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

[Louie da fly]

A very instructive and informative couple of photos, Dick. Are you going to use a parrel to support the yard?

 

Steven

[woodrat]

Yes, four rows of parrels. However, the problem is how to attach them in such a way as the parrels can be loosened and tightened as required for adjustment of the position of the yard on the mast. Many of the contemporary illustrations show the yard positioned at varying distances from the top. This may have been a way to adjust for varying wind strengths and directions (?)

Dick

 

This is one of the best illustrations of running rigging to the mainsail

 

[woodrat]

The mainyard is temporarily attached to the mainmast by ties and halliards. Note that the halliards pass through large blocks on either side of the top of the mainmast

[Louie da fly]

Beautiful work as usual, Dick.

[druxey]

Nice going, Dick. Might I suggest a either a little wax or a light singeing? (Not for you, but to get rid of the fuzz on your line!)

[woodrat]

Thanks Druxey. I did wax the halliards but I might try your singeing. I used a different line which is inferior. I will redo it.

[woodrat]

before singeingafter singeing

it looks better to me

Dick

[druxey]

Ah! Much nicer, Dick. I'm really enjoying learning about these earlier ships from your build.

[JesseLee]

So am I

 

Jesse

[woodrat]

Thanks Druxey and Jesse. Here are the halliard block being temporarily installed to get the halliard length right. The blocks are made of jarrah, a West Australian hardwood.

I have made the mainsail using paper and hopefully will install soon.

Dick

[Louie da fly]

A beautiful timber, jarrah. Am I right in thinking you've made sheaves for those blocks?

 

What kind of paper are you going to use for the sail?

 

Steven

[woodrat]

I regret to say, Steven, that I bought the sheaves, although I did blacken them myself. The paper I am trying is acid free calligraphy paper which is a bit like vellum. It is an experiment and may end in tears (pun!)

 

This shows the paper strips glued with acid-free clear glue. I will do a mainsail with 2 bonnets. One of my other hobbies is bookbinding so this feels OK to me.

Dick

[woodrat]

Here be the mainsail and two bonnets ready to be connected. Many illustrations show the cross stitching

[Louie da fly]

Very nice, Dick.

 

 

Did you do the cross stitching with a stylus of some sort?

 

The example above has painted decoration on the sail, which seems to have been fairly rare, but not unknown. Are you planning to do any on your own nave's mainsail?

[woodrat]

It is actually number 100 thread glued to the paper. If you look at some illustrations e.g.

 the cross hatching is only on the front and not visible on the back. This suggests to me some form of small calibre rope has been sown to the front of the sail. Are there any other possibilities?

I may put a simple cross on the mainsail but will not do more

Cheers

Dick

[druxey]

That is a very acute observation, Dick. And the sail and bonnets are very nicely executed.

[Louie da fly]

That's very interesting, Dick. The Vikings seem to have had a similar system of reinforcing the sails (though they used diagonal reinforce rather that horizontal and vertical), as can be seen on a lot of contemporary depictions, such as here.

[woodrat]

Oh Dear! That didn't work . I should have known that paper would not support a curve in two planes at once. Back to plan B I think. If plan B fails the sail furls. I thought the vikings were using woollen sailcloth which would explain the need for quilting.

Dick

[druxey]

It is possible to mold paper to shape over a form. Some varieties of Japanese paper might work well for this, Dick.

[woodrat]

12 hours ago, druxey said:

It is possible to mold paper to shape over a form. Some varieties of Japanese paper might work well for this, Dick.

Yes, thanks Druxey. A mold is required as you say. I have to experiment a little. As you can see, the central part of the mainsail and bonnet is pulled back toward the mast by a type of lanyard to prevent the sail rubbing on the mainstay. This produces a complex curve unlike those seen on ships of later centuries

[Louie da fly]

22 hours ago, woodrat said:

 I thought the vikings were using woollen sailcloth which would explain the need for quilting.

Dick

Yes, woollen homespun. That's the current theory, at least. All they really have to go on is the pictures, and as homespun wool would probably stretch a fair bit it's thought that was the reason. However, the vikings certainly had other fabrics - linen for one, which was used for sailcloth in the great days of sail. Also a fabric made of  fibre from stinging nettles was fairly common.

[cog]

Dick,

 

I read on another forum, someone used paper handkerchiefs and formed them over a baloonish formed bottle (something like the Chianti "basket" bottles) Can't recall whether he used white glue or something else

[woodrat]

13 hours ago, cog said:

Dick,

 

I read on another forum, someone used paper handkerchiefs and formed them over a baloonish formed bottle (something like the Chianti "basket" bottles) Can't recall whether he used white glue or something else

Thanks Carl. That sounds like a form of papier mache which could work. Thats sort of what I had in mind but I need to experiment a bit with materials and molds. Wish me luck.

Cheers

Dick

[woodrat]

After laughable escapades with papier mache and somewhat obscene balloon constructions, the dog ate my mold, really, honest!

So.. I decided to repair and resurrect my first attempt. This was paper strips. After repair, I added Silkspan strips glued transversely to the front of the sail while molding with a Frascati bottle (emptied first).

 

The resulting mainsail is not perfecto but it gives a reasonable impression of a 15th century mainsail.

 

prior to attaching to mainmast, I must finish the maintop. This is the base of it.

Cheerio, Dick

[druxey]

The dog ate your homework? Not an original excuse, I'm afraid. Compound curves are a challenge. Had you considered molding a large piece of soaked SilkSpan and then adding the seams and reinforcements when dry?

[woodrat]

26 minutes ago, druxey said:

 Compound curves are a challenge. Had you considered molding a large piece of soaked SilkSpan and then adding the seams and reinforcements when dry?

You are much too polite, Druxey. What you mean to say is: do the homework again! I had considered that method but I have given up on papier mache. Maybe a plaster or clay mold would be easier. Nonetheless I will hang the yard and see what this version looks like on the ship

[Louie da fly]

Yes, the sail seems to be missing the characteristic "belly" of the carrack's sails in its current incarnation.

 

 

I don't know if the joins with the bonnets aren't a little too stiff and contributing to the problem. Or perhaps the cloths - or perhaps both.

 

Maybe the cloths could be suggested (another modeller uses thin white paint lines to represent the joins) rather than stuck together "for real". After all, in scale, the seams would be vanishingly thin.

 

Perhaps carving a mould out of wood, or better still (easier to carve!) styrene foam would do the trick? If you make a convex shaped mould and drape silkspan (or perhaps handkerchief material or cotton from an old sheet) over it with thinned glue? You'd probably have to press the fabric into the creases in the mould where the seams are, but it might be worth trying.

 

Steven

[druxey]

A custom shaped mold would be the best way to go. I've used Silkspan, wetted and stretched on a frame like watercolor paper. I then washed it white dilute acrylic to get a 'canvas' color. After putting in a backing inside the frame to support the material I 'drew' the lines of the seams on with paint and a ruling pen. When dry, I added all the reinforcements using dilute acrylic medium. (This, unlike white glue, will not dissolve when wetted.) When wetted down after removing from the frame, the material can be molded, then 'set' with more dilute matte medium. Make sure there is some form of mold release, though!

[woodrat]

I have a cunning plan which cannot fail............

Druxey, I will try your technique and report back. I knew this was going to be a sticking point.

 

Attached here are some scale figures carved by Louie da Fly, thanks Steven. He has kindly donated them to the build.

The first figures are of the Doge Cristoforo Moro, the owner of the ship who is clearly deeply displeased with a somewhat hapless courtier, perhaps his private secretary.

below, a tar hauls on a rope.

Dick

 

[Louie da fly]

(blush).

 

Steven