Venetian Carrack or Cocha by woodrat - FINISHED - 1/64

[woodrat]

The following is a close reconstruction of the vessel, a carrack or cocha, illustrated in the 1445 document by Zorzi Trombetta da Modone ( also known as Timbotta). Fortunately for us, the dimensions of this hull were recorded on the original drawing of the hull, which enables a fairly close attempt at reconstruction possible.

 

The Trombetta nave circa1445

 

Venetian Carrack by Woodrat 1/64

 

 

Page 1:

Index

·         Overview of Trombetta nave

·         Design of midship frame

·         Narrowing with mezza lune

·         Construction of half-hull model

Page 2

·         Lines from half-hull

·         Plan for full hull build plank on bulkhead

Page 3

·         Keel and posts: the backbone

·         Bulkheads

·         Main deck framing

·         Transversal bitt

·         Wales

·         Start planking

Page4

·         Complete planking

·         Stern timbers

·         Scuppers

·         Main deck planking

·         Main hatch

·         Half deck

·         Accommodation beneath half deck

·         Steering mechanism

Page 5

·         Planking half-deck

·         Knees on half deck and waist

·         Framing and planking poop deck

·         Seats of ease

·         Sterncastle construction

·         Windlass

·         Hawse holes

·         Foremast step

·         Forecastle framing

·         Framing Great Arch starts

Page 6

·         Completion of Great Arch

·         Clinker planking of forecastle

·         Planking and completion of forecastle

·         External hull riders

Page 7

·         Accommodation on the half deck

·         Roofing of the half deck accommodation

·         Knights

Page 8

·         Figurehead

·         Sterncastle construction

·         Forecastle shelter

Page 9

·         Grapnel

·         Stern gallery and blinds

Page 10

·         Capstan

·         Rudder

·         Pumps

Page 11

·         Built-up mainmast

·         Loading port

·         Ventilation scuttles

·         Mast partners and wedges

Page 12

·         Blocks

·         Standing rigging:

Page 13

·         Standing rigging: mainstay

·         More blocks

Page 14

·         main shrouds

·         mainyard

page 15

·         halyards

·         mainsail

·         Crew figures

Page 16

·         Molding of mainsail and bonnet

·         Maintop

Page 17

·         Further details of mainsail

·         Jacob’s ladder

·         Running rigging main

·         Parrels and parrel tackle

Page 18

·         Mainsail set

·         Mizzen yard, sail

·        

 

Page 19

·         Mizzen mast standing rigging

·         Mizzen partners and wedges

·         Mizzen sail and running rigging

·         Mizzen parrels, halyards and tackle

Page 20

·         Final figurehead

·         Completed ship with flags and pennants

Page 21

·         Stand

 

 

 

We start:

The lines for the master frame and sheer were based on the extant material available from contemporary sources

 

 

note the rounded bow and stern, the projecting deck timbers, the high forecastle with its "great arch" below and the characteristic clinkered planking below the castle. The temporary lashed shelters attached to  the fore and stern castles were presumably covered with awnings

 

to show another illustration of the great arch

 

a detail from the arrival of St Ursula at Cologne by Carpaccio. A contemporary view of carracks.

 

a careened carrack by Botticelli showing deck

detail

 

a carrack by Bonfigli 1485 showing the transversal bitt projecting below the forecastle whch is also seen on the Trombetta document

 

A roughly contemporary method of constructing a master-frame by Pre Theodoro

 

]This my attempt at a master-frame. All other hull frames are based on this. 

 

Dick

[woodrat]

tail frames are positioned at each end of the keel

 

Calculation of the narrowing of the frames between the master frame and the tail frames used the geometric "mezza lune" technique. rising of floors can also be calculated by a geometric technique

 

using these techniques, a half hull block model of the central hull was made and  faired

 

As was done by the original shipwrights of the venetian Arsenale, ribbands were then used to make the bow and stern frames.

]

 

lines were taken off at each station

Edited May 31, 2014 by woodrat

[Louie da fly]

There's something enchanting about a carrack. A much under-represented form, in my opinion.

 

You can keep your clippers and frigates; I don't think you can go past a carrack for a sort of ungainly elegance. Reconstructing the shape using only contemporary representations is difficult but rewarding.

 

It really looks good - keep up the good work.

[woodrat]

You can keep your clippers and frigates; I don't think you can go past a carrack for a sort of ungainly elegance.

 

sort of like a majestic duck, wouldn't you say? Dick

 

Edited December 23, 2016 by woodrat

[woodrat]

Having taken off the lines the solid half-hull was cut down to main deck level. The side timbers are seen.

main wales are seen bracketting the deck beams transom framing is seen

 

The hull was then planked. Note the projectiing deck beams at forward half of main deck and hold

 

The main deck was planked

 

The supporting structure of the forecastle was guessed at and the clinker planking below the forecastle was installed

 

the transversal bitt was installed

 

the horizontal clinker planking was installed to match the original drawing

 

The view from the other side

 

Dick

[woodrat]

The quarterdeck beams also project through the side planking

 

 

Progress on the poop and quarterdeck

note the characteristic vertical timbers on the ships hull to give extra rigidity and protection to the hull

[Doreltomin]

Hi Woodrat, 

 

I'm glad to see your topic here again... your carrack was truly inspiring, thank you for your pictures.

 

Wish you all the best for this New Year 2014! 

[Vivian Galad]

Beautiful ship, great work. Following and learning. ^^

[druxey]

Your project is a fascinating one, Woodrat. Kudos to you for your reconstruction and interpretation.

 

One point, though: while the deck above the waterline would reasonably have the deck beams protruding through the sides, I am puzzled by the beams below water coming through: surely it would be impossible to keep the joints watertight with the working of the ship. Or do you know something I'm missing here?

[captainbob]

I’m fascinated by the method of construction.  Well done.

 

Bob

[woodrat]

One point, though: while the deck above the waterline would reasonably have the deck beams protruding through the sides, I am puzzled by the beams below water coming through: surely it would be impossible to keep the joints watertight with the working of the ship. Or do you know something I'm missing here?

Thanks Druxey, Bob, Vivian and Doreltomin. Great work Vivian on your caravel, keep posting.

 

You raise a good practical point, Druxey.  The Mataro nao shows no projecting beams below the waterline,

 

but the Trombetta nave definitely shows this

 

My theory is this:

• The drawing was done with the ship out of water in drydock. No masts. Whole hull visible
• The ship may just have had all its outer sheathing removed and awaiting new sheathing.
• Sheathing was a layer of sacrificial planking over other materials (hair, bitumen tallow, etc) which protected the hull against shipworm
• This nave was a a largeish size vessel and the projecting beams below the waterline may have been required to prevent torsional problems.

the outer sheathing may have helped to caulk the projecting beams and cover them.

 

Alternatively, the dotted area between the wales may not be deck beams at all! If so, what do they represent?

 

 

There are no known wrecks of venetian round ships from this era so this is all speculation. What do you think? Any other ideas in MSW Land?

Dick

Edited January 3, 2014 by woodrat

[druxey]

Dear Dick,

 

Thank you for responding to my query. I agree that there are dark beam-end like squares shown in the Trombetta illustration. My (perhaps uninformed) impression is that these are small blocks of wood, perhaps nailed on, wedged between the heavier wale strakes. This may produce more longitudinal strength without adding too much weight. The deck beam ends shown on the topsides do not all follow the sheer of the ship, whereas the 'blocks' do, all the way forward and aft. Your theory may well be correct, though.

 

 

This is yet another place where I'd love to have a time machine!

[woodrat]

This is yet another place where I'd love to have a time machine!

Or one ot two archaeological finds! I can find no other reference in my books of nautical archaeology to projecting beams below the waterline but sheathing is well attested. Any nautical archaeologists out there?

[woodrat]

Really great work. I'm impressed. However, I would have preferred a full rigged model with sails, rather than a half model. Regardless, this project is truly professional in scope. Thanks for sharing.

 

Montani semper liberi  Happy modeling

    Crackers   

Thanks, Crackers. But if you think the evidence for hull construction is poor, wait till you see what's known about mediaeval rigging!!!

 

I do, however, have a cunning plan to do a full hull with rigging. The half-hull was sort of a proof of concept model. But first I must finish Le Gros Ventre. Dick

Edited January 3, 2014 by woodrat

[Doreltomin]

Hi Druxey and Woodrat, 

 

Thanks for asking precisely the question I was about to put myself! These ships are indeed truly confusing and without having at least one real example under our nose all this discussion may remain just pure speculation. However, it is very interesting that your model makes us put such good questions and trying find the correct answer. As one friend here on the MSW puts it so nicely, it's not only the model itself, it's mainly the knowledge we gain when building it! 

[druxey]

Thanks for your response, Dick. Your lovely model has certainly generated good discussion and thought! As for medieval rigging, good luck with that. I'm currently trying to sort out rigging from as 'late' as 1600, and that's tough enough.

[woodrat]

Another thought. Perhaps the ship in drydock is in the process of being planked and the strakes between the main wales are not yet in place. The square blocks could be the underlying frames. :mellow: Dick

 

The rudder is made of several pieces with wooden battens and metal straps reinforcing. Note the curve of the tiller.

[druxey]

Good point, Dick.

[woodrat]

The fore and aft edges of the blocks are always perpendicular to the keel. Problem solved. Have to change the model now Dick

Edited January 4, 2014 by woodrat

[woodrat]

Have removed the "deck beams" and exposed the underlying bituminised "frames". The planking between the wales left off. Looks more like the illustration Dick

 

[Doreltomin]

Well done Dick, excellent point with the frames seen between the wales! Good luck with the rigging and don't be afraid, it is actually simpler than in the 17th century, only you have to do it the way it was done at the time... you can take the Mataro ship as an example. The blocks for instance are different. Will follow you with interest!

Edited January 4, 2014 by Doreltomin

[woodrat]

Thanks, Doreltomin. It is unfortunate that the Mataro nao has been interfered with so much over the centuries but it is the best we have. It is a challenging project .

 

Here are some views of the temporary framework used to support awnings on the stern and fore castles. Also the eccentric "bowsprit"

[Louie da fly]

The engraver Master W.A. (Willem A. Cruces, ca. 1468) can be very useful for rigging, though as he was based in Flanders it's a moot point how much of the rigging he shows is appropriate to Venice. this link is to a pdf on the rigging in his engravings and those of others. WARNING - it's at least 10 MB of download.

 

There's also the ships of the Beauchamp Pageant (English, about the same time)shown here. Unfortunately the pictures are extremely faint, but there is a good zoom function and you can get pretty good detail despite the faintness. You can see ships at pages 17,19,29,31,45,49,51,71,73,97 and 99. Again, perhaps not appropriate to Venice.

 

I've also attached a few contemporary pictures that may be of help. Unfortunately the tapestry of Vasco da Gama's arrival in India was done not in Portugal (which might have helped with Mediterranean rigging) but in Tournai in Flanders.

 

I'm going to have a look at my copy of Landstro"m's The Ship. I'm pretty sure it has more pics of Mediterranean vessels of the the right period which might be of help.

[Doreltomin]

@ Louie, thank you very much for the tip... very interesting link and photos! 

 

@ Woodrat: you are right about the Mataro being much tampered with. Louie is right that other cited sources are very useful as well.

 

And one last point, which is a bit tricky because you should have thought of it earlier: Have you considered putting a MIRROR instead of the plank on which the half model is put? In such a way the model would look complete from any angle!

 

Of course since the plane of the cut isn't now made exactly in the middle but a bit before that, you must "shave" everything to the exact middle and make not a full round mast, but just half of it.  A bit tricky but I believe it would worth the trouble!

[woodrat]

 

 

: Have you considered putting a MIRROR instead of the plank on which the half model is put? In such a way the model would look complete from any angle!

 

Of course since the plane of the cut isn't now made exactly in the middle but a bit before that, you must "shave" everything to the exact middle and make not a full round mast, but just half of it.  A bit tricky but I believe it would worth the trouble!

I did consider a mirror and tried one but, because of the thickness of glass over the silvered layer, it looked like there was a huge gap down the middle of the ship and I gave up on the idea. Besides, there is a venerable tradition of half-hull models and I rather like the way they look.

 

 

Thank you Louie for the article on Master W A +. This will be very useful. I think Landstrom in his excellent book uses the Mataro nao but lengthens in in the mid section to make it seaworthy. the wooldings on the masts in two of the pictures indicating masts made of several pieces of wood whereas the small nao by W A has a one piece mast. Also noteworthy is that, in the first picture, the yard has been lowered to the deck, presumably it was the way they did a harbour furl.

 

The dragon

[Louie da fly]

I had a look at the Landstro"m book last night. It really is an excellent book, but there's not all that much about Mediterranean carracks of the time you're interested in. Maybe there's very little extant information available at all.

 

But one thing is that in the Mediterranean they were quite late putting ratlines in the shrouds - your model is probably from around about the time of transition. So rather than ratlines, perhaps just a single rope ladder per mast. I'll see what else I can find out.

[druxey]

It's expensive, but front-silvered glass eliminates that 'gap' in a mirrored half model. 

 

A possible help for rigging of the earlier period might be to look at blocks recovered from Mary Rose. They are certainly different than 18th century or modern blocks. OK, they are not as early as your model, but might give some useful pointers anyway.

 

Lovely work, Dick.

[woodrat]

Louie, I have been fascinated by the english carracks in the Richard Beaumont drawings. These seem to be sketched from life and show much interesting detail. Some show ratlines and others Jacob's ladders. Thanks for the link.

 

Druxey and Doreltomin. Another reason not to place the ship on a mirror was the fact that it was not symmetrical. the bowsprit (if that's what it was) is shifted to the starboard side of the forecastle (a feature seen in many pictures of the period).

 

 

Dick

[Louie da fly]

Happy to help. Though the Beaumont stuff is is a record of happenings some decades earlier, the pics date from about 1485, and I think we can safely assume the artist portrayed ships of his own time rather than those of a few decades earlier. When I first looked at it I thought there were only about 3 or 4 pics in it, but on looking at it again I realised I'd missed a lot on my first view. I agree the detail is very convincing and I'm prepared to accept it as an accurate depiction of what was actually used at the time.

 

 

Here's a link to a contemporary picture of Venetian and Turkish carracks in battle in 1499, which has some interesting details.

 

And a bowl from Moorish Spain c. 1450 here and the bottom picture here

 

I also did a quick image search for Jacopo de Barbari's view of Venice of 1500, from which Landstrom got one of his reconstructions - you can see the results here. Didn't have time to go to all the websites shown, but you might find one that blows up enough to give good details of ships. Some examples I was able to find are here, and a detail photo of one of the original wood blocks here.

 

Your model is nothing short of magnificent. Keep up the good work.

Edited January 7, 2014 by Louie da fly

[Louie da fly]

I found some more information trawling the Net, and particularly contemporary pictures of carracks, which might help with rigging if you decide to go that way. I got most of them from a flickr collection put together by a computer gamer called ModernKnight1. It's a mixed bag, and I've picked the eyes out of it - including (as far as I can judge)only actual contemporary representations appropriate to your model and leaving out later copies, reconstructions etc. I have to hand it to ModernKnight1 for persistence and dedication. That's a heck of a collection of stuff and his site's well worth a visit.

 

Several pictures of Mediterranean carracks of the mid-late 15th century show what appear to be small groups of ratlines at intervals up the shrouds. No use as ladders, but perhaps to keep the shrouds together?

 

Jonah and the whale (date and source unknown) has them, as does Modern Knight 1's "Unknown Carrack 3" (the text is in German, but the flags are crescent moons - perhaps supposed to be a Turkish ship? "Venice carracks", which appears to be a detail from de Barberi's view of Venice have them as well.

 

Reixach's St Ursula retable (Catalan, 1468)doesn't show them, and neither does another of Carpaccio's St Ursula series - the departure of the pilgrims (partenza dei pellegrini). Modern Knight 1's "Carracks in Venice" hasn't enough detail to be certain if they're there or not. The Venetian woodcut of the 1499 Battle of Zonchio doesn't show them, either.

 

There are some other worthwhile representations of carracks in Modern Knight 1's site, all with conventional ratlines, such as two which appear to be Spanish if the banners at the mastheads show (as they appear to) the coat of arms of the combined kingdoms of Castile and Leon. Lacking any other identification I've called them "Modern Knight1 Unknown Carracks 4 and 4A".

 

And then there's the wierd ones; I think they're simply bad art, and not very good representations (or in one case a really bad one) of contemporary carracks, but they may contain useful information.

 

I hope this is of use in your model. I've certainly had fun chasing it all up. Just love those carracks!

 

Steven

Edited January 9, 2014 by Louie da fly