Runnning rigging confusion;Constitution cross section

[Brewerpaul]

I posted this same question on my build log over at Model Ship World,but have had no response yet. Here's the link, but I'll paste my question here also;

USS Constitution by Brewerpaul - FINISHED - Mamoli - scale 1:93 - Cross-section - First wooden ship model

Many years ago (25-30?), before the advent of the internet, I bought and started construction of this cross section of the USS Constitution. It may have been following a visit to that venerable ship in Boston that I felt so inspired. I got the frame built,deck beams formed and installed, and the ...

modelshipworld.com

Rigging confusion!Any guidance would be appreciated!


I'm trying to get a grip on what these various lines do. Several look like some kind of lifts,such as the one through block 178. That runs to a block on the main top,one end attached to the top yard and the other running down and attached to 111 which is a main shroud. How would this be attached to the shroud? How would that line be used on the real ship,with no free end to haul on? There are similar lines,201,191 and 181 coming down from higher yards and attached to that same shroud.


What does line 221 do? Or the line coming down to pin 219 on the fife rail?
Is there an online reference explaining what various running rigging lines in general do? Thanks.

 

[Kurt Konrath]

OK, I am by no means a rigging expert, other here may have better answers, but from what I have read on square mast mail sails, the line shown as 221 would be used to "Haul in" the outboard lower corner of the sail.

If you look at rigging thinking of that point where 220 and pully below as the lower corner of the sail, then when they wanted to reef or furl the sail, they would release the lower line going to pulley, used to control the sail in down position, and allowed the bottom of sail to be raised up to reduce how much wind it blocked and as first steps in bring in sails for stowing on the yard arm.

I have seen photos where sail bottoms were pulled up to allow the front to bellow out forward, still catching wind, but allowing for better lower vision, such as setting conditions for battle.

This is my best guess, and I may be totally wrong. I hope someone with more rigging can provide an answer soon.

 

[danielsje]

The questions on rigging lines and what they did are good questions indeed. One issue Is most rigging plans for ship models assume more knowledge than most of us have. For example, rigging lines for sails are often included but really need a mounted sail to make sense as the lines would be attached to a sail, or only included if a sail was included. When rigging without sails many of these lines can be left off. All this to say trace a single line carefully from standing end through any blocks to a running belay point...then invision what is being pulled or controlled. I need to take some notes to go further for you. Hope this helps a whee bit...

 

[Atamini]

I posted this same question on my build log over at Model Ship World,but have had no response yet. Here's the link, but I'll paste my question here also;

USS Constitution by Brewerpaul - FINISHED - Mamoli - scale 1:93 - Cross-section - First wooden ship model

Many years ago (25-30?), before the advent of the internet, I bought and started construction of this cross section of the USS Constitution. It may have been following a visit to that venerable ship in Boston that I felt so inspired. I got the frame built,deck beams formed and installed, and the ...

modelshipworld.com

Rigging confusion!Any guidance would be appreciated!


I'm trying to get a grip on what these various lines do. Several look like some kind of lifts,such as the one through block 178. That runs to a block on the main top,one end attached to the top yard and the other running down and attached to 111 which is a main shroud. How would this be attached to the shroud? How would that line be used on the real ship,with no free end to haul on? There are similar lines,201,191 and 181 coming down from higher yards and attached to that same shroud.


What does line 221 do? Or the line coming down to pin 219 on the fife rail?
Is there an online reference explaining what various running rigging lines in general do? Thanks.

Block 178 would be attached to the foot of the topsail. The lines leading up through the block would pull the foot (corner) of the sail up when being furled. The line 177 attached to the block 178 and going through block 179 is the tack for the topsail. This line brings the foot of the topsail to the end of the course yard (the lower sail yard). This line 177 would indeed run with that lower yard through block 180 and down to the bitts at 69. It does not attach to the shroud. The lines 201, 191 and 181 as they aren’t on the provided diagram I can’t tell you as per your model. However leech lines would run from a higher yard down the shrouds and made fast to cleats lashed on the shrouds. Leech lines are attached to the leech (outer edge of the sail) to also help bring in the sail for easier furling. Line 221 going through block 222 and 223 tying onto 224 is a leech line for the lower sail and would not be attached to 212 marked as 220. This brings me to 212. This line coming down from the yard is the yard brace. The brace is what turns a yard to port or starboard. Blocks 213 and 215 are correct as is the line 217, however rather than attaching to the channels at 214, the brace would be brought much further aft along the hull to enable proper leverage. As this is a cross section model, they have taken a short cut here and fixed the line to the channel at 214, however this is not how it would run. Therefore the line 217 which runs through the brace blocks onto block 218 on the shrouds and then down to 219 on the pin rail is not correct but a way for the kit designer to place the line somewhere. The cross section wouldn’t allow enough length of the ship’s hull to allow for accurate rigging of this line. You don’t mention 175, but this of course is she the lift for the lower yard. This would be run from a block at the top run through the block on the yard end back up to the originating block and down onto the fife rail.

If you add sails, you could add the leech lines and down haul, however if you don’t, leave these lines off as on an actual sailing ship these lines are not attached without a sail. Or another option is to feed the line through the block and then where it would lead to the sail itself just have a coil of rope at the end against the block. This is how we would keep these lines in place when removing sails on various tall ships I worked on.

The Sheet and Tack line for the topsail you can leave rigged as shown as this would still be the case without the sail rigged. The sheet and tack are rigged through each other with an eye on the sheet block and a monkeys fist on the tack. This inturn would be fed through an eye at the foot of the topsail and kept rigged if the sail was removed.

I hope my explanation helps.

 

[danielsje]

Brewerpaul, after examining your attachment and taking notes on the lines in question, I was going to try and trace each line for you but when I got back on line Atamini already did it! WhooHoo! To highlight one of his explanations about lines attached to shrouds...often a cleat would be lashed to the shroud and the line belayed to the cleat. Thank you Atamini!