Turns out Mondfeld disagrees with himself:
At the one-minute mark:
Also:
Mainstay mouse.
I would like to know the correct way to install a mouse on a stay. I thought the narrow end went against the loop. I saw a model with the mouse the opposite way around. When I checked against Historic Ship Models it looked like I was wrong. Today I checked some other books and cannot...
shipsofscale.com
At the one-minute mark:
Also:
I don’t much care anyway. Though I’m more inclined to follow published authors than other modellers. If a modeller is an authority, then so am I and that gets us nowhere.
(I’ll add Longridge as a further advocate of the thin end first principle. )
(I’ll add Longridge as a further advocate of the thin end first principle. )
Last edited:
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I’m not an authority, but since I don’t pay by the letter to contribute! I’ll venture a thought: Initially, I thought it intuitive that the fat end should face the bight, but that caused me to wonder, “why then taper the far end? Why not just keep it simple and symmetrical?”
I figure there’s not enough stretch in that bight for it to slide over the mouse no matter which way the taper faces, so that much is moot. However, with the fat end facing the bight, it puts a tight bend in the end of the stay, which is simply an unnecessary stress point. You can see this in the video above. If you put the tapered end down, facing the bight, it avoids kinking the stay.
So my Christmas present to Smithy is a rationalization of why he and Mondfeldt are correct.
I figure there’s not enough stretch in that bight for it to slide over the mouse no matter which way the taper faces, so that much is moot. However, with the fat end facing the bight, it puts a tight bend in the end of the stay, which is simply an unnecessary stress point. You can see this in the video above. If you put the tapered end down, facing the bight, it avoids kinking the stay.
So my Christmas present to Smithy is a rationalization of why he and Mondfeldt are correct.
For what it is worth, on page 51 of volume IV of The Fully Framed Model, Antscherl is explicit as he comments to make sure that the conical end is directed AWAY from the eye splice. This means the eye slides up to the narrow end of the mouse as you mention. Photos of contemporary models in James Lees' The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War also show the small end of the cone in the same way as you describe.
Allan
I’m sorry about these duplicate posts. Finger trouble on my part while attempting to use the phone for updating.
Thanks for that reference Allan. You are one of very few modellers whom I think may be cited with confidence, unlike myself (see below).
With so much evidence in the books, old and new, I’m happy to cast my vote in the Lilliputian debating chamber for the party of the Little-Endians.
~~~~~~~~~~
Note that the mouse on my mainstay is shaped like a rugby ball, if it has a coherent shape at all. That isn’t through poor research, but because of incompetent technique - don’t follow my example there!
My apologies for the misdirection.
No apologies necessary, we are all here to contribute and to try to help each other.
Allan