Rigging DE Sails

I'm sure some of you have seen this gorgeous model from the Crystal Brush competition at Adepticon. The rest of the absolutely fantastic painting and modeling aside, I was really drawn to the rigging. I did a little digging on period model ships, and all of the tutorials/information there is incredibly detailed and made for making paintstakingly accurate historical ships - and less so about connecting two pieces with rope in a fashion that's pleasing to look at.

I was curious if anyone here had any thought or ideas on how to begin going about something like this. I've found scale model rigging rope (I assume any kind will do, as we're not trying to achieve historical accuracy here). The real question is - how do you achieve the mounting rings around important ship parts? Perhaps a strip of greenstuff wrapped in a donut, then with a jewelry ring-and-wire mount pressed into it? I feel like most of these can be achieved with jewelry-making bits, but I was curious to see what others thought.

There are more pictures of this lovely model available on the Crystal Brush/Adepticons site. I'm too lazy to find it now but a googling will bring it up fairly quick.

*edit* I overcame my laziness http://crystalbrush.coolminiornot.com/cbartwork/index/id/886

My jimmies...... Rustled.

I think the main thing is that it has to make sense, viscerally. So, my thought would be, go ahead and read some of that stuff about historical rigging, then sit down and play around with some different configurations. You'll need to experiment, so maybe magnets or clip-on earrings for temporary moorings as you try things out?

Think about the logic of the rigging. These are some things that come to mind as possibilities

1) Backup method for piloting the craft in case of mechanical failure
2) Reinforcing the visual threat of the craft (used for hanging additional trophies on that Tantalus, as an example)
3) Helping passengers back aboard during a tactical redeployment

That looks fantastic.

I think I'd probably go with a small opening that the rope disappears into rather than trying to wrap it around winches and the like. I think it might look better at scale as well as being more future-y.

Well, that looks like an absolute delight to transport...

Don't worry, my jimmies didn't remain unrustled either.

honethedroll wrote:

I think the main thing is that it has to make sense, viscerally. So, my thought would be, go ahead and read some of that stuff about historical rigging, then sit down and play around with some different configurations. You'll need to experiment, so maybe magnets or clip-on earrings for temporary moorings as you try things out?

Think about the logic of the rigging. These are some things that come to mind as possibilities

1) Backup method for piloting the craft in case of mechanical failure
2) Reinforcing the visual threat of the craft (used for hanging additional trophies on that Tantalus, as an example)
3) Helping passengers back aboard during a tactical redeployment

I think you're right Honethedroll, although it's difficult because in relation to an actual sailing craft, DE skiffs are really quite different, aside from the general appearance. Many sailing ships have lots of rigging which connects the masts - while DE skiffs have only one sail, and no real mast to speak of. That being said, I think you bring up some good points, and with a combination of them you'll end up with a ship that looks 'properly' rigged (that is, it doesn't look as though you randomly strung some wires up).

Here's a picture of a galley with rigging similar to the Tantalus, as well as a style that's applicable to DE skiffs in general:

Galley Rigging:

It looks like rigging from the top of the sails and the highest points down and backwards, and then maybe one or two from a more 'midpoint' part on the sail straight down to the deck or railing. That's about all you can do for 'functional' rigging. After that, I'd say throw a few splitters in, hang some trophies, and do one or two lines from the boarding area (where the ramp is) to the rail that guides the sail. I think that would cover most of the bases. I'll have to do some experimenting.

Calyptra wrote:

That would certainly be a helluva lot easier than trying to make something that looks like tiny winches or anchor points. It would also definitely look a lot more futuristic, as opposed to a period ship that happens to fly and murder people.

Love it! Barbary Corsair galleys are going to be a good source for references. They were probably what inspired the Dark Eldar aethersails to begin with. They were the most successful pirates in history and were known for taking slaves. XD

Searching for 'Barbary Corsair galley', 'lateen sail', and 'xebec' will give you tons of great references.

Barbary pirates, drat them, always taking folk here on holiday to Morroco and not sending them back...

(I stay well away from the sea, thank you.)

Im afraid I beg to differ, when I see a DE vessel I see a junk rig; very different. (And hi tech, and yes, some junks do have the sheets running though holes into the interior, so the skipper can sail from his bunk.)

A junk has no standing rigging (stuff to hold mast up.) it simply has a rope to pull the sail up and down, and sheets to control it. (which run from each batten)

Well, the horizontal battens in a junk rig make them look more fin like, which is somewhat like our aethersails, but junk sails are also really rectangular. I'd say ours are more of a cross between a lateen sail and a bat wing, but I see where you're coming from. XD

Some junk sails are rectangular but not all; an Aethersail shape would not be beyond the realms of possibilities