Thank you, Heinrich. The old navy saying of 'Get to know the ropes' is never more true than when rigging the sails, but I am thoroughly enjoying it.
The Mary Rose
- Thread starter Graham
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Depth; depth ... that was the word I was looking for and I just realised it now. Nope, I haven't gone mad, Graham but that was what I had wanted to say about your model. The first picture, in particular, shows great 3D dimensional and structural depth. The juxtaposition of angles - especially in your scratch-built "castles" really set this model apart. It goes without saying that the rigging is superb.
Another example of the great skill I see every time I sign on. Fantastic work.
Thank you Heinrich and swampdweller123.
Working on the spritsail lines, but before I add too many more lines I will add the grapnel -
Scale-wise it would be about 7ft and a fair chunk of iron. The strategy was more to board a vessel rather than to smash it as it was in Nelson's time. If this clonked down on an enemy deck I think it would take several men to throw it overboard and all whilst under intense small arms/archery fire; no easy task.
Another aid to boarding were sheerhooks on the ends of the fore and main spars, the idea being to snag enemy rigging when alongside. I will add these at the end of the build and when I have decided what to make them from, otherwise they will end up continually snagging me as I work on the rigging.
Both the grapnel and the sheerhooks are depicted in the Anthony Roll illustration below. It leads me to think that a chain is attached to the grapnel as well as the rigging to drop it, and that makes sense because it could not then be cut away. I will add some as a trial and update you -
Working on the spritsail lines, but before I add too many more lines I will add the grapnel -
Scale-wise it would be about 7ft and a fair chunk of iron. The strategy was more to board a vessel rather than to smash it as it was in Nelson's time. If this clonked down on an enemy deck I think it would take several men to throw it overboard and all whilst under intense small arms/archery fire; no easy task.
Another aid to boarding were sheerhooks on the ends of the fore and main spars, the idea being to snag enemy rigging when alongside. I will add these at the end of the build and when I have decided what to make them from, otherwise they will end up continually snagging me as I work on the rigging.
Both the grapnel and the sheerhooks are depicted in the Anthony Roll illustration below. It leads me to think that a chain is attached to the grapnel as well as the rigging to drop it, and that makes sense because it could not then be cut away. I will add some as a trial and update you -
This picture is from the Mary Rose Facebook page today -
When I asked them about the 'harpoon' their response was -
'We believe it to be a incendiary dart, a large arrow with a spike on the end surrounded by a bag of gunpowder, pitch and other sticky substances. It may have been thrown from the mast top, or shot out of one of the ship's guns.'
You learn something new every day - a Tudor phosphorus grenade?
When I asked them about the 'harpoon' their response was -
'We believe it to be a incendiary dart, a large arrow with a spike on the end surrounded by a bag of gunpowder, pitch and other sticky substances. It may have been thrown from the mast top, or shot out of one of the ship's guns.'
You learn something new every day - a Tudor phosphorus grenade?
One reason you don't want the clumsy guy stationed in the top?
Certainly not the guy with the eye patch! I would think that lobbing this down from the masthead onto an enemy deck while trying to miss all of your own rigging lines was quite risky.