Aurora - 1:200

[Wiltshiresaint]

After a long time spent admiring the models here, I'm finally biting the bullet and building my first kit.

I've chosen a ship from my favourite era, Aurora, the famous pre-dreadnought era Russian cruiser. I was lucky enough to see her in St Petersburg and although I didn't have time to get aboard she was still quite a pretty sight.

I'm constructing her from a Polish kit at 1:200 scale. This scale appeals since it should end up with an impressive looking model with plenty of detail.

This is my first real attempt at kit construction and I'm sure I'll make lots of mistakes. My posts will undoubtedly be sporadic, and I'm not even sure I'll stay the course, but I'll give it a good shot.

Hopefully, any other beginners looking in will learn from my errors, and I might pick up some good advice along the way.

[Hambone]

Hi wiltshiresaint,

Welcome to the fantastic world of paper ship building! I think you will do fine with your first attempt. If as you say you have spent some time here admiring models you'r sure to have picked up some good pointers. When I started my first paper ship model, I just knew I could not make it look as the pictures did. Much to my surprise it did. That model was Wilhemshavern's Schleswig-Holstein. The only advice I can give you when you start is to keep your knife blade sharp, study the pictures and diagrams, go slow, and think it through. If something dosn't make sence or is hard to understand, Ask. There are many modelers out here who I am sure will help you. I for one want you to succeed for this is so much fun. I want you to experiance that feeling you get when your friends come over and say, "Is that paper".

Respectfully,
Dennis

[jimkrauzlis]

Ahoy, Wiltshiresaint!

I'm so very glad you've decided to take the plunge on this new build thread! As Dennis suggested, take it slow, keep your blades sharp (it's surprising how quickly they loose their edge, usually at the wrong time) and enjoy yourself above all.

I saw this ship at a time when the historic city was known as Leningrad, in the late '70s. It was winter and very grey, but the beautiful architecture was very evident. I didn't get a chance to take a tour, but she was a very distinctive sentinal sitting at berth...quite an impressive sight!

I look forward to seeing your progress on this build and hope you have fun in the process...just be sure to study the diagrams and envision the build sequence in your head before you start, that helps to uncover potential problems along the way.

Cheers!
Jim

[Papercut]

Hello and welcome Wiltshiresaint. I for one am pleased to see this one being done here. I too am a fan of those wonderful Russian Dreadnoughts. I have amassed a collection of them and I have looked @ the Maly kit which is a out of production kit w/a out of site price. So I guess I will wait until a newer version is available to add to my collection. I also like the History behind this vessel, it is for no reason the Russian powers that be have maintained this Grand Ole Lady of the Sea. Look forward to your build. :DRick

[Don Boose]

Lookign forward to watching this build.

Don

[redhorse]

This should be quite interesting, I'm very much looking forward to this.

[Michael Mash]

Welcome Wiltshiresaint,
It will be a pleasure to watch you build this one.
Mike

[Wiltshiresaint]

Thanks for the kind words. I really find this forum inspirational.

Onwards with Aurora. The instructions for the kit are in Polish with no translation but the diagrams seem clear enough, so my first task was to set about forming the hull.

I used Spray Mount to glue (laminate?) the sheets with the relevant parts on them to 1mm thick board. Then, once dry, I started to cut them out. To begin with I used an Excel scalpel for this but it was a long process and quite tricky. The first two pieces took me about 15 minutes each, and it was a painful process with such thick card - blisters were forming

Then I had a brainwave - use scissors This was much more successful and the parts were coming away a lot cleaner looking. I was worried about accuracy but it was actually easier to achieve an accurate cut with this method. I still used the scalpel for the smaller cuts that were required where former meets former but managed to complete the process in a couple of days.

Now assembled, the hull formers are already giving me a good idea of the scale of the ship. I may need to 'fine tune' the hull with a scalpel once hull plating commences, particularly at the bow where a 'deck' seems to protrude further than it should, but otherwise this was quite straightforward. That said, I'm very envious of those kits that have laser cut hull formers. Can anyone tell me, is it the case that these come as standard or are they purchased in addition to the basic kit?

[Hambone]

Hello Wiltshiresaint,

Your hull formers are looking real good . I noticed that you have beveled the bow on both sides, good job. I have glued several different grades of sandpaper onto wooden sticks and use these to shape the former edges, angled forward or backword, depending on weather you'r working on bow or stern. Popsicle sticks work great for this. The're small and easy to handle and control.

Unfortunately lazer cut hull formers are an additional cost but for me are well worth the extre money. I know how painfull your hands can be after cutting all the formers. www.gpm.pl/eng/ sometimes runs a special on ship & former combos. I to have this same model of Aurora in my too be built stack. I've searched high and low, but there are no lazer cut frams for this model :(.

Keep up the good work, you are doing great!

Respectfully,
Dennis

[jimkrauzlis]

Greetings, Wiltshiresaint!

You did an excellent job on the framing...I'll have to try using scissors the next time I cut our laminated sheets like this, always thought it would be very tough to cut with scissors so I just plod through using my exacto blade...goes through a lot of blades, though, to keep a sharp edge.

Looking forward to seeing more when you have the chance.

Cheers!
Jim