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Rigging Calculator

  • Thread starter Thread starter BRadek
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BRadek

BRadek

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Hello everyone,

we would like to share a new free online tool we have just released at HiSModel.
It is a Rigging Calculator that helps modelers determine the correct rope diameters and block sizes for historic ship models.

When is it useful?

  • Especially when the ship plans do not provide information about rigging dimensions.
  • It gives orientation values that can serve as a practical guide when choosing ropes and blocks.
What do you need?

  • The scale of your model.
  • The diameter of the main mast at the deck level.
  • The historical period of the original ship on which the model is based.
How does it work?

  • Enter the required values.
  • The calculator provides rope diameters and block sizes suitable for your ship model.
  • The calculations are based on the authoritative reference:
    Wolfram zu Mondfeld — Historic Ship Models.
We believe this tool will be useful both for beginners (who may lack access to detailed rigging data) and for advanced modelers (as a quick reference). All the funcitonalities are described in the help section of the app.

click to try RIGGING CALCULATOR

We would be glad if you try it out and share your feedback!

We are fully aware that this calculation provides only rough values and that there are additional criteria needed for more precise data. At the moment, these are not available to us and we prefer not to “make up” any numbers. If you know of any literature containing detailed tables that could help refine the calculation, we would greatly appreciate your recommendations.
 
serikoff said:
I think this will be useful for you to compare results.
The Table is prepared according to book by Mr. Mondfeld - The Historic ship models too.
Click to expand...
Yes, this is the table we created years ago and which we used as a basis for creating this application, so the values should be correct. In addition, we have added a conversion to the size of blocks/deadeyes.
 
BRadek said:
  • The diameter of the main mast at the deck level.
Click to expand...
Which deck would this be? The mast tapers to a smaller diameter as it goes up and it also gets smaller in diameter as it goes down after passing through the area of the upper deck and continues to get smaller in diameter at the lowest decks.
Thanks
Allan
 
AllanKP69 said:
Which deck would this be? The mast tapers to a smaller diameter as it goes up and it also gets smaller in diameter as it goes down after passing through the area of the upper deck and continues to get smaller in diameter at the lowest decks.
Thanks
Allan
Click to expand...
Yes in the HELP section of the app it is specified that mast diameter is measured "at the foot of the mast on the main deck".
 
What is the main deck? There are many decks, including the orlop, gun deck, middle gun deck, upper gun deck, quarter deck and forecastle depending on the rating of the ship. I have not found any scantlings in the Establishments, Steel, or other contemporary sources that call anything a main deck, at least on English ships of war. The foot of the mast is at the mast step on the keel and is much smaller in diameter than where it passes through the decks. I realize this is all about terminology thus the confusion. I am guessing it is supposed to be the upper deck. Thanks
Allan
 
The term “main deck” on historical sailing ships is fairly well-defined, but its exact meaning can vary slightly depending on the type and size of the ship:

On smaller ships (frigates, brigs, corvettes, schooners, etc.):
The “main deck” is simply the highest continuous deck – the one you walk on, where the guns are mounted, and from which the masts and sails are operated.

On large ships of the line (e.g., three-deckers):
The “main deck” usually refers to the highest of the gun decks – the one that runs continuously from bow to stern. Above it, there are the quarterdeck (aft deck) and forecastle (forward deck), which are raised and do not extend the full length of the ship.
 
AllanKP69 said:
What is the main deck? There are many decks, including the orlop, gun deck, middle gun deck, upper gun deck, quarter deck and forecastle depending on the rating of the ship. I have not found any scantlings in the Establishments, Steel, or other contemporary sources that call anything a main deck, at least on English ships of war. The foot of the mast is at the mast step on the keel and is much smaller in diameter than where it passes through the decks. I realize this is all about terminology thus the confusion. I am guessing it is supposed to be the upper deck. Thanks
Allan
Click to expand...
I would have thought one would use the base of the biggest mast. If there are multi masts and it looks wrong then use sonething smaller but there are not as many diameters for scale models as for standard rigging on boats where one can have 10, 12, 14 mm, but scale have 0 5, 1.00
 
BRadek said:
the term “main deck” on historical sailing ships is fairly well-defined
Click to expand...
Thank you. I have never seen this term on any contemporary list of scantlings, drawings, papers or contracts for English ships, thus my confusion. I would have guessed if there was something called the main deck on English ships it would have been the lowest gun deck as that was the deck (along with other things such as the perpendiculars) used for specifying the length of the ship in the Establishment's as well as the scantlings in the Shipbuilder's Repository and Steel's Elements and Practice of Naval Architecture and in contracts to the private shipyards.
Thanks again.


Attached are some contracts as examples that name the decks that may be interesting to some folks,

Allan
 

Attachments

AllanKP69 said:
I have never seen this term on any contemporary list of scantlings, drawings, papers or contracts for English ships, thus my confusion. I would have guessed if there was something called the main deck on English ships it would have been the lowest gun deck as that was the deck (along with other things such as the perpendiculars) used for specifying the length of the ship in the Establishment's as well as the scantlings in the Shipbuilder's Repository and Steel's Elements and Practice of Naval Architecture and in contracts to the private shipyards.
Click to expand...
Allan,
thanks for sharing these contracts – they make the point very clearly. As you note, the Navy Board and builders always named decks precisely (lower deck, gun deck, upper deck, quarterdeck, forecastle, etc.), and main deck never appears in contractual language.

The term only shows up later, in 19th–20th century historical and modelmaking literature, used descriptively for the uppermost continuous gun deck.

So it’s simply two registers:
  • Contemporary usage → no main deck, only specific deck names.
  • Later descriptive usage → main deck = uppermost continuous gun deck.
That’s why it’s absent from the sources you cite but common in later writing.
 
BRadek said:
Hello everyone,

we would like to share a new free online tool we have just released at HiSModel.
It is a Rigging Calculator that helps modelers determine the correct rope diameters and block sizes for historic ship models.

When is it useful?

  • Especially when the ship plans do not provide information about rigging dimensions.
  • It gives orientation values that can serve as a practical guide when choosing ropes and blocks.
What do you need?

  • The scale of your model.
  • The diameter of the main mast at the deck level.
  • The historical period of the original ship on which the model is based.
How does it work?

  • Enter the required values.
  • The calculator provides rope diameters and block sizes suitable for your ship model.
  • The calculations are based on the authoritative reference:
    Wolfram zu Mondfeld — Historic Ship Models.
We believe this tool will be useful both for beginners (who may lack access to detailed rigging data) and for advanced modelers (as a quick reference). All the funcitonalities are described in the help section of the app.

click to try RIGGING CALCULATOR

We would be glad if you try it out and share your feedback!

We are fully aware that this calculation provides only rough values and that there are additional criteria needed for more precise data. At the moment, these are not available to us and we prefer not to “make up” any numbers. If you know of any literature containing detailed tables that could help refine the calculation, we would greatly appreciate your recommendations.
Click to expand...

Excellent work, it will always be of great help !
Thanks for sharing,
Luiz Bruno
 
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