Period Ship Model Fittings

Also called portholes, these machined brass rims have a flange and ring for easy and secure insertion into pre-drilled holes, and will conceal any raggedness around the perimeter of the hole. Inside, there is a machined seat for acetate, or cover glass "glazing".

The first anchors were probably made of stone. The disk-shaped stones had at least one hole in the middle, to attach the line, and the stone anchors probably could serve as ballast as well. Stone anchors have been used in parts of the world until historical times. In Roman times, in the Mediterranean, ship anchors were made of either lead and wood, or entirely of iron.

After Antiquity, European anchors are mostly made of iron, often with a wooden stock. From the 19th century, the stock was made of iron instead of wood. Also, the anchor rope was replaced by the anchor chain

Cast Your Anchor has a large selection of different types of anchors used through the ages.

Depending on the size of the ship 3 to 10 anchors and their cables made up the vessels ground tackle. Warship carried an anchor at each side of the bow, and two or more lashed to the channels

Barrels came in many different sizes. Each had its own name, ranging from small firkins for butter, through casks for water and salt meat, and huge tuns for wine. A ships size -its tonnage was based on how many tuns of wine it could carry.

It was originally thought that these quick release wooden fastening pins for securing the running ends of the running rigging appeared in the mid-17th century. However, belaying pins were found during the excavation of the Mary Rose, sunk in 1545, indicating that they were used at least 100 years earlier.

The belfry was a frame from which the bell was hung on 17th and 18th century ships. Later ships hung the bell on a mast or on top of a binnacle. Dimension is frame height.

The bell was the focal point of the ships daily routine. A 24 hour day was divided into five 4 hour watches, plus two 2 hour dog watches between 4 and 8 p.m. Each watch was timed with a half hour sand glass. The first time the glass was turned, the bell was struck once. The second time, the bell was stuck twice and so on to eight bells, denoting the end of the watch.

Blocks act as pulleys used in conjunction with the miles of line that make up the running rigging. They multiply the force exerted by the crew, enabling yards and sails to propel ships 2000 tons or larger. The more parts a tackle has (rope "legs" between two blocks, determined by the number of sheaves in the blocks), the more the motivating force is multiplied, and the heavier the object which can be moved. Blocks came in many sizes and of one, two, three, even four sheaves. Note: Model blocks do not have scale sheaves. Instead, sheaves are represented by a hole in the block.

The lifeboat was used to ferry personnel to and from the ship, or for other small scale activities such as inspecting the ship and for saving lives during emergencies. Lifeboats were originally towed behind the main vessel. In the 15th century, lifeboats were stored on board on skid beams or main rails. In the 18th century, davits were introduced. There are different types of lifeboats a the jolly boat, launch, cutter etc.

Bitts are belaying posts (square wood or round metal) on a common base. The round ones are also called bollards.

A bollard is a short vertical post. In the maritime contexts in which the term originates, a bollard is either a wooden or iron post found as a deck-fitting on a ship or boat, and used to secure ropes for towing, mooring and other purposes.

Buckets in many sizes, shapes and styles were found aboard every type of ship. They were used as fire buckets, holy stoning buckets for scrubbing the decks, sand buckets for sanding the decks and for general fetch and carry work.

A capstan is a vertical winch operated by as many as 120 men. It's used for every major hoisting task from weighing anchor and swaying the ship's boats in and out, to raising the lower yards and striking guns down into the hold.

Chain replaced rope anchor cable in the early 19th century. Soon it was used aboard warships and large merchantmen in place of certain types of standing rigging, such as guys, pendants and bobstays. By mid-century, it was also used on most square rigged vessels for topsail sheets.

A chainplate is a metal plate used to fasten a shroud or stay to the hull of a sailboat. One end of the chainplate is normally fastened to a set of deadeyes which is connected to the shroud or stay, whereas the remainder of the chainplate normally has multiple holes that are bolted to the hull.This distributes the load across the hull, making it possible for a somewhat lighter hull to support the load of the shrouds and stays.

Chocks were used to provide a confined fairlead for morring lines. An open chock allows the line to be quickly and easily placed into it or released from it.

A cleat is probably the oldest device for providing a a securing point for the end of a line. Before the reintroduction of the belaying pin in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, cleats were fastened to the decks, the insides of the bulwarks, around the feet of the masts, lashed to shrouds and bolted to the shells of pulley blocks to provide belaying points for various running gear.

The dry mariner's compass was invented in Europe around 1300. The dry mariner's compass consists of three elements: A freely pivoting needle on a pin enclosed in a little box with a glass cover and a wind rose, whereby "the wind rose or compass card is attached to a magnetized needle in such a manner that when placed on a pivot in a box fastened in line with the keel of the ship the card would turn as the ship changed direction, indicating always what course the ship was on".

Later, compasses were often fitted into a gimbal mounting to reduce grounding of the needle or card when used on the pitching and rolling deck of a ship. The construction of many early (mid-18th century) binnacles used iron nails, which were later discovered to cause magnetic deviations in compass readings. As the development of the compass and understanding of magnetism progressed, greater attention was given to binnacle construction to avoid compass disturbances caused by iron.

First developed in the late 15th century, the davit is any of various crane-like devices used on a ship for supporting, raising, and lowering boats, anchors, etc. Davits are most often used to lower an emergency lifeboat to the embarkation level to be boarded. Davits can also be used as man-overboard safety devices to retrieve personnel from the water.

A deadeye is an item used in the standing and running rigging of traditional sailing ships. It is a smallish round thick wooden disc with one or more holes through it, perpendicular to the plane of the disc. Single and triple-hole deadeyes are most commonly seen. The use of deadeyes and lanyards in setting up a shipÃs standing rigging may date from Roman times or earlier. During the middle Ages, deadeyes were triangular. The solid deadeye is stronger than a pulley block, yet the lanyard can be taken up as needed to eliminate slack in the standing rigging.

Two types of doors are commonly used on period ships. A closed weather tight door can seal out spray and periodic minor flow over weather decks, but may leak during immersion. These outward opening doors are useful at weather deck entrances to compartments above the main deck. Joiner doors are similar to doors used in conventional buildings ashore. They afford privacy and temperature control for compartments formed by non-structural bulkheads within the ship's hull.

Multi-purpose brass eyepins

Finely detailed period marine figures in different basic poses that add authenticity to your ship model.

A vent or galley stack permits the passage of air in and out of a shipâs cabin or hold while keeping rain, spray, and sea wash out. A galley stack served as an outlet for smoke and fumes from the galley stove.

Gudgeons & pintles can also be called hinges. A gudgeon is a socket-like, cylindrical (i.e. female) fitting attached to one component to enable a pivoting or hinging connection to a second component. The second component carries a pintle fitting, the male counterpart to the gudgeon, enabling an interpivoting connection that can be easily separated.

Different styles are used in various parts of a ship such as a gunport (gunports & lifting pintles), rudder assemblies (rudder hinges), even portholes that open and close could be said to have a gudgeon and pintle assembly.

A gun port is an opening in the side of the hull of a ship, above the waterline, which allows the muzzle of artillery pieces mounted on the gun deck to fire outside. The origin of this technology is not precisely known, but can be traced back to the late 15th century, with the appearance of artillery in naval warfare. Ships featuring gun ports were said to be pierced, since the ports were cut through the hull after the construction.

The earliest guns were breech loaders, made from bar iron banded and hammer welded into a tube. A separate breech chamber held the powder charge. Gun founding became an art with the introduction of one-piece sand cast tube.

The lower tier of 17th-century English ships of the line were usually equipped with demi-cannon, guns that fired a 32-pound (15 kg) solid shot, and could weigh up to 3,400 pounds (1,500 kg). Demi-cannon were capable of firing these heavy metal balls with such force, that they could penetrate more than a meter of solid oak, from a distance of 90 m (300 ft), and could demast even the largest ships at close range.

Each ship used several different types of ladders. The straight inclined ladder was the most common. Some inclined ladders, used along bulwarks or at poop and quarter deck steps, had curved sides. Simple vertical ladders were also common.

On late 19th-century warships flexible hanging ladders would replace the normal fixed ladders on deck during battle. These and railings would be removed and replaced with Jacob's ladders and ropes while preparing for battle the days before. This was done to prevent them from blocking line of sight or turning into shrapnel when hit by enemy shells.

Masts are vertical spars for supporting sails, rigging, flags, etc, above the deck of a vessel. They include a number of functional fittings such as crows nests, cross trees, mast hoops etc.

Clenched nails, a small metal spike, driven typically into wood with a hammer to join things together were used on ships as early as the 5th and 4th centuries B.C.

Rowing oars have been used since the early Neolithic period. Wooden oars, with canoe-shaped pottery, dating from 5000â4500 BC have been discovered in a Hemudu culture site at Yuyao, Zhejiang, in modern China. .

Ancient force pumps could be used to remove water from the bilge, provide water to clean the deck or provide water to combat fire.

GO AHEAD - TIE THE KNOT.....
Standing rigging generally refers to lines which are more or less fixed in position while the boat is under sail. Standing rigging was treated with a dark brown pine tar derivative if available or galley grease that acted as a preservative.

Running rigging, which represents elements of rigging that move and change fairly often while under sail was generally not coated in order to maintain flexibility.

Doek is Dutch for cloth, which was evolved into the English word "duck" in reference to sail canvas. Duck was typically made from cotton or linen (flax), with some use of hemp. These natural fibres have poor resistance to rot, UV light and water absorption.

Linen is stronger, but cotton is lighter. Linen was the traditional fibre of sails until it was supplanted by cotton during the 19th century. As sail size grew linen was too heavy to be practical so cotton became more popular

In sailing, a sheave is a single or multiple pulley. One or a number of sheaves are enclosed in an assembly between cheeks or chocks. In use, a block is fixed to the end of a line, to a spar, or to a surface. A line (rope) is reeved through the sheaves, and maybe through one or more matching blocks at some far end, to make up a tackle.

A split ring is a rigid circular band of metal or wood or other material used for holding or fastening or hanging or pulling.

The taffrail is the open rail across (or around) the stern of a ship, especially when there is a raised quarter deck. The rail was supported by decorative turned pillars, called stanchions. In essence, stanchions are vertical posts mounted at the edge of the deck to which a rail or cables are attached.

Tillers were the only method of steering ships across the ocean or the pond until the 1700s. Located in the helm of the ship, the wheel is only one part of the steering mechanism. A typical wooden wheel has eight spokes that connect at the hub of the wheel. Some of the earlier mechanisms consisted of two wheels on either side of a pedestal. A completed wheel, with it's axle and pedestal can be taller than the sailor trying to use it.

A windlass is a type of horizontal winch used on ships to hoist anchors and haul on mooring lines. The windlass restrains and manipulates the anchor chain on a boat, allowing the anchor to be raised and lowered by means of chain cable.

On a ship, the function of a window, when open, is to permit light and fresh air to enter the dark and often damp below-deck quarters of the vessel. It also affords below-deck occupants a limited, but often much needed view to the outside world. When closed, the window provides a strong water-tight, weather-tight and sometimes light-tight barrier.