Just joined today!

[Bill Short]

Hi folks,

I live in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario Canada and build wooden ship models. As a break from this I was considering a card model.

Several questions come to mind. What is the 'laminating process' mentioned in some instructions? How is that done?

Where do you purchase the thicker card stocks needed for the superstructure of say a ship model?

Is an ink jet printer sufficient to print out colour plans?

Many thanks for your help.

Regards,
Bill

[dansls1]

Welcome! Feel free to post pictures of the wooden ship models, while the forum is about paper we generally appreciate modelling of all types (and wood is close to paper than plastic ).

As for the questions, laminating is gluing a pattern (generally for a structural former) to cardboard, card or thicker stock. I prefer using 3m type 77 spray glue for this, and personally stack card stock to the correct thickness rather than using cardboard - because it cuts easier.
Thick stock can be purchased from any of the Staples type office-supply places, sometimes at Walmart / K-mart and the like and of course there are online sources.
In general, I think most who print digital models use ink jet printers. Some use color laser, but I've read varying reports - sometimes the ink will flake upon cutting or shaping.
Hope that helps, and I'm sure you'll get a few more answers with varying input

[akremedy]

Welcome Bill - is that one of your wooden ship models being used as your profile picture? If so, I'd love to see what the rest of it looks like!

Briefly, the laminating process is generally achieved by layering the printed copy (perhaps a former or some structural piece) to a thicker piece of stock (index, matte board, cereal box, etc) to add bulk/strength to the part. I personally like to use spray adhesive for this as it doesn't cause the parts to deform and I get even adhesion over the entire part. Also, I don't do my final trimming until after laminating. Check this thread out for great info on laminating: Laminating template to cardboard

Purchasing thicker card stock: folks have to discussing a lot lately obtaining scrap matte board from framing shops for free (or nearly free). I collect scraps of tight grain, high quality cardboard as I come across them - this includes certain notepad backers, cardboard boxes and packing material (i.e.: tea boxes, food boxes, the cardboard that is sometimes stuffed inside a new shirt, etc). You can purchase cardboard in thicknesses of .5mm, 1mm, etc, but it's kind of pricey when there is so much that can simply be recycled. Just remember to laminate to the "clean" side...you don't want an otherwise perfect carrier flight deck ruined with a "Cheerios" logo ghosting through.

An inkjet is perfect - they vary a lot...some are genuinely better than others (ink chemestry, color trueness, etc). I'm quite happy with my $30 "disposable" HP-D2400 series as I find that the quality of paper is generally a bigger factor in image quality and color representation.

Best regards,
Adam

[birder]

Welcome! The above comments are most helpful. I use 67 lb cover stock for paper models, and for formers laminate to heavier card. I started with cereal box card and still use it for some things, but have scrounged some approx 1mm and 2mm card from packaging materials. I like to keep cardmodeling inexpensive as poss, because it adds to the draw for me. Simple tools, blades, scoring tool, ect, simple glue. Lots of fun!

[ccoyle]

Friends,

Bill is well known to the wooden ship modeling community. If his card models are as good as his carvings, we are all in for a treat. Welcome, Bill, and I'm looking forward to seeing your work.

Cheers!

[RyanShort]

Well, I don't know if there's any relation, but welcome from another Short on the board.

Ryan Short

[Jim Nunn]

Welcome Bill.

There are quite a few wood ship builders on the forum and several members and ex members of the So Cal SMA are on the forum (I’m an ex member of the SMA) so you are in good company.

Perhaps a look at the “Decoder Ring” from a commercial model will help explain the laminating of the parts. The first scan is from a Modelik kit and is typical of most kits. The number of asterisks tells you the thickness of the backing card stock. This particular kit is somewhat unusual in that it requires 1.5 mm stock. Most models use .5, 1 and 2 mm backing stock.

The second scan of some of the parts from the kit.

The .2 mm stock is generally the same as what the kit is printed on which is 67 lb card stock. I make my own backing stock by laminating two 67lb sheets for .5 mm and four sheets for 1 mm. As others have pointed out 3M 77 spray glue is the best for this job.

Jim Nunn

[Bill Short]

Hi Dan,

Many thanks for your quick reply. As soon as I figure out how to post a picture, I will send one of my Sovereign of the Seas stern with work to date. Thanks for the explanations on card stock and printing.

Regards,
Bill

[Bill Short]

Originally Posted by akremedy

Welcome Bill - is that one of your wooden ship models being used as your profile picture? If so, I'd love to see what the rest of it looks like!

Briefly, the laminating process is generally achieved by layering the printed copy (perhaps a former or some structural piece) to a thicker piece of stock (index, matte board, cereal box, etc) to add bulk/strength to the part. I personally like to use spray adhesive for this as it doesn't cause the parts to deform and I get even adhesion over the entire part. Also, I don't do my final trimming until after laminating. Check this thread out for great info on laminating: Laminating template to cardboard

Purchasing thicker card stock: folks have to discussing a lot lately obtaining scrap matte board from framing shops for free (or nearly free). I collect scraps of tight grain, high quality cardboard as I come across them - this includes certain notepad backers, cardboard boxes and packing material (i.e.: tea boxes, food boxes, the cardboard that is sometimes stuffed inside a new shirt, etc). You can purchase cardboard in thicknesses of .5mm, 1mm, etc, but it's kind of pricey when there is so much that can simply be recycled. Just remember to laminate to the "clean" side...you don't want an otherwise perfect carrier flight deck ruined with a "Cheerios" logo ghosting through.

An inkjet is perfect - they vary a lot...some are genuinely better than others (ink chemestry, color trueness, etc). I'm quite happy with my $30 "disposable" HP-D2400 series as I find that the quality of paper is generally a bigger factor in image quality and color representation.

Best regards,
Adam

Hi Adam. Thanks for your quick reply and detailed explanations. I really appreciate that.

Regards,
Bill

[Bill Short]

Originally Posted by birder

Welcome! The above comments are most helpful. I use 67 lb cover stock for paper models, and for formers laminate to heavier card. I started with cereal box card and still use it for some things, but have scrounged some approx 1mm and 2mm card from packaging materials. I like to keep cardmodeling inexpensive as poss, because it adds to the draw for me. Simple tools, blades, scoring tool, ect, simple glue. Lots of fun!

Hi Glen,

Thanks for your reply as well. I am getting excellent feedback and a warm welcome.

Regards,
Bill