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  #1  
Old 02-19-2023, 11:45 AM
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Knife Knife is offline
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This is how I do it. My techniques

I’m building a 1/200 scale Graf Zeppelin II. It’s a slight modification based on Alin Osarik‘s Hindenburg. It was a free download, but as far as I know it’s no longer available other than on pirate sites which I DO NOT recommend using. So if anyone has a legitimate download site please post it here. The file has 59 pages, of which 50 pages are parts. Half the pages are for the inner structure, the others are the outer fuselage and pods. Anyway while building this model I can demonstrate some of the techniques I have picked up through the years.

First, let’s look at my most used tools. For cutting I have a couple of exacto knives and a pair of Frisker spring loaded scissors. I bought a pack of 100 exacto blades from Amazon a couple of years ago. It is a good investment since I have about half the pack left. Without a sharp blade, you are tearing rather than cutting the paper. The spring loaded scissors are far better than regular scissors, much easier to use and less fatiguing on your fingers. I use a seam ripper to crease the fold lines. The small crochet needle is used to press together glued parts to make sure they have good adhesion. I use a small round needle file to roll small parts such as tubes and such. Small tweezers keep my dirty glue laiden fingers off parts. I have a couple of tools with ball ends to press seams together. For straight edges I use a steel ruler for long cuts, and left over plastic hotel keys or gift cards for small cuts. For glue I use Aleene’s tacky glue and super glue from the local Dollar Tree store. I use magnets from Harbor Freight to attach models to their stands, or wherever I want parts to be removable. Finally, a good sipping whiskey helps to time pass. I have a stand up work bench that I put a beveled glass top on, very useful for sharp cuts and bending folds.
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This is how I do it.  My techniques-a3ab856f-0ddf-42e4-a582-6949f04a181b.jpg  
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Old 02-19-2023, 12:35 PM
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Knife Knife is offline
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I was very lucky, and found a laser printer at a second hand shop for $15. Bargains are out there, often in unexpected places. So keep you eyes open and imagination stirring. Since most of free downloads come from the civilized metric part of the world, I get A4 cardstock from Amazon, currently using 65lb thickness. It is thick enough to provide sufficient support for most models. I also use 85lb U.S. letter size cardstock from Walmart for letter size designs. For parts that need to be laminated for reinforcement I use Presentation Board from Office Depot. It’s just about 1mm thick so works great for internal structures. However, for this build I’m using triple fold insulation foam from Lowe’s Hardware stores. It is cheaper and I can cut the meter long internal formers from a single piece.

After I print out the pages, I spray them with a light coating of clear gloss spray paint. This helps to seal the paper. It may keep dot matrix prints from running, but most importantly I can wipe my glue smeared fingerprints off the model once completed.

For this build I wanted a metallic sheen to the fuselage. So after I sprayed the clear on, I pored some acrylic silver paint on the sheets and rubbed it in with a paper towel. It helped darken the parts and with a little buffing from the towel gives it a slight metallic shine.
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This is how I do it.  My techniques-608a420e-96a2-4a90-8755-56fb0cc1e7c1.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-f5151041-714e-47e6-94e5-6799ffa8ed78.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-3241b392-0876-4320-82a5-7bae5f966e1c.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-9b7faf33-c10b-4560-a0e8-0e480353e6fc.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-ca7b8370-4c21-44e3-9009-8b343cbc74ae.jpg  

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Old 02-19-2023, 12:55 PM
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Knife Knife is offline
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I taped off the areas that I did not want to darken, such as the yellow stripe on the fuselage. I had a little silver bleed through but since the paper was sealed I’m able to clean it up with a little siliva and a q-tip. I’m going to cut out all the windows and hopefully put in some LED lighting. Using a backlight, I put super glue around the areas that I will cut out. This makes the cut lines sharper once cut and makes the window frames stronger prior to cutting.
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This is how I do it.  My techniques-b6bab472-01b5-429f-b42e-1089ab1536b9.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-68a6dbad-455f-4ac1-bdb4-67290cfc149a.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-8a1bc77a-d962-4db6-a99f-8c11f0dc63c1.jpg  
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Old 02-19-2023, 10:34 PM
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The attached PDF have all the panels that needed to be modified to turn the Hindenburg into her sister ship the Graf Zeppelin II. Just needed to change the registration number and name. I also found a section where Alan had placed the yellow belly strip in the wrong location and fixed that too. I used InkScape to load the original PDF file, then converted and saved it to a PNG format. I then loaded the PNG file into Paint.Net to apply the new graphics and erase the old markings. I then reloaded the PNG file back into InkScape to convert it back to a PDF file for printing. You can just use InkScape to accomplish all this, I'm just more comfortable using Paint.Net for repainting.
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File Type: pdf Printable mods PDF.pdf (3.00 MB, 40 views)
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Old 02-20-2023, 05:15 AM
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CharlieC CharlieC is offline
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If there's interest in the Hindenberg model I can put it on the Landships website.

Notionally landships.info is WW! and interwar vehicles but there's a number of other things as well.

Regards,

Charlie
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Old 02-21-2023, 09:12 AM
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Knife Knife is offline
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Personally, I have no problem with that, since it was given out freely in the past. Much better to have it available freely on a reputable site than on pirate sites or (worse) being sold by Chinese merchants on EBay and etsy. But much like UHU02 has done with his designs, the ultimate call to make his/her models available must be the creator of the model. I think that is pretty much the conclusion of this community.



That being said, shoutout to the Landship II website, lots of cool models over there for download and building.


www.landships.info
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  #7  
Old 02-21-2023, 07:30 PM
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CharlieC CharlieC is offline
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The LZ 129 Hindenberg model is now on the Landships website.

URL: Landships II.

Select designer's name - "Alin Osarik".

Bit complicated because I had problems with websites direct linking the model files whereas I wanted to acknowledge the designers.

I've also included the file of modifications to make an LZ 130 model

Regards,

Charlie
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Old 02-21-2023, 08:49 PM
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Knife Knife is offline
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Thank you very much, CharlieC.

The internal frame is designed to use 1mm heavy cardstock. Not having that much on hand, I opted to use insulating foam board instead. That makes the frame pieces about 1/4” thick so the joining slots need to be enlarged accordingly. The parts pages were attached to the foam board with spray on adhesive. Then it’s just a matter of cutting the pieces out and gluing them together. I used a hot glue gun for the foam to foam gluing. I try to cut the parts out close to the printed lines. But in the end you don’t have to be too precise, the external fuselage parts will only attach to this frame in a couple of places. The exterior is pretty much a monocoque shell and doesn’t rely on the frame for its shape. When you get the frame assembled you realize just what a behemoth these ships were.
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This is how I do it.  My techniques-9c022695-06da-4089-8293-4282e6662c65.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-1a9d447a-bc12-42ea-bab8-6ed706847e7c.jpg   This is how I do it.  My techniques-5a000fa0-9a0e-48bc-ba51-82aa56d24e01.jpg  
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  #9  
Old 02-21-2023, 09:09 PM
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Knife Knife is offline
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Feel free to post my modifications page on the Landships website. Like I said, one of the panels in the original model has a misprint on one of its pages which is fixed on my pdf file.
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Old 02-22-2023, 02:38 AM
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CharlieC CharlieC is offline
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The things your memory throws up ...

My father saw LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin when it flew over Scotland in the 1920s. He was only a child at the time but it made such an impression the memory stayed with him all his life.

Charlie
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