Silkspan sails

[allanyed]

This is somewhat of a repeat as the various points have come up in various posts in a few forums, but I recently saw photos of sails for a schooner model that were beautifully sewn on the edges and along the panel seams.  If this had been a scale of 1:12 or larger they would be  close to scale, but as the scale was 1:48 they were grossly out of scale and, for me at least, ruined what was an otherwise very nice model.  I know this comes up quite often but there is a solution to get sails that are close to scale and I hope it is worth repeating for those that may want to try something that may add to their repertoire.

 

The smallest common sewing machine thread that I could find and measure was a little under 0.01" in diameter.  I wrapped 125 turns on a steel rule in a 1 inch spacing to get the diameter.   At a scale of 1:48 this would be about over 3/8"  inch diameter thread.  At 1:64 it would be over 1/2 inch diameter and at 1:96 it would be over 3/4 inch in diameter, all of which are rope sizes rather sewing material.  The tightest spacing on a modern home sewing machine yields about 25 stitches per inch which is having each stitch 2 inches long at 1:48 and 4 inches long at 1:96, again also too large to be realistic in regards to scale.  The seams on the panels are typically 2" wide and 4" around the periphery of the sail, that is 0.04" and 0.8" at 1:48 and 0.02" and 0.04" at 1:96 scale.  The thickness of duck canvas varied with the types of sails, but 15 ounce canvas was one of the common sizes.  This is about 0.06" thick so scale sail material should be about 0.00125" thick if at 1:48 and 0.0006 if at 1"96.  Even the finest cloth that I have found so far, with a sufficiently high thread count to look like the  threads spacing are close to scale,  is 0.008" thick, thus far out of scale as well.

 

In contrast, some folks, myself included, have been working with silkspan, a nonwoven paper for making sails.   With two coats of acrylic that I used to get the right color and strengthen the material, it is 0.002" thick, much closer to scale compared to 0.008"  for 1:48.    The sails can be set up full or furled.  Adding reef points and tying off to mast hoops and spars or booms  is not a problem.   I add a small dot of tubed acrylic that I mix to match the color of the thread where the line goes through the sail and it is very strong when a hole is punched or drilled through these small dots.

 

2 inch seams for the panels were made with an acrylic paint marker pen slightly darker than the color of the sail itself.  The tip of the marker  was shaved with a scalpel to a little under the 0.004" for 1:48 scale that I needed as it does expand a bit when charged with paint.

 

Silkspan is not as strong as cloth, but with one or two coats of diluted tubed acrylic paint, it is surprisingly strong.

 

Hope this gives some members a few ideas on making sails that are closer to scale.

 

Allan

Edited February 8, 2021 by allanyed

[Jond]

Allan

after seeing your Boothbay Schooner I am game to trying this method  out.    I am look now for more tutorials 

 

cheers

 

jon

Edited July 28, 2021 by Jond

[allanyed]

Jon,

The best ones I found are https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_m_VWzk4w8 and the best book is a small inexpensive booklet by David Antscherl from Seawatch. .   I used a combination of methods from both the booklet and the videos that happened to work best for me.  

Allan

[Jond]

Thanks Allan

 

ordered the book today and will look at the video

 

cheers 

[allanyed]

Jon, after you get the book and take a look, if you like,  please give me a ring and we can discuss variations/combinations of the methods on the video and the booklet that I tried that worked and those that did not work for me.   

Allan 

[wefalck]

It is also quite possible to assemble silkspan-sails from individual panels and add doublings etc.:

 

Cutting the panels from a sheet of silkspan stabilised with acrylic varnish

 

Assembling the sail using acrylic varnish as glue

 

Boltropes, cringles etc. attached as per Allen's description, sail also painted to look 'tanned'

 

Sail rigged and reefing ropes attached

 

It also works with what is called silkspan over here in Europe, that is a very thin silk cloth.

[BANYAN]

I have seen that before Eberhard, but it still amazes me to see the very effective sails you produced for your Botter.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[acaron41120]

I also want to make sails for my ships but cannot find a source for silkspan. Who do you folks use to purchase silkspan?

  

Edited June 13 by acaron41120

[Dziadeczek]

51 minutes ago, acaron41120 said:

I also want to make sails for my ships but cannot find a source for silkspan. Who do you folks use to purchase silkspan?

  

When you google the word "silkspan", you should obtain several sources of this material. Silkspan is also known as "modelspan", so google this word as well. Silkspan is often used by airplane modelers for covering their fuselages and wings, so look there.

[tmj]

You might have trouble finding 'true' Silkspan these days, unless you purchase an old model airplane kit, from the seventies, and rob the Silkspan from the kit. A better alternative might be Esaki, or Gampi Japanese tissue. This stuff will be considerably thinner than Silkspan if scale appearance on a small model is your goal. These thin tissues are used for tiny, indoor flying model airplanes today. Readily available!   

Edited June 13 by tmj

[gsdpic]

@acaron41120 MSW sponsor Bluejacket has something they call silkspan.  I've not purchased/used it, and not sure if it is 'true' silkspan to quote tmj.  I just recalled seeing it on their web site.  Here it is:

 

https://www.bluejacketinc.com/shop/rails-and-sails/silkspan/r1300-18-x-24/

 

Perhaps @MrBlueJacket can comment on it.

 

[RossR]

If you are a member of the NRG, there is a virtual session on Saturday on making sails with silkspan.  They will probably have info on where to get it.   

[hollowneck]

For all NRG members there will be a virtual "ZOOM" workshop presentation on crafting silkspan sails this Saturday morning, June 15. You should have received the ZOOM link information by email; check your inbox.

 

In this two-part presentation, I will be presenting a method for creating realistic working sails while my colleague, Tom Ruggiero, will cover furled sail techniques. We both use silkspan. For the curious, you can click on the footnoted "Completed Builds" links below to my gallery photos that show several models with this material.

 

Edited June 14 by hollowneck

[acaron41120]

Thanks for the replies. I now have several sources from you members to purchase silkspan. I’ll more than likely go with Brodak. Also I’m lookin forward to the Zoom session with NRG this Saturday morning.

[Dr PR]

I am making sails for my model and I used SIG silkspan. I am using their thinnest material SIGST001 00:

 

 

SIG 00 silkspan is about 0.001 inch (0,00254 cm) thick, give or take a bit.

 

There are several different materials sometimes called "silkspan" and some tissue papers that are similar weight. The actual silk products seem to fall into two categories - woven fibers and unaligned fibers. Real silkspan seems to be the later type with random fibers.

 

"Japan Paper" is a similar product.

 

Here is a link to my sail build:

 

 

[wefalck]

Another source for extremely thin, long-fibre 'Japan'-paper are supply shops for art- and book-restorers. This paper is used to 'invisibly' double up ripped or damaged book pages and works of art. I got one that has only has 8 g/sqm.

 

For extremely fine woven fabrics serigraphy (screen-printing) supply shops are also an interesting source.

Edited June 14 by wefalck

[hollowneck]

14 hours ago, Dr PR said:

I am making sails for my model and I used SIG silkspan. I am using their thinnest material SIGST001 00:

 

Dr PR, that's the material I use most.

[MrBlueJacket]

On 6/13/2024 at 8:12 PM, gsdpic said:

@acaron41120 MSW sponsor Bluejacket has something they call silkspan.  I've not purchased/used it, and not sure if it is 'true' silkspan to quote tmj.  I just recalled seeing it on their web site.  Here it is:

 

https://www.bluejacketinc.com/shop/rails-and-sails/silkspan/r1300-18-x-24/

 

Perhaps @MrBlueJacket can comment on it.

 

Yes, we sell true silkspan, lite grade. It does have a "grain" which means it tears differently in one direction vs the other. This is important when you layer several sheets, you must alternate the orientation.

 

Nic