DN's Admirable
- Thread starter cdcoyle
- Start date
Ships boats
Chris, I agree that ships boats are so important to the overall effect - the eye is caught by the hollow structure and detail. Remember though that boats at sea are nearly always covered, so a good compromise is to make a "canvas" tarp for them. However if you want them open, I recommend forgetting the little snips around the hull (you will find other examples on the DN site, or the paper shipwright site) and use a rounded tool such as an old fashioned knitting needle to form the sides into a nice concave, symetrical moulding. Breathing warm whisky fumes onto the insides help. The thwarts when cut out are fragile, and I reinforce them with superglue on the underside. For some reason the boats look better (in my view) if given a coat of pale green acrylic on the inside. Hope this helps and good luck ! Hugh
Chris, I agree that ships boats are so important to the overall effect - the eye is caught by the hollow structure and detail. Remember though that boats at sea are nearly always covered, so a good compromise is to make a "canvas" tarp for them. However if you want them open, I recommend forgetting the little snips around the hull (you will find other examples on the DN site, or the paper shipwright site) and use a rounded tool such as an old fashioned knitting needle to form the sides into a nice concave, symetrical moulding. Breathing warm whisky fumes onto the insides help. The thwarts when cut out are fragile, and I reinforce them with superglue on the underside. For some reason the boats look better (in my view) if given a coat of pale green acrylic on the inside. Hope this helps and good luck ! Hugh
Chris, not much to add to the previous advice. I use a large embossing stylus for this type of part shaping...one with a ball tip at least 1/8 inch diameter. You can get this tool at leather-working shops, like Tandy, or the scrapbooking section of crafts shops such as Michaels, Robers, Ben Franklin's, etc. As a tip, place the part you are shaping onto a firm, but yielding, surface. I use my mouse pad....it seems to have the perfect texture for a backing when doing the embossing. I recommend keeping with cardstock rather than bond paper. When joining parts, just use a simple butt joint without a joining strip or tabs. Just make sure the joining edges fit snugly together without any visible gap before applying the glue. I use brushed-on, thin-formula super glue. Hold the seam edges together before you add the glue....you might have best results by applying the glue to the end of the seam and let capillary action wick the glue into the seam. If I have difficulty keeping the seam together long enough to put on the superglue, I will use a bit of Aleenes Tacky Glue and hold the seam together long enough for the glue to start to set, then apply the super-glue. The white glue and super glue seems to work together to make one hell of a bond....however, it has been my experience that the exposure to the white glue residual produces a glob of gelled superglue on the brush tip, and the unused glue in the bottle thickens up and gells faster than exposure just to the moisture in the air. I use this gluing technique for nearly all joins on small parts and for the seams on cylinders (like gun barrels).
As another tip, since this technique tends to parts to fingers.....when removing the glued-on part, gently twist it off rather than pulling it off. When you glue youself to larger parts, you can minimize damage (to the part, of course....skin grows back) by rolling (twirling, actually) a thin dowel (like a bamboo poultry skewer) between the skin and the part.
As another tip, since this technique tends to parts to fingers.....when removing the glued-on part, gently twist it off rather than pulling it off. When you glue youself to larger parts, you can minimize damage (to the part, of course....skin grows back) by rolling (twirling, actually) a thin dowel (like a bamboo poultry skewer) between the skin and the part.
wire wrap?
good thinking. i use coiled wire to simulate coil springs. with a paper clip in the middle, one can fashion a realistic macpherson strut.
good thinking. i use coiled wire to simulate coil springs. with a paper clip in the middle, one can fashion a realistic macpherson strut.
Good for you, cdcoyle! :smile:
I know a few of us are looking forward to some pictures, perhaps you can borrow one from a friend. Pushy, aren't we? :grin:
Looking forward to your next paper model project!
Cheers!
Jim
I know a few of us are looking forward to some pictures, perhaps you can borrow one from a friend. Pushy, aren't we? :grin:
Looking forward to your next paper model project!
Cheers!
Jim
finished ship
Hi
Looks good. You asked about fitting hull sides the tip I would give is to roll the flare curves in before fitting (they don't have to be accurate curves) it does not pull against the glue so much. also tack one end of the piece and make sure it fit before starting to glue seiously. Be warned Swan's stern is a tricky one to do.
Finally go to Kartonist.de and read Christoph's thread on "Roma" tells you all you need to know about hulls
regards
Hi
Looks good. You asked about fitting hull sides the tip I would give is to roll the flare curves in before fitting (they don't have to be accurate curves) it does not pull against the glue so much. also tack one end of the piece and make sure it fit before starting to glue seiously. Be warned Swan's stern is a tricky one to do.
Finally go to Kartonist.de and read Christoph's thread on "Roma" tells you all you need to know about hulls
regards
Well done, looks a very neat model (in both the US and UK meanings of the word) Try some of the Paper Shipwright offers next..( www.papershipwright.freeserve.co.uk)