de-rigging.

today spent more time studying the model, in particular the rigging. i am begining to doubt this is the "santa maria". the plans that came with it show a vessel with much lower fore and aft castles. looking on tinterweb shows a replica "santa maria" not painted at all. i believe this model to be of a much later vessel. hey ho.



after taking many photos of the rigging, making notes and drawing diagrams, i de-rigged the model to bare poles. i left some of the wire bound blocks in position as they were in ok condition. i was surprised to find the yards pinned to the masts. it should make re-rigging a lot easier. will order chordage from cornwall models tomorrow. i got some pure beeswax at the north wales show on saturday.


i pinned sails, blocks and odds and sods onto a
board. item sets such as shrouds i can make jigs
for to speed up the process and get some
uniformity.



i am now in a position to clean everything properly prior to repairs and repainting/finishing.

i think we can call this a major refit.

will have to source some fine linen to make new sails as originals crumble at the slightest touch.
most of the rigging is the same even though it's waxed.

the coloured paint on the topsides comes off with a damp q tip and there is no primer underneath.

i will have to make new bits to set up topgallant masts as all bits missing. rigging of lateen sail will be a bit of a guesS cos its missing and i can find no witness marks to give a clue where it went originally. the plans for "revenge" (which has 2 lateens) should give me fair idea.

hours so far 10