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[funnel]

Can anyone tell me the likely size of rope which was used for rat lines for such a ship as the Milford Star or other like cargo vessel. I am just at the stage of making some for the fore mast and what I had thought looks using looks thick and heavy rather than fine and discreet. If I can know the full- size I can scale down more suitably for the model.


Toby

[Howard]

When I was at sea I never heard the term rat line we had rat guards that fitted around the mooring lines made of metal about  600mm to 1000 in dia. wasn't the rats but the 0ne foot grass hopper things that scared me.
                   Regards Howard

[funnel]

Ha ha Howard.




I recall in a TV series entitled Warship, there was an occasion that revolving metal discs were in place on the mooring ropes presumably to prevent rats coming from shore to ship.


Of course what I am referring to is the climbing nets either side of a mast which sailors would climb to get t[size=78%]o the sails on as sailing ship and for whatever reason on other powered vessels. [/size]


Toby

[malcolmfrary]

Referring to a copy of a handbook of sailing terms "Ratline, one of a series of rope steps up the shrouds of a mast, 15 to 16 inches apart, by which men working aloft in square rigged ships reach the yards via the tops and crosstrees.  Ratlines are normally made of 18-thread tarred rope with an eye in each end seized to the outermost shrouds, being secured to each intermediate shroud by a clove hitch". 
In the drawing, the step (rat) lines looked to be about 1/3 the width of the shrouds.  Scaling roughly from the drawing, the ratlines were pictured about 15mm apart, the with drawn was 0.5mm, so from the stated spacing of 15", about 1/2" thick.

[warspite]

OK, based on the 1:180 scale airfix HMS Victory, they use 0.6 mm thread for the lines, though there was 2 reels and I am sure one is thinner than the other, in the instructions it states to run several threads twisted together from the deck to the first platform of the following mast, and from the same platform up to the lattice before the top yard (if you put a search into google for downloadable instructions for the Airfix HMS victory you can get a copy of it to look at on line in PDF).

[funnel]

Thank you Malcolm and Warsprite!


So 1/2" will equate to 0.25mm as the model is 1:48 scale. 


I will download the Airfix document in a few moments.


Thanks


Toby

[Howard]

OPPS, Toby sorry,
         I was with BP Tanker Company not a jack tar.
                  Regards Howard.

[JimG]

Just checked the Anatomy of the ship book on HMS Victory. The ratlines were given as 1.5 inch rope, this is circumference not diameter so a simple calculation gives just under 1/2 inch diameter. Smaller ships could go down to 1 inch rope for the upper masts.
Jim

[funnel]

Jim,


Thank you for the helpful information. I am glad I am not climbing up such ratlines.


1/2" then seems to be the consensus and so at 1/48 out will be 0.25mm


Toby

[warspite]

You could ask dlancast
He did his ships to a very high standard and may know what the usual is.

[warspite]

From the new book - yep 1.5" main and fore, mizzen is 1", and eee bee gee bees, what a complicated set up it looks, dont think I will go to that extreme, but would be impressive if I could do it.