Fairwell to a Good Friend

My good friend, mentor, and shipmate Rory McCreadie lost his long fight with cancer yesterday afternoon. He went in his Lady Jane's arms as he wanted.

Rory had been working hard over the last several months to finish all of the ships at Trafalgar in 1/2400 scale for a game that was scheduled for October 21, Trafalgar Day and his birthday. He told me he had realized he would be in too much pain to play but hoped to watch his ships in play. A few days ago Jane sent me pictures of his last 3 ships almost done. He was too weak to type so he asked her to e-mail me.

Yesterday evening Jane let me know he was gone and asked if I would spread the word among the wargaming community. Along with a few others, I have done so where I could excepting TMP where I can't.

I don't know if many were aware that Rory was a barber-surgeon and traveled around the UK doing historical demonstrations at schools, faires and reenactments. He also authored a book on the subject.

Rory had the biggest heart of anyone I know and was generous to a fault. When I was just getting started building ships he pointed out (gently) that I was getting the rigging wrong. He didn't know me yet and still paid for and sent me Rod Langton's Rigging Guide book! Over the past six years he continued to gift me, not only with books he thought I would like including his own, but also with his knowledge and experience. He authored building and rigging guides for 1/1200 ships and allowed me to post them on this site. They still have the highest number of views out of all the posts on my blog. 

Rory McCready, you were a prince among men, you had a generous soul, but most of all you were my friend. You are sorely missed!

IV-Rory’s Guide to rigging 1-1200 Scale ships Part 4

Here is another installment from my good friend Rory McCreadie.

Rory’s Guide to rigging 1-1200 Scale ships Part 4

Extra Bits

Rigging Rings, Launching Ship-Boats, Man the yard-arms

& Landing-Parties

Sometimes you have no room to drill a hole in the hull for rigging. This guide will help you overcome this little bump in the road. In this case it’s the fore- mast stay’s. 

I bought a very fine chain from a Dolls-Houses shop. I think most model shops will sell fine chains (pick the smallest you can work with)

I cut the second link of the chain to free the first link. You will lose half the links by doing this, but it is the only way.

Using a cocktail-stick put some glue at the point you would have drilled a hole on the out-side of the hull if you had room.

Using the tweezers hold the top of the ring. Lay the bottom half of the ring on glue on the hull.

Let it dry then do the other side.

Undercoat the ship. I spray mine white.

I check that the rings work and are free with a pin. Do not forget to check the drilled holes in the hull too.

I have also mucked up Drilling holes. By them braking open at the top (to near the top of the bulwarks) and have repaired them by using the rings.

From this point, follow the guide for painting.

And rigging.

The rings may look big in the photo’s. But once painted and rigged they blend into the model and do not stand out. Also they are 1-1200 scale ships!

 Launch a ships boat

From the waist of a ship

You can add bits to the ships to make them look different, which can be nice to look at and help identify ships in a fleet game.

You will need the jig you used for the flag mounting (see part 3). Cut an angle at one end of the jig.

Take the light coloured thread you used for the running rigging. Tie and glue one end to the top third of the thick back-stay between the fore and main masts.

Make a long loop with the thread

Tie and glue the second end around the lower third of the back stay

Cut away the two ends which are tied/glued to the back stays

Lay the ship on the angled end of the jig and loop the thread around the far nail (If it is too long tie a knot in it so it fits the jig)

Lay a painted ship’s boat on its side with it facing away or outward from the ship. Have the ship’s boat about half way down the ship’s side on the thread and glue.

Cut a shorter (not too short) thread and glue it across the underside of the boat’s keel. I do between the ship and the ship’s boat (or the inside).

Tie and glue the stern end to the front of the mainmast rat-lines as low as you can.

 Then tie and glue the bow end to the front edge of the foremast rat-lines.

Cut the ends of the two end bits on the rat-lines.

Take the ship off the jig and cut the loop

Add glue to the sides of the ships boat and roll the thread around the sides of the ships boat. I did not photo this part sorry! Hold the ships boat down with a cocktail-stick and pull the thread up so the thread lies on the glue coated sides of the ship’s boat. Wait a minute or two for it to dry. Do the bow or stern one at a time. The ship’s boat should now be up-right.  

Tie and glue the stern line of the ship’s boat to the end of the main course yard arm. Tie and glue the bow line to the end of the fore course yard arm.

Cut the ends of the two threads at the ends of the yard arms.

I found that the ship’s boat is too light to hang right. I coat the lines with glue to straighten them. This makes the ship’s boat look heavy.

I did all this before doing the running rigging. It looks better on an “At Anchor” or “Top sail and Jib” sail setting.

Man the Yard arms

Land the troops

The idea came from years ago. I saw a game at a show in the 70’s in London. It had a game using hair-roller armies. They played 5mm size game. I did not understand scales at the time; to me they were just tiny. I’m a hairdresser. I was making a “At anchor” 1-1200 scale ship and I went a to hairdresser’s wholesaler. I saw the rolls and bought a pack.

David Manley showed me an article by Andy Callan after I made the first manned yard-arms model. It was about the armies I saw years ago. I’m using this article for my landing-parties, but I must make them smaller than 5mm scale in the article to work with the 1-1200 scale ships.

I cut open the hair-roller

I look at the roller as two parts. The open weave middle and the closed weaved ends. I will use closed weaved bits for my landing-parties.

I cut a line from the roller and a block for the landing-parties. I will come back to the landing-parties.

I cut the strip in half long-ways. I use the top thin spikes.

I added glue to the yard-arms and laid the top half of the roller strips against the back-side of the yard-arm.

Once dry I cut off the extra and repeat on the rest of the mast.

The finished masts do not look great. It is the painting that makes them look right. I spray the masts white.

After painting the sails and the yard arms, not the masts, I painted the crew. Each spike and below them I paint a white thin line. As the crew walk behind the yard-arm I only did the back half. The body I painted blue, this time all around the spike. I know it sounds wrong but I made all of the sailors bald with flesh paint. To paint hair at this scale does not work as well.

After painting and rigging. It looks like this. 

In some games you need landing-parties. This can become very hard and expensive. As they would only be used once or twice a year, at the most. It would be best to spend the money on ships. Going back to the roller, again. Cut a block from the closed weaved ends, as long as you like and glue onto a base. As the roller is curved you must hold it down as the glue sets. See above photos. I use a British 2 penny coin (1inch or 25mm across) as a base for all my small stuff, ship boats, gun batteries and now landing-parties. I add “Green Stuff” around and between the lines. This makes them look a bit dome like, but makes them look smaller.

I sprayed them green. I will do different colours for different bases for different parts of my shore-line, town and harbour, in time.

With the spikes and a little of the bases lines showing, you get the same size as on the yard-arms.

 Paint all the spikes and a line upwards on the base bar (To match the spikes) white. Pick out one or two spikes and paint the spike blue for the officers coats. The white line under the blue, becomes the (white) legs. Add flesh on the top of the spikes. Put a tiny bit of black on the officers heads for hats, to finish. This gives you a group of sailors with officers, as a landing-party. I did not add dark or blue coats to the sailors. You will see why in a minute. 

Most landing-parties have Marines in them. For Continental Marines I painted the whole block as I did for the officers in the sailor’s blocks, blue. For British Marines I painted the top half red then flesh, then black. On the photo below you can see Continental Marines on the left and British on the right. This also means you can have enemy troops ashore to fight your landing-parties. You can pick a Napoleonic army to paint up, as a defense against your landings.

Langton’s make shore batteries and I’m working on cavalry. So far they are coming along nicely. But not ready to show yet.

 I Flocked only around the edges as to do the middle would drown the tiny troops. I think they work with the 1-1200 scale on the board

I hope this guide, with the first 3 parts helps you with your games and modelling, in part or fully. Rod Langton of “Langton Miniatures” has seen and O.K.ed this guide. His book “A Guide to: Assembly, Painting & Rigging of Napoleonic Naval Models in Scale 1:1200” is a must have and is my bible in this small world. Vol is my over the pond friend. A man I wish lived closer to me in body. Have Fun and remember your mistakes are just “Miss takes” which can be redone or painted over. Vol, on his blog “A Miniatures hobby Room” or me at devsdoc@hotmail.com will always try and help you out.

Be safe

Rory

At home in Christchurch, Dorset, England.  2014

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.