KTL Faux Wood Oval Rigging Blocks

[Kevin the Lubber]

Hello all. For a while now I’ve been experimenting with resin printing to make printed objects look less like plastic. One of the directions has been to make rigging blocks that look a little more like wood and these are now available for those that are interested. (For those who haven't used them, the major advantage of resin rigging fittings is consistency: every block and deadeye is identical, there is no variation in the hole sizes, rope grooves or hole pattern. If the design is good, they simply work).



The variation in colour within the block is created through a dye process and is intrinsic to the block. There are very slight variations between blocks, sizes and batches, which I think adds to the wood illusion. In fact I should say that, to my eye, they bring to mind horse chestnuts and coffee beans, but “faux coffee bean rigging blocks” doesn’t quite cut it! My production process includes ‘de-burring’ i.e. removing the print support pips from the block, and giving them a coat of Vallejo matte acrylic varnish to protect them from UV and fading.

These blocks are intended to be used ‘as is’, with no need for painting or any other finishing or prep by the user. Just rig them straight from the packet. I’ve made the rope holes a little larger than true scale, to make threading easier, and I’m sure there will occasionally be a need to clear the rope hole of varnish residue, though I haven’t found any clogs so far.You can still over-paint or coat them if you wish and the wood effect can be enhanced by polishing with products coatings such as Osmo wax-oil or whatever else you feel like trying out.

I’ve made these available on my Ebay shop in single, double and triple sheave variants; and for now, I’m stocking the four most popular sizes: 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm.

Here are some additional photos… do bear in mind that close-up photography is a cruel master and the blocks look very smooth to the naked eye.

 

[shipahoy]

great looking blocks! how did you get the wood color so realistic? most 3d blocks i have seen are in a grey color and need painting.

 

[AllanKP69]

Five years ago I would have said they should made out of wood. Not today, though. 3D cannon are OK in my book and these blocks look very realistic and as you point out, consistent. Will you be adding more sizes in the future? There are dozens of sizes/types on any given ship, not to mention different scales, thus my question.
Thank you very much for sharing.
Allan

 

[Corsair]

Those look very nice !
Do you ship to the US?

 

[Kevin the Lubber]

Do you ship to the US?

Yes Jeff, I’m happy to ship anywhere and regularly get orders for blocks, cannon sets and Cutty sark bits from the states.

 

[Kevin the Lubber]

Will you be adding more sizes in the future?

Hi Allan, I’m undecided on this. I’ve based the range on what has been selling from the “common blocks” range I’ve marketed since last year and there’s very little demand for anything outside these sizes. Occasionally I sell a few half sizes I.e. 3.5, 4.5. The process to produce these is very labour intensive and a little costly so it only makes sense, in my view, to do large quantities and ‘industrial’ production runs.

Another work strand has been cannon barrels and I might finish this off now that I understand the chemistry and production flow. Dyeing yields a much sharper definition than painting and deals with the plasticky look of unpainted resin.

 

[Kevin the Lubber]

how did you get the wood color so realistic? most 3d blocks i have seen are in a grey color and need painting.

State secret I’m afraid, as I’ve spent a stupid amount of time and money working this out. It’s definitely a lot better than painting, especially with respect to small blocks like 3’s and 4’s, and presently I’ll replace my ‘common block’ range (the square-ish variants) with dyed versions.

 

[Rob444]

Hello all. For a while now I’ve been experimenting with resin printing to make printed objects look less like plastic. One of the directions has been to make rigging blocks that look a little more like wood and these are now available for those that are interested. (For those who haven't used them, the major advantage of resin rigging fittings is consistency: every block and deadeye is identical, there is no variation in the hole sizes, rope grooves or hole pattern. If the design is good, they simply work).

View attachment 536052View attachment 536053View attachment 536054

The variation in colour within the block is created through a dye process and is intrinsic to the block. There are very slight variations between blocks, sizes and batches, which I think adds to the wood illusion. In fact I should say that, to my eye, they bring to mind horse chestnuts and coffee beans, but “faux coffee bean rigging blocks” doesn’t quite cut it! My production process includes ‘de-burring’ i.e. removing the print support pips from the block, and giving them a coat of Vallejo matte acrylic varnish to protect them from UV and fading.

These blocks are intended to be used ‘as is’, with no need for painting or any other finishing or prep by the user. Just rig them straight from the packet. I’ve made the rope holes a little larger than true scale, to make threading easier, and I’m sure there will occasionally be a need to clear the rope hole of varnish residue, though I haven’t found any clogs so far.You can still over-paint or coat them if you wish and the wood effect can be enhanced by polishing with products coatings such as Osmo wax-oil or whatever else you feel like trying out.

I’ve made these available on my Ebay shop in single, double and triple sheave variants; and for now, I’m stocking the four most popular sizes: 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm.

Here are some additional photos… do bear in mind that close-up photography is a cruel master and the blocks look very smooth to the naked eye.

View attachment 536055 View attachment 536056 View attachment 536057 View attachment 536058 View attachment 536059 View attachment 536060

These look wonderful! You may want to consider also producing deadeyes, bullseyes etc!

Rob

 

[Kevin the Lubber]

These look wonderful! You may want to consider also producing deadeyes, bullseyes etc!

Thanks Rob, that's very kind of you, and deadeyes will follow shortly. I'm just taking a little breather, in part to spend some time on the ships I have on the go, which keep getting parked!

I'm not so sure about bullseyes and other specials. I'd like to offer them, but the work time, postage and ebay fees can make the unit costs of very small quantities disproportionately expensive. We'll see, where there's a will there's usually a way.

 

[Kevin the Lubber]

Well, after sleeping on it, as deadeyes are basically good to go I'm just going to crack on with these over the next few days and you'll probably see them listed in another week or sooner. I'm a little excited about these as I have something unusual, in my view, to show you.

I ought to mention pricing, although I'm sure anyone looking at buying is well able to do the math. Once you've added in the ebay buyer fee, the basic cost is £8.20 for a bag of 30 blocks. Postage is free for the UK, with a small £0.80p ($1) postal surcharge for US/international purchases. It gets cheaper if you buy multiple bags. Taking into account local taxes (as best as I can fathom in this very confusing time) the cost per block for a 30 piece bag should be 27p reducing to 21p at 4 bags for the UK and about 36 cents reducing to 28 cents each for the US. I think this is pretty reasonable and comparable to many alternatives.

Edit 09/08: Ebay does not make life easy for sellers, we now need to navigate the most perverse fees and mandatory shipping costs structure, and work backwards from the prices we wanted to charge. I readily admit that I didn't get that right first time round and was uncomfortable with my prices as these were higher than I ever envisaged. Anyway, I've revisited and sorted out a couple of things: all packs contain 30 blocks regardless of size and type. For UK buyers the price is £6.20 for one pack including free postage, equating to 21p per block. This declines to 14p per block if you buy 4 packs. I've needed to change the US shipping surcharge to £1.50 to offset the price reduction, but you'll still be getting blocks at 26p per item, declining to 16p. And if you'd prefer plain blocks, these are now super cheap.

 

[Short John Bronze]

I have bought a packet of 4mm single blocks to check them out. They are a much more convincing shape than the ones supplied with most kits and the colour could well be identified as elm. They would add quite a lot to the cost of, say, HMS Victory if used throughout but might be a reasonable option for a model with fewer strings. I imagine the 3mm version would be ideal for gun tackles where the usual kit blocks are far too chunky and out of scale.
A possible future product in resin might be the caps that link the top of a mast with the next one above (main to topmast, topmast to t'gallant, bowsprit to jib boom) . These are usually plywood and the layers show prominently. Combinations of 4mm, 6mm, 8mm holes might be useful - mast heads could always be adapted to fit one of the holes.

 

[Kevin the Lubber]

Thanks Edmund, that's very useful feedback and I hope you like them. Yes, the cost of aftermarket parts can definitely add up, this is something I'm very conscious of and I'm wide open to suggestions around packaging (i.e. mixes of sizes) that would further reduce the unit cost. The single biggest cost for me is shipping - £2.70 per packet for the UK, £4.10 ($5.45) for the US. As rigging parts are so small and light, the shipping cost is the same for 30 as it is for 1000. For the last year I've offered a 'mixed sizes' option but very few people buy that.

I think 3.0mm would be fine for guns at 1/72 or thereabouts but, as you can see from the photo (1/100 Heller Victory), they'd look a bit clunky if used on smaller scales. A 2.0mm size would probably be okay, but these are too small to be produced as a finished, ready-to-use, product. I might look at a halfway house that still requires a little clean-up by the builder, but I also think these micro sizes are niche territory and very few people are interested in going there.

I'm not clear what you mean about mast caps. Do you mean the part circled in red? Very easy to produce (this is from my cutty sark build) but also very ship and model specific.

 

[Kevin the Lubber]

Edit - I do know which part you're referring to, it's the part highlighted in blue below, yes? Still very straightforward to make but other than a few models I have first hand knowledge of, I'm not sure where I'd even start in terms of generic caps?

 

[Jackinch]

Excellent - they look great, and I have ordered some packs.

 

[GIG1810]

Hey

That looks really great. I needed 17-pounder guns in 1:72 scale. Would that also be possible?

That would be 34 pieces? The blocks look great! Is there also a quantity discount?

Best regards

Günther

 

[Stuart Little]

Well, after sleeping on it, as deadeyes are basically good to go I'm just going to crack on with these over the next few days and you'll probably see them listed in another week or sooner. I'm a little excited about these as I have something unusual, in my view, to show you.

I ought to mention pricing, although I'm sure anyone looking at buying is well able to do the math. Once you've added in the ebay buyer fee, the basic cost is £8.20 for a bag of 30 blocks. Postage is free for the UK, with a small £0.80p ($1) postal surcharge for US/international purchases. It gets cheaper if you buy multiple bags. Taking into account local taxes (as best as I can fathom in this very confusing time) the cost per block for a 30 piece bag should be 27p reducing to 21p at 4 bags for the UK and about 36 cents reducing to 28 cents each for the US. I think this is pretty reasonable and comparable to many alternatives.

Edit 09/08: Ebay does not make life easy for sellers, we now need to navigate the most perverse fees and mandatory shipping costs structure, and work backwards from the prices we wanted to charge. I readily admit that I didn't get that right first time round and was uncomfortable with my prices as these were higher than I ever envisaged. Anyway, I've revisited and sorted out a couple of things: all packs contain 30 blocks regardless of size and type. For UK buyers the price is £6.20 for one pack including free postage, equating to 21p per block. This declines to 14p per block if you buy 4 packs. I've needed to change the US shipping surcharge to £1.50 to offset the price reduction, but you'll still be getting blocks at 26p per item, declining to 16p. And if you'd prefer plain blocks, these are now super cheap.

Kevin, that was a sneaky one of ebay adding a buyer'money back protection fee'. .........................in MHO it's just another scam, as any law abiding honest seller would surely do that if the goods turn out 'bad'? X number of, say 0.20p x 'X000,000' is a lot of £s, €s, & $s.

Stuart

 

[Signet]

Hi Allan, I’m undecided on this. I’ve based the range on what has been selling from the “common blocks” range I’ve marketed since last year and there’s very little demand for anything outside these sizes. Occasionally I sell a few half sizes I.e. 3.5, 4.5. The process to produce these is very labour intensive and a little costly so it only makes sense, in my view, to do large quantities and ‘industrial’ production runs.

Your blocks look great. I'd certainly consider using them. But as they look different than other blocks available, I'd need to be able to get all of the sizes available from one source. Even for my Carrack model (simple compared to larger ships like the Victory) I used 2.5, 3, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10mm blocks. And yours would look different than other blocks available (walnut, pear, boxwood). Comparing double 4mm blocks, yours are about 30%-50% higher in price, but considering the look and quality, I think that would still work. I agree that your suggested range covers the great majority of blocks used, but unless other sizes need can match, I'm not sure you'll get many "complete ship set" orders. From me, at least.

 

[MisterCA]

The blocks look great! They’re clean, sharp, and very realistic. I generally build models that aren’t cheap but not really expensive either. The woods aren’t that great, the rigging line is somewhat fuzzy, the parts and pieces are rough at best. I’d love to use those blocks but I feel it would be like putting lip stick on a pig. In the end it’s still a pig.

 

[Kevin the Lubber]

Many thanks for the comments and orders!

Is there also a quantity discount?

Gunther, I'll message you about the guns (yes), and discounting is already in place on the blocks. But see also my response to Signet, below

ebay adding a buyer'money back protection fee'.

Stuart, I don't want to disrespect Ebay too much, when all's said and done they have been and remain a pretty good enabler. But they are doing some odd things lately. Recently they introduced the buyer protection fee instead of seller fees. Just about everyone, me included, hates that and adjusts their prices downwards to suit. And yes, lots of 20p's add up, there's no dodging that, but that's hobbies for you, isn't it! I try not to even think about what I actually spend on mine!

Even for my Carrack model (simple compared to larger ships like the Victory) I used 2.5, 3, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10mm blocks.

Signet, that's beautiful work on the carrack, likewise your other models. As I said in my earlier reply to Allan, economies of scale are a factor but I do take your point and will think about expanding the range, perhaps holding a fairly small stock of these other sizes. But in any case I can make up complete sets, bespoke sizes, larger quantities (cheaper) on request, if people want to message me.

I’d love to use those blocks but I feel it would be like putting lip stick on a pig.

Nearly missed this one - MisterCA, I bet you are doing yourself a great injustice. Besides which, have you ever seen a pig wearing lipstick? It might change your view of pigs .

BW
Kevin

 

[Stuart Little]

Many thanks for the comments and orders!


Gunther, I'll message you about the guns (yes), and discounting is already in place on the blocks. But see also my response to Signet, below

Stuart, I don't want to disrespect Ebay too much, when all's said and done they have been and remain a pretty good enabler. But they are doing some odd things lately. Recently they introduced the buyer protection fee instead of seller fees. Just about everyone, me included, hates that and adjusts their prices downwards to suit. And yes, lots of 20p's add up, there's no dodging that, but that's hobbies for you, isn't it! I try not to even think about what I actually spend on mine!

Signet, that's beautiful work on the carrack, likewise your other models. As I said in my earlier reply to Allan, economies of scale are a factor but I do take your point and will think about expanding the range, perhaps holding a fairly small stock of these other sizes. But in any case I can make up complete sets, bespoke sizes, larger quantities (cheaper) on request, if people want to message me.

BW
Kevin

Hi Kevin, yes, ebay have us modellers more or less by the 'short & curlies' (putting it politely!). You do make very good items. I, too, have spent £XXXXXXXXXXXXX on my hobbies, not to mention earlier years beach casting, mainly for non-existing fish!). Even buying the 'most' expensive kits, one still finds some rubbish parts & out of scale ones that require replacements from guys like you.
Keep up the good work, 'matey'.
Stuart