How to Make Mast Straps

[rraisley]

That is, the metal bands or straps around a wooden multi-piece lower mast, as on the lower masts of the Victory cross-section I am making. I assumed I'd use 1/16" tape for it, so got some in matt black to put on after painting. As my mast is a fairly tight fit through the 5 decks, I was going to use the tape as masking tape for lower decks over black paint, then paint the mast yellow orchre, remove the tape masking and add it permanently for the remainder of the mast, clearing over if required. Seemed like a good idea.

 

I sprayed the bottom of the mask flat black today, and found that the tape I got won't stick to it. Turns out it's graphic tape, not auto pinstriping tape, and is less adhesive. So now I'm looking for pinstriping tape, but I'm doubting whether it will stick well enough either. Some say it has to be on a glossy paint, not flat, in which case I'd have to gloss clear the yellow orchre, apply the tape, then dullcoat it.

 

Longridge suggests copper shim cut to size. But that's for 1:48 scale, and his gluing neatness is probably better than mine. (Actually, he describes butting the copper and silver soldering them - he is definitely in a different quality camp than I.) He describes them as 4.5" x .5" iron, spaced every 3.5 feet, although his number of bands doesn't seem to check per the drawing.

 

What have you all done on similarly scaled ships (1:98)?

[Thistle17]

I have used the pinstiping tape and it adheres quite well. However I am not aware that it can be found in flat sheen. If you locate such a product i would be interested to know.

 

I have used cresent paper with good success. Sharp cutting is required but it cuts well with little or no fuss. Gluing as you say can be problematical. I would think some diluted white glue painted on the back side might yield a good clean bond.

 

Joe

[Jim Rogers]

You can also use electrical wire heat shrink. Comes in various sizes. Cut into proper size strip, slide into place, hit wit hair dryer and VIOLA strap. Do this on anchors all the time.

[Kevin]

i used plasticard

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by Kevin

[rraisley]

1 hour ago, Kevin said:

i used plaricard

Very nice work!

 

What is plaricard?

[Keith Black]

 I use masking tape. I lay out a strip (approximately four inches) of one inch wide masking tape on to a piece of wood, paint it whatever color I want and once dry, I cut it to the required width. The tape can be made to stand proud as required by a second or third winding. I poly coat everything so this helps bind the edges of the tape to the work.  

 

 I used masking tape to also make the gun tracks. I wasn't happy with the bow gun tracks and removed the tape to redo the tracks. I had a devil of a time getting the tape off, it holds really well. 

 

 I know this isn't traditional but golly it saves a lot of time and effort. If you're a metalsmith you scoff and rightly so, unfortunately I'm not a metalsmith.  

[Kevin]

1 hour ago, rraisley said:

Very nice work!

 

What is plaricard?

sorry typo,

plastic card

[rraisley]

Continuing on my Victor cross-section, I'm a bit unsure how the 3 spars are held to the mast. The kit shows no attachment except by blocks. Longridge has nice views of the Main and Topsail yards but not the Topgallant yard. The main mast appears supported by 2 sets of double/triple 26" blocks. A rope is shown around the mast, but no Parral is shown. The Topmast yard is held by a single 2" double type block, and a Parral is clearly shown. The Topgallant yard has nothing shown; the kit indicates two double blocks holding it.

 

The Main yard show ropes looped around the mast and and supported by looping around the rectangular piece above the Top (sorry, don't know what it's called). But there is no block or adjustment in that line, so why the 2 blocks on either side?

 

Longridge mentions the Topsail and Topgallant yards are held by Parrals, but refers to Trusses for the Main yard. What are the Trusses? Do ropes from the Parrals just loop 180 degrees around the yard on each side? (Seems they'd be attached more securely, like attached somehow or looped around a couple times, so the mast would not slide to the side.)

Any further details or information on these areas would be appreciated.

[Keith Black]

 A picture's worth a thousand words. Hope this helps, it's sure helped me. 

[wefalck]

Thin paper strips, perhaps wrapped in several layers, and soaked in sanding filler is another option for those iron bands.

[Keith Black]

 Eberhard, as I said above I use masking tape but not all masking tape is created equal. I bought a roll of Frog Tape masking tape the other day and it's worthless, it won't even stick to itself. The best masking tape I've found is 3M Scotch masking tape.

Edited March 17, 2021 by Keith Black

[wefalck]

Keith, I am rather hesitant using any kind of 'tape'  permanently on a model. Plastic tape contains a high amount of plasticisers and these plasticisers over the years will evaporate, rendering the remaining plastic brittle and making it shrink and crack.

[Keith Black]

Eberhard, masking tape is thin paper, not plastic. I agree with the rubber assessment. 

[wefalck]

Sorry, didn’t read this carefully and had these decorative tapes used in the automotive industry etc. in mind.

 

Cheap papers can be a long-term problem because of their acidity, but otherwise the tapes of gummed kraftpaper, old-time packaging tape, are useful too.

[rraisley]

Thanks for the diagram, Keith. I'm not sure how much applies to the Victory. The Parrals shown by Longridge have the rollers, rather than the types shown. I don't know if the Wooden Yokes would be used with that or not. And he says that Yokes, NOT Parrals were used on the lower mainsail yard, but the yokes in the diagram connect to parrals. Confusing. But the diagram is nevertheless very helpful and interesting.

[Dr PR]

Kieth,

 

I have used 3M masking tape for decades. The older stuff "dries" and becomes very brittle. The adhesive fails and the paper flakes off after 20-30 years, leaving a crust of adhesive on the surface. I don't know if the newer tape is any better.

[Dr PR]

rraisley,

 

There were trusses, truss pendants and truss parrals. Often just the term "truss" is used for all three.

 

Trusses were ropes fastened to the center of spars and run down to deck to help lowering the yards.

 

Trusses pendants were rope rigging attached to a spar to hold it against the mast. Typically the spar was suspended from the mast with a rope sling that went over the cross trees and around the mast. On later ships an iron assembly supported the spar, at least the heavier lower spars. The rope slings supported the spar, but allowed it to push forward, swinging on the sling, when the wind was in the sail. The truss pendants held the spar to the mast and transferred the force of the wind to the mast, taking this load off the sling.

 

There were two ropes, port and starboard. One end of the line was fastened around the yard to one side of the mast, looped around the mast and through a thimble secured in the line of the opposite truss where it was tied to the spar, and then the free end ran to a tackle. The opposite side truss was rigged the same way (see below).

 

For smaller ships the free end ran down from the spar to a (luff) tackle on deck. On larger ships the free end ran up to a (luff) tackle attached to the trestletrees in the mast top.

 

In either case both truss pendants were pulled taut to snug the ropes tight around the mast. Thus caused the force of the wind in the sail to be applied directly to the mast through the truss ropes. But when the spar was being rotated or raised/lowered the truss pendants were loosened.

 

Here is a drawing of the sling and truss pendants on a smaller vessel (topsail schooner).

 

 

In this case the truss pendants are run down from the spar to the tackle on deck. When the truss pendant are pulled tight they pull down on the spar in opposition to the sling. If they ran up to the mast top they would actually help support the spar and could actually be used to raise and lower the spar, although a separate halliard was normally used for this on heavier spars.

 

Here is a quick and dirty top view sketch to show how the truss pendants fasten to the spar and around the mast.

 

 

This shows the port truss pendant fastened around the spar, with a thimble looped into the rope. The rope then passes around the aft side of the mast to starboard and through the thimble in the starboard truss pendant rope. From the thimble it either runs down to the tackle on deck, or up to tackle attached to the trestletrees in the mast top. The starboard truss pendant rope is rigged the opposite way round, passing around the mast to port and through the port truss pendant thimble.

 

The smaller/lighter topsail, topgallant and royal yards typically did not have truss pendants, although I suppose the topsail yards might have had them on very large ships. The topsail and topgallant yards usually had parrals, but the royals often did not.

 

A truss parral was two ropes tied around the spar port and starboard like the two truss pendants with thimbles looped into the ropes, but without the pendants leading to tackles. A separate lanyard passed back and forth around the aft side of the mast and looped through the thimbles. When the lanyard was pulled tight and secured it worked like a parral.

 

Wolfram Zu Mondfeld's "Historic Ship Models" (Sterling Publishing Co., Inc, New York, 1989)  is an excellent general resource for the parts and construction of sailing ships. On page 312 he describes truss pendants.

 

James Lees' "The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War 1625 - 1860" (Naval Institute Press, Conway Maritime Press Limited, 1990) tells everything you ever wanted to know (and a lot more) about the rigging of English ships.

 

Hope this helps.

Edited March 18, 2021 by Dr PR

[Keith Black]

4 hours ago, Dr PR said:

I have used 3M masking tape for decades. The older stuff "dries" and becomes very brittle. The adhesive fails and the paper flakes off after 20-30 years, leaving a crust of adhesive on the surface.

 Phil, I first dab a little CA on the cut end of the tape then I paint with acrylic paint and once the paint dries the banding gets ploy coated. I'm pretty sure my banding is going to out live the rigging by decades. In time, everything fails. 

[Keith Black]

 This photo shows several areas where I've used masking tape. Banding for the mast and stack, for the gun tracks and for the coal scuttles on each side of the companionway. 

[rraisley]

Keith Black's posted pic shows some fairly complex arrangements for attaching the spar to the mast. As mentioned previously, info I have indicates the Victory's upper 2 spars have roller-style Parrals, but mentions the lower spar has trusses.

 

It's hard for me to imagine that while the upper two use complex Parrals, the lowest, heaviest spar uses a single rope wrapped around the mast (per Dr PR's drawing above).