But to name the parts, the Boom is equipped with a pair each of Sheets and Guy Pendants (one each to port and starboard, all belayed on the after-deck), and a Topping Lift taken from the outboard end of the Boom up to the Mizzen Masthead and then belayed via a purchase to the starboard aft Pinrail.  The Gaff has a Peak Halliard running through two blocks to give a 3:1 purchase and belayed on deck.  A pair of Vangs run from the outboard end of the Gaff to the afterdeck.

Spanker Rigging

 

Belaying

The kit provides a numbered Belaying Plan with the numbers shown on the rigging diagrams.  It’s not always easy to identify which number on the plan belongs to each line, and it’s absolutely impossible to look at the model and identify what each of the nearly 100 lines does.  In the attached PDFs I have annotated the Belaying Plan with the names of the lines, and produced a list of all the Belaying Points with the Points named and numbered.

Snake Belaying Plan.pdf

Snake belaying points.pdf

 

So that's what I think I know about rigging - do correct, advise and comment.

 

And from these last two posts you might guess I'm pretty-well finished.  Just a decent cleaning and then some final photographs I think!

 

 

 

 

 

[Beef Wellington]

Thats a very nice treatise on rigging Mike!  I think your efforts to show this for future Snake builders will be very valuable.  Shes looking fantastic, very well done.

[AJohnson]

Thank you for the guide to rigging the Snake.  One to store away for when I finally get my finger out and do mine! 😁

 

I've just seen you Galley posts, so this one is FINISHED?  

 

What's next then? 

[Mike_H]

And yes, my Snake is FINISHED!.  There are some tings I could fix - though I won't - and I will build a display case, but that is it!  I have created a (large) album of photographs of the finished article, you can find here.  And show just a few below: 

 

I am more than delighted by the finished article - in fact truly amazed.  All it took was patience and a willingness (very reluctantly) to see small advances as proper staging posts.  And if I were to offer anyone as green as I was a piece of advice it would be just that - take time to recognise an achievement, and enjoy it.  Which is a segway to another piece of advice (only one more after this): use Model Ship World!  Use it because it's full of advice, encouragement and experience.  But use it because it's a place that you can mark your (small) achievements.  And the final piece of advice?  Something about skills.  It was going to be about CA glue (use tiny drops), but on reflection the most important skillI acquired and used hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of times was this gem about how to seize or whip a rope.  Finally the best, or perhaps happiest, piece of advice I received was to get hold of a copy of Modelling the brig of war "Irene" by E.W. Petrejus.  It is not only a beautiful book about a very similar vessel, but displays a depth of appreciation for such a vessel that I now find I have myself

 

A few words on the kit.  On the whole it's very good.  I found the materials very good most of the time, and the design convincing with lots of detail.  The plans varied from excellent to fair, and in fact the only real criticism I would have would be about the instructions - they were worse than poor - risible would be a better description.  In scope I think this is essentially a challenging build for a relative new comer, but the absence of instructions makes it much harder.  I'm glad in retrospect that I self-educated myself through the weeks and months of challenges, but for quite a lot of that time I felt distinctly bitter that just a few sentences of guidance would have made life much nicer.  So my words of caution would be: you will need many skills, and quite a bit of knowledge; your'e on your own there.

 

But somehow, the whole thing is more, and better than, the sum of its parts.  I have a profound appreciation of the business-like lines of the hull, the crowded war-like deck, and the absence of ornamentation.  This was a working, fierce small ship.   Yet above that nearly brutal gun platform towers a pyramid of slender spars and  silk-like ropes to create a thing of beauty and a article of mechanical near perfection.   I probably spent about 1000 hours bringing forth this glory - it was worth every one of them.

 

So what next?  I do not know - something small.  Or large?  Something more modern, or not.  Something military or commercial.   But something!

 

With that, thanks for your company.  See you again.

 

 

[Blue Ensign]

Well done Mike, a very nice build, and excellent finish👍

 

B.E.

 

 

[ccoyle]

An outstanding finished product -- well done!

[Beef Wellington]

Congratulations Mike, you should be very proud of the excellent result!

[WestPort]

Mike, 

 

Just wanted to say thanks so much for the Rigging summary above.  I'm in the process of rigging my Pegasus and this summary will be very helpful in understanding the purpose of all the lines and how they work together.  All the best for the holidays.

 

Amazing job on your model, congratulations!

 

John

Edited December 25, 2022 by WestPort

[mort stoll]

Well done sailor, very well done.

Mort

[Sjors]

Congratulations Mike.

She is a real beauty and you can be proud of what you have done!

Give her a nice place and enjoy her!

 

Sjors