Do You Use the Rigging Tool and other things?

Modeling Subjects Ships
1

Hi :

Awk ! I Had to clean a section of the workbench I haven’t gotten to for a looong time . What did I find? Well , let’s see.A TAMIYA etch brass tool for screw guards . A Tamiya tool for some little gizmo on the Fletcher bridges ( or did I make that ?) Then It got really funny , Keel Clamps for a model I don’t remember .The tools included were more fun than the model sometimes . Did You ever get a sailing ship model with what looks like a super stretched needle threader ? Where’d that one come from ? Who Knows ?

Now , down in a very dark corner were four , ,Yep four of those Heller rigging tools .(the ones that ,if you use them correctly give you a chance to do it like the big boys do !) Now I got to thinking as I went through the drawers of a long lost little grey cabinet with plastic drawers ( I know , we all got them ) Well this one had slipped behind the table top and gotten caught by the tabletop and just hung there for gosh who knows how long .

Inside one of the drawers was a form for bending wire to rig a tugboat model . Then there was this real weird one that took up a whole drawer with it’s pieces .then it dawned on me .My Gosh ! This was a dihedral tool for one of the early larger plastic and wood airplane models I built ,centuries ago , it seems. I guess I figured I would find further use down the line .

That brings me back to the Heller kits .Did you know ,in one iteration of the , Titanic research ship , La Suroi , they did for years , that they used to give you a brick ? Yup , it was there to clamp the rails to ( way overlarge ) use it to bend those rail under hot water to shape them properly ? Who Knew ? There have been many such little gems included in kits of all types .Do you still use any of yours ?

here’s one for you aircraft guys .In some areas of the country they gave you a landing gear jig to use with the F-111 kit by AURORA ? Yep , little gem made a great stand when all those little plastic pins holdng the gear together ( It was operable) gave out from to many landings and takeoffs ? The tool was for aligning the pieces in full gear down position , so you wouldn’t get glue in the wrong place .

Yes, they are funny and yes , they were weird .Now , if all the ship model companies (wood and plastic ) would just give us a cheap but reliable tool for tracing waterlines and bootstripes on the darned hull !

2

Waterline tools I have seen generally run along these lines: attach a marker to a block of wood, set height, run around model setting on workbench.

3

AH YES !

There’s a good point . But what if your ships are way different scales . How many blocks can you have around ? What I do now is build jigs like that out of ( Gasp ) non-LEGO bricks .They work great for building cradles too .

4

You mean those stupid ratline looms? Hateful…

I wish that manu.s did include tools more often, like they used to.

I DID recently buy a brand new kit with ten little tubs of paint, a brush and a tube of glue.

5

Here’s a good, adjustable gadget for marking waterlines. Just be sure the pencil is sharp, or replace it with a fine mechanical pencil.

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2005886/18181/AccuScribe-Pro.aspx

Here’s another one - a bit cheaper:

http://www.modelexpo-online.com/product.asp?ITEMNO=MX105

6

I have the one from modelexpo, works just fine. You do have to cut the pieces off the sheet and assemble it.

7

I don’t use those ratline/shroud jigs- I like to be able to tension each shroud individually. I do have a jig that allows me to install shrouds with upper deadeye the right distance from lower one while I rig the upper end to the masthead. I rig the lanyard after the shroud/upper deadeye assembly is in place.

I also made several homemade tools. Most important are a hook and a fork made from large needles and a piece of dowel. The fork is made by grinding (with Dremel) the end of the eye off. The hook is made by grinding part of one side of the eye off. The hook and fork are really handy for tying ratlines.

I find every time I get to the shroud/ratline rigging that my hands have lost some of the skill. I find about an hour of doing it brings the skill back. Once the hands are working right they sort of take over, and my mind wanders while the hands do the work. I guess it is like crocheting or things like that. I find hand tied ratlines look much better than those done on the jigs, plus the shrouds look better.

8

Block of wood of the proper height and, a pencil…