Rigging

While still working on the hull of the ship, I started thinking of the rigging which is one of the most important parts of every model. This is a very complex issue and there are whole books dedicated to this. The reason why rigging is so important is simple: it is more visible than the hull. When someone looks at a model ship it is the tangle of ropes that attracts attention not the bottom of the hull. The best way to represent rigging is to make it as close to real it to reality as possible. In order to do so I studied book and dozens of web pages and internet forums.

First of all I had to prepare some thin threads. It is important that their diameter is corresponds to the scale on the model, otherwise they will look too thick.

Rigging on any ship can be separated in to main categories: standing rigging and running rigging. Standing rigging includes all the ropes that support masts (shrouds, stays and backstays), yards and other spars (i.e. any pieces of wood/metal). The term means that when the ship is moving under sail they are more or less fixed, not that they cannot be adjusted.

Running rigging is used for raising, lovering and controlling the sails. It is called like that because it is often being adjusted i.e. runs through pulleys. There will be different number of lines with different functions for different types of rigging.

I had to select two different types threads for standing and running rigging one must be slightly thicker and darker than the other. Since I had no black ropes I had to color them.