Advice on sails

[MarcM]

Hi riggers,

 

Did someone tried this already ?

 

I have the idea of putting furled sails on all the spars, staysails and jibs.

And this on a 1/48 the scale model.

Can I get advice on how to do it and kind of materials.

I was thinking about using silk paper.

 

I would be grateful for all the input of the local experts.

 

Thanks in advance

Marc

Edited January 12, 2018 by MarcM

[druxey]

SilkSpan worked well for me. You might want to get the supplement to Volume IV, The Fully Framed Model from SeaWatchBooks. It describes a method of working with this material.

[Jim Rogers]

There is a link in KenW Rattlesnake Build to a 30 page article on how to make and rig furled sails. I have a copy but can’t figure out how to post it.

 

I used "William Blackmore" <robo612@earthlink.net> To make my sails. Did a great job at reasonable price.

Edited January 13, 2018 by Jim Rogers

[JerseyCity Frankie]

Conventional wisdom is to use thin fabric in the proper color. Real-world fabric can’t make scale tinny wrinkles so conventional wisdom is to reduce the scale sized depth of the fabric so that when it is compacted into a bundle it will be a smaller size. Then soak the fabric in a water/white glue mixture, form it into the shape you want and allow to dry. When I do this I usually make the bundles of furled sails off the model using simple dowel jigs and bind the wet fabric with cheap thin wire. The wire tends to collect the fabric and concentrate the wrinkles in a way you can work to your advantage if you locate the wire in the spot where the ships rigging would bind the real sail.

real woven fabric should be fine on a 1/48 scale model, most people use paper on smaller models.