Pailebot Santa Eulàlia, 1918. Details from ship modeller's prospective.

[ShipmodelIdeas]

Hi everyone!

I recently had the chance to visit Barcelona, and naturally, I made a stop at the Maritime Museum (MMB).
Many of you may already know that the three-masted schooner Santa Eulàlia is a gem in the MMB collection.
At least, It’s been a topic of discussion on SoS before. For me, the ship was an entirely new discovery.
Despite the limited time, I was determined to learn as much as possible about the ship from a ship modeler's perspective.

In museums, I always value the authenticity of actual artifacts over replicas or models, no matter how realistic they may seem.
This is precisely what makes Santa Eulalia so special.

Originally launched as "Carmen Flores" in January 1919, she was built as a sailing vessel and operated under sail during her early years.
She stands as one of the last vessels of her era before the dawn of motorization.

That’s precisely what drew me to her. Here, I was able to see and feel all the elements of her construction and rigging that comprise the 'sailing spirit' of the ship.

I took some photos for personal reference, but I'm delighted to share them with you.
Even if you don't plan to model this specific ship, I believe the images could serve as valuable references for any shipbuilding projects from that era and category.

For better navigation here is the content of the thread:
1. A bit of history
2. The hull
3. The steering mechanism
4. A short video
5. The Windlass
6. Superstructures on the deck - the bow hood, the galley and captain's cabin
7. Superstructures on the deck - hatchways
8. Masts
9. Rigging: ropes and blocks
10. Rigging: channels, dead-eyes, gaff and driver boom
11. Sails
12. The anchoring
13. ... to be continued

... to be continued ...​

 

[ShipmodelIdeas]

A bit of history
The ship now known as "Santa Eulàlia" was originally built under the name "Carmen Flores." It was constructed on the beach in Torrevieja at the Nuestra Señora del Carmen shipyard, owned by the Carmelo Flores family. The keel was laid down in May 1917, and the ship was officially launched on 15 January 1919.

Throughout its long career, the "Carmen Flores" underwent lots transformations and name changes:

• In 1928, it was fitted with a motor. Although the original construction allowed for the installation of a small motor, the vessel remained a three-masted schooner at least until 1936. It is unclear when exactly the ship lost her mizzen mast, probably in connection with the installation of a more powerful motor.
• In 1936, the ship was renamed "Cala San Vicenç."
• In 1937, it underwent an overhaul and was even equipped with an outdated but adequate Nordenfelt 57mm rapid-fire cannon.
• In 1942-43, the ship underwent another round of repairs, and as late as 1957, it still featured two masts.
• In 1967, the ship found a new owner and underwent further renovations. It received a more powerful engine, and by 1970, the main mast had been dismantled. However, the remaining mast and rigging "were sufficient for a day under sail."
• In 1972, the ship changed hands again, becoming "Sayremar Uno."
• In 1974, the ship underwent a major overhaul. A metal house was constructed at the stern to accommodate the bridge. The ship was outfitted with modern radio, radar, sonar, echo sounder, etc. Instead of the old wooden mast, a metal mast was installed at the bow, erasing the last vestiges of its sailing past. Many other modifications were made, updating the ship to contemporary standards, though the hull's structure and original frames were preserved.
• Finally, in 1997, the vessel was acquired by the MMB. The museum set itself the formidable task of not only properly restoring the ship to its original form but also making it seaworthy again.
• On March 20th, 2001, fully restored and equipped with the latest communication and navigation equipment, the "Santa Eulàlia" underwent its initial sea trials.
• On April 16th, 2001, "Santa Eulàlia" embarked on its maiden voyage post-restoration, encountering no significant issues, marking the completion of the renovation.

As "Santa Eulàlia," it became a symbol of maritime heritage and now serves as a historical vessel, offering a glimpse into the maritime past and the evolution of shipping over the course of the 20th century.

Some pictures of the ship are available on MMB Pinterest site, e.g. here

The pictures attached are taken from the book "El Pailebot Santa Eulàlia" by Enric Garcia Domingo, first published by MMB in 2009.
I will continue using this book, so in subsequent posts, I will refer to it as "the Book."
It's easy to see how the ship's appearance changed throughout her history.

...to e continued...

back to the content
​

 

[John Hendrix]

..it is available as a kit from Occre: Cala Esmeralda. I am currently building it.
For some reason Occre does not refer to the St.Eulalia, or the Carmen Flores, and falsely
claims Cala Esmeralda was built in Palme de Mallorca.
No such ship existed, it is clearly the Carmen Flores.

OlivierF just finished her:

Cala Esmeralda 1:58 by Occre [COMPLETED BUILD]

She’s done! 1:58 Cala Esmeralda from OcCre is in the cabinet! It took almost 2 years with some breaks to work on Le Rochefort and other projects. I also mostly scratch built the ship’s boat as there was no way I was going to use the white metal boat supplied with the kit Don’t look to...

shipsofscale.com

 

[ShipmodelIdeas]

..it is available as a kit from Occre: Cala Esmeralda. I am currently building it.
For some reason Occre does not refer to the St.Eulalia, or the Carmen Flores, and falsely
claims Cala Esmeralda was built in Palme de Mallorca.
No such ship existed, it is clearly the Carmen Flores.

OlivierF just finished her:

Cala Esmeralda 1:58 by Occre [COMPLETED BUILD]

She’s done! 1:58 Cala Esmeralda from OcCre is in the cabinet! It took almost 2 years with some breaks to work on Le Rochefort and other projects. I also mostly scratch built the ship’s boat as there was no way I was going to use the white metal boat supplied with the kit Don’t look to...

shipsofscale.com

exactly! I intentionally tried to trace “Cala Esmeralda” name after saw your post in that thread. No results. May be the version about the “copyright” Occre doesn’t want to violate has some ground.

Anyway, very soon I will post here more detailed pictures of different on-board stuff, which were possible to take just as a tourist from a deck level. I hope you will find some ideas on what to do better than OcCre offers

 

[John Hendrix]

yes, that's what I thought; it might have to do with rights. The kit itself is very nice, and it is an exact copy of the St.Eulalia: down to the 2 barrels in the gangway! She is a beautiful example of a three mast topsail schooner. St Eulalia does not fly the topsails nor the top gaff sails anymore I believe, but Carmen Flores, and her sistership, did. A visit to Barcelona is on my bucket list;-)

 

[ShipmodelIdeas]

The Hull

The logic of ship modelling necessitates starting with the hull.
However, when the vessel is afloat, visitors typically only have access to the exterior and above-water part, limiting what can be seen. Glimpsing the hold of the ship sheds some light on its construction, yet without blueprints, the understanding remains incomplete. Hence, this portion of my description will be brief.

The shape plan of Santa Eluàlia, included into collection of documents, integrated into restoration plan (sorry for low quality).​

The only pertinent paragraph in the Book states:
"The body of the pailebot Santa Eulàlia, for which the technical term is the hull, was made of wood, following the traditional frame building system and then coated with caulked, butted planks. That means that the planks are laid side by side. The gaps in between are filled with tarred oakum to make the hull waterproof; the operation is called caulking. This system of shipbuilding was widespread in the Mediterranean from the 7th century AD and was used by Catalan shipwrights, amongst others, until the traditional sailing ships disappeared. Today, wooden ships that are built in this part of the world still use that system, except for a few racing yachts which use the clinker system that comes from Northern Europe."

The Book also includes some pictures that might be beneficial for modellers when constructing the hull's framework.

And here are some of the photos I took to better understand the internal construction elements,
the joints between them, and the overall complexity of the hull construction:



...to be continued...

back to the content​

 

[John Hendrix]

Nice! Are you planning to build her? From scratch?

 

[ShipmodelIdeas]

Nice! Are you planning to build her? From scratch?

Sometime maybe.
So far I just wanted to clarify the scale and functionality of some construction elements of the ship of that age and make a kind of system from that for my other works.
But who knows
Moreover, I can not find a kit on the OcCre site, so may be they do not produce it anymore.
The ship is relatively simple in construction and rigging, so may be one day when I collect enough info and have enough time I'll start it ...

 

[John Hendrix]

cool, hope you'll get to it one day;-)
And yes, it is not available from OcCre anymore, but it is still available from other sources, f.e. Amazon.
The kit is nice..would be a good base for are bash. And a nice 1:58 scale.
Looking forward to your next installment!

 

[ShipmodelIdeas]

yes, that's what I thought; it might have to do with rights. The kit itself is very nice, and it is an exact copy of the St.Eulalia: down to the 2 barrels in the gangway! She is a beautiful example of a three mast topsail schooner. St Eulalia does not fly the topsails nor the top gaff sails anymore I believe, but Carmen Flores, and her sistership, did. A visit to Barcelona is on my bucket list;-)
View attachment 438886

btw, two barrels:

 

[John Hendrix]

btw, two barrels:

View attachment 439258

View attachment 439259

 

[John Hendrix]

..and here they are on 'my' Esmeralda

 

[ShipmodelIdeas]

The steering mechanism

To build it on the Santa Eulàlia, MMB experts have chosen a barrel system with a single steering wheel. According to the Book, "This system was the most common aboard pailebots and motorised sailing ships, and we believe that this system was the one originally used on the Carmen Flores and which we proposed to recover."


The reference is also made to the well-known Heinrich Paasch Marine Dictionary "From keel to truck".
At least, the illustration in the Book looks like it was taken from there:

​

As you can see from the photo in the Book, sometime after the reconstruction, the mechanism was based on a metal chain. "The system was placed at the stern, above the rudder spindle, with simple machinery based on a system of pieces of apparatus that activate the rudder cables, and which in the last stretch is done with a length of chain, more resistant and without elasticity. This stretch of chain is the one that goes round and is collected on a wooden drum in one direction or another and thus makes the rudder turn."

The Steering mechanism equipped with the chain


However, today I saw the cable, which for some reasons has now replaced the metal chain.

​

The Book: "Beneath the apparatus, half hidden, is a small tiller that acts as a supplementary rudder. In the event of a breakdown of the transmission of the movement from the rudder wheel, the apparatus of ropes and pulleys can easily be connected to this tiller. We reproduced this traditional system of sailing ships, but designing a metal tiller, since we wanted to give priority to safety."

​

We follow down to the Book: "The whole thing is activated by a traditional wheel, made of wood with a bronze body. The wheel is held steady on the shaft by means of a pin, and on the shaft itself is the pinion where the chain or transmission system acts. The diameter of the pinion gives us the turn ratio. For the characteristics of the Santa Eulàlia, it was decided that the diameter of the wheel had to be about one metre, since it always has to be proportional to the force exerted."

​

To protect the steering mechanism, a cabinet called 'piano' was built.

​

As the 'piano' is precisely what the modelers are tasked with constructing, here are some pictures of this structure details.

...to be continued...

back to the content​

 

[ShipmodelIdeas]

..and here they are on 'my' Esmeralda

View attachment 439400

The model looks very good!
And barrels seem to be in a right place )

 

[ShipmodelIdeas]

...to be continued...

back to the content​

 

[ShipmodelIdeas]

The Windlass


For my models, I've constructed several different windlasses and capstans, mainly by using available drawings or photos. The more thrilling that was to see the actual device in person, feeling its real dimensions, placement, and proportions.

The Book doesn't reveal much about the windlass on the reconstructed version of Santa Eulàlia. It seems there was no trace of the original device, leading the restorers to refer again to H. Paasch's dictionary. This is what I found in the copy of the dictionary available to me:

​

With safety, maneuverability, and adherence to modern standards in mind, the MMB opted to conceal a powerful (hydraulic?) machine within the old-looking windlass. To my perception, the outcome seemed impeccable. Had I not read the Book, I would neverhave guessed that I was looking at a contemporary device. This is what the Book illustrates:

​

And here is what the windlass looks like now. To give a better sense of scale, I placed an MMB bag (containing the Book ) next to the subject. The height of the bag is 40 cm (or 15,75 in). It appears that today the machine looks somewhat different from the photo in the Book. Perhaps some upgrades have been made since those pictures in the Book were taken.

...to be continued...

back to the content​

 

[ShipmodelIdeas]

Superstructures on the Deck

I captured a number of images for this section but, upon review, I now realize I would need even more.

However, the Book provides a thorough description of the structures, complete with dimensions and blueprints.

Generally, as the Book details, "superstructures are fitted onto an element called coaming, a solid wooden framework which is embedded into the opening made on the deck. Its main function is to give cohesion to the opening, prepare the placement of the superstructures (which are simply fitted onto the coaming and can be removed and replaced according to need), and to waterproof an opening on deck which might be a point where water could come in."

The superstructures that were reconstructed on the ship included the bow hood (1), the galley (2), the stern or captain's cabin (3), the hatchways (4), and the space referred to as the 'steering area' (5), see the picture:

​

As the Book mentions: "All these elements have a specific function and have been made of wood, with finishes of simple workmanship, not elaborate from an aesthetic point of view. We must not forget that this is a working ship, constructed without extravagance and not designed to include unnecessary luxuries."

The bow hood
I'll just quote the Book here. There is not much to add.
"The hood leading to the crew’s quarters is located in front of the foremast, between it and the capstan. The hood is small hut with a rectangular base on a coaming with a base 1 m x 1.2 m., made of totally caulked pine wood. It is 1.30 m high and is covered with a moving ceiling on rails. As well as the moving ceiling, it has two front doors that open towards the stern."

​

Apparently, there are no longer any signs of the "two front doors that open towards the stern"; however, there is clearly some sort of 'sliding door' present. You may observe it half-closed in the other picture, taken on a rainy day.

​

The galley
The description of this structure in the Book seemed to me interesting and quite to the point, so I will simply quote it.

"The sailing ships of the past usually had a small almost square house on deck where the kitchen or galley was installed. On pailebots and motorised sailing ships its most usual position was to the stern of the foremast.

Later the motorised sailing ships changed to a large multipurpose structure at the stern containing the bridge, the galley and a toilet.

In the case of the Carmen Flores, the photographic documents show us that the galley was to the stern of the mainmast. What seems clear is that it was a superstructure mounted on the deck itself, with no direct access to the hold, which is why it does not need coaming.

We reconstructed its characteristics from what we could see in the photos and what we know of the uses and customs aboard sailing ships. The size was limited, hardly enough room for one person, the stove and the odd small piece of furniture. In theory it seems that the entrance was on the starboard side (with the door opening into the wind, which always closes it), and on the side facing the stern, at a certain level, there was a support for hanging buckets. The doors had porthole windows to provide good lighting and ventilation. In the side facing the bow, the spars for turning the capstan were sometimes placed, hanging vertically from a support similar to a billiards cue rack. In other cases they were placed on either side of the hatchways.

On the ceiling of the galley, which has the same camber as the deck for easy drainage, there was a small smoke extractor, a short chimney or one that could be lowered in some way or other, because the mainmast spanker boom passes close to the ceiling and would hit it. During the process of restoration we built a cabin 1.56 m x 2.13 m with a height of 2.10 m. Later on the experiance of sailing led us to enlarge it, while conserving all its characteristics."

​

The captain's cabin
The Book: "The house above the captain's cabin is to give it more height above the deck.
It is almost a square, measuring 3.17 m x 3.42 m. and the height above the deck is 1.1 m. It has an access hood on the starboard side at one third to stern of the house. That hood is 1.40 m high and also has a moving roof on rails and two front doors. On the roof of the house, and almost in the centre, though slightly displaced to port from the central gangway, there is a skylight with duly protected glass windows. Lastly, to the bow of the house a wooden chest was built afterwards which now serves as a small store for tools and spare parts, and as a seat."

At the same time, below blueprints, provided by MMB in the sam Book, show slightly different sizes: the height of the hood is not 1,40, but 1,67 m, the general size, mentioned in the text is 3.17 m x 3.42 m, but the blueprint says 2,74 x 3.52 m. Unfortunately I came there without any kind of measuring tool, so I can not judge if any of those dimensions are precise. But definitely those dimensions describe proportions well, which should be enough for modelling.

And here are some pictures of the structure. The first two are from the Book, the rest are taken by myself.



...to be continued...

back to the content​

 

[ShipmodelIdeas]

Superstructures on the Deck (continued)

Hatchways (trapdoors)
Hatchways, or trapdoors, are another interesting element for modelling because they contribute to the 'realistic look' of the deck. I always strive to make hatchways both functional and as true to reality as the scale permits. Therefore, seeing these hatchways and their details on a real boat was particularly intriguing for me.

But first, let's see what the Book has to say.

There are hatchways (trapdoors) in plan and in section, how do they look on a paper:





​

And here is the description from the Book:
"A pailebot like the Carmen Flores had two hatchways or accesses to the hold for loading and unloading the car-go: a large one to the fore of the mainmast and a small one to the stern of the same mast, almost touching the ladder. As an auxiliary means of loading the cargo the spanker booms, which were above the hatchways, were used. The coaming of the large hatchway measures 2.93 m x 2.27 m at the base, and the coaming of the small hatchway 2.53 m x 227 m at the base.

The openings are covered with hatch covers, thick planks that are laid from port to starboard one side and on the other they fit into a slat that follows the central gangway and fits into the coaming to the bow and the stern of the hatchway. That slat can be removed when loading large volumes. At the end of each hatch cover is a system that makes it possible to take hold of them in order to remove them.

That can be done either with a groove where the fingers can be inserted to exert force, or with a handle made with a piece of rope. The latter is the most usual system and the one we proposed. The reason for this cover system is quite clear: having many covers makes it possible to open small accesses to the hold in rough seas without having to uncover it completely.

For safety the hatchway and covers were coated with pieces of tarred canvas attached to the cleats placed on the outside of the coaming. In that way the whole thing was totally waterproof. Today the canvases are made with materials similar to the sails."

And here is how hatchways look now:



and some more details:






...to be continued...

back to the content​

 

[ShipmodelIdeas]

Masts

Surprisingly, or rather unsurprisingly , the history of Carmen Flores (Santa Eulàlia) has proven to be yet another example of how little today is truly known about the original construction of historic ships.

​

The paradox. Despite the numerous books written, the multitude of mock-ups and models displayed in museums, and even the floating 'replicas' that have been constructed, when you seek precise construction details—like the exact (real) placement of masts on a ship built in 1919 (the twentieth century!)—you shouldn't be astonished by the complete absence of information.

The Book: "This pailebot was deliberately sunk at the end of service life."
Will anyone ever recall her name?​

What then can be said of truly ancient vessels, such as the Santa Maria and other ships of Columbus era? Their actual appearance, construction, and design are likely to remain enigmatic until the Gripshunden excavations are completed, and engineers analyze and recreate the ship's design. Consider this: our understanding of an entire class of historic ships hinges on a single excavation. All else is mere hypothesis and the speculations of historians from much later periods.

This serves just as a hint of how many models we build are eventually just beautiful souvenirs, disconnected from actual history.
But should this realization discourage or demotivate us? In my opinion, no.

Careful excavations, analytical engineering, and reconstruction works, like those conducted by MMB or by other communities and enthusiasts such as Willem Vos, give us hope that at least the main principles of historic shipbuilding will be uncovered and distinguished from speculations and guesses.

Batavia reconstruction by Willem Vos
​

Coming back to the Santa Eulàlia. From the Book it is clear, that (almost) no original documentation has remaind and reconstructors did mainly work with with photos and yet available documentation about other ships of that class.

That's what the Book says:
"We had to place them [*masts] and we could not afford to make any mistakes, since the safety of the ship depends to a large extent on the proper location of the masts. As well as analysing the ship itself, we did some painstaking research into the masts and rigging of other similar ships, which was largely based on observation of the photographic documents of other three-masted paile-bots.

We could see that the masts were not equidistant, but there seemed to be a rhythm: taking the mainmast as the centre, the foremast was at a distance that increased in the case of the mizzen in an approximate proportion of 1.25%, a calculation taken from the study of different examples. That calculation and the reality of the free spaces on deck gave us a clue as to what the location of the masts must have been with a narrow margin of error.

We had one valuable clue; of the three original mast holes the one for the foremast had been conserved."

​

According to the Book, "Carmen Flores was a small three-masted pailebot, complete with schooner rigging - including a gaff and topsail on each mast, a sail at the bow, and jibs.". In fact, there were four - three vertical masts and the bowsprit. The vertical masts did contain of four fundamental parts: "the lower mast, which rests directly on the keel; the upper mast, a continuation of the lower mast and therefore shorter; the top, which is the platform that joins the lower and upper masts; and lastly the cap, a support for the top part."

"The bowsprit is a single piece mast, circular section, which protrudes from the bow of the ship and serves to strengthen the forestay and to support the bow sails or jibs."

Here is the MMB's blueprint of all the masts and spars and tops of the ship.

on the scheme:
96 - main mast, 97 - mizzen mast, 29 - fore mast, 34 - bowsprit
99 -fore topmast, 100 - main topmast, 101 - mizzen topmast
105 - fore staysail boom, 106 - fore mast boom, 107 - main mast boom, 108 - mizzen mast boom
109 - fore gaff, 110 - main gaff, 111 - mizzen gaff.

As far as I understand, all tops should have the same construction, as I found nothing in the Book suggesting otherwise:

​

The Book notes that despite debates on the best method to construct the masts (including proposals to make them from steel coated with wood), the traditional approach was ultimately chosen, with the masts being crafted from solid, single pieces of wood.

Some pictures in the Book illustrate the contemporary process of mast-making, clearly showing that each mast was crafted from a single timber trunk.

​

However, upon examining the photo I took, I cannot assert that at least the lower part of this mast is indeed a 'single piece of solid wood', as mentioned in the Book.

​

Also, upon carefully inspecting the other picture, some joints are visible. Unfortunately, I read the Book only after I had left the ship and had no opportunity to take more detailed pictures. However, it appears that the masts are now made from multiple wooden strips, which would not surprise me, as I had imagined the mast construction to be more like this than a 'whole trunk'.

​

Here are some additional pictures of the masts from the Book and those, taken by me. Definitely, being at deck level is not the ideal position for photographing something tall, like masts. More pictures will be shared later in the 'rigging' section of the thread.

the bowsprit


the fore mast


the main mast


the mizzen mast
​

Sorry for a bit looong read
That's all I wanted to mention about the Santa Eulàlia's masts.
However, the masts will definitely be discussed in relation to other rigging and sails in later posts here.
So, stay tuned and have a nice time of the day.

...to be continued...

back to the content​

 

[ShipmodelIdeas]

Rigging: ropes and blocks

The aim of this thread is to showcase specific details in ship construction that I found interesting. I have no intention of creating a sort of 'assembly guide' for the ship. Therefore, in the rigging section, I'll highlight just a few details I wanted to point out.

​

While I didn't take many detailed pictures of the standing rigging, I think it's worth noting the material they are made of. Here is what the Book says: "On old sailing ships, the standing rigging was made of hemp, but as soon as it became possible to produce steel, the new material, more resistant and less elastic than hemp, came into use. Although we cannot be absolutely certain, we are convinced that when Carmen Flores was built in 1918, it was equipped with metal rigging, and that was our initial proposal for restoration. However, we chose to use a special material, mesh, a thick rope with a metal core."

The fact that the standing rigging on ships of that era was made of steel provides a useful hint for modelers, who often prefer 'natural' ropes over 'synthetic' ones. Yes, natural ropes look more authentic to hemp, but given the age, I think in this case synthetic ropes would look closer to the real steel rigging used on those ships.

In the pictures below, you can see the differences in color and appearance between the 'steel' shrouds and the non-metal ratlines.

​

Regarding the essence of the running rigging, the Book states the following: "The original was made of hemp, with traditional wooden pulleys, either with a simple bronze sheave or with ball bearings. However, hemp has a limited lifespan and requires constant maintenance, including frequent replacement of rope sections. Therefore, hemp was combined with a synthetic material that looks and feels like vegetable fiber but is far more durable."

​

And now we come to the issue of blocks. I was not only able to see these blocks rigged but also found a set of separate blocks (both assembled and disassembled) in the hold and was able to handle them, feeling their weight and size. Therefore, I will spend a bit more time here, as I have taken more pictures.

But first let us decide about the terminology, as it could slightly differ from source to source. I got used to what W. zu Mondfeld suggests. Here is the picture from his well known "Historic Ship Models" book.

​

The blocks I found were one- and two-sheave types and came in two different sizes. Since I didn't have a measuring tool with me, it's possible to estimate their approximate size by comparing them to the hand, for example. Well, this is not an engineering approach, but it's better than nothing .

The Book mentions that historically sheaves were made of bronze. However, the sheaves I observed were clearly made of some type of white plastic.
The pulleys I found were still made of wood .

First I would mention the structure of the wooden shell. From close up picture it is visible that it is made of several layers.

​

These layers are connected to each other with bolts. I did not attempt to disassemble these shells, but I assume it is possible.
The traditional approach for ship modelers is to carve blocks from a single piece of wood, as described in zu Mondfeld's book:

​

But occasionally, when I explored ideas on how to make blocks myself, I adopted a layer-by-layer approach. In my opinion, if you have the opportunity to construct blocks using this method, they will appear more realistic. Here is the thread about blocks I made.

​

Another point worth noting is that, unlike contemporary metallic blocks, the shell of the blocks on Santa Eulàlia does not bear the load. This function is performed by another component, the name of which I cannot clearly determine. Let's refer to it here as a 'fork.' In fact, this component acts as the structural skeleton of the block.

As I already mentioned, sheaves blocks here are made of plastic.



And now, here are some more pictures of the Santa Eulàlia blocks for your reference:

The one-sheave block





The two-sheaves block (shell)


​

This is what I wanted to share regarding the ropes and blocks of Santa Eulàlia.
Soon, I plan to upload more photos of other rigging details and sails.

Have a great time of day and stay tuned

...to be continued...

back to the content​