One of the first lessons in rigging a ship model is to draw the cordage through a cake of
beeswax to lay down the “fuzz”, or loose surface fibers. But there’s more to it than that;
beeswax is a fine natural preservative which inhibits desiccation (drying) of the thread
fibers, thus prolonging the life of the cordage and preserving its pliant qualities. The
problem with drawing thread through a hard beeswax cake is that the wax forms only a
surface coating: the core of the thread remains untreated, and worst of all, the “lay” of the
thread is usually filled with wax so it is no longer easily seen and an important aspect of
realism is lost.

The way out of this problem is to dissolve the beeswax in solvent such as turpentine or
xylol, then draw the thread through a wad of cotton soaked with the wax solution. A
fresh cake of beeswax should be cut into small flakes, then placed in a small jar of
solvent; as much wax should be added as will dissolve in a day or two. The solution
should then be filtered by pouring it through cheese cloth. Id addition to treating new
thread as above, old rigging on models being cleaned or repaired can be waxed in situ by
applying the solution with a brush. Serving, seizings, and splices can be waxed and rewaxed
in similar fashion.

This method also lends itself beautifully to tinting cordage. Pigments ground in
compatible media can be mixed with the dissolved wax to produce tones ranging from
light manila to the darker tarred shades of hemp. To wax dissolved in tarps any artist’s
oil paints or decorators’ oil-based tints can be added. Experiment with umbers, raw
sienna, and gray tones; raw sienna, umber, and a slight tinge of green are suggested for
simulating fresh manila line, while umbers mixed with grays are good for representing
hemp with varying amounts of tar. (Hemp running rigging was often lightly tarred.)
If you have dissolved beeswax in xylol (Floquil Dio-Sol), you have a whole range of
Floquil paints and stains to choose from. When adding these pigments to the wax, add
the pigment only, and not any of the vehicle and solvent. It may be necessary to let a
bottle of paint settle for a few days, pour off the vehicle, then spoon out the pigment.
When “tarring” the standing rigging on my models, I usually paint the cordage with a
mixture of black and dark brown. (The shades can vary.) I have since found that the
paint can be applied after treatment with plain dissolved beeswax, though some paint may
rub off and require a little retouching. Painted cordage can also be waxed over, after the
paint has cured for at least two days. This will add a slight gloss which adds much to the
model’s realism.

In tinting cordage, avoid pure white and pure black, as they were seldom seen on ships
and will destroy the realistic appearance of an otherwise good rigging job. Deadeye
lanyards can be just a little bit lighter than the rest of the standing rigging; they weren’t
so heavily tarred in order to be more pliant when setting up the shrouds. On a
“weatherproof” model, don’t forget that rigging faded and got dirty as did the rest of the
hull. Use grayer tints for these effects.

In past years, I used and recommended liquid shoe polish for tinting and preserving
cordage, however, no more. The dyes in shoe polish fade rather quickly and the wax
becomes very stiff with age. By using permanent mineral pigments, the problem of
fading is eliminated, and I wonder if any synthetic wax now available can outlast
beeswax or match its properties.

As of this writing, I have tried dissolving beeswax in lacquer thinner and denatured
alcohol, but have had poor results. The wax would not dissolve in the alcohol and
appeared to react with the lacquer thinner to from a milky precipitate which would
separate quickly from the solvent. Any pigments ground in media compatible with these
liquids would offer few advantages over the previously discussed materials, so far as I
can see. No doubt, other model makers will have ideas concerning other types of
solvents, and if any of these solvents are less volatile, and even odorless, any news of
their discovery and use would be very welcome.