Can anyone recommend... rope?

[gerryj199]

Hi everyone,
I'm wondering if anyone can help with a recommendation on some appropriately scaled rope for a figure that I'm working on.

I'm working on a 120mm mounted NA Plains Indian and I've been trying to find some sort of rope that I can use for the reins. If I can't find anything I'll use wire, but I'd prefer to have something more organic and flexible.

Can anyone recommend or suggest a solution that would be in the appropriate scale?
Many thanks,
Gerry

 

[yellowcat]

Hi Gerry,

Early this year I was looking for some rope to be used for the reins for my two Verlinden 120mm mounted Samurai. Only one of the the kit came with a small piece of string which was useless. I have checked every kind/type of string, rope, twine that are avaliable.
Here are the strings /rope which are suitable and in scale for the horse reins. The top one is from the kit, the second cotton kite string, third hemp bead cord, fourth silver plated craft wire, last one my twisted copper wire. To stiffen the kite string and bead cord I soak them in dilute white glue mix with water. I use Weldbond white glue. Let it dry and check on the stiffness. You may need to soak it a few times to get the right stiffness to be used as reins. The kite string was from Daiso, the hemp cord and silver wire from Michael's.

Cheers,

Felix

 

[Alex]

I second that. twist some copper or stainless steel wire.. will never decay

 

[yellowcat]

I second that. twist some copper or stainless steel wire.. will never decay

The kite string and hemp cord is soaked in dilute white glue to make it more stiff. It will never decay and I think it looks more natural. The silver wire is good too.

 

[billyturnip]

Have a look for model ship rope, for example,
https://www.maritime-models.co.uk/acatalog/model-ship-rigging-thread.html

That's obviously a UK shop but you should be able to find something similar in the US.
Roger.

 

[Mirofsoft]

https://www.google.com/search?q=rop...g&ei=ILPxXuDJHOqBi-gP2YCOqAE&bih=543&biw=1154

 

[gerryj199]

Wow! What a great community this is!
Thank you Felix and the others, these are incredibly helpful suggestions.
Best
Gerry

 

[theBaron]

Have a look for model ship rope, for example,
https://www.maritime-models.co.uk/acatalog/model-ship-rigging-thread.html

That's obviously a UK shop but you should be able to find something similar in the US.
Roger.

You beat me to it, Roger! But natural for a sailor to think of that

My mind went back to the Revell ship models I build as a kid. They all came with spools of thread to do the rigging-usually a couple different thicknesses of tan or light brown, for untarred hemp, and black for the tarred lines. If you don't mind using used product, you might find some now on eBay, or among any modelers in the area.

Prost!
Brad

 

[billyturnip]

You beat me to it, Roger! But natural for a sailor to think of that

And the funny thing is I don't build ship models, all that rigging, no thanks.

 

[gerryj199]

Just ordered up some hemp rigging. I have some of the Alexandros naval figures and I can use it for those as well. (When I eventually get around to painting them!)
Thanks again
Gerry

 

[Nap]

Wow! What a great community this is!
Thank you Felix and the others, these are incredibly helpful suggestions.
Best
Gerry

Great response to Gerry's question ....didn't realise there was so much choice !

Happy benchtime to all

Nap

 

[MCPWilk]

The secret with model ship rope is firstly not to go over scale, secondly to soak the rope in water the unstiffen it and get it to hang naturally and finally to coat it in dilute PVA glue to hold the 'sag' of the rope in place. Good luck,

Mike

 

[Ferris]

Excellent info everyone. This is what forums are about!