A 17th century Dutch fluit

[war artisan]

I, too, shall be following this thread with great interest, especially since I am also working on a model of a fluit (in a much smaller scale, using very different techniques, and for a completely different purpose). While it's not likely that any of your methods will be directly relevant to what I'm doing, it will be fascinating to see how you tackle the problems that arise in reproducing this unique style of vessel.

You're off to a great start, and you have definitely captured my attention.

Jeff

[Michael Mash]

Its a good looking hull frame.
The old sailing hulls are works of art.
Mike

[josbakkers]

For those who want to build a Fluitschip and are not so qualified as abhovi there is a beautifull kit from Shipyard a polish designer and Publisher.It's called the"Zwarte Raaf'''
Jos.

[abhovi]

The first thing to do was to stabilize the upper works and to give sufficient support for the planking by inserting other waterlines. The former is done with 0.5 mm cardboard, the latter with 1 mm. Balsa wood was used at the extremities.



The run of the planking was roughly scribed on the cardboard. Then the top part was doubled on the inside by glueing 1 mm cardboard between the frames. After that the midsection of the frames were cut up to deck level and the central parts were removed.


Next the whole upper frames were taken out. The shape was stable as a result of the 1 mm doubling on the inside. The gaps were filled with small pieces of cardboard to provide an flat surface for the inside bulwark that will be pasted on later.



Now the decks were prepared. I decided to change my design. In the first place I lengthened the steering stand, to make room for twee guns on both sides. Furthermore Witsen showed tree steps in his deck on plate LXI. That makes sense because the ship's sides after the main mast are high enough to create an extra space for provisions at the end of the orlop deck. Next time this internal arrangement will be clearer.
For now I will be busy with the realization of these changed plans.



This is a difficult period in the construction of the model. Not because the work is particularly hard, but because the model always looks a bit sloppy in this stage. But you have to realize that nothing you see here, will be visible in the end.

[kentyler]

i am learning a lot

[abhovi]

A small update of my progress with Witsen’s fluit.

First of all I changed the internal arrangemant of the decks and compartments. Witsen only shows the beams of the lower deck in his drawing. Everything above it is unknown. There is no original material we can lean on. We do know the arrangement for small ships. That is what I originally planned for this fluit. But looking at Witsen’s drawing of the deck of the ship I came to different conclusions.


Witsen's drawing of the deck. There are three steps. My design only showed two.

The aft part of the orlop deck was used to get a better accomodation for the crew. For bigger ships, sailing long intercontinental journeys, discipline was strickt. The crew were not allowed behind the main mast, unless they had work to do there. Their place was on the lower decks and in the forecastle. But the fluit sailed short trips to the Baltic or to Spain and the Mediterranian, which gave a totally different character to the life aboard. There were only 12 to 20 men aboard a vessel like this and they mostly came from the same village. They knew each other and their families all their lives. There is proof that the whole crew slept in the back of the ship. And the new arrangement of the interiour allows for that.


Old design new design

Behind the main mast there was a step in the deck, where one could descent to the lower deck, where the crew had their bunks. Through a door the steering stand was entered. The roof was raised to allow openings through which the helmsman could see enough of the sails to make small steering corrections. The course was given by the officer on deck.
In the steering stand there was room for two light guns on each side. They must have been bronze cannon, to prevent deviations of the compass.
Behind the steering stand the captain’s cabin was located. The tiller moved over the roof in a narrow space caused by the floor of the officer’s cabin right above it.


Internal arrangement. In the back the captain's cabin, right in front the steering stand, in front of that the accommodation for the crew. The floor of the officer's cabin is a bit higher than the roof of the captain's cabin to allow for the tiller.

Furthermore I applied the wales. This is a complicated operation because the looks of the ship is decided by way they are faired. And it is not enough to simply use a spacer to line them up, because in the back their distance changes. Only seen from the side they are parallel, but seen from above it is clear that because of the way the hull was shaped the planking became wider towards the end. It takes a sharp eye and many corrections before they are settled on the right location.


The wales are mounted. Mind the width between them in the back.

Working with a model allows for better understanding than any description or drawing will ever do.

[Longbow]

I'm enjoying your build and descriptions immensely !
Thanks for your elaborate explanations !

[eatcrow2]

First class modeling with superb descriptions of the process!!

[Bluenoser]

I love all the historic bits in amongst all this. Awesome build too.
I also have Ab's books 'Dutch Merchant Ships', 'William Rex' and 'The Ships of Able Tasman'. The drawings in there by Cor Emke are fabulous. One of these days I want to build something form one of those drawing sets. This Fluit build is inspiring me to do one too.

Something I have been trying to find is a drawing set for a VOC ship from around the 1760's. Near as I can figure is that the VOC ships and the English East Indiaman started to develop similar looks. One thing I can't seem to determine is when the rounded mast head cap common to early Dutch vessels disappeared and went flat as seen on English ships.

[abhovi]

Longbow and Eatcrow2: Thank you for your positive comments.
Bluenoser: I can send you an original draught from 1742 of a 150 feet long VOC ship by Charles Bentam, an English shipwright working for the Amsterdam admiralty from 1735-1756. It is too big for the forum (16 Mb), but it looks like this:

As for the square caps: I thinks it must have been at the same time other English features were introduced in Dutch shipbuilding in the second quarter of the 18th century.