Many thanks guys!
Yes, I should include a finger or a lucifer more often in the photographs...
wefalck wrote:
... and how did you make the blocks?
Good question! I made them years ago, so I barely remember myself now...
Basically, I scratchbuilt a small series of masters of each type and size, and had a friend cast these in resin.
I used more or less the system used for scratchbuilding wooden blocks in larger scales, but I did it in styrene and of course smaller (and I added the strops already in the masters).
The process is explained in more detail with photographs here:
viewtopic.php?f=59&t=167367&start=660#p966067The smallest size (1 mm) can serve for 10 to 11 inch blocks.
For smaller blocks, I am using discs that I punch from styrene sheet with a punch and die set. These are round however, so I slice a sliver from two opposing sides so they look more oval. The strop and sheave openings are only painted on.
I didn't need anything smaller than 1mm on the bowsprit, but I did for the mizzen. The block hanging from the starboard end of the crossjack yard is one of them:
Janssen wrote:
Any chance you can share some details on how you created those ropes in this scale?
Of course!
The ropemaking is easy: I just twisted strands of copper wire together. I used a small lathe, which is convenient, but a powerdrill clamped to a table would work fine too. I took this technique from the books of Philip Reed. His 'Period Ship Modelmaking' explains it best.
I used different diameters of wire to get different diameters of 'rope'.
Twisting 2 or 3 strands together doesn't result in a different appearance of the 'rope', but it does create a slightly larger diameter.
They can be straightened by pulling gently from both ends.
Most of the ropes were painted before gluing to the model. I used two layers of Humbroll enamels, pulling each wire between a paintbrush and a puddle of paint, and hanging it from a shelf with double-sided tape to dry.
They were all drybrushed with one or two lighter shades of paint to bring out the 'rope' texture. I did this mostly after gluing them in place. But I think, in the future I will often do it before installing them instead, because that would often be easier and faster.
All of that is easy. The hard parts are:
- Not to kink them too much while handling. This is mostly solved by leaving some extra length for handling for as long as possible.
- Not to damage any rigging already in place. This mostly takes planning: first glue in place what will not be in the way of other lines.
And for both: yes, you need to be a little carefull...
Janssen wrote:
Any idea how are you going to tackle the shrouds?
Yes! Because I already did the lower mizzen shrouds on Victory.
But that was also already some pages ago:
viewtopic.php?f=59&t=167367&start=1240#p1059770I also took the technique from the same Philip Reed book.
I had to crumble and drape those shrouds over the hull. But damaging them and making them hang over the ships sides in a convincing way was actually much harder than making them 'undamaged'. So I feel confident about those!
I would like to do some more details step-by-steps of the rigging in the future. That will be for August though, because for my holiday abroad I want to take some figures (much easier to fly with than a ship model!).
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