OP-204 patrol boat 1:100

[BalticSwimmer]

Alright, here we go. My first real paper model.

I'll be building the GPM kit of the Polish Oksywie class patrol boat OP-204. These boats served with the Polish Navy from 1958 to 1979. They had a top speed of 19.5 kts, a crew of 33 and we're armed with two 37 mm cannon, two twin mounts of 12.7 mm machine guns and depth charges. Their intended role was coastal patrol and picket duty.

The kit looks pretty excellent to my untrained eye, and I also got the laser cut detail set.




As I go through the build, I anticipate having a bunch of questions, and I hope some of the talented experts here will be able to help me along.

And after two evening sessions, I'm about 60% through the hull framing.

The laser cut frame parts make this task a lot easier. I wanted these for my first rodeo, just to get that extra precision, but I can see these coming in handy for all paper craft.

As you can see, I still need to add the front half of the hull section below the waterline. Then some reinforcement strips go inside.





more soon

[Michael Mash]

Nice start.
This looks like a wise choice for a "first" project.
I hope you enjoy the work.

[redwolf28386]

How much was the laser cut parts if you don't mind me asking. I didn't know they had those for paper kits!

[BalticSwimmer]

Originally Posted by redwolf28386

How much was the laser cut parts if you don't mind me asking. I didn't know they had those for paper kits!

I think it came out to around $15 US on the Orlik webshop. And it took only a week to ship from Poland to the US.

[BalticSwimmer]

I have finished the skelington.

The instructions suggest gluing 3mm wide strips of thin paper to the edges each rib, former and keel. A guy on another website suggested filling the spaces between the ribs with planting foam. I can see the immediate benefits, but isn't planting foam acidic?

Is filling the gaps the only way to prevent the starved cattle look on the hull?

[BalticSwimmer]

Double.post

[Wyvern]

Looks like you’re off to a great start on your hull.

Wyvern

[jaffro]

I'd recommend going with the "joiner" strips on the ribs, it gives you a better surface area to glue to. As for the filler and "starved cattle" situation, that's up to you. Some people use expanding foam then cut/file/sand it back to the shape of the hull/ribs. The "starved cattle" look can also be caused by the type of glue you use, some white glue has a tendency to warp/shrink while drying. Just take your time and try to brace your parts as the glue dries. For hull plates, one technique I used was to place thicker card over the join and hold it in place with rubber bands.

I've only built one ship, to be honest the starved cattle look doesn't bother me. As someone pointed out to me years ago, a lot of real life ships have less than perfect shapes along the sides after years of battering by the elements etc, I guess it comes down to how perfect you want your model to look.

Along with asking questions, read as many build threads as you can, as I'm sure you do already, they're always full of handy hints, tips and techniques. But by all means, feel free to ask as many questions as you like, there's no shortage of talented experts here, especially when it comes to ships, and they're always happy to help out.

Good luck with the build, I look forward to seeing how it comes along.

[BalticSwimmer]

What a mess. Lots of seems to fill, and I attempted filling the depressed hull between the ribs with Bondo. Giant fail. I'll need to repaint the hull once all the parts are on. Not a big deal, but I'll need to find stencils to redo the ship number.

Oof. Why did I think this would be as easy as plastic kits?





I can fix this. All is not lost.

[southwestforests]

That brings to mind that my Dad was USN for 28 years during the cold war.
Most of the ships he was on were updated 'WW2 leftovers' as we called them. Out of that 28 years just shy of literally half of it was spent actually out at sea.
I remember going down to the piers to watch his ships leave and return.
2 in particular, USS Glennon, DD-840, and USS Vulcan, AR-5, I remember having the "starved cattle" look when at certain angles to the light;
and, having multiple tones and sheens visible in the grey paint along the hull side.

That memory is probably the strongest because those were the last 2 ships he was aboard and were during my middle school and high school years.

I definitely remember counting 6 discernibly different tones/sheens of grey one time.
Forget which ship, but do remember that!

Same on the "starved cattle" being obvious in certain light angles for a whole bunch of the other ships I've ever seen. And, on smooth side railroad passenger cars too. Also in the smooth sheet metal areas of the Amtrak Superliner cars.

If that look is in-your-face obvious on the paper model that's probably too intense, true.
But oh yes, it is there in real life when ship hulls are not skinned with armor plate.

Hmm, what I don't know is how apparent, or not, it would be on a large wooden hull.

? What's the hull made from on the real OP-204?

Originally Posted by jaffro

I'd recommend going with the "joiner" strips on the ribs, it gives you a better surface area to glue to. As for the filler and "starved cattle" situation, that's up to you. Some people use expanding foam then cut/file/sand it back to the shape of the hull/ribs. The "starved cattle" look can also be caused by the type of glue you use, some white glue has a tendency to warp/shrink while drying. Just take your time and try to brace your parts as the glue dries. For hull plates, one technique I used was to place thicker card over the join and hold it in place with rubber bands.

I've only built one ship, to be honest the starved cattle look doesn't bother me. As someone pointed out to me years ago, a lot of real life ships have less than perfect shapes along the sides after years of battering by the elements etc, I guess it comes down to how perfect you want your model to look.