Plastic Blocks

I'm not aware of any currently-available aftermarket plastic blocks.  I do recall getting hold of some quite a few years ago; they were made by one of the European ship model companies (Billing, I think).  The plastic was a slightly flexible, shiny, cream-colored substance; paint wouldn't stick well to it.  They were nice, clean castings, but awkward to work with - and far too big for the Heller Preussen.

The problem with making decent blocks in plastic is that styrene, of the type normally used in plastic kits, has to be injected into a rigid, steel mold - and a two-piece rigid mold, by definition, can't produce a part with a hole in it and a groove around it.  (Presumably that's why that European firm used flexible plastic:  it could flex enough for the finished block to be removed from the mold.)  Many years ago the geniuses at the Japanese company Imai figured out how to do it, apparently using a multi-piece "slide mold."  If plastic blocks made with that technology were available in quantity I'd buy them by the gross.  Unfortunately, though, they only seem to be obtainable in the few old Imai kits that are still on the market under other labels.  The Academy (ex-Imai) "Roman Warship" contains about a dozen - along with some equally beautiful deadeyes.

The alternatives are wood and metal.  My personal favorites are the cast britannia metal ones from Bluejacket (www.bluejacketinc.com).  They're nice, accurately-shaped castings, available in a huge variety of styles and sizes.  They do require some cleaning up with a small file, and they obviously need to be painted (or "blackened," with a liquid called "Pewter Black" that Bluejacket also sells).  The smallest Bluejacket blocks are, to my knowledge, the smallest available from anybody - and for the Heller Preussen you're only going to be interested in the smallest two or three sizes.

For wood blocks, a good source is Model Expo (www.modelexpoonline.com).  That company sells quite a variety of rigging fittings from various European manufacturers.  They vary somewhat in quality, and I suspect virtually all of them are too big for this particular project.

Hope that helps a little.  Good luck.

The plastic blocks that come with the revell kits are nice. I don't know how close the scale would be, but the one for either "Consitutuion or Cutty Sark will probally work well enough?

Jake

The blocks in the old Revell kits are pretty big for 1/150 scale (for that matter, they're pretty big for 1/96 scale), but they just might work for some of the heaviest tackles on board the Preussen.

Revell got around the problem of injection-molding those blocks by molding the strops integrally with them.  (For the Constitution, especially, the strops really should be made of rope - or the blocks should be seized directly into the bights of the lines.)  If you paint the strops black, though, they'll look pretty convincingly like the iron-stropped blocks that would be found on board a latter-day sailing ship like the Preussen.

Good luck.

I am looking for years for small scale plastic or metal blocks. The German firm Graupner had perfectly cast & shaped plastic single blocks in only one size, 6mm; unfortunately!! Metal blocks have the advantage that due to their weight the rigging looks more realistic, 'hanging' as in reality. The wooden blocks on the market are too crude, square, holes not evenly drilled etc. Overall, I prefer Bluejacket blocks & deadeyes, which is the best I found so far but I'd like to have them in even more & smaller sizes.

Max.