Ratlines

The instructions for the ratlines stats

This stage will require a considerable amount of time and patience but the end result will be its own reward.

ratlines can be a bit time consuming but once your in a rhythm you can rattle them off quite quickly. There is surprisingly little resource in terms of how to tackle ratlines on the web, although quite bit dotted about this forum.

This is my approach to ratlines

First job is to make a spacing guide for the ratlines. use a thick piece of corrugated card for this not paper to thin card, the reason will become clear a bit later. the card should be the full hight of the shrouds and wider than the widest distance across the deadeyes. measure 40mm from the top of the card and raw a line across, mark it as the futtock stave position. then draw lines across the card at 5mm intervals, this will be the ratline positions.

the card is now placed behind the shrouds and held in place with soft clamps

The futtock staves are made from 1mm brass wire, these should be cut longer than the width of the shrouds. use a piece of tape to hold the wire in place, leaving your hands free to tie the wire in place. you can use the futtock stave to spread the shrouds to an equal distance, map pins can be used to hold the shroud line in place, the corrugated card accepts these much better. once tied in place watered down pva should be applied to hold the knots.






The ratlines are made using 0.1mm natural thread. A clove hitch is used to tie the first not of each line. The first ratline should be positioned just above the shroud lanyards,

Cut a length of thread that will give you a little excess. tie on the thread to the first shroud line.



The thread then passes the front of the next shroud line and tucks behind it and stays behind itself.




The thread then passes back behind the shroud



Again the thread passes behind itself but on top of the shroud line



gently pul the thread to form the knot, do not pull to tight as you need to be able to adjust the position of the ratline later.



repeat on the next shroud. not the the last shroud does not have a ratline attached.



if necessary you can use map pins to prevent the ratlines pinching the shrouds together.



use watered down ova to hold the knots once happy with the positions. work you way up to the futtock





.Once done use thinned black paint to 'tar' the ratlines and shrouds, including the futtock stay. us some paper to mask of the model from any paint drops.




you can use the card for the other side. a longer one will be required for the main mast

job done

Jase

Hi May,

many thanks for the kind words, ratlins are great job while in front of the telly

Jase

Ships boats stage 1

The two ships boats supplied with this kit are resin hull, this saves a lot of construction time.

The first thing to do is check the hull for any air bubbles, if you have any fill them before progressing to cleaning up the resin. I found no bubbles in my two boats.

Check the boat to insure it is crisply cast. I found that some sanding was needed at the stern.

IMPORTANT NOTE. when sanding resin you must wear a face mask. it is advisable to sand with wet sand paper to keep down the dust and wash hands straight away. Resin dust is a nasty.




The next stage is to add the internal ribs. this is done using the A4 sheet of black cartridge paper provided. you will need to cut 5 strips across the width of the paper to fully line the inside of the boat. the strips are only 1.5mm wide. a guillotine is a good tool or as I have used a rotary cutting tool against a steel straight edge. ova glue is used to glue the strips in place.




Start by marking the centre point on the stern, place your first strip along the centre of the boat and snip it 3 or 4 mm longer than required, apply glue and position in place ensuring it is fully pressed down. the PVA will grab in about 60-80 seconds so you do have time to adjust the position.




place the first rib as per the instruction again cutting it slightly longer than required to allow for any adjustments. Progress the ribs down one side 3 mm apart. Use a piece of 3mm strip would as a width gauge. its easier to do one side first as you then have all your positions for the other side. The last three ribs at the bow should be spaced at 3mm at the top letting them but up at the keel rib. once the glue is dry use a sharp blade to trim the ribs to length.






Jase

Hi Phil,

apologies I missed your post. many thanks for the kind worlds, more comping this week

Jase

Hi Jase,

That ships boat look really good and very awkward to do!

May.

Thanks both for looking in and your comments.

many thanks for looking in Phil

J

many thanks for looking in ken. rigging is done, I enjoy doing the rigging so a bit disappointed

jase