Rigging, help!

Bee17,

I have plenty of pictures of the CS. I have built it many, many times and am now working on another one for my new office. Let me know what you need and I'll see if I can provide. You can email me direct and I can send you a few pics.

Jake

My first suggestion is to get rid of the thread that comes with the kit. I haven't looked in a Revell box lately, but the stuff the plastic kit companies supply is generally pretty bad. A couple of boxes up in this forum is a thread that starts "Rigging question for Big Jake." Therein you'll find a discussion of rigging materials that should give you some useful tips, along with some suggestions about books that will come in handy.

Agreed, don't use the kit thread. Not only it is out of scale, but is weak and freys easily.

I agree about trashing the kit thread. You'll need different thickness going finer as you move aloft.

One thing I've had much success with, especially with plastic masts is to rig the running rigging, brown thread stuff, not black, "backwards. Tie a loose piece of thread to the proper belaying pin, then pass the thread up. As you pass through each block, put a drop of white glue, not "super glue" it stains thread, and hold just enough tension in the thread until the glue begins to set. That section of the line will stay taught and you won't need to put as much pressure on the masts. At each point that the line passes through a block or yardarm, put the glue in again. Each section of line will be taught, but only to the glue point. That way, you won't be trying to pull the line taught through its entire length and warp your spars out of line.

Bee17:
I would listen to the others and scrap the thread that came with the kit. Try outfits like Bluejacket Shipcrafters or Loyalhanna Dockyard for rigging thread, or go to your local fabric shop and look at fine linen or tatting threads.

Before you start you should decide if you are going to display the sails set or furled. This affects the positions of the yards on the masts. It is also correct to leave the sails off, which would simplify the running rigging a great deal.

Some builders also replace the upper masts with wood dowel so the rigging tension will not warp them.

I would treat each mast and yard as separate items to be built and rigged. Start with the bowsprit, then the foremast, and work your way up and aft. Also fasten all the required blocks to the yards, rig their footropes, and add the accessories like studding sail booms before mounting them; it will simplify things for you later.

Standing rigging, which is usually black because these lines were tarred to preserve them, is done first. These support the masts. After that is complete then do the running rigging, which is usually white or tan, and which is used to work the sails. Again, start at the sprit and work up and aft.

Most first time builders have the most trouble with the shrouds and ratlines. The key here is patience and lots of evenings. I recommend building the shrouds on the model; I have never had any success with the so-called rigging jigs. You should have the lower deadeyes fastened to the model before starting. I make a U-shaped clip from wire that goes between the lower and upper deadeye for each shroud; this holds the deadeyes even when rigging them. After the shrouds are all installed and tied off I replace each clip with the lanyard (the line that joins the deadeyes). The ratlines come last.

Your instructions should assist you with locating the parts of the rigging and where each line ties off to.

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask if you get stuck.
Bruce

I used what is called cuttyhunk silk threat and ran each piece of rigging thread over a hunk of beeswax to remove the fuzz. I has stood up to time very well and looks as good as the day I put it on. Important tip is to always - always keep the model covered in a case. Dust is never good and you can't really ever get it off.

Good luck,
Paul