CUTTER.
Our first [illustration] shows a model cutter, with her sails set. The principal sail is termed the mainsail, the one above it the gaff topsail, and the triangular sail attached to the bowsprit the foresail or jib.
The blocks used in rigging a model ship are to be made of boxwood or alder. The latter is a softer wood than the former, and can be more readily fashioned into shape with a penknife. The holes for the cords should be bored through the pieces of wood before they are shaped into blocks, as it is not easy to drill the blocks without splitting them. The rudder should be attached to the keel by bent pins. The little staples on the keel, in which the bent pins work, are to be formed of brass wire. The stem of the rudder passes through a hole in the stern of the vessel, and is provided with a tiller. Before launching the ship, the tiller must be fixed so as to keep the rudder at the required angle. Many boys fear to launch their ships in large ponds; but if a ship is properly rigged, and answers to her rudder, there need be no doubt as to her safe arrival at port.
SMACK.
The smack is not so graceful as the cutter, but is a capital sailer. The large sail is called a spritsail, from the spar or sprit which crosses it diagonally from the mast to the upper aftmost corner.
SCHOONER.
A schooner is a vessel with two masts, and fore-and-aft sails like those of a cutter. The schooner-rig is not suited to very small boats.