Ratlines, attaching of..

[jeff watts]

First build newbie,here so please be gentle lol, I've been building my hms victory  for the past three years , and not doing too badly so far,  ive done most of it , but I've come to point in the rigging which is frustrating me, so I thought I'd better  try to get some advice from someone with a bit  more  experience  , s so  ,what is the best way to  attach  the ratlines so they look authentic  without having to spend the rest of my life tying little  knots  while trying to  keep the tension correct on the shrouds?   Any ideas are more than welcome 

Edited December 16, 2020 by jeff watts

[Jim Lad]

Jeff, spending the rest of your life tying little knots is one of the joys of rigging a large sailing ship! 

 

Actually, clove hitches are very quick and easy to tie and will help your model to look really authentic.  Tension on the shrouds shouldn't be a problem as the ratlines are slightly slack and don't pull on the shrouds.

 

John

[wefalck]

I draw the layout of the shrouds and ratlines on a piece of cardboard in 1:1 scale to be put behind the shrouds when working on the ratlines. In this way you can detect immediately any distortion or irregularities.

 

Clove hitches are easy to do with two tweezers. I do a sort of variant of the clove hitch at the outward shrouds, so that the ratline returns on itself - on the prototype the ratline has an eye spliced into each end that would be stiched to the shroud. This method looks quite convincing in smaller scales and is fast.

[jeff watts]

thanks  wefalk,  i will give this  approach a go     

[toms10]

Hi Jeff,

Post #279 of my Leopard build log has a picture of what Wefalk is describing.  I used this method with good success.  Just click the link in my signature to find the log.

 

16 hours ago, Jim Lad said:

Jeff, spending the rest of your life tying little knots is one of the joys of rigging a large sailing ship! 

 

Actually, clove hitches are very quick and easy to tie and will help your model to look really authentic.  Tension on the shrouds shouldn't be a problem as the ratlines are slightly slack and don't pull on the shrouds.

 

John

With some quick math, I figure I ended up with 2,918 clove hitches... but who's counting!🤪

Good luck,

Tom

[jeff watts]

thanks tom , i will do that 

[glbarlow]

As others mentioned clove hitches are the way to go, but the lazy way is half hitches on the inner shrouds but these may slip. I hate rat lines, but do find once I get in a rhythm it becomes almost meditative. An option is a touch of your choice of glue on each knot to keep them there. 
 

One key suggestion is to create a grid on paper the height of the shrouds (I use Excel, but there are better ways) with horizontal lines spaced per the plans but also vertical lines to make sure the shrouds keep their line and don’t get pulled in. Place this paper behind the shrouds. It’s both a guide and keeps you from going cross-eyed trying to see the ropes. 

[toms10]

Jeff,

As Glenn mentioned and I forgot to... After the lines were tied and everything was the way I wanted it, I took a cheap paint brush and brushed over all the knots with some diluted Elmer's white glue (50% water/50%glue).  It not only locks the knots in place but also stiffens up the whole assembly of lines.

Tom

[jeff watts]

great advice gentlemen , thank you 

[wefalck]

I would rather use some solvent-based (not acrylic !) fast-drying varnish. This has the advantage, that with a drop of the respective thinner (or acetone probably) you can loosen the knots again should further adjustment become necessary. With PVA glue or acrylic varnish you might need to cut everything away, if it is not right.