Rigging HMS Victory: A Scale-Rope Plan

HMS Victory is the build most modellers dream about and most quietly fear — the rigging alone runs to hundreds of separate lines. The secret isn't skill, it's a plan. Break the rope work into batches and make each batch consistently. Here's the rope plan we use.

Count the line types first

Before you wind a thing, list the line families your kit or plan calls for:

Standing rigging — shrouds, stays, backstays. These hold the masts and take the thickest rope.
Running rigging — braces, halyards, sheets, lifts. These move the yards and sails.
Detail lines — ratlines (the rope ladders up the shrouds), treble blocks, and eyebolts.

Each family needs its own rope thickness. Don't try to rig the whole ship with one size.

Make in bands, not one length at a time

This is where a rope-making machine earns its keep. Instead of twisting each piece by hand as you go, batch the work:

Thick band — anchor cable and main shrouds. Make all of it first; it's the skeleton.
Mid band — upper shrouds, stays, lifts.
Fine band — running rigging.
Detail band — ratlines and the thinnest detail lines, last.

Because every length from the machine matches the last, your shrouds on the port side will look like your shrouds on the starboard side. That symmetry is what reads as "real" to the eye.

A sample thickness map (1:72)

Shrouds / main stays: ~2 mm
Upper shrouds / lifts: ~1.2 mm
Running rigging: ~1 mm
Ratlines: ~0.4 mm

Adjust for your scale using our scale-rope thickness guide.

Store cut lengths on a card

As you make each band, cut the lengths your plan calls for, pin them to a labelled card, and keep them. They hold their shape, and you're not re-measuring mid-build. When the hull is ready, the rigging is already made — you just fit it.

Don't rush the ratlines

Ratlines are where rigging looks right or wrong. Make the fine band consistently, space them evenly with a simple jig, and the shrouds will read instantly as rigging rather than a ladder. Start with the core method in how to make scale rope, then come back to this plan.

Victory is a big build. Treat the rope as four batches, make each consistently, and it stops being frightening.