• 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.
  • 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

Disaster--I cut a shroud

Don Case

Don Case

Joined
Jul 10, 2021
Messages
1,718
Points
438

Location
Vancouver Island
I was trimming a long end on the starboard foremast shroud and cut the shroud off. SickSick I have done the fore topmast shrouds and the ratlines on the lower port side shrouds. All of that would have to be stripped off unless I can come up with a fix. The only thing I can think of is trying to splice/glue a replacement shroud. Maybe I can do the join up where the futtock shrouds join the main shroud. Anyone else ever do something as stupid and if so, how did you fix it. I just can't imagine stripping this all back to square one and starting again.

DSC04804.JPG
 
Last edited:
Maybe use a thinner piece of thread on the back side to get the ends to line up and pull them taught and then you can butt glue the joint together? Try it on some scraps first. Maybe even do a little seizing around it. Or you could try to insert a small piece of wire in the middle of the lines to pull them together.
 
Thanks guys. I made a new bottom half of a shroud with the deadeye included. I took advantage of where the futtock shroud was seized to the shroud. There was about 3/8" (1cm) overlap so I cut the shroud about halfway along the overlap. Then I stretched the new shroud in position with the lanyard adjusted to length. Then I tied the new shroud to the tail of the futtock shroud and glued it in position. When the glue was dry I trimmed the shroud to length and butted the ends together and then seized it all together so everything lined up. It worked very well but I wound up with the shroud a hair long so the deadeyes didn't quite line up. I slacked off the lanyard a bit and got it as close as I could. I don't think anyone will know but you guys. And you won't tell ;) . In the picture the shroud I fixed is second from the right. Sorry for the pic quality. Actually the deadeyes line up better than they did before I think.

DSC04810.JPGDSC04811.JPG
 
Don Case said:
Thanks guys. I made a new bottom half of a shroud with the deadeye included. I took advantage of where the futtock shroud was seized to the shroud. There was about 3/8" (1cm) overlap so I cut the shroud about halfway along the overlap. Then I stretched the new shroud in position with the lanyard adjusted to length. Then I tied the new shroud to the tail of the futtock shroud and glued it in position. When the glue was dry I trimmed the shroud to length and butted the ends together and then seized it all together so everything lined up. It worked very well but I wound up with the shroud a hair long so the deadeyes didn't quite line up. I slacked off the lanyard a bit and got it as close as I could. I don't think anyone will know but you guys. And you won't tell ;) . In the picture the shroud I fixed is second from the right. Sorry for the pic quality. Actually the deadeyes line up better than they did before I think.

View attachment 409235View attachment 409245
Click to expand...
Looks great !
 
Ha! Been there done that…more than once! In fact I did it just yesterday on my Revenge 1577 build…thankfully I was seizing the lower main shrouds around the lower mast head and all I had to do was cut that set off and replace. However…in past models when I did same I actually tied on a piece of line at the cut with a simple fisherman’s line knot and pulled taught. Yes the knot is visible when one looks closely but it also simply fades into the jungle of rigging such that anyone casually viewing does not take notice…over time the knot looks like it belongs there. :)
 
Been there. Building a miniature Baltimore Clipper (1:192 scale) TINY!!!. I foolishly decided that I could drill a sheeve into the completed and rigged topmast. I broke the sucker in half after well over a year's worth of work.:mad: I considered modelcide, ready to throw whole damned thing against the wall.Cautious But took (several) deep breaths, carefully tied off the upper shrouds, 'let them flop to either side, carefully unglued the topmast, made a new one (with all the sheeves predrilled this time)reattached all the rigging, declared victory and moved on. It will never be as good as the original un-repaired work, but what the ****! Who's gonna know!
The model is pictured in the finished models category if you're interested.
Moral: never give up, you can do SOMETHING!

Pete
 
Don Case said:
I was trimming a long end on the starboard foremast shroud and cut the shroud off. SickSick I have done the fore topmast shrouds and the ratlines on the lower port side shrouds. All of that would have to be stripped off unless I can come up with a fix. The only thing I can think of is trying to splice/glue a replacement shroud. Maybe I can do the join up where the futtock shrouds join the main shroud. Anyone else ever do something as stupid and if so, how did you fix it. I just can't imagine stripping this all back to square one and starting again.

View attachment 409185
Click to expand...
1. Yes!
2. Pretend you are a sailor on the ship and rebuild a replacement shroud.
Boring and cumbersome, but it solves the problem. I have done it a few times.
 
Привет! Я очень рад, что Вам удалось успешно решить проблему с такелажем! С наилучшими пожеланиями. Егор

Hello! I am very glad that you were able to successfully resolve the rigging problem! Best wishes. Egor
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I once had to a repair a massive model of which several shrouds were broken as a result of age, short above the deadeyes. I repaired them with heat shrink tubes.
They fitted rather well around the broken parts, but once I used a match they were hardly visible any more. Not a treatment many colleagues would applaud I'm afraid, but the alternative was a months long disassembling and reassembling an already extremely vulnerable rig.
So far nobody noticed....
 
Hey, it's restoration AND conservation. I like that you conserved the original as faithfully as possible without further altering or damaging the original. Thumbsup
Your stellar reputation precedes you.

Pete
 
Don Case said:
I was trimming a long end on the starboard foremast shroud and cut the shroud off. SickSick I have done the fore topmast shrouds and the ratlines on the lower port side shrouds. All of that would have to be stripped off unless I can come up with a fix. The only thing I can think of is trying to splice/glue a replacement shroud. Maybe I can do the join up where the futtock shrouds join the main shroud. Anyone else ever do something as stupid and if so, how did you fix it. I just can't imagine stripping this all back to square one and starting again.

View attachment 409185
Click to expand...
Yep feel your pain, did exactly the same as miscalculated where end of cutting shears went. I was at a similar stage and fortunately had not yet done the rat lines. After a few blue words I just replaced the shroud as a bodge would have annoyed me … but that just me
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top