Rigging Essentials For Building Ship Model Kits

Rigging is one of the stages every scale modeler goes through while building ship model kits. It is usually classified as two types – Standing Rigging and Running Rigging. There are a lot of things included in the process of rigging and some of them will be discussed in this guide as below. Let us dig deep into it.

Shrouds

These collectively with the “backstays” and “forestays” are the ropes that support the masts. Shrouds, which are the cluster of ropes to which the ratlines are joined, are made up in pairs with a deadeye at each end of a single rope.

Initially, cut a bit of cord to a suitable length and with the help of a small clamp or an alligator clip paste one end around a deadeye. This deadeye is supposed to then be momentarily linked to the front portside (left hand) lower deadeye with the help of a wire jig. This jig will provide the right spacing between the lower and the upper deadeye.

The loose end of the rope then goes up, around the mast and down to the position of the lower deadeye right away at the back of the first. With the help of glue, alligator clip and one more wire spacer, the upper deadeye is joined to the shroud. At a final stage, the double thickness of the cord instantaneously on top of the upper deadeye will be bound with fine thread.

The “Lanyards”, made of the thinnest rigging cord, are then installed. For the reason that on the “real thing” the lanyards were continuously used to take up tension on the shrouds they were not at all tarred and are not supposed to be black. After the initial pair of shrouds has been finished, the exercise is repeated on the other (starboard) side, then, back to the port side and so on.

If, when the others have been completed there remains a single lower deadeye on each side then the final pair of shrouds go from one side of the ship to the other with a big seized eye around the masthead. In all of this, it is vital to make sure that the deadeyes are in straight rows corresponding with the channels and with each other.

Forestays

The forestays are supposed to now be fitted paying attention to the specific fitting used. Rather generally “heart deadeyes” and lanyards will be used for the purpose of tensioning.

Backstays

Backstays are always rigged with the help of a big seized eye around the masthead as with the “odd” shrouds, if any. As with the shrouds they are rigged with the help of lanyards and deadeyes but the upper deadeye will generally be at the higher level than that of the shroud deadeyes.

Ratlines

The color of the ratline cord is brown or grey. The tying of ratlines on ship model kits can be quite boring, at times, but it is totally worth going to some trouble to make sure that it is performed well.

These are some of the key things that you need to consider while rigging a scale model!