Catenary Curves

[JacquesCousteau]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get a good catenary curve?

I'm finishing up my Muscongus Bay Smack build and, as the jib is furled, I wanted to give a realistic curve to the halyard.


From the side, it looks ok-ish, but I feel like it's just a bit off somewhere. From other angles, though, it's clear that it has some unrealistic side-to-side sway.



How do you get a better curve? It's Syren rope, I used watered-down white glue to position it. I tried to weigh down the line a bit with a bunch of small lengths of wire, first clamped to the line (which seems to have induced twist) and then just tacked in place with shellac. But it doesn’t seem like it's quite giving me the results I'd like.


Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[POPEYE_DA_SAILOR]

Nice job! Proof that an exquisite high-quality model can be produced from a good kit assembled by a skilled modeler. They don't all have to be full of cannon and gilded gingerbread.

What works for me for forming catenary curves in rigging line and for making scale rigging line "behave naturally" for any other purpose, such as coils, hanks, and especially reef points, which always want to stick straight out horizontally, is clear shellac. (I use the canned stuff, which is 3-pound cut.) Apply the shellac liberally to the entire of length of line to be shaped with a paint brush so that it soaks into the line fully but doesn't otherwise drip or leave excess on the surface. As the shellac dries (the alcohol solvent will evaporate rather quickly,) form the line into the curve you desire using your fingers. The line will gradually get stiffer as the shellac dries. When the shellac has dried sufficiently to hold the curve you desire, leave it untouched to dry and harden fully. If a correction is required after the shellac saturated line has hardened, or if it begins hardening too quickly as you are shaping the line, just add a bit more alcohol to the shellacked line and the shellac will immediately re-liquify within the fibers of the line. If you end up with excess shellac on the work, just soak it with alcohol and blot up the dissolved shellac with a paper towel.

I have never been able to determine where the "internet myth" that "diluted PVA" was a good material for accomplishing this first sprung up, but despite it being consistently repeated by modelers whenever the opportunity arises, the amount of time it takes water to evaporate really makes diluted PVA a non-starter for me.

 

[Winter]

Alignment of ropes and polyester with a thermal applicator

There's not much to describe, as it's quite obvious. By using a heated thermal applicator on a stretched rope, the rope is straightened.

shipsofscale.com

 

[paul ron]

wet it with a diluted pva., it'll sag on its own then set

 

[JacquesCousteau]

Thanks, all, for the helpful advice! I was concerned that just applying more shellac or glue wouldn't cut it, given that it already had taken a bit of an unwanted curve, so I ended up making more little "weights" out of wire and hanging them on the line with shellac, as well as giving the line another coat or two of shellac.


This seemed to work pretty well. The line still has a little side-to-side sway, but very little, and the shape of the curve is better. If I were to redo this, I've learned that I would want to stretch the line a bit before anything to get rid of any tendency to twist or curve. But, I'm happy with the results.


As can be seen in the comparison below, the new curve (left) is much better than the previous one (right).


Thanks again for all the suggestions!