• SUBSCRIBE TO SHIPS IN SCALE TODAY!

    The beloved Ships in Scale Magazine is back and charting a new course for 2026!
    Discover new skills, new techniques, and new inspirations in every issue.

    NOTE THAT OUR NEXT ISSUE WILL BE MARCH/APRIL 2026
  • Win a Free Custom Engraved Brass Coin!!!
    As a way to introduce our brass coins to the community, we will raffle off a free coin during the month of August. Follow link ABOVE for instructions for entering.

Beginner needs help with Deadeye/Lanyard Rigging

Joined
Jul 30, 2023
Messages
18
Points
48

I am building Amati's Nina. I have built boats before, but none with any kind of rigging. So, the instructions are not very helpful and I've tried watching You Tube videos, etc.. There are plenty of tutorials on how to wrap and secure the line around the deadeye, but I can't find anything that tells me the order of doing things to get the shroud, top deadeye and bottom (deck) deadeye attached. To me this seems to be the hardest thing to do - the deadeyes can't be attached without tension of some sort. But, if I install the shroud first, isn't it difficult to ensure the deadeyes are somewhat even?

Well, thanks in advance for your help - or at least pointing me in the right direction.

Here's my ship thus far:

20260531_135436.jpg
20260517_145300.jpg
 
Interesting that the plans don't give you more information.

In the book : https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/ships-christopher-columbus/author/pastor-xavier/

They show a different arrangement for the shrouds than typical dead-eyes.
1780256721830.png
This is an inboard photo of a model.


1780256821237.png

Here is a drawing from the book. Unfortunately the author does not show an inboard drawing.

The author is basing his work on knowledge of the practices of the time, so it is probably reasonable .

1780257458629.png
The author shows this on the Santa Maria.
With no clear instructions or parts to follow the drawings above, I think I would just go for something like the Santa Maria drawing.
Unfortunately, these are the shortcomings of many kits, but you should enjoy it as building a nice decorator model rather than a historically accurate model.
To be fair, all the details of these ships involves a great deal of speculation.

Your work looks very nice so far.
 
Back
Top