VTHokiEE

Love to have you aboard just remember the season if this turns into a horror film 😉. I thought I’d be able to handle the bending from building a handle of metal models in the past. Sadly, (and I should have known) this is not quite the case, but I’m learning with every part I do. I’ll most likely post updates at the end of each step (and hopefully each step will show some improvement on the last ha!).

I was impressed before, but now that I'm trying to tackle a card model myself I am speechless. Can't wait to see how to tackle the gap.

Thank you! No, not the Cheerful. I’ll throw a log up when I get a little farther a long with my card model that I’m experimenting with.

Thanks! All I can say is step one of my next project arrived today 😬:

These look incredible. My older brother used to paint miniatures; unfortunately I’m cursed with shakey hands but it has been something I’ve been working on.

@HardeeHarHar Thank you!

…how have I never thought about doing this… thank you for the tip! What a great idea.

That’s a very valid concern, you only want the slightest amount of CA (I apply mine with a needle that I stuck in a dowel) but even so that’s a very valid concern.

You've got a very nice build on your hands there! Do you think you could pre-drill the hole for the nail to avoid splitting the stern post? Another possible alternative is to use a nail for the first hole (along with some glue) and then trim the second nail down so its more for looks than anything else?

It may not be optimal, but I have yet to actually wipe-on wipe-on poly, I have only brushed it on. I have only sometimes wiped it off as well. I suppose what I'm really getting at is to be careful not to overthink it. I'm certain that you can find a way to apply any of the recommendations above and I'm equally certain that it will look nice when you're finished. You could give a few different options a try on some spare wood to see about how to best apply them, but I think (based on what was detailed here) is that anything one person recommends to fit the bill will likely be countered with a different product. I've also read about people having issues applying certain oils (staying tacky for a seemingly excessive amount of time) and then people applying the exact same oil wonderfully. Good luck with your choice, try not to get bogged down it in too much though.

Thank you, I certainly will. I have two Seahorse kits in the stash and I wanted to get a feel for this before considering those. I assume it will take a few tries to learn what precision cuts need to in order to make the whole thing come together.

Cutting these parts out certainly makes me nervous. I tried to get fancy and add 1/32" basswood to the bulkheads to give some additional gluing surface for the deck. It didn't go as planned so I deep sixed that thought for this build. I'm certain that I will encounter issues as I go, but it should be a nice enjoyable learning experience. I have finished placing the bulkheads now. I stumbled into using my quad hands base as a building play form at the moment so that I can use magnets to try and keep everything flat (another we'll see how this goes experiment).

Is there a side by side comparison of shellac and polyurethane? I had never realized some viewed it as a plastic or synthetic look. Eventually I’ll have to do the comparison myself but was curious if anyone had a link. Thanks!

I've seen some interesting card models built on this site and succumbed to picking up a few. I've built a few free models with so-so success, but hopefully I'll have a little more success with HMV's Bussard. I choose this model mainly because I could get it easily with the laser cut detail kit (and I think it was supposed to be an easier kit 🤞). The details on the ship in the manual are all in German, but I was able to read up on the ship after translating a link from the manual (www.dampfschiff-bussard.de) and a few other details from another link (https://de.zxc.wiki/wiki/Bussard_(Schiff,_1906)) some pictures here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Bussard_(ship,_1906)?uselang=en and finally the last link https://www.kiel.de/de/kultur_freizeit/museum/_museumsbruecke/tonnenleger_bussard.php. According to https://www.kiel.de/de/kultur_freizeit/museum/_museumsbruecke/tonnenleger_bussard.php: "The "Bussard" was commissioned by the Royal Hydraulic Engineering Inspection Flensburg on the Jos. L. Meyer shipyard built in Papenburg and delivered in 1906. The 40-meter-long special ship cost 224,000 gold marks, an impressive sum for that time. Initially stationed in Sønderborg, from 1919 the eastern Baltic Sea from Kiel became the operational area of the ship, which had the task of maintaining the navigation marks and thus securing shipping traffic. Until the middle of the 20th century, the light buoys were operated with gas and had to be filled regularly. In addition, the "Bussard" took over supply trips for the lightship "Fehmarnbelt"." Finally, a few pictures of the kit before I attack it with my knife 😁.

I’m not certain if this is accurate you can still get it from (who I believe is) the manufacturer at: https://sigmfg.com/products/sig-silkspan-tissue I don’t know that this would help in the UK though due to shipping costs.