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  #1  
Old 11-23-2017, 06:24 AM
michaelgr michaelgr is offline
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Advice on the design of small parts, plus: paper weight

So I'm working on my first paperraft design, a sci-fi ship (Rocinante from "The Expanse"). The model is going to be about 40cm end to end, and has a number of small, (about 1x1x1 cm) protruding watchamacallits attached to the main hull. basically box-like pieces of differing shapes, with the bottom face missing. I was wondering on the best way to design those, in terms of how they attach to the hull. I thought of three options:

1. create them with a bottom edge so each is a completely closed surface, then glue the bottom surface to the main hull
2. Add tabs along the perimeter, fold inside and glue to hull
3. they are small enough, simply applying glue to the edges would work just fine.

What's the convention with such pieces?

Second question is about tabs in small parts. some parts are quite small, often with an acute angle between edges that should be connected, so there's either a very small tab or little room for a tab at all. In such cases, what is the norm? make small tabs? use joining strips? avoid them altogether and just glue the edges? they are small and not load-bearing in any way.

Last question has been done to death, paper weights. I searched on the forum first and in the search results, the answers hover around 80-110 grams per meter. That seems pretty flimsy to me - I haven't built a paper model in ages, and I made a terrible mistake and threw all of the one I did build away at some point, but I seem to remember they were printed on thicker stock. I was thinking 200gsm?

thanks in advance for any input!
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Old 11-23-2017, 06:41 AM
Revell-Fan Revell-Fan is offline
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Hi Michael,

my 2 Cents on your questions:

1+2. Allowed is everything that does the job. Several small parts do not require tabs at all. A test build is recommended to check what works best. You may choose to add the flaps just "for the sake of it"; those who do not need them and wish to edge-glue the parts may cut them off. I find this solution very elegant; it is easier to cut something off you don't need than to create something that isn't there from scratch.

Ifyou want the boxes to have an open side just make a traditional box with one side open. Then make a slightly smaller box and fold it "inside out" so that the texture is inside the box. Then put glue on the smaller box and push it into the larger one.

3. Paper of 80 gsm is very thin and flimsy, as you said. It can be used for really thin parts which are not too big though, however, I recommend 160 gsm paper for the main parts. This is not too rigid and not too flimsy and I use that for all my test builds. If you find a part to be unstable just use sturdier card OR (the easy way) laminate the part in question to several layers of 160 gsm paper or heavier card. As I said, allowed is what works best. And what you prefer.
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Old 11-23-2017, 07:19 AM
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SCEtoAUX SCEtoAUX is offline
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Usually ≈176 gsm (≈65 lb) and ≈199 gsm (≈110 lb). Approximately because different manufactures and countries vary a bit in the weight designation. Usually because sometimes the 80 gsm stuff is what is needed for some parts. So basically it is sometimes yes, sometimes no, all the time maybe.

I usually cut off the small glue tabs on small parts and edge glue. It seems to give a better result. Those small tabs don't fold too good for me.
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Old 11-23-2017, 07:37 AM
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Rubenandres77 Rubenandres77 is offline
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I agree with Revell-Fan.

Is mostly a matter of what does the job for you.
There really is no fixed answer to your questions, or no "standard" in the paper modelling design business.

In your test build you will see what works best in terms of structural integrity and intended visual effect.

If you are designing and building for yourself, you can experiment a lot until you discover what pleases you better.

But if you are considering in releasing your design to the public, consider this:

Modelers all have different ways of approaching the assembly of a structure.
Some love tabs, some don't, and some others will say they sometimes use them and sometimes don't.

To cover all possibilities, you can provide tabs when you consider they are best, leaving the choice
of using them or not to the modeller. After all, it is easier and faster for the modeler to just cut out a tab,
than to draw or improvise one on the fly.


Regarding paper: it's a very relative matter.

Again ,if you build for yourself, consider testing parts in different papers until reaching
what you consider works best for your kit.

But if you are going to release your design as a digital download, remember that people from
different parts of the world have access to different kinds of paper, and they will probably
end printing in a different paper from what you used. So you could use 160 gsm paper,
but someone on the other end of the world will print on 120, or on 200, depending on
their available resources.

Regards,
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Old 11-23-2017, 08:11 AM
sreinmann sreinmann is offline
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Worth considering and something I’m still learning about regarding tabs, bottoms and edge glued parts. I like to edge glue non-structural finish details that require a precise fit. I like bottom gluing surfaces when other parts are attaching or the part is large and heavy or whose gluing surface is much smaller than the overall part volume.

If it’s a cylinder I like bottom gluing to keep the shape. Just another thought.
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Old 11-23-2017, 12:43 PM
michaelgr michaelgr is offline
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Thanks everyone! for the time being I'm just designing for myself. Might release the files when it's done, if there's interest.
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Old 11-23-2017, 02:02 PM
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airdave airdave is offline
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oh, so your immediate plan is not to share this model?
I did not realize this.
Your other thread lead me to a different conclusion.

In that case I may pick back up my idea of a small scale model.
It won't be anything large or overly detailed,
so it wouldn't be any competition anyway.

We had a discussion about this ship a while back, and I got really interested in doing something.
(I love this show!!!!!!!!!!)
So, I might revisit it then...just letting you know.
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Old 11-25-2017, 05:20 PM
michaelgr michaelgr is offline
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My plan is to share the model, but it's not going to be anything professional, just a free download, so don't expect any instructions.
If you're interested in creating a model with more detail, I could be persuaded to share the 3D model source files as well... I'd like to see what could be done with it.

As for size, I printed some parts in several scales an did a couple of test builds to see what I find comfortable. seems like about 38 cm should be ideal, but the official length of the Roci was confirmed as 46 meters so I'm tempted to do a 1:100, a bit larger than I planned but then again might allow me to retrofit more details after the models is complete. I haven't done this in a long time and I'm afraid of doing something too ambitious as a first design - I'm having trouble figuring out it's all going to work as it is.
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