Be careful about hitting your minis with Kicker. It can leave "droplet" spots when sprayed on with the mister top they come with. That's another reason I use the toothpick method I mentioned above.
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Be careful about hitting your minis with Kicker. It can leave "droplet" spots when sprayed on with the mister top they come with. That's another reason I use the toothpick method I mentioned above.
Here's one side of the HMS Bellona completed. Unfortunately, I did not follow the cardinal rule of carpentry; measure twice, cut once. Somehow I managed to get SGN102 ratlines on the Bellona, which is an SGN104B ship. I didn't really notice any major issues until I got to the lower set for the mizzenmast. Then it was obvious that a match up wasn't exact and I know Keith was very exact in his measurements. I'm going to complete the ship with the other half of the set, but I do have a question for Keith.
Are the upper ratlines supposed to go from the outer edge of the fighting tops up to the bottom of the next level fighting tops? That's my assumption based on how the Langton ratlines work, but on those you could also move them closer in, essentially resting on the platform.
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Jim, I see that Rory answered your question on the upper ratline placement. And yes, the lines are made to fit only the ship they are designed for ;) But I don't think anyone will really notice, she is looking quite fine indeed!
She turned out OK, even with the wrong ratlines. :shock: I'll need to reorder some of the ratlines, doh! Are we still on hold until later this summer? Thanks.
Oh, a quick P.S. Save the brass sheets that the ratlines come in. I've already used one section to make a black pennant. Even more uses for the AA Accessories!
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She look more then okay Jim! I should have the ratlines back up in the store next week when I get back from Origins. At least, the rest of my initial production run should be waiting on me when I get back.
those are amazingly delicate--super cool!
Has Keith said anything about wave 2 ratlines yet? The weak wave 2 masts need all the help they can get. Maybe the ratlines should be made out of stainless steel.
Not that I'm aware of. I did ask about Wave 2 ratlines some time ago, but at that point Keith hadn't seen any of the new ships. I think the ship masts from Wave 2 would get more stability from rigging as opposed to the brass ratlines. They look phenomenal, but there's very little structural support. Steel ratlines at least for the 1st rates and frigates might be a good idea?
The ships look great Jim!
Are you using the Langton rigging method for your standing rigging?
I notice the store is out of stock on all ratlines. Any idea when there will be more?
Looking at the spars on most ships, they appear to have stuns'l booms on the lower yards. If so, should these be yellow ochre for Nelson colour-scheme ships, rather than all black? Would spars and stuns'l booms be all black in earlier British ships? On Victory, they are ochre.
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I am going to use the thread recommended by Rod Langton for standing and running rigging. However, for the extra thick braces, does anyone have a specific thread they use and can recommend that is in scale with the Ares ships?
The rest of my Wave 1 ratlines showed up while I was gone. I've not had a chance to open them and check that all is okay yet. Hopefully today.
I'll start designing Wave 2 ratlines some time this month. I've just been to busy dealing with things since the actual ships showed up. I'm not sure if I'll stick with brass or switch to SS for Wave 2, but I'm thinking a ever so slightly thicker metal could be used with out ruining the great looks of these lines. That would make them a little easier to work with I think.
I'll most likely purchase them whether they're brass or stainless steel, but the sturdier ss ratlines would help in the initial application and help firm up any mast issues at the same time. I can't recall if you said there was a cost difference between the two metals?
I've used the same thread for all the standing rigging and haven't attempted running rigging yet. One common feeling which I share is never use cotton thread. At least in this household it attracts dust and it has a tendency to stretch, especially when it gets humid. Use nylon thread or possibly the monofilament 'miracle thread'?
I have just tried attaching the ratlines to my first ship. It takes a lot of patience, as these are super delicate, but they do look good when on.
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Nicely done, Chris.
She looks beautiful. :hatsoff:
I was telling someone at Origins about your 1:300 ship. He, too, does some larger scale modeling.
Excellent, Chris!! Very impressive work especially including the running rigging. I do believe you are the first person I've seen to attempt that and it looks great. :thumbsup: :salute:
Many thanks for the comments :thanks:
I only got into the 300 scale modelling when i was waiting for SGN to be released, then i said i would only do a small sloop, then when we were still waiting, i thought to hell with it and made the frigate. How in justified to myself doing the victory though, I'm not quite sure. Glad i did though. Now i have this all these SGN ships to distract me, i doubt ill do anymore 300 modelling for a while, unless langton release something new of course....:wink:
Jim, i lack your precision with modelling, being far more slapdash in my approach, so i make up for it by adding more and more rigging instead. The accuracy of your rigging, with everything taught and correct is amazing, you must be a neural surgeon or dentist to be so precise. By the way, good idea with drilling rigging holes in the hull, i very much stole that idea directly from you. Not sure if i went overboard with the size of the tricolour, but i wanted it to be easily seen for gaming, I can always say this was a very patriotic french ship.
Hi Chris,
Very,very nice. You have made her look like a wargame model. :salute: The only thing is only British ships ran running-run back from the Mizzen mast yard-arms to the top of the Spanker.
Be safe
Rory
Dam_ French copycats.:drinks:
Chris, if you don't have the Langton book for the step by step guide to mizzen mast rigging for non British ships you should check out Rory's guide that's currently up on Vol's blog:
http://volsminiatures.blogspot.com/2...-guide-to.html
The ship he rigged is a Russian one and he does mention that British mizzen rigging is different. By the way if you ever rig an American ship you'll want to rig that like a British one. Back when I was working on the USS Constitution I asked Rod Langton about US ships, being rigged like British or the rest of the world. He told me that US ships are rigged like the British.
Curiously enough someone on TMP just rigged a French ship exactly as you did (Le Formidable): http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=350152
Hi Chris,
Only the Brits Royal Navy and I have heard the U.S. Navy too. Rig this way. All the rest and Merchant Fleets rig as so:- The bottom 2 arms go to the Main mast fighting tops. the top arm goes to the next top up. Hope this helps. See Rod Langton's book on rigging
Be safe
Rory
Ratlines stocks have been updated on the site. There are plenty of the frigate lines left, but all of the 74s are sold out except for in full Wave 1 sets.
Well, I've wanted to try this since the Wave 2 ships and the AA brass ratlines arrived. I was hopeful that the Wave 1 ratlines might work on the Wave 2 ships and in the case of the SGN102 ratlines they work almost perfectly with the French 1st Rates. Very little trimming needed. The only "iffy" area was the lower mizzenmast ratlines and they still look OK to me. Enjoy!
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It looks pretty ace to me! I want!
Is that stock paint or have you modified it? I have not seen any of the 1st rates yet.
If it is stock paint then they did a great job on the sails...far better than wave 1.
Thank you!
Everything is repainted and in this case it's the Orient repainted as the Austerlitz, but with 'home water' masts.
Sails and deck are 'Bonewhite' (brown ink wash), the hull is black and a blend of purple/brown paints I have on hand and the stern is a bronze/gold paint pen I just discovered at Michael's. The AA ratlines really make the ships stand out. Amazing!
well it looks great, nice job!