Cutty Sark - eye bolts

What size cotter pins do you use? The smallest at the Home Depot up the street is 1/16" which appears to be too big.

Thanks for the help and all the comments. I began working on the Revell 1/96 Cutty Sark about 2 months ago. I've had it sitting on my shelf for about 15 years and I didn't realize it wasn't made anymore. I have never taken on anything like this before but it is going well so far. The biggest problem I've had so far is getting the deck seams to disappear.

jtilley wrote:

For heaven's sake, don't spend good money on preformed wire eyebolts.  They're too easy to make yourself. Get some brass or copper wire of the appropriate diameter.  (If it's brass, it's a good idea to soften it first, by holding it over a candle flame for a few minutes.)  A set of drill bits, #60 through #80, makes an excellent set of mandrels.  Clamp the appropriate drill bit in your vise, loop the wire around it, and twist the ends of the wire into a pigtail.  I find it convenient to make several eyebolts on one piece of wire, which I then dunk in chemical blackener before snipping off the individual eyes.  That method produces precisely-sized eyebolts at a rate better than one per minute.

It often depends on scale and number as to whether its worthwhile to make your own eyebolts from basic wire.

Even at a 'rate of better than one a minute'  if cost is not an issue then there are better things to spend modelling time on than making eyebolts.

On the Heller Victory for instance several hundred eyebolts are required - some 340 very tiny ones 0.3mm dia  for the gun port lids alone (I use brass etched ones for this)

The other advantage of bought eyebolts is the stem not being twisted fits into a much smaller micro hole which can be critical.

At a cost of $8 equivalent per 250 (0.3 mm etched eyelets), and $3 per 100 (2mm copper eyebolts) I certainly think the expenditure is worth avoiding the mind numbing exercise of making your own.

Well, that shows you how much I know about cotter pins.  I'd never seen any that were small enough - but Jake knows more about them than I do.  Seems like they'd work great - especially if they're installed in such a way that the other side of the deck (or whatever) isn't visible on the finished model, so you can spread the legs of the cotter pin in the intended manner.

The old Revell Cutty Sark has its weak points; what kit from 1959 doesn't?  My biggest criticism of it at the moment, though, is that it's out of production.  It doesn't appear in either the Revell/Monogram or Revell Germany catalog (though Revell Germany is currently selling two smaller Cutty Sarks).  That kit is a classic, and one of the real standard-setters of the industry.  It should ALWAYS be available to anybody who wants to tackle it.

Shipwreck,

You are correct about the plastic "eyebolts" not being able to hold the pressure of the stays and downhauls. I use metal cotter pins and any large hardware store has about 6-8 different sizes.  You can see them in my webshots album on my Cutty Sark. Look for a picture entilted "Metal Eyebolts".  You need to use these all over the model.

http://community.webshots.com/user/jbgroby

This is my favorite model to build and every time I get an oder for one I usually do more and more detail to it.

Jake

In a ship like the Cutty Sark, eyebolts come in many sizes.  Generally speaking, the bigger the rope (or wire) that's to be run through it, the bigger the eyebolt.  A good average size for the iron rod that forms the eyebolts might be in the neighborhood of an inch, which translates into .010" or .012" on 1/96 scale.  For larger eyes on which there will be more stress (e.g., the ones to which the lower ends of the main and main topmast stays are secured), a thicker wire would be in order - say .010".

A cotter pin would be the right shape, all right, but I don't recall having seen any that were small enough.  In any case, as we've established, it's ridiculously easy to make your own eyebolts - at virtually no expense.

Several chemicals for blackening brass and copper are on the market.  I've got a bottle of "Blacken-It," which I got in the railroad department of the local hobby shop.  Bluejacket (www.bluejacketinc.com) sells "Brass Black" (along with "Pewter Black" and "Brass Brown").  Some modelers have gotten excellent results with gun bluing, which can be found virtually anywhere rifles are sold - including Wal-Mart.  In any case, I suggest spraying the finished, blackened part with a quick shot of Dullcoat (or other flat lacquer).  The black finish tends to rub and/or scrape off otherwise.

Hope that helps a little.  Good luck.

When I was much, much younger I built several of the big Revell kits, and didn't even think about replacing the plastic eyebolts.  I have no idea how many of them I broke, but I'm sure the number was considerable.  Nowadays I wouldn't even consider using plastic eyebolts - unless they're just for show, with no lines secured to them.  (In that case, Grandt Line and Detail Associates make some superb plastic ones that are so small they're hard for middle-aged eyes to see.)

For heaven's sake, don't spend good money on preformed wire eyebolts.  They're too easy to make yourself.

Get some brass or copper wire of the appropriate diameter.  (If it's brass, it's a good idea to soften it first, by holding it over a candle flame for a few minutes.)  A set of drill bits, #60 through #80, makes an excellent set of mandrels.  Clamp the appropriate drill bit in your vise, loop the wire around it, and twist the ends of the wire into a pigtail.  I find it convenient to make several eyebolts on one piece of wire, which I then dunk in chemical blackener before snipping off the individual eyes.  That method produces precisely-sized eyebolts at a rate better than one per minute.

Not just relating to the Cutty Sark but any of the supplied plastic eyebolts with model kits are not really a good idea. They tend to be a little over scale in their moulding and are prone to breaking, usually at a most inconvenient place.

A snagged line can pull them out of locations that can be difficult to replace.

Modelling supply companies provide a much better alternative; for instance Amati make 2mm copper eyebolts that when superglued into place make for a secure job. They are not expensive and easily sourced via the internet.

Alternatively eyebolts are easily made from thin wire.

I have not used provided eyebolts on models for many years now, the wire replacements are also much easier to handle.

Good luck with your build.

My I assume the hull and deck are attached ?  Its harder...if they are.

I have built this model. I used wire, twisted over a drill bit or a pair of bending pliars. Cut them off leaving a length of twisted wire for attachment, then super glue or epoxy them in place.. On the other hand if the deck is not yet attached, (judging by your question, it is.) then make up the needed number of eye bolts, also you could attach the deck blocks this way too. and attach them to the deck and bend the tab over, locking the bolt and eye in place. secure with super glue or epoxy. the tab will help keep the eye in place. They'll take a lot of tention, I also wraped brass wire around some of the decks for strength.  Good luck, the Cutty Sark was a Beautyfull ship. Hope this'll help.