Veteran shipbuilders may find this redundant... Among other things, foam fillers are the normal way to save a hull from sometimes ending up like crimson-coloured bamboo. Another available technique not involving foams is ribbed formers which I have used in my build on IJN Fuyuzuki. I have recently discovered another method I have not even imagined before, and that basically involves using an underlayer hull in support of the real one. Not sure if someone else already tried it, I'm only copying things here.

The process is this:
-Make the hull formers as normal, but photocopy the formers and skins before cutting them.
-Use another TWO sets of formers, and attach them to each side of the original ones. These formers needs to have edges trimmed away by one cardstock thickness as would be required soon
-Now reinforce the copied skin parts also onto cardstock, and with necessary trimming, attach them onto the hull so that they sit on top of the edges of the new formers, and maintaining the same level as the original ones. [At this step slight use of fillers might be appropriate in places]
-Finally skin the original hull skin parts which now sit on top of the reinforced underlayer and would not want to bend at all even if you command it to do so.

Of course this technique relies on the utmost trust for the designer of the hull that it will fit without breaking sweat - so don't try that on a kit from the 20th century...... But done properly and this technique yields equally impressive results as other ones, though still this adds much more work [oh, and weight] to the process, skinning a hull can never be easy...

Original thread by Dior1DD is here, but some admins decided only registered users could view the boards......
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That's all

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"The world is big"
On hold: Fuyuzuki, Zao, Zara, Akizuki,
Past works: XP55 Ascender, CA Ibuki, Seafang F32, IS-3, Spitfire V, J-20

Erm now that really is all...

__________________
"The world is big"
On hold: Fuyuzuki, Zao, Zara, Akizuki,
Past works: XP55 Ascender, CA Ibuki, Seafang F32, IS-3, Spitfire V, J-20

Lex,
Your "planking" method gives very nice results.

I, too, struggled with how to do this when constructing the freebe Digital Navy Torpedo boat and, then, the purchased DN Takao. Conventional wisdom of the day was to make strips which you placed over the formers. These strips were somewhat wider than the formers and the idea was that the skins would have more surface to attach themselves to and not look so "bamboo" like as you put it. It never worked for me. Plus, custom cutting out of all those strips to place over the formers was an exercise in frustration for me.

Since these models were digital I could make as copies of the parts as necessary. I found I could get very good results by simply double planking the skins. I made the first layer of skin out of paper and not cardstock. I also left an additional 10mm or so on one side of the paper skin so that it would overlap its previous brother. Because the first skin was paper, that overlap was hardly noticable i.e. no bumps. Now the first skin looked rather miserable or "bamboo" like. However when the cardstock second skin was placed over the first paper skin it all fit together so nicely. The second cardstock skin had plenty of surface area to glue to. At the same time the paper first skin seemed not to add any additional thickness to the hull which would mess up the second cardstock layer skin's fit. Any other fit issues were also discovered when the first skin was put in place and I had a heads up on what to expect with the placement of the second and final cardstock skin.

The real bonus for me was that no filling or additional painting of the hull was necessary. I could simply glue the original printed cardstock skin to the hull and leave it since the final product turned out so nicely. No "bambooing" as you put it. One of the great charms of paper modeling for me is not to have spend a lot of time painting things. This method succeeded in accomplishing that goal as well.

Phil

Hi,
I do and have done a similar process on all of my models for the last 25 years or so, however I sheet the formers with thin card once the keel and frames have been glued in place, it does not matter if this is from side to side or along the length of the hull, starting from the front to the back, first one side and then the other.
When the hull is sheeted with thin card, glued to the internal keel and cross pieces, you then have the final shape you want of the hull.
I use thicker card to sheet the inside of the hull, having redesigned the hull and having removed the pieces of the kit which go from side to side, internally, so that I have full access to the hull. You will see this in my build of IJN Yamato (current).
Once the inside thicker card is glued in place, the hull is much stronger and some of the wobbles and inaccuracies of the thin covering is removed.
Then I skin the outside of the hull again in thicker card, the same thickness as the inner card, so that the original thin card sheeting is sandwiched between the inner and outer thicker card layers.
The outer layer is applied to remove any final dips or bulges of the hull at that time and it is relatively easy to end up with a straight hull without needing to ever use any sandpaper or filler (shudder).
Then I photocopy in black & white the kit outside hull layout again and cut out the parts and mount them onto longer lengths of thin card, which I glue in place over the final outside hull layer.
This skin has all of the details I need to fine detail the hull, namely port holes, which I drill out with a drill bit, any piping, which I put on with thin tube, straight tree twigs wrapped in paper, outlets and so on, so that when I paint the hull, all of this detail stands out and is not lost. The Devil is in the detail.
I build all of my models in 3D and paint all parts with Acrylic paint or waterbased paints mixed up by the computer in sample pots, at the local paint store, using the colours of the original kit as a sample. QED.
The slight increase in the hull sides I conceal under a fake deck, which fits underneath the kit deck I glue in later on - this fake deck represents the scuppers of a model ship, for waves runoff and is where the railings are later fitted, once built off a form, so prepainting it on the model is a doddle.
When I fit the final deck, the edges of the hull are concealed as is the construction process, yet I design my kits to come apart at the waterline, so that both halves are concealed by the boot line which goes around the hull.
I use 4mm strawboard for the keel, cross sections and main deck and I remove 4mm from the upper keel and cross sections, to keep in scale and to allow for the 4mm thick card deck, once I glue it in place.
Have a look my BigBenn's pix of my models on Photobook....and my other blurb on this forum, by searching BigBenn to see what I do and how I do it, large scale waterproofed warship models for r/c of course.
Richard (BigBenn)

Lex, very convincing technique, clearly demonstrated, and beautiful final result. You and Dior1DD make it seem easy! (Or at least doable...). - L.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with skinning techniques. This is something that has troubled me also for a long time, and to see that so many solutions are available is a relief - only if I could make use of them one day :o

__________________
"The world is big"
On hold: Fuyuzuki, Zao, Zara, Akizuki,
Past works: XP55 Ascender, CA Ibuki, Seafang F32, IS-3, Spitfire V, J-20

Very nice work, but I think I will stick with the way you showed with your IJN Fuyuzuki and the way I did the HMS Savage, seems like a lot less work.

__________________
Jay Massey
treadhead1952
Las Vegas, NV

wish i had stumbled on these threads 2 days ago. at least i have learned something for the next one.

__________________
"If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking."

I have been recently thinking about doing a similar technique for the A90 I am working on. Some parts would be difficult to align without markings. I thought by making skins that could be glued over the finished structure, it would facilitate building, and customization, or the craft, if the builder desired.

Hi,
I saw someone in Russia, instead of sheeting their hulls, filled the hull parts with Polyfilla. I imagine they probably scrunched up some newspapers and filled the bulk of the spaces between the formers with paper, then finished off the remaining inch or so, with Polyfilla and once it had dried, sanded down the hull, using the cross sections as markers for the final hull shape.
By using templates, they were able to transfer the location of portholes and other detail to the finished hull and then painted afterwards with water based paints. The final finish was quite fantastic.
Of course, for a static model, it does not matter what the final composition of the hull is. I started a link here on Polyfilla/plastering a hull to get the finish I have described. If you research it, perhaps by looking up the links I have responded to (bigbenn), you will follow how far my suggestion went and if anyone tried it.
I am building a photocopy enlarged model of Czar Nicholas's Livadia, which has a tubot hull. To make things interesting, I am plating the outside of all cabins and superstructure parts with thin card, cut into strips and square and oblongs, to give the appearance of the fine structure in Victorian Royal Yacht which this model of the ship, seems to have had, so that when painted white, the detail stands out from under the paint, following the design of the superstructure accurately from the enlarged kit.
It is taking for ever to complete each part, however the final finish is quite superb and complementary to the model. I will eventually post some pix of the construction process. Since my model is designed for r/c, it makes it quite a challenge, certainly this model is probably the hardest I have ever attempted, because of the detail.
One thing fine detail at this degree does, is teach patience. I have the patience of a Saint, which helps I suppose. LOL
BigBenn