Plank-on-Frame hulls for card model ships

[Zathros]

@cmdrted: Those plankings are awesome. They are so real looking.

@Oliver Weiss: I had quite a few fingers stuck together. I did once cut my forefinger diagonally right through the fat pad and having no bandages used crazy glue to "seem" the cut back together. (Gel Type). It burned like H@ll but I did not end up needing the five or so stiiches the doctor said I would have needed when I finally got to him. The crazy glue is a good anti-bacterial, I guess the cyanide does the trick.

[Gil]

It's really a pleasure to see this type of thread! Thanks Oliver. And Ted's planking job is well done. I have a small book on making clipper ships from the turn of the last century. It has an entire chapter devoted to paper construction...,

I have a project that's been on hold for several years that intends to use planking in the very same way. I'm using Rhino 3D to insure a good fit for the strakes. The model is Joshua Slocum's "Spray" and will make a very nice display model when complete.

A couple of things that might help in the next iteration is to penetrate the paper with thinned brushing lacquer to waterproof and "harden" the stock. Use thicker stock. 0.5 to 1.5 mm works fairly well. Using thicker stock along with penetrating lacquer is that the paper sands better. Spackle out the hull and let dry. Sanding the hull will allow the spackled caulk lines between the strakes to show. Finish by applying more thinned lacquer. The thinned lacquer hardens the spackle.

A current project I'm working on but isn't quite ready for exposition yet will give some new ideas about paper as a media...,

Good work & thanks,

+Gil

[Clashster]

Nice work, Ted! Model ships (especially sail) are a passion of mine, so I am really enjoying this thread!!

[whulsey]

Great info. Not real into ships or boats (whichever) but do admire them. Have thought about trying some of the skiff and planked bodied cars that were popular in the 1920's and 30's. This would be an excellent working method for those. Now just need to get up the gumption and time to try one.

[Oliver Weiss]

I guess I've got to put my money where my mouth is. Here is the actual hull, plank on frame with 1.5mm manila folder strips.

[Oliver Weiss]

And here with a couple of coats of sandable primer. I have to add the keel, the torpedo valves and the fixtures for the Fowler wheel, then I can put on the final coat of paint.

[Oliver Weiss]

Here a comparison with the first, one-piece paper hull.

To recap, the process was this:

- construct the base with tightly spaced formers (1cm apart)
- lay on 1.5mm strips of manila folder.
- saturate with crazy glue
- sand, spackle, sand and prime.

In general, I'm happy with the result, though I'm sure there is much that can be improved in the process. Here's a short list for discussion:

Pros:

- not very difficult to pull off
- results in a straight, fair, seamless hull.
- incredibly sturdy
- fun to do.

Cons:

- Crazy glue results in such a hard surface that it is difficult to sand. I ended up using my mouse sander with 120 grit paper.
- Where I was sloppy with the white glue, the crazy glue wouldn't penetrate the paper. When sanding these spots, the substrate fuzzed up. Crazy gluing the fuzzy spots and sanding again resulted in an uneven surface that was difficult to smooth.
- Compared to a regular paper hull, this took a long time and a lot of effort to make.



Based on what I learned, I'm going to try some or all of these things next time:

- use a different material for planking. I've requested samples of "paperwood", which is a wood-thin veneer. Yeah, I know - it's not card, but it won't fuzz when I'm sanding it.
- use a different hardening agent that doesn't introduce its own structure to the surface. It might be that the crazy glue I used was too viscuous (it was the Loctite brush-on kind), but I'm going to try wood hardener (they kind they use for dry-rot) next.
- Try a different method of gluing the planks to the formers. The coating of hardener really solidifies the hull, so that the formers lose importance. I wonder if I can stretch thin strips of double-sided tape to the former edges instead of using white glue.
- do the whole hull. I intended to do only the underwater hull in this manner, and build the rest as a regular card model. Now I'm thinking it'll be pretty difficult to match the hull curvature and the angle of the ram correctly between the two methods.


All right, that's it. Let's hear from the experts....
Oh, and the kit will definitely include the option to make a regular paper hull / waterline model




Cheers,


Oliver

[Oliver Weiss]

Doh - for anybody who doesn't know what the heck I'm building here:

[Gil]

Oliver,

Nicely done! Automotive primer is best for this purpose. 220 grit wet-or-dry sponge sanding pads are also recommended. Red auto spot glazing putty is very handy for filling small defects and rebuilding small gaffs.

+Gil

P.S. Your method for filling, shaping and painting is identical to the one I am using.

[Don Boose]

Excellent tutorial, Oliver. Fascinating vessel!

Don