Sovereign of the seas

DARIVS ARCHITECTVS · Jan 6, 2026

The gangway ladder would only be used in port. If you are making the model at sea, it's best if you leave it off.

fabriv · Feb 6, 2026

HELLO EVERYONE, I'M ALMOST AT THE END OF MY "SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS"!!!!!!
I WOULD LIKE TO ASK FOR HELP WITH A BIG PROBLEM I'M HAVING.
ALL THE ROPES COME FROM THE SPADES (EXCUSE MY INTRACTION IN NAUTICAL TERMS) AND NEED TO BE TURNED AT THE ANKLES.
MY PROBLEM IS HOW TO MAKE THEM TIGHT, SINCE IT'S RATHER DIFFICULT TO KNOT THEM AT THE ANKLES SO THAT THEY ARE TIGHT.
AT LEAST I CAN'T GET A GOOD RESULT.
COULD YOU KINDLY GIVE ME A SUGGESTION?
THANKS…

Bilge Ratt · Feb 6, 2026

Hi Fabriv;
Your translation software has made this impossible to understand. Can you try another, which might make more sense?

Ratty

DARIVS ARCHITECTVS · Feb 6, 2026

fabriv said:
HELLO EVERYONE, I'M ALMOST AT THE END OF MY "SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS"!!!!!!
I WOULD LIKE TO ASK FOR HELP WITH A BIG PROBLEM I'M HAVING.
ALL THE ROPES COME FROM THE SPADES (EXCUSE MY INTRACTION IN NAUTICAL TERMS) AND NEED TO BE TURNED AT THE ANKLES.
MY PROBLEM IS HOW TO MAKE THEM TIGHT, SINCE IT'S RATHER DIFFICULT TO KNOT THEM AT THE ANKLES SO THAT THEY ARE TIGHT.
AT LEAST I CAN'T GET A GOOD RESULT.
COULD YOU KINDLY GIVE ME A SUGGESTION?
THANKS…

Always start rigging a line by tying the first end at the belaying pins (ankles, caviglie) and then run the line up through the blocks, and tie the other end at the yardarm or sail (vele). Start at the bottom and run the line upward. You can set the line tension easily then.

Per armare una cima, iniziate sempre legando un'estremità alla caviglia, quindi fate passare la cima attraverso le pulegge e legate l'altra estremità al pennone o alla vela. Iniziate dal basso e fate scorrere la cima verso l'alto. In questo modo potrete regolare facilmente la tensione della cima.

DARIVS ARCHITECTVS · Feb 6, 2026

Bilge Ratt said:
Hi Fabriv;
Your translation software has made this impossible to understand. Can you try another, which might make more sense?

Ratty

When you build Corel model kit, you learn some Italian! Caviglie (ankles in English) translates to belaying pins.

fabriv · Feb 6, 2026

HELLO EVERYONE, I'M ALMOST AT THE END OF MY "SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS"!!!!!!
I WOULD LIKE TO ASK FOR HELP WITH A BIG PROBLEM I'M HAVING.
ALL THE ROPES START FROM THE TOP (BLACK OUT MY NAUTICAL INTRODUCTION) AND MUST BE DIRECTED AT THE ANKLE HEIGHT.
MY PROBLEM IS HOW TO MAKE THEM TIGHT, SINCE IT'S QUITE DIFFICULT TO KNOT THEM AT THE ANKLE HEIGHT IN A TIGHT WAY.
AT LEAST I CAN'T GET A GOOD RESULT.
CAN YOU GIVE ME A SUGGESTION?
THANKS…

I'm also leaving the Italian version, maybe it's easier for you to find the translation

CIAO A TUTTI, SONO QUASI ALLA FINE DEL MIO "SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS"!!!!!!
VORREI CHIEDERE AIUTO PER UN GROSSO PROBLEMA CHE STO AVENDO.
TUTTE LE CIME PARTONO DALLE PIGHE (SCURATE LA MIA INTRODUZIONE IN TERMINI NAUTICI) E DEVONO ESSERE RIVOLTE ALL'ALTEZZA DELLE CAVIGLIE.
IL MIO PROBLEMA È COME FARLE STRETTE, VISTO CHE È PIUTTOSTO DIFFICILE ANNOdarle ALL'ALTEZZA DELLE CAVIGLIE IN MODO CHE SIANO STRETTE.
ALMENO NON RIESCO AD OTTENERE UN BUON RISULTATO.
POTETE DARMI UN SUGGERIMENTO?
GRAZIE…

DARIVS ARCHITECTVS · Feb 6, 2026

fabriv said:
HELLO EVERYONE, I'M ALMOST AT THE END OF MY "SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS"!!!!!!
I WOULD LIKE TO ASK FOR HELP WITH A BIG PROBLEM I'M HAVING.
ALL THE ROPES START FROM THE TOP (BLACK OUT MY NAUTICAL INTRODUCTION) AND MUST BE DIRECTED AT THE ANKLE HEIGHT.
MY PROBLEM IS HOW TO MAKE THEM TIGHT, SINCE IT'S QUITE DIFFICULT TO KNOT THEM AT THE ANKLE HEIGHT IN A TIGHT WAY.
AT LEAST I CAN'T GET A GOOD RESULT.
CAN YOU GIVE ME A SUGGESTION?
THANKS…

I'm also leaving the Italian version, maybe it's easier for you to find the translation

CIAO A TUTTI, SONO QUASI ALLA FINE DEL MIO "SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS"!!!!!!
VORREI CHIEDERE AIUTO PER UN GROSSO PROBLEMA CHE STO AVENDO.
TUTTE LE CIME PARTONO DALLE PIGHE (SCURATE LA MIA INTRODUZIONE IN TERMINI NAUTICI) E DEVONO ESSERE RIVOLTE ALL'ALTEZZA DELLE CAVIGLIE.
IL MIO PROBLEMA È COME FARLE STRETTE, VISTO CHE È PIUTTOSTO DIFFICILE ANNOdarle ALL'ALTEZZA DELLE CAVIGLIE IN MODO CHE SIANO STRETTE.
ALMENO NON RIESCO AD OTTENERE UN BUON RISULTATO.
POTETE DARMI UN SUGGERIMENTO?
GRAZIE…

Use rigging tools.

1213 7 - Hook Line and Rotate to Form Loop and Place Over Top Pin.jpg

1214 8 - Tighten by Pulling Downward .jpg

fabriv · 2026-04-01T10:29:22-0500

Salve, vorrei proporre un nuovo quesito. Quante ancora ha la Sovereign of the Seas?
Dai disegni di John Payne sembrerebbe che ci siano 3 ancore per lato, anche le bocche sono 2. Dal disegno di Van de Velde invece ci sono 2 ancore per lato.
mi potete dare un aiuto?
grazie!
Hello, I'd like to ask a new question. How many anchors does the Sovereign of the Seas have? From John Payne's drawings, it would appear that there are three anchors per side, and there are also two anchor mouths. From Van de Velde's drawing, however, there are two anchors per side. Can you help me? Thanks.

Bilge Ratt · 2026-04-01T10:59:03-0500

Hi Fabriv;

A list in the Coventry Papers, dated approximately 1642-45, lists the Sovereign as having 'Great Anchor

s' as follows: 1 @ 60 cwt; 1 @ 55 cwt; 1 @ 54 cwt; 2 @ 45 cwt; 1 @ 44 cwt; & 1 @ 43 cwt.

Ratty

DARIVS ARCHITECTVS · 2026-04-01T11:25:11-0500

fabriv said:
Hello, I'd like to ask a new question: How many more ships does the Sovereign of the Seas have left?
From John Payne's drawings it would appear that there are 3 anchors per side, and there are also 2 mouths. From Van de Velde's drawing however there are 2 anchors per side.
can you help me?
Thank you!
Hello, I'd like to ask a new question. How many anchors does the Sovereign of the Seas have? From John Payne's drawings, it would appear that there are three anchors per side, and there are also two anchor mouths. From Van de Velde's drawing, however, there are two anchors per side. Can you help me? Thanks.

There are a few things in Payne's engraving which are not correct. His depiction of one achor being weight with two other anchors already stored on the port channel is one of them. There should be typically five anchors, four on the fore channels and probably one smaller kedging anchor stored elsewhere, perhaps on the main channel. As @Bilge Ratt points out, a later source showed that the Sovereign had seven anchors. The various sizes, measured in hundred-weight, were used for different purposes.

Certain elements such as the gammoning on the bowsprit are missing in Payne's engraving. The rigging was not yet completed on the ship when the engraving was made, so the rigging line arrangement is assumed to be the standard English rigging at that time. Van de Velde's drawings are supposed to show the ship after the 1658-1660 refit, but his drawings show elements which were probably borrowed from the Payne engraving, such as location of the cannon port under the lower balcony of the side gallery. That port does not line up properly with the other guns on that deck. The sources we drawn upon in order to make our models are rarely complete or correct. It takes lots of research and investigation to learn which parts of a source can be trusted, and which are suspected as guesswork or errors. That's especially true when using paintings as your source of information, and it's the real challenge in building a 17th century ship model. Building the model itself is easy in comparison.

fabriv · 2026-04-02T00:48:34-0500

Bilge Ratt said:
A list in the Coventry Papers, dated approximately 1642-45, lists the Sovereign as having 'Great s' as follows: 1 @ 60 cwt; 1 @ 55 cwt; 1 @ 54 cwt; 2 @ 45 cwt; 1 @ 44 cwt; & 1 @ 43 cwt.

Ratty

Thanks Ratt! That's very interesting!
Bye,
Fabio

fabriv · 2026-04-02T00:57:04-0500

DARIVS ARCHITECTVS said:
Nell'incisione di Payne sono presenti alcune inesattezze. Una di queste è la raffigurazione di un'ancora appesantita insieme ad altre due ancore già stivate sul canale di babordo. In genere, le ancore dovrebbero essere cinque: quattro sui canali di prua e probabilmente un'ancora di prua più piccola, di tipo "knift", stivata altrove, forse sul canale principale. Come sottolinea @@Bilge Ratt , una fonte successiva indicava che la Sovereign possedeva sette ancore. Le diverse dimensioni, misurate in quintali, erano utilizzate per scopi differenti.

Alcuni elementi, come la cima di ormeggio sul bompresso, mancano nell'incisione di Payne. L'attrezzatura velica della nave non era ancora completa quando fu realizzata l'incisione, quindi si presume che la disposizione delle cime sia quella standard inglese dell'epoca. I disegni di Van de Velde dovrebbero raffigurare la nave dopo il riallestimento del 1658-1660, ma mostrano elementi probabilmente ripresi dall'incisione di Payne, come la posizione della botola del cannone sotto il balcone inferiore della galleria laterale. Quel portello non è allineato correttamente con gli altri cannoni su quel ponte. Le fonti a cui ci siamo ispirati per realizzare i nostri modelli sono raramente complete o corrette. Ci vuole molta ricerca e indagine per capire quali parti di una fonte siano attendibili e quali siano invece da considerarsi supposizioni o errori. Questo è particolarmente vero quando si utilizzano dipinti come fonte di informazione, ed è la vera sfida nella costruzione di un modello di nave del XVII secolo. Costruire il modello in sé è facile in confronto.

Thank you very much! I found that there were 7 anchors: 2 in the spare hold, 4 on the bow, and 1 emergency anchor just aft.
Ciao,
Fabio.

fabriv · 2026-04-02T00:57:14-0500

fabriv said:
Thank you very much! I found that there were 7 anchors: 2 in the spare hold, 4 on the bow, and 1 emergency anchor just aft.
Ciao,
Fabio.