Advice or help required on rigging thread

Kenny G

Kenny G

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Mar 23, 2024
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So I am going to ask for your advice / help here I recently built Occre's Flying Dutchman and although I am personally very happy with the way this kit turned out I am now building their special edition HMS Victory. My one area of doubt is that I am not overly impressed with Occre thread the same thread as used on the Dutchman has been supplied in various colours and sizes for Victory. I am not that experienced and have little or no knowledge of alternative manufacturers or suppliers when it comes to thread and with over 400m supplied by Occre I know it will be an expensive choice not to use it. I like or should I say love the look of the Ropes of Scale synthetic threads but worry it could be a very expensive folly if I am required to bake it the oven or it requires special handling in order to not unravel as some posts in here have suggested.

I am therefore reaching out to you the community for your thoughts and recommendations I am in the UK so please keep that in mind if suggesting a product as it will almost certainly need to be sent internationally. I think Occre supplies thread in 12.5m spools and the victory kit has been supplied with the following.

18 x Beige 0.15mm which I make 225m

1 x Dark Brown 0.15mm 12.5m

8 x Dark Brown 0.5mm which I make 100m

8 x Dark Brown 0.8mm which I make 100m

2m length of Dark Brown 1.5mm thread,

Thanks very much in advance

Kenny
 
Hi
the ropes are the thing that disappoints in OCCRE models. The alternative and cheaper than RoS is Amati. Saying that it looks like OCCRE 0.15 is Amati 0.25 ?? best to buy one and check. On HiS model website ( link on SOS main page) 100m of 0.25 is around 6 Euro. I would replace 0.8 and 1.5 with RoS or other aftermarket lines. The smaller one you need to think carefully. And in my experience, the same rope size from aftermarket suppliers looks thinner than OCCRE.
You can try running the small ropes through beeswax and over some heat to get rid of the fussiness
 
If you are seeking to add detail to single model from a kit, and not a series of models, you can buy high quality model ship rope from:

Dry-Dock Models & Parts

Syren Ship Model Company

Buying enough rope to complete a model is the easiest solution. Otherwise, if you are planning on making lots of models, making your own ropes using a rope walk tool. Syren sells an affordable one, and you should use it with high quality Gutermann thread from Germany. There are lots of thread on the forum that describe how to make your own scale rope in different sizes.
 
DARIVS ARCHITECTVS said:
If you are seeking to add detail to single model from a kit, and not a series of models, you can buy high quality model ship rope from:
Click to expand...
... another one for rigging lines. Very high-quality ropes!

ropesofscale.com

Ropes of Scale

Miniature Rope for the scale modeler. These products are designed for rigging model ships but can be used for most scale modeling or dioramas.
ropesofscale.com
 
HaHa. I think making ropes is complicated! And finally decided after all my poor efforts at rope making it was far easier and simpler, maybe even cheaper to buy from a professional rope maker. The quality of the rope available form the suppliers named above was far more superior to anything I managed to make.
 
Definitely not making my own ropes.

I have decided mainly down to the exceptional help of Ben AKA Ropes of Scale to discard the supplied thread for two reasons.
First it's not that good.
Second with the amount of superb detail on this kit it will be let down badly by having only 3 sizes of rigging rope which is and would not be the reality of a real ship.

I am guessing therefore that I will also need to change out a large number of blocks to fit the more appropriately sized rope

I think I will start a new thread on victory rigging help.

THanks to everyone.
 
I fully agree with your choice. Kit ropes are one thing that almost always need improvement, and the change in appearance is noticeable. I have found that on average, you'd need 5 sizes of rope with blocks to match, the largest being the stays and smallest for gun tackles. These changes will transform the look of your model immensely, especially if you add any rigging that the instructions might leave out. To do that, you need some research books.
 
Agree completely with Darivs! There were many diameters of rope on real ships, some pretty much standard, & some smaller diameters, depending on the size of the ship. But, as far as my experience in finding all diameters you would need, they just don't exist. I've even had to rig with, say, Coates & Clark thread to get a reasonable-looking product. RoS & Syren make the best I've seen, but sometimes you may want to use the regular stuff for some rigging. And that may include blocks, too. Check out the blocks from ModelExpo, they're the best I've seen.
Rick1011
 
rick robbins said:
Agree completely with Darivs! There were many diameters of rope on real ships, some pretty much standard, & some smaller diameters, depending on the size of the ship. But, as far as my experience in finding all diameters you would need, they just don't exist. I've even had to rig with, say, Coates & Clark thread to get a reasonable-looking product. RoS & Syren make the best I've seen, but sometimes you may want to use the regular stuff for some rigging. And that may include blocks, too. Check out the blocks from ModelExpo, they're the best I've seen.
Rick1011
Click to expand...
I appreciate that this wont be easy but to get the ropes more representative than a blanket one size fits all which is the Occre way will be much better I will check out the blocks which I was thinking of changing anyway the Modelship Dock yard ones look pretty good. I think I will have a few hours of research ahead of me and luckily enough for me I can always pop along to the real Victory as it is not that far from me in Portsmouth.
 
Kenny G said:
So I am going to ask for your advice / help here I recently built Occre's Flying Dutchman and although I am personally very happy with the way this kit turned out I am now building their special edition HMS Victory. My one area of doubt is that I am not overly impressed with Occre thread the same thread as used on the Dutchman has been supplied in various colours and sizes for Victory. I am not that experienced and have little or no knowledge of alternative manufacturers or suppliers when it comes to thread and with over 400m supplied by Occre I know it will be an expensive choice not to use it. I like or should I say love the look of the Ropes of Scale synthetic threads but worry it could be a very expensive folly if I am required to bake it the oven or it requires special handling in order to not unravel as some posts in here have suggested.

I am therefore reaching out to you the community for your thoughts and recommendations I am in the UK so please keep that in mind if suggesting a product as it will almost certainly need to be sent internationally. I think Occre supplies thread in 12.5m spools and the victory kit has been supplied with the following.

18 x Beige 0.15mm which I make 225m

1 x Dark Brown 0.15mm 12.5m

8 x Dark Brown 0.5mm which I make 100m

8 x Dark Brown 0.8mm which I make 100m

2m length of Dark Brown 1.5mm thread,

Thanks very much in advance

Kenny
Click to expand...
Hi There, i have question along the same line as this. I just finished an Artesania San Francisco cross section and the ropes are awful. Covered in Fuzz. I am thinking of re-doing most of it. I have looked at Ropes of scale and Dry dock models. The question i have is about the size of the ropes. Like this post the ropes i got were 0.15mm and the largest 0.25mm. Most of mine was done using 0.15mm but the smallest ropes in those shops are 0.25mm.
Why is that?
How can i figure out what size rope would have actually been used on those ships so that i can make the conversion myself?
 
Yes, I'm with you on the rope . I'm rigging my first ship and really did not like the rope supplied. I went with Ropes Of Scale. Looks great so far, but I want to cry every time I trim my blocks and the scraps hit he floor, so it is getting pricey . But it is a long time project for me so I don't feel it so bad in the wallet . I might add for me, it helps to build a second ship in the background to break up the tedious demands of rigging.......Good luck on your quest ,its a great hobby...
 
gedailey said:
Yes, I'm with you on the rope . I'm rigging my first ship and really did not like the rope supplied. I went with Ropes Of Scale. Looks great so far, but I want to cry every time I trim my blocks and the scraps hit he floor, so it is getting pricey . But it is a long time project for me so I don't feel it so bad in the wallet . I might add for me, it helps to build a second ship in the background to break up the tedious demands of rigging.......Good luck on your quest ,its a great hobby...
Click to expand...
We have a thread about lost blocks in the carpet, you know...
 
@dindsy The question about kit rope sizes confuses a lot of people. Most kit rope that claims 0.10 or 0.15mm are actually closer to 0.25mm - 0.35mm and in the case of some OcCre ropes it measures in at 0.4mm.

I can make 0.2mm ropes but there is hardly anything to see. You need a magnifying glass to see any details. Better off using some good-quality sewing thread.
 
It is also important to know how strong ropes need use.
On my website you can freely download the HMS Victory rope and pulley size chart which was created from the original charts from the book The 100 gun ship Victory.
Just enter the scale into the table and everything else will be calculated. I recommend it to all builders of this beautiful model.
And then it's up to you to buy the ropes and top of the line CNC pulleys. I offer pulley sets directly for this model.
 
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