Let me introduce myself. My interest and fascination in model making goes back to my teen-age years when I built and flew airplane models. and I still have a ship model I built some 60 years ago that I'm rather proud of. I recently finished the PanArt "Armored Launch" and am ready to start the rigging on the PanArt "Baltimore Schooner". But, I'm still a novice, and anxious to get some tips and suggestions on how to rig a tall ship. How do you make neat ratlines? I understand rigging lines should be waxed, but then I guess I can't use CA adhesive to prevent knots from slipping loose? Are lines sometimes painted? Any recommendations on a book on how to rig?
Many thanks in advance for your help

Pidge

 

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First, Welcome to the Forum.
Some good books on rigging: (Can be found at Amazon.com and other book sources)
"The Art of Rigging" by Captain George Biddlecombe
"Rigging Period Ship Models: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Intricacies of the Square-Rig" by Lennarth Petersson
"The Complete Rigger's Apprentice: Tools and Techniques for Modern and Traditional Rigging" by Brion Toss, Robert Shetterly
These books may not give the specifics for your particurlar type of ship, but the methods are the same for rigging.
The general rules for rigging, no matter a fully rigged frigate or a schooner, are:
1- work from amidships to the bow and to the stern, then alternate between port and starboard (in short, work from the middle out to the bow, stern, port and starboard. Kind of like the hands of a clock).
2- stay rigging first, then running.
3- when doing shrouds, do a line on one side (let's say port), then the matching line on the starboard side (to keep an even tension on the masts).
4- do ratlines after all the shroud lines are done.
I don't use CA glue on the knotting. Try a oil, not water, based clear light weight artists matte varnish on the knots. White glue works very well also for securing the knots and seizing lines. You can wax the lines to stop the "fizzies" but on lines that have to "sag" slighly, like ratlines, apply a mixture of thinned white glue prior to tying the ratlines. The white glue will "stiffen" the line and leaves a slight dull finish on the lines. You can give the lines a coating of flat black paint afterwards to even up the look.
Another method of waxing lines is using the "Hot wax" method: http://shipmodeling.net/forum/shop_...ng_beeswax.html (open in a blank window)
In closing I would suggest setting up a little sample shroud rigging to practice making ratlines before working on the finished model. Practice first and see what method works best for you.
I've got some rigging photos: http://shipmodeling.net/forum/shop_...gging_tools.htm (open in a blank window)
If the scale of your model is small, it may be difficult to get the ratlines to have a natural sag to them. A larger scale is easier to work with. One more thing, don't "pull" the ratlines too hard between the shroud lines, else the shroud lines will be pulled in towards each other.
If you have any more questions pidge, just ask.
wirewolf

 

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pidge and rvarsanik, here is a link to a photo of my rigging tools I made:
I made these tools out of frustration after trying to use standard hand tools. Some are just simple hooks and such bend from brass and steel wire. The long nosed scissors and the self gripping tweezers took a little longer to make. But I'm glad I did. These tools have saved me a lot of grief when it comes to rigging a model.

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The hook and loop type tools are easy to make. They're round dowels (3/16" dia.) with holes drilled in the ends to accept the wires and the flat stock. I stained them just for good looks and put a small eye hook for hanging. The Self gripping tweezer tool took a little longer to come up with. I'll try to get a close up photo of it and post it in the gallery. The spring loaded snips are just a spring return long nose tweezers, a pair of sewing scissors (with the finger loops cut off), and two copper tubes. One tube is securely fastened to one handle of the scissors and to one side of the tweezers. The other tube is crimped to the other scissor handle but is open on the second tweezer handle, allowing it to slip in and out.
That particular ratline photo isn't mine, but I've used similar clips like that. I like the ones you get in a stationary store. It's a great way to keep the deadeyes from "twisting" while working on the shrouds and ratlines.

 

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