How To Rig a SGN ship, the paint brush method

[The Royal Hajj]

Now that I've shown you guys the finished results, I thought it was time to show you a quick How To on the method.

To start with, I should make clear that this method does not require any stretch, tying or knotting. As such, it does not look as authentic or add very much strength to the miniature. However, it is much quicker and requires almost no skill or superior eye sight ;)

The whole method revolves around the material used as the cordage. It is simply a house hold paint brush:



Clip some of the bristles off as close to the base of the bush as you can. These individual bristles are what you are going to use for rigging the ship.





Use a permanent marker to color the bristles the color you need, I just use black. The marker works really well as it does not add any thickness to the bristles. To speed things up, clip and color a dozen or so bristles at one time.

The next step is to determine where you are going to place your rigging and measure the length that you will need the bristle to be.



I like to use a clear ruler as it allows me to see through it to the points I want to attach my rigging.

The next step is to simply cut the bristle to the correct length.



I then pick up the bristle with my tweezers and dip each end into some PVA (Elmer's) white glue. The photo is not very good, but you can just make out the two little blobs of white glue on the ends of the bristle.



After that, just simply place the bristle onto the ship with each end on the points you measured for earlier. Sorry, no pick of that since I did not have a third hand to hold the camera (just using the cell phone for this one)! Sometimes you might find it easier to place glue on only one end of the bristle and glue on the ship location for the other end. At times, I've even put the glue for both ends directly on the ship and no on the bristle at all. This works well for when you have to thread a bristle through openings in the sails or such.

And the end results:

[Wear Ship Dave]

Very nice "How To"

[Gaz67]

Looking good

[Nightmoss]

Thanks for the "how to". I can see how this method might be less intimidating for folks.

[Comte de Brueys]

Perfect, First Sea Lord.

I first thought you took a thin steel wire, but brush hairs.

Can't wait to leave Toulon harbour with my ships.

[7eat51]

Elegantly simple and effective. Nice job, Keith.

A little bit if effort really does improve the look of the Ares ships.

[Moideeb]

what a "stroke" of genius!

I will be using this technique when i get mine. Thanks for sharing this technique.

[The Royal Hajj]

The problem with thin wire is once it is bent or curved, it will never be straight again. The bristles have some elasticity to them, so if you bend it while working with it, it will snap back straight. They can be kinked, so some care is needed to to bend them to that point however.

[Cmmdre]

Awesome Keith. Thank you for the easy method.

[Wear Ship Dave]

I was so interested in this concept, that I visited my local ACE Hardware earlier this evening, and found a 1.5inch trimming brush that has BOTH black and tan bristles. Cost, about $6.00.

[Berthier]

It never ceases to amaze me the level of creativity and ingenuity of some of the members here. Amazing, elegant and simple Keith!

[The Royal Hajj]

It never ceases to amaze me the level of creativity and ingenuity of some of the members here. Amazing, elegant and simple Keith!

I can't claim credit for this method. Zoe introduced it to us on the Wings side of the house for rigging those planes.

[Devsdoc]

Hi Keith,
I have just found this thread. I do like this idea. But I don't think it would add strength to the ship model.
( by the way, off thread I'm not getting thread marks in my in-box over the last 3 days. Help!)
Be safe
Rory

[Gunner]

Has anyone thought about sticking a pin vertically into the top of the masts with a pendant, etc. on it?

Forget the above. They don't make stick pins small or thin enough to work.

[Andy Blozinski]

My first thought would be to use super glue. Why Elmer's and not super glue?

[The Mad Hatter]

Hajj -

I know this is an old thread, but could you repost the pics of your ships here? I really like the amount and type of rigging you did, figured those graphics would always be around!

Would like to see them again so I can start looking to do this to my ships when they arrive!

[The Royal Hajj]

Okay, I've restored the images in the first post.

[The Mad Hatter]

Thank you, much appreciated!

[AlyssaFaden]

Oh my word that looks fantastic!

[Пилот]

Really great!

[DeRuyter]

Maybe this thread should be a sticky?

[The Royal Hajj]

Maybe this thread should be a sticky?

Smart thinking... stuck.

[bakblast]

I'll just use 009 guitar strings, adds strength and is not too thick. Some of those ropes are 8" thick or more.

[Пилот]

Keith,

it would be nice if you could post more detailed close-ups (of already rigged ships), as some kind of mast-by-mast rigging instruction. I believe it would be great and much appreciated help for future riggers.

[The Royal Hajj]

I'm no expert rigger, but his is the diagram I used:



It is taken from this larger thread. I basically did all of the red lines that I could for each of the minis.

I own the Langton painting and rigging book, but for the life of my I can't find it. If you are wanting to rig your ships "historically", I'd use the book. If you just want better looking game pieces, then by brush and diagram method is a good option.

[Mahan]

Thanks for the contribution. I will start rigging my ships soon.

[Naharaht]

Using bristles from a paintbrush is a good idea. Has anyone tried using human hair?

[Arakus]

As i have nearly a bald head i din't want to try it with the few remaining hair, and i think my chest hair, even when it is long enough, is to curly.

[Iron Outlaw]

Been trolling through my files and have attached a couple of pics with rigging guides from the 19th century. Note that both these images show standing rigging, i.e., no sails shipped, not all of the running rigging when the ship was at sea. I've got them if anyone is interested. Let me know.

The image you posted only shows the forestays. It is important to include the shrouds usually rigged with ratlines, as these are what keep the aft tension on the masts to balance out the forestays.

It is also worth noting that with regard to the shrouds, at this scale the ratlines become invisible so they can be left out without detriment to the model.

Hope that helps!

Cheers

[Devsdoc]

Hi Brad,
I think you are right about what you can see and not see on 1-1200/1-1000 scale ships. But the rat-lines is the one piece of rigging I always would do, as it give strength to the masts of the model, as in real life. I spent a long time doing a "How to rig model ships on this site", but it was lost in the BIG HACH some months ago. It is now all on Vols Blog. He kindly put it all of it on his blog for me. He has links to it on this site and TMP site too. Langton's book on rigging and painting is a must have. Most of the best rigged photo's on this site are all or in part, from his book. For the cost of one ship, it is a very good buy. If you think I'm wrong look at Jim's work.
Be safe
Rory

[Iron Outlaw]

Hi Rory

Thanks for the post mate.

As the ratlines are only the footropes that are attached to the shrouds and not the shrouds themselves, I would have thought that the ratlines would not be that necessary.

Ta for that. Maybe I will try the paint brush bristles for some rigging too.

Cheers

[colby_bimore]

Keith,

Simply amazing, fantastic results.

Thank you for sharing as always!

[Nightmoss]

If you want to try some rigging that's a bit more involved, but also significantly improves the structural integrity of your SoG ships (just like in real life), check out the step by step process Rory has posted up on Vol's blog:

http://volsminiatures.blogspot.com/2...-guide-to.html
http://volsminiatures.blogspot.com/2...ide-to_18.html
http://volsminiatures.blogspot.com/2...ide-to_27.html
http://volsminiatures.blogspot.com/2...ide-to_27.html

Parts 2 and 3 cover most of the actual rigging.

[Devsdoc]

Hi Rory

Thanks for the post mate.

As the ratlines are only the footropes that are attached to the shrouds and not the shrouds themselves, I would have thought that the ratlines would not be that necessary.

Ta for that. Maybe I will try the paint brush bristles for some rigging too.

Cheers

Brad,
You are right, The foot-ropes are only for the crew to get around the masts. But the stays the foot-ropes are on stopped sideward movement of the masts, so like in life, like in models.
This should not be on this thread, Sorry! as it is about using brush bristles for rigging. I use them for smaller ships as there is no place to drill holes into the hull. So bristles for back-up for me.
Be safe
Rory

[Tordenskjold]

Yes...creative and very beautiful. Thanks

[KDz]

This is very helpful, Keith. Perhaps I try this method for my own fleet. Thanks

[Capn Duff]

I use the brush method, you can se the results on the threads for Timoleon repaint and Hammerhead 2016

[KDz]

Thanks Chris. I just wonder about replacing Langtons ratlines. They are not available in my country, ordering them is worthwhile.

[Capn Duff]

Thanks Chris. I just wonder about replacing Langtons ratlines. They are not available in my country, ordering them is worthwhile.

I have used Langton ratlines on all my 74 SoL so far.
They are not an exact fit but pretty close, you may have to glue onto the Bulwarks intead of the correct place, but I think they work pretty well.
For the SOL you need PE01 which are the ratlines for Langtons 3 deckers, at £1.25 per ship very reasonable.
I havent tried the smaller ships yet as not finished the SoL, but I believe the frigates will use PE2 or PE3 depending on the size while the sloops possibly PE5. I will post which one I start on my frigates.
The down side is nothing to fit the Ares triple deckers so for those we have to waait for Keith, although I am going to give Langtons a call to see if he can help.
Ill keep you posted