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
