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Need help with Mast Rigging

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  • Member since
    July 2013
Posted by DURR on Thursday, August 4, 2005 11:16 PM
i just discovered 32 gauge wire at micheals arts and craft they have stores all over and a web site .99 cents 24 yds on spool good for 700th scale
  • Member since
    November 2005
Two words: Tippet Line
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 1:03 AM
Tippet Line is the stuff fly fishermen use to tie custom made flies and comes in many different diameters. The stuff I use on 1/350 scale is so thin that it can hardly be seen (true scale) even when colored black. It's very strong and can be tightened by applying gentle heat to the strand just like nylon thread or stretched sprue. You can pick up Tippet Line in any tackle shop (Bass Pro) or better sporting good store. I attach my line with thinned down white glue because it dries VERY quickly. The attachment points can then be reinforced useing super glue. It takes paint very well and can be colored with a black magic marker before application which is what I do. One roll of tippet line will last for years. To straighten it out from the spool, wrap one end around a paint brush handle and pull it to almost the breaking point. The line will then layout nice and straight. Hope this helps.
  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Greenville, NC
Posted by jtilley on Sunday, July 10, 2005 10:34 PM
Well, the first thing you need is a decent rigging diagram for the Arizona. If you're really serious about it and don't mind spending some money, you can get a fine set of plans from The Floating Drydock. That will tell you all you need to know about the rigging - and just about every other aspect of the ship. On a less ambitious level, several good plans have been published in books. Paul Stilwell's Battleship Arizona, for instance, has a series of drawings showing the ship's configurations at different dates - including 1941. That drawing, in conjunction with the many excellent photos in the same book, probably would be more than adequate as a guide for rigging a model on 1/350 scale.

Different modelers have different opinions about rigging materials. I've never done a 1/350 model seriously, but I've done lots on 1/700. On that scale I usually use stretched sprue for most of the lines.

If you've never stretched sprue - here's a quick explanation. "Sprue" is the nickname given to the plastic "sticks" to which the parts of a kit are attached. After removing the parts, take a piece of sprue and hold it (with both hands) over a candle. Roll it back and forth, so the heat is distributed fairly evenly around it. After a few seconds the plastic directly over the candle will start to soften. Pull gently with both hands. The sprue will become an extremely thin filament. The faster you pull, the thinner it will get. Before you start rigging the ship, make up a supply of several dozen lengths, in different diameters. For best results, let them cool off overnight.

The next step is to determine the precise length of a particular piece of rigging. To do that, the best tool is a small pair of dividers. Cut the sprue to length.

There are two popular adhesives for sprue rigging. Some people like superglue; my preference is white glue (Elmer's). I like it because it shrinks a little as it dries, and it's water soluble. (If the line ever breaks, it's easy to remove the glue and start over. Just touch it with a brush full of water.)

For handling the lengths of sprue, I like to use a pair of tweezers that are designed for stamp collectors. They have wide, flat tips, like spatulas. Pick up the sprue with the tweezers, dip each end in a drop of Elmer's, and put it into place.

The first dozen or so attempts will give you a headache, but don't despair. There's a short but steep learning curve in rigging. If you can make yourself stick with it for a couple of hours, you'll find it's getting easy.

For longer pieces, I recommend using fine wire. I personally use a spool of nickel-chromium wire that a friend found years ago at a military surplus store, but fine copper wire works fine. A good source is Radio Shack. Buy a spool of the finest multi-strand electrical wire they have, strip off the insulation, and untwist the individual strands. Or buy a cheap pair of stereo earphones for a walkman and cannibalize the cord. You can find some incredibly fine wire that way.

When the rigging is in place, and the glue's dry, paint the rigging with thin paint of an appropriate color (probably dark grey). This is an important step. Unpainted sprue is shiny, and the shininess has the effect of making it look thicker. The glue holding the rigging in place will show up as shiny dots. A drop of paint in the appropriate color will make them disappear.

Each piece of rigging presents its own problems, but the above should give you the general idea. Good luck.

Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, July 10, 2005 8:38 PM
Gee guys, really need some help here. Thought with all you experienced modelers here, that I would get more than just one response. Any info you could give me about putting rigging on a ship model would be greatly appreciated.
  • Member since
    June 2005
  • From: Walworth, NY
Posted by Powder Monkey on Tuesday, July 5, 2005 8:47 AM
Hi Mike,

Check out this stuff: http://www.ww1.org.uk/rigging.htm I recently saw a demonstration and the stuff is amazing. The guy put some CA in a hole, put some accelerator on the thread and inserted it. The more you stretch it the thinner it gets. You can color it with Sharpie markers. The only problem is that it is hard to find in the US. The guy giving the demonstrations ordered it from some hobby shop in England. The demonstration was for Biplanes so I don't know if it is fine enough for small ships. It is cool though.

  • Member since
    November 2005
Need help with Mast Rigging
Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, July 3, 2005 1:59 AM
Hey Guys,
Since I'm just getting back into the model shipbuilding world, I'm in need of some help here. Currently working on a Banner 1/350 Arizona, and I want to add some rigging to her. Anybody have any suggestions on what materials to use to accurately represent the scale, and how to go about attaching it? Also need to know at what points on the ship that the rigging needs to be attached to represent the rigging used on the Arizona. Also will be adding rigging to other models that I will be building in the future, and would like to know what size material to use for scale 1/300 and 1/700 ships. Appreciate any help you fine gents can give me.

Mike
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