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Tim

You need to double the cable - as my earlier post says, the Rope, Towing Mk IV was made up from two 30ft lengths of 7/8th in (22mm) cable, each length being doubled up, bound around a single eye at each end and spliced together and bound in the centre, around another eye. You can see this centre arrangement in the second photo of Celerity, just above the 52.

As for rust, if a towing rope in operational service ever showed the slightest evidence of corrosion, it would be declared BLR (Beyond Local Repair). It is such a critical piece of equipment that it is maintained scrupulously, because of the risk if it failing under load. In practice, tow ropes were exposed to oil and dust but not rust.

I like to degrease, etch prime, airbrush a steel colour or two and then apply pigments and fixer to taste. It might seem like madness to paint steel cable a steel colour but by doing so, you can get the right patina and, by rubbing the paint off in places, get the effect of use.

This gives you a flavour of the colour of an operational tow rope in use:
And this gives a feel for the dust effect:
The photos in my post above are of a Comet tow rope in storage at Bovington. There is very slight evidence of surface rust but the rope is no longer serviceable. Here's another:
Hope this helps.

Stephen

Thanks Stephen, I did double up each length of rope but added a single eye to each end.
If i understand correctly, i need a single eye at one end and 2 eyes at the other end of the cable.
the 2 single eyes are connected by the pear shaped ring.
Effectively this creates 2 Y shaped cables joined together at the single eye ends. I would have a total of 6 eyes for the entire assembly

I guess this would allow the 2 eyes to be connected to the 2 towing brackets on the front or rear of the tank to create an evenly distributed tow.

I will have to partially redo mine now, but at least i have some spare connectors.

Cheers
Tim

Sounds very complicated !
Can you post some pics of the cables laid out when completed
Regards
Steve

Hi Steve, I think (hope) this is what Stephen means.
I will wait for confirmation before i hack mine apart.

Tim

Tim, you had it the first time! Have another look at my diagramme.

It's like this:
I think the confusion might be over the doubling up of the cable. In your diagrammes, No 1 is correct, noting that each half is of double thickness.

The cable consists of two 30ft lengths of 7/8th inch thick wire, four eyes, a pear shaped ring and two self closing fittings.

Each of the 30ft lengths is doubled up and bound around an eye at each end. You've now got two identical assemblies, each 15 ft long, of double thickness and with a single eye at each end.

Now join the two sections with the pear shaped ring and at the two free ends, attach the self-closing fittings.

All the best.

Stephen

Hi all, Ive fitted the cables that i made last night and hope that these photos will show what i did.
I will have a go at weathering them a bit (but no rust) over the weekend.

Cheers
Tim

Tim.
That looks good, I now see how the cable was assembled.
British engineering at its best, why have simple tow rope when you can make something really complicated.
Regards
Steve

Hi Tim
Nice job on the rope .
So what was the final length and diameter of cable you used on each side please?

Might have to make mine up now

Regards

Derek

Hi Derek, I bought a length of 3mm stainless cable from ebay it was a 3.2m length.
I just cut it in half and then made it up as you see.
I have not measured it but i'd guess that the total length would be aprox 1.6m - will check tonight and confirm.

Tim

Derek, the scaled dimensions are:

Each 30ft rope (2 off) at one sixth scale is 152.4 cms, doubled over two eyes. The rope should be 22/6 = 3.66mm thick but I guess 3.00 mm is close enough.

Stephen

Hi Stephen, i was looking for 3.66mm or 3.5mm but could only get 3mm or 4mm.
I thought that 4mm might be to thick to work with and may not look right.

Once weathered it should be fine.
Thanks for all the assistance Stephen.

Tim

Hello Tim,

maybe of use for you.

Stainless steel cable 3,5mm as much as you need + all the other small item to build a proper tow cable for afordable prices

http://www.edelstahl-niro.de/drahtseile ... 2_223.html


cheers,

Uwe

Thanks Uwe, I think i will stick with the 3mm one as it is close enough and coils up quite well.
Could well be of use for anyone not yet started though.


BTW - I measured the cable and at full length is 154cm which i think is pretty damned close.

Cheers
Tim

Hi Tim
Where did you get the crimps you have used to make the cable?
I have the eyes and the cable ready to make mine.
But have not been able to find the crimps.

Regards

Derek

Hi Derek, i got them from ebay and were not very expensive.
I have 4 crimps and 4 eyes left over that you can have FOC.

I can either hand them to you if you are going to Tigerday or i can post them if you let me have your address via PM.

Cheers
Tim