Mantua Sergal's Le Soleil Royal

[GaryM]

Hi Clare:
Thanks and season greetings to you.
It does not really show up that great in pictures to tell you how much more realistic it looks by using different size lines and blocks. However when viewed full sized, it is amazing how much the difference appears. I have used 17 different sizes of rope. I have 38 different sizes that I have collected. I will end up using 18 different sizes when done. The big difference can really be seen when you go from 7 mm down to 2.5 mm deadeyes and 7 mm down to 2 mm blocks. By using all the different sizes of thread, it seems to add to the spider web effect. The difficulty of using smaller blocks is greatly increased, especially when doing the small deadeyes. It has taken about 300 hours to do the rigging so far. Running rigging and finishing the rest of this ship should take another 250 hours, I believe.

 

[jct]

Gary,

An amazing amount of work and very well executed, beautiful ship.

 

[GaryM]

Thanks jct. The best time is when you can case it and enjoy what you created.

 

[GaryM]

The running rigging for the bow has been completed. Thank goodness for authors such as R. C. Anderson and the like. They have done the research to allow us to model ships as close to the way they were actually went to sea as possible. The kits do very little research in this area and the result is that most of the rigging is so far wrong it is ridiculous. Mantua shows that the yards should be 8 sided in the middle. This did not start for over 100 years after this ship was made. Most of the rigging in the bow area was incorrect.

 

[Donnie]

Gary
I am just now catching up with your build. Man - incredible amount of research on the lines. Wow. I agree about the kit manufactures. You would think that they would investigate and listen to their customers.
Very well done. I need to get back to mine as if I keep putting it off you will catch up with me.

Donnie
ps.
I want to extend my appreciation to you as you help other modelers and offer great sound advice.

 

[GaryM]

Thanks Donnie. I know this site keeps you busy with the changes required to keep up with technology. Your work is appreciated also.

 

[GaryM]

I have finished the foremast running rigging. The lower mast is the only one that has foot ropes and it was a real challenge rigging them with 2 mm deadeyes. Glad they only had foot ropes on the fore and main lower mast at the time this ship was in put into service. One thing I did not notice until I was rigging the brace above the lower yard was that the lower yard did not have a pendant. It was so hard to figure out how to rig this area and where all the lines for the three mast would go, that I had to go back to the line sizes sheet that I calculated and see that a pendant was require. Of course, by that time it was too late and no way to fix it without risking extensive damage.
Of course, nobody would notice this error unless they were very familiar with this era or were modeling this ship and found it to be in error. Thus, only the ones that I told will be the only ones likely know.

 

[jct]

Gary,
Simply put, she's gorgeous. I have noticed you have left your rats natural and mentioned in a previous post that they were hemp. Would you happen to know if that should be the case with ships of a certain era or a rule in general? All the model references I have always show them in black?
THX
J

 

[GaryM]

Running rigging, items that have a block through which line will flow, are hemp and were not tarred. Thus, until wire was introduced, the lines where natural. Standing rigging is tarred and not subject to making changes on the fly. The sailing ships I have been on, the rigging of the deadeye is tarred. I have read a couple of sources, but do not remember who said they were tarred. Even though they do get loosened and tightened, it is usually done only when docked and is just a small adjustment. It seems that protection is more important. I know some use natural line when doing them and they think are right but I have not seen anybody defend their reason for their choice. I used natural on the deadeye for the foot ropes since they were part of the running rigging and their use might require adjustment frequently during a voyage.

 

[jct]

Gary,
Thanks for the quick response and the information.
J

 

[GaryM]

The shrouds and deadeyes rigging was tarred, but the actual ratlines were not since they had to give grip to the boots and be flexible enough to support different weight of people. Also, when going through the hot areas and during the summer, tar gets sticky and would stick to the boots and become very messy on gloves and hands. Thus, the actual ratline was left natural.
Hopefully, this gives you the complete answer. I re-read your question and noticed that I might not have totally answered it completely.
I have noticed that the seizing on the deadeye lines has been tarred on some and not on others. This might be that the untarred ones were replaced at sea or a choice of the captain. Thus, either one could be correct and add some color to three points that are seized above the deadeye.

 

[jct]

Thanks Gary,
That makes a lot of sense, I'm sure there was quite enough work for these sailors with out having to deal with cleaning up tar. I'm considering doing the standing rigging on my build in a very dark brown as opposed to black but haven't yet decided. I'm going to experiment with different staining techniques and materials and see what looks best.
THX again
J

 

[catopower]

Hi Gary,

Lovely work on your Soleil Royal! I know what you mean about the inaccuracies of kit rigging plans and instructions. I ran across that when working on the San Felipe's rigging. I relied on Anderson as much as I could, though I had to assume that Spanish practices would have followed French practices. Still, a very good resource.

I have the Dover reprint, but was hoping to find a nice hardback copy as the plates in those are usually much better and actually do fold out. I ended up with his follow-up book, Seventeenth Century Rigging, in hardback, but it only covers English rigging.

Anyway, it will be a while before I get to do any rigging like that. Looks like you're having a lot of fun

Please keep up the great work and keep up the postings!

Clare

 

[Donnie]

Ohh WOW !!! Gary, that is stunning. First class - no kidding. The blend of various rigging does make it worthwhile - I am impressed.

 

[GaryM]

Thanks Clare and Donnie. I realize by stepping back and looking over the whole ship that you can tell that there are a lot of different sises of lines, but the different sizes of blocks and deadeye are what really stand out. What you feel is that the ship does not look heavily rigged. If you have only used a few sizes of rigging thread, like the kits that only send three or four sizes, and have one of those around, the different look really hits you.
With the smaller size blocks and deadeyes, the rigging gets a lot harder and more time consuming, especially when trying to thread 2 mm parts.

 

[GaryM]

All the yards on the main mast are rigged as a sailing ship begins to appear.

 

[catopower]

Beautiful, Gary. I love it when you post pics of your model. All very inspiring.

Clare

 

[GaryM]

Thanks Clare. I am working on the Missen and this is really going to be a challenge since the topsail braces tie into the lateen sail and the lateen rigging at this time is a challenge also. It has only one lift, but it takes a fan shape similar to the one you see between the main and the Missen using three 2 mm blocks. Glad I don't have hands like Wilt Chamberlain did.

 

[GaryM]

Finished the running rigging. Only thing left is the boat racks, anchors and flags.

 

[jct]

Hey Gary,
Looks like your closing in on the big finish, beautiful ship, very fine workmanship. WELL DONE!
J