bartley

When rigging our ships we all have a need to secure knots to stop them loosening.  There is a range of products available for this purpose so I thought that I might express my opinions on the subject.
 
 
Here are some of the products available:

 
As with most on this forum, diluted PVA is my “go to” for stiffening rope, attaching rope to blocks etc.  The only comment I would make is that I think on rigging one should use a non-acidic product (pH7).  The pH of Titebond for example is about 2.5 (very acidic) and I would be concerned about the long-term effects of this on natural fibre rope.  However for securing knots (on ratlines for example) I am not sure that it has enough " holding power".  Many use CA for this purpose. I am not a big fan of CA.  I don't like its toxicity (although we are only using small quantities rather compared to industrial use).  However, my main objection is that it forms a rigid, sometimes brittle, bond.  It often discolours the rope and is glossy.  My “go to” for this purpose is Hypo Cement.  For those who do not know this product, it is a fabric cement used primarily by costume designers and appliqué artists and so it forms a flexible almost transparent bond.  
 
 
There is also a range of fly tying cements – some solvent based and some water based.
 
 
Below I show some knots treated with various products.  I know that only a small drop is needed to seal a knot but here I have covered the whole knot in order to try to demonstrate the differences.  Unfortunately the differences are not so obvious in the photographs
 
 

 
 PVA.                                                                                                          CA
 

Hypo Cement.                                                                                       Fly tying Cement
 

 Water based Fly tying.                                                                        UV activated Fly tying
 
Amongst the fly tying cements the water-based version seems to be the best and while the UV version is attractive, it seems to darken the rope and is rather glossy.
 
John

Yes indeed, Bob.  I should have mentioned that one as well.
 
John

Glenn,
 
If you decide to have a look at Swann-Morton blades make sure you match the handle to the blade type.  The handles are sold separately.
 

 
So the blue is the conventional scalpel blade holder. This is the one I use mostly and the blades are  about 2/3 the price of Excel blades (at least out here),  The red is I think called a SM00 Handle and takes a different style of blade.  You will see that I have a different shaped blade in this one.  The orange Craft Knife has a different style blade again and I only obtained it by accident because I bought the wrong blades and had to buy a handle to fit them so I could use them up.
 
John
 
 

Yes indeed, Bob.  I should have mentioned that one as well.
 
John

When rigging our ships we all have a need to secure knots to stop them loosening.  There is a range of products available for this purpose so I thought that I might express my opinions on the subject.
 
 
Here are some of the products available:

 
As with most on this forum, diluted PVA is my “go to” for stiffening rope, attaching rope to blocks etc.  The only comment I would make is that I think on rigging one should use a non-acidic product (pH7).  The pH of Titebond for example is about 2.5 (very acidic) and I would be concerned about the long-term effects of this on natural fibre rope.  However for securing knots (on ratlines for example) I am not sure that it has enough " holding power".  Many use CA for this purpose. I am not a big fan of CA.  I don't like its toxicity (although we are only using small quantities rather compared to industrial use).  However, my main objection is that it forms a rigid, sometimes brittle, bond.  It often discolours the rope and is glossy.  My “go to” for this purpose is Hypo Cement.  For those who do not know this product, it is a fabric cement used primarily by costume designers and appliqué artists and so it forms a flexible almost transparent bond.  
 
 
There is also a range of fly tying cements – some solvent based and some water based.
 
 
Below I show some knots treated with various products.  I know that only a small drop is needed to seal a knot but here I have covered the whole knot in order to try to demonstrate the differences.  Unfortunately the differences are not so obvious in the photographs
 
 

 
 PVA.                                                                                                          CA
 

Hypo Cement.                                                                                       Fly tying Cement
 

 Water based Fly tying.                                                                        UV activated Fly tying
 
Amongst the fly tying cements the water-based version seems to be the best and while the UV version is attractive, it seems to darken the rope and is rather glossy.
 
John

When rigging our ships we all have a need to secure knots to stop them loosening.  There is a range of products available for this purpose so I thought that I might express my opinions on the subject.
 
 
Here are some of the products available:

 
As with most on this forum, diluted PVA is my “go to” for stiffening rope, attaching rope to blocks etc.  The only comment I would make is that I think on rigging one should use a non-acidic product (pH7).  The pH of Titebond for example is about 2.5 (very acidic) and I would be concerned about the long-term effects of this on natural fibre rope.  However for securing knots (on ratlines for example) I am not sure that it has enough " holding power".  Many use CA for this purpose. I am not a big fan of CA.  I don't like its toxicity (although we are only using small quantities rather compared to industrial use).  However, my main objection is that it forms a rigid, sometimes brittle, bond.  It often discolours the rope and is glossy.  My “go to” for this purpose is Hypo Cement.  For those who do not know this product, it is a fabric cement used primarily by costume designers and appliqué artists and so it forms a flexible almost transparent bond.  
 
 
There is also a range of fly tying cements – some solvent based and some water based.
 
 
Below I show some knots treated with various products.  I know that only a small drop is needed to seal a knot but here I have covered the whole knot in order to try to demonstrate the differences.  Unfortunately the differences are not so obvious in the photographs
 
 

 
 PVA.                                                                                                          CA
 

Hypo Cement.                                                                                       Fly tying Cement
 

 Water based Fly tying.                                                                        UV activated Fly tying
 
Amongst the fly tying cements the water-based version seems to be the best and while the UV version is attractive, it seems to darken the rope and is rather glossy.
 
John

Post 42: Mounting the Carronades
 
Time to mount the carronades on the deck.  But first a couple of points I failed to mention earlier.
 
Blackening, the guns
 
The guns were blackened by the method suggested by chuck involving spraying with black paint (Vallejo warm black in my case) and then brushing with Rusty Brown weathering powder.
 

 
I have some etch primer for brass  but I find that it is quite viscous and destroys the detail a bit.  So I spayed the black directly on the brass cannons after washing them in soap and water and then a dip in acetone.  Because the coating is therefore a bit delicate, I gave them a final coating with matt lacquer. 
 
The final effect can be seen in earlier posts (38 and 41a)
 
Quoins
 
I avoided adding these until I had established the correct elevation of the guns.  I initially made the handles from wood which I thought were nicely to scale.  However they proved too fragile and broke at the slightest provocation.  They were a real pain to drill out and replace, especially if they were already glued to the carriage.  So in the end I replaced them with some slightly larger brass ones which I had obtained from Master Korabel.  They may be slightly over scale but at least they are more robust.
 

 
Mounting the Cannons
 
In post 41 you will see that the ring bolts for the bulwark are of the twisted pair type.  I am a bit paranoid about these pulling out.  They were shortened of course so as not to penetrate the hull planking. They fit tightly into a 0.6 mm hole which had been pre-drilled before the deck was planked.  A few that were a bit loose for some reason were  glued with a spot of epoxy.
 
The cannons were attached to the deck with a spot of PVA on the wheels.  This proved slightly problematic because although the seemed quite firm, a slight bump with my clumsy hands broke the bond.  The deck had a couple of coats of Poly so it was not really a wood to wood bond.  I notice that Stuntflyer pinned his rear wheels to the deck and I can see why he did that.  I decided that this was a lot of effort and just elected to reglue any that were dislodged. 
 
Here are the mounted cannons:
 

 
The next challenge is to make and fit the out-haul tackle.  I will need to think about this for a while.  I will be using Syren 3 mm blocks and 3mm hooks from Dafi.  These are pretty small for old hands!
 
John

Post 42: Mounting the Carronades
 
Time to mount the carronades on the deck.  But first a couple of points I failed to mention earlier.
 
Blackening, the guns
 
The guns were blackened by the method suggested by chuck involving spraying with black paint (Vallejo warm black in my case) and then brushing with Rusty Brown weathering powder.
 

 
I have some etch primer for brass  but I find that it is quite viscous and destroys the detail a bit.  So I spayed the black directly on the brass cannons after washing them in soap and water and then a dip in acetone.  Because the coating is therefore a bit delicate, I gave them a final coating with matt lacquer. 
 
The final effect can be seen in earlier posts (38 and 41a)
 
Quoins
 
I avoided adding these until I had established the correct elevation of the guns.  I initially made the handles from wood which I thought were nicely to scale.  However they proved too fragile and broke at the slightest provocation.  They were a real pain to drill out and replace, especially if they were already glued to the carriage.  So in the end I replaced them with some slightly larger brass ones which I had obtained from Master Korabel.  They may be slightly over scale but at least they are more robust.
 

 
Mounting the Cannons
 
In post 41 you will see that the ring bolts for the bulwark are of the twisted pair type.  I am a bit paranoid about these pulling out.  They were shortened of course so as not to penetrate the hull planking. They fit tightly into a 0.6 mm hole which had been pre-drilled before the deck was planked.  A few that were a bit loose for some reason were  glued with a spot of epoxy.
 
The cannons were attached to the deck with a spot of PVA on the wheels.  This proved slightly problematic because although the seemed quite firm, a slight bump with my clumsy hands broke the bond.  The deck had a couple of coats of Poly so it was not really a wood to wood bond.  I notice that Stuntflyer pinned his rear wheels to the deck and I can see why he did that.  I decided that this was a lot of effort and just elected to reglue any that were dislodged. 
 
Here are the mounted cannons:
 

 
The next challenge is to make and fit the out-haul tackle.  I will need to think about this for a while.  I will be using Syren 3 mm blocks and 3mm hooks from Dafi.  These are pretty small for old hands!
 
John

Post 42: Mounting the Carronades
 
Time to mount the carronades on the deck.  But first a couple of points I failed to mention earlier.
 
Blackening, the guns
 
The guns were blackened by the method suggested by chuck involving spraying with black paint (Vallejo warm black in my case) and then brushing with Rusty Brown weathering powder.
 

 
I have some etch primer for brass  but I find that it is quite viscous and destroys the detail a bit.  So I spayed the black directly on the brass cannons after washing them in soap and water and then a dip in acetone.  Because the coating is therefore a bit delicate, I gave them a final coating with matt lacquer. 
 
The final effect can be seen in earlier posts (38 and 41a)
 
Quoins
 
I avoided adding these until I had established the correct elevation of the guns.  I initially made the handles from wood which I thought were nicely to scale.  However they proved too fragile and broke at the slightest provocation.  They were a real pain to drill out and replace, especially if they were already glued to the carriage.  So in the end I replaced them with some slightly larger brass ones which I had obtained from Master Korabel.  They may be slightly over scale but at least they are more robust.
 

 
Mounting the Cannons
 
In post 41 you will see that the ring bolts for the bulwark are of the twisted pair type.  I am a bit paranoid about these pulling out.  They were shortened of course so as not to penetrate the hull planking. They fit tightly into a 0.6 mm hole which had been pre-drilled before the deck was planked.  A few that were a bit loose for some reason were  glued with a spot of epoxy.
 
The cannons were attached to the deck with a spot of PVA on the wheels.  This proved slightly problematic because although the seemed quite firm, a slight bump with my clumsy hands broke the bond.  The deck had a couple of coats of Poly so it was not really a wood to wood bond.  I notice that Stuntflyer pinned his rear wheels to the deck and I can see why he did that.  I decided that this was a lot of effort and just elected to reglue any that were dislodged. 
 
Here are the mounted cannons:
 

 
The next challenge is to make and fit the out-haul tackle.  I will need to think about this for a while.  I will be using Syren 3 mm blocks and 3mm hooks from Dafi.  These are pretty small for old hands!
 
John

Post 41a: Breech Ropes / Carronades
 
Here are the breech ropes fitted to the carronades ready for installation on the deck.
 

 
 

Post 42: Mounting the Carronades
 
Time to mount the carronades on the deck.  But first a couple of points I failed to mention earlier.
 
Blackening, the guns
 
The guns were blackened by the method suggested by chuck involving spraying with black paint (Vallejo warm black in my case) and then brushing with Rusty Brown weathering powder.
 

 
I have some etch primer for brass  but I find that it is quite viscous and destroys the detail a bit.  So I spayed the black directly on the brass cannons after washing them in soap and water and then a dip in acetone.  Because the coating is therefore a bit delicate, I gave them a final coating with matt lacquer. 
 
The final effect can be seen in earlier posts (38 and 41a)
 
Quoins
 
I avoided adding these until I had established the correct elevation of the guns.  I initially made the handles from wood which I thought were nicely to scale.  However they proved too fragile and broke at the slightest provocation.  They were a real pain to drill out and replace, especially if they were already glued to the carriage.  So in the end I replaced them with some slightly larger brass ones which I had obtained from Master Korabel.  They may be slightly over scale but at least they are more robust.
 

 
Mounting the Cannons
 
In post 41 you will see that the ring bolts for the bulwark are of the twisted pair type.  I am a bit paranoid about these pulling out.  They were shortened of course so as not to penetrate the hull planking. They fit tightly into a 0.6 mm hole which had been pre-drilled before the deck was planked.  A few that were a bit loose for some reason were  glued with a spot of epoxy.
 
The cannons were attached to the deck with a spot of PVA on the wheels.  This proved slightly problematic because although the seemed quite firm, a slight bump with my clumsy hands broke the bond.  The deck had a couple of coats of Poly so it was not really a wood to wood bond.  I notice that Stuntflyer pinned his rear wheels to the deck and I can see why he did that.  I decided that this was a lot of effort and just elected to reglue any that were dislodged. 
 
Here are the mounted cannons:
 

 
The next challenge is to make and fit the out-haul tackle.  I will need to think about this for a while.  I will be using Syren 3 mm blocks and 3mm hooks from Dafi.  These are pretty small for old hands!
 
John

Excellent advice, Bob.  I would add Rule 4: Rehearse the cut. i.e. without the saw running push the work through exactly as you plan to do.  This enables you to answer questions like - where will my hands be? Is there any obstruction on the exit side? etc.
 
John

Post 42: Mounting the Carronades
 
Time to mount the carronades on the deck.  But first a couple of points I failed to mention earlier.
 
Blackening, the guns
 
The guns were blackened by the method suggested by chuck involving spraying with black paint (Vallejo warm black in my case) and then brushing with Rusty Brown weathering powder.
 

 
I have some etch primer for brass  but I find that it is quite viscous and destroys the detail a bit.  So I spayed the black directly on the brass cannons after washing them in soap and water and then a dip in acetone.  Because the coating is therefore a bit delicate, I gave them a final coating with matt lacquer. 
 
The final effect can be seen in earlier posts (38 and 41a)
 
Quoins
 
I avoided adding these until I had established the correct elevation of the guns.  I initially made the handles from wood which I thought were nicely to scale.  However they proved too fragile and broke at the slightest provocation.  They were a real pain to drill out and replace, especially if they were already glued to the carriage.  So in the end I replaced them with some slightly larger brass ones which I had obtained from Master Korabel.  They may be slightly over scale but at least they are more robust.
 

 
Mounting the Cannons
 
In post 41 you will see that the ring bolts for the bulwark are of the twisted pair type.  I am a bit paranoid about these pulling out.  They were shortened of course so as not to penetrate the hull planking. They fit tightly into a 0.6 mm hole which had been pre-drilled before the deck was planked.  A few that were a bit loose for some reason were  glued with a spot of epoxy.
 
The cannons were attached to the deck with a spot of PVA on the wheels.  This proved slightly problematic because although the seemed quite firm, a slight bump with my clumsy hands broke the bond.  The deck had a couple of coats of Poly so it was not really a wood to wood bond.  I notice that Stuntflyer pinned his rear wheels to the deck and I can see why he did that.  I decided that this was a lot of effort and just elected to reglue any that were dislodged. 
 
Here are the mounted cannons:
 

 
The next challenge is to make and fit the out-haul tackle.  I will need to think about this for a while.  I will be using Syren 3 mm blocks and 3mm hooks from Dafi.  These are pretty small for old hands!
 
John

Post 42: Mounting the Carronades
 
Time to mount the carronades on the deck.  But first a couple of points I failed to mention earlier.
 
Blackening, the guns
 
The guns were blackened by the method suggested by chuck involving spraying with black paint (Vallejo warm black in my case) and then brushing with Rusty Brown weathering powder.
 

 
I have some etch primer for brass  but I find that it is quite viscous and destroys the detail a bit.  So I spayed the black directly on the brass cannons after washing them in soap and water and then a dip in acetone.  Because the coating is therefore a bit delicate, I gave them a final coating with matt lacquer. 
 
The final effect can be seen in earlier posts (38 and 41a)
 
Quoins
 
I avoided adding these until I had established the correct elevation of the guns.  I initially made the handles from wood which I thought were nicely to scale.  However they proved too fragile and broke at the slightest provocation.  They were a real pain to drill out and replace, especially if they were already glued to the carriage.  So in the end I replaced them with some slightly larger brass ones which I had obtained from Master Korabel.  They may be slightly over scale but at least they are more robust.
 

 
Mounting the Cannons
 
In post 41 you will see that the ring bolts for the bulwark are of the twisted pair type.  I am a bit paranoid about these pulling out.  They were shortened of course so as not to penetrate the hull planking. They fit tightly into a 0.6 mm hole which had been pre-drilled before the deck was planked.  A few that were a bit loose for some reason were  glued with a spot of epoxy.
 
The cannons were attached to the deck with a spot of PVA on the wheels.  This proved slightly problematic because although the seemed quite firm, a slight bump with my clumsy hands broke the bond.  The deck had a couple of coats of Poly so it was not really a wood to wood bond.  I notice that Stuntflyer pinned his rear wheels to the deck and I can see why he did that.  I decided that this was a lot of effort and just elected to reglue any that were dislodged. 
 
Here are the mounted cannons:
 

 
The next challenge is to make and fit the out-haul tackle.  I will need to think about this for a while.  I will be using Syren 3 mm blocks and 3mm hooks from Dafi.  These are pretty small for old hands!
 
John

Post 42: Mounting the Carronades
 
Time to mount the carronades on the deck.  But first a couple of points I failed to mention earlier.
 
Blackening, the guns
 
The guns were blackened by the method suggested by chuck involving spraying with black paint (Vallejo warm black in my case) and then brushing with Rusty Brown weathering powder.
 

 
I have some etch primer for brass  but I find that it is quite viscous and destroys the detail a bit.  So I spayed the black directly on the brass cannons after washing them in soap and water and then a dip in acetone.  Because the coating is therefore a bit delicate, I gave them a final coating with matt lacquer. 
 
The final effect can be seen in earlier posts (38 and 41a)
 
Quoins
 
I avoided adding these until I had established the correct elevation of the guns.  I initially made the handles from wood which I thought were nicely to scale.  However they proved too fragile and broke at the slightest provocation.  They were a real pain to drill out and replace, especially if they were already glued to the carriage.  So in the end I replaced them with some slightly larger brass ones which I had obtained from Master Korabel.  They may be slightly over scale but at least they are more robust.
 

 
Mounting the Cannons
 
In post 41 you will see that the ring bolts for the bulwark are of the twisted pair type.  I am a bit paranoid about these pulling out.  They were shortened of course so as not to penetrate the hull planking. They fit tightly into a 0.6 mm hole which had been pre-drilled before the deck was planked.  A few that were a bit loose for some reason were  glued with a spot of epoxy.
 
The cannons were attached to the deck with a spot of PVA on the wheels.  This proved slightly problematic because although the seemed quite firm, a slight bump with my clumsy hands broke the bond.  The deck had a couple of coats of Poly so it was not really a wood to wood bond.  I notice that Stuntflyer pinned his rear wheels to the deck and I can see why he did that.  I decided that this was a lot of effort and just elected to reglue any that were dislodged. 
 
Here are the mounted cannons:
 

 
The next challenge is to make and fit the out-haul tackle.  I will need to think about this for a while.  I will be using Syren 3 mm blocks and 3mm hooks from Dafi.  These are pretty small for old hands!
 
John

Post 41a: Breech Ropes / Carronades
 
Here are the breech ropes fitted to the carronades ready for installation on the deck.
 

 
 

Post 41a: Breech Ropes / Carronades
 
Here are the breech ropes fitted to the carronades ready for installation on the deck.
 

 
 

Post 41a: Breech Ropes / Carronades
 
Here are the breech ropes fitted to the carronades ready for installation on the deck.
 

 
 

Post 41: Breech Ropes
 
These were made as described by Chuck using .035 Syren rope 3" long.  In my case the connection to the ring bolt in the bulwark was made using a whipping close to the eyebolt.  
 
Bulwark eyebolts: 26 ga wire and 2.8mm rings (silver soldered closed).
Carriage eyebolts: 24 Ga wire  and 3.8mm rings.
 

 
and then the center eyesplice made using an awl and coating with diluted PVA
 

 
While on the subject of securing knots I thought that I might express my opinions on this.
 
As with most on this forum, diluted PVA is my go to for stiffening rope, attaching rope to blocks etc.  However for securing knots (on ratlines for example) I am not sure that it has enough " holding power".  Many use CA for this purpose. I am not a big fan of CA.  I don't like its toxicity (although we are only using small quantities rather than an industrial scale).  However my main objection is that it forms  a rigid, sometimes brittle, bond and is glossy.  My go to for this purpose is Hypo cement.  For those who do not know this product, it is a fabric cement used by primarily costume designers and applique artists and so it forms a flexible almost transparent bond. Below I show some knots treated with various products including fly tying cement. I know only a small drop is needed to seal a knot but I have covered the whole knot here in order to try and show the differences.
 

PVA                                                                                                          CA
 

Hypo Cement                                                                                       Fly tying cement
 
 
Water based fly tying                                                                        UV activated fly tying
 
You will notice that there a number of versions of fly tying cement.  The UV version is attractive but it seems to darken the rope and is rather glossy.
 
Here are some of the products mentioned:
 

 
John
 
 
 
 
 

Post 41: Breech Ropes
 
These were made as described by Chuck using .035 Syren rope 3" long.  In my case the connection to the ring bolt in the bulwark was made using a whipping close to the eyebolt.  
 
Bulwark eyebolts: 26 ga wire and 2.8mm rings (silver soldered closed).
Carriage eyebolts: 24 Ga wire  and 3.8mm rings.
 

 
and then the center eyesplice made using an awl and coating with diluted PVA
 

 
While on the subject of securing knots I thought that I might express my opinions on this.
 
As with most on this forum, diluted PVA is my go to for stiffening rope, attaching rope to blocks etc.  However for securing knots (on ratlines for example) I am not sure that it has enough " holding power".  Many use CA for this purpose. I am not a big fan of CA.  I don't like its toxicity (although we are only using small quantities rather than an industrial scale).  However my main objection is that it forms  a rigid, sometimes brittle, bond and is glossy.  My go to for this purpose is Hypo cement.  For those who do not know this product, it is a fabric cement used by primarily costume designers and applique artists and so it forms a flexible almost transparent bond. Below I show some knots treated with various products including fly tying cement. I know only a small drop is needed to seal a knot but I have covered the whole knot here in order to try and show the differences.
 

PVA                                                                                                          CA
 

Hypo Cement                                                                                       Fly tying cement
 
 
Water based fly tying                                                                        UV activated fly tying
 
You will notice that there a number of versions of fly tying cement.  The UV version is attractive but it seems to darken the rope and is rather glossy.
 
Here are some of the products mentioned:
 

 
John
 
 
 
 
 

Topic 40a: Internal Ladders
 
I have been asked to provide a bit more detail on ladder construction.  So for what its worth here's what I did:
 
First I made a jig with the correct angle from the plans
 

 
Then I glued 4mm  strips to this with a glue stick
 

 
With my friend's mill I then cut slots at equidistant intervals.  Flipping the jig gave ne left an right sides.
 

 
For assembly I used this second jig to ensure the sides were parallel and the steps at right angles.

 

Post 41: Breech Ropes
 
These were made as described by Chuck using .035 Syren rope 3" long.  In my case the connection to the ring bolt in the bulwark was made using a whipping close to the eyebolt.  
 
Bulwark eyebolts: 26 ga wire and 2.8mm rings (silver soldered closed).
Carriage eyebolts: 24 Ga wire  and 3.8mm rings.
 

 
and then the center eyesplice made using an awl and coating with diluted PVA
 

 
While on the subject of securing knots I thought that I might express my opinions on this.
 
As with most on this forum, diluted PVA is my go to for stiffening rope, attaching rope to blocks etc.  However for securing knots (on ratlines for example) I am not sure that it has enough " holding power".  Many use CA for this purpose. I am not a big fan of CA.  I don't like its toxicity (although we are only using small quantities rather than an industrial scale).  However my main objection is that it forms  a rigid, sometimes brittle, bond and is glossy.  My go to for this purpose is Hypo cement.  For those who do not know this product, it is a fabric cement used by primarily costume designers and applique artists and so it forms a flexible almost transparent bond. Below I show some knots treated with various products including fly tying cement. I know only a small drop is needed to seal a knot but I have covered the whole knot here in order to try and show the differences.
 

PVA                                                                                                          CA
 

Hypo Cement                                                                                       Fly tying cement
 
 
Water based fly tying                                                                        UV activated fly tying
 
You will notice that there a number of versions of fly tying cement.  The UV version is attractive but it seems to darken the rope and is rather glossy.
 
Here are some of the products mentioned:
 

 
John
 
 
 
 
 

Topic 40a: Internal Ladders
 
I have been asked to provide a bit more detail on ladder construction.  So for what its worth here's what I did:
 
First I made a jig with the correct angle from the plans
 

 
Then I glued 4mm  strips to this with a glue stick
 

 
With my friend's mill I then cut slots at equidistant intervals.  Flipping the jig gave ne left an right sides.
 

 
For assembly I used this second jig to ensure the sides were parallel and the steps at right angles.

 

Post 40 : Internal Ladders
 
I love these little scratch building projects in this build.  They look easy but, on reflection, are more difficult than they seem at first (at least for me).  Chuck’s excellent instructions are a great help – better than the kit, which I built previously.  However, I notice that he often stops short of providing the intimate details on how to build a particular component.  Far be it for me to read his mind but I believe he wants us to problem solve.  In this case, for instance, there are photos of the shapes of each of the parts. However, we must get the dimensions and angles from the plans.  How do we ensure that the angles of the steps are all the same, that the sides are parallel, that the port and starboard ladders are the same but mirror images?
 
I solved these problems in my own way but I always face something of a dilemma in providing a “how to” in my log.
Firstly, though I have learnt a huge amount from "how to" descriptions provided by others on this site, this is only my second build so I am very inexperienced and the way I stumble along and solve these little challenges is probably of little interest because experienced builders have probably solve the same problems long ago.
Perhaps more importantly, the problem solving is exactly what I enjoy so much about this build.  So, by providing intimate details on how to build a component, do we actually spoil the experience for others?  Those who built this ship earlier like Rustyj, Rafine and Stuntflier perhaps had a better experience because they had no “how to” and had to solve the problems themselves.
 
Anyway here is how they look:
 

 

 

 

Topic 40a: Internal Ladders
 
I have been asked to provide a bit more detail on ladder construction.  So for what its worth here's what I did:
 
First I made a jig with the correct angle from the plans
 

 
Then I glued 4mm  strips to this with a glue stick
 

 
With my friend's mill I then cut slots at equidistant intervals.  Flipping the jig gave ne left an right sides.
 

 
For assembly I used this second jig to ensure the sides were parallel and the steps at right angles.