Which sail cloth to buy?

G

Graham

Joined
Feb 27, 2016
Messages
887
Points
343

I would appreciate your views on which sail cloth is, in your experience, the best to work with by way of weathering, stitching/edging and overall appearance - and why. Thanks.
 
Many members have discussed this topic, and a good many of them agree that the best material is a very thin cotton cloth called Navare White Lawn, available in the UK only HERE. The fabric is thin. allowing fine, sharp folds, so it can look good for furled or farthelled sails as will as full sails. It has the proper amount of translucence for a scale model also. Bear in mind that NO fabric can perfectly simulate sails at scale. This fabric is about as close as you can get.

An example of Ab Hoving's model using Navare white lawn sails.
fluit_hoorn_8-jpg.303193


generale_vrede_11_hr-jpg.303194


How it compares to a real ship. Note how tight the wrinkles and folds are. No fabric can truly duplicate this.
1657414693062-png.317799
 
Last edited:
That material does look nice! Old books and articles mention "drafting linen" as a sail material. I found some in a building slated for demolition, and once you wash out the starch is is very thin, but not really that tight of a weave. I think Armitage McCann suggested it in the 1930's, and it has been obsolete for decades- back when draftsmen actually had to worry about lettering!
 
pebbleworm said:
That material does look nice! Old books and articles mention "drafting linen" as a sail material. I found some in a building slated for demolition, and once you wash out the starch is is very thin, but not really that tight of a weave. I think Armitage McCann suggested it in the 1930's, and it has been obsolete for decades- back when draftsmen actually had to worry about lettering!
Click to expand...
All known sources of drafting linen have dried up. It was used for drafting engineering drawings in the 1950's and 1960's. You used to be able to find it occasionally, but those days are gone. If you have some, treat it like gold.
 
hi, I tried to buy some sailors but I never find some can you please help me.
many thaks
 
I also use lawn cotton, the thread count is very fine so it scales better than any other cotton. Readily available on eBay it comes in pure white, for US ships, and a pale ecru for British ships (America used cotton, The UK linen, so a slightly cream colour, if you really want to add yet another detail that nobody but you will ever see!!) Also it's impossible to scale stitching, I suggest stitch lines using extra fine 0.03 draftsmans pens run lightly over the cotton, I find it far more convincing.
 
Like Kurt mentioned already, especialy you are located in the UK
Navare White Lawn
 
DARIVS ARCHITECTVS said:
Many members have discussed this topic, and a good many of them agree that the best material is a very thin cotton cloth called Navare White Lawn, available in the UK only HERE. The fabric is thin. allowing fine, sharp folds, so it can look good for furled or farthelled sails as will as full sails. It has the proper amount of translucence for a scale model also. Bear in mind that NO fabric can perfectly simulate sails at scale. This fabric is about as close as you can get.

An example of Ab Hoving's model using Navare white lawn sails.
fluit_hoorn_8-jpg.303193


generale_vrede_11_hr-jpg.303194


How it compares to a real ship. Note how tight the wrinkles and folds are. No fabric can truly duplicate this.
1657414693062-png.317799
Click to expand...
1. How about a mailing address and/or an email address so we can contact the supplier of Navare white lawn.
2. There are probably a hundred builders who will order. I will certainly place an order; if I knew where to place it.
Price is not a consideration.
3. I have been using select pieces of muslin, very old linen (the real stuff) - mainly 100 year old 'snot' rags (one sail per 'snot rag' ) with a hundred washings each from estate sales, silk and other "stuff". However, to date, absolutely nothing adequately emulates the original sail cloth re' the enclosed picture;. Paper (any version of it) is a definite 'non-starter'; it all turns to dust in a decade or two.
4. Do us all a favor and lead us (by the nose if necessary) to a real supplier of Navare!
 
here it is

Lawn Fabric - Whaleys Fabrics

Another lightweight sheer fabric, lawn cloth is a plain weave textile made from high count yarns traditionally cotton but formerly made from linen. By using high thread count cotton the lawn fabric is silky to the touch, almost an un-textured feel. The lawn fabric gets its name from the clean...
www.whaleys-bradford.ltd.uk www.whaleys-bradford.ltd.uk
 
bill36 said:
1. How about a mailing address and/or an email address so we can contact the supplier of Navare white lawn.
2. There are probably a hundred builders who will order. I will certainly place an order; if I knew where to place it.
Price is not a consideration.
3. I have been using select pieces of muslin, very old linen (the real stuff) - mainly 100 year old 'snot' rags (one sail per 'snot rag' ) with a hundred washings each from estate sales, silk and other "stuff". However, to date, absolutely nothing adequately emulates the original sail cloth re' the enclosed picture;. Paper (any version of it) is a definite 'non-starter'; it all turns to dust in a decade or two.
4. Do us all a favor and lead us (by the nose if necessary) to a real supplier of Navare!
Click to expand...
You didn't click the LINK in my previous message, else you would have landed on their web page. <--- CLICK on the work "LINK".
 
bill36 said:
1. How about a mailing address and/or an email address so we can contact the supplier of Navare white lawn.
2. There are probably a hundred builders who will order. I will certainly place an order; if I knew where to place it.
Price is not a consideration.
3. I have been using select pieces of muslin, very old linen (the real stuff) - mainly 100 year old 'snot' rags (one sail per 'snot rag' ) with a hundred washings each from estate sales, silk and other "stuff". However, to date, absolutely nothing adequately emulates the original sail cloth re' the enclosed picture;. Paper (any version of it) is a definite 'non-starter'; it all turns to dust in a decade or two.
4. Do us all a favor and lead us (by the nose if necessary) to a real supplier of Navare!
Click to expand...
Just done an ebay search, got dozens of results. Try that to get price comparisons.
 
Bob Ellis said:
Just done an ebay search, got dozens of results. Try that to get price comparisons.
Click to expand...
Navare White Lawn is (as I know) not offered in this quality (very thin) on ebay - just order some square meters from the mentioned company and you have enough material for the next models....
 
Uwek said:
Navare White Lawn is (as I know) not offered in this quality (very thin) on ebay - just order some square meters from the mentioned company and you have enough material for the next models....
Click to expand...
Certainly no problems with the quality of the stuff I bought, It's very fine with a high thread count, and it does the job admirably. It would be interesting to do a side by side comparison, but I've never felt the need.
 
Bob Ellis said:
Certainly no problems with the quality of the stuff I bought, It's very fine with a high thread count, and it does the job admirably. It would be interesting to do a side by side comparison, but I've never felt the need.
Click to expand...
@Maarten showed once a comparison in a post

A 143 feet long Dutch warship from 1681. Cardstock [COMPLETED BUILD]

Basically the rigging is fairly simple. You start with the standing rigging: Here are the ropes that move the yards: And finally the ropes that manage the sails: Once you get the system, it's just tedious work :) Ab
shipsofscale.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top