Sail Installation

Gaétan

Gaétan

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Jun 20, 2019
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Hello now retired :D I have time to finish my boat (San Francisco de Artesania)
My question is for the sails, I think it's not very real.

I have already read somewhere of soaking sails in a mixture of white glue and water or with hair spray and drying in place with a fan ?

I also thought of rolling the sails and tying them under the yards ?

What do you suggest to me ?
Thank you

_copie-0_san francisco.jpg
 
You could also soak them in TEA, I have never tried that, as I do not like to do rigging for various reasons, may be some one else can help you with that. Don
 
Gaétan said:
Hello now retired :D I have time to finish my boat (San Francisco de Artesania)
My question is for the sails, I think it's not very real.

I have already read somewhere of soaking sails in a mixture of white glue and water or with hair spray and drying in place with a fan ?

I also thought of rolling the sails and tying them under the yards ?

What do you suggest to me ?
Click to expand...

well, It is hard to suggest. Generally speaking, there should be a guide when to use full (blown by wind), furled (as you mentioned rolling) and no sails at all. for example there no sails should be on a navy board or admiralty stiles models or if you don't show your model in the sea - the sails shouldn't be blown etc.
But this is a general guide, not a rule! As long, as you will not participate in any international competitions like NAVIGA, you can build a model as you like depending on your skills and plans.

As Don suggested, soaking in a black tea should give you an 'agin' effect and nice color.
 
Good morning Gaétan.Time ago I built the same galleon and had to choose also the shape of the sails.
Here you have the results. They are half furled.

In case your want to put them completely furled, it is important to cut them properly. If you try to furl them with its whole fabric, the result will be massive and inaccurate (the fabric is not in scale). Here you have a draft made by my good friend Leopoldo. Hope it could help.

Greetings
Jaime293 Terminado.JPGLeopoldo Velas Recogidas.jpeg
 
Hi Gaetan.

I built the Santa Ana Galleon To hang the sails straight will not work. As provided they are a little to big for their positioning. If you follow the rigging plans in order and add the blocks to the sails you will find that you can naturally curl them into a wind blown shape ( cloth is dense enough). For once AL did the rigging plans well on this kit.

Once you complete the ship & sails you can adjust the shape by hand before casing it up.

A light spray with a starch or diluted PVA after will stiffen them slightly.

The tea option gives you the dyed look of old used sails. Its entirely up to you.
 
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Scale model sails are hard to build...the upfront problem is scale. Most sail cloth that is used for modeling sails is really too thick and heavy (out of scale) thus the modeled sails look clumsy and stiff. Many turn to silkspan (also known as modelspan or polyspan) for sails. It is a very light, thin, silky tissue originally used for model airplanes. Also, go to LauckStreetShipyard.com and take a look at the mini-practicum "Making sails." Nautical Research website also has info on silkspan sails.
 
I have used both hairspray and white glue and water mixture. They both will provide the rigidity you are looking for. I’m just now trying to work with silkspan ( hard to find ) and polyspan. Back in the day, I used to use unbleached cotton fabric but it frayed and I’m hoping this tissue paper solution works better.

I’m also close to retirement. (2 years, 11 months and 4 days). -But who’s counting?
 
This post about my Santisima Trinidad might be way too much to do for you, but at least this is how I managed the thick material that OcCre presents.

Santisima Trinidad - Occre Build Log [COMPLETED BUILD]

Re: OcCre Santisima Trinidad Build Log Not much to say other than this is turning into an ordeal - I thought I would never figure out how to do this first one. One little hint. I am not using all of the sail material. About 1/2 is not being used, otherwise, the furle would be too thick. EDIT...
shipsofscale.com
 
Can silkspan be used for unfurled sails and fully shaped with a the belly formed by the wind? Tom Lauren was able to create some curvature in the silkspan, but can it be formed deeply enough to simulate a set sail?
 
On my Britannia I have added a little length to the plans of the sails (the the main clew and main jib corners only ) to allow for the belly in the sail- then using Tom's technique of very diluted white glue and a hair dryer a very believable sail was achieved.
 
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