ideas please for ship rigging

[Guest]

hello all . im new to this site and was wondering if someone can help me out .im building the tamiya 1-350 scale musashi , but going nuts trying to figure out how to make rigging ...any ideas would be great .....thanks

[Ian M]

Hi and welcome. There are some specialist filaments you can buy, EZ-line a stretchy mylar type fibre that is great for all type of wire work. It comes in several colours and thickness's.

Alternative you can used stretched sprue and joss sticks....

Ian M

[Guest]

An idea i once used was to make a triangle 3 times bigger than the shape you want out of some thin strips of stirdy card or such material that is quite stiff, this will allow you to make all different widths of rigging.

Onve you have done this draw a straight line in the middle of each strip until you have an equal triangle. Now dependant upon the scale you need to measure along the ines up the sides first at intevals of the width of rigging you want horizontal/cross ways.

Now along do the same along the bottom for the requires amount vertical.

Now using pins or map pins push them into the marks you have made.

Now take some black sewing cotton and tie it to the bottom left pin and then run across th the bottom right pin, pull tight and go up to the next right pin and then across to the opposite left pin. Do this untill you reach the desired height.

now do the same starting from the top centre in and run to the bottom, then across one and back up again. remember to work to the exact width you want this time, you may only want 5 uprights so at the bottom go from top to 2nd left from centre.

Now with this done it will look like the rigging you want.

Now the good bit. Mix some PVA with water to a milky solution, paint the rigging area you want and go an inch either side with it.

Go to bed and when you get up it will be dry and stiff, now apply a coat of matt black, leave to dry and then get a sharpe pair of scissors and cut just very slightly outside the upright threads and wow... there you have soild taught easy to glue into place rigging.

Andy