Reference · How-tos · Ropework

Laying a coiled tackle line on deck with the tweezers method

Wind the surplus tackle line round the bottom of a pair of tweezers on a piece of masking tape and fix it with diluted PVA glue, so the coil lies on deck neither too neat nor too messy.

The result: a coiled 0.3 mm tackle line with a hole in the middle and some height in the pile, next to the block with hook.
The result: a coiled 0.3 mm tackle line with a hole in the middle and some height in the pile, next to the block with hook.

What you need

Tools

  • masking tape
  • tweezers
  • small brush
  • toothpick

materials and suppliers

  • tackle line 0.3 mm (modellbau-takelgarn.de)
  • diluted PVA glue

Dimensions

  • rope 0.3 mm
Time
an hour
Difficulty
moderate
When in the build
Phase 8,
From the log post
Coiling rope on the deck · forum

Before you start

The gun tackles are rove and hooked on; the surplus line still hangs loose. First decide how you want the coil to look on deck, because the method determines the picture.

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  1. First look at the two extremes. A flat spiral looks too neat; the ropes certainly did not lie like that in those days. A loosely dropped heap looks messy instead. The tweezers method gives a middle way: a coil with a hole in the middle and some height.

    The flat spiral: too neat.
    The flat spiral: too neat.
    The loosely laid rope: too messy.
    The loosely laid rope: too messy.

    Tip from pietsan: Roll the small coils for the gun tackles on a piece of tape sticky side up, coat them with PVA diluted half and half with water, take them off the tape after a few minutes and glue them on the deck with a drop of PVA (modelbouwforum, 'Vaardigheden, tips en weetjes', 3 January 2020). On his own site he added that on English warships the falls of these tackles were usually coiled neatly (pietsan.nl, 'vaardigheden 4', copy of 2019). (pietsan)

    Watch out: They are only details, but you will look at them every day. Try a few variants before finishing all the guns.

  2. Cut a piece of masking tape and stick the end of the tackle line onto it. The tape keeps the start of the coil in place while you wind.

  3. Stand the tweezers upright on the tape and wind the rope round and round the bottom of the tweezers. That gives a hole in the middle and brings some height into the pile, as if the rope had really been coiled down.

  4. Leave the tweezers standing upright between the turns and fix the rope with a brush of diluted PVA glue. Be sparing, so the glue does not darken the rope.

  5. Carefully pull the tweezers upwards while holding the rope down with a toothpick, otherwise the coil comes with them. Let the coil dry, take it off the tape and lay it next to the block on deck.

Result

For 0.3 mm rope it really does look very good; Hans Groenenberg also thought the rope itself was superb. The rope comes from modellbau-takelgarn.de, as Stephan had already suspected.

Problems met with this technique

2020-03-08

The coiled rope on the deck is too neat as a spiral, and too messy in earlier attempts. Own method with masking tape, tweezers and diluted PVA. Pietsan rolls such coils on tape sticky side up, coats them with half-diluted PVA and then glues them on the deck (modelbouwforum, 'Vaardigheden, tips en weetjes', 3 January 2020, forum post); on his own site he notes that on English warships the falls of the gun tackles were usually coiled neatly (pietsan.nl, 'vaardigheden 4'). That puts our dislike of the flat spiral in perspective. (Tips from pietsan) to the register

In the same series: Ropework

  1. Securing a small block with a seizing of silk thread
  2. Laying a coiled tackle line on deck with the tweezers method
  3. A messenger with turned rollers, eye splices and a lanyard

All how-tos · Ropework and knots: breeching ropes, gun tackles and coiled falls