| There seems to be a widespread tendency to regard ship model rigging as a form of witchcraft. The truth of the matter is that to do an extremely satisfactory job of rigging a model you need to learn two knots: the reef knot (known to Boy Scouts as the square knot) and the clove hitch. I suspect you already know the reef (square) knot; it's hard to get through life without learning it. Just in case, here's a link to a picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reef_knot Modelers (and other folks) routinely use the same knot as a bend - that is, a means of fastening a line to a fixed object, such as a spar or eyebolt. Imagine that the standing part and the bitter end of the line are the red and blue lines in the picture, and you've got it. Just be sure not to make the second twist in the wrong direction relative to the standing part; if you do, you'll have a "granny," which won't hold. The clove hitch is just as simple: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clove_hitch . The clove hitch really has only one common use in ship rigging: to secure ratlines to shrouds. If you aren't rigging the ratlines to scale (which I frankly don't recommend for a first project, especially on the small scales of the kits you've mentioned), you probably can get by with just the reef knot. (You may occasionally need to make an oversized version of it, to keep a line from passing through a hole. In that case, just tie a reef knot with an extra turn or two in it.) Real sailors, of course, know lots of knots. If you're interested in such things, the next ones to learn probably are the slip knot, the bowline, the sheepshank, the sheet bend, and the barrel hitch. If you really want to get into to the subject deeply, the place to start (and, for most sane people, stop) is Clifford Ashley's The Ashley Book of Knots. But if you learn how to tie a good square knot (as opposed to its unreliable cousin, the "granny knot"), you'll be in good shape to rig a model. Ship modeling does has its challenging aspects, but knot tying doesn't need to be one of them. The subject of rigging line color is an interesting one about which modelers argue quite a bit. The truth seems to be that there isn't a whole lot of reliable information about it - and the specific evidence that does exist only applies to specific times and/or countries. In the eighteenth century, for instance, all rope supplied to the British Royal Navy was legally required to be soaked in Stockholm tar. I've never seen Stockholm tar, but I'm reliably informed that it has a rich, medium brown color. That's probably the correct color for the running rigging of an eighteenth-century British warship (and probably not far wrong for running rigging on sailing vessels of most periods, for that matter). Standing rigging (the shrouds, stays, and other lines that hold up the masts) apparently was coated after it was in place with a concoction of tar, lampblack, and other stuff that, if it wasn't pure black, must have been pretty close. Many modelers make their running rigging brown and their standing rigging black; others insist that a very dark brown is appropriate for standing rigging. I won't argue with either position. Two golden rules about rigging, though: One - when in doubt as to size, err on the small side. Two - when in doubt as to color, err on the dark side. Hope that helps at least a little. Good luck. |