Sails.
Names of sails.
Sail colours.
Sewing sails.
Bolt ropes.
Bonnets and reefs
Bending.
Gaff sails
Staysails.
Sprit sails
Furled sails.
Set of sails
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As already mentioned at the beginning of this book in the section "Types of model", there are many detail parts of the rigging which can only be shown if the model is fitted with sails. It is an unfortunate fact that the appearance of many model ships is made very much worse by their sails, and as they are very large items, the overall effect is even more disastrous. Hence the first commandment: take extra special care with the sails!
One of the main errors is the use of material which is too thick and too coarse - many model makers then claim that it was their intention to indicate the coarse structure of the woven sailcloth of genuine sails.
In the section "Material scale" I have already mentioned that this is complete nonsense. If you reduce the woven structure of genuine sails by 48 or 72 times, it can hardly be seen at all. The best material to use for model ships' sailcoth is white cotton cambric, or some other very thin, lightweight, closely woven type of material, with as matt a surface as possible, but nevertheless not transparent. Buy plenty / of the material, as you will use up a great deal of it cutting the sails to shape, not forgetting the seams and tabling. You will also need the sail linings and bands, which are often forgotten. Don't count your pennies here, as a few more shillings spent will save you a lot of trouble. The dressing of the material can be washed out with warm water, which will also make the material more pliable. If you intend showing the sails furled on the yards, you should still remove the dressing. For small models, incidentally, Japanese tissue will be found to give a good effect. The next stage is to tie the yards temporarily to the masts at the correct positions, and cut paper templates for the shape and profile of the sails. If one of your sails has a bonnet, cut the template to include this, and trim the whole sail to shape. When it fits correctly, you can separate the bonnet part.
When checking the size, the first thing to get right is the width of the sails. The head of the sail was always slightly less than the distance between the yard arms. In the case of the lower sails the shortfall was about 12ins on each side, and for the top gallant sails it was about 6ins on either side.The foot of the sail, i.e. the distance between the clews, was the same length as the head of the sail immediately below it. The foot of the sail itself had the shape of an arc of a circle, so that it would not chafe against the deck erections, the rail, the stays or the top crow's feet. The height of this arc of roach was 0.04 to 0.05 x the width of the foot of the sail. British warship sails, other than courses, in the 18th and early 19th century had no roach.
Until the beginning of the 19th century the sails were quite markedly bellied - the older the more so - then after 1830 they became rather flat. Check the belly of your sails with the paper profile templates, and please note that a sail was less bellied the higher up on the mast it was located.
If the sails are to look right, it is important to get the direction of the material's weave correct. It always runs parallel to the length of the individual cloths, to which we will return shortly. On square sails the weave always runs perpendicular to the yard (i.e. vertical).
In the case of lateen, stay, gaff and lug sails the weave always ran parallel to the leach, i.e. parallel to the side of the sail facing the stern. |
