Mary Rose by djford - Caldercraft - 1:80

[djford]

Another update! I've made a start on the standing rigging.

 

Here's some eyebolts in the hull for the deadeye chains:

I added in the bolts at the top of the sterncastle as Caldercraft's original placement was no longer anywhere near the right place for the bonaventure mizzen's shrouds.

 

At the front, I put the bolts in quite low on the hull, though still higher than those for the mainmast. Here they are with chains on:

I'm a little on the fence about these as the chains are much longer than the others, but in order to meet the channels at a decent angle they had to be a bit lower - I could still move these up, but then I'd have to fill in the holes... I'll see how it looks once I've got some deadeyes in place.

 

On the subject of deadeyes, here's the forestay deadeye attached to the bowsprit:

Pretty pleased with that! I've decided to use the 'natural' hemp provided by Caldercraft for my seizings, at least where they'll be most visible, as I like the contrast. Perhaps not traditional, but if I'm putting the work in I'd like it to be a talking point. As a side note, I took the rectangular spacer off of the bowsprit shortly after this photo, as I wanted to adjust where the stay would lie.

 

After this, I decided to attack the main yard parrel. I mostly wanted to do this as it was concerning me how fiddly the process would look, and I wanted to get the feel of attaching one before there were shrouds up blocking access, especially on the already quite blocked-off main mast.

 

Here's the parrel mid-assembly:

Caldercraft's kit provides 1mm seed beads and etched brass ribs for the parrel. In the instructions, they say to paint the brass black. Honestly, as the parrels would have been wood anyway, I felt like painting it is just sorta hiding the material mismatch - and the brass looks quite nice against the walnut I've been using as it is. I'm leaving them unpainted for now.

 

The Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast dedicates a few pages to parrel construction, and in it Anderson muses on a few different ways these would have been tightened off from the deck. He also offers a simple option, which is just to have two loops for the yard, threaded onto the centre of the parrel. That's what I've done - I'm not professing to be an expert in rigging at all, and I think keeping things simpler where possible will be a boon later down the line.

 

On that note, here's the smallest bowline I've ever tied:

 

And here is the yard mounted with the parrel:

You can see the hoisting assembly, which goes to a block lower down on the mast. I've just taped that to the mast for now, as I really do need to get the standing rigging in place before I start messing around with the belaying on the sterncastle.

 

And speaking of standing rigging, here's the shrouds on the foremast:

I've also put two pairs of tackle pendants at the base of the masthead here, following Anderson's instructions. I wasn't sure if the Mary Rose would have had them, but I figure I can cut them off a lot easier than I can put them in under the shrouds!

 

The top still fits on:

 

And now for a really fun challenge; making a mouse!

I followed Anderson's instructions directly in this: a piece of wool wrapped around the stay, then fine thread tied around it at each end before a criss-cross of sewing around the whole structure. It's a little misshapen, but I'm quite pleased with it!

I siezed the eye at the end instead of splicing it - definitely not that brave.

 

This was all in aid of getting the forestay in place, and so here we go:

I've only loosely tied this off for now with a few half-hitches as I'm sure it'll need adjusting once the other bits of rigging are in place. I think in reality I should tie it off on the stay above.

Here's a top view - the spaghetti begins.

 

That's all for today!

[Louie da fly]

Seriously impressive work, mate!

 

Wonderful to see you're using Anderson as your guide. Extrapolating backwards to allow for the difference in eras can be a problem, but it's really the only option available. Within reason I think we can assume that the earlier we go the simpler rigging becomes. But that's not a hard and fast rule - look at all the crows-feet they used in the 17th century and dropped later as being too unwieldy. You just have to go with what seems to you to be most likely. And nobody without a time machine is going to be able to tell you you're wrong.

 

Steven

[djford]

After a couple weeks away, I'm back to (admittedly slow) progress!

 

I always find it a struggle to return to a project after a few days off, and this is no exception - it took me some days to summon up the courage to keep working on the Mary Rose. Nevertheless, here we are - on to the rest of the standing rigging.

 

Here's a rather nice photo of the mainmast with tackles and shrouds in place. The tackles are a bit of a frustration for this project - Anderson's book includes them, and clearly they were involved in at least some capacity on ships of this era, but they're not included in the Caldercraft model at all. This means there's not enough blocks, especially double blocks, in the kit, so I've had to order some extras - those are in the post at the moment, so that's holding up some progress.

 

In a similar vein, I ordered some larger deadeyes for the mainmast, in order to drill the four extra holes per deadeye.

These are 12mm across, which is slightly too large for the scale, but in situ they don't look massively out of place, and there was no way I was comfortable drilling out much smaller than this. They're also a slightly different shape to the ones in the original ship; I simply don't have the tools or technical skill to make these as accurate as I'd really like. 

 

That said, I have taken the time to wrap wire round each deadeye and solder them to the chains, so you can't fault me entirely:

This one needs a bit of tidying up, but it's the general plan fo the rest of the ship.

 

So that's what I did:

As you can see, the larger deadeyes are only for the shrouds on the mainmast, whilst I've used the standard 8mm deadeyes for the rest of the shrouds.

 

Here are the longer chains on the foremast:

 

And I've also put in all the forward stays - here's the bonaventure mizzenstay:

This stay is actually the same diameter line as the shrouds - I realised a bit too late that I should have used a thinner line for the mizzen and BA mizzen shrouds, but I'm not sure that it's worth the time to rip them out and put new ones in. As such, I've just made the BA stay a finer line, as it would have looked obtrusive to be the same weight as the mainstay, but I've kept the shrouds a bit thicker. Hopefully not too much of a disaster.

 

Here's a view of the mainstay - I've currently lashed it with a collar straight to the foremast. Anderson's book indicates that this was common, but with the collar leading on to a hole in the stem itself - clearly impossible when the forecastle is this tall. I think this looks okay, but I'm amenable to change if someone gives me a better solution!

 

As mentioned above, I'm waiting on some new blocks to arrive so that I can put the tackles in, but my main concern now is the boarding netting. I can't really connect the shrouds to any of the deadeyes on the sterncastle until I know what I'm doing on the poop deck - either an A-frame to support netting, the netting itself, or completely ommitting it. I'm tempted to construct some sort of A-frame and see how it looks, and then do the standing rigging with the presumption that I'll be able to reach around the shrouds to put a net in after the fact if I want to.

 

Thanks for following along!

 

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  'Seems likely that the nets were deployed before going into action, as they would be a nuisance at other times.  So perhaps an 'a frame' structure would serve, and the nets could be rolled up either side to the top of the 'A' when not needed.  It wouldn't be one giant net, but gores (widths) sized to the width of the spaced rafters.  This would allow control lines (for the yards) to stay in place, as they would be belayed so that the lines came down next to a rafter.  The sides of the netting would be lashed along the rafter - not unlike gasket ties - as the netting was deployed, and the control lines would still function.

 

  

[djford]

Okay, smaller update today!

 

I tied the blocks in place for the tackles - these are on the foremast, but I've also put tackles in place for the main and mizzen mast. None on the bonaventure, as Anderson's book omits any info on that, and it seems like it was quite a small mast even on the Mary Rose.

 

Here's the tackles set up on the foremast:

It seems like most models (and likely most real ships) attach their tackle hooks to eyebolts on the channels. I've hooked and lashed mine to the belaying rail, at least on the forecastle, as there's really not much space around it for an eyebolt. That said, I've got a whole bunch of spare eyepins, so I could change this if there's a notable outcry. There's still enough room on the belaying rail to belay the yards to, so I don't foresee this being a major issue.

 

Here's the first deadeye on the shrouds. I've spaced these 2.5x the width of the deadeyes, so here about 14mm apart, using a bit of wire bent to the right distance:

 

And here's the first one tied off:

 

And then, because I was on a roll, here's the whole foremast done:

 

And a view of the full forecastle:

Looking pretty snazzy if I say so myself! Obviously I need to do the ratlines, and I've only done the foremast and not the fore topmast and the shrouds for that, but it's progress.

 

And then on to the boarding nets, or lack thereof. The Caldercraft kit has beams across the waist, which are similar enough to both McElvogue and Marsden's books that I've followed their lead - here's an in-progress shot:

 

On 2/13/2025 at 9:53 PM, Snug Harbor Johnny said:

  'Seems likely that the nets were deployed before going into action, as they would be a nuisance at other times.  So perhaps an 'a frame' structure would serve, and the nets could be rolled up either side to the top of the 'A' when not needed.  It wouldn't be one giant net, but gores (widths) sized to the width of the spaced rafters.  This would allow control lines (for the yards) to stay in place, as they would be belayed so that the lines came down next to a rafter.  The sides of the netting would be lashed along the rafter - not unlike gasket ties - as the netting was deployed, and the control lines would still function. 

 

Yep, I think this is the correct way forward. I've decided to create something similar to the above waist beam solution for the poop deck, so here's my mockup for that:

 

Excusing the blutac, you can see that my suggested solution is 'T-shaped' supports in line with the three masts, and then a rail on each side of the mast. My intention is to then add the rafters from the outer railing to these central rails at a similar spacing to the beams on the waist, hopefully allowing me to keep belaying lines in place without too much extra hassle.

 

I also took @Louie da fly's advice and had a look at a local fabric store:

This is some material intended for net curtains (extremely out of fashion, but a remarkable selection). The holes are about the right size for my purposes, so as long as I can cut around the extremely tasteful butterfly pattern I think this will do well. I'm still going to keep my eye out for other options though! My other issue with this is that it's polyester - my initial plan of tea or coffee staining the fabric won't take very well to synthetic fibres like this, so I'll need to investigate a better solution; perhaps some sort of oil paint wash?

 

Anyway, that's the update for today. I'd be very keen to hear any feedback on my proposal for the boarding nets, but until next time, thanks for looking in!

 

 

[Louie da fly]

looking very good. I like the tackles particularly.

 

That mesh you're using for the boarding netting - it's a shame you couldn't get something that was just net with no decoration. I was lucky to get plain mesh. Regarding the colour, keep in mind that the netting could well have been tarred and might have been black or something approaching it. The other thing is that white mesh would very likely be distracting to the eye and would hide the detail below. I'd be going for black or dark brown, myself. Does your local store have anything in those colours?

 

Steven

[djford]

10 hours ago, Louie da fly said:

looking very good. I like the tackles particularly.

 

That mesh you're using for the boarding netting - it's a shame you couldn't get something that was just net with no decoration. I was lucky to get plain mesh. Regarding the colour, keep in mind that the netting could well have been tarred and might have been black or something approaching it. The other thing is that white mesh would very likely be distracting to the eye and would hide the detail below. I'd be going for black or dark brown, myself. Does your local store have anything in those colours?

 

Steven

Thanks Steven! I wasn't sure about the tackles so good to hear I'm on the right track

 

Luckily the pattern is very spaced out - if I use this stuff i'll be able to cut out sections of just plain netting, though as it was very cheap I'm also on the lookout for other options.

 

My plan is to dye it either a dark brown or black, most net fabric here seems to be white by default, so I'll hopefully update soon on that front!

[djford]

Huge update this week!

 

First, I put together the boarding netting frame over the sterncastle as I discussed last time.

 

Here it is in progress:

 

 

And here it is finished up, with a quick coat of Danish oil:

I'm extremely happy with how this came out. Initially it was a bit nerve-wracking, as I've really got no idea if this is how it would have looked, but I think it does look quite good! The gap down the middle means the various stays can come down without any interaction with the masts, and I might even use the middle rails as belaying points for some of the lines, especially off the mizzen and bonaventure mizzen.

 

Here she is in full view:

Because of the upward slope towards the rear of the sterncastle, the structure also has a very pleasing movement to it. Overall, very pleased!

 

Now with that done, I could move on to the rigging! Here are the tackles on the main and mizzen:

I belayed the mizzen tackles on to the internal rail that the Caldercraft kit had me put in. I've since added another one of these rails towards the front of the sterncastle rail, though I'm really not sure whether the lines would more likely be belayed to the outside rail on the channels. I can't see how that would make anything easier to operate, but I'm happy to move knots around if needed.

 

Here's the spritsail yard with its halliard.

I'm currently belaying the halliard to the front of the top forecastle deck. Anderson says that this would normally be at the base of the bowsprit, but the Mary Rose's ridiculous bowsprit makes that an impossibility, so this is probably not how it was actually done. I've also put the block for this right where the forestay is attached to the bowsprit, whereas normally I believe the forestay would be attached below the spritsail. This makes the braces for the spritsail a little awkward, as they're belayed via blocks on the forestay - I think it still works.

 

Here are the lifts, and a better view of the various attachment points:

The lifts originate from the apex of the forecastle, which is in line with Anderson's direction of 'below the bowsprit'; I think this makes as much sense as anything else.

 

And here's the braces attached to the forestay:

Again, probably not exactly right, but I can pull on the various lines and operate the yard, so I'm happy. I tightened up some of the slack after I took this photo - don't judge that starboard lift line!

 

Here are the attachment points for the braces up close. Sheet bends on seized eyes for the static points, which are clove hitched round the stays. The blocks are just attached as normal with a clove hitch on their line as well. Neat!

 

I sped ahead with the rigging after this. Here's the main yard rigged with lifts and braces:

 

And here's the fore yard:

(the eagle-eyed amongst you will note that I actually put the fore yard on before I completed the braces on the spritsail yard. Enjoy the narrative!!)

 

And after this I got the tops on:

Now she's really looking shipshape! I had a bit of a mare with these, as they wouldn't sit flat and I actually snapped the cross-trees off the main mast. Nothing a bit of glue couldn't fix...

 

Here's the mainmast top and main topmast, showing off the toprope underneath:

I'm belaying this off of one of the two knights on the front of the sterncastle. In hindsight, I wish I'd put one centrally and used the other for the mizzen, but they're way too attached to want to rejig at this point, and at least it's another attachment point. The toprope here was actually functional, holding the mast up, but I did end up glueing the topmast in after I popped an eyebolt out applying too much pressure - it's not like I was ever going to remove it!

 

Here's the main top yard with a very neat parrel if I do say so myself:

The caldercraft kit only provides 5-ribbed parrels for this job, but Anderson specifically says these only had two ribs. I simply cut some of the 5-ribbed sections into pieces, and found it so much easier than the larger parrels down below. Hopefully this will have streamlined my process somewhat for the rest.

 

As noted in a previous post, I've deigned not to paint my parrels black as suggested - I like the brass.

 

Here's my helper:

It was very sunny today, which made a lot of the tinier knotwork that much more pleasant.

 

It was around this point that I realised that the Caldercraft kit doesn't provide crosstrees and trestle trees for the tops of the fore, mizzen and bonaventure mizzen topmasts, or for the main topgallant. You're supposed to use bits of strip wood glued to the mast as stops to prevent the shrouds slipping down.

 

As far as I'm aware, crosstrees were used on all masts and topmasts to spread out the shrouds, so I made this one for the fore topmast:

It's not perfect, but it's good enough at the scale. Not too time consuming either!

 

And with that I got the fore topmast in place:

You can also see I've got the halliard for the fore top yard on, and the main topstay tied down. It's hard to tell but the main backstays are in place too, in a two-part running setup as described in Anderson's book. Huge progress, as I said - I've really gotten into the flow of this this week!

 

And here's the forecastle's top deck, with everything so far belayed:

Getting a bit crowded! The main topstay is off of the fiddle block, whilst the main yard is off the sheave block to the knight behind it. They aren't touching, I promise. There's not too much more to go on this, but it's gonna be fiddly to get much more in!

 

Anyway, that's that for now. Thanks for reading!

Edited 4 hours ago by djford
Fixing some formatting