I plan on getting the Lindberg/pyro “Jolly Rodger”, which is actually the French La Flore. I have a set of plans for another French Frigate circa 1744, with a rigging diagram. My question is were there any significant changes in French rigging practices between 1744 and the 1770s which is the period of La Flore?
Yikes! I suspect there were some fairly noticeable changes, but I have no idea what they may have been. I can suggest two courses of action. One - order the plan package for La Flore from the Association des Amis de Musee Marine. Two - if you’ve got a good library nearby, see if you can get hold of the books by Jean Boudriot (the reigning expert on French 18th-century naval architecture.
In all honesty, though, if you rig the model according to your 1744 plans I don’t think anybody from anywhere other than France will see anything wrong with it. I certainly won’t.
Good luck.
In terms of rigging, it’s beyond me to comment. Only that frigates of that era (latter half of the eighteenth century) in France/ Spain and England seem to be rigged with three sails on the masts, a spanker sail and stay sails, much like our Constitution.
But a big difference seems to be that before 1744 most French frigates in the 8 pounder class had the gun deck below the weather deck, whereas after the mid-century they were designed with a weather/ gun deck.
The Lindberg model is in the first category.
I was hoping to avoid buying the plans, as I already have the 1744 ones, that I found. If I can avoid spending $60 or $70, I can spend it on other models.
I think if you follow your plans it will be without question a fine model.
Thanks for the help, I think I’ll use the plans I have. It is a small model 1/133, so I will not be going for super detail, just a good looking and reasonabley accurate model.