Bending paper

[papersurprise50]

I am sure many have by now perfected this technique.I am in the process of building some military papership models.The sterns on the WW2 aircraft carriers and also some passenger ships(S.S.UNITED STATES etc) have always puzzled me.
Then one day I was looking at copies of the stern of the "ESSEX" and it happened ,just like an epiphany.I got some craft sponge sheet ,a laundry spritzer bottle and a large spoon.Very carefully dragging the spoon over the spritzed paper on top of the sponge I got a nice curve.
Then I left it with the sponge in exactly the place I wanted.Well an hour later I had a very nicely shaped stern for the ship. The really nice part is the spritz water has some very light starch mixed in.
I re-wet it slightly and increased the curvature.let it dry again.and then glued it together.NO wrinkles or mismatched or ill fitting parts.P.S. I also will stick it in here as well as anywhere.I finish all my ships with the closest scale P.E. I can find.I think the printed rails running down the side,remind me of the same "walls" in plastic on REVELL models when I was a child( No I won,t use the word "KID "). So no paper walls for me. papersurprise50

[Fishcarver]

PS: This is good "Thinking outside of the box" for sure!! Please post some pix of your technique when you have a moment!
Regards,
Jim

[Lex]

Paper do have a certain capacity to be shaped into a hemispherical shape (ie one with a non zero curvature), and I found the thicker the paper gets, the more curve it can stand. So if I am ever dealing with a big curvature I would laminate the part before shaping it. (not saying models should be designed this way, I share your sentiments about carrier sterns...)

In the end, please share some pictures about this technique!

[spaceagent-9]

so basically you and use a steam iron to mold poster board with, if you a trailer hitch or big spoon to mash into it?

[Thomas Meek]

@papersurprise50; I have tried something a little similar; thank you for the more advanced ideas. Some papers do better than others with this sort of treatment. I have found the best results from Japanese rice papers and 100% cotton papers, both of which tend to have nice long fibers so a lot of stretching can take place before tearing. I personally have had trouble with thicker papers wrinkling. Perhaps I have been using too much water.
@spaceagent-9; Please explore your ideas. I look forward to seeing the pictures.

[papersurprise50]

Originally Posted by Thomas Meek

@papersurprise50; I have tried something a little similar; thank you for the more advanced ideas. Some papers do better than others with this sort of treatment. I have found the best results from Japanese rice papers and 100% cotton papers, both of which tend to have nice long fibers so a lot of stretching can take place before tearing. I personally have had trouble with thicker papers wrinkling. Perhaps I have been using too much water.
@spaceagent-9; Please explore your ideas. I look forward to seeing the pictures.

I find that in the case of carrier and passenger sterns(this applies to any curved stern) I use the fine "Cardstock" laminated to the regular paper that the kit comes with.I learned this trick in building paper airliners,especially the noses. papersurprise

[Hudsonduster]

Originally Posted by Thomas Meek

I personally have had trouble with thicker papers wrinkling. Perhaps I have been using too much water.

A few thoughts.

Part of the problem in this sort of forming is trying to take too big a bend at a time: the fibers directly under your tool will be stretching and moving, but the paper to the sides won't be under the same restraint and will try to fold & wrinkle.
Try working from a center out: first pressure gentle in center, then a light pass around that center, and so on. Back to center and do it again, 'til you're happy.
What you have to keep in mind is, the perimeter of the piece shouldn't stretch--it meets up to its mating piece--all the curve wants to be in the middle. You're really expanding that middle.
The alternative is to do both things--expand the middle AND cut away a gusset now & then in places where wrinkles develop, to be lap-patched afterwards. This will change your mating edge. Decide if the error is too much.

I've only done this on dry card. Didn't occur to use water. Even dry, you can get an amazing amount of distortion.

It might be interesting to try a couple of things often used to bend balsa--Windex, and Sta-Puf fabric softener. The fabric softener's amazing: you can simmer applewood sticks in it and literally tie them in knots.
The downside of that is, the further away from pure water you go, the more risk you have of your printing running. Depends on the ink, too.

'Duster

[Zathros]

I have used big spoons and wet paper to mold them into shape. I then trim the paper to use the shape I need. This only works for models your are going paint though.

[papersurprise50]

I really haven,t had any problem on models I didn,t paint.You just have to be careful.