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HIGH HOPES, WILD MEN AND THE DEVIL’S JAW - Willem Barentsz Kolderstok 1:50

Hello Grant. Yes, I am most impressed by the service that I have received from the Zeeuws Archief and Michiel van Wijngaarden in person. It must have taken him and his colleague hours to go through those records.
 
Dear Friends

This is just to inform you that the preparatory stage of what may very well be my next build has started. For the reconstruction of the vlieboot Zwane, I have teamed up with @Waldemar Waldemar Gurgul who will interpret the contract (bestek) and create the design drawings. Please see his post below.

 
Dear Friends

This is just to inform you that the preparatory stage of what may very well be my next build has started. For the reconstruction of the vlieboot Zwane, I have teamed up with @Waldemar Waldemar Gurgul who will interpret the contract (bestek) and create the design drawings. Please see his post below.

We all look forward to the project from a two of the masters....
 
Dear Friends

This is just to inform you that the preparatory stage of what may very well be my next build has started. For the reconstruction of the vlieboot Zwane, I have teamed up with @Waldemar Waldemar Gurgul who will interpret the contract (bestek) and create the design drawings. Please see his post below.

Lets me guess, ........ this thread has 345 pages and 6890 postings, including this one. How many pages and postings will have the next one ???? HAHAHA HAHAHA.

I will follow it my friend

Best !!!
Daniel
 
Lets me guess, ........ this thread has 345 pages and 6890 postings, including this one. How many pages and postings will have the next one ???? HAHAHA HAHAHA.

I will follow it my friend

Best !!!
Daniel
I have no idea my friend ... I guess we will have to wait and see where the wind and the tides take us. I am very happy to have you follow along though! :)
 
I'm sure it will be a well thought out and superbly researched project once all the pieces fall in place. I am looking forward to following along.

Jan
Thank you my dear friend. In this case the research is done - it is all contained in those build contracts. The challenge is to convert the written word into a visual representation by means of the drawings and plans.
 
Thank you my dear friend. In this case the research is done - it is all contained in those build contracts. The challenge is to convert the written word into a visual representation by means of the drawings and plans.
I like my term of "imagineering", but your project sounds like a lot of CAD work, sourcing material and then "scratch building".

Jan
 
I like my term of "imagineering", but your project sounds like a lot of CAD work, sourcing material and then "scratch building".

Jan
I think your term "imagineering" is a very apt one, Jan. I can do imagineering on a limited scale, but not at the level that is required to create a model. You are absolutely right about the CAD work that is required - that is why I am so fortunate to have Waldemar help me with that. Now the scratch building is another story - maybe the build should be passed onto someone who is well versed in that "dark art" and more talented than I am.
 
I’ve been reading the Old Dutch version of the Bible. It’s a bit of a challenge. Then you add specific nautical terms that are different. And measurements that are different. It’s hard enough to keep track of it all in English. Lots of luck, Heinrich!
 
I’ve been reading the Old Dutch version of the Bible. It’s a bit of a challenge. Then you add specific nautical terms that are different. And measurements that are different. It’s hard enough to keep track of it all in English. Lots of luck, Heinrich!
Thanks Vic! Fortunately, the translation has already been done and passed onto Waldemar who has already started the design. It's interesting that you mention the Old Dutch Bible. Even though Afrikaans as a language was already well established many moons before 1939, people still clung onto the Old Dutch Bible. It was only in 1939 that it was finally translated into Afrikaans.
 
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:) Strictly speaking, when it comes to the contracts for the construction of vlieboots from the late 16th century, I have transcriptions of their text at my disposal—written, indeed, in rather obscure, archaic language. I’ve just spent a few days translating most of them, but it was worth it, because now I’ll be able to fine-tune the first version of the reconstruction. There will be some surprises, though perhaps mainly for those with a deeper interest in this specific topic.

For now, I can briefly say that the rearrangement, based on the records in the just translated contracts, together with the geometric simulations conducted, has reduced the overall midship height by 2 feet, which involves using a slightly different Dutch design variant than originally planned. In addition, among other things, the bilges had to be rounded (see the comparison in the graphic below), because a too-sharp transition from the bottom to the side generates design lines that are almost absurdly bizarre and equally bizarre hull shapes for a ship of these proportions—simply a “no-go.” Now everything is starting to fit together very nicely indeed.

On the other hand, there is often a sense of confusion or even panic when it comes to old units of measurement, and I don't know why :). This is completely unnecessary, since almost all of them are based on the foot and its multiples and submultiples (usually inches). Yet, the most important thing is that if one sticks to the original foot-based unit of measurement (or whatever the name and actual length), without their converting to the metric or other system of measurement, there is no problem at all. A foot is a foot. By the way, the vast majority of them were around 30 cm.



De Zwane - reconstruction.jpg
 
.​
In addition, among other things, the bilges had to be rounded (see the comparison in the graphic below), because a too-sharp transition from the bottom to the side generates design lines that are almost absurdly bizarre and equally bizarre hull shapes for a ship of these proportions—simply a “no-go.”

Actually, I didn’t explain the issue with the sharp bilge line connecting the bottom to the side of the hull very well. The problem with the design lines is only a side effect; the real cause of the issue is the imprecise — certainly misleading without a deeper analytical examination — wording of the contracts in question. I’ll try to explain this in my thread once I’m ready.

.​
 
Dear Friends

Off the cuff I must tell you what a privilege this is for me (and I sincerely hope for you too) to bear witness to the design process of a ship (the "vlieboot" De Zwane of 1592) which has never been done before. You are literally witnessing history in the making of a design process that it is based on a real ship with a real name (a first for me when it comes to these types of ships) and actual build contracts. The proverbial icing on the cake is that it is done by one of our forum members and in our lifetime. Between @Waldemar and myself I think we have approximately ten vlieboot construction contracts ranging from the era 1592-1595. The way I understand it, is that it allows Waldemar the opportunity of cross-referencing the available information and performing checks and balances throughout the whole design process. In layman's terms; a particular section of the design/description that may not be particularly clear in one contract, may very well be better explained / clarified in another.

In Waldemar's thread, I have mentioned three aspects of his first rendering which immediately caught my eye.

Firstly, the draught of the ship is considerably deeper which adds proper substance to the hull. No longer is the height between decks 1.4 or 1.5 meters which would have resulted in nothing more than a crawl space.

Secondly, this very substance to the hull makes the build-up around the forecastle area look much more integrated with the overall hull design than on any other previous interpretation. This was something that lacked on both of the iterations that I built - the forecastle always looked like an add-on, never as if it was part of the ship.

Lastly, gone is the exorbitantly high build-up at the stern which would have caused serious issues with the weatherliness of the ship.

For those of you who want to follow the design process in detail, please have a look at @Waldemar's design thread below.

 
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