Preprinted lines

[achuck49]

Good day, 

I am starting to work on a model of a schooner.  On one side of the keel is a printed set of lines indicating rabbit lines, placement of other parts and information of this sort.  How can I accurately transfer this information to the reverse side of the keel which is blank?

 

TIA

[Jaager]

Do you have areas of the keel that will be cut away or not seen on the finished model? Are these areas widely spaced and cover the ends of the keel?

[druxey]

Tracing paper and pencil, then use graphite paper to transfer down the lines on the blank side. Use tape to make sure the traced pattern does not slip! Graphite paper should be available at your local Michael's or art store.

[thibaultron]

If you have a scanner, scan the one side, use a graphics program to mirror it, and print out a template for the unmarked side. A good free graphics program is GIMP.

[Jaager]

Since Ron has anticipated what I was referring to, I will go ahead and expand

 

Plans and computers

A primary factor is to avoid having the computer or print program perform any "helpful" background adjustments and to counter any artifacts introduced by the process. The product should be set up to print any plans precisely  as intended.

Necessary tools = a printer scanner and a drawing program that can scale, use multiple layers, and process large files.
The bench mark program is PhotoShop and for a one off plan, the cloud rental may be cost effective.  Expensive alternatives are Corel Draw and Corel Painter.
Less expensive is PaintShop Pro. Gimp is free.

A document or canvas size should be a base for any program. It should be as large as can be had without the printer program needing to "adjust" it to match the paper size. I use  8.5 x 11 =  2197 x 1701 pixels   and 8.5 x 14 = 2796 x 1701 pixels..  For Windows  Photo Viewer, be sure to uncheck "fit picture to frame".

It is a given that a scanner will distort its product.  Fortunately, this is a constant for any machine.  What the distortion is must be determined and corrected as the first step in processing a plan in the draw program.  The X Y distortion may be uniform or X may be different from Y.
I did this usng a transparent metric ruler.  Scan it X and Y.  Open the scans in the draw program - the two layers can be both visible and saved as a file.
I prefer .PNG - it is a lossless format and will save an alpha.  A smaller file can be had using .JPG if you are willing to deal with the save fidelity questions.
Print the ruler scan and compare to the original.  Metric is easy to use to to determine the % difference.  In the draw program, adjust a copy of the scan by the % determined - save - print - compare.  Repeat until you get identity. Carve the % scale adjustment in stone and adjust any scan taken into the draw program by this factor as a first step - always.

Scan your keel - or better for getting it flat - the copy on the plans if there is one.
Start with a new canvas in landscape orientation.
open the keel scan as a new layer - probably will need more than one scan unless the model is a miniature.
Adjust -  
Lock these layers.
On a new layer -  type an lower case letter "o" using Ariel Black - print size 4.
On a new layer -  type an lower case letter "o" using Ariel Black - print size 7.
Line up the two layers with holes centered.  Combine the two layers.  This is a pin locator.
Position pin locators along the keel - top and bottom and in places where a hole will not matter.
Combine the pin layers with a copy of the keel layer(s).
Duplicate and flip vertical.
Print out these plans.  
The paper is a bit flimsy -  I coat them with a liberal layer of brushing lacquer -
By using pins and the locators, the mirror images can be aligned on either side of the keel.
I use Best Test rubber cement - a serious coat on both mating surfaces.

 

[No Idea]

Goodness me - If I read the above post I would give up and go home.  Its a model boat not a critical piece of a nuclear plant that has to be so precise that lives are at risk.  Take the good advice above and just trace it out buddy.  Making boats is not that hard really, oh and good luck with your build

[allanyed]

Chuck

If you don't have a drawing program that you are comfortable using but you can scan the image, PM me and I maybe I can do this for you.  If you prefer, the easiest thing to do is as Druxey describes.

Allan

[vossiewulf]

3 hours ago, No Idea said:

Goodness me - If I read the above post I would give up and go home.  Its a model boat not a critical piece of a nuclear plant that has to be so precise that lives are at risk.  Take the good advice above and just trace it out buddy.  Making boats is not that hard really, oh and good luck with your build

Although I largely agree with you in this case, you're judging others' basic methodology and that's not fair. For example if your intent is to scratchbuild a model that will go in a museum one day (as more than a few in the scratchbuild section are doing), you better be treating it like nuclear plant design and manufacture or you'll miss your mark by a mile. People who pursue that end of the hobby will spend years assembling and comparing documentation until by the time they're ready to build, they've laid out the build process in excruciating detail, nothing is left to chance and they'll build absurdly complex jigs to ensure absolute perfection in the build execution.

[achuck49]

Sincere thanks for the incredible responses.  I should have waited but had an idea and proceeded. 

I have some clear 'Gorilla' tape which I lightly applied to the keel.  This type of tape is thicker than usual. I used a sharp blade and traced a line, moved the cut tape to some heavy paper and cut again. I had a good copy, placed the paper against the keel and with a sharp pencil copied the line.  Repeat process and mission accomplished. 

 

I do want to thank everyone 

Chuck 

[Mark P]

Good Evening Chuck;

 

If you are copying from paper plans, there is also one very quick way of doing this, which is worth a try, if what you are trying to copy will fit on a photocopier.  Make a photocopy of it, but use a sheet of tracing paper for the copy. Turn this over, and copy again. This will produce a mirror image of your original.  Job done.

 

That is assuming you have access to a decent copier, and that it does not distort the image. Some do, some don't.

 

However, if you only need to do this once, you have already found a good solution on your own.

 

All the best,

 

Mark P

Edited February 17, 2019 by Mark P

[tkay11]

If you're thinking of Photoshop, version CS2 is still produced by Adobe for free download. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the latest versions but does function perfectly well as an image manipulator, re-sizer with layers, and is very easy to use. Have a look at https://www.redmondpie.com/download-adobe-photoshop-cs2-for-free-legally-while-you-still-can/

 

There are sites where you can download it without having an Adobe ID, but going through Adobe does guarantee it has no malware. Gimp is still a good option, but I am used to Photoshop and find it easier to use.

 

Tony