Rigging 1/700 scale ships

weebles wrote:

Greetings, I'm going to take on a 1/700 scale APA (Amphibious Personnel Assult) ship.  This bad boy is about 7 inches long and everything is tiny.  My major concern is rigging this little guy.  Does anyone have any best practices for rigging these small ships? Thank you Dave

Many builders use stretched sprue, some use the lycra found in womens stockings and others use fly tying line called tippet. Some of the stuff I have seen on SteelNavy.com and Modelwarship.com is simply stunning. It is ALL overscale but the effect is simply marvelous. If you doubt the scale thing just try to see a half inch or less cable from 700-1400 feet away which is the scale viewing distance when you look at a model on your display shelf. None the less, if you can get over the scale issue I think you will find that streched sprue is probably the easiest to work with but the most difficult to be consistent with in terms of size. You will find that you will have to use brass rod or tubing (or stainless tubing) for the masts and yards as the plastic or resin will be far too delicate to withstand the working of rigging. Jim Baumann, a regular contributor to SteelNavy and Modelwarships has written some tips on rigging to found at those sites in his build articles.

Personally, I can't do rigging in 1/700, I'm too old and clumsy. I have to be satisfied with rigging my 1/350 ships. For that I use a rubber stretchy product that model railroaders use called EZ Line. It is way too big for 700 scale but ideal for 350 as it is easy to glue and VERY forgiving of clumsy fingers. WS

Since this is your first 1/700 ship, all I can say is KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid! Literally. There is no way you're going to be able to completely replicate all the rigging your first time out, so keep it to a few of the major pieces, and do the rigging LAST. Or you'll just keep knocking it off.

I've used mainly stretched sprue because it's free, and I usually color it with a black permanent marker, although I've been experimenting with the flat black Testors paint pen lately. You will have to stretch a lot of it to get consistent diameters in the lengths you need, but it is possible. I usually use short (3-inches or so) lengths held close to the candle flame, rotating them so they heat evenly, then watching for that moment when the center gets "squishy." That is my cue to start pulling the ends apart, slowly and evenly, until it feels like that's as far as I can get. Here is the key getting straight lengths - keep the tension on! I usually hold a piece for a minute or two after it's stretched, and then to make sure it stays straight, I tape one end to the wall and put a large metal spring clip on the other end to keep the tension on it. Sure, you'll probably have to make a bunch until you get it right, but to me, the results are perfectly acceptable and the price is right. 

Thanks for the tips on rigging.  Sprue seems to be the popular choice.  I'll practice with it and see how it goes.  I do have one question for you.... who makes the best sprue for this?  Different manufacturers use different plastic formulas, some being softer than others.  Does this make a difference with stretched sprue? 

Although you wouldn't know it from my posts I'm a plane guy rather than a ship guy.  I've mostly used tippet material for antennas and usually don't even paint it.    I don't color it because I find that leaving it clear gives it a more scale look.  But that may be different with ships.  Heat from an exhausted match usually tightens it right up.  Being a fly fisherman I have plenty of tippet material laying around anyway.  I'll certainly ask about this at the meeting.

Another issue is where to run all the lines.  I have some photos on the subject but these kits aren't very complete when it comes to details like rigging the ship.  Does anyone have any good sources for this?

Thanks

Dave

weebles wrote:

Thanks for the tips on rigging.  Sprue seems to be the popular choice.  I'll practice with it and see how it goes.  I do have one question for you.... who makes the best sprue for this?  Different manufacturers use different plastic formulas, some being softer than others.  Does this make a difference with stretched sprue?  Although you wouldn't know it from my posts I'm a plane guy rather than a ship guy.  I've mostly used tippet material for antennas and usually don't even paint it.    I don't color it because I find that leaving it clear gives it a more scale look.  But that may be different with ships.  Heat from an exhausted match usually tightens it right up.  Being a fly fisherman I have plenty of tippet material laying around anyway.  I'll certainly ask about this at the meeting. Another issue is where to run all the lines.  I have some photos on the subject but these kits aren't very complete when it comes to details like rigging the ship.  Does anyone have any good sources for this? Thanks Dave

Where to run the lines is always the most difficult. Well, you have a good start, photos of the actual ship. Try NavSource (http://www.navsource.org/) or other photo archives like the US Navy archives (http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/org11-2.htm) of ships of the same class. You will sometimes find line drawings with detailed rigging plans on the internet of common class ships like your APA or AKA. Sometimes you will have to go outside the class and look at other ship types for typical rigging photos of common elements like cargo booms and signal flag arrangements.

One of the biggest problems in building an APA is the rigging of the cargo booms.  There are quite a few of them, and each has quite a bit of rigging. 

This sort of thing can be dealt with quite well by photo-etched detail parts.  I'm not familiar with the kit you're building, but the company has a fine reputation.  It's possible that the block and tackle arrangements for the booms are on the photo-etched detail fret.  If so, you're in luck.

If not, a partial solution might be to order the 1/700 "Merchant Ship" from Gold Medal Models.  I'm pretty sure it contains some etched "blocks and tackle," and it certainly contains lots of other stuff (ladders, railings, etc.) that would come in handy.

Yes, the kit contains photo etch rigging for the booms.  So that part is good.  I'm going to have to review some examples to make sure I understand how it all comes together.  The instructions are not detailed and make some assumptions that the builder has a clue.  I only partially have a clue. 

I hope to pick up some hints at the club meeting on Saturday.  I'm going to have to take a lot of notes.  Good suggestion on the GMM set.  I'll look it over later tonight.

Thanks!

Dave

That is one thing I really like about the Loose Cannon kits - you get everything you need to build a very decent model right out of the box. Of course, as your skills improve, you're going to be tempted to add things, and try new techniques, and make each model incrementally better than the last.  

My first model in 30+ years was the Loose Cannon Victory ship. I thought I was doing really, really good to get the lifeboat falls on in something approaching a halfway decent manner, let alone the PE cargo boom rigging or even a few of the railings.

Now cut to my latest ship, a 1/700 Skywave Liberty ... I made all of the cargo boom rigging with my Waldron punch sets and stretched sprue; added all the watertight and other doors, every bit of railing, firehose racks and life rings (again, made with my Waldron sets); drilled out and added portholes; added styrene strip, sheet and tiny plastic discs to represent the weird 'armor'; and covered the hatches with 20 GMC 2 1/2-ton trucks, 5 Dodge weapons carriers, 4 Jeeps, 5 P-40s and 5 motor launches. Who says modelers don't know how to have fun!  

And weebles, PM me if you want me to shoot you a copy of a generic cargo boom rigging diagram. It's wayyyyyyyyyyyy more than I would ever attempt, but it gives you a good general idea.