catopower

Thanks for the comment and advice Carl, all.
 
Well, I think I'm able to declare success!
 
Had the quarterly meeting of shipmodelers at our gathering place at the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum yesterday morning. After nearly 3 hours ship model shop talk about lunch with a fellow shipmodeler afterterwards, I managed to have a marathon session of rattling down the shrouds. All worked out pretty well and I didn't notice the stretching issue as much.
 
So, this morning, I tried spraying the completed work with the fixative. The matte varnish had a bit of sheen, so I used the matte fixative, which dried much faster, so I could use a heavier coat. It didn't really do much to lock the clove hitches in place, so I just brushed on some acrylic matte varnish. I know it works and it's quick to apply.
 
I trimmed off the excess line from the ratlines and the shouds looked okay.
 
 

 
 
But, then... I went ahead and took a thick piece of black rigging line, threaded it under the shrouds and then pulled the line tight. As I did, I could feel it slip tight against the mast head and I could actually see the shrouds tightening up.
 
I know it's cheating, but you will never be able to see this extra piece of line at this scale. And, after all, much of model making is about the art of illusion. Below, you can see the excess line sticking out.
 
 

 
 
So, now, after I secure that piece of line and cut the excess, I can comfortably start rigging the standing rigging on the bowsprit.
 
 
Clare

Thanks for the comment and advice Carl, all.
 
Well, I think I'm able to declare success!
 
Had the quarterly meeting of shipmodelers at our gathering place at the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum yesterday morning. After nearly 3 hours ship model shop talk about lunch with a fellow shipmodeler afterterwards, I managed to have a marathon session of rattling down the shrouds. All worked out pretty well and I didn't notice the stretching issue as much.
 
So, this morning, I tried spraying the completed work with the fixative. The matte varnish had a bit of sheen, so I used the matte fixative, which dried much faster, so I could use a heavier coat. It didn't really do much to lock the clove hitches in place, so I just brushed on some acrylic matte varnish. I know it works and it's quick to apply.
 
I trimmed off the excess line from the ratlines and the shouds looked okay.
 
 

 
 
But, then... I went ahead and took a thick piece of black rigging line, threaded it under the shrouds and then pulled the line tight. As I did, I could feel it slip tight against the mast head and I could actually see the shrouds tightening up.
 
I know it's cheating, but you will never be able to see this extra piece of line at this scale. And, after all, much of model making is about the art of illusion. Below, you can see the excess line sticking out.
 
 

 
 
So, now, after I secure that piece of line and cut the excess, I can comfortably start rigging the standing rigging on the bowsprit.
 
 
Clare

Thanks for the comment and advice Carl, all.
 
Well, I think I'm able to declare success!
 
Had the quarterly meeting of shipmodelers at our gathering place at the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum yesterday morning. After nearly 3 hours ship model shop talk about lunch with a fellow shipmodeler afterterwards, I managed to have a marathon session of rattling down the shrouds. All worked out pretty well and I didn't notice the stretching issue as much.
 
So, this morning, I tried spraying the completed work with the fixative. The matte varnish had a bit of sheen, so I used the matte fixative, which dried much faster, so I could use a heavier coat. It didn't really do much to lock the clove hitches in place, so I just brushed on some acrylic matte varnish. I know it works and it's quick to apply.
 
I trimmed off the excess line from the ratlines and the shouds looked okay.
 
 

 
 
But, then... I went ahead and took a thick piece of black rigging line, threaded it under the shrouds and then pulled the line tight. As I did, I could feel it slip tight against the mast head and I could actually see the shrouds tightening up.
 
I know it's cheating, but you will never be able to see this extra piece of line at this scale. And, after all, much of model making is about the art of illusion. Below, you can see the excess line sticking out.
 
 

 
 
So, now, after I secure that piece of line and cut the excess, I can comfortably start rigging the standing rigging on the bowsprit.
 
 
Clare

Thanks for the comment and advice Carl, all.
 
Well, I think I'm able to declare success!
 
Had the quarterly meeting of shipmodelers at our gathering place at the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum yesterday morning. After nearly 3 hours ship model shop talk about lunch with a fellow shipmodeler afterterwards, I managed to have a marathon session of rattling down the shrouds. All worked out pretty well and I didn't notice the stretching issue as much.
 
So, this morning, I tried spraying the completed work with the fixative. The matte varnish had a bit of sheen, so I used the matte fixative, which dried much faster, so I could use a heavier coat. It didn't really do much to lock the clove hitches in place, so I just brushed on some acrylic matte varnish. I know it works and it's quick to apply.
 
I trimmed off the excess line from the ratlines and the shouds looked okay.
 
 

 
 
But, then... I went ahead and took a thick piece of black rigging line, threaded it under the shrouds and then pulled the line tight. As I did, I could feel it slip tight against the mast head and I could actually see the shrouds tightening up.
 
I know it's cheating, but you will never be able to see this extra piece of line at this scale. And, after all, much of model making is about the art of illusion. Below, you can see the excess line sticking out.
 
 

 
 
So, now, after I secure that piece of line and cut the excess, I can comfortably start rigging the standing rigging on the bowsprit.
 
 
Clare

Thank you for the many "Likes". It is nice to see you are all looking in.
 
Mark, thank you for looking in and commenting. I have now planned out in my mind how to deal with this, grateful that it was revealed in a timely manner.
 
Don, thank you for your effort on my behalf. What you describe is pretty much what I shall have to do.
 
Also, repeated viewing of the plans uncovered the required detail. After qualifying the deck hole a couple of days ago it is a sufficiently snug fit that I can temporarily put the post in place then during rigging reach down through the grate in the deck above, do all that is necessary with the grate cover and post then put all in place as necessary.
 

 
Yesterday was spent prepping and moving forward. I fabricated a vertical winch (forgot what it is called) and a ladder that the instructions dictate for installation at this point then got the paint booth out. Seen here is an overkill with the air brush - painting the stern post interior. Primarily I was using it for the smaller components mentioned above.
 

 
Respectfully submitted
John Maguire
Total Time 122 hours
 
 

Doc, thanks .  .  .
 
Request Help:
 
One of you folks mentioned that you are working on REVENGE rigging, I don't recall who or in what thread you made the comment. If you find this post, would you please be kind enough to explain this square foredeck hole that I believe is intended for the jeering tackle post?
 

 
Specifically, on page 77 of the manual, lower right corner there is a note that applies to the hole in the grate in the deck above the one I am showing here. It refers to the rigging plans.
 
I find it on rigging plan page 15 as item 9. It appears that that the lines pass through the hole in the grate and terminate on what appears to be a post sticking out of the hole shown in my photo. Looking at page 75, bottom right corner I see a main yard jeer post part 60. Is this the piece seen in the photo below? If so, won't it be impossible to access it to reeve lines through the sheave slots with the upper deck in place and only the grate opening for access?
 
Is what I have done in the photo below correct?  Again I'll ask, during rigging is it possible to get the threads into this with the only access through the grate opening above? As shown, the paint color is only primer and the copper eyelet has not been inserted.
 

 
I am concerned at this early stage because eventually this photographed deck will be covered and there will be no further access.
 
Comments would be very much appreciated.
 
Respectfully,
John Maguire
Total time 114 hours
 
 

Thank you folks for the many LIKES .  .  .  .
 
Amati supplied small 4 mm pieces to go between the forward frames that would define the bearding line. In their construction manual it could be seen that planks making the extreme curve close to the bow had flat spots between the frames that were the result of them not following a rounded lay. 
 
I opted to use balsa fillers in lieu of the supplied components. Initially I tried to economize on the amount of balsa by cutting it cleverly but I wasn't clever enough so with version 2.0 ended up using full rectangular inserts.
 

 
The following day I chewed up the overhang to the extent possible with a small grinder, then using a sanding block and 60 grit paper worked the port side down to shape.
 

 
Another day and both sides are complete.
 

 
Now I get a nice rounded fair lay with test planks. The balsa at the absolute front area will need tweaking where the planks would meet the stem but I'll deal with that at that time. I don't want to do it now and accidentally remove too much balsa.
 
Respectfully submitted,
John Maguire
Total Time 108 hours (I am slow)

Thanks Denis for the heads up. I shall follow your advice.
 
Doc, thank you for looking in. I have been so wrapped up with this that I've barely checked in on what the rest of you are doing - shame on me. I need to see what you're up to and by the way, your post card is probably in tomorrows mail because I haven't seen it yet .  .  .  .  .
 
During the past couple of days I finished planking and permanently attached the slightly elevated deck aft of the gun deck.
 

 
Between other tasks, I cut and attached the fascias at either end of this deck. Wood of the manual described width was not to be found so I milled what was necessary. The width of the forward facia had to be determined by temporarily prepositioning an upper deck support that straddles the ends of the piece. Since the picture was taken both facias have been trimmed down to deck height and varnished.
 

 
The manual instructs temporarily placing some fore deck components in place and using their positions to draw planking guide lines on the deck. Instead, after positioning the pieces I used them as a guide to permanently glue cross ship pieces of deck planking - that way I was assured of the fit. There is too much interpretation of pencil line position/thickness to work well for me.
 
In this picture you can see the deck  plank glued to the forward side of the bulkhead.
 

 
And here is the deck plank I glued on the aft side of the bulkhead. Doing it this way worked best for me and I was able to obtain a very flush fit by forcing the planks against the bulkhead and clamping them there while the glue dried.
 

 
Later, when the glue set I began to plank the fore deck. My Byrnes sander is a miracle machine for fine tuning the length of the planks that are set between the cross ship pieces.
 

 
I really like this kit and look forward to working on it each day. Some days, like today, are slow in visible progress because I need to wait for glue to dry. I do not use the down time to prepare future tasks but rather take the time to do other things - such as reading ahead - over and over.
 
I further decided I don't like my former technique of using steel wool as a final finish for the decks. Today I added a couple of coats of matte to all the reachable decks and am very pleased with their overall appearance.
 
Respectfully submitted,
John Maguire
Total time 90 hours
 

Thanks Doc .  .  .
 
I opted to plank the foredeck in place. I had no easy way to duplicate the ships camber while working on my glass sheet and was concerned that I'd open the plank to plank seams by putting them in place on a flat sheet and then moving them onto the cambered ship frames.
 
This is what the planking operation looks like.
 

 
A mornings work to get all the foredeck planks in place.
 

 
My hat is off to those ahead of me who shaped these two holes. It took me all afternoon with a diamond file.
 

 
Respectfully Submitted,
John Maguire
Total Time 98hours

Hi Carl,
 
You reminded me that I have a couple cans of artist's matte spray from Prisma Color and from Grumbacher. Do you know how those compare with the hair spray? Grumbacher is a Matt Varnish, Prisma Color just calls theirs "Fixative". I'm guessing that "fixative" is just an expensive can of hair spray.
 
Appreciate the advice!
 
Clare

It appears that the sail from the kit and the sail from the book are from two different ships.  You have to decide which is more correct.
 
Since the proportions of the sail are determined by the length of the yards, and you already have the kit yards, I would just go with your existing yards and make your sails accordingly.   Unless, of course, you decide that the yard lengths depicted in the book are the correct ones.
 
Regards,

Hello Clare,
 
The hairspray is used to avoid smudging a drawing, it's not expected to give it a life long protection ... Fixatives in paint are often used to make paint stick tbetter to the object it's used on ... I would choose the matt spray if I'm honest durable and rigid compared to hairspray... or use the fixative with a matt varnish, though I would also advise you to try it out on something a like ... Sometimes the time spent at the art academy isn't to bad ... ;-)
 
Cheers,
Carl

Clare,
 
We used hairspray to fixate charcoal, and pastel crayon drawings from smudging, so I would presume (dangerous word) it would stay a lot longer than a short period. The flat lacker could do the same, since it is 3D, I would hold a sheet of paper behind it to avoid spaying to much ...
 
Cheers
Carl

Could hairspray fixate the stretch ...

Thanks Carl, I appreciate any comment that suggests that I don't have to fix anything!
 
Mark, to answer your earlier question, the Morope is a little shiny in the closeups, as you say. And to answer your question, it's Polyester.
 
Clare

Hi Mark,
 
The need for pre-stretching might be the issue here. Too late for the work done so far. But, it hasn't affected the backstays or the forestays, just the shrouds.
 
The other thing that I started to consider is the perhaps there IS a paper model issue here. I'm wondering if anyone with paper sailing ship model experience has noticed some settling of the mast down into the hull, even a miniscule amount. Just in case, in the future, I thing I would put some reinforcing at the mast step.
 
Thinking on it now, I can't imagine the card stock NOT crushing just a little under the strain of the rigging. But, I could just be imaging excuses for my own shortcomings here.
 
I finished the ratlines on one side, but haven't trimmed or glued the knots in place yet.
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
Still thinking about how to procede. I might have to step away from it for a bit and look at it with a fresh perspective. Tomorrow, there's a ship modeler's gathering I organize at the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum near Mare Island. I'll probably take it there and see what people think.
 
Again, I may rattle down (?) the starboard side shrouds and then see what I can do to tighten it all up together. 
 
Clare
 
 

Hi Mark,
 
The need for pre-stretching might be the issue here. Too late for the work done so far. But, it hasn't affected the backstays or the forestays, just the shrouds.
 
The other thing that I started to consider is the perhaps there IS a paper model issue here. I'm wondering if anyone with paper sailing ship model experience has noticed some settling of the mast down into the hull, even a miniscule amount. Just in case, in the future, I thing I would put some reinforcing at the mast step.
 
Thinking on it now, I can't imagine the card stock NOT crushing just a little under the strain of the rigging. But, I could just be imaging excuses for my own shortcomings here.
 
I finished the ratlines on one side, but haven't trimmed or glued the knots in place yet.
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
Still thinking about how to procede. I might have to step away from it for a bit and look at it with a fresh perspective. Tomorrow, there's a ship modeler's gathering I organize at the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum near Mare Island. I'll probably take it there and see what people think.
 
Again, I may rattle down (?) the starboard side shrouds and then see what I can do to tighten it all up together. 
 
Clare
 
 

Hi Mark,
 
The need for pre-stretching might be the issue here. Too late for the work done so far. But, it hasn't affected the backstays or the forestays, just the shrouds.
 
The other thing that I started to consider is the perhaps there IS a paper model issue here. I'm wondering if anyone with paper sailing ship model experience has noticed some settling of the mast down into the hull, even a miniscule amount. Just in case, in the future, I thing I would put some reinforcing at the mast step.
 
Thinking on it now, I can't imagine the card stock NOT crushing just a little under the strain of the rigging. But, I could just be imaging excuses for my own shortcomings here.
 
I finished the ratlines on one side, but haven't trimmed or glued the knots in place yet.
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
Still thinking about how to procede. I might have to step away from it for a bit and look at it with a fresh perspective. Tomorrow, there's a ship modeler's gathering I organize at the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum near Mare Island. I'll probably take it there and see what people think.
 
Again, I may rattle down (?) the starboard side shrouds and then see what I can do to tighten it all up together. 
 
Clare
 
 

Hi Mark,
 
The need for pre-stretching might be the issue here. Too late for the work done so far. But, it hasn't affected the backstays or the forestays, just the shrouds.
 
The other thing that I started to consider is the perhaps there IS a paper model issue here. I'm wondering if anyone with paper sailing ship model experience has noticed some settling of the mast down into the hull, even a miniscule amount. Just in case, in the future, I thing I would put some reinforcing at the mast step.
 
Thinking on it now, I can't imagine the card stock NOT crushing just a little under the strain of the rigging. But, I could just be imaging excuses for my own shortcomings here.
 
I finished the ratlines on one side, but haven't trimmed or glued the knots in place yet.
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
Still thinking about how to procede. I might have to step away from it for a bit and look at it with a fresh perspective. Tomorrow, there's a ship modeler's gathering I organize at the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum near Mare Island. I'll probably take it there and see what people think.
 
Again, I may rattle down (?) the starboard side shrouds and then see what I can do to tighten it all up together. 
 
Clare
 
 

In my last post, I didn't have any photos to illustrate the differences in the rigging line that I was referring to. So, I took a few shots to post here.
 

Above is a coil of Morope on the left and Syren line on the right. They both have good definition and look very nice. I don't recall the difference in pricing, but I don't remember it being a very great difference.
 
 

Here is a closeup of the Morope line.
 
 

And a closeup of the Syren line.
 
The above are roughly equivalent sizes. And, of course, for my model in 1/8" scale, I'm only using very small sizes. So, the larger sizes will look a little different in comparison. What's shown is roughly 0.4 mm diameter line.
 
 

When the Morope is glued so that it doesn't unravel, it doesn't look too different from the Syren line. Except of course, the Syren line looks like this freshly cut, without any special treatment.
 
 
 

While this doesn't usually happen to me since I make sure to glue the line before cutting it, here is the Morope and the Syren line both freshly cut with no special treatment of the line. As you can see, the Morope wildly unwinds. It will continue to do so if it's not tied off or treated with glue. It's not necessarily a problem if it's handled properly. But, it's a shame it's like this as the Morope does have very good visual definition, and is available in left and right hand twists. 
 
I haven't run into any serious problems with the stuff as far as I can tell, but it is a concern as I work. Also, the Morope does seem stretchier and doesn't hold it's shape as well as the Syren line. For instance, if I make a coil of line, the Syren line is easier to work with, and holds the shape better. 
 
I'm not trying to push one or the other. I'm just pointing out the difference and a possible related issue I'm having with the forward most shrouds, which are served Morope line.
 
Clare

Well, just to report that I ran into my first real problem with the Alert. However, it has nothing to do with the fact that this is a paper model. This has to do entirely with the rigging material I chose.
 
I decided that this small model provided a good opportunity to try using a product called MOROPE. This stuff has been around for many years. It's made in Europe and there is a person in the U.S. that handles U.S. sales of the product.
 
The stuff looks really good and is visually stiff competition for Chuck Passaro's rigging line because it is well defined and is available in both Left and Right-Hand Lays (both S and Z laid).
 
The first downside to MOROPE is that it's not really properly turned. If it was, when you cut it, it wouldn't immediately start to unravel. Seems like they don't twist the strands first... or is it yarns or threads? Anyway, when you cut Syren line, nothing bad happens. To keep the MOROPE from unravelling, you need to hit the area you're going to cut with some glue first. Then, it cuts just fine.
 
However, now I'm tying ratlines – yes, lovely ratlines in 1/8" scale, so the rows are only about 5/53" apart. As I'm doing this, I'm finding that the MOROPE shrouds are stretching just a little. It may be a small enough stretch that I can compensate a little. But, this far into the rigging, if I can't work with it, I'm going to have to tear most of it down and re-rig.
 
For the most part, I suppose it wouldn't be TOO terrible to take the rigging down as it's mostly a matter of cutting lanyards, which can be replaced. But I don't look forward to the idea of reworking the shrouds, deadeyes, etc.
 
We'll see. I'm almost half way done with ratlines. There's only one mast – it's really not like I'm having to worry about rigging on a clipper ship. So, I'll get through the ratlines, trim them, and see how it all looks.
 
 
I'm sure it's something like I hadn't stretched the line properly first. But, the line is stretchy to begin with and it seemed like the springiness would help to keep the shrouds taught. 
 
The detail at this scale is so hard to see, that it might be enough to cheat and tie an extra piece of line tight under all the shrouds, forcing them to lift upwards a millimeter, which would probably be enough to do the trick. Nobody would ever be able to see the fix.
 
Anyway, we'll see how it goes. More later. Right now, it's back to clove-hitches... "under, over, through... under, over, through..."

In my last post, I didn't have any photos to illustrate the differences in the rigging line that I was referring to. So, I took a few shots to post here.
 

Above is a coil of Morope on the left and Syren line on the right. They both have good definition and look very nice. I don't recall the difference in pricing, but I don't remember it being a very great difference.
 
 

Here is a closeup of the Morope line.
 
 

And a closeup of the Syren line.
 
The above are roughly equivalent sizes. And, of course, for my model in 1/8" scale, I'm only using very small sizes. So, the larger sizes will look a little different in comparison. What's shown is roughly 0.4 mm diameter line.
 
 

When the Morope is glued so that it doesn't unravel, it doesn't look too different from the Syren line. Except of course, the Syren line looks like this freshly cut, without any special treatment.
 
 
 

While this doesn't usually happen to me since I make sure to glue the line before cutting it, here is the Morope and the Syren line both freshly cut with no special treatment of the line. As you can see, the Morope wildly unwinds. It will continue to do so if it's not tied off or treated with glue. It's not necessarily a problem if it's handled properly. But, it's a shame it's like this as the Morope does have very good visual definition, and is available in left and right hand twists. 
 
I haven't run into any serious problems with the stuff as far as I can tell, but it is a concern as I work. Also, the Morope does seem stretchier and doesn't hold it's shape as well as the Syren line. For instance, if I make a coil of line, the Syren line is easier to work with, and holds the shape better. 
 
I'm not trying to push one or the other. I'm just pointing out the difference and a possible related issue I'm having with the forward most shrouds, which are served Morope line.
 
Clare

In my last post, I didn't have any photos to illustrate the differences in the rigging line that I was referring to. So, I took a few shots to post here.
 

Above is a coil of Morope on the left and Syren line on the right. They both have good definition and look very nice. I don't recall the difference in pricing, but I don't remember it being a very great difference.
 
 

Here is a closeup of the Morope line.
 
 

And a closeup of the Syren line.
 
The above are roughly equivalent sizes. And, of course, for my model in 1/8" scale, I'm only using very small sizes. So, the larger sizes will look a little different in comparison. What's shown is roughly 0.4 mm diameter line.
 
 

When the Morope is glued so that it doesn't unravel, it doesn't look too different from the Syren line. Except of course, the Syren line looks like this freshly cut, without any special treatment.
 
 
 

While this doesn't usually happen to me since I make sure to glue the line before cutting it, here is the Morope and the Syren line both freshly cut with no special treatment of the line. As you can see, the Morope wildly unwinds. It will continue to do so if it's not tied off or treated with glue. It's not necessarily a problem if it's handled properly. But, it's a shame it's like this as the Morope does have very good visual definition, and is available in left and right hand twists. 
 
I haven't run into any serious problems with the stuff as far as I can tell, but it is a concern as I work. Also, the Morope does seem stretchier and doesn't hold it's shape as well as the Syren line. For instance, if I make a coil of line, the Syren line is easier to work with, and holds the shape better. 
 
I'm not trying to push one or the other. I'm just pointing out the difference and a possible related issue I'm having with the forward most shrouds, which are served Morope line.
 
Clare

Well, just to report that I ran into my first real problem with the Alert. However, it has nothing to do with the fact that this is a paper model. This has to do entirely with the rigging material I chose.
 
I decided that this small model provided a good opportunity to try using a product called MOROPE. This stuff has been around for many years. It's made in Europe and there is a person in the U.S. that handles U.S. sales of the product.
 
The stuff looks really good and is visually stiff competition for Chuck Passaro's rigging line because it is well defined and is available in both Left and Right-Hand Lays (both S and Z laid).
 
The first downside to MOROPE is that it's not really properly turned. If it was, when you cut it, it wouldn't immediately start to unravel. Seems like they don't twist the strands first... or is it yarns or threads? Anyway, when you cut Syren line, nothing bad happens. To keep the MOROPE from unravelling, you need to hit the area you're going to cut with some glue first. Then, it cuts just fine.
 
However, now I'm tying ratlines – yes, lovely ratlines in 1/8" scale, so the rows are only about 5/53" apart. As I'm doing this, I'm finding that the MOROPE shrouds are stretching just a little. It may be a small enough stretch that I can compensate a little. But, this far into the rigging, if I can't work with it, I'm going to have to tear most of it down and re-rig.
 
For the most part, I suppose it wouldn't be TOO terrible to take the rigging down as it's mostly a matter of cutting lanyards, which can be replaced. But I don't look forward to the idea of reworking the shrouds, deadeyes, etc.
 
We'll see. I'm almost half way done with ratlines. There's only one mast – it's really not like I'm having to worry about rigging on a clipper ship. So, I'll get through the ratlines, trim them, and see how it all looks.
 
 
I'm sure it's something like I hadn't stretched the line properly first. But, the line is stretchy to begin with and it seemed like the springiness would help to keep the shrouds taught. 
 
The detail at this scale is so hard to see, that it might be enough to cheat and tie an extra piece of line tight under all the shrouds, forcing them to lift upwards a millimeter, which would probably be enough to do the trick. Nobody would ever be able to see the fix.
 
Anyway, we'll see how it goes. More later. Right now, it's back to clove-hitches... "under, over, through... under, over, through..."

Well, just to report that I ran into my first real problem with the Alert. However, it has nothing to do with the fact that this is a paper model. This has to do entirely with the rigging material I chose.
 
I decided that this small model provided a good opportunity to try using a product called MOROPE. This stuff has been around for many years. It's made in Europe and there is a person in the U.S. that handles U.S. sales of the product.
 
The stuff looks really good and is visually stiff competition for Chuck Passaro's rigging line because it is well defined and is available in both Left and Right-Hand Lays (both S and Z laid).
 
The first downside to MOROPE is that it's not really properly turned. If it was, when you cut it, it wouldn't immediately start to unravel. Seems like they don't twist the strands first... or is it yarns or threads? Anyway, when you cut Syren line, nothing bad happens. To keep the MOROPE from unravelling, you need to hit the area you're going to cut with some glue first. Then, it cuts just fine.
 
However, now I'm tying ratlines – yes, lovely ratlines in 1/8" scale, so the rows are only about 5/53" apart. As I'm doing this, I'm finding that the MOROPE shrouds are stretching just a little. It may be a small enough stretch that I can compensate a little. But, this far into the rigging, if I can't work with it, I'm going to have to tear most of it down and re-rig.
 
For the most part, I suppose it wouldn't be TOO terrible to take the rigging down as it's mostly a matter of cutting lanyards, which can be replaced. But I don't look forward to the idea of reworking the shrouds, deadeyes, etc.
 
We'll see. I'm almost half way done with ratlines. There's only one mast – it's really not like I'm having to worry about rigging on a clipper ship. So, I'll get through the ratlines, trim them, and see how it all looks.
 
 
I'm sure it's something like I hadn't stretched the line properly first. But, the line is stretchy to begin with and it seemed like the springiness would help to keep the shrouds taught. 
 
The detail at this scale is so hard to see, that it might be enough to cheat and tie an extra piece of line tight under all the shrouds, forcing them to lift upwards a millimeter, which would probably be enough to do the trick. Nobody would ever be able to see the fix.
 
Anyway, we'll see how it goes. More later. Right now, it's back to clove-hitches... "under, over, through... under, over, through..."