Would you like to print a copy of this book to read offline? Click Here to download the printable PDF version

3. MAKING A WATERLINE MODEL OF A CARRACK

A Typical Carrack Described—Full Size Details oi every Part given on the Folding Plate—Every Process Clearly Described and Illustrated with Action Photographs.

The name Carrack has been given to a variety of ships and by many students is considered to be derived from fourteenth century boats of modest size. Evidence is con­flicting as to when a Carrack ceased to be a single master; and whether the fore or mizen mast was added first; however, for the present purpose a Carrack can be considered as a three-masted ship. Great depth was a characteristic hull feature associated with full bows, a well-rounded stern and carvel planking, wales, and vertical skids or rubbing strakes to protect the hull when alongside a wharf, or when heavy weights were being hoisted inboard.

The hull of the waterline model Carrack is typical of fifteenth century "round ships." Towards the stern, slung between two of the sliding shutters that give light and air to the cabins, is the "steep-tub" in which salt meat was placed to soak in rain water, and into which the cook's "shifter" got bodily, trampling the salt out of the victuals with bare feet before removing the day's rations with his flesh-fork. Besides an architectural arrangement of cabin lights, the stern shows two built out "garderobes," between which is a stern galley.

Fore and after "castles" or deck erections were regarded as fighting stages rather than integral parts of the ship, the curved stanchions that support the highest decks not being planked over at that time. What later became the "half-deck" is represented by a pair of disconnected "corridors" each defended by a mere fence called the "pavisade," upon which a row of shields was hung. Beneath them were the pumps and the capstan; the "corridors" at the waist had no "pavisades" and towards the bow ran up to form a curved bulkhead. These waist corridors were known as "cowbridges." The frames over the castles would during a fight be covered with nettings, or on State occasions with gaily coloured awnings.

The sails are three in number, namely a foresail spread on a single yard; a mainsail, similar but larger; and a lateen or triangular shaped mizen sail. Massive tops are built on to the main and foremasts, but the mizen was generally left plain. The rigging is simple and straightforward, comprising lifts and braces, a mass of shrouds and several heavy stays. At the bows and projecting forwards and upwards is a single pole mast or bowsprit which supports a chained grapnel, used when boarding to grapple an enemy ship.

A Jacob's ladder on the afterside of the mainmast is provided as a means of getting to the top, which was used partly for conning the ship, handling the sails, and for offensive purposes by the archers and others during a naval engagement.

The mainstay sets up with a single "heart" to the stem itself, the forestay sets up in similar fashion to the bowsprit and forms an attachment for the horses of the bowlines. Besides the swivel gun of the mizen top, eight others were carried on carriages in the poop, but these and a few other details are omitted on the waterline model. That the Carrack, although well armed, is primarily a ship of burden is, however, shown by the large cargo ports aft. Such a Carrack would be about 800 tons burden and might be expected to cope with almost anything afloat at that, time, both in fighting and in sailing qualities.

These and many other details are to be seen in repro­ductions of an old print by a Fleming signing himself W. A., and on a splendid model, built by Mr. H. Morton Nance and now on exhibition in the Science Museum, London.

The immense size of some of these early Carracks can be judged by the fact that Hakluyt mentions a Carrack named Madre de Bios, which was captured from the Portuguese in 1592, and measured by a skilled man when she was brought into Weymouth. She was of 1600 tons burden, and measured from beakhead to stern 165 feet, mainyard 106 feet.

Fig. 9. Finished Waterline Model Carrack.

A little waterline model cannot show all the details mentioned, but enough can be modelled to introduce the reader to some salient features of these early ships, and the model here described and shown in fig. 9 may be taken as thoroughly characteristic of a Carrack of the period. A waterline model represents only that part of the ship which appears above the waterline, hence it should be viewed at eye level, as shown in fig. 10, to obtain a really good impression of its appearance.

This waterline model can best be made by first cutting a piece of soft wood, 5 ins. long, 1½ ins. wide, and a bare ⅝ ins. thick, which should have the shape shown on the folding plate No. 1,

The wood is sawn out to shape of the largest outline, which will be found to be partly at the load waterline (L.W.L.), or underside, and partly at the upper side.

Fig.  10.  Correct Viewpoint for a Waterline Model.

Both these outlines are given on the diagram, and they have to be drawn respectively on the top and underside of the block. It is imperative that a centre line be drawn along the middle of the length of the block, on both sides, also draw other lines at right angles to it at the points shown on the drawing, and from them set off all the dimensions .bat are necessary. The points of the dividers are adjusted to the exact dimension of a part on the drawing and this distance transferred to the material by making a tiny prick mark with the point of the dividers, setting one of the legs of the dividers exactly on the base or centre line as a starting point. All parts can be set out in this way, remembering always to work from a centre or base line. Circles or arcs of circles are always set out with compasses from a centre.

The outlines on the hull block show the shapes of the flat surfaces, but the edges have to be blended one into the other as the sides of the hull are curved. An impression of their shape can be gained from the various illustrations of the model, and also from the cross sections shown on the drawings.

The second or upper piece of wood for the hull measures 5 ins. long, 1| ins wide, and a bare T5T in. thick, and is cut out and shaped as before; most of this carving can be done with small chisels and gouges, but is easily accomplished with a pocket knife and finished by sandpapering. Shape both blocks nearly to size, then glue them together—taking care to keep the centre lines in register—and finish the sides when the glue has set hard.

The next step is to cut out the two side pieces shown on plate No. 1 from smooth white card, such as a postcard, or a piece of 3-ply "Bristol board." These pieces are then bent around the sides of the hull and gummed in place. See that the deck line shown on the drawings is reproduced on the cards as it has to be used as a guide when fixing them; this line must be kept in register with the top edge of the wooden hull.

The various other parts of the hull have to be cut out of thin card, which is best done with a very sharp penknife, guided by a steel straight-edge; while the card is held down firmly on a thick piece of smooth strawboard, or on a piece of plate glass. Some of the parts have portions which are to be bent up, and the places where this is necessary are indicated by dotted lines. At all these places the card should only be scored or half cut through with the knife so that the card will bend over quite easily at those points.

The next proceeding is to make a saw cut at each end of the hull to a depth of about | in. and exactly at the centre line, the cut extending from top to bottom of the wooden block. The first of the pieces to be fitted are the poop and forecastle bulkheads, followed by the cowbridge, the beakhead and the main deck and arch cards. The middleparts of the cow-bridge and main deck cards are cut away as shown, and all are fixed by means of Seccotine, Tenasitine or other adhesive.

Next fit the stem head and the rudder, which should both be cut from fairly thick card.   

Fig. 11. The Hull with Decks Fitted.

The inner part fits into the saw cut, and if the card is shaved off a little it will slip more readily into place. These cards should be gummed into the slots, and when dry, the bottom parts can be sandpapered off flush with the bottom, the edges being cleaned up nicely with very fine sandpaper.

Now gum the wales or long thick projecting planks to the hull; three are fixed on each side and should terminate at equivalent levels at the bows and stern, so that both sides shall look alike. Next fit the five vertical rubbing pieces on to each side, then add the channels, the poop deck and the after shelter with roof. Make up the topgallant forecastle but do not fix it until later on. Fit the rail around the fore­castle and then drill holes into the hull for the masts and bowsprit, the model then appearing as in fig. 11.

The stern can now be finished off and this consists of two cards and two tiny blocks of wood, shaped as shown, gummed together and then stuck on to the back of the boat, as is clearly seen in fig. 12.

Fig. 12. Stern View of the Carrack, before Completion.

The masts and yards can be made from round wooden sticks which can be had from most toy shops, or from Messrs. Hobbies Ltd., or their agents. The mainmast is T8F in. diameter, the others are all shaped from ^ in. diameter wood. They are tapered by filing and sandpapering to the shape shown on the diagrams.

Next make up the top-castles and fit them to their masts. The castles consist of a disc of card and a cone of thin card, made from a semi-circular piece gummed together at the ends and the disc dropped into it when the gum has hardened.

Cut the sails to shape as shown full size in the diagram fig. 13, using any thin white paper and gum their upper edges or "heads" to their respective spars.

The next operations are the rigging and painting, but it is desirable to do the bulk of the painting at this stage, and only finish off and touch up any odd parts later on, as when the rigging is fixed it will be found very difficult to get at some of the parts.

Fig. 13. Sail Plan of the Carrack  (Full Size).

The color scheme can be worked out at pleas­ure; those used on the model illustrated are a warm deep brown for the hull, a reddish brown on the wales and rubbing pieces, yellow, green and blue on the stern, blue sides to the poop and forecastle, brown decks and a bluey-green on the cowbridge and main deck. The top-castles are blue and red, the masts have dark brown bands and the spars are tinted pale brown. Poster colors are as good as anything for this part of the work, and reference should also be made to Chapter XIV. for other hints on painting and finishing.

The rigging is very easily carried out with thread, cotton and silk of various thicknesses, and all of it is shown in place on the various diagrams and photographic reproductions showing the work in progress.

The few blocks that need be shown on such a model can be represented by a knot touched with a spot of black paint; "eggshell black" answers excellently for this work. All the rigging is fixed by simply tying it or gumming it in place.

The best order in which to rig this model is first to fix the stays, that is, the single threads which reach from near the top of the masts to the hull. The masts and bowsprit must first, however, be stuck in place with adhesive and adjusted so that they appear in line when seen from the bows and are correctly inclined or "raked" when viewed from the broad side.

The forestay is tied to the mast and bowsprit, and is further secured by a spot of gum. The mainstay is tied around the bottom of the bowsprit against the deck, and passes through a hole in the topgallant forecastle, which should of course have been already slipped on the foremast, to which it may now be gummed, and to the two little bits o match stick which are gummed in place to represent the upright supports.    The other end of the mainstay is fixed immediately under the top-castle as shown in fig. 14. The inizen stay reaches from the top of the mizen mast to the lower part of the mainmast as shown in fig. 14.   

Fig.  14.  Fitting the Mainstay.

Fig. 15. Fastening Main Shrouds to Channels.

The main shrouds come next, and for these there are six pairs of cotton tied together at their middle part to the underside of the top-castle   and secured with gum. When dry, gum  their lower ends to the edge of the channels as shown in fig. 15, placing six equally spaced on each side. When they are dry, cut off the surplus to within about J in. of the ends and gum them to the hull beneath the channels.

When fixing the shrouds, draw them taut, but do not overstrain them. Treat the fore and mizen shrouds in the same way, but fit four to each side of the foremast, and three to the mizen mast.

The yards are then fixed to the masts by loops of doubled cotton, to represent the "parrels," and when thus fixed the"lifts" are placed as shown on the plate, reaching from the masthead, under the top-castle to the yard-arms, or nearly to the ends of the yards.

Fig. 16. Fixing the Pavases.

The braces are then fixed and reach from the yard-arms to the deck, the "sheets" or ropes from the lower corners of the sails being gummed to the sails and taken aft to the hull side and there gummed in position. The lateen is similarly dealt with, placing the cottons as shown in the illustrations.

The few remaining ropes represented by fine silks are then similarly fixed and the pavases or shields with the supporting rails, which should previously have been painted, gummed and placed in position as shown in fig. 16, for which purpose a pair of long-nosed but small pliers will be found very helpful. Anchors, the grappling iron, and other little details are put in place, including a small boat whittled to shape from a little piece of soft wood.

Fig.  17. Stern View of Finished Model.

The paintwork is then touched up generally, a few gaily painted flags added, and the little model is complete as in fig. 17, and if at all well made it will have a wonderful charm of appearance and be well worth a small showcase and permanent exhibition in the home.

Are You Ready To Move Onto The Next Lesson? Click Here...