Revell Constitution/Heller Victory building tip

goat any pics for the picture group?

Luckily my Old Ironsides will remain safe in the attic. If I gotta start weaving things, well..... I'm all in favor of plastic ratlines, etc...

Craig

I built my first Revell Constitution back in 1968. using the supplied ratlines. In 40 years of looking at it, the ratlines were the thing that most didn't seem "right" about it. For one thing, the shrouds should be a thicker thread, and the ratlines themselves a thinner thread. Plus, the preformed ratlines can't be tensioned properly. Really, they look like hell.

I'm now building a replacement for it, as well as a Revell United States (sister ship) and a Heller Victory (the Victory will take a lot longer). The best way, I think, is to lay up the shrouds individually on the ship, and then, once the shrouds are properly tensioned, add the ratlines. The easiest way to do the ratlines is to use a sewing needle and push the threads through the thicker shroud threads.

One thing is sure -- I would throw away Revell's "preformed" ratlines, as well as Heller's "ratline machine."

I don't have access to binary groups.

You would think that photoetching would finally supply preformed ratlines in the correct proportions, and a little paint would bring them to life--certainly a lot less effort than the stretching and tying we did. An outfit like Eduard might even supply them prepainted for warhorses like the 1/96 Cutty Sark and Constitution.

The best "preformed" shrouds/ratlines I've found are in the Imai/Aoshima kits, such as the Hippon Maru, the Susquehanna, etc. These are plastic castings that have some flexibility. They work because the kits overall are made to a high standard of precision.

The Revell kits, on the other hand, have more "slop" to them. The rigging serves a structural purpose (just like on the prototypes), which is to align the masts, which otherwise would be skewed at all sorts of angles.

That's why I don't think that something rigid, like photoetched brass, would work. Also, the fact that photoetch is flat would be a problem. You have to find some way to convincingly attach it to the deadeyes, or else include the deadeyes as part of the brass. Well, the deadeyes need some sort of three-dimensional medium.

I think PE would work on a small enough scale. I used to like the 1:600 scale sailing warship kits, and was sorry to see those lines dropped. I still have one left to build. Would LOVE to get a PE set for shrouds and ratlines. In a scale that small, I think it would work fine.

I do have that Micro Mark DIY PE set, but it is a real pain to make items. Still, might be worth it.

Yes, I agree. In fact, it would be almost impossible to make shrouds/ratlines in the traditional way at such a small scale. At

1:96, though, you have a problem attaching PE in such a way as to exert tension on the mast. On the Imai Nippon Maru (1:100 scale), the masts are already aligned well enough that the plastic ratlines can be used.

Same thing is true at 1:600. The masts and yards stay in alignment quite well without rigging. So the PE shrouds and ratlines could be non-functional, appearance only. I have rigged shrouds on 1:600 and smaller, never ratlines.