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Scale sizes for building


Dave_E

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Hi All,

 

Newbie question. Is there a chart somewhere that would show what the sizes for blocks, tackle, rope etc would be for a particular scale (1:64, 1:48 etc)? I’ve seen much discussion about kit parts that are not to scale. I’ve often wondered if the blocks on some models weren’t just a tad large.

 

Dave

 

Current builds: Rattlesnake

Completed builds: Lady Nelson

On the shelf: NRG Half Hull Project, Various metal, plastic and paper models

 

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Dave,

Do a search in this topic:  https://modelshipworld.com/forum/16-masting-rigging-and-sails/    However, blocks, rigging, etc. is more a function of the size of the ship, era, number of masts, etc.  After you know the full size then they can be scaled down.

Mark
"The shipwright is slow, but the wood is patient." - me

Current Build:                                                                                             
Past Builds:
 La Belle Poule 1765 - French Frigate from ANCRE plans - ON HOLD           Triton Cross-Section   

 NRG Hallf Hull Planking Kit                                                                            HMS Sphinx 1775 - Vanguard Models - 1:64               

 

Non-Ship Model:                                                                                         On hold, maybe forever:           

CH-53 Sikorsky - 1:48 - Revell - Completed                                                   Licorne - 1755 from Hahn Plans (Scratch) Version 2.0 (Abandoned)         

         

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

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Dave,

 

A little research on your subject ship should tell you the actual sizes of the various blocks and ropes used. The Anatomy of a Ship series is often a good start. There are various other sources that can provide guidance on typical rigging sizes used for your size of ship for its particular time period. Once you have that information, just create a spreadsheet to convert the actual size to your chosen scale in the measurement units of your choice.

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Dave,

 

The size of the masts was based upon the beam (width of the hull at it's widest point). In some cases a more complex formula was used based upon the length of the hull, the width of the beam and depth of the keel. But in most cases the beam will be good enough.

 

The sizes of almost everything in the rigging was based upon the diameter of the masts. The resulting circumference of the ropes was calculated from the mast diameter. And the sizes of the blocks was determined by the size of the ropes. Do not forget that rope sizes were specified in circumference!

 

James Lees "Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War" (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Marylend, 1984) is the most common reference for mast, spar and rigging dimensions. However, it contains nothing for smaller vessels and fore-and-aft craft. Apparently someone posted a spreadsheet based upon Lees' formulas somewhere else on the forum but it is said to have errors.  Lees was repeating the formulas used by the period shipwrights.

 

I posted a spreadsheet with Lees' and Wolfram zu Mondfeld's ("Historic Ship Models," Sterling Publishing Co, Inc, New York,1989) formulas here:

 

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/25679-topsail-schooner-sail-plans-and-rigging/?do=findComment&comment=801356

 

It is in Excel format and PDF format. It also includes several sets of formulas for schooners from period sources. Both the text formulas and spreadsheet calculations are included.

 

Note that the left side of the spreadsheet lists all the formulas used to calculate dimensions, and in the spreadsheet version you can enter some information (in the green cells) about the hull size and the spreadsheet will automatically calculate almost all of the rigging dimensions. In the middle part you can enter the scale of your model and most of the scale dimensions are calculated.The right hand side is specifically for schooners. Schooner masts were only about 4/5 the diameter of full square rigged ships, so the resulting rope diameters are a bit smaller. But you have to enter your model's mast diameter in the green cells, so it can be used for any ship. However, it includes only the rigging found on topsail schooners, and is a bit abbreviated for full square rigged ships.

 

Also, both circumference and diameters are calculated, since some model rope suppliers (and normal thread sizes) list diameters.

 

WARNING: The calculations include many Imperial units conversions. Trying to change the spreadsheet equations for metric units will cause some strange errors. It is better to just convert the results of the calculations to metric.

 

For schooners I recommend Karl Heinz Marquardt's "The Global Schooner" (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 2003. He is as thorough as Lees in descriptions of how the masts, spars, rigging and sails were made for schooners.

Edited by Dr PR
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https://thenrg.org/resource/articles# -Under the | masts and rigging | section you can find the rigging spread sheet by the late Danny Vadas. It's a lot to take in but you can eventually figure out what it all means. Books like the anatomy of the ship series or Lennarth Peterssons rigging period ship models/ Fore-and-aft craft can help with identifying the names of the ropes. 

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Once you choose a scale for your model, it’s a good idea to determine the length of a scale inch.  This need not be exact.  Here are my approximate scale inches for various scales:

 

1:96.  .01”

1:64.   .015”

1:48.   .02”

1:32.   .03.”  (1/32” is exact)

 

Now, you can do a lot of scale checks in your head.  For example, at 1:64 scale, an 8in block should be about 0.12in long.  The actual length should be .125in (1/8) in so my mental gymnastics are off by .005 In or 4%.  For me, that’s good enough.

 

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Alternatively, you can buy a good scale rule and measure directly from the appropriate edge without needing any math whatsoever!

Be sure to sign up for an epic Nelson/Trafalgar project if you would like to see it made into a TV series  http://trafalgar.tv

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Nothing wrong with using a set of dividers, Shipman. However, you still need a measuring instrument and/or doing math to determine what the distance apart the divider points represent in terms of scale distance. 

 

Scale rules of all kinds can be found on eBay, amongst other sources. Check 'scale rules' or 'scale ruler' under 'antiques'  or 'collectibles' to see a wide variety of these.

Be sure to sign up for an epic Nelson/Trafalgar project if you would like to see it made into a TV series  http://trafalgar.tv

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