mamoli rattlesnake

[sailor jim]

1.  starting on rigging, fairly new to this type of modeling. with a 3 masted model is the starting procedure to step mast ( main ,fore or mizzen or to step

each one individually & rig this until complete, or step all 3 & rig each.

2. is it better to rig rat line & then standing rigging or what would you recommend..

3. lastly I think it should work from the inside to outboard standing rigging or is there a better way

4. any suggestions you have would be of immense help... thanks in advance      Sailor Jim

            

 

 

[VitusBering]

You will undoubtedly hear more experienced and expert advice than I can offer, but here is what I have learned and done on my Revell Cutty Sark...

 

The ratline shrouds are actually a part of the standing rigging. Their main function is to act as additional backstays for the masts.

 

I tie the ratline rungs after all of the rest of the standing rigging is done. (I didn't do this on my first pass at the mizzen mast and it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped - I had to redo the shrouds and rungs).

 

I think all masts should be stepped because I've discovered a critical part of the standing rigging is the forestays. They all work in concert on all the masts and need to be tensioned carefully. The forestays should be installed before the shrouds or backstays.

 

It is a bit like tuning an old piano. Tighten this wire here, and you need to go back and adjust five others. It is a tedious process but I don't find it tiresome, it is a fun thing to do.

 

I think inboard or outboard first is a matter of choice and convenience. In my opinion it is more important to rig the forestays fore to aft first.

[Thunder]

I am afraid i disagree with the procedure by Darryl, with regards to rigging the fore stays before the shrouds as this would have them set up differently round the head of the mast to actual practice. I do agree, however, that they are important to get the overall tensioning correct. For this reason, on smaller scales or plastic kits, i set up temporary forestays to counteract the stresses caused by the shrouds and then remove these when the correctly rigged stays are completed.

 

if it helps, i have a word file, which gives the order of dressing the masts and yards, it is my method taken from a modelling guide that i have used for many kits. I adapt it for each kit, dependant on historic period of build, happy to send you this if PM me with your email address.

[VitusBering]

5 minutes ago, Thunder said:

[...]

i set up temporary forestays to counteract the stresses caused by the shrouds and then remove these when the correctly rigged stays are completed.

[...]

 

That's a good idea.

[OllieS]

To add to this:

I have been making my version of the OcCre Revenge for about a year.

I am now fitting shrouds to tops on unstepped masts, in the sense that bits of thread now hang there. Along with the breast stays and the lift blocks tied to the mast (as was the fashion back then). Everything is nicely tamped down and sits tightly in the top with straggley bits below. 

The point being that everyone assumes that if you're building a tiny boat that makes you a tiny boatbuilder.

This is not the case; as a modeller you have the flexibility to make life easier.

Once I have the masts pretty much finished they will be set and  stayed.

As part of that ongoing experiment the sails will then be bent to yards and then the yards fitted. Most of the running rigging will then be set. Finally the shrouds will be set. 

The point of doing this is you get an open deck to rig; then the shrouds get in the way. 

Too much for a comment, sorry!

 

 

 

[allanyed]

The order of dressing was pretty standard and is listed in detail below.   This is from David Lees' Masting and Rigging English Ships of War, page, 158   but it should do well in applying to an American naval vessel.   Anyone making masts, spars and doing rigging, be it kit or scratch building would do well to invest in a copy of this book.

Allan

[Dave_E]

Jim, do you have a build of your Rattler going?

[mtaylor]

I believe that workflow is something each of us has to figure out what works for us.   Generally I do yards and masts as much as possible (fittings) off ship first, then start at the front and work my way astern doing standing rigging first and then another pass doing running. I do try to set up my rigging such that it's also installed from centerline outward.  I may not completely run the full line leaving one (outboard line) for later.    One key is to study the rigging and look for "gotcha's" where if you do something it blocks other things.

 

And finally, don't rush it and inspect and re-inspect frequently.

[VitusBering]

Before I posted, the voice in my head was telling me that, as an inexperienced rank amateur, I had no business responding to this topic.

I should have listened to that voice, and I'll try to do better in the future.

[Thunder]

I have tried rigging a ship without making a rigging plan, just using kit drawings, and always end up with a compromise some how. Usually I construct a rigging plan, this is done in conjunction with James Lee's, but the sequence is taken from Noel C L Hackney's guide to modelling the HMS Victory. I will create my own belaying plan at the same time. The reason i do all this is because I have often built kits that have no rigging instructions at all. The reason it works so well is because as i research a stage of running rigging i identify the belay and any blocks and can look back into the standing rigging stage and best chose when to install. A good example would be Fore topsail brace blocks, they can not be installed before starting rigging as need to go on the main stay, but if didn't make a plan am likely to forget. Then when coming to rig can't get my fingers in.