Airfix wasa and ratlines.

Hi Rasse,

And  WELCOME, Are you hand tieing the shrouds or are you using the kit supplies plastic ones? IF you have not fixed the upper crowes nest in place, you may have to run the shrouds line the real ship.

1. Select a generous length of line (more then you'll need by 6 or8 " per side.

2. start at the top of the mast and feed the line thrrough the cross tree.

3. do this for each deadeye needed. once you have al the lines in place, you can go back and simply pinch off and tie the lines together on each side of the cross trees. Fix in place with ACC and then proceed to tie the correct end to the lower deadeye.

Hope this helps 

As far as the pictures go, first you need to place your pictures on a server somewhere (I use webshots) At the top of each reply screen you will see a "film strip" click that and paste your photo's weblink and post the pictures.

Jake

      Perhaps this picture of the VASA model might be of help.

   Montani semper liberi !     Happy modeling to all and every one of you.

                             Crackers        

Core Tech,

WELCOME!!!!  There are several earlier threads concerning the Airfix kit of Wasa. You might find detailed help there.  I seem to remember an excellent one by Enemeink.

As for painting the upper bulwarks blue, I believe the current research on the real ship shows that she was painted red. Be careful as well with painting the gingerbread gold . . . each figure was elaborately painted.

Again, welcome to the forum!

Bill Morrison

thanks for the warm welcome!
Bigjake:
I dont really know all the english nautical terms,but atleast you managed to understand me,is it called ratlines or shrouds?
unfortunatly im using the finished ones that comes with the kit,and the lower mains are also unfortunatly in place...in an ockward way,so i need to cut them if i want to remove them.
maybe its easier to as i said,cut them and then making my own?
since wasa (#2)is my first serious ship i have learned alot,mostly by mistakes,lucky that they doesnt show on the actual model.

but i was very dissapointed at the ratlines(?) since there is as i said a huge gap between the railing (? again with the terms) and the first horizontal rope.

Warshipguy: yes i know that the conservators,or scientists,whatever,think that it was red,but as i said:blue is one of my national colours and suits the ship very well.
the gold representing the cross and the blue lines representing the fields around it..
i dont know what a gingerbread is but i can assure you,my paintjob is very very detailed,since my last wasa ended up in disaster i want to make this a really good one.
only misstake was the deck,i couldnt decide if i wanted to use the original colour of the plastic or paint it with the supposed colour,so i glued the cannons and then found out that it fits with the colour airfix recommends.

if you can tell me how to upload pictures ill show you how it looks.

Core Tech,

Shrouds are the vertical support lines that support the masts and the ratlines.  The ratlines are the foot ropes ascending the shrouds.

Bill

oh...well...maybe its a little confusing for you then.
in the kit i got ratlines and shrouds ready to put on the ship (ratlines was attached to the shrouds)
so my problem is not attaching the ratlines,rather the shrouds to the ship.
should you put them up by the basket or the...beam that holds the sail? 

Core Tech,

The term "Gingerbread" refers to the decorative carvings and figures around the ship. In Wasa's case, these carvings and figures were painted in very elaborate schemes instead of simply being painted in gold leaf.

Shrouds attach near the platforms, or tops, not the yardarm.  Actually, they are rigged through the "lubber's hole" in the tops and run down the other side. They also attach near the crosstrees on the upper parts of the masts.  If the kit contains injection-molded shrouds and ratlines, I would consider throwing them away and rigging them myself.

There are many terrific references that really help me, even after building sailing ships for over 50 years.  These are:

1. Ship Modeling from Stem to Stern by Milton Roth.

2. Historic Ship Models by Wolfram zu Mondfeld.

3. The Neophyte Shipmodeller's Jackstay By George F. Campbell.

4. The Rigging of Ships In The Days of the Spritsail Topmast, 1660-1720 by R.C. Anderson.  This one would be particularly helpful for rigging the Wasa.

5. The Art of Rigging by George Biddlecombe.

I hope that this helps!

Bill Morrison

Here is another fine book you may consider.

Rigging Period Ship Models: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Intricacies of the Square-Rig by Lennarth Petersson

Thanks Bill!

and welcome to the forums Coretech.

This is how I attached the ratlines on my wasa. (I tried to take some photos but the camera was not cooperating....)

I drilled out the holes in the top deadeyes, listed as parts 172, 175, 171, 174 etc.  I then drilled a 2 larger holes on each side of the main top, (parts 185, 198 etc) and similar parts to run the shrouds. after that was done i started running the rigging from the first deadeye beginning at the front of the ship. I ran the first shroud line from the first deadeye on the right side of the ship through bottom of the hole in main top back down the hole on the other side to the other deadeye on the left side of the ship. yeah that might sound confusing but that's what i did.

Here's the build log that I did that Bill suggested. also on page 2 it will show you how to post pictures off of photobucket.com. I did most of my research from the Wasa musuem website. also there is an amazing website that shows the restoration of the wasa at www.wasadream.com

/forums/t/94299.aspx?PageIndex=1

hmm...its gonna be tuff removing the ratlines and shrouds since i used some very desperate methods...glueing it in place...and holding it back with thread.
but ill try,i saw on bigjakes photos that his own made shrouds look much better,so i think im gonna do that...more time more effort but more experience and better looks.its worth it.
and yet gain,i know im a pain in the ass,but whata heck is a deadeye.
enemeink,when i was checking this forum before i joined it,i saw your thread (i searched on airfixs wasa on google,so i ended up here) and your painting is truly magnificent!
i envy you,but i cant make so very detailed as you,since my pencils are cheap,old or ruined and i havent got all the ornament colours,only the ones airfix recommend. 
but ill try to cut of the shrouds,and post a photo on photobucket and show it too you guys.
thanks for all the help!!
this is an awesome forum. 

not pencils,i mean brushes
the word pencil is very similiar to the swedish word for brush 

CoreTech,

You are most decidedly NOT a pain!  Sailing ship modeling is possibly the most complex of all. You are learning as each of us has learned (and are learning still!).  Keep asking questions; we love our subject matter.  As for having to remove parts to repair mistakes, we have all had to do that.

As for language issues, your English is much better than my Swedish!

Bill Morrison

yeah but have you ever seen an english man speak swedish?
since english is the biggest international language itsmore common to hear that then swedish.
but i managed to cut of the shrouds successfully,and now i just need to paint the mast again (im using revells glue,wich you may know is acidic so it has "molten" down parts of the mast,so  you can see the original brown)
but can you explain what a deadeye is?
apparently your supposed to attach the shrouds to it.
thanks in advance
coretech 

Dead eye and rigging can be found here.

http://www.stevproj.com/DeadEye.pdf

Go to Amazon.com and look up the book I talked about before, you can see some of what is inside the book and there you will find examples of dead eyes and how to rig them too.

CoreTech: This is a deadeye. It is used tighten the tension on all shrouds, some backstays and stays. Round deadeyes first came into  use during the mid-17th century, until they were replaced by turnbuckles in the late 19th century.

      Montani semper liberi !   Happy modeling to all and every one of you.

                             Crackers                  

thats another thing clearified.
im gonna continue ask questions about the terms.
lubbers hole...is what?
i know im supposed to attach the shrouds to the deadeyes,pretty obvious,but its the other side of it thats the problem,where to put the shrouds on the mast. 

CoreTech

thats another thing clarified.
im gonna continue ask questions about the terms.
lubbers hole...is what?
i know im supposed to attach the shrouds to the deadeyes,pretty obvious,but its the other side of it thats the problem,where to put the shrouds on the mast. 

my camera was more cooperative today. here's some pictures to show you what i did. here's a better way to show you how i attached the shrouds to the mast.

Here's a picture of the deadeyes on the Wasa.

the drilled hole on the tops. There is another hole on the other side of the mast, not shown in the picture.

the green shroud line is one piece. the ends of the shroud line tie off to the deadeye.

   CoreTech: Lubbers hole--- A hole in a platform, called a top on a mast, through which a sailor can climb through without climbing on the shrouds.

   Montani semper liberi !       Happy modeling to all and every one of you.

                    Crackers                           

now ill just have to try drill a hole in the platform...could be a bit tuff since the masts are already completed.
but how should i tie down the shoruds?
feels like theres no other place to do that than on the mast itself?

CoreTech

now ill just have to try drill a hole in the platform...could be a bit tuff since the masts are already completed.
but how should i tie down the shoruds?
feels like theres no other place to do that than on the mast itself?

if you drill the 2 holes in the platforms you will not have to tie the shroud to the mast. you will tie each end of the string to a deadeye on each side of the ship.

i know theres deadeyes your supposed to put on the platform,is this the ones you mean? 

No. Look back at Emeninks drawing with the green line. Start with the first deadeye on the starboard (right) side.Tie it to the deadeye then take the line up the mast and through the first hole. Then take the same line down through the second hole, and tie it to the first deadeye on the port (left) side. Then go back and do all the shrouds the same way working down the line of deadeyes. Up one side and down the other.

oh i didnt see the green line that goes over the platform and bak down again,i thought the two were seperate,sorry,my misstake.
now i see.
That shouldnt be to hard then. 

well now the rigging isnt a problem since all the fine gentlemen in this forum has helped me out.
But im thinking about one thing.
the colours of wasa,im gonna show you some photos of how it looks,but i want too know if you have any suggestions on how to spice it up a little.
the dutch (i like the dutch ships so im gonna take theirs as example),had very colourful ships even though it sometimes was a little bit different colours.
you think a waterlinepaint would be in place?
some planks painted in black?
lines similar to the hms victory's?
something,i think it looks pretty boring right now even though it is its historical appearence. 
but unlike some i just want it too look good in my eyes and not too be historicly accurate. 

http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb428/Core-Tech/DSC00623.jpghttp://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb428/Core-Tech/DSC00625.jpghttp://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb428/Core-Tech/DSC00625.jpg

a lot of the figures on the ship were painted instead of gold flaked. this gave a lot of color. the picture from the wasa muset helped me decide how to paint the figures on bow.

as far as i have read or know there is no evidence of the hull having been tarrowed (black below the waterline) to give your model some life i would suggest finding some wooden ship kit pitctures nd install the rigging based off of those pictures.

the instruction manul is very basic. i used an enlarged picture of the Corell Wasa kit to add the rigging. you can also buy rigging diagrams from wood kit manufacturers for a couple of dollars, depending on the brand. it would be a shame to paint

a beautiful model to have the rigging simplified. but remember this is yours and do what makes you happy. :)

The current issue of Ships in Scale has a beautiful cover picture of a model of the Wasa. The cover is a closeup of the figures details.  It should be a big help to you.

Bill Morrison

actually enemeink,im using your wasa as reference :)
now...i know the hull paint should come before even assembling any piece,but do you know some techniques on how to make it more wooden,look like wood or this is something that requires years of experience?
my wasa isn't done yet,the rigging is far from it.
and a last word enemeink,i aint got the skills you have in painting,and my brushes arent the best + i havent got all colours (i just got the critical ones,that airfix suggests) so painting the figures are almost out of question,i will paint some,on the bow for example,but not much more than that. 
your wasa is  INCREDIBLE,i hope to be able to build something like that in my life.