Hello all,

i am new to ship building, not new to modelling, i have built a lot of armour, ww2 planes, and ww1 biplanes (my most recent addiction) and have just started my first ship which i am enjoying immensely ... so far i picked the tamiya tirpitz for no other reason that i liked the look and being Tamiya i knew it would not have too many assembly issues.

When i rig biplanes i use Ez Line or elastic thread - does that apply to naval rigging as well? Looking at the masts i am a little worried about tension bending and breaking the thin masts? Also i assume just some plastic too make the spacers on the dual lines..

any help greatly appreciated..

P.S.
i am hopeless with stretched sprue...

cheers

AM

I've used EZline several times on ships as well as biplanes, and although it's not the ideal material (when you look really closely it's flat and ribbon-like, instead of round in section), it does work very well. As you know, EZline will stretch several times it's own length, so if you just pull it until there's a bit of tension, it shouldn't pull the mast or yardarm. If you're doing multiple rigging off the same yard, like signal halyards, do the inside ones on each side first, and work your way outwards to the yard ends. That way you keep the tension equal on each side of the yard to avoid possible pulling of the mast or yard. If you want to get ambitious you could make new masts from brass rod.

Hello Alastair,

Firstly, welcome to MSW....you will have a great time in this
section of Kitmaker Net.

My material of preference for rigging ships is monofilament
fishing line. It is available in a variety of diameters to
suit the various scales of ships and can be combined to represent the different size cables on the same ship.
It glues very well with CA and can be painted with acrylics or enamel paints.

Feel free to ask all the questions you want, as the great bunch of guys here, will always be of help.

Cheers,
Joe

thanks for the advise...

Biggles, i have a dragon destroyer lined up second so maybe i will try brass tube on that one..

Joe,

i will try the fishing line as god knows i have plenty around the house... i also have some braided fishing line which is smoke, but i will have to check if it frays when i cut it.

thanks for the advice and i will post some progress pics soon.

AM

Ahoy Alastair,

I have tried the braided stuff and am not too fond of it as it does fray.

Stick to mono filament, you will easier to work with and the
results are far superior.

Cheers,
Joe

Gidday Alastair

A warm wecome from across the Tasman.

There are so many options for rigging. The more popular have already been outlined.

You will see on my Airfix E-Boat build on this forum I am attempting stretched sprue. There is a real art to it for sure an art I have yet to master.

Its my first time at proper rigging as well.


Good luck with working out whats best for you.

Cheers



Sean