Belaying Pins for Model Ships

Belaying pins have been used for centuries on square rigged ships as a means of securing running rigging. To examine the historical development of the belaying pin, we must study the development of the square rigger. Belaying pins are also known as belaying bitt, chess tree, kevel, cleat, riding bitt and belaying cleat.

Belaying pins were likely used in some fashion prior to the 14th century. The word first entered the English language sometime during the sixteenth century.

The period of most intense development of the sailing ship got underway with the use of the perpendicular square sail in the Mediterranean in the mid-14th Century. Until the 15th Century, the square-rigged ships mainly carried one mast with one sail. There had been examples of an additional mast raised above the aft castle as early as the late-14th Century, but not until the 15th Century did these installations become common. It was during the 15th Century that masts and sails were expanded on sailing vessels not just in numbers but also in size. As the rigging developed with more mast and sails, the size of the sailing vessel also increased. As the rigging became more complex it would be safe to assume the fitting elements used to control the sails would also become more widespread.

Cleats started to replace kevels with the advent of steam power in the 19th Century.

As hulls became more expansive however, this development affected the use of rigging and thus their sailing characteristics of the vessel. The towering castles made the ship top-heavy and more prone to topple in strong winds. The large superstructures also caused wind drag as the ship sailed, and could reduce the wind hitting the courses, or lower sails, i.e. the mainsail and foresail. The belaying bitt was an excellent tool that allowed speed and ease with which a line could be deployed, made fast, or released. When the pin is pulled, the line falls to the deck in an untangled flaked-out pattern, ready to run freely.

A belaying pin is a solid wood or metal object used to secure lines of running rigging. They were made of hardwood, usually locust, and sometimes bronze, iron, or brass. Metal pins of the size needed would be massively heavy. Cast metal would not have been able to withstand the stress.

The size of the pin is directly related to the size of the ship as the diameter of a belaying pin was never less than the diameter of the rope which was to be belayed. As only one size of kevel was kept on board, its diameter was that of the thickest rope to be belayed. Pin shapes varied slightly but all had rounded ends (handles), most have shoulders on the upper portions and a slight taper to the shaft. The shaft is 2/3 of the length of the pin and ½ the thickness of the handle.

The shaft is inserted into a hole in various strategically located wooden pin rails (lining the inside of the bulwarks, surrounding the base of masts, or free-standing, called fife rails) up to the base of the handle. Short pin-rails, fastened to the standing rigging are called "pin-racks," and around the mast on deck, rectangular or u-shaped racks, called "fife-rails," are used to make fast and store halyards.

Advantages of a belaying pin are the coiling and storing of excess line. Hanging excess lines on these pins prevents moisture entrapment and the resulting dry rot. Another advantage is the speed and ease with which a line that is made fast, can be released. When the pin is pulled, (not really recommended though) the line falls to the deck in an untangled flaked-out pattern, ready to run freely. Belaying pins provide increased friction to control a line. Pirates used these fittings as extra weapons on hand to knock out their victims.

A line is led under and behind the base of the pin then around the top in a Figure-8 pattern until at least four turns are complete. The lines are not tied or knotted, the last 'turn' is wedged between the top of the pin rail and the first turn with a firm yank on the 'tail' end of the line. The free line is then coiled and secured to the top of the belaying pin by taking the last foot or so of line (actual length depending on size of the coil) between the pin and coil and making a half twist which wraps through the coil and around the top of the pin.

If the line is to be hauled, one or more crew members will pull on the line above the pin. The crew member providing the 'tail' will haul the line through the 'S' wrap on the pin and maintain tension. The friction of the 'S' wrap prevents the line from pulling back. When the line to be hauled on descends vertically to the pin the first turn can be left in place, so that the line comes down, round the back of the bottom of the pin, and then out across the deck.

Lines under tension can be let out in a controlled manner by leaving the first turn on the pin to provide friction. Lines under very heavy load such as topsail halyards are equipped with short stopper lines attached near their pins. These are wound round the hauling line and held, to prevent it moving.

Excess line is coiled and stored neatly by taking a bight from the upper part of the final strand, looping it over and round beneath the coil, then twisting it once or more before slipping the twisted end over the top of the belaying pin to secure the coil in place.

Ship Model Bells

Since the 15th century ship's bells have played both a practical and symbolic role in the life of naval vessels and their crews. All good ship models must have a bell on board. All really good ship models should also have an ornate belfry - depending on the era of the ship model.

There is documentary evidence that at least one English royal vessel, the Rodcogge de la Tour, 1414, had a brass bell "to mark the watches of the sailors". Other mentions of the shipboard bell were on the British ship Grace Dieu about 1485. Some ten years later an inventory of the English ship Regent reveals that this ship carried two watch bells. Originally the bell was fixed to a moveable beam which was activated by a lever or a wheel to which was attached a bell rope that dropped to the main-deck. That the bell rope was not attached directly to the bell clapper suggests that, in those early days, the ship's bell was not used to mark the passage of the hours and half-hours.

Long ago, time at sea was measured by the trickle of sand through a half - hour glass. The sand glass on the deck was usually next to a bell (ship’s strike), and the ship's boy (called a Grommet) was responsible for turning the glass over, and ringing the ship’s bell at the same time, so that the helmsman could make sure he turned his glass at exactly the same.

The ship’s bell had many uses; to indicate the time aboard the ship and hence to regulate the sailors' duty watches; for safety in foggy conditions; signaling; used in gunnery control; the Dutch Navy of the 17th century rang the bell as an order to open fire; as boat gongs indicating officers and dignitaries boarding or leaving the ship and one of the most memorable traditions for sailors and their families involves the use of ship's bells as baptismal fonts for shipboard christenings (the name of the baptized child would usually be engraved on the bell).

Prior to 1600 the bell would have been placed on the stern deck.The ship’s bell is usually located forward at the break of the forecastle on ship models prior to the 18th century then moved to the after end of the fore castle deck. The ship's cook (or his staff) traditionally has the job of shining the ship's bell.

Bells cast from metal were first developed in the Bronze Age. The ship’s bell is usually made of brass or bronze, bright finished on the outside only and normally has the ship's name and date of commission engraved or cast on it then filled in with black enamel.

The bell clapper and clapper pin are of a metal composition, with a suitable eye in the end for attaching the lanyard. There is a supporting eyebolt. The clapper of the ship’s bell would be supported by a bronze lug.

The ship modeler has the choice of making bells by turning from brass on a lathe, electro plating shell method or buying a prefabricated bell.

Same with the belfry. A belfry can be carved from wood, sculptured from metal or you can buy one premade.

On some vessels the bell assembly was hung from the belfry. On other vessels, the bell was hung on a curved iron post that was fastened to the deck.

The belfry is a structure enclosing a bell. Characteristically it is a small canopy or shelter supported on wooden brackets and often highly decorated with carvings and gold leaf. The first belfry that was documented was on English vessels around 1660.

Ship Model Blocks

This article is intended for the ship model builder and keeps in mind what you will be given to work with in a ship model kit. It is not a dissertation on all blocks found on ships. Simply put, a block in sailing, is a single or multiple pulley used as a lever to maneuver loads of rigging usually attached to fixed and running applications on a ship. In use one block is connected to a fixed surface. A rope or line is woven through the sheaves of that block, and maybe through one or more matching blocks at some far end to make up a tackle.

This discussion will focus on blocks used to build model ships. Due to the size of a model ship, blocks that are used are generally representations of blocks -a fairly poor representation at best! However it is quite difficult to make accurate museum quality blocks. Also the types of blocks represented in kits are typically limited to common blocks, sister or violin blocks, heart and ramshead blocks. Other types of blocks, deadeyes, hearts and bull’s eyes will be touch upon.

Following is a general description of the construction of blocks used on ships. The shell is the outside case of a block, and is made of ash, elm, or iron. In ship model kits, the shell is typically made of walnut or boxwood. The shell could be made in one piece or assembled from several components -which was always made of wood until the middle of the 19th century. After this time the shell was occasionally made of metal.

A block consists of a shell that is made in one piece or assembled from several components -which was always made of two until the middle of the 19th century. After this time the shell was made in one piece. The shell contained a pulley, or sheave, over which the rope ran, and which rotated on a pin.

The sheave is the wheel on which the rope travels, and is made of metal, lignum-vitae (wood that has the extraordinary combination of strength, toughness and density), or iron. The Bouch is made of metal or leather, and is the centre piece of the sheave which travels on the pin. The Pin is made of iron or lignum-vitae, and has a head at one end: it passes through the centre of the shell, and the bouch of the sheave.

In ship model kits, the sheave and pin are usually brass. The crown and tail of a block are the ends of the shell; the latter is easily known, as it has a much deeper score than the former to receive the splice of the strop, and in most cases the standing part, of the purchase. The Swallow is the open part between the sheave and shell. The Score is the groove in the outside part of the shell to take the strops either single or double scores, according to what the blocks are required for. Double-scored are always double-stropped. The size of a block is denoted by the length, and its classification by the flatness or thickness of the shell, the number of sheaves, the number of scores, and the quality of the stropping.

A block, if one sheave, is called a single block; two sheaves, a double block; three sheaves, a treble, and so on, according to the number of sheaves. If one score, it is termed a single score block; if two scores, a double scored block etc.

A block is supposed to carry a rope one-third its length in circumference: that is to say, a 3mm. block would carry a 1mm. rope, a 6mm block would carry a 2mm. rope etc. Blocks are designed for use with a certain size of rope. Therefore, they should never be used with rope of a larger size. Rope bent over a small sheave will be distorted, and any great strain applied will damage it and may even result in the rope wearing on the frame. Determining the size of block to use with wire rope is impossible because of the factors involved. However, experience has shown that the diameter of a sheave should be at least 20 times the diameter of the wire rope. An exception to this is flexible wire for which smaller sheaves can be used because of their greater flexibility. The construction of the wire rope has a great deal to do with determining the minimum diameter of sheaves to be used. The stiffer the wire rope, the larger the sheave diameter required.

Types of Blocks

Common Blocks
Common Blocks are used for nearly all common purposes, reeving purchases, boats' tackles, gun tackles, etc., quarter blocks, span blocks for topmast studsail halyards, and peak brails, jewel blocks at the topsail and topgallant yard-arms for the studsail halyards, and in fact, for most of the running gear.

Sister Blocks

Sister blocks are tapered, the upper part of the block being smaller than the lower part, having a deep score, as they are seized between the foremost pair of shrouds in the topmast rigging ; they are thus constructed not to interfere with the spread of the rigging ; they are also two in one on end, the reef-tackle being rove through the upper, and the topsail lift through the lower sheave, they are sometimes fitted in separate pendants.

Ramshead Blocks

Ramshead blocks were used to raise and take down the lower yard in order to furl and unfurl the sails. The practice of moving the lower yard ended around 1660. The ramshead block allowed for a few feet of clearance when the yard was raised or lowered.

Upper Masthead Jeer Block

A jeer block is a double block, double-scored, stropped with two single strops, the four parts - or that is, the two parts of each strop - are seized together at the crown of the block, leaving two long bights or eyes, which are passed up through the after hole in the fore part of the top, and lashed on the after part of the mast head.

Dead Eyes

Dead eyes are round, and made of elm; they have three holes at equal distances to take the lanyards of the rigging, and with a deep score, according to their size, round them to take the shroud. The size of a dead eye is denoted by the diameter. Dead eyes, intended for wire rigging, have a smaller score. Deadeyes are particularly used to fasten the rat lines to the hull.

Hearts

Hearts are another description of dead eyes, used for setting stays up, are turned in the end of stays, and seized in the fore stay collars on the bowsprit. Lower ones, for main or mizzen stays, are iron-bound. Like dead eyes, they are made of elm, something resembling a heart in shape, with one large hole through the center; in the largest heart there are four scores, and in the smallest three scores, for the lanyard to lay in. Round the outside is a rounded groove to take the stay.

Bull's-Eye

A bull’s eye is a wooden thimble, with a hole in the middle, rounded off at the edges, with a groove round the outside for a strop or seizing to lay in. They are generally seized to the lower shrouds in Merchant ships, to act as fair leader for the running rigging.

Every block on board a ship has a purpose. There are at least 10 other blocks not described in this article. However in most ship model kits, you’ll only find three or four types of blocks that are to represent all blocks.

Chainplate Assemblies for Model Ships

One of the more interesting assemblies on a ship model build is the chain-plate assembly.

The chain-plate assemblies and deadeyes were part of the standing rigging of a sailing ship. These were for attaching the lower ends of the shrouds to the side of the ship. The shrouds were the ropes that steadied the masts and held them tightly into place. The ropes of the shrouds went through the holes in the deadeyes. This way they could be periodically tightened without letting up the strain on the masts. Conveniently enough, the shrouds provided a ladder of sorts, ratlines, enabling the sailors to climb to various levels of the masts.

Plates were used by all countries in the early 17th century. Chains then became prevalent until the mid-17th century after which some countries like Britain reverted back to plates. Chain-plates get their name from the old wooden ships that used to use tarred manila or hemp rope in conjunction with dead eyes and lanyards to tension the rigging. Chain–plates could have one dead eye would be attached to the end of the stay while the other dead eye would be shackled to a chain or a link which would be connected to a plate that was fastened to the wales (hull). This plate was called the chain.

By using chain-plates and other apparatus of rigging, sailboats are better able to support complex rigging systems and components. The weight of shrouds and other stays on a sailboat are spread across the hull, along the deck, and against framing components through the use of chain-plates and deadeyes. Several holes in the body of a chain-plate allow displacement among several bolts where the chain-plate is attached to the hull.

Construction:

A chain-plate is the thick iron plate bolted to the side of the ship to which the chains and deadeyes are attached. The chain plate and chains normally consisted of 5 parts, the lower deadeye and upper link, a middle link, a toe link, bolts, and a preventer link (or chain plate). The upper link surrounds the lower deadeye, the middle link connects to the upper link on the top and the toe link on the bottom. The toe link is connected to the preventer link. The preventer link was bolted to the outer planking.

The lower dead eye has to be stropped with metal. The length of the loop of the metal on the bottom depends on if you are using plates or chains. Also consider that the channel or chain-wales are used to keep the assembly some distance off of the hull so make sure they are wide enough on your ship model. Interestingly the mizzen mast channel was quite rudimentary and many times did not even exist. If you are using chains, the loop should be long enough to go well below the lower side of the channel and act as the first link in the chain. If you are using plates, the loop just needs to be long enough to hang just below the channel and to allow the plate to hook into it. The ship modeler can form the strop using wire and starting from the bottom of the dead eye and moving up. Start off by creating the loop then fit the wire around the dead eye ending at the top. Drill two small holes in the top of the dead eye and run the ends of the wire into the holes.

The lower deadeye can sit in a slot on the channel, directly on the channel or raised just above the channel depending on which era of ship model you are building. The first chain-plate should be perpendicular to the mast beginning from the bow end and moving towards the stern. The balance of chain-plates should be slightly angled as the assembly moves sternward.

The ship modeler has a number of options when it comes to constructing chain-plate assemblies. Like usual keep in mind the era and nationality of the ship model you are building. If you choose to use a solid piece of metal, regardless of the shape there needs to be at least two holes, one above the other, in order to fasten it onto the wales. And don’t forget to simulate caulking around the bolt holes using drawing ink. The upper middle and toe links can be the same size or vary in length. Often the toe link will be the shortest.

Ship Model Portholes

It’s generally believed that portholes first appeared in the vessel Henri-Grace-a-Dieu in 1515. Portholes were invented by a Frenchman and first put to use by the English during the realm of Henry VI (in the late fifteenth century). The invention of portholes gave the power of adding a second tier of guns and accordingly, the Henri-Grace-à-Dieu appears with two whole battery-decks, besides additional short decks, or platforms, both ahead and astern. It also allowed for larger sized cannon.

Although the portholes were used to increase the cannon population on a ship especially on the forecastle and aft castle, it’s possible they were first used to accommodate rows of oars. Other than an opening to allow for cannons, portholes are also use to allow light into the lower decks of a ship as well as allow for air circulation.

Before 1515 cannon were only mounted on the deck, which limited the number of guns a warship could carry. If you just had holes in the side of the ship, too much water would get in during heavy weather; it could fill up the ship with water, and also rust the iron cannons. Gun ports, were fitted with a storm cover for heavy weather and when the cannon were not in use.

Portholes later came to mean any windows, round by custom, in the side of a ship. Portholes are also known as airports or side scuttles. Putting a round hole in something actually makes it stronger, while a square hole makes it weaker. The design of the porthole is such that it achieves its unassuming purposes without sacrificing the integrity of the ship's hull. The porthole's thick glass and rugged construction, tightly spaced fasteners, indeed even its round shape, all contribute to its purpose of maintaining hull strength and pressure of storm waves crashing against it.

A porthole consists of at least three structural elements. In modern ships, the porthole is a circular glass disk encased in a metal frame, usually bronze or brass, that is bolted securely into the side of a ship's hull with a hinged storm cover. Sometimes the glass disk of a porthole is encased in a separate frame which is hinged onto the base frame so that it can be opened and closed. For model ship building, glass can be represented by clear plastic or by an opaque glaze.

In earlier ships the portholes were square or rectangular consisting of a frame, hinged storm cover and sometimes an inner wooden shutter.

The wood or metal storm covers can be securely fastened against the window when necessary. The main purpose of the hinged storm cover is to protect the opening from heavy seas. Older portholes can be identified by the protruding collar of their base plate which may be up to several inches deep, thus accommodating the thickness of a wooden hull. Always ensure that there is a storm cover on the portholes of your model ship.