Kurigan's Rigging Tutorial

[kurigan]

Explanation

 

I have, for years, observed builders who struggle with rigging, while others meet with limited success or don’t try at all. I myself suffered repeated failures before scraping together enough information to develop this technique. The guiding principal is to emulate the real thing as to take advantage of the thousands of years of convention on sailing rather than “reinventing the wheel”. For many the “just make it look good” attitude works well but I have found the prevailing reason for this attitude was a belief that string rigging would be too costly and time consuming. Whereas I won’t lie to you and let you think it doesn’t require patience, I do intend to dispel those myths. It can be, not only affordable, but down right cheap. Once you grasp the concept you may also find that it really is just a series of repeated steps which can be done rather quickly once you’ve figured out your knots and jigs.

Expectations

This will be less of a tutorial and more of a guide. The goal is not to lead you through the process of copying one rig in particular but to give you the tools and techniques you can use to build your own to suit your needs. The hull(s) you’ll see in this treatise are unconventional constructions and not required to apply these lessons. This essay is not about hull building and will not cover the subject except to illustrate specific needs such as stability. So long as YOUR design can withstand the pressure the rigging will apply to it, it will work for you.

Where this author does, wholeheartedly, ascribe to the belief that there is only one “right way” to do a thing, it is not contradictory to consider the subtle nuances of that method as particular to the user. Because of this I leave a lot open to your interpretation, like materials. I’ll tell you what I use, and why, but substitutions are up to you all on an individual basis. Necessity is the mother of invention and that’s exactly how I came up with many of the tools and materials I use. Simply, they are what I had available.

The primary subject of this series will be a topsail schooner of the Baltimore Clipper variety. The actual sail plan is my own design, heavily inspired by contemporary replica Pride of Baltimore II and others. This rig was chosen for both its simplicity as well as it inclusion of multiple types of sails, useful to builders like you.

Through this process you will not only learn to apply rigging to Lego, but garner something of a basic education on rigging in general.

Needs

Materials

String, and lots of it: I use embroidery thread available from any arts and craft or hobby store. Many other types of retailer carry it as well, such as Walmart. I find it useful as it is not only ridiculously cheap, but comes in several gauges and myriad colors. For our purposes on this build I’ll be using two different gauges of black to simulate tarred rope in the standing rigging and beige to mimic the color of hemp rope in the running rig.

Fabric for sails: More later

Glue: While I insist tying knots is essential to the process I do often ensure their stability with a dab of glue as one of the weaknesses of the thread I use is a tendency to slip. The glue is also useful for wicking the ends of your string so it can be easily passed through narrow openings or just stop it from fraying between uses.

Tools

-Scissors

-Tweezers

-Forceps

-Hobby knife

-Probe/pick set

-A clean and well-lit work space

-Plenty of light

-Plenty of patience

-1/8” dowel: Not necessary but may make your life a lot easier. More on that later

-A hull which meets the parameters mentioned in the forward.

-Bricks and Plates: pieces set aside to construct jigs around which many of your knots will be tied.

What you need to know

Useful Knots

(bends, seizing and splices)

 

Vocabulary

This list will grow with time as the tutorial develops and even more terms will be worked in to the lessons as we go, but here’s a few to get you started.

 

Bend- aboard ship, never a knot. Knots are accidental, bends are intentional

Fast- not a reference to speed but short for fastened as in tied securely. Half-fast not half a… well you get it. It means poorly executed.

Belay- Temporally secured but not knotted

Cord- what lubbers call rope.

Rigging-The rigging or “rig” of a ship is essentially the drive system of the vessel. It harnesses the wind to create a differential in atmospheric pressure which compels the hull through the water. Rigging is made of three major systems; the rigid, semi-rigid and soft. The rigid comprises all the members made of wood, metal and other hard materials which you’ll be simulating with Lego. These include, masts, spars, blocks, ring bolts and many other such elements. The semi-rigid is the standing rigging. Made of initially flexible rope, these members are placed under constant tension and provide additional support to the rigid portions. Because they are not intended to move or change they are often tarred and served with additional cord, which increases the rigidity and adds to their strength. The soft members are the likes of control lines such as halyards, tacks and sheets. Lacings between blocks, and the sails themselves also comprise the soft portion. The relationship of these elements in the machine that is a ship is interdependent and it has been the observation of this author that no one will work (well) without the others.

Block-and-tackle-The term block and tackle refers to a number of devices which increase mechanical advantage and are comprised of both rigid and flexible elements such as a pulley. The rigid portion is the “block” of either the eye or pulley variety. The tackle is the lacing, a rope run through the block to create the action. Eyes are used primarily to increase friction in order to hold elements of rigging fast but can also serve to change the direction of a running line. Pulleys reduce friction and increase lifting/pulling power. Most commonly used in running rigging to lift heavy elements or control sails against the power of the wind.

 

If you have any comments, questions or concerns about the tutorial, please take them over to the Discussion Thread. Thank you.

 

[kurigan]

Chains are often over looked in Lego ship modeling yet are an integral part of a ships rig, being what anchors it all down to the hull. Even the masts are only set in place and can lift out without the standing rig. As they sound by their name a ship’s chains are a short series of metal links which fasten through the hull to the chain plate. The chain plate is essentially a large washer made of a large solid sheet of metal which distributes the force exerted on the chain and keeps them from pulling out. The upper end of the chain is connected to the futtock shroud which holds the lower dead eye for the shrouds. To increase the angle of the shroud, making the structure more stable, the chain will pass over the edge of or though, near the edge of a platform which extends from the side of the ship. This is called the channel.

Since it’s more an aspect of hull building, were only going to touch on chain plates and channels as constructions. What I’ve come to prefer is building 4073s into the hull as to take advantage of the gap they create. Using this I can pass a string through to act as a chain. On

Nonesuch I used 4265c as stoppers on the end of the string, passed through completely. On Blanid I’ll be using a “lark’s head” or “cow hitch” around the 4073 it’s self for each chain.

For my channel I’ve built in a 2436 on which a 1 X 6 brick will serve as the platform its self. I’ll then use the outward facing studs as spacers to keep the futtock shrouds/chains from clumping together and cover the end with a tile.

Let’s get started!

We’re going to figure out how long a piece of string we need for our chain.

First I’ll pull off a length of string longer than I know I’ll need.

Then I fasten it around a 4037 with a cow hitch.

Next I build the 4037 into the hull where it will anchor.

I pull the excess taught and draw it up over the channel. I pull it taught so as to not pull the channel platform out of position and pin it in place with the tile over the outward facing studs.

Holding the two leads taught I slip the 4624 dead eye in between and set it near the height I like. For this one just above the rail is about right.

I then pinch the lead below the block with my forceps to hold the block up.

Next i use a pair of 1 X 2 plates to pinch the string off atop the dead eye block.

I can make fine adjustments now to the height, but I like where this one sits already.

I’ll then take the whole configuration off keeping only the pair of plates in place.

I measure to the nearest stud the length I’ve chosen. I can even use half studs if I employ stud jumpers. This time I got lucky and picked almost exactly 9 studs.

I use this measurement to build a jig around which I can tie the loops which will become my chains and futtock shrouds. It’s pretty easy to repeat this jig in Lego as to make a bunch of loops in a hurry, but go ahead and check your measurements first. What I’ve done is to take a scrap bit of string and tie and overhand knot around the loop and used to pinch the block in place much like the seizing will do in the next step. It looks good so I’ll move on.

The next step is to add a seizing which will pinch the string together and hold the dead eye block in place. This is one of those things that will only look the part. The proper way of seizing a dead eye in place would be maddening at this scale and not be very likely to work very well. For this example I’ve used a light color string which is easier to make out on camera. On the finished product these will be black.

How I go about it is to tie a whipping around the loop using a jig like this.

After I’ve finished the seizing I cut off the excess string. I place the block into the end without a knot in it and slide the whipping up to pinch the block in place.

Now it’s ready to install. By much the same process as before I cow hitch the knotted end around the 4037 built into the hull, pull the whole loop up taught and again pinch it in place with the tile over the studs.

I’m pleased with the end result so I’ll continue on making 11 more.

 

Notes: on the real thing, what we’ve made from one piece of string is actually multiple parts. The chain it’s self is at least two links. The rope portion which wraps around the block is called a futtock shroud and is clearly a separate member as well. If you want to get fancy on your model and represent all the different elements, go ahead and know you have my respect for it. I’ve illustrated this simpler method as to be more universal. Any bits of extra detail you can include on your MOC will likely only put more feathers in your cap.

 

If you have any comments, questions or concerns about the tutorial, please take them over to the Discussion Thread. Thank you.