I’m useless at tying knots but does anyone know what’s the best knot to tie rigging with? I’m looking for a knot that doesn’t unwind or come loose and tie’s up solid. Any good diagrams/illustrations would be most appreciated!
Knots are a fascinating subject, about which an enormous amount has been written. Over the centuries human beings have come up with hundreds - probably thousands - of ways to tie a knot in a piece of rope (or several pieces of rope). If you’re really interested in the subject, the place to start learning about it probably is the old classic, The Ashley Book of Knots, by Clifford Ashley.
The truth of the matter, though, despite any witchcraft-like claims to the contrary, is that ship modeling really requires two knots: the reef knot and the clove hitch. A handful of others, such as the bowline, the figure-8, and the slip knot (which is really just a simple variation on the reef knot), may come in handy once in a while, but if you get adept at those two you’ll have all you need. And getting adept at both of them will take about ten minutes.
Here’s a website, courtesy of a British sailing organization, that provides animated instructions: http://www.tollesburysc.co.uk/Knots/Knots_gallery.htm
The reef knot - known to Boy Scouts and other landlubbers as the square knot - is the knot of choice for the vast majority of modeling applications. The clove hitch has one major use: tying ratlines across shrouds. (If you aren’t rigging your own ratlines on your model, you probably won’t need the clove hitch.)
Hope that helps. Good luck.
The answer is: glue.
Attempts to tie complicated knots on the rigging of a ship simply aren’t worth it. Most knots were created for special task and special material, like rope or fishing-line, and they do not work with other materials and/or scales. Also, the type of knot used on the model is nearly impossible to notice (with the exception of 1mm+ lines, but those are extremely rare.)
Thus, the method: tie ye olde goode Simplest Knot you’ve learned as a child. Put a clamp on a free end of the line, so that it kept the line and the knot tight. Put a drop of white carpenter’s glue (elmer’s glue? The one which drys up clear) on a knot. Wait till it’s dry. Cut the line near the knot.
Oh, and use the advice of jTilley for tying ratlines to shrouds.
If you want to make things complicated, here is Greg’s Animated Knots, http://www.animatedknots.com/ It have all the knots you need in minute details and hundreds of knots you don’t need. 
Many thanks guys, just what I’m looking for! Time to get busy with that rigging!
Thank you PhantomGhost for asking this question and to jtilley and Grahor for the advice on reef knot and Clove hitch! Greatly appreciated!
For those who do not know how a clove hitch is tied, the short video from U-Tube shows how to bend a line around a dowl. Very simple to accomplish.
Happy modeling Crackers [:D]
I second the glue suggestion. I glue all my knots. I usually just use a simple overhand knot unless it is quite a large scale model. I use thinned white glue to secure the knot. Works great and is not visible.
I like an overhand knot fetched up into a figure-of-eight to replicate wall knots for deadeye lanyards.
Square, clove, and overhand knots are 80% of the knots needed.
Zombie thread but timeless info.
Good question and I was ‘lost’ at first. I have been using an overhand and/or square knot for my ties and just a drop of medium CA glue to secure.
I just tried my hand at tieing ratlines with a clove hitch. I found this video on Youtube and it’s easy to follw. It worked for me and I hope this helps:
Great info but one bizarre thing about the net is when old posts you made years ago (and completely forgot about) get dragged back. Can’t believe it was 10 years ago I started this thread.
I use clove hitches for ratlines.
I use the clove hitch and the reef knot( square knot). The beauty of the clove hitch is the harder you pull, the tighter it gets. Hope this helps.
Agree.
As do I.