Model Ship Rigging Glossary: Shrouds, Ratlines, Stays & More

Rigging has a language of its own, and half the confusion for beginners is simply the terms. Here are the words you'll meet on every plan, defined plainly.

Standing rigging (holds the masts)

• Shrouds — the ropes that run from the mast down to the sides of the ship, stopping the mast from swaying sideways. Usually the thickest lines on the hull.
• Stays — ropes running fore-and-aft, holding the mast from leaning forward or back. The forestay runs forward, the backstay aft.
• Ratlines — the horizontal "rungs" tied across the shrouds, forming rope ladders the crew climbed. The detail line most people recognise as "rigging."
• Deadeyes — round wooden discs the shrouds pass through, used to tension the rigging.
• Chain plates / channels — where the shrouds attach to the hull.

Running rigging (moves the yards and sails)

• Yards — the horizontal spars the square sails hang from.
• Braces — ropes that swing the yards around.
• Halyards — ropes that hoist the yards and sails.
• Sheets — ropes that control the lower corner of a sail.
• Lifts — ropes that support the ends of the yards.
• Buntlines / clewlines — finer lines that gather the sail to the yard.

Rope itself

• Lay — the direction and twist of the strands. Laid rope shows a visible spiral; that's what you're reproducing when you make your own.
• Cable / anchor cable — the heavy rope running from the anchor up through the hull. The thickest line on the ship.
• Scale rope — rope made to a model's scale, so a 1:72 shroud reads correctly next to a 1:72 hull.

Why the words matter

When a plan says "shroud, 2 mm," it means the thick line from mast to channel — not the ratline, not the stay. Getting the families right is the first step; making each one at a consistent thickness is the second. That's exactly what the RopeMaster 4000 is for — see how to make scale rope to begin.

New to all of it? Start at Model Ship Rigging for Beginners.