25 The nets
The nets: I want to knot the nets myself. Does anyone have any experience with this? What yarn should I use? Can this be white or is it better to colour it? What is the best way to go about this?
For several weeks I had been running with this idea in my head and had a complete clarity on how to go about it. For my ship, it comes down to making about 2m of netting, varying from 15 to 50 mm width.
The idea was to tie all knots around needles in a sort of 1.5 mm triangle.
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The start was good, on each needle a string double and then at each subsequent row with a string from an adjacent pair to the next row of needles for another knot.
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To keep the whole thing a bit apart, I used lace bobbins and made some notches in the edge of the worktop.
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A little arithmetic (2000/1.5) x (30/1.5) = 27,000 knots. CRAZY WORK!
I made about 4 layers on the worktop and quit.
Apart from the fact that my yarn was a bit too thick, it became a shapeless piece of cloth, with nothing to do.
End of exercise.
But then what?
I looking for something else. Isn't there a material that is very finely meshed?
All sorts of things passed through. From fly screen, curtain fabric, lace to brass sieve. None of it. All too stiff, not pretty or has no look.
Then I came up with the idea of bandages. My whole first aid box upside down, but all rolls of elastic bandages. Not what I was looking for. You used to have those little rolls that don't stretch anyway and you often can't do anything with. An additional problem was that the nets had to have a diagonally woven pattern. So a narrow strip was no good either.
Until my eye fell on a 10x10cm gauze pad. If you unfold this you get a patch of about 30 by 40cm. Very delicate material, where the slightest touch damages the diamond-shaped pattern.
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So first very carefully ironed and fixed the patch with diluted wood glue. Clamped on either side between a couple of slats and laid flat on the worktable. Then carefully stamp with the diluted wood glue so as not to disturb the diamond structure. Then hung vertically to dry. I coloured the wood glue with some strong tea and a little Buisman. In the photo, the colour looks too violently brown, but after drying it becomes a lot lighter.
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After drying, a fine material emerged with a stable net structure. Depending on the sizes needed, I cut strips from this diagonally. However, only after I glued a piece of yarn on both edges.
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Then lined a piece of plywood with a piece of rubbish bag and bent the strip of net around it and smeared it again with diluted wood glue.
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In between, all the U-shaped frames for the nets were attached to the hull and fitted with a rope, which I first ran through the superglue to create a somewhat stiffer and more form-fitting yarn. This was secured at both ends with a small drop of superglue.
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After the net has hardened again, it can be removed from the plastic very easily, creating a net in a U-profile.
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This can then be inserted into the U-shaped frames. What remains after that is to secure it with glue and Wil is done.
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On the advice of a colleague, I have brought forward a number of vulnerable items in the planning, because I will hardly be able to reach them properly once the masts and rigging are in place I am not quite sure whether the same applies to the hatches. However, I will make the lanterns ready for mounting. Hanging the rudder and anchors with their cables can also wait, I think.
Still a little earlier than expected, the subproject of the nets was completed today. This topic has kept me busy for quite some time. After all, I wanted to put it off until later because the whole netting thing is quite fragile. But now that it is finished, I am convinced that this has been the moment. It was a delightful process figuring out how to get to the end result with the gauze. And as always, everything falls apart in hindsight. Or do you forget about time when you are as absorbed in your hobby as I am. I think the latter anyway.
While finalising the netting for the bulwarks, the further completion of the two stairs to the poop deck also came up. The photos of the real Victory that I have give a somewhat messy picture. This may also be because on site, at the time we were there, some kind of temporary walkway had been installed. In my case, it concerns my own interpretation. I also briefly considered using the very thin twine to thread the nets, fitted with an edge rope, onto the rope already stretched in the hammock frames. I did not opt for this, as it would ultimately give a less sleek look. I therefore chose to secure the nets with very small bits of super glue. Oh yes, I also closed the ends of the rows of nets with a net. This is not the case on the real Victory, but it seemed quite illogical to me.
First a few pictures of what this looks like in reality
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The photos below give an overview of the final result achieved.
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Meanwhile, we are another month on. The completion of the vulnerable parts is progressing slowly. Logical because it is all visible work.
During the netting project, I already noticed regularly that the slightest touch led to distortion or damage of made work. During the rope work later on, this will certainly also be a major risk. Therefore, I built a real riser, say railing, around the hull. I can even hang onto it now and then it's like standing at a vieuwpoint with your arms on the railing and enjoying what you see in front of you. The whole railing consists of four M10 threaded ends, two slats and the necessary nuts and bolts.
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Meanwhile, the carronades have also been assembled in place. To be honest, assembling the carronades was one of the first things I did when I started building the kit. After all, I had to get some sense that I was working on a warship. The ropework is from the last few weeks, though.
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