3D Hull Core For HMV Agassiz

[PaperLab]

Arguably it’s not something for every card modeler out there either because of philosophical or financial reasons but for those few willing to give it a try I have something new I’ve recently developed and tested for the HMCS Agassiz model published by HMV a few months ago.

I call it 3D Hull Core, it is 3D printed hull form and is intended as replacement for the internal hull frames allowing easier assembly and higher quality surfaces to be obtained by elimination of wavy and saggy hull sides and decks. I tested it myself and it works like a dream. You can see it on attached images.

There is a leaflet showing the assembly process on Paper Lab Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/PaperLabPublishing/
Unfortunately Paper Lab regular website is still under reconstruction and all this info is not available there. It will as soon as I can complete it’s redesign, which should happen within a week or two.

3D Hull Core is already available form Paper Lab Shapeways store here: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/paper-lab

BTW if you have an opinion on this matter I would be very interested to hear it or even better if you tried my Core I hope you’d share your impressions.:)

Darius

[Don Boose]

It is a beautiful hull. I can see that some would prefer to build the entire model out of paper, but I can also see how many modelers would welcome this innovation.

Don

[Wilfried]

It is a beautiful hull. I can see that some would prefer to build the entire model out of paper, but I can also see how many modelers would welcome this innovation.

Don

Sure, Don,
sounds like a simple way to create a perfect hull - reminds me when I glued prefabricated plastic models on a high level together.
It's my philosophy to use my brain and my fingers - to be trained with my fine motor skills. If we go further on the 3dway we will put the cardmodeling into the grave like any other nice things .. :)
I hope the next cardmodel will be released as a 3D one ...

kind regards
Wilfried

[herky]

looks great but would add heaps to postage of models from overseas which in case of nz is everywhere.great if you have the gear at home to do it

[PaperLab]

Herky, you probably right about shipping cost to NZ as the Shapeways facilities are located in New York and Netherlands only so basically model builders in Europe and North America can benefit the most.

Darius

[herky]

Herky, you probably right about shipping cost to NZ as the Shapeways facilities are located in New York and Netherlands only so basically model builders in Europe and North America can benefit the most.

Darius

yup i dont buy laser parts for the same reason.makes papermodelling expensive over here

[dirtbilly1]

two questions
how many models is option available for?
how much money are we talking about?

[elliott]

Following the link provided in the first post here Paper Lab by PaperLab - Shapeways Shops (http://www.shapeways.com/shops/paper-lab) yields two answers:
Available only for the Agassiz right now.
$35.00

[PaperLab]

In my opinion the price is it’s weakest point but that’s how much Shapeways charges for their services, I have only tiny slice out of it and minimal influence over the cost calculation. Hopefully sometime in the future those prices can come down, but I doubt anything happening anytime soon.

As for other models, this was planned for another thread but since you asked...:)

I am currently busy working on another waterline model for the HMV; USS England DE-635. It’s going to be your typical paper model where, with the exception of few wires, 99% of it can be made out of of paper. It will also allow, as a side option, to build all the internal formers from laser cut 1 mm thick card and of course special edition of another 3D Hull Core.

In fact I’m hoping to offer 3D Cores for all my future projects.

Darius

[herky]

In my opinion the price is it’s weakest point but that’s how much Shapeways charges for their services, I have only tiny slice out of it and minimal influence over the cost calculation. Hopefully sometime in the future those prices can come down, but I doubt anything happening anytime soon.

As for other models, this was planned for another thread but since you asked...:)

I am currently busy working on another waterline model for the HMV; USS England DE-635. It’s going to be your typical paper model where, with the exception of few wires, 99% of it can be made out of of paper. It will also allow, as a side option, to build all the internal formers from laser cut 1 mm thick card and of course special edition of another 3D Hull Core.

In fact I’m hoping to offer 3D Cores for all my future projects.

Darius
as i said the price plus postage to nz makes it an expensive model.i will be very interested in your new card model you are working on if its going to availible to purchase either as a printed model or a download.1 quick question what scale will it be?

[PaperLab]

Hi Herky, England is going to be released in printed format. The scale is 1/250 which is typical for models published by HMV.

Darius

[herky]

Hi Herky, England is going to be released in printed format. The scale is 1/250 which is typical for models published by HMV.

Darius

yup missed reading hmv in your post.i look forward to buying paper model when its realeased:)

[PaperLab]

Another tidbit for the unconventional paper modelers....New items just become available through our Paper Lab store front at Shapeways. 4 sprues each containing different upgrade plastic parts for 1/250 paper model of HMCS Agassiz published by HMV. Each sprue can be ordered separately so if interested, get only those you find useful. Numbers on sprue correspond to paper items being replaced.
Please visit us here: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/paper-lab
These are most likely my last products related to Agassiz. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if some metal upgrades sets appeared in the not so distant future. For now I’m giving my full attention to new stuff still under development.
Happy modeling.

Darius

[PaperLab]

Here are the remaining 2 sets.

Darius

[douglasmarrel]

Nice accessories there! Very high quality and detail.

[PaperLab]

Thank you. Each of my new paper models I am working on, although can entirely be made out of paper, will also offer this type of upgrade parts.

[VinceM]

The single part I have the most trouble with on my ship models are the ventilation funnels. I'm not building the Agassiz, but I would pay just to get a variety of those.

[PaperLab]

Yeah, they could be very hard to model in paper. There are plethora of different forms and sizes and those from Agassiz could make good substitution to a very few types. I’ve been considered doing some generic cowl vents but so far haven’t got around to make any progress...

[herky]

my pet hate is davits

[PaperLab]

Sorry Herky but this far I haven’t included any davits into my upgrade sets. You are stuck with paper I’m afraid, unless you find some other source...:)

[herky]

Sorry Herky but this far I haven’t included any davits into my upgrade sets. You are stuck with paper I’m afraid, unless you find some other source...:)

no i understand this.most davits are different from ship to ship and i would rather remain true to card parts only.still i hate davits:)

[RAYSVEN]

The 3D core sounds a natural extension to laser cut part, brass gun barrels and photo etching, not every ones cup of tea but useful. I personally like the vents and winches, something I have been playing with in my very rare spare time. as Herky said cost to the the rest of the world is high, any chance in selling the stl files to those who have 3D printer access, or find some on to market them down here?

[PaperLab]

Good points Raysven. Stl files are proprietary so selling them I would have to ask a lot more than the part itself. But looking at some options, I guess it might be possible allowing local service bureau to print one or two copies on demand. If you got one near by and their service is less than Shapeways you should contact me privately and we'll try arranging something.

[PaperLab]

Just wanted to let you know, today is Cyber Monday and all parts are 25% off plus free shipping. When ordering please enter code; SMALLBIZMONDAY at the checkout. Happy modeling.
Paper Lab Shop is here: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/paper-lab

Darius

[drg]

Darius, I got here from your link in my Corvette thread. I saw the 3D printed hull a while ago, but didn’t realise it was yours. It’s a great idea, as are the cast detail parts, but for me personally a paper model should be as near 100% paper as possible. Having said that, if the price of getting the hull perfect is to use a bit of plastic, well....hmmm!

Having closely spaced, laser-cut card hull structures might be a good compromise, since it might reduce the inevitable tolerance stack of standard hand-cut, sparse spaced versions, while giving more surface area for glueing. I’ve only built 3 card models, all HMV, so apologies if this is already an established technique.

BTW, just out of interest, is the Corvette hull available as a downloadable .stl file? I have a 3D printer and would be intrigued to see if the spare hull sides I have fit into it.

Cheers!

[PaperLab]

Big majority of people fiddling with paper models are perfectly OK staying with paper almost exclusively. I like it too. But there is a number of us, as a hard core scratch builder I include myself in this group too, who don't mind punching through old traditions...:)

I'm hoping to have 3D printed hull plugs for all my future models. They probably look differently than initial attempt at Agassiz but the idea is the same. Nicely executed hull is critical to the success of the entire model. In your case you arrived to very high quality without too much fuss, others might not, this gives them little helping hand and after all it's hidden inside so doesn't spoil paper composition. I also like it because it speeds up whole assembly process, gives the model some heft and makes it feel solid when handling.

Having said all that, I'm considering adding laser cut frames ( .5 mm thick card stock ) too, making hull building easier fro all those who prefer pure paper....:)

3D hull core is a little commercial product of mine so releasing stl file to public would be rather counterproductive...:) sorry.

Darius

[twotter]

Was any specific glue used to bond the paper to the 3D printed hull ?

[PaperLab]

Hi Twotter,

if you look at my first post you'll see photos showing all glue types I tested with the hull core and they all work. It's probably safe to say that if the glue is good in bonding paper it should also be effective bonding paper to the hull core. Even the water based glues seems to work just fine and that's what I used making my sample...

Darius

[twotter]

Thank you, Darius.

[rporter]

I have always been interested in the Flower class and the Agassiz model really caught my eye. Have some basic skills with paper models but I sure am glad I ordered the Shapeways hull. The decks must be perfect to have a solid structure and anyone who can do that with the egg crate structure is much better than am I. Two things, the Shapeways hull must be sanded to remove the ridges from the surface because they will telegraph through the paper when glued on the hull and I needed a lot of dry fitting of the paper parts. At this scale accuracy and attention to line is vital. I cut the front of the main deck sliver by sliver to get the aft end of the paper perfect with the hull. I used regular Elmer’s glue with no problems so far. I know I will order the laser parts and I might order the Shapeways deck fitting. I think it is going to be one of my best efforts.

[jaffro]

Just my 2 cents on the whole shapeways thing, and 3D printing in paper modeling...

I am a modeler, I prefer paper as my main medium, I only buy paper kits, however I'm perfectly OK with using whatever medium I require to achieve a nice looking model.

On my current build of the Millennium Falcon, I looked into buying a couple of detail parts from shapeways, parts that didn't appear too easy to build from scratch in paper. The thing that put me off was the price. Although I finally convinced myself to buy them anyway, seeing as I was already using a free kit as the base for my model, it was the postage that stopped me in my tracks... $25AUD just for postage, for some tiny little parts that would fit in a standard envelope.

Speaking for myself, I fell in love with this hobby for many reasons but one of the big ones was the availability of free models and the cost of commercial kits compared to the prices of plastic kits. I think this is the case for a lot of modelers who enjoy this hobby.

While I would love to buy some 3D printed parts to enhance my models, I think the whole 3D printing scene still has a long way to go until it's going to reach a price point that's more accessible to the average modeler.

[PaperLab]

Hi Rporter,

thank you for purchasing 3d hull from my Shapeways store. I think you bought upgrade sets too. Thanks.
If this is your first time with this type of material I would suggest to:
1. Expose it to UV light for few hours under uv lamp or sun
2. Wash with dishwashing detergent diluted in water using soft toothbrush and than rinse under running cold water
3. Let it dry, no hair dryers of any kind, and finally proceed with some sanding and polishing where required.

You are absolutely right about the deck surfaces. Personally I'd prefer using modeling putty and than sanding it flat rather than dry sanding printed surfaces. It might be slightly easier this way.
Anyways, good luck with your project. It's a hobby as long as you get a kick out of it...

Darius

[rporter]

For me the Shapeways was a better deal. I looked at the laser parts and detail parts from Germany and postage was high for stuff that could fit in an envelope. I think Shapeways prints in the US which helps a lot on the postage.

I sanded my hull flat, would have used putty but could not find any and did not want to drive to the store. Still got slight telegraph on upper deck but you really have to look for it. Decks fit perfectly. Now working on the sides using the extra parts. The upper deck on the real ship is all one welded unit so there is a paper lip overhanging the hull and the sides butt up from underneath. Not easy and only get one time with glue. Still fun interesting model. I am not a paper only person and will use what works. The first vent might be fun to make in paper but not 10 so glad parts available.

I have used Shapeways before. I also model nn3 railroad and that’s tiny.
Did notice that the hull had a slight bow in it but that flattened out in a couple of days.

[rporter]

Little tip to be aware of. The first side looks good but the open deck was a little low and I trimmed the inner deck sides to match. That was an error and the other side was installed lining deck and paper looking against a light to see both the core edge and the paper lines. Much better.

[PaperLab]

Hi rporter

just found out your post. Have any photos to help understand the issue described...? Thanks


Little tip to be aware of. The first side looks good but the open deck was a little low and I trimmed the inner deck sides to match. That was an error and the other side was installed lining deck and paper looking against a light to see both the core edge and the paper lines. Much better.

[rporter]

The error was mine, I was careless about placement of the paper. The hull was correct.