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Topic review - Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)
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  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
Also i want to ask abit about the glue that attach the line , i just not able to find mulicage here, but there is plenty of water glue, clear glue that for stationary use . Can i use them instead or dilute PVA glue to glue down the line ?
Post Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 7:17 am
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
davidwaples wrote:
I have both materials and they behave differently.

The Caenis is still a great choice. It’s also available in white which is nice for signal flag halyards. Once the line is in place you stretch it tight by applying heat.

The Infini line is very nice to work with. It tends to be a little flat instead of round but you won’t really notice it. The best tip I ever received on working with this line is to put a small touch of CA glue where you want the line to go. Soak the end of the Infini line in CA Accelerator. Then attach it to the where you put the CA glue. Hold it for a couple of seconds and you are done! This can work with other lines but the Infini (or Lycra thread) lines really work well with this technique. The Infini or Lycra thread seems to hold up really well over time as well.

If I were picking one over the other, I would pick the Infini line.

Good luck!
Dave

Thank Dave, i decide to get a Infini 40 denier for my 1/350 first, i will try to get a Ceanis 20 denier on later date
Post Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2018 1:33 am
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
I have both materials and they behave differently.

The Caenis is still a great choice. It’s also available in white which is nice for signal flag halyards. Once the line is in place you stretch it tight by applying heat.

The Infini line is very nice to work with. It tends to be a little flat instead of round but you won’t really notice it. The best tip I ever received on working with this line is to put a small touch of CA glue where you want the line to go. Soak the end of the Infini line in CA Accelerator. Then attach it to the where you put the CA glue. Hold it for a couple of seconds and you are done! This can work with other lines but the Infini (or Lycra thread) lines really work well with this technique. The Infini or Lycra thread seems to hold up really well over time as well.

If I were picking one over the other, I would pick the Infini line.

Good luck!
Dave
Post Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2018 1:58 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
Sorry for dig up a old thread. I currently have a little bit of trouble to tie the copper wire on the mast , also to the the glue it down too. Reading Mr.Griffith book, i plan to get a caenis thread , 70 denier for my 1/350 ship, but i still on the fence between it and a Infini rigging line product. Does anyone use both of them yet ?
Post Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2018 1:12 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
I love the Uni-Caenis thread. I first heard about it in David's book and I'm hooked on it. I used fly fishing tippet previously but the black is much better in appearance.

The main product of Mucilage glue, Elmers, stopped producing this glue a few years ago and the supply has vanished. It is wonderful stuff as it dries clear and flat and shrinks down. It was also great for attaching figures. I've been using Gator's Grip glue now and it works very well. Used sparingly it also shrinks down and holds very well.

Once I get all my lines attached I use smoke from an incense stick to tighten the lines. You literally just let the smoke flow up through the rigging and it draws tight.

I would love to find something like this in a brown color. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Dave
Post Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 8:57 am
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
For anybody considering using monofilament fishing line, a WARNING. A few weeks ago, I was about to finish a 1:64 model of a Gato sub. It was a commission, which is the reason for the strange scale. Anyway, I had rigged all of the lifelines using actual wire, and the last thing that I needed to do was install the radio antennas. There are two of these on the port side and one on the starboard side, and they extend from a pair of outriggers on either side of the bridge to a mast near the back of the deck. On a model this size, that makes them something like 18" long. I did not want to use wire -- too hard to "tie" to the insulators. So I used 6 pound test fishing line. It worked beautifully, and I was very proud of the model, and delivered took it to be cased and crated for shipping.

A couple of days later, I learned that the person casing it had come into his shop and found the port antenna lying on the deck, with the outrigger snapped off. At first, he thought someone had bumped it, but when he went to glue the outrigger back on, the antenna lead would not reach. It seems that the difference in temperature between my shop (air conditioned) and his shop (not air conditioned) had caused the monofilament to shrink. The 18" antenna lead had shrunken almost an inch, and had put enough force on the outrigger to snap it clean off.

That's a 5% shinkage.

The solution was to replace the antenna leads with silk suture cord, which he had in his shop. He cut away the mono filament, glued the out rigger back on and installed the new silk line. The model was fine after that, and has been delivered to the client, who was very happy with it.

The moral of the story is that mono filament MAY be be to use as rigging for very short runs, particularly if it will have some slack in it. But if you are using to rig anything longer than an inch or so, you might want to try something different. I am sure that different types of monofilament have different shrinkage rates, but from now on I plan to avoid it altogether and go with either wire or silk.


Vince McCullough
Post Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2013 5:43 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
I just ordered a spool of the Caenis Thread myself. I think it'll work out well enough for my purposes.
Post Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 9:27 am
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
David you seem to be developing quite a few converts. Including myself :)
Post Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 6:52 am
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
mike mccabe wrote:
I can't see the advantage to using the fishing line at all, it's just much harder to attach and cut, sprue can be stretched just as thinly, and personally I find it easier to attach and remove waste. Sorry but I'll be sticking to the sprue method, works for me personally.

Mike


Sprue is great, but it has two major disadvantages. First - it's hard to make multiple pieces all the exact same size. (In 1/700 a millimeter is a chasm) Secondly, it is extremely fragile. The caenis thread I've recently started using requires a different method of installation, but once you figure it out, is much easier to use. All the pieces are the same size and the thread will not break (or at least won't break until long after the model does).

David
Post Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:07 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
Just received my order for this Caenis line. Very cheap from the US supplier recommended on this forum - $6.35 for one reel clear and one real black, including mailing to UK! Haven't tried it yet but looks good. Compared it with what I've used before which is CARPTEK 0.1mm, 2ib 5oz/1.07kg breaking strain, and 100m of it. Got it from a local tackle shop. Wasn't cheap - think it might have been about £7. Can't visually detect a lot of difference between it and Caenis. I will let you know how I get on with Caenis.
Post Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 6:59 am
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
At David Griffith's suggestion I ordered some Caenis thread, and although I haven't tried it yet, I think it's going to be perfect for 1/700 scale ships. It's the finest thread of any kind I have ever seen!

I ordered mine from J. S. Stockard (http://www.jsflyfishing.com) on a Tuesday and it arrived in the following Thursday's mail! Excellent service. I highly recommend them.

Thanks to David for this excellent idea.
Post Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 5:49 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
thanks much for the tips in this thread. i've been trying to use fine wire that i harvested from a power cord that crapped out... and doing so with no success (which is why i've become discouraged with my nimitz model and put it aside). maybe i'll give it a shot again with the fly fishin' thread.
Post Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 11:35 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
Got my camera back so I thought I'd post some pics of my test rig of the Caenis thread.


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Dave :wave_1:
Post Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 5:42 am
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
David Griffith wrote:

I've been trying to persuade people to use "Caenis", made by Uni-Thread for about a year now.

David Griffith


Well, David I'm convinced!!!...I purchased a few rolls Uni-Caenis from J. Stockard Fly fishing and I like it!...I made two test "masts & yardarms" out of .050" styrene rod and found it attaches well with the gel-type CA I use...I can also get the thread taught with not much tension at all.

I've been useing "hair" from a Halloween mask for my rigging...but it looks like the mask goes back in the attic!


mike mccabe wrote:
I tried the caenis stuff, I found it hard to attach and harder to cut once attached, even with a brand new scalpel when attached to yards it took more force to cut the thread than the yard would take, I ended up cutting with nail scissors. I still much prefer sprue for ease of attachment and removal of excess.

Mike


Mike,

Try useing nail clippers!...I found if they are new, they will cut the Caenis with no problem!...I keep a "new" pair of clippers just for trimming rigging thread.


Dave :wave_1:
Post Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 5:33 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
David Griffith wrote:
Other pieces of advice that I have for you are to ensure that you have lots of light, preferably from multiple directions to prevent too many shadows, have a sheet of white paper to work on and also use as a background as the threads will be more visible. Also have a loop of fine wire. You can put the working end of the thread through this and use it as a sort of needle. It makes it much easier if you are trying to get a thread to pass between railings and suchlike.


It was very helpful - thanks David. I did notice that I needed a white backdrop to work with this medium...part of the problem may have been I did some of the rigging at work in my office, where the lighting wasn't good enough for this type of thing.

mike mccabe wrote:
I can't see the advantage to using the fishing line at all, it's just much harder to attach and cut, sprue can be stretched just as thinly, and personally I find it easier to attach and remove waste. Sorry but I'll be sticking to the sprue method, works for me personally.

Mike


Can't say I blame you...but as I'm unable to stretch sprue consistently, I'll have to stick with line!
Post Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 1:26 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
I can't see the advantage to using the fishing line at all, it's just much harder to attach and cut, sprue can be stretched just as thinly, and personally I find it easier to attach and remove waste. Sorry but I'll be sticking to the sprue method, works for me personally.

Mike
Post Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 1:01 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
Dear Martin,

I think half the secret is finding a way of temporarily holding the thread in position while the glue is setting. Trying to hold the thread with your fingers and whistling while you wait isn't going to do it. I use "Blu-Tack". It may be that this is marketed under a different name in the US; if so, it is the grey putty-like adhesive that you use for hanging posters on walls.

The rigging is one of the last processes I carry out and it happens after the model is permanently fixed to its base. If, for example, I am attaching an aerial between the yards on the fore and main masts, I will put a small lump of Blu-Tack on the base in front of the bows and use this to secure the end of a thread. I then lead the thread over the foreyard, then over the mainyard and down to a similar lump of Blu-Tack on the base behind the stern, such that the run of thread that you want to end up with is under a very slight tension, just enough to pull kinks out of the thread, but not enough to distort the masts. You can now apply glue to the yards, and after a few minutes cut off the excess thread at both ends of the ship with fine scissors close up against the yards.

As I mentioned in a post earlier in this thread, the glue that I have had most success with is stationer's gum (mucilage in the US), taking a drop, diluting it with a touch of water so that it goes on easily with a brush and just painting it over the attachment point. It doesn't sound as though it will work, but I find it is quite strong enough. This stuff is hard to find in the stationer's shops nowadays, as everyone has gone over to using glue sticks, but I have managed to get it in this country on special order, though I did have to buy an industrial sized litre bottle of the stuff. For a line that is critical, I might tend to use thin superglue, for example the joints between the cage aerials and yards on my HMS Cumberland (see gallery), where a fair degree of tension built up. In this case the use of Blu-Tack to anchor the threads is even more useful as superglue just won't hold if there is any kind of movement in the joint as the glue is being applied.

You may want to give thought to the order in which you do the various parts of the rigging. I would tend to put the signal halliards on fairly early in the process as they can be the fiddliest part and other bits of rigging will get in my way. A topmast backstay may be one of the later things to put on as it would run "outside" most of the other lines.

Other pieces of advice that I have for you are to ensure that you have lots of light, preferably from multiple directions to prevent too many shadows, have a sheet of white paper to work on and also use as a background as the threads will be more visible. Also have a loop of fine wire. You can put the working end of the thread through this and use it as a sort of needle. It makes it much easier if you are trying to get a thread to pass between railings and suchlike.

I hope this is all of use to you.

Kind regards,

David Griffith
Post Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 8:43 am
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
David Griffith wrote:
Stick with >snip< Caenis.


I used this for my Gneisenau build. Looks fantastic, but (at least for me) was a headache to attach (kept coming loose). Any tips on how you attach it to your beautiful models, David?
Post Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:32 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
Dear bocME262,

In 1/350 scale Caenis would be about in scale for aerials and running rigging, but too thin for mast stays, etc, especailly American ships where these lines appear from photos to have been made out of some type of rod, rather than steel rope.

I would probably choose to use the finest fishing line that I could find for lines such as these, 1lb breaking strain or something like that.

Regards,

David Griffith
Post Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:29 am
  Post subject:  Re: Rigging with Fishing lines (Monofil)  Reply with quote
Dear Mike,

Try getting some spring scissors from the fly tying section of the fishing shop. I've been using a brand called "Stonefly". Very fine and precise, but it does depend a little on the angle at which the fibre passes between the blades, but that is the same with any kind of fibre.

Keep trying.

Regards,

David
Post Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:22 am

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