Blog

Forward mast and associated fittings

The mast is used for raising the ship signal lighting. These lantern were oil lamps and could be raised and lowered using a pulley system and two guide ropes. I have used two guide ropes using brass wire. these are insulated from each other. Using wheat grain lamps fitted in brass lanterns soft soldered to the two guide rope allows them to be lit using 12volts from the battery. The mast footing is made from plasticard and fitted with belaying pins. The mast from a tapered wood dowel. The masthead brackets from brass sheet and ring pins. The rigging turn buckles from soft soldered brass tube and ring pins. Small pulley blocks from spares box. Rigging cord used to secure the mast to the hull and to the bowsprit. The flag was added as an afterthought. I could have used LEDs but there is always the problem of dropping resistors and where to put them. The bulbs leads also could be hidden quite easily. Mast head lanterns purchased from

5 years ago by Hillro