St Roch by Lecrenb - 1:48 scale - RCMP Schooner rigged as schooner c. 1930/35

[Dr PR]

I looked at Michaels when I was making baggywinkles and they have dozens of types of knitting thread and yarns. I did find a heavy knitting yarn that looked like it would wind around a rope without becoming too compressed, but the roll was about 500 feet and cost 7-8 dollars. I only needed a couple inches.

 

I used pipe cleaners I have had on the shelf for at least 30 years (I don't smoke so they are only occasionally used to clean out small tubes, etc. I don't know where you would find them today.

[wefalck]

Made them only once and used heavy dark brown knitting yarn. This was twisted tightly and then soaked in shellac. Afterwards, it was roughend with coarse sandpaper. The tooping-lift then was fiddled through with a needle - as the yarn was two-strand, this was quite easy. In 1:60 scale it looked reasonably convincing.

 

I actually bought some pipe-cleaners at the time (about 45 years ago), but dropped the idea, as running the topping-lift along the twisted wire didn't look good and it was impossible to dye the bright green fibres. 

[Lecrenb]

20 hours ago, Keith Black said:

 Bruce, should you come up dry at Michaels.........

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/204584823974

Thanks Keith, got some!

[Lecrenb]

9 hours ago, Dr PR said:

I looked at Michaels when I was making baggywinkles and they have dozens of types of knitting thread and yarns. I did find a heavy knitting yarn that looked like it would wind around a rope without becoming too compressed, but the roll was about 500 feet and cost 7-8 dollars. I only needed a couple inches.

 

I used pipe cleaners I have had on the shelf for at least 30 years (I don't smoke so they are only occasionally used to clean out small tubes, etc. I don't know where you would find them today.

I got some 'Chenille sticks' at Michaels that will serve the purpose... stay tuned for the results!

[Lecrenb]

5 hours ago, wefalck said:

Made them only once and used heavy dark brown knitting yarn. This was twisted tightly and then soaked in shellac. Afterwards, it was roughend with coarse sandpaper. The tooping-lift then was fiddled through with a needle - as the yarn was two-strand, this was quite easy. In 1:60 scale it looked reasonably convincing.

 

I actually bought some pipe-cleaners at the time (about 45 years ago), but dropped the idea, as running the topping-lift along the twisted wire didn't look good and it was impossible to dye the bright green fibres. 

Thanks for the idea. I got some 'Chenille sticks' at Michaels that seem to work... I'll post results soon...

[Lecrenb]

OK, here is my first effort at baggywrinkling using the chenille sticks from Michaels...

I am not very impressed... they look like the tail of a scared cat!! The chenille clumped up when twisting onto the line, and neither airbrushing or dry brushing improved the appearance. 

They are a scale 12" diameter. Is that about right or should they be narrower??

I think I am going to try again with the yarn ideas, thanks guys for those tips!

 

My grand daughters will have fun making animal figures out of the chenille!

 

Regards,

Bruce

 

 

[AON]

go down to post 37 at: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/1133-baggywrinkles/page/2/#comment-627511

he explains how he made them.

[Lecrenb]

6 hours ago, AON said:

go down to post 37 at: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/1133-baggywrinkles/page/2/#comment-627511

he explains how he made them.

Yeah, thanks for that lead... they look good but he used real pipe cleaners, not the chenille sticks, which was all I could find. I did find some yarn at the dollar store for $1.50 for a lifetime supply, so I'll try a couple of ways to put that on... hopefully it will look like a normal cat tail!

Regards,

Bruce

 

Edited Friday at 01:56 AM by Lecrenb

[Lecrenb]

Baggywrinkle round 2... this is wrapped yarn. An improvement over the chenille but still not where I want to go with these. This is now a scale 9" diameter, which looks right, but still looks like the wrapped yarn it is...

I think I will try wrapping the yarn around a mandrel like a drill bit rather than the line, so I have more control over the wrap. It means I have to take the block off the end of the line, but I think that will be worth it. Then I will try and make some fuzz on them...

Manana...

[AON]

To be honest.

I think your first attempt was better than the last.

🤔

[Coyote_6]

I liked the first better as well.  Looked like what you see on current tall ships at any rate (the first ones).  For what it's worth.

[Lecrenb]

Thanks Alan and Steve. After considering your comments, and more fussing with the yarn, I returned to the chenille, this time wrapping it around a small diameter plastic rod (in case I couldn't get the baggywrinkle off the rod I at least had a hole for the lift)!

Anyway, they did come off so I added dabs of black paint to hide the wires, some dark brown dry brushing since these were made from old hemp, and I trimmed them a bit around the edges.

I slid them onto the lift to see what they look like, scale dimensions are about 36 x 12".

I think some more trimming might be warranted, but I'm wondering what y'all think of them now??

Regards,

Bruce

 

[Lecrenb]

While waiting for paint to dry and to take a break from fussing with baggywrinkles... I made and installed the mast head light. It is a modified New Cap Maquettes product, I added the chimney (it is a kerosene lamp), the base, and the mounting brackets.

The two unrigged blocks are for the foresail boom lift and the jib halliard...

I also started making stays off the ship. These are fswr, simulated with black Amati rigging line of a scale 2" diameter per the plans. I made a template along the bottom of my silkspan frame, scaling dimensions from the rigging plan and indirectly from photos. Pins anchor each of the components so each stay will be identical. Each stay starts with the bottle screw, and runs to the first electrical insulator, this is what I have so far in the picture.

Each item of standing rigging is broken with two insulators, and will be fitted with an eye at the top. The lower eyes are presumable served, but covered with a leather wrap, which I will simulate with more silkspan scraps. 

I will make a pair of each item then install them onto the ship...

I do appreciate the check-ins and comments!

Bruce

 

 

[AON]

I think they look quite good.

[AON]

is the turnbuckle what you are calling an insulator?

[Lecrenb]

2 hours ago, AON said:

I think they look quite good.

Thanks Alan, I'll do a little bit of trimming... and decide tomorrow whether or not to keep them or try for round 4!

[Lecrenb]

2 hours ago, AON said:

is the turnbuckle what you are calling an insulator?

No, the bottlescrew is what it is. Where the clothespin is, is where the first insulator will be installed...

[Coyote_6]

3 hours ago, Lecrenb said:

I think some more trimming might be warranted, but I'm wondering what y'all think of them now??

Very nice and quite convincing!

[Lecrenb]

1 hour ago, Coyote_6 said:

Very nice and quite convincing!

Thank you Steve!

[Dr PR]

Bruce,

 

I like the fuzzy chenille bagywinkles/baggywrinkles better than the tight yarn versions.

 

The mast is coming along fine.

[Lecrenb]

11 hours ago, Dr PR said:

Bruce,

 

I like the fuzzy chenille bagywinkles/baggywrinkles better than the tight yarn versions.

 

The mast is coming along fine.

Thanks Phil... I agree and think the yarn version might be better in smaller scales. Later I'll rig up the lift and think good thoughts about mounting the mast permanently.

Bruce

 

[Lecrenb]

Well, it finally happened... the boom lift got rigged and the mast got set into the hull permanently...

I checked the side to side positioning against the line of the stem and the center of the wheelhouse, and in the next picture I am checking the 3 degree rake angle after confirming the ship is set properly onto her base...

After the glue has cured overnight I will add the pin rails to the bottom of the mast and finish up the running rigging.

I'm in the process now of making bottle screws for the standing rigging, furling the jib, and making my shroud template.

Lots of fun!

Regards,

Bruce

 

[Dr PR]

Congratulations! Stepping the mast is one of the milestone achievements in model making. It usually means the wood work on the hull is finished and you are about to become all tangled up in rigging and sails.

[Lecrenb]

On 11/16/2025 at 10:25 PM, Dr PR said:

Congratulations! Stepping the mast is one of the milestone achievements in model making. It usually means the wood work on the hull is finished and you are about to become all tangled up in rigging and sails.

Thanks Phil! Yes, I am happy to reach this milestone but with St. Roch it means 'rinse and repeat' because I have to repeat everything on the mainmast now!

[Lecrenb]

Moving right along, the first photo shows the pinrails at the base of the foremast with the rigging tied off...

Next I added the rings to the jib, completing that sail...

After which I reeved the jib stay and added the bottle screw and block at the foot of the sail...

The chain at the end of the bottle screw attaches to an eye on the stem of the ship, while the jib stay ends in an eye near the top of the foremast. The block is for the downhaul line.  Note the iron cringle at the clew, this is for the pair of jib sheets. The next picture is the jib clew on St. Roch. That line is not a sheet, it just spreads the sail for public viewing. The actual sheets are the rope coils on top of the companionway roof, if they were rigged they would interfere with public access to the fo'c's'le deck.

This last picture is the jib furled on the bench...

I think it looks pretty much like the bundles I see in photos. and it should hang realistically once the stay is fitted to the ship (fingers crossed). 

I shackled the downhaul line to the head of the sail. Most photos show the jib triced up to the foremast by the clew, and that is how I will mount mine to the model.

That comes up next (I hope)!

Regards,

Bruce

 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 07:11 PM by Lecrenb

[KeithAug]

An enjoyable catch up, the build descriptions are excellent - very educational. 

[AON]

what can I say....

 

WOW!  

 

Well done.

[Lecrenb]

20 hours ago, KeithAug said:

An enjoyable catch up, the build descriptions are excellent - very educational. 

Glad you're enjoying following along! The research never stops, I just figured out something interesting about mounting the jib, which I hope to share shortly!

Regards,

Bruce