I have a model ship that is nearly complete. I am ready to start on
the rigging. A spool of thick thread and a frame is provided. Once the
rigging is on the frame, the instructions indicate that I should cut
it to shape. This will make the whole thing fall apart, however, so I
assume I am supposed to glue the threads together or something like
that. Tried with the regular model glue but that looks horrible - the
drops were too big. Any tips about how I should do this properly?

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Clarification of Question by kwedge-ga on 20 Nov 2005 04:01 PST

I see I wasn't quite clear enough in my description. The vessel is an
old sailing vessels and when I say rigging I mean those things the
sailors climb up to get up in the masts. I don't really know what they
are called. The frame I am referring to is a plastic one that one uses
to set the threads in the correct configuration. I have tried to
illustrate this with som ASCII art below. In the end, the instructions
indicate that I should cut out the finished shape. Before this,
however, I must do something to keep the threads together. I tried
model glue but this just made a mess. I am wondering now if I
shouldn't try laquer.

   MMMMMMMMM
<         |                 >
  >---++-------<
<        | | |               >
  >---+++------<
<        |  | |            >
  >---+-++-----<
<        |   |  |            >
   >--+--++-----<
<       |     |  |           >
   WWWWWWWWWW

Hello kwedge-ga,
I'm a ship modeler myself, though in the plastic kind of modeling. I
assume you're doing a wooden sailing ship rigging? Well, maybe I could
give a wild suggestion. Does the frame you mention hold the rigging
apart from the ship? Maybe you could try rigging on the ship itself.
On a plastic ship, say a battleship, I'd use candle-stretched plastic
sprue as rigging thread. If I have cloth thread, I'd use superglue to
hold the thread down.

Try asking around a ship modeling forum. Let me just share with you a
couple of sites I frequent for my ship modeling needs. Try the Model
Warships website:

http://www.modelwarships.com

Or Steel Navy:

http://www.steelnavy.com

I see I wasn't quite clear enough in my description. The vessel is an
old sailing vessels and when I say rigging I mean those things the
sailors climb up to get up in the masts. I don't really know what they
are called. The frame I am referring to is a plastic one that one uses
to set the threads in the correct configuration. I have tried to
illustrate this with som ASCII art below. In the end, the instructions
indicate that I should cut out the finished shape. Before this,
however, I must do something to keep the threads together. I tried
model glue but this just made a mess. I am wondering now if I
shouldn't try laquer.

   MMMMMMMMM
<         |                 >
  >---++-------<
<        | | |               >
  >---+++------<
<        |  | |            >
  >---+-++-----<
<        |   |  |            >
   >--+--++-----<
<       |     |  |           >
   WWWWWWWWWW

Kwedge,
That does indeed help.  You are talking about shrouds and ratlines. 
The shrouds are the "standing rigging" from the bulkheads to the mast
heads, and from the "tops" there (the platforms around heads) to the
heads of the "topmasts", and so on.  The ratlines are the horizontal
lines that allow the sailors to climb up the shrouds.  ("Standing
rigging" supports the masts, "Running rigging" is all the lines used
to set the sails and yardarms:  sheets, halyards and braces.)

So you have a frame to attach the shrouds to, probably a spacing
arrangement for the lower ends and them all coming together at the
other side.  In principle, the ratlines should be finer thread.
I like Techtor's suggestion of using superglue.  I wouldn't worry
about trying to dot it on.  I would draw the inch or two of ratline
thread through the glue (over the tip of the tube) and apply it to the
shrouds stretched on the form.
Don't cut the "ratline" in little bits first.  Apply the glue and
stick it, and then cut off the ends.
I hope your instructions tell you what to do with the upper ends of
the shrouds that all come together, probably more glue.

Then you should have an elongated triangle with a hopefully equally
spaced and parallel set of ratlines  - parallel to the shortest side
of the triangle).  Maybe a couple of touches of superglue to any loose
crossings.
Probably you will have instructions for each mast.

I think the whole project will make more sense and be more interesting
if you gain a little understanding of the rigging.
This site could be a start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_ship

No doubt, there are much better ones, also related to model building.

Good luck, Myoarin

Hello Kwedge-ga,
Thanks for making that clear. I'd also like to clarify that the
suggestion I offered is a Comment and not an answer yet, so you will
not be charged for it until I post it as an answer. And though I'm a
plastic ship modeler, I can visualize your situation. The modeling
glue to hold the threads down could be messy, I agree. Perhaps you
could try some tape, ordinary masking tape or modeling masking tape
(like Tamiya) that you could remove with a tweezer later on. The
Tamiya tape is very popular for paint masking, but I believe it has
enough tack to hold threads down. Another suggestion is Blu-Tack, it
might be easier to handle. Lacquer, do you mean lacquer glue? I'm not
too familiar with that I'm afraid. I could look someone who may have
that experience and had posted it somewhere on the net. Also, good
luck with your model, hope it doesn't become a frustration for you in
such a wonderful hobby.