ThaiPaperworks B-52H Repaint

[chris190]

That is a beautifully clean and well formed piece of work Rata, I'm most envious of the unblemished finish and completely undistorted flow of the components; not a dent or sharp transition to be seen anywhere - and I've looked very carefully!

I have been combing the site for recommendations regarding many aspects of aircraft modelling and it seems to me that two big problems on getting a standard such as yours are choice of adhesive to avoid buckling (as with pva which also slips when trying to get a close butt joint) and also maintain the forms of hollow fuselage and wings after forming and during construction - stuff them with folded tissue seems to be one way but I can't see any evidence of this on your model and certainly use internal formers, although there is always the problem of them showing through under inadvertent pressure.

Apologies for long post but I thought I'd ask someone (amongst many I have to say) who has it all sorted!

Cheers

Chris

[Rata]

Thanks folks for the positive comments.

Actually Chris I DO use PVA for practically all my building. But it has to be proper woodworker's or builder's PVA that hardware shops sell. I've tried the cheaper 'craft' types that are just useless.
BUT (and a big but) I do all my printing by laser printing which is a hell of lot more forgiving of water based glues than inkjet.
Not only that I actually water it down to the consistency of runny cream and I'll squirt some out as a 'puddle' on the workbench and apply SPARINGLY with a choice of 3 varying size small plastic model paintbrushes. If you use the right amount the parts being joined usually only need to held together (by hand- rarely use clamps) for no more than 10 seconds at which point , though not fully set, will stay together till cured.
Having it at runny cream consistency also means I can run a bead along a butt joint ( say where a tailplane or fin meets a fuselage) with a small brush. Again, not recommended for inkjet but on laser print the glue dries virtually invisible.
My local print shop does all A4 prints on 100gsm paper which on my 1/100 models is just right to maintain smooth flat areas and will usually roll and curve nicely without kinking or buckling.
Large models like this one also benefit with laminating a piece of scrap paper on the inside of flat areas (especially wings) applied with a large glue stick. Avoid laminating on high curve areas like wing leading edges.
I've found the trick with formers is to apply small drops of glue at a minimum number of contact points and apply temporary minimal pressure on the outside with something flat (like a ruler) and NOT use fingers. In the case of wing formers it's a little dab of glue only at the leading and trailing edges.
Hope this is of some help Chris.

Garry G.

[Draco]

Wonderfull work!

[chris190]

Garry, that is extremely useful and interesting; I will try all your suggestions when I get back to my next model which is started but needs re-starting because I am really not at all happy with it so far! The 100 gsm card is interesting for a model of this size as I used 200 for my 1/100 Princess and even that wasn't distortion free by any means. Printing too I have used both inkjet with sealant spray and laser without, so I will try laser with sealant this time.

Very many thanks

Chris

[NOBI]

For my suggestion. I use white glue and UHU's* multipropose glue for my build. You need to wait glue dry before assemble a next stage. Some of white glue use a water base solution that cause you paper wet and ruin your model but UHU's multipropose glue is not have a water so there is an advantage for this glue. Elmer's white glue is a good choice too.

For paper I use for each scale of model. I use 100 gsm for 1/100, 120 gsm for 1/48 and 160 gsm for 1/32. Try to use Paper which match with your printer. Inkjet paper for inkjet printer. Laser paper for laserjet printer. Laserjet print is good looking because laserjet print make model is semi glossy like real aircraft but becareful on paint chip when you roll or curve part. Paint chip will occur when you print on thick paper.

Internal former make your build in shape. Aircraft fuselage have a specific shape what internal former will make it in shape.you need to print internal former in normal paper and glue it into thick cardboard. 0.8 to 1.0 millimeter is recommended. Use a sandpaper to sand a former if former bigger and not fit into part, dont try to force it into. Some modeler put a tissue paper inside fuselage. Tissue paper make model strong and not collapse when you hold your fuselage too tight when assemble.

This is some of my personal trick to make model look good and apologized me if my english is look strange because I still no good on english sentence.

[chris190]

My thanks to you, Nobi, for your help; interested that you also recommend quite thin grades of card for your models which obviously seems to work well. UHU I do use occasionally but get fazed by the stringiness of it but it certainly avoids paper distortion.

Cheers

Chris

[scissorsandplanes]

Originally Posted by Mike1158

All good, that BUFF is brilliant.

I absolutely agree.

Respect to designer and builder.

[MichaelS]

Certainly not an expert on paper but of the few European printed kist that I have there is a noticeable difference in the "feel" of the European paper. It seems much more like cloth to me.

As far as glue I have many varieties but keep coming back to Aileen's. I think it has a lot to do with the wait time before you actually stick the parts together.

Kind of like Goldilocks. To soon and it doesn't stick. Too long and it doesn't hold. Just right is well --- just right!

I also will chime in with the others on the praise for your techniques. You are truly a paper modeling GAWD! You have certainly far surpassed my level of skill.

[Don Boose]

Outstanding artisanship, Garry!

Thanks to you and Nobi for the tutorials. There is a wealth of knowledge in this thread.

Don

[Rata]

Thanks for following this and contributing people.
It's always good for newcomers to this hobby to have some basic established ground rules to refer to help them get going and be able to complete those important first models. Success is the best form of encouragement and equally important is being able to find out why when you're first attempts are unsuccessful.
Paper modelling is no different to any other modelling media: you end up doing and sticking with whatever works for you. But I always keep an open mind on this because more often as not along the way someone will give you a technique that makes that next model better than the last.
Now with all that fatherly advice out of the way all newbies should remember the golden rule: START SMALL. It's becoming more and more apparent as this build progresses that Nobi has given us one hell of a well designed piece of work. But it is NOT a beginners model. Buy it by all means and buy it now- designers need our support- but if you're a relatively newcomer buy it, admire it, dream about it but put it away till you've got a bunch of smaller models under your belt.