Ship Railings

[lrjanzen]

I have tried to do my "do diligence" and search both the forum and Google for methods on how to make railings for ships. Are pre-made etched the best? Hand made? If hand made is there a link on how to do it. I found one method buried in the instructions for "Monitor SMS Rhine/Mosel. Are there any others/ What does everyone do?

Thanks

 

[eibwarrior]

Most of my builds are 1/300 or smaller... So photoetch brass works best for me. If I worked in larger scales I'd have to consider scratch-building.

If you work with brass enough you'll find it easy to paint and attach using gel super glues...

 

[jleslie48]

the only success I've had is following this procedure:

http://home.comcast.net/~carapace2/ThreadAssemblies.htm


I made my formers out of corrugated, and used cotton thread that I painted with watered down elmers glue, many coats.

 

[lrjanzen]

Thanks. I've noticed that there is are a number of etched rails sets for 200 scale. is the scale differance significant for the large number of 250 scale ships?

Thanks jleslie48 The jig looks interesting.

 

[cygielski]

If scratch building, it's possible to make a jig out of threaded rods (metric M6 screws have 1mm pitch, for instance). To do this, bend a length of threaded rod (should be available at most hardware stores) into a rectangle, then wrap your railing wire around the jig at set distances and glue it with CA.

BTW, this idea isn't mine - it comes courtesy of the Kartonwork.pl forum, where I picked it up. Unfortunately, after a system crash some time ago, the pictures are gone, so you'll just have to imagine what I'm talking about.

 

[Bernhard]

... I've noticed that there is are a number of etched rails sets for 200 scale. is the scale differance significant for the large number of 250 scale ships? ...

At least to my eyes the difference is striking. I wouldn't put 1:200 railings on a 1:250 ship. Generic photoetch railing is available this side of the Atlantic ocean for example at "Lighthouse Model Art". Go to their website and search for "Saemann 1:250". (No financial gain for me; I'm just a satisfied customer.)
Furthermore some kits in 1:250 scale from "HMV" and "Passat Verlag" have their own dedicated photoetch sets as an option. These sets are pricey but maybe worth the extra dollars.

 

[eibwarrior]

I agree... Big difference between 1/200 and 1/250. Same for 1/300 and 1/350. They just can't pass for one-another.

The etched brass rails larger than 1/300 look too thin for the scale. They lack depth.