HMS Mercury by catopower - Shipyard - 1/96 scale - CARD

[ccoyle]

Bill, that sounds like you got scammed. Shipyard kits are printed on A3 paper, a European format that measures 11.7 x 16.5 inches. Any seller in China should set off many blaring alarm bells!

[catopower]

Thanks Druxey, Carl.

 

Bill, working from copies is smart. I have done that at times, but I get lazy with it and end up using copies as my backup. The color on the printed parts is so good that I don't even bother copying those. If I screw up, I'd probably just pick up another kit. Coming from the wooden ship modeling background, and knowing the amount of time spent on model making, the cost for the kit is pretty insignificant.

 

As for the Cleopatra kit, I'm inclined to agree with Chris, and would avoid buying from Chinese sources right now. As far as I know, all the Shipyard kits are of the same A3 format, so 8" x 11" doesn't sound right. You can always email Shipyard and see if they can tell you.

 

But, none of the Shipyard kits I have are bound into a book. All the sheets, including the cover and back cover are separate. HMS Victory is the only Shipyard kit that I've personally seen that is in a staple-bound book format.

 

Also, GPM has the Shipyard HMS Cleopatra kit and a laser-cut detail set for it (gpm.pl). If you ordered the laser-cut detail set, you'd be able to tell right away if your kit is the right scale or not. Also, the kit itself is less than $25.

 

 

Clare

 

 

 

***Follow-up***

I just looked at one of the Shipyard lighthouse kits, and it measures 8-1/4" x 11-5/8". If that's what your kit measures, then maybe it's okay. 

Edited August 17, 2016 by catopower

[Bill Morrison]

Thanks, gentlemen!  I will indeed check with Shipyard then order that laser cut detail set and a new model if necessary.  And, that is the last Chinese company I will buy from.

 

Bill

[catopower]

At the NRG Conference, I took my HMS Alert model and it was nice to see some of the attention it got as a paper model. I had brought my HMS Mercury project, but I didn't work the Ages of Sail table like I did at past conferences, so I didn't really trust that it wouldn't get squished and didn't bring it out.

 

But, yesterday, I finally did a little bit more work on it. I cut the core pieces for the bulwarks, which the gunport linings will be glued to. I attached the bow pieces, which have no gunports, and test fit the other pieces.

 

 

 

 

In doing so, I realized that I screwed up on the placement of those inverted knees. I have no idea how it happened. I must have mixed up some of the part numbers, but I can't tell because the part numbers were on the parts sheet area that got cut away when I cut out the pieces for the knees. Another good reason for photocopying all the parts sheets, which I didn't bother to do in this case.

 

I managed to make the repairs last night, removing the knees that were in the wrong place and relocating them and fixing the bulwarks spacer on one of them. All appears well, and I'll be adding the gunport linings next. I think I'll attempt to do this with the bulwarks sheets off the model, as the sheets are not very sturdy and I think they'll be easy to mess up once glued in place.

 

One oddity is that you may notice that the inboard hawse pipe has a frame partially blocking it. I don't see how I could have messed this up. There simply aren't any options when cutting and applying the conflicting pieces. So, I have to assume this is a kit fault. Later, I'll either have to black out that frame and not use the inboard hawse pipes, or I'll have to drill it out. That shouldn't be too much of an issue for the structure once the hull planking and forecastle deck is in place.

 

Clare

 

[catopower]

I'll have to admit that my recent post wasn't much of an update and doesn't really say much of anything. So, I'm continuing on here.

 

I have been trying to figure out how to make sure that my bulwarks core pieces will be lined up properly on the hull. The reason I thought it was important is that the gunports are pre-printed on these pieces and have to be cut out. Those have to line up with the gun ports cut out of the inner bulwarks pieces as well as those of the outer hull pieces. So, if something is off somewhere some parts aren't going to line up correctly, and that's gotta show up somewhere.

 

Realizing that the inner bulwarks pieces can only fit between those inverted knees and bulkheads that are already glued in place, it seems that the position of these pieces, and their gunports, is pretty well determined. But, even with so, there is a little wiggle room as I discovered some of the inner bulwarks pieces will need to be trimmed a little in order to fit. It would seem a lot of test fitting is in order at this stage.

 

So, I decided it was time to go ahead and laminate (to a thickness of 0.5mm) and cut out all those inner bulwarks pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You'll notice in that last photo, I finally got smart and wrote the part number on the back of the part.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, I did a little dry fitting, but it is clear I'm going to have to get a little more elaborate and start taping or temporarily tacking lots of pieces into place to work out the alignment issues. Still, I think this is going to go a long ways toward getting this hull together right. 

 

Clare

Edited October 22, 2016 by catopower

[catopower]

A long belated thanks, Zoltan! It's been, what, six months since I last posted? 

 

I just finished writing up an article for SIS on buiding the HMS Alert paper model, so that's been occupying most of my paper modeling time for the past few months. With that done, and having spending a pretty significant amount of time working on my main wooden ship modeling projects, I thought I'd put a little time into HMS Mercury again.

 

I've been contemplating those fake window panes and recently realized that forward partition is pretty much right under the edge of the forecastle deck, so those windows are pretty visible. Also, since I'm building this model so that the stern gallery windows are clear, you'll be able to look inside and see the windows in the aft partition as well. 

 

So, I broke down and cut out those fake windows. I had to remove the partitions in order to do it, but that wasn't too bad.

 

I actually managed to cut out just the fake glass panes of those 4-pane windows in the forward partition and its doors. However, the after partitions and doors all have 6-pane windows, so I had to cut out the whole window section in one piece and then rebuild them.

 

 

 

 

As you can see, the results aren't perfect, but I'm reasonably satisfied, because I'm pretty sure I can't do better than this. I'll try using some canopy glue to create the window pane glass.

 

So far, I have all but 4 doors left to do. Once that's done, I'll move on to the next thing.

 

Before I started getting obsessed with getting rid of the fake windows, I went on to the next step, which was to add the gunport frames to the bulwarks core pieces.

The frames came from the laser-cut super detail set I purchased from GPM. It was a little confusing figuring out which piece was which, because many of the pieces vary in shape and have unique part numbers. 

 

I should point out here that one of the reasons I got inspired to do some work on the model again, is because I was at a local IPMS conference and spoke with someone who was building his first paper model, and I think it was also his first ship model, the larger 1/72-scale boxed kit of the same ship, HMS Mercury. He's doing a great job and some photos of his progress were posted on Ages of Sail's blog here:

 

https://blog.agesofsail.com/2017/03/08/a-172-scale-hms-mercury-card-model/

 

Clare

 

[Shiphile]

Following your thread.  I have built the boxed laser cut Le Coureur.  Just recently got a copy of the Le Coureur in 1/96 card format with laser cut frame.

I am just starting another box laser kit of the Baltimore Clipper Berbice.  All I have done so far is cut out and trail fit the frame.

Tucked away is a box laser kit of the HMS Wolf, the 10 gun Sloop.

I love Shipyard kits, looking forward to your build of this vessel.  I wanted to buy the HMS Mercury but the cost was more than I could handle and opted for the HMS Wolf.

Cheers Rick

[catopower]

Hi Shiphile,

 

Those are some really great looking kits. I'd like to try one of the boxed kits sometime. I'm in the same fix regarding the HMS Mercury kit. It's a nice kit, but it's more money than I should really be spending.

 

Anyway, I've started to take a shine to the smaller paper model kits in 1/96-scale. My first shipmodel was the Model Shipways Phantom, oh so long ago, and after that, I swore I'd only build in larger scales. But, I really enjoyed working in 1/96-scale with the HMS Alert kit. The smaller size makes for a neat model, plus it takes up far less room on the shelf.

 

The low cost of these paper model kits makes it difficult not to go out and buy ones that I might be interested in building. Then, I thought it might be interesting to buy one and try enlarging it to another scale. I had to catch myself from going out and buying yet another kit – they're just so darned cool!

 

Clare

[catopower]

Okay, before getting back to my other projects, I thought I'd wrap up this issue about getting the bulwarks into position so that the gunports line up with the inside pieces. First, I had to finish up the windows, which worked out fine, using a film of canopy glue for the glass. They're not perfect, but they're mostly down inside the ship and not very visible. As I worked to get the bulwarks pieces in position, the addition of the newly windowed doors could wait.

 

I cut and temporarily positioned the internal bulwarks pieces to help me with the alignment of the large outer bulwarks pieces. Without doing this, I don't know how one would know where the big pieces would fit.

As you can see, some of the inner pieces have to be trimmed to fit. None are glued in at this point. You can see the seam where the large pieces meet between the first and second gun ports in the foreground on the left.

 

At the bow, I ended up with a small gap for some reason.

 

I will probably glue a support piece on the inside corners, which will be covered by the inside bulwarks pieces. I know the outer layer looks pretty gluey, but it's all going to get covered up anyway.

 

Inside the great cabin, I didn't worry about the alignment except at the very stern. If everything else lines up, this area should be fine. I did discover than I needed to bend the stern transom framing back a little, so that things lined up better.

 

Here's the same bulkhead viewed from the cabin forward of the great cabin...

 

And another view of the great cabin from a higher angle...

It's pretty cool to be working with this kind of interior, as you never get this kind of detail in a wooden kit.

 

That's all for now. I may tinker with installing the doors and adding the inner bulwarks pieces over time. But, this was a nice break, and I'm ready to make some progress on elsewhere.

 

Until my next break!

 

Clare

 

 

[catopower]

Not much to add to the build, but I did get an opportunity to work on the model a bit. One of the San Francisco Bay Area ship model clubs I belong to had a table at the San Mateo County Fair. The clubs here are very low on manpower, so we had one person work a few hours each day. I took the first day, a Saturday afternoon. I brought two small projects to work on. One was a beginner kit that is part of Amati's First-Step series, which I worked on to familiarize myself with it and to show people that they don't have to take on a massive project to start with. The other was my HMS Mercury kit.

 

You can only make so much progress when you're interacting with the public, but I did manage to do some work.

 

 

The model doesn't look much different than it did, but the internal bulwarks pieces are now being secured into place. Since I started that task, I'll plan on finishing that much before I go back to my wooden projects. I will probably add the doors back into place that I had to temporarily remove.

 

I have to try not to get too distracted, as the next step will involve installing the gun deck furniture, including furnishing the great cabin. That's fun stuff, so it will be hard to resist!

 

Clare

 

 

 

[catopower]

Nothing more to report here, but I ran across this amazing build of the exact same Shipyard 1/96-scale paper model kit on the German paper model forum Kartonbau.de. OMG, what an incredible build. I'm completely blown away. I highly recommend checking this out for yourselves. 

 

I took the following photo of the completed model from the builder's blog, but there are MANY more great photos there, and hopefully this will inspire people to check it out.

 

 

The URL for the build log is: http://www.kartonbau.de/forum/hms-mercury-1779-1-96-von-shipyard-construction-reports-ships/board5-ships/t25313-f6/?l=2&l=2

 

The blog has already given me ideas, including starting over! 

 

Clare

 

 

[sapperred1]

Would you consider the Shipyard laser cut kit a good choice for a newcomer to the hobby?

Thanks

Mark

[maaaslo]

mark, i would not. please read the comment i wrote under your other topic.

[catopower]

Hi Mark,

 

I'm fist and foremost a wood ship modeler, but I find the paper models really fascinating. I'm not sure if I can answer that question fully, as I've only built one paper model, HMS Alert, and the only Shipyard laser-cut kit I've built was a lighthouse kit. So, whatever you read here, please keep that in mind.

 

What I find is that the paper models are great if you have no place to make a little mess. If you're in an apartment, no workspace, etc., paper models are great. I don't see them as being easier than wooden ship modeling. In some ways, they seem to be harder. Printed paper kits, in particular, have far more parts than other kits, and each piece has to be cut out, laminated, and it usually takes several pieces just to make, say, a fife rail. In a laser-cut kit, that same item could be as few as 3 parts. Wood kits may provide them as laser-cut parts, or may require you to fashion them from a couple strips of wooden.

 

I will always recommend building in wood, if that is your goal. Paper models seem to be in a class of their own. Like I said, paper models are great when you don't have much room. Also, they require very simple tools. Paper kits can also be a lot cheaper than building in wood, though that can depends on the kits, etc. 

 

The laser-cut kits are really nice. Of course, you have to paint the model, but I seem to be doing a lot of that, even with the printed kits. There are certainly far fewer pieces that a printed paper kit when you consider all that you have to cut out with the printed paper kit. The laser-cut kits also have the advantage of including the dowels, turned brass cannons and 3-dimensional figureheads and carvings instead of simple 2-D printed parts. 

 

So, I'd say that if you're planning on taking on a paper/card model, go with the laser-cut ones. They're also larger scale, which should make them easier to work with.

 

If you're just considering ship modeling and wondering if paper ship modeling is the best ways, I'd still suggest getting a nice wooden kit.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Clare

 

 

 

 

[catopower]

Well, as long as I'm posting things here, I might as well post a few photos of some recent work I did on the Mercury.

 

When I have a chance to use laser-cut parts, I take it if they are sturdy enough. In general, laser-cut parts tend to use thick cardboard. Any pieces I cut for myself, I make from many layers of laminated paper, and they tend to be sturdier. So, there are places where I don't really like laser-cut parts. On a paper model, the nice thing is that laser-cut parts are an option. There always seem to be printed parts you can use instead, if you prefer.

 

But, in this case, these large parts go together quickly, and they're easy to use. I've been switching to the use of Liquitex Soft Body Acrylics instead of the Renesans brand acrylics. I LOVE the Renesans brand, but they're only available when you buy the boxed Shipyard kits. I've looked, but they are really hard to buy here. I have a supply, but I've been needing to test out alternatives I can recommend.

 

The main issue now is that I've found that some of the paints that Ages of Sail has been getting in the kits they sell are drying out on the shelves. In a kit of the Crowdy Head Lighthouse that I got off the shelf at Ages of Sail, the paints were mostly dried up. I found that with some work, and a little water, I was able to revive them. But, not everyone is going to want to go through that. I tried several acrylic brands, and I found the Liquitex Soft Body Acrylics seem to have the most similar coverage characteristics. I still prefer the Renesans brand as they go on VERY FLAT. Liquitex has a slight sheen unless you can apply it thinned with water.

 

Anyway, I decided to give the deck a wash of paint to kill some of that printed paper look. 

 

I also used the HMS Mercury Detail Set I bought from GPM.PL to make the new parts you see here instead of making them from the printed paper parts in the Shipyard kit.

 

 

 

You'll notice I painted the forward bulkhead. The kit doesn't mention anything, but it does show a photo where that bulkhead is black. I figured it was close enough to the bow to just go ahead and paint red. It's unlikely it will be very visible anyway.

 

Another thing you may notice is what some might consider a cheat. If you look at the gap in the inner and outer bulwarks parts, you'll see strips of wood I inserted to stiffen the walls a little and to keep them from bowing too much.

 

You can see that I still have some inner bulwarks pieces to add. Then, I can paint around the remaining gun ports and then turn my attention to the stern cabins.

 

Clare

[Papa]

Quite impressive what can be done in paper.  I am very tempted to try a paper ship kit.  I recently did a monastery in paper and found that an enjoyable build.  I will continue to enjoy this build log/

 

Ron

[sapperred1]

Clare,

Thanks for the input, it helps a lot. I will look more into wood.

 

Thanks 

Mark

[catopower]

Hi Mark,

 

There are a lot of great wooden kits out there. Where in Northern California are you located? We have a small group of ship modelers, including at least one beginner, that's meeting in Vallejo a week from this coming Saturday. So, that's July 8th. You're welcome to join us if you can. Also, I do some work with Ages of Sail, which is one of the sponsors of MSW, and their store is located in San Lorenzo. It's a great place to peruse the aisles for kits to build – a little dangerous actually, if you bring your wallet!

 

Clare

[catopower]

Ron,

 

There are some really neat non-ship model paper kits out there. That looks like a nice subject. I've been thinking about taking on a steel navy build. 

 

In fact, I finally started reading Chris Coyle's tutorial and build of the V108 Torpedo Boat. I downloaded the pages and had to immediately start tinkering with it. Looks like a nice way to get started:

https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/tags/Intro to Card Models/

 

It's hard not to get distracted by these things – they're so cool!

 

Clare

[sapperred1]

Clare,

I live way north, near the Oregon border. So it is quite far away from the Vallejo. Thanks though. I have spend many hours perusing Ages of Sail's web store.

 

Mark

 

[ccoyle]

2 hours ago, modlerbob said:

I never realised that a paper model could be so detailed, especially a sailing ship.

Bob, check out these builds by Doris. I think Clare and I would agree that next to her work, our models are "not worthy"!

[catopower]

I think Doris must be the most famous ship modeler in the world. I've seen mention of her in other languages, other sites.

 

I must avert my gaze, lest I be compelled to burn my models...

 

Clare

[catopower]

Hi Mark,

 

Yeah, I just drove down I-5 on Monday and it took about 4-1/2 hours to get home from there. A bit far to travel unless you're spending the weekend or something.

 

Clare

[mtaylor]

On 6/29/2017 at 11:42 AM, sapperred1 said:

Clare,

I live way north, near the Oregon border. So it is quite far away from the Vallejo. Thanks though. I have spend many hours perusing Ages of Sail's web store.

 

Mark

 

I thought I'd ask.. how far north? 

[Greg the peg leg sailor]

G'day Clare from Australia. 

Just found you interesting log. It's amazing what you can do with paper and card!

Havagooday 

Greg 

[catopower]

Mark, I completely forgot that you lived up there in Medford. I passed right through your fine city on Monday afternoon! 

 

Hello Peg Leg Greg from Australia. Glad you found the build log. As I generally warn people, this is really a side project, but I'm having a hard time tearing myself away from it. This card modeling stuff is addictive!

 

And, I have to revise something I stated earlier about card modeling being challenging. The biggest challenge is a mental one. When you get one of these kits, you instantly see a gazillion parts, and you have to cut out each and every one, plus you might decided to cut out windows instead of using printed windows, etc. That's intimidating. So, I'm finding that it's like tying ratlines. You can't think about all those knots you have to tie – you just have to start and do one at a time until you get to the end. Building this model is about baby steps. You can't count how many baby steps you have to take, you just have to take them one at a time.

 

HMS Mercury Progress

Well, I made a little more progress that I thought I'd post for now. 

 

First off, I glued the new pieces into place in the fo'csle and then added the doors back on. If you recall, I'd added the doors earlier and then decided I didn't like printed windows. So, I removed them and the related partitions and cut out the window panes and used canopy glue to add the "glass". In addition to the doors, I also finished the inner bulwarks pieces at the bow. 

As you can see in the photo below, I still have to "edge" the gun port sills with red paint.

 

 

At this point, I began to wonder how well this model was going to go together and test fit the fo'csle and quarter decks. I had to dig through the diagrams and all to figure out if this was all going to work okay in the end. So far, it seems like it should be okay, though there's more gap around the bow that I would like. Not sure yet how to fix this, if it even needs fixing. But, it was nice to see how well the decks seated into place. There are a couple beams I will have to fashion and put into place before these decks can go on. And, of course, I'll need to finish some internal details, plus the cannons.

In the lower photos, you can also see the galley stove under construction. Below, you can see where it will eventually go.

 

Of course, there's a lot of work to do to the stove before it goes into place.

 

Finally, I added the remaining parts for the interior of the great cabin, aft. There's some furniture to go in here. That's one of those things which is pretty neat about these Shipyard ship model kits. Of course, if you want to be able to see any of this stuff, you'll have to modify the original kit, which includes printed windows. Those would normally need to be carefully cut open, but the detail kit I bought from GPM includes some laser-cut parts for the gallery windows. 

 

 

I'm starting to think about the outer layer that's going to go on the model. The kit includes printed parts for two configurations of the ship, one for the original 1779 paint scheme and another for the 1795 (Black and Yellow) paint scheme. I was always planning to build this in the 1779 configuration, but I'm thinking about the later configuration, just because it's different (for this kit, anyway).

 

With that, I'm going to try to set this aside for a bit and get some other work done. It's pretty difficult, as I'm starting to feel a little like a card model junkie!

 

Clare

[druxey]

Somehow your updates have been below my radar for a while, so just catchng up with you, Clare. Some of the work is obviously not for the faint-hearted, but it looks really good so far!

[sapperred1]

Mtaylor,

In Etna, California. Not far from Medford.

 

Mark

[ccoyle]

Etna -- then you are truly off the beaten path! I grew up in Humboldt. Used to do a bit of backpacking and fishing in the Trinity Alps and Marble Mountain Wilderness.

 

(Apologies for hijacking Clare's log!!)

[catopower]

Thank you Zoly, Druxey! 

 

Druxey, don't feel bad about the posts not being on your radar, I often fly too LOW...

 

Mark, Mark and Chris, no worries about hijacking. I was wondering the same thing about Mark's location. I wonder how many ship modelers are in that general vicinity? If there were a ship modelers' gathering there, I'd definitely consider making the trip. Nice country up there!

 

 

Meanwhile, I've set aside HMS Mercury to get some other things done, but it's darned hard to stay away! I glued up some parts for the great cabin furniture and ship's stove. I'll post some pics in a week or two after I have some of those things completed.

 

Clare