Cathead

As discussed in that thread, I used bond paper, which is a high-end paper used for printing that needs to last. Specifically, I used supplies left over from my wife's graduate thesis 20 years ago, still in perfect shape. It should last as long as any model that isn't museum-grade does. 

I've developed a method for making paneled sails from paper that works nicely to simulate the three-dimensional texture of a sail. It seems to offer a lot of visual interest, more so than a flat sail, and the procedure is pretty manageable. I like paper sails for several reasons: they hold their shape better than cloth sails (including a natural bellied curve), they have a nice texture (especially when colored by pastels), and there's no need for complicated or careful sewing. In this topic I'll walk through the method I worked out so far, starting with making the panels themselves. I haven't seen much else about paper sails on MSW, so hopefully this is of interest to some folks.
 
I first tried paper sails on my 18th century longboat build and was quite happy with the result. In that case, I just used a flat sheet of paper and drew on the seams and stitches. It worked, but was too flat. For my current build of a US Revenue Cutter, I decided to try making sails the prototypical way, assembling them from long panels of material joined at the edges. I first asked for guidance in another sail-making thread, which produced a lot of good ideas and guidance. This guide to sail-making from the Historic Naval Ships Association was a particularly useful suggestion, as it's chock full of detailed diagrams for the arrangement of panels and the overall design of sails for different craft. Following these guides, I made a few sails and was very pleased, so I finally put in the time to document each step of the process for the foresail of my revenue cutter. Here's what these sails look like on that model:
 

 
Cutting & Assembling Panels

I used bond paper, which is heavier and more textured than regular printer paper. This is commonly used for printing theses; my supply came from leftovers of Mrs. Cathead's graduate thesis. Beware of watermarks in bond paper; you don't want your sail advertising a paper company when you shine a light on it! As shown above, I mark a sheet of bond paper in scale 2' strips, then cut the strips on a small paper-cutter. Using a dedicated fine brush, I run a narrow strip of basic wood glue along the edge of each strip, then lay it out on the edge of a neighbor strip. A glue stick might work too, but I've been fine using this method. Repeating this process produces a nice 3D-textured shape from which you can cut the final sail pattern. Make sure you pay attention to the direction in which you lay out the strips; I did one of my sails backward (so that the seams ran counter to the other sails) and had to start over because it looked funny. Above, you can already see how the overlapped panels create more visual interest than a plain, smooth sail.

Next, I cut and attach any corner reinforcement panels. Then I cut thinner strips for the edging of the sails, and fold them in half. Then I brush glue along the inner surface of each one, and carefully fold it in place along the sail's edges. There are several ways to do this: you can brush 1/2 of the strip, glue it on, then brush on the other 1/2 and fold it over; or you can brush the whole inner surface at once. Although the former approach sounds better in theory, I've found that the moisture in the glue causes the paper to buckle, so that if you do the 1/2 approach, the strip bends out of true and is really hard to align on the sail's edge. If you glue the whole thing, it stays straight and is easier to handle. Incidentally, the same buckling-when-wet property works to your advantage in the sail overall; as the moisture dries between the panels, the sail inevitably takes on a bit of a curve, which nearly perfectly mimics the gently belly of a sail with wind in it. I also cut any reef-point strips and attach these.

Once the sail is fully assembled, I color it with artist's pastels. You can use your finger or a cotton swab to gently rub on color; the paper takes up the color wonderfully, and it really brings out the texture of the bond paper. The 3D nature of the assembly helps, too, as the pastel powder naturally collects a bit along seams and highlights the structural elements of the sail. You can use a mix of colors to get just the appearance you want. One important warning: don't rub too hard, and hold the sail flat. A downside of paper vs. cloth is that paper creases; if you rub too hard or otherwise force the paper to bend or kink, you'll never get that feature out again. Some folks may want to use some kind of fixative on the color, but I've never bothered; the bond paper holds pastel really well on its own. Just be careful about handling the sail with fingers coated in pastel; you don't want to leave a dark fingerprint smudge somewhere.
 
That's the first stage. You could stop here for a basic version, but I went ahead and added boltropes and reef points, which I'll cover in the next few posts.
 
 
 

This is truly beautiful and well done, thank you for sharing your secrets!

@CatheadMe likey!! Thank you for adding that here, it's pro- not only for my benefit but also having this in one place, I wonder if there is already a thread specifically on this topic we could add to? I wouldn't want someone bogged with all the long windedness I will be doing on this build log. Too lazy to look right now but I may venture that later.
I definitely prefer the 'look' of paper sails I think that they look realistic if not a bit dry, but I am adverse to using paper due to its non archival nature. I'd rather a slightly out of scale model than it moldering away. That's just a personal preference being in art conservation (I've seen some terrible tragedies of all sorts).

Thanks Keith, Eric, for the words of support.  I finally got some relief at a chiropractor appointment today, and will go a few more times to get the issues resolved.  But very sorry, Eric, that you're in pain.  It's not a fun club to be in!  And sounds like you might be down for awhile, for which I am sorry, but hope you heal up as fast as possible!

Nice progress, Lynn. I'm a fellow member of the pain club right now, but in my case it's going to prevent any building for the next few months. So I look forward to living vicariously through you and others. Good luck getting through your hurdles efficiently!

I've developed a method for making paneled sails from paper that works nicely to simulate the three-dimensional texture of a sail. It seems to offer a lot of visual interest, more so than a flat sail, and the procedure is pretty manageable. I like paper sails for several reasons: they hold their shape better than cloth sails (including a natural bellied curve), they have a nice texture (especially when colored by pastels), and there's no need for complicated or careful sewing. In this topic I'll walk through the method I worked out so far, starting with making the panels themselves. I haven't seen much else about paper sails on MSW, so hopefully this is of interest to some folks.
 
I first tried paper sails on my 18th century longboat build and was quite happy with the result. In that case, I just used a flat sheet of paper and drew on the seams and stitches. It worked, but was too flat. For my current build of a US Revenue Cutter, I decided to try making sails the prototypical way, assembling them from long panels of material joined at the edges. I first asked for guidance in another sail-making thread, which produced a lot of good ideas and guidance. This guide to sail-making from the Historic Naval Ships Association was a particularly useful suggestion, as it's chock full of detailed diagrams for the arrangement of panels and the overall design of sails for different craft. Following these guides, I made a few sails and was very pleased, so I finally put in the time to document each step of the process for the foresail of my revenue cutter. Here's what these sails look like on that model:
 

 
Cutting & Assembling Panels

I used bond paper, which is heavier and more textured than regular printer paper. This is commonly used for printing theses; my supply came from leftovers of Mrs. Cathead's graduate thesis. Beware of watermarks in bond paper; you don't want your sail advertising a paper company when you shine a light on it! As shown above, I mark a sheet of bond paper in scale 2' strips, then cut the strips on a small paper-cutter. Using a dedicated fine brush, I run a narrow strip of basic wood glue along the edge of each strip, then lay it out on the edge of a neighbor strip. A glue stick might work too, but I've been fine using this method. Repeating this process produces a nice 3D-textured shape from which you can cut the final sail pattern. Make sure you pay attention to the direction in which you lay out the strips; I did one of my sails backward (so that the seams ran counter to the other sails) and had to start over because it looked funny. Above, you can already see how the overlapped panels create more visual interest than a plain, smooth sail.

Next, I cut and attach any corner reinforcement panels. Then I cut thinner strips for the edging of the sails, and fold them in half. Then I brush glue along the inner surface of each one, and carefully fold it in place along the sail's edges. There are several ways to do this: you can brush 1/2 of the strip, glue it on, then brush on the other 1/2 and fold it over; or you can brush the whole inner surface at once. Although the former approach sounds better in theory, I've found that the moisture in the glue causes the paper to buckle, so that if you do the 1/2 approach, the strip bends out of true and is really hard to align on the sail's edge. If you glue the whole thing, it stays straight and is easier to handle. Incidentally, the same buckling-when-wet property works to your advantage in the sail overall; as the moisture dries between the panels, the sail inevitably takes on a bit of a curve, which nearly perfectly mimics the gently belly of a sail with wind in it. I also cut any reef-point strips and attach these.

Once the sail is fully assembled, I color it with artist's pastels. You can use your finger or a cotton swab to gently rub on color; the paper takes up the color wonderfully, and it really brings out the texture of the bond paper. The 3D nature of the assembly helps, too, as the pastel powder naturally collects a bit along seams and highlights the structural elements of the sail. You can use a mix of colors to get just the appearance you want. One important warning: don't rub too hard, and hold the sail flat. A downside of paper vs. cloth is that paper creases; if you rub too hard or otherwise force the paper to bend or kink, you'll never get that feature out again. Some folks may want to use some kind of fixative on the color, but I've never bothered; the bond paper holds pastel really well on its own. Just be careful about handling the sail with fingers coated in pastel; you don't want to leave a dark fingerprint smudge somewhere.
 
That's the first stage. You could stop here for a basic version, but I went ahead and added boltropes and reef points, which I'll cover in the next few posts.
 
 
 

Glad to find this log, I think your approach is excellent: recognizing the kit isn't perfect and not presenting it as accurate, but also having fun with a build and learning from it rather than getting bogged down or despairing. My first models are laughable to me now but I enjoyed them and learned so much!
 
As for sails, at risk of self-promotion, here's a method I developed for making paper sails that I find very effective and attractive. There are various other ideas in the sails section of MSW. Following are two examples from my revenue cutter project.
 

 

Part III: Adding reef points
 
Reef points add a lot of visual interest to sails, and they're easy to add in the paper-sail method.
 

The reef bands were glued on in Part I. Where to place the reef points is something of an uncertain topic; I found references for a variety of options, including one point on each seam, one point within each panel, and two points within each panel. I chose to use the first approach. Because the paper layers were extra thick here, due to the seam and reef bands, I used a small drill bit to open up a hole rather than trying to drive a needle through.
 
For the reef points, I cut a series of rigging rope a bit longer than I needed. I wanted my reef points 2 scale feet long, so I cut the rope 5' long to allow for trimming, then used a deadeye/block threader to run each line through the sail. The threader creates a strong crimp in the line, so I tried to center each line in the threader before pulling it back through; the crimp then becomes a natural reference point holding the line in place where it passes through the sail.
 

When all the lines for a given band were threaded, I clamped a piece of wood across the sail 2 scale feet below the reef band as a reference marker. You can get the length right here in two ways: either trim each line to the right length relative to the crimp, or don't worry about the crimp and pull each one back through the sail until only 2' are left on the side you're working on. I then used a fine brush to gently apply a bit of glue to a line, then pressed it into place on the sail with its tip against the wood. You only have to hold the line in place for maybe 10-15 seconds for the glue to take hold, before moving on to the next one. I like to get glue from the tip to about 2/3 to the sail, not all the way to the sail. This means the line naturally bows out a bit where it comes out of the sail, giving it some 3D texture. Don't overdo the glue or you'll get weird stains on the paper. Also, don't worry about trying to get each line perfectly straight; they're going to want to curve this way and that, and buckle a bit, and that's exactly what you want because that really makes them look like loose lines dangling down. You want just enough glue to hold them relatively flat so they look like gravity is working. If you glue them too flat or perfect, they'll look glued on and artificial.
 

Once one side is done, it looks something like the image above. Then you just turn the sail over, clamp the wood at 2' again, trim the remaining lines to length, and glue them in the same way.
 

If there is more than one reef band, do the upper one first, since you're overall working on the lower side. Above, you see the same process being repeated for a lower line of reef points.
 

And here are the two completed lines of reef points. They have a nice randomness that looks like loosely dangling lines. Note that, once again, I slightly messed up this demonstration by not cutting the upper line of reef points quite evenly (they're too short on the left). It figures that my demonstration sail would be the sloppiest of any I've made so far, but I hope the idea comes across. And, as above, this sort of things fades away when the sail is placed in the full context of a rigged model.
 
I'm quite happy with this method. I've now made all six of the sails for my topsail schooner this way and feel that they have a strong visual interest and a realistic (if not perfectly accurate) appearance. Moreover, the method uses cheap material that's easy to work with, and requires no special skills other than some patience and care when handling glued paper. It's easy to test on random scraps first before trying a full sail, and it's easy to customize. For example, you could skip the panels and just use a full sheet of paper, or skip the boltropes, and still use the rest of the approach to have a nice sail that holds it shape and can even be shaped to hold a curve. I hope others find some or all of this interesting and useful as a different way to produce interesting sails for nautical models. Thanks for reading.

Glad to find this log, I think your approach is excellent: recognizing the kit isn't perfect and not presenting it as accurate, but also having fun with a build and learning from it rather than getting bogged down or despairing. My first models are laughable to me now but I enjoyed them and learned so much!
 
As for sails, at risk of self-promotion, here's a method I developed for making paper sails that I find very effective and attractive. There are various other ideas in the sails section of MSW. Following are two examples from my revenue cutter project.
 

 

Greetings all
                  Well quite a bit of progress after a while. I have planked the decks, and tree nailed them.  I did not trust myself using stain and after a few attempts I gave up. I was just making a mess and so I just reverted to coloured varnish and settled for beech. Well it’s good enough for me. The starboard side of the hull is fitted, and the port side is in place ready to be glued.  Well now onto the next step, finish the stern and beak head.  So that’s it for now. Thanks for visiting....here are a few photos.
Lets hope they are better than the rubbish I posted earlier.
best regards DAVID

Glad to find this log, I think your approach is excellent: recognizing the kit isn't perfect and not presenting it as accurate, but also having fun with a build and learning from it rather than getting bogged down or despairing. My first models are laughable to me now but I enjoyed them and learned so much!
 
As for sails, at risk of self-promotion, here's a method I developed for making paper sails that I find very effective and attractive. There are various other ideas in the sails section of MSW. Following are two examples from my revenue cutter project.
 

 

The beginning of sail trials, some could work, some are ok but not scale appropriate, but for posterity and visual accounting I thought I'd include them all, my best fabric choices will follow. This first batch was a test of paint mediums and workability. I tried water; water mixable oil paint; watercolor; acrylic, and plain white glue. All in ochre.

TENSHI: Japanese Tempura Paper. Very strong and absorbent, can take both oil and water without tearing and works well wet, does not iron well and left creases, which may be less a problem if treating the entire piece. It takes color a little 'too' well and would do better with much less pigment.

MUSLIN: Cotton fabric in varying weights. I liked the unique patterning and sheer fabric but it's a bit too springy and would be hard to manipulate.Takes color very well without obvious rings and darkening. The weave is also too visible.

NYLON SLIP: A synthetic material with no stretch and an appearance like modern nylon ripstop. This would be great for modern yachts and mimics the look and feel of ripstop. Not so easy to work with and doesn't take color well. Very tight weave that is barely noticeable.
ACRYLIC SLIP: A lightweight polymer fabric. This was my least favorite due to the weave but it takes color surprisingly well and creates nice folds. Very hard to get wrinkles out which could be a pro or a con...
I'll be back with additions of Lawn, Ripstop, Blackout, and Batiste. Stay tuned.

So I'm tossing around ideas on fabrics for boarding netting/taffrail netting, sails, and hammocks in regard to scale, and realism. I may end up using paper for the sails/sheets in particular but I'd love for some feedback on the topic. Which is closest? I'm using the provided Revell figures and graph paper for size reference.

Captain's log: Changing tack completely, Long necessary story for posterity to ensue. 
Backstory. When I started this build years ago now, I had been a ship's mate in the Virgin Islands, I found this Revell kit at the goodwill along with the Cutty Sark, and purchased them both for $40! As I stated previously I had no modeling experience, no supplies, tools etc. but I knew this was going to be a great ship to build. I spent a little bit of time on it here and there over a couple years but I never really thought to do anything to it other than tackle it...and then (at the dread rigging) it sat in my closet. 
 
Since then I have taken up all sorts of hobbies and skills including 1:12 scale architectural models. At the time I had figured that the Revell Constitution was an fine accurate representation, and did not bother to research (why?). I had no real plans to improve upon it, being as it was plastic. Now after all of that I have taken it out of the graveyard section of drydock and reappraised. Now to give Revell its credit, it IS a fine model, in fact compared to other popular models I have seen, for a cheaper version, it is dang near spectacular. Part of that is due to the era (70's), when our commodities were still made well. But in light all the research I have been accumulating, which is how I came to be here, there are quite a few modifications I would have done, that I cannot now, because she's all glued tight together. So it is within my judgment to continue and finish her as a sort of decked out fantastical frigate that may or may not resemble the Constitution when I am finished. The reason for this is simply so that I can use this model as technique practice for additions and upgrades I plan to make on the Cutty Sark. 
There are some very good things I did such as razor away seam lines and cut off sloppy edges, carefully lay my ropes and glue them down. But there are a lot of shortcuts, too many to warrant taking apart. It is part of my rash nature to come in hot barrel into things and then adjust course, I will never win the Americas cup....
I will most likely get my hands on another and revisit the constitution but as it stands now I will document what I am doing, what worked and what failed for myself and others who may find something of use. I hope this is the point of these build logs but one has already stated they are impatient and rash. 
 
Only progress to this end will follow

I just did 😈. I had to bite the bullet and pull it apart but....hot poker, jewelry pins, a wire cutter and some glue. Need to paint still. 

Could you make replacement stanchions out of wire.  Another option could be to make them out of plastic.  Two companies that sell plastic are Evergreen Scale Models and Plastruct.  If you click on the two companies underlined, it will take you to their websites.

Nice progress, Lynn. I'm a fellow member of the pain club right now, but in my case it's going to prevent any building for the next few months. So I look forward to living vicariously through you and others. Good luck getting through your hurdles efficiently!

Boiler Deck planking completed…
 

 
Now for lots more windows and doors. 
 
😆 🍻

I have installed the stops around the gun port and the oar port.  The gun port is framed on the bottom and sides, the oar port on all four sides.  The quarter deck clamps have been installed.  You can see that the stops are flush with the inner face of the frames.  The inner bulwark planking is next.

Scuppers created.  Had to "redo' the waterway  for the fore port & starboard scuppers, bg ut it turnned out ok.
I've had lots of time to work on the ship, ever since I somehow hurt my back and side last week.  Lots of pain, alleviated by pain pills, which make me tired (and keeping me off the road)...  so mostly I've been working on the Phantom between medical appts.  Ugh.  Hoping tomorrow's chiropractic appointment gives me some relief.
But at least I can work on the ship the last few days, and I'm happy with the results/progress so far!
 
 

 

 

First planking done. Sanding, sanding, sanding. But, If you will recall, my biggest question was how to achieve a smooth hull shape aft with no
plan to guide me. I'm happy with how it turned out:

Rear kitchen deck stairway. 
 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 
Back to the Boiler Deck… 🍻

I have been thinking about buying a scroll saw for some time as a hobby, and potentially to make the family some homemade Christmas presents. It occurred to me that a scroll saw would also help a lot in making a missing shoulder for the mainmast and a ring between the mast and the deck, and so I went ahead and ordered the saw. Today it finally arrived and having set it up I was eager to try it out... 
 

 
I predrilled a 7.5mm hole and drew the 12mm wide outline of the ring.
 
a little sanding later and it was ready to test on the mast.
 

 
Although probably not historically accurate I love the contrasting colours of the wood.
 

 
I will make another and cut it into 6 or 8 sections to place around the foremast - I will then decide whether to cut this one as well or not to more closely mimic the wedges that would have been used. I will also smooth and round the edges - I might decide to just score it at intervals rather than cutting all the way through - but that will depend on how the foremast ends up looking.
 
Hopefully I will have the mast installed by the end of the weekend.

I personally think railings are the worst part of steamboat modeling.