18
1. Shaping and tapering masts and spars.
Details of all mast and spars with dimensions are shown on plan
sheet 5.
Beech dowels are provided for the masts and spars but require
shaping and tapering. Being round, a dowel is difficult to taper.
The best approach is to first cut, plane, or file the dowel from
round at maximum diameter to square at the ends, then to eight
sided, and perhaps even 16 sided. Now sand or file it round. The
process is illustrated on plan sheet 5. This approach prevents turn-
ing a dowel into an oval. If the taper is very slight you may not be
able to cut it square at the end. Try to cut the taper on four sides
down to the approximate diameter, then sand round. Although a
little tricky, another way is to chuck a dowel into an electric drill or
lathe and sand in the taper.
The cleats on the masts are made from the 1/16 square stock pro-
vided. The easy way to attach these is to cut the stock longer than
required, glue to the mast and then trim them to length and carve
them to the tapered shape shown. The 1/16 stock is a little too big
to be scale so slim the cleats down a bit in the carving process.
2. Sail making
Newcomers to the nautical world should learn the following
rigging terms used on the plans and in instructions. Only those
terms applicable to this model are mentioned. For more nautical
terms refer to the books in the bibliography.
Sail terms:
Each edge and corner of a sail has a name. On a fore
and aft sail as we have for this model, the top is the
head
, bottom
the
foot
, aft side the
leech
, and forward side the
luff
. The lower
forward corner is the
tack
, aft lower corner the
clew
, upper
forward corner the
throat
, and the aft upper corner the
peak
. A
triangular sail is similar, but the upper corner is called the
head
. It
has no throat or peak.
Halliards or halyards:
Lines for raising and lowering a sail, boom,
gaff, or flag. For gaffs, the outer halliard is the
peak halliard
. At
the gaff jaws is a
throat halliard
, named for the part of the sail it
operates.
Downhauls, outhauls,
and
inhauls
drag a sail along a
boom or up and down a stay. The launch model is very simple
having only a foresail halyard and a mainsail halyard.
Blocks:
Wooden or metal shells with
sheaves
(pulleys) for
handling lines. A
purchase
(tackle) consists of several blocks and a
line to provide a mechanical advantage for handling sails and spars.
Jig tackle
is a term describing a tackle at the deck end of a rig.
The launch model has only two blocks for the halyards.
Sheets:
Lines holding the lower corners of a sail or boom.
Reef bands:
Horizontal reinforcing bands on a sail. They have
short lengths of rope called
reef points
. In heavy weather, sailors
tie the reef points to the boom to shorten the sail. In the case of
the launch, the sails would have been reefed to the spars (lugs).
Material:
Sailcloth must be lightweight, yet fairly opaque. Tightly
woven cotton is acceptable and provided in the kit by Model Expo.
The making of sails is a controversial subject among ship modelers.
The controversy arises over the fact that real sails are sewn but it is
impossible to create scale stitchery. Also scale woven fabric does
not exist. Even the smallest stitch that can be made is grossly out
of scale. This fact is just simply accepted by some as an inevitable
fact and they prefer the look of sewn sails in spite of over scale
stitches and fabrics. Others devise various methods to attempt to
make sails look realistic on a model. Two methods are presented
here, the sewing method and a simplified method wherein the
seams, hems, and reinforcements are represented by simple pencil
lines. The latter method is illustrated on plan sheet 5 and is self
explanatory. The discussion that follows illustrates the methods of
sewing sails.
Sewing Aids:
Visit a fabric shop and purchase a bottle of
Fray-Chek.
Running or brushing it along the edge of the cloth
prevents the material from unraveling when cut and produces a
sharp edge. Apply it to the sail before rolling the hem, on in the
case of the simplified method before cutting out the sail shape.
Stitch-Witchery
and
Wonder-Under
are basically the same product.
They are heat fusible bonding tapes. Stitch-Witchery comes in a
roll and is bond sensitive on both sides. Wonder-Under comes in
sheets with a thin, paper backing on one side. To join two pieces,
simply place a strip between them and iron. Use Wonder-Under
for tabling (hemming) the sail if sewing it is too difficult.
Preparation and sewing:
Wash sailcloth several times to
pre-shrink it. Many modelers prefer to alter the stark white color
of the material by dying or staining it. Some use tea; others use
commercial products such as Rit dye. If you are going to color
your sail material do this before applying a fray check product.
When dry, iron the cloth, but be careful not to scorch it. Next,
lightly draw the seams and hem (tabling) lines in pencil, and then
sew the seams using light tan cotton thread. The stitches look best
when the thread is a color close to the color of the cloth. A sewing
machine makes fast work of the project. Practice on scrap cloth.
Balance the needle thread tension so it doesn't pucker the material.
No reinforcement patches are required. Instead, simply stitch lines
to represent corner reinforcements, reef bands, etc. If sewing a
double seam, be sure the two lines are parallel. Those who lack the
Betsy Ross touch can substitute a single seam.
When done, iron the sails. Be careful not to burn them. Next, cut
the sail shape using Line A shown on plan sheet 5. Fold the hem,
iron it flat, and sew as close to Line B as possible. Tuck the ends
and hand-stitch the corners. The sail is now ready for stretching.
Stretching the Sails:
This step assures the sail's proper shape, since
sewing may have altered it. Using the original pattern, trace the
sail's outline onto a piece of paper. Place the paper on a solid, but
porous backing, such as a wood or cork board. Now wash the sail
again and lay it over the outline. Stretch the wet material to the
sail's outline, then secure with stick pins through its outer edges.
When dry, the sail will have resumed its proper shape. Iron it one
more time.
Boltropes:
Although boltropes can be omitted, they add quite a bit
to a model. Plan sheet 5 shows the process. Bolt ropes go all the
way around the sail and form loops at the corners called cringles.
Reef points:
Install reef points along the reef bands. To get the
reef lines to hang naturally, moisten a length of line with glue and
hang it with a weight to straighten and stiffen it. Cut equal lengths
STAGE 5:
MASTS, SPARS, SAILS AND BOAT GEAR
