Machine-Made vs Bought Rigging Cord — Which Looks Better?

Walk into any model shop and you'll find rigging cord by the metre — cotton, polyester, sometimes pre-stretched. So why make your own? Because bought cord and machine-made rope are not the same thing, and on a finished hull the difference is visible.

Bought cord is flat

Most commercial rigging cord is round when new but flattens under tension and handling, and it's spun for uniformity of *diameter*, not for the look of rope. Under a magnifier it reads as a smooth cylinder, not twisted line. For a quick build it's fine. For a show piece, it looks like string.

Machine-made rope is rope

The RopeMaster 4000 twists ordinary thread into actual laid rope — you can see the twist, the way light catches the crowns, the way it lays against a deadeye. That's what the eye expects from rigging. It also lets you choose the exact thickness for your scale, which bought cord rarely offers in useful steps.

Consistency is the real win

A full ship's rig needs dozens of identical lengths. Hand-twisting each gives you a dozen slightly different ropes. Bought cord is consistent but flat. Machine-made rope is both: consistent *and* properly laid. Make your shrouds as one batch and they match port to starboard — that symmetry is what sells the model.

When bought cord is the right call

Be honest about it: for hidden or internal lines, for a first quick build, or where a perfectly round smooth line is what the plan shows, bought cord saves time. Use it where it doesn't show. Use machine-made rope where it does — shrouds, stays, anchor cable, and any line a judge's eye will land on.

Cost

A metre of decent rigging cord costs a few euros. The DIY kit (€179) or pre-assembled kit (€239) pays for itself the first time you'd otherwise have bought three sizes of cord and still not matched them. And you keep making rope long after the build is done.

Bottom line: bought cord is convenient; machine-made rope looks right. For the lines that show, make your own — start with how to make scale rope.