Read with interest Gunny's article on weaving "rope bumpers", looking forward to trying this out. Perhaps Gunny might consider a nice follow up article on weaving the nets US marines climbed down to get into their landing craft. Would be appreciated.

It's not as complex as it seems:

Start with a thread which gives you the correct thickness for the rope. Then get a box of dressmaker's pins or better still those short map pins with the RIDGED colored plastic heads. Find some graph paper (5-6 mm squares), buy a sheet of thickish cork (cork floor tile should be fine.) Lay the the graph paper over the cork, cover it in in clingfilm (or clear thin plastic sheet) then tape it down at the edges.

Start by pushing in the pins at the four corners.for the size you want - each one in a line to the others...Start by tying the thread round the pins and then adding more pins at the side, start gradually building up a open weave net (the thread can be woven in a loop over the other lengths although the sectret is to keep adding more pins to the side and building up a framework. Once you've built up the net framework to the size you want, then get hold of a can of Artist's Fixative Spray (use in a VERY- well ventilated room, this stuff has really NASTY fumes) and spray your framework several times, allowing it to dry between sprays. If you have used the map pins, you shold have a few mm space between the thread and the graph paper.. Unpin it and you'll have a section of netting suitable for cargo or climb-down nets... To paint it, simply soak it in water-based paints or spray it matt green. To attach it, soak it in white glue and drape it over the vehicle/vessel side...

It's worth drying different thicknesses of threads and sizes of graph paper until you get something suitable....

The secret is to keep you framework pretty tight during the construction of it ...

Hi Lawrence,
Welcome to Model Shipwrights, mate!

Glad you liked the article, and trust me, these little bumpers are easy to make, and look very good when complete. . .if you try 'em out and run into any snags, shoot me a pm or an e-mail and we'll walk through it.

And Mr. Rae,
Thanks for the impressive tutorial of climbing net weaving, Jim, very concise and will produce fine results, as well. . .maybe we could persuade you to do a little MSW feature of this method, eh, mate?
Cheers,
~Gunny