Bluethroat - Johan Scherft

[Kevin WS]

Part 1

In this part of the build, I have taken a lot of pictures, as in line with what was discussed above I want to show how easy it really is to make the body if you work slowly and carefully and use the tips and techniques outlined in the posts above.

And there is really not a lot to say, as I want the pictures to speak for themselves!

Picture 1 below has each of the sets of tabs labelled in the order that I glued them. This sequence worked out fine, as you can see.



As you look at the sequence of pictures below refer to Picture 1 – you will then see the effect that glueing the corresponding numbered tab/s have in shaping the body. It also becomes clear how often small tabs can have a major effect – that’s why it is important to be accurate, wait for the tabs to dry, and “shape”/burnish the body bit if necessary, to get the next tab sitting in place and tight.

So off we go….

Picture 2 - The flat part waiting for the first tab to be glued.

Picture 3 – Tab 1 glued. Note how glueing the one tab has such a major effect already on the body.

Picture 4 – Tabs 2 and 3 glued.

Picture 5 – Tab 4 glued.

Picture 6 – Tab 5 glued.

Picture 7 – The body shape at this stage viewed from the front.

Picture 8 – Tab 6 glued.

Picture 9 – Tabs 7 and 8 glued.

Picture 10 – Tab 9 was then glued, followed by Tab 10. Tabs 10 should be reinforced inside with scrap paper as Erik suggested in his post above. All the tabs for this build stage are now glued

Picture 11 - The body shape at this stage viewed from the front. There is a slight lean, as the left side (viewed from the front) is standing proud on its side tabs which will join the body together.

Notice how glueing the tabs at each stage rounded the body more. The roundness has also been considerably enhanced by constant burnishing.

Next step – maybe carry on with the body or take a break and do some other part! I’ll see!

[Kevin WS]

Heres another way of looking at it come together.

Picture 1 below has each of the sets of tabs labelled in the order that I glued them.



Picture 2 shows the change in the body as the tabs are glued. The numbers of the tabs that have just been glued are shown in each picture.

Remember that before Tab 1 was glued, the paper was flat!

[eatcrow2]

Wonderful series of photos showing the process!

[Kevin WS]

Thank you eatcrow2!

The colours in my last post are very very odd - this is due to the screen capture program causing that strange colour cast.

I will put finishing off the body up shortly - the real world has intruded right now!

[Kevin WS]

Part 2

The next step is to finally join the two halves of the body along the open edge.

Picture 1 - This was the inside of the body before joining. If you look carefully you will see a number of reinforcing strips (80grm or thin paper), that have been glued in place along some of the joints.

Picture 2 - The next step is to glue back the two locating tabs for the dowel wing supports that will follow in due course. The tips of the supports (the pieces with the holes in them) are bent back and not glued in place.

Pictures 3 and 4 - The body must be shaped further before joining, to bring the open edges closer. I used my fingers and a large burnishing tool to achieve this.

Picture 5 - Start by joining the body at the neck. Tab 1 glued. This picture also illustrates the method of "tab flipping" I discussed earlier.

Pictures 6 and 7 - The next tab flipped as Tab 2 is now glued as well.

Picture 8 - Flipping the tabs back for glueing is easily done by "rolling" them back with a pair of tweezers.

Pictures 9 and 10 - This shows the body after the final two tabs have been joined.


PART 3 below is a continuation of this section of the build.

[Kevin WS]

Part 3.

Once the body has fully dried, it should then be shaped and rounded further - again using burnishing tools and fingers.

Any weak spots can be reinforced inside with a layer of white glue.

Pictures 1 to 5 shows the body now finished and now also shaped.

The tweezers are there to hold the body up, as it is now round enough to roll over if unsupported!

Note in Picture 1 holes are evident midway along on either side. This is where the legs will be inserted.

Next steps will be to make the tail cone and then the tail itself.

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I hope this sequence of pictures describing how a typical body is made and how gradually gets its shape, will now inspire some other modellers to have a go!

[Kevin WS]

One last picture of the body at this stage (forgot to include it yesterday) just to show the scale of the body - it is small but not that small, given it still needs the head and tail parts to be added!

[Erik Zwaan]

That’s looking good Kevin! The body remains fragile, especially when placing the head at some point in time. It’s recommendable to reinforce the inside collar by gluing an additional stretch of paper. Then you can apply just a bit of extra force to push the head accurately in place!

Regards,
Erik

[Kevin WS]

That "collar" is a good idea Erik - never thought of that!

The body still has to have the tail and dowels for the wings inserted - when I have done those I will then reinforce the inside with toilet and white glue as well.

The head is always tricky - which is why I build the body BEFORE the head, and then also dry-fit the head constantly to the body as I make it up. This also avoids the head being too small!

[Kevin WS]

The tail cone is fairly straight forward, but it must be pre-shaped.

Picture 1 shows the single part involved.

This needs to be shaped into a “cone” shape before glueing.

• Use a small dowel, or pencil or other round profiled object, and place the part on the soft edge of your hand (the "karate chop" part of your hand).
• Then holding the dowel – you don’t have to rotate it –you move it from side to side (in an arc to get the cone shape) as you press down on the paper part.
• The bends will easily form, and the part will curl up nicely. The process takes less than 30 seconds.
• Try the above on a piece of scrap and you will soon get the idea – it is quick, easy and effective to form shapes this way.

Pictures 2 to 4 show the technique being used to create the cone – the dowel here is being moved in an arc.

Picture 5 shows the cone nearly formed.

Picture 6 is the cone after shaping – now ready to be glued together. along the one edge.

Picture 7 – After glueing and once the glue is dry, finalise the shaping by rolling the part lengthwise with a dowel, along the joint where it was glued. It's fine to do this on a hard surface and this process will give the cone a decent curve on the join line.

Pictures 8 and 9 show the finished cone, now ready to be joined to the body.