Sail material

[Ecv]

Hello All,
Wanting to dive in model ship building, a few months back I bought a per-owned unassembled Bluenose kit. Being this is my first build, progress is going quite well and enjoyable with satisfying results, to this point. I have been dwelling on making sails and find this the most difficult part of ship building. First big issue was to, and still is, learning new sewing skills, second is the material for the sails, since there wasn't any included. So .... I would most appreciate the experience of the members here with advice to the types of sail material used with their pros and cons. And of course any sewing tips will also be most welcomed. Many thanks in advance

 

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

If this were and old ship, I would recommend and off-white material of your choice (there are so many). Cream or light tan in color. I'm not to sure of the color of sails on Bluenose, being a modern sailing vessel. The best cloth seems to be navara fine lawn white found in England (click link in the name). Click HERE to see the results on a model.

 

[Uwek]

Hello All,
Wanting to dive in model ship building, a few months back I bought a per-owned unassembled Bluenose kit. Being this is my first build, progress is going quite well and enjoyable with satisfying results, to this point. I have been dwelling on making sails and find this the most difficult part of ship building. First big issue was to, and still is, learning new sewing skills, second is the material for the sails, since there wasn't any included. So .... I would most appreciate the experience of the members here with advice to the types of sail material used with their pros and cons. And of course any sewing tips will also be most welcomed. Many thanks in advance

Hallo @Ecv
we wish you all the BEST and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY

 

[Ecv]

Thank you

 

[Uwek]

BTW: The material Kurt mentioned with his links is also in my opinion the best available material

 

[Ecv]

Is this material widely used by modeler's? Can material be sourced elsewhere other than England? What is your opinion regarding other materials such as muslin, silkspan, linen, or cotton blends?

 

[danielsje]

You can find acceptable sail material from several sources…fabric stores or on line sources of model ship building parts come to mind. The on line web sites sell sail cloth that comes close to scale for making suitable model sails. The problem with choosing cloth for model ship sails is most fabric selections are out of scale…the weave is out of scale thus the drape of the sail is out of scale. The partial solution is to find as light and fine weave of fabric from the selections you have at hand. Getting cloth to fit the scale needed is our collective struggle…anyway…know what you need to look for. Hope this helps a bit…

 

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

Is this material widely used by modeler's? Can material be sourced elsewhere other than England? What is your opinion regarding other materials such as muslin, silkspan, linen, or cotton blends?

I went looking on the web for Navara white lawn fabric outside that one source in UK, but didn't fond anything. I ordered a yard from UK and am going to compare it to the stretch satin used on the last ship model.

 

[Jimsky]

Does anyone consider Percale fabric for the sails? I know this is a far most popular material for sailmaking among the Russian community modelers. It comes in various colors and qualities.

Percale - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

Does anyone consider Percale fabric for the sails? I know this is a far most popular material for sailmaking among the Russian community modelers. It comes in various colors and qualities.

Percale - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Nice, but is is thin though? You want it to have lots of sharped micro-sized wrinkles and folds to simulate a sail at scale. Where do you buy it from? I may want to purchase a sample.

 

[Jimsky]

indeed...this material is very soft and the quality comes in 'thread count' like sleeping sheets. the more 'thread count' the better quality with fewer wrinkles. For example, 400 thread counts are a high grade.
You can find samples in any fabric store, they can even have some leftovers, and they can sell them to you at a good discount. They have white or beige colors suitable for sailmaking.

 

[Ecv]

What is Percale made of, cotton, blend, polyester blend. What thread count has been successful for you?

 

[Jimsky]

it is 100 % cotton! In Russia, the grade of fabrics is graded differently. I would say a 400 thread count would be equivalent to an 'extra' grade in Russia.

 

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

Sounds like really nice fabric.

 

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

Hello friends! I bought a yard of Navara lawn white from the UK, and it came in the mail much faster than I expected. This fabric is a very fine, thin, cotton weave which is a little stretchable in the diagonal direction of the weave. It's about 35% transparent, so outlines of objects can be seen when it is backlit. I only bought one meter, and hope that's enough to do one model.

Backlit


Specifications




Close up photos.

 

[Richie]

Hello friends! I bought a yard of Navara lawn white from the UK, and it came in the mail much faster than I expected. This fabric is a very fine, thin, cotton weave which is a little stretchable in the diagonal direction of the weave. It's about 35% transparent, so outlines of objects can be seen when it is backlit. I only bought one meter, and hope that's enough to do one model.

Backlit
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Specifications
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Close up photos.
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Watching this with much interest.

I recently brought these 2 samples from local Australian fabric shop(Spotlight)
Your one looks somewhat similar to the white one I have and I also brought the second cream one as a bit of a test which has wrinkles perhaps to simulate wind, although the weave is not as fine.

After watching Paul's work on sails not sure how far down this rabbit hole I should go.

 

[dockattner]

Hello friends! I bought a yard of Navara lawn white from the UK, and it came in the mail much faster than I expected. This fabric is a very fine, thin, cotton weave which is a little stretchable in the diagonal direction of the weave. It's about 35% transparent, so outlines of objects can be seen when it is backlit. I only bought one meter, and hope that's enough to do one model.

Backlit
View attachment 318178

Specifications
View attachment 318179

View attachment 318180

Close up photos.
View attachment 318181

View attachment 318182

View attachment 318183

I have extra if you run short Kurt. I'd be happy to share (goes for everyone).

 

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

I have extra if you run short Kurt. I'd be happy to share (goes for everyone).

I'm hoping a full yard will be enough for the Sovereign, and I should if I am careful and make efficient usage of it. If it turns out I'm a little short, I may beg a scrap from you for that LAST sail. Thanks, Paul!

 

[bill36]

Does anyone consider Percale fabric for the sails? I know this is a far most popular material for sailmaking among the Russian community modelers. It comes in various colors and qualities.

Percale - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1. Percale is usually heavy as hell!