The Virtual Armchair General
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Assembling Sails for Vintas, Prahus, Kora-Koras, and Dhows
1.
All folds are made back-to-back.
Assembling Sails for Junks 1. Fold dashed lines Front-to-Front. Fold the top
solid line Back-to-Back. Do not fold the bottom solid line. 2. Glue under the forward fold and press it to the
lower line. Do this for each of the forward folds. 3. Glue the yards into place at the top and bottom
tabs. 4. Glue the back folds in place. 5. On the back, gently crease under each batten. On
the front, crease along the top of each batten to make them stand out
better.
Setting A Tripod Mast 1. 
Locate the foreleg of the mast. It is the short section and is marked on one end. 1. 
Glue the foreleg in place. 3. Place the rear legs. It can be easier to set the
rear legs in place using a slower drying glue. This allows the legs to be moved
into place before the glue sets. Once in place, a drop of cyanoacrylate glue on
top edges of the mast legs will hold all three together.
Setting The Sails Attaching the sails is a matter of personal preference
and to a extent depends on how the model is used. If the sails are to be
permanent, just glue or wire them in place. To make removable sails, put small hooks in the mast,
one for the top of the sail and one for the bottom. Place the top hook where the top yard goes. Place the bottom hook below the first hook,
slightly less the height of the sail. This will billow the sail and the tension
will help hold the sail in place. Put the hook on the foreleg of a tripod mast. The hooks can be made by twisting thin wire around the
mast
then turning the ends up and cutting them off about 1/8” above the bend.
Another option is to use thicker floral wire and drill
a hole in the mast to mount the hook in.
Bend the wire into an “L” 3/16”
for the horizontal leg and 1/8” for the vertical. You can leave the vertical
section longer to use as a handle and cut it down after the hook is secured in
the mast. Glue the hook in place with cyanoacrylate glue. Hook the sail on the top hook then clip the bottom of
the sail into the bottom hook. This work for sails without a bottom yard, too.
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