Rattlesnake Instr. Manual - Nature Coast Hobby Shop

STAGE H
STANDING RIGGING
Keep your lines handy, sorted by sizes,
and have them all nicely beeswaxed before
you start. For seizings, you can use
cotton, silk, or nylon sewing thread. This
should also be beeswaxed. Keep your
white glue and super glue handy for
dabbing to seizing if necessary, to hold
them in place.
FIG. 61 - Furled Sails
Full size material possible using
"silkspan" but check bulk first
Full
sail
If same material
Cut to about
this size for
furling
1. Shrouds
Begin the standing rigging with the
lower shrouds. The lower deadeyes have
steel rod chain plates. These are made of
brass wire provided in the kit (see figure
62). If you can't work with all this fine
wire, substitute a simple wire strop as
shown in the sketch.
The rigging plan shows the proper sequence
for installing the shrouds. To set
up the shrouds, make a temporary jig of
brass wire to space the deadeyes as you
do the seizing (see figure 63). Make the
wire jig slightly longer than the final
spacing of deadeyes. When you reeve
the lanyards, they will stretch and tighten
the shrouds to the proper final spacing.
You may need to make a test shroud
first to see how much it stretches. This
figure also shows the sequence for reeving
the lanyards. When looking outboard
at any deadeye, you should always
start with a knot at the upper left
hand deadeye hole. Consequently, port
side deadeyes have the knot aft and forward
on the starboard side. Keep an eye
on the masts as you rig shrouds, so you
will not pull them out of line.
Instead of chain plates, the topmasts have
futtock shrouds (see figure 64). Notice
that the topgallant shrouds have no deadeyes
at all. The shrouds go through the
crosstrees, around a futtock stave, and all
the way down to the lower top. There,
they are seized into some thimbles attached
to the lower deadeyes.
After the shrouds are in place, add the
ratlines (see figure 65 for several optional
methods). Make sure you beeswax the
ratlines well before they are installed. The
wax will help hold the ratlines into a
slight downward curve. If the ratlines
tend to bow upward, tug them gently
into position. You may need to add a little
super glue on the line to "freeze" them.
Ratlines are difficult to do if you tie the
clove hitches. Try to hold a group of
shrouds between your fingers so that as
you tie the knots, you will not alter the
spacing between shrouds.
SQUARE SAIL
FIG. 62 -Chain Plates
FIG. 63 - Spacing The Deadeyes With A Wire Jig
FIG. 64 - Topmast Futtock Shrouds
Hook
1
Pull
tight
Futtock
shroud
(rope)
2
Seize
Crimp around
deadeye
Bend, then solder or
touch with glue
Correct shapes
Model option: Omit hook
(Real
ship)
Twisted
wire jig to
hold deadeyes
at correct
spacing
Wire
(Model
option)
Futtock
shroud
Fill with
solder or glue
Start here
with knot
Wrap
around
stave, seize
to shroud
STAYSAIL
Twist
Model option
Tie around
shroud &
seize
Lanyard
LOOKING
OUTBOARD
Wood
stave to
lower
shrouds
37