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What do you use as a sealer for rigging thread?

Wow, lots of information and thanks to all. I'll just use the thread that came with my OcCre kit and I purchased the Masters Touch all purpose acrylic sealer from Hobby lobby. Just want to use a readymade sealer and not get into the advanced chemical mixing or special ropes/lines that you advanced modelers use.
For an experiment, I coated the various threads that came with the kit with the Masters Touch sealer and also with CA. The CA treated lines did crystalize and snapped with a tug. The Acrylic sealer held with a good amount of tugging. I'll go with that to seal the fraying along the long riggings and not any CA.
What I did learn from you all, was to keep any sealant away from blocks, knots, dead eyes and belay pins in case I need to loosen and tighten/loose those lines during construction and to make those areas more adjustable.
Thanks to all me mateys!
 
Greg Davis said:
View attachment 589610


How long is the shelf life / is it worth buying in larger quantities?
Click to expand...
As a solid it comes in pellets which should have an extremely long shelf life. It is quite simple to make your own at various concentrations. You can mix it with acetone or alcohol. A one pound bag would probably be good for a lifetime of use.


Rob
 
Forgive me if I am being over simple and possibly ignorant but, I have been quite happy to use PVA both neat and diluted on many, many models without any problem. If I make a mistake or need to remove something a good soaking in just plain water softens PVA quite enough to separate parts and residue is easy enough to scrape off if necessary when dry again. I have used diluted PVA with water a few times on rigging lines with no problems at all. I am just amazed at how a simple question at the beginning of this post has become so involved and 'technical'. Just my thoughts and not meant to cause any offence.
 
Mike Dowling said:
Forgive me if I am being over simple and possibly ignorant but, I have been quite happy to use PVA both neat and diluted on many, many models without any problem. If I make a mistake or need to remove something a good soaking in just plain water softens PVA quite enough to separate parts and residue is easy enough to scrape off if necessary when dry again. I have used diluted PVA with water a few times on rigging lines with no problems at all. I am just amazed at how a simple question at the beginning of this post has become so involved and 'technical'. Just my thoughts and not meant to cause any offence.
Click to expand...
You have a point. I find it interesting to see what new ideas are out there that I had never thought about. Bob Cleek introduced me to the use of B-72 and I think it may be a new alternative for many areas of usage (I just need the time to try it more). It is nice to see there are usually more than one solution to a problem.

Rob
 
To keep ropes in their 'natural' shape, or secure knots, I use Lineco Neutral pH Adhesive, diluted with water.
IMG_0275.png
2 or 3 thin layers will dry transparent, without a glossy surface. Let it dry in the shape you wanted:
Before:
IMG_0281.jpeg
After:
IMG_0276.jpeg
Use the ‘search option’ of the forum with ‘Lineco’ and you will find lots of positive posts with the use of this PVA.
Regards, Peter
 
Last edited:
Peter Voogt said:
To keep ropes in their 'natural' shape, or secure knots, I use Lineco Neutral pH Adhesive, diluted with water.
View attachment 589658
2 or 3 thin layers will dry transparent, without a glossy surface. Let it dry in the shape you wanted:
Before:
View attachment 589668
After:
View attachment 589659
Use the ‘search option’ of the forum with ‘Lineco’ and you will find lots of positive posts with the use of this PVA.
Regards, Peter
Click to expand...
The line looks totally natural.
 
Greg Davis said:
How long is the shelf life / is it worth buying in larger quantities?
Click to expand...

Read the link I posted which should answer most all of your questions: https://ia800108.us.archive.org/vie...0.1179.zip&file=10.1179%2Fsic.1986.31.1.7.pdf

Shelf life is infinite. If the acetone or alcohol solvent evaporates, I suppose you can grind up the material and dissolve it again in solvent. It's rated at 100+ archival quality. Like anything else, if bought in larger quantities, I suppose there's a savings in packaging, but I can't imagine a ship modeler having any reason to buy five gallons of mixed B-72!

The major advantage of B-72 to ship modelers is that it can be prepared in varying consistencies. I really don't think it's much different than shellac as a thin sealer or for fixing knots and thread ends, although its greater strength and flexibility over shellac when used as an adhesive is definitely an advantage. I have never heard of an adhesive for ship modeling which presents the advantages B-72 appears to hold over other alternatives.

I don't see any reason under the sun that anyone other than a very large industrial user with specific mixing parameters would have any interest in purchasing B-72 dissolved in solvent. The greatest advantage of B-72 for ship modeling is that the user can mix it in different consistencies for different purposes. If you buy it pre-mixed, you're defeating that purpose. A pound of B-72 pellets and a gallon of acetone and/or alcohol (ethanol) is all you need to have on hand to cover your needs for years and years to come.
 
Winter said:
For securing knots, natural shellac is the best solution in my opinion. It dissolves in isopropyl alcohol, dries quickly, and is reversible.
Click to expand...

I agree completely, although I prefer to use ethanol (plain alcohol) as the solvent.

The attraction of B-72 is that it can be mixed in varying consistencies and used not only as a sealer, but also as an adhesive. Shellac has the same qualities, but shellac when dried is hard and brittle and thus not as strong as B-72 when dried, which retains a bit of flexibility when dry and does not shatter like thick dried shellac will.
 
ViperR said:
Hey all,
Once I get a section of rigging done, I like to put some sort of sealer to keep the fibers of the various thicknesses of thread from fraying and to seal the knots. As an experiment, I used CA, but all it did was soak into the fibers, crystalized and weakened the thread and it just snapped/broke. I was thinking about using a water-based all purpose sealer. Saw "Masters Touch" at my Hobby Lobby. Fairly expensive at $7.49 for an 8-ounce bottle. Would that be safe? What do you guys use? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Not really necessary if before you install any rigging thread you run it
through wax (about 6 pull throughs)…the best is cross country ski wax.
 
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