Ropes of Scale Ropes of Scale developments and updates

Ptèr said:
Love these ropes. I think it's all about demand and supply, however I would choose the "absolute dark" over black. It's almost like tarred hemp rope and gives a authentic look to it. Perhaps if you're building Nelsons navy ships, then black would be the best fit.
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Napoleonic era ships would most definitely would have been using Pine tar = Dark Brown

Of course you should choose what would be more accurate for the period but there is artistic license and people should use what they like. The black rope has about a quarter the sales as Dark Brown does. That doesn't mean it's not relevant. Standing rigging with Coal tar on it is really black, after aging it gets a bit grey. Coal tar was considered a medicine up until the mid-1800s it also wasn't mass-produced until the industrial revolution. Anything rigged before that had to be Pine tar/Stockholm tar. From what I've seen Pine tar has a broad range of brown shades based on the number of applications and aging.

Someday I will get around to adding more shades of brown to my collection.
 
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Hello everyone,

I've added light beige to my polyester collection. For those who like a hemp rope that has been sea sprayed and sun bleached. Sizes range from .25m (0.011") to 1.8mm (0.070").

Cable laid rope will look really good in this color. I'll try and get around to making them in the coming weeks.

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Hello Everyone,

Polyester dark brown cable-laid rope is now available. They range from 1.1mm (0.043") to 3.8mm (0.149") in Diameter.

Cables in black and light beige should become available next month. I'm just waiting on more thread to arrive.

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Greetings everyone,

I've been asked a few times about dealing with the shine on my Polyester rope. My answer every time is that they use diluted matt varnish after rigging. Why after you might wonder? After using varnish the glue will no longer seep into the rope and stay at the surface making weaker knots and seizings. I've done some testing and was surprised to find that thin CA and even diluted PVA will permeate into the core of this rope.

As you see below the untreated sample is on the left and the varnished sample is on the right. From left to right we have Black, Dark Brown, Tan, and Light Beige. Vallejo Matt Acrylic Varnish was used and two coats were applied. One coat was enough as the second didn't make a noticeable change. The dilution was 1/2 water and 1/2 varnish. It was very easy and quick to apply.

This picture was taken under bright desk lamps. Direct lighting really brings out the shine.

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The picture below was taken with natural light coming through a window.

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The Dark Brown has the most change compared to the rest. Not only was the shine removed but it made it darker and more like the standing rigging I've seen on ships that use traditional Stockholm Tar.

Another bonus for using Acrylic Varnish is that it will give some UV protection. This is especially important for people placing their models close to a window.

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Wow, the matt varnish really makes a huge improvement on the looks. Great update Ben and thanks for sharing. Now I need to order some Matt Acrylic Varnish of Valejo. How do you apply it? With a brush?
 
Wonderful stuff BenD. Waiting on the two ropes I ordered on the 23/5 to arrive. After reading this post I'm very much looking forward to receiving them. Love the Light Beige colour. Incidently, our roads are ashphalt/Tar. When first laid they are Black/Black as they age they become Dark Grey. In summer the mid day sun melts the ashphalt and the roads return to a very Blackish colour until they cool off and revert back to Dark Grey or Grey. Not sure why there is so much debate on the colour of tarred ropes because to me they would suffer the same colour cycle as our ashphalt roads but also have the salt environment to deal with, not forgetting UV damage. - Keep up the good work, all the best to you and success in your business... cheers.
 
Ptèr said:
Wow, the matt varnish really makes a huge improvement on the looks. Great update Ben and thanks for sharing. Now I need to order some Matt Acrylic Varnish of Valejo. How do you apply it? With a brush?
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I used a #4 pointed brush for these samples.

ConsNZ said:
Wonderful stuff BenD. Waiting on the two ropes I ordered on the 23/5 to arrive. After reading this post I'm very much looking forward to receiving them. Love the Light Beige colour. Incidently, our roads are ashphalt/Tar. When first laid they are Black/Black as they age they become Dark Grey. In summer the mid day sun melts the ashphalt and the roads return to a very Blackish colour until they cool off and revert back to Dark Grey or Grey. Not sure why there is so much debate on the colour of tarred ropes because to me they would suffer the same colour cycle as our ashphalt roads but also have the salt environment to deal with, not forgetting UV damage. - Keep up the good work, all the best to you and success in your business... cheers.
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I bet the tar would go through color changes in the heat. I know that pine tar can drip off rigging in the tropic heat. I'm not sure about coal tar getting drippy but I do know it goes grey like asphalt with age.
 
Hello Everyone,

Price Reduction!

About a month ago I finished a new ropewalk, It has increased my production speed considerably. The headstock's top speed is 12000 rpm... It sounds like a jet taking off but it sure does the job fast. Because of this, I've repriced my whole product line. It's not a huge reduction, The fact that all my threads have gone up in price and I was able to reduce prices is great. The polyester rope received the largest price reduction (roughly 20%) since the Gutermann-E thread price wasn't increased by much.

In other news, work has begun on adding some new polyester colors in the future. I'm planning on adding a darker tan/light brown color for running rigging and also looking for a new standing rigging color. I'll post some pictures when the time comes. Hopefully, I can release them in the fall.

Thanks for looking in.

Link to my site below
 
The ropes and cables of Ben are of exceptional high quality. I'm rigging a cannon for the Xebec Cazador with a 1.1mm / 0.043 inches cable and 0.5mm / 0.019 inches polyester rope I ordered from Ben at ropesofscale.
It's great news he offers a price reduction so hopefully everybody can enjoy these wonderful ropes on their ship!

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Nice, I can remember after leaving the Army in '85 I worked at a place called WALL ROPE, where I personally made 3" rope, both S and Z twists with different types of materials. We did one thing to mark our ropes by adding a tracer strand to them. This subject brings back a lot of good memories.
I will have to purchase some.
 
dbharmon64 said:
Nice, I can remember after leaving the Army in '85 I worked at a place called WALL ROPE, where I personally made 3" rope, both S and Z twists with different types of materials. We did one thing to mark our ropes by adding a tracer strand to them. This subject brings back a lot of good memories.
I will have to purchase some.
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I would love to work a few shifts at a real ropery. I bet I would even learn a thing or two!

Did you take any pictures of the place?
 
I have two ships that I was repairing for customer the needed rope to match
I sent sample of the rope and he match the color and made the rope that I needed
the quality of the material is verry good
 
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