Vol. 65, No. 4 winter 2020 348


7. T e foremast masthead, showing the jeers, masthead sheaves, the doubled yard and the parrel assembly which held the yard to the mast.


deck and for the main mast was some 3 feet 9 inches in length, while the upper block moved with the yard. T e foremast gear was slightly smaller, and that of the mizzenmast about half that size, but all three used similar double jeer blocks. (Figures 6 and 7)


T e lateen rig had shrouds but no forestays or true backstays and no ratlines—a dexterous crew climbed the sloping yard itself to shorten sail. T e shrouds employed some unusual blocks, in particular two and three sheave fi ddle blocks, and ended at gunwale level in a loop which fed over a retaining wooden toggle seized to a stringer which formed the lower gunport sills. I turned these toggles, which were between twelve and seventeen inches long and several inches thick, out of brass rod and painted them a wood tone as wood itself would risk breakage in this small scale. (Figure 8)


8. T e toggle setup.


T e xebec could be rowed as well as sailed and Le Requin carried twenty long sweeps, used through small ports between the gunports and carried in racks outside the quarterdeck rails. I included the racks as folded when not in use but omitted the sweeps themselves as they would obscure the quarterdeck decorations.


Some notes on technique


Le Requin was built as a solid hull model from the deck level down, with planking over bread-and- butter layers of basswood. (Figure 9) For this and other models I rely on three types of wood: boxwood from the Pyrenees (expensive, but for my scale a little goes a long way), Gaboon ebony (the purest black wood), and Swiss pear. For decking I also use


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