IIIb-Rory McCreadie’s step by step guide to painting and rigging 1:1200 Scale Napoleonic Ships - Part III (continued)

Sorry it has taken a few weeks to get to this, Here is the last half of Rory's Guide Part 3 - Running Rigging.
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Now, for the top bit of the main mast. This is not so hard as what has been done before.
Add glue to the end of the main topsail yardarm. Knot and pull.

Cross over and go around the mizzen mast. At the top of the top ratlines, do not go through the ratline like I did.

The wrong way

The right way

Go to the opposite side main topgallant yardarm. The next one up from the one you started with. Add glue to the arm, pull and loop around the arm.

Go to the top of the mast. Add glue to the mast, pull and loop around the mast.

Go to the opposite side of the topgallant yardarm. Add glue to the arm, pull and loop around the arm.

Go back to the mizzen mast. At the same place as before, go round the mizzen mast on the opposite side you have just done.

Go to the opposite main topsail yardarm. Add glue to the end of the arm, pull and loop around the arm. NOTE: You must pass through the best way you can round the standing and running rigging you have done before.

Go up behind the topgallant sail and around the front of the mast.

Go down behind the opposite side of the topgallant sail.

You should be back at the point you started this from. Add glue to the arm, pull and loop around the arm. That is the main mast done.

So, there is one more mast to do. The space to work in is the smallest, but you know now what's what.

So we are coming to the end of this “thread”. I have two problems, the space between the mizzen and the main mast and the rigging you have already done. You must weave the thread through the rigging as best you can. Do a bit at a time and see how it lays. I find I must pull the thread out and go a different way a number of times. By this time you will be better at handling the thread, so it is not so hard as you think. And remember that British ships are different from other nations. As this is a Russian ship that is the way I'm going, but I will talk about the British ships later.

Knot thread to mizzen topsail yardarm pull and add glue.

Go forward to the opposite side main mast between the mast and ratline at the fighting top and then go under the maintop sail.

Go around the main mast and back under the standing rigging and maintop again. This time go on the outside of the rat line to the crossjack. Add glue to the arm, pull, loop thread around arm.

Go up behind the mizzen topsail and around the mizzen mast and down the opposite side. Add glue to the crossjack, pull and loop around the arm.

Go forward to the main mast, going on opposite side and the outside of the ratlines go under the maintop sail and standing rigging again. Go under the maintop and back between the mast and rat line. Go up to the mizzen topsail yardarm. Add glue to the arm, pull and loop around arm.

Go up behind the mizzen topgallant, around the front of the mizzen mast.

Going behind the topgallant again then back to where we started this run. Add glue to the arm, pull and loop around arm.

Knot, pull and glue to the mizzen topgallant yardarm.

Go to the main mast opposite side and under the main topgallant sail and the top and standing rigging.

Back to the opposite mizzen topgallant yardarm. Add glue to arm, pull and loop around arm.

Go to the top of the mast. Add glue to the top of the mast and loop around. TIP: If the standing rigging is loose wrap the thread around it too, to tighten it.

Going back to the start of this run, add glue to the arm, pull and loop around arm.

Cut away extra thread and the main part is done.

So, this is the rigged ship.

As said before the British are different. I have no British ships to rig. I will try to tell you how!
The British rigged the mizzen mast back to the top arm of the spanker. I rigged the Russian ships mizzen mast in two runs. Two arms: one arm the crossjack and the mizzen topsail, and one arm the mizzen topgallant.

For the British, only do the crossjack like the Russian one, to the main mast. For the next two arms, topsail and topgallant do as for the Russian ship but go the end of the spanker top yardarm instead. Start at the topgallant; go to the spanker and glue. From the spanker, go to the topsail yardarm and glue (the one below). Go up behind the sail, around and down the opposite side, glue etc. and back to the spanker and glue. Go to the opposite topgallant yardarm, glue etc. Go to the top of the mast and glue. And back to the start of the run and glue.

I Added glue all around the ship’s bottom and glued it to the base. I have added paint to the sails to cover the thread at the bottom of the course and jib sails.

I made a jig for flag rigging. A piece of flat wood and two nails. It is long enough to do two flags.

I tied running rigging thread to the jig with a single loop knot at each nail.

Cut out the flag, which I downloaded from this site. fold it in half and lay it through the thread.

Use paper glue and stick it down.

When dry, undo the knots and take off the jig.

I added a spot of super glue to the top spanker arm. Making sure the flag is in the right way (to the bow) and as high as you can. Loop the thread around the arm about 2 times.

Wait a minute or two. Add glue to the bottom arm of the spanker. Pull and loop around the arm two times.

When dry, cut off the extra thread. I then re-paint the yardarm ends over the rigging, and around the tops where the rigging shows and looks wrong. (The running rigging more so).

The last bit is to remove the shiny bits left by the glue and not painted over: The thread around the bow and bow sprit, top and bottom of the rat-lines, and around the joint of the hull and the base. Paint over these places with a Matt varnish.

So we have gone from this.

To this.

She now sails off to join the rest of my Russian Fleet.

If you have been with me from the start of this guide, you will know I started with one ship and finished with a second one. So to finish off this guide I have added here the finished first ship.

My wish is this guide will give you the push, to have a go yourself.

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This ends Rory's guide to painting and rigging 1/1200 ships. In the future from time to time I will post more of Rory's tips and, with his permission, some of his work.