lashing how

thankyou so much for those two names., my admiral will not be pleased when next she look's at our bank account, but you've put a very big smile on my face.,

I know absolutely nothing about the Australian hobby business, but in the U.S. and U.K. hemostats are pretty standard stock in good hobby shops.  Mail order firms like Squadron and Micromark also sell them - but I have no idea what shipping would cost.  

A small alligator clip makes a decent substitute, and will come in handy for all sorts of other modeling jobs.  Anyplace that sells electrical or electronic supplies (does Australia have Radio Shacks?) should have alligator    clips in lots of sizes - at low prices.

Good luck.

P.S.  The first time I posted this my I-phone refused to believe there was such a word as "hemostat," and changed it to "Hemp stat."  I've fixed it.

I've had to get used to machines that think they're smarter than I am; they're usually right.  But I do get bugged a little when they're wrong.

I'm sorry ray I live in country queensland., & to ask for a hemostat, they look at you like you are growing a second head.,I'll have to do some study on the old computer for when I go done to the big smoke, thank's for the tip though.

I wonder if there may be some confusion here between "seizing" and "serving.".  

Seizing is a method of fastening two relatively large lines together (or fastening one line to itself with some object, such as a deadeye or the end of a spar, in the bight), by lashing them together with lighter line.  Serving is a form of weather and chafe protection.  A line is served by wrapping it throughout its length (or a section of it) with light line.

Seizings are found all over the rigging of a ship; the modeler really needs to learn how to seize lines.  Serving is less common; it's not often seen on models except on large scales.  Serving is often the last step in " worming, parcelling, and serving":  winding light line between the strands of the heavy line, wrapping it in strips of canvas, and winding light line around the whole package.  The last step often is to coat the whole thing with tar, nearly obliterating the ropelike appearance of it.

Serving, in an eighteenth- or early nineteenth-century ship, is found on such lines as stay collars, where they loop around the mastheads.  And sometimes (not always) the first shroud on each side of each mast is served to protect it from being chafed by the lower yard.

On my little model of the frigate Hancock 1/128), I wanted the served areas of the shrouds and stays to be slightly fatter than the rest.  So I mixed up a mixture of artist's gesso and very dark Polyscale paint.  (I knew the gesso might chip a little; the paint kept the chips from showing.).  I then seized the lines in place before the gesso dried.  I'm pretty satisfied with the result.

I don't think I'd try to serve a line throughout its length on a scale below 3/16" to the foot or thereabouts.

I bought one of the "gizmos" from Model Expo back in the eighties.

Simple enough device--my only gripe was that it was a bit short for serving an entire shroud.

Ir was constructed of a base of a bit of poplar (or some similar wood) about 2 x 4 x 30 cm.  Then, a couple of uprights, 1  x  2 x 8 cm.  The uprights are centered on the width of the base, which allows space to clamp the base to the bench.

Between the uprights is a aluminum tube with a pair of matching press-fit plastic gears.  The tube was set into press-fit bearings (nylon bushings, if memory serves) in the uprigths.

Just above that axle, using identical gears (they do not have to be--they just have to be the smae at both ends, and mesh together).  One of the gears has a short hollow tub with a crank attached.  The other end has a matching tube, which has an alligator clip slipped over it,  Since the alligator clip is on a slip-on fitting, you can change which end is the fixed end--but, I fould that opposite the crank is best for me.

For a shroud, you need a length of line which will go around the deadeye, up and over the mast and back around to reach the next deadeye along.   Using a bit of butcher's or kitchen string makes for a handy 'try' gauge

What worked for me was to fit a bit of the shroud in the clip,  thread it through, then hang a weight on the other end--like a big 2" bulldog clip.   Then, clove hitch the serving thread up near the clip, then, start cranking until the amount of serving is achieved.  (Remember that the leading shroud on a mast was generally served its entire length to protect it from sail wear--so that serving will go up, over the seat, around the mast, then down whatever length is to scale.)  Finish the serving with another clove hitch.  A dab of adhesive is your friend.  Then, move the line down to where it needs serving around the nest deadeye, and do that up.   A person fully dedicated to accuracy (or working in scales larger that 1/48) will want to rotat the gizmo the opposite direction.

I found that holding the spool of serving thread so it passed over a bit of beeswax as I cranked was all that was needed to get it to grip and hold the shroud.

Find a local surplus store.  They will have hemostats of every size as well as dental picks and probes for very reasonable prices.

Don Stauffer

...  I keep the area of the line being seized wet so the thread will stay in place during the process.

Thanks, Don

Some folks really into sailing ships have built their own jigs, which rotate a cable while you seize the termination.  These jigs are fairly complex, with several gears.  I believe there used to be a commercial product, but have not seen it advertised in quite awhile. I made one of my own but it works so badly I generally seize on the model. It takes a lot of time to seize an end once it is in place on the model.  Not difficult once you get the hang of it, but time consuming. You go round and round, with thread and tweezers, pulling that fine thread around while missing all the other lines.  First one in an area isn't bad, but getting the last few drives you crazy because of all the other lines in area you have to weave around!  I keep the area of the line being seized wet so the thread will stay in place during the process.

I've had a few attempts.,  I am going to have to get a hemostat. I your right gmorrison your old prof must have been an optimist.,             thanks guys

My old Industrial Engineering prof in architecture school always said it takes four tries to get anything right. I consider him an optimist..

I recently finished a project using windings of fine solder around a thick solder core piece to replicate flexible air hoses; the kind on scuba gear. It all looked good until I started bending the hoses, and the windings opened up. I brush painted them with Elmers and they smoothed out nicely.

There's no real trick to making a good-looking seizing.  

Use the finest thread you've got.  I find it easiest, if possible, to do the job off the model, with the big rigging line looped around a dowel held in a vise.  Sometimes, of course, the seizing job has to be done on the model.  In that case, it will help to use some sort of clamp (a hemostat, or maybe a small alligator clamp) to hold the two parts of the rigging line together.

Knots and stuff like that are notoriously hard to describe verbally, but I'll do the best I can.  Start by making a loop with the fine thread around the two parts of the rigging line.  Take the next turn around in such a way that the end of the fine thread is trapped against the first turn.  Then just continue to wind the fine thread around the big ones until the seizing is as long as it needs to be.  When you're ready for the last turn, make it a mirror image of the first one - so the end is trapped.  Take your tweezers and squeeze the seizing together, so all the turns are nice and tight.  Both ends should be firmly trapped, so the seizing doesn't come loose.  (If it does, you've done something wrong.)

I recommend putting a tiny drop of white glue (Elmer's or similar) on each end, to make sure it doesn't work loose.  When the glue's dry (really dry), use your tiniest scissors (or, if necessary, a razor blade or Xacto knife) to trim off the bitter ends of both the seizing line and the rigging line.

Like many other things in sailing ship modeling, seizing has a steep but short learning curve.  The first one may take you ten or fifteen minutes.  The tenth one probably will take you less than a minute.

Hope that helps at least a little.  Good luck.

I have got to apologise to don as I got my terms mixed up., I meant whipping or seizing not lashing I am still very new to naval terminology I found out after I made the post., but I have finally found some sites on u-tube that show me what I

was after

One problem is that I believe most kit mfgs do not think folks will lash things down, so no provision is given in the kit.  I suppose that makes sense for styrene- the fittings would be very oversize.  Sometimes PE sets do provide provisions for lashing things down, especially ship's boats. If nothing is provided and I want to lash things down I make a tiny eyelet with fine wire, drill a very small hole in the deck, and mount the eyelet through that.  While there are brass eyelets available from model ship fittings places, these are way to big for styrene kits like 1:350- they are more for the wooden sailing ships in 1:96 or similar sizes, so you need to make your own smaller eyelets from wire.

Ashleys book of knots if you can find one will show all sorts of natical knots used aboard ship

Well, I think you have to be more specific. Like what are you working on, what scale and time period is it and the likes. Good luck and have a nice day

Paweł