Armed Virginia Sloop - 1:100 - Seahorse

[Vermin_King]

Funny, I had never heard of a Silhouette cutter used for vinyl. I had only seen it used for paper models. There are several folks out there with businesses generating cutfiles for paper model kits.

[catopower]

Vermin_King, that's is funny, because when I bought it, it was specifically being marketed as a vinyl cutter that also cut paper, cloth, and card stock. At the time, I wasn't doing much with paper modeling. I guess it's just a matter of where it's being marketed.

Michael, definitely glad I bought it in order to solve a pretty involved problem with decorations on a wooden model of a Japanese Edo period ship I was building. Made the Cameo worth every penny! Now, I have it to solve these occasional problems, but I would love to be able to take better advantage of its paper cutting capabilities in the future.

[catopower]

I added the swivel gun posts using parts from the optional laser-cut details set, and I also used one of the paper pieces that cover up the face of the posts, so you don't see the multiple layers of paper.

I'm sure this is nothing to paper modelers, as they're used to dealing with tiny parts all the time. In fact, even though this is a 1/100 scale model kit, which is very tiny in the world of wooden ship modeling, in the world of paper ship modeling, this is pretty standard, maybe even on the large size.*And, of course, the kits provide only the exact number of parts needed, so I've already spent a lot of time searching the floor when I dropped one of these a couple days ago.

Mounting the completed swivel gun posts was pretty straight forward, though I had to hunt to find a good image that showed exactly where these go. A rigging plan showed their placement, showing them dead-center between gun ports. For the forward one, I centered between the gun port and the cathead.

If you look closely, you might be able to see that I also added the channels or chain wales. I discovered that it's easy to accidentally put these on upside down and backwards, so I looked carefully at the layout of the notches for the deadeyes. The notch that's closest to the end of the channels belongs at the forward end. The placement also has a notch that fits around the swivel gun post, and fitting the channels confirmed that the swivel gun posts were positioned properly.

[catopower]

Not sure what to do next, I just chose the timber heads. These are kind of rectangular pieces that stick up through the caprail near the bow. They serve as tie-off posts for some lines. The problem I had with these, is that the kit requires that I essentially construct six 6-sided boxes that are probably not much more than about 2mm wide on a side. Now, there are probably some incredible paper modelers here that can do stuff like this – I'm certainly not one of them.

Being a wooden ship model builder by heart, I could have made the parts from wood. But, as this is a paper model, I thought I should take a more multi-media approach, and I happen to have some polymer clay that I've used to make some pretty tiny items. So, I broke out a pack of Premo! polymer clay, which is made by Sculpey. It works the same as Sculpey, but seems to be firmer. I just cut a slice just about 2mm wide, then took that and cut it into some 2mm wide strips. From the strips, I cut small squares.

I did some final shaping of the squares, making them more rectangular by slicing off some excess. Then, I even tried to trim them so they were slightly trapezoidal, but that was hard to do at this size, so I just did my best, put them on a small piece of aluminum foil, and baked the bunch in a toaster oven.

I glued the hardened pieces into place and then painted them, and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

Finally, I finished the rudder by adding the provided paper strips for the rudder irons. There are two sets of parts. Clearly one is for the rudder and the other is for the rudder post. They're not identified in the instructions as to which is which. I kind of guessed that the longer parts were most likely the ones intended for the rudder.

The instructions also called for rolling paper into a 1mm diameter tube to simulate the hinge part of the straps. Again, this is a magical paper modeler spell that I haven't learned to cast yet. So, I just cut pieces of 1mm brass rod and glued them into place instead. I'd like to say it worked great, but it's so small a detail that no one will every be able to see it.

[Ben Duncan]

Using the Sculpey clay was a good idea, worked well for the task. The rest of the ship is looking good!

I'll be soon joining the ranks of card modelers. Just need to finish up another project then I can crack open the HMS Wolf.

[catopower]

Hi Ben,

I didn't recognize you from MSW. Is that the HMS Wolf laser-cut kit? I didn't mention it there yet, but I got the same kit the same time I started this build. I got started, but trying to focus my attention on finishing this kit.

On HMS Wolf, maybe we can compare notes as we go? Looking forward to seeing your build in progress.

[Ben Duncan]

Hi Catopower,

Yes, I'm also on MSW. Yes, It's the laser-cut kit in 1:72. I'm going to post a review of the kit next week maybe, it's really quite nice for the price.

I'm going to start it probably in a month or two. Having an experienced build buddy would be great. My only fear is getting the hull faired and not it lumpy, everything else is more or less like a wooden ship without the sanding.

[catopower]

Hi Ben, I've already started it, but I expect you'll pass me up quick enough. I'm working on a few things at the same time, including this 1/100 AVS kit. We'll check in again on it in a month or two then. Maybe I'll have a build log going by then.

By the way, I ran across a very interesting YouTube video of a talk given by a wooden ship modeler last year about making a wooden ship out of the 1/96 scale version of the HMS Wolf kit, along with the 1/96 scale HMS Alert kit. If you're interested, here's the link: Converting Paper Models to Wood - YouTube

[THE DC]

Originally Posted by catopower

Not sure what to do next, I just chose the timber heads....

This is really coming together! An excellent build and very instructive!


Please keep sharing observations about the kit.


What did you think about the directions? Were they helpful?

[Seahorse]

Hi Catopower,
it is a pleasure to watch your work and progress.
Small and very small parts are a consequence of an unwritten "standard", which results from the official regulations of cardboard modeling, especially in Poland. It says that every possible part should be made of paper / cardboard, unless the manual says otherwise. The second aspect is the ambition and skills of a large group of modelers, for whom the challenge is to build each tiny piece out of paper. Hence, customarily, the kit should include all parts designed in such a way that they can be built of paper / cardboard. There are many cardboard models kits, especially older ones, in which even the masts are also designed as long cardboard cones (which I personally consider to be an exaggeration and not a practical solution, because the spars in the sailing ship models should be strong and stiff). Therefore, possibly each part is designed to be made of paper / cardboard.
And it is very good that you make some items with the help of other materials - you save time and they often look better than in the "paper standard". While gluing the test models, I cut with the laser and paint many parts, I use matches to make timber heads ...

Best
Tomek