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Alright, so I have a helicopter I'm modeling as a counts-as Valkyrie/Vendette whatever. Anyhow, What I want is to have a rope coming down from it and like a guardsman at the bottom holding it being all like "Go Go Go!"

So what exactly would be the best thing to use as rope? I want it sort of stiff but it needs to look like rope. I suppose greenstuff would work but that's kind of a crapshoot getting it rope thickness without a big mess

Suggestions?

P.S.- Does anybody know where the really awesome IG rough ride-bike conversion article is? I found it once and now that I have some scout bikes I can't find it again....

Thanks!

I would buy a pack of cheap electric guitar strings mate, you get a choice of thicknesses, the ability to paint them if you wish, and any you don't use will come in handy for other conversions

Get very thin wire, the thinnest that you can. Get about 7 strands of equal length and fix one end of the lengths in a vice, and the other into a drill. Turn on the drill and keep twisting until it looks nice and finely woven. Works in theory, but I havent had a chance to try it yet, let me know how it goes

Nu11nV01D wrote:Does anybody know where the really awesome IG rough ride-bike conversion article is? I found it once and now that I have some scout bikes I can't find it again....

Can't help much with the rope thing, but maybe you mean this one?

Your best bet is scale rigging that is used on model sail boats, it is braided in various styles and looks absolutely fantastic as "model rope" I would imagine you could find it on line pretty easy, I have a LHS that has a huge selection of products, that is where I get mine from.

Ashton

Thanks everybody. I think I may have some old bass guitar strings lying around, perhaps I'll use one of those, or that wire idea sounds pretty decent.... Rigging also.. Fantastic.

@Scarper: That's not the article that I was thinking of, but that looks to be what I need. Appreciate it.

Nylon twine would probably work well. If might seem a little think, but if you a re going for a fast-rope look that's ok since the rope used for that actually is rather thick. If you want to keep it nice and taught, try dipping it in glue and then letting it dry in position. That'll give it a nice stiffness.

As for RR bikes, I've seen a few things around. The official GW tutorial (that I don't think is on their site anymore) used parts from about 5 different kits, so it might not be very cost effective. Most tutorials out there consist of:

1) Buy motorcycle mini from non-GW source
2) Reshape Cadian arms and legs a little till they fit the bike
3) Glue Cadian to bike.

So its really just a matter of finding a good bike and figuring out with legs and arms are easiest to fit.

where you thinking the dirt bike conversion that was in German? forgot the web address but have a copy someplace if your interested.

Mud Duck wrote:where you thinking the dirt bike conversion that was in German? forgot the web address but have a copy someplace if your interested.

I think so. It used to be on one of the english pages too, but when they switched over to the new site layout a lot of those "hobby" articles based on the buy-by-sprue option dissappeared.

Kitchen string or butcher's twine.

You can coat it in superglue to stiffen it.
It's about the right thickness for scale rope.

Whilst all the above suggestions are good for rope, might I suggest that something that looks like rope might be a bit low-tech looking? Rappelling lines are generally thin and don't look like rope. See this pic:



- huge pic but you can see from it the thickness of the line compared to the dudes in the chopper as a result.

So to achieve a realistic look I'd use a single strand of wire.

Obviously if you want it to look like rope go for it by all means - I'm not sure what look you're going for. Just thought I'd point this out.

You could use picture hanging wire, Its pretty stiff and would look more like cableing than rope.

I've used Picture wire as power weapon wire, and regular 20g wire as rope. Guitar strings also work well, probably an E string would work best. Bass strings are a bit too thick, unless you're making tow cable.

Perhaps some lightweight braided speaker wire? Alternatively, I think I'd go with the picture wire/power drill option.