One sail has reef points. How in the world am I going to get them to lie down straight?
USS Constitution from Scientific Models
- Thread starter Vfordyce
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Kurt Konrath
Kurt Konrath
Try soaking in laundry starch and stretching them down and holding with weight under cardstock to soak up excess starch. Work one row at a time starting from top, sliding paper down as you straighten them out.
Sounds like a lot of time. And last time I looked for laundry starch, no joy. I may do something similar, though. Maybe wax paper and white glue? I’ll have to do some experimenting, Kurt. Thanks for the idea.
I painted them with a water and white glue mixture. I hope they stay this way. 
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The sails are already a cream color. And I think the reefs will be dark enough. Is that what you were referring to, Bill?
I think Gary wants the ship to look new.
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That is understandable. He's doing a great job of a somewhat mediocre kit. I love what he is doing!
Bill
Gary is the one who bought the kit at the Constitution Museum in 1984 as a gift for his father-in-law. They never opened the box, and his father-in-law passed away about four years ago. Gary was going to give it to me, but I asked him if he had a place to put it in his house. He said yes so I told him I’d build it for him. He helped put glue water on the sails, and he’s putting on reefers for one sail. That’s probably the extent of what he can do to help. But it was fun to have him pitch in and see what a challenge it is to build a model ship. He’ll have much more appreciation for his model now.
Well, Kurt, I actually took your advice,sort of. I went to the store with my wife (heaven forbid) and found some spray on starch on the top shelf. That’s probably why she never saw it. Anyway, I sprayed the whole sail and pulled the reef points down straight. After the sail had a chance to dry a bit, I ironed the sail. Not only did it help with the reef points, but it also took some of th pucker out of the sail. Here’s a picture of one without the starch and the other with.
Good afternoon Vic. Ahh those little s@&ts…remember them well
. Kurts idea of the starch worked out well. On my Xebec I used PVA and water, dipped my fingers in and drew down on each line. Worked really well, however yours are tiny so the starch is the way to go. Looking good. Cheers Grant
Kurt Konrath
Kurt Konrath
I don't know which was the worst pain, sewing them in or getting them to lay down straight.
Almost as bad as ratlines!
Reef points are done! They look a lot like the runes in Tolkien’s The Hobbit. 
Oh, great! Now that I’ve finished sewing all my reefs, I ran across a video from Wooden Ship Modeling for Dummies showing how to put on reefs without sewing. That probably would have saved me days. He precuts them to the same length and then attaches them with ca.
Hello. Maybe I missed it but what fabric did you use for the sails? I plan on doing this for mine also.
I just picked up some cream colored fabric at Hobby Lobby. It’s probably too thick for the scale, but it’s hard to tell when it’s on the ship. Others have used paper used for model airplanes.
I like your solution better. In my hands CA just leaves a stain on the fabric.
I won’t be posting any more progress for a few weeks. I’m visiting my daughter. At least I get to see my Soleil Royal again for a while. She really is impressive. 