johnsmachines

Sounds exciting. No?

As mentioned in the previous post, Constitution and most sailing warships had netting racks on the bulwark where the crew could store their rolled up hammocks when not in use. That permitted the hammocks to air during the day, get some sun and probably reduce the bed bug population in the hammocks. The racks were sited above the spar deck guns, and provided the gun crews with a degree of protection from snipers and cannon strike splinters.

Yesterday I inserted the rope rails into the metal U supports. Initially I used the ropes provided by Mamoli, but they looked too thready thin to me, and the wrong colour (fawn) so I changed them for some of my own slightly thicker and black home made ropes. I threaded the “rope” on a needle and slowly and laboriously passed it through the stanchions. Then I had a small brainwave, and applied some CA glue to the end of the “rope”, formed it into a point, and when it dried a minute or so later, the point had hardened and passed easily and quickly through the stanchions.

I had prepared the cheese cloth netting as suggested by Mamoli, by painting it with diluted PVC glue, which when dried made the cheese cloth stiff and flat. In order that it was indeed flat, I pinned the stretched out cheese cloth to a cork board and waited for it to dry.

Then I installed it, after folding over a 1mm wide seam at the top so the rough cheese cloth edge did not show and appear unsightly.

No, I have not made mini hammocks to put in place. Not yet anyway. I am not that obsessive. I think.