Ladders, Railings, & Chairs

Continuing on with the details - and an abundance there are aboard the Orca. I decided that there were a few details that would be easier to create with piano wire than plastic. I started with the ladder and after cutting the wire to length I began soldering. To solder the wire together I use a small torch to heat the wire then apply the solder to the joint. This process takes alot of practice to do correctly and SAFELY. Always be aware of how hot the parts get while you are working on something like this. Adding flux paste to the joint prior to heating it will help the solder to flow around the joint evenly.

The frame for the deck chair.

The railing that holds the barrels.

Railing attached to the boat.

On the actual boat there where areas of the railings that were covered in rope. Just wrapping these areas in thread would not accurately represent rope in miniature so I had to make "rope". I started by taking three lengths of thread and secured them in a vise. The other end of the threads I locked into the chuck of my cordless drill. Then using a slow setting on the drill I twisted the threads together to create the "rope". If I then removed the rope at this point it would just unravel so I had to keep it together. I then took white glue and covered the rope with it and let it dry. When it still felt tacky I took the rope out of the vise and drill and wrapped it around the railing. With the glue still tacky it helped keep the rope stuck to the wire.