catopower

Thanks Cog.
 
I made a bit more progress this past week, though it doesn't really look like it.
 
I finished rigging the lines dealing with the main sail, and added the staysail, halliard and downhaul, added brace pendants to the topsail yard, and then some. 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
Plenty more to do still. I have a lot of bowsprit rigging to deal with, plus the jib and squaresail to add. Also have a little bit of hull details to add and a few small deck details. But, it's getting there.
 
Clare

Thanks Cog.
 
I made a bit more progress this past week, though it doesn't really look like it.
 
I finished rigging the lines dealing with the main sail, and added the staysail, halliard and downhaul, added brace pendants to the topsail yard, and then some. 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
Plenty more to do still. I have a lot of bowsprit rigging to deal with, plus the jib and squaresail to add. Also have a little bit of hull details to add and a few small deck details. But, it's getting there.
 
Clare

Thanks Cog.
 
I made a bit more progress this past week, though it doesn't really look like it.
 
I finished rigging the lines dealing with the main sail, and added the staysail, halliard and downhaul, added brace pendants to the topsail yard, and then some. 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
Plenty more to do still. I have a lot of bowsprit rigging to deal with, plus the jib and squaresail to add. Also have a little bit of hull details to add and a few small deck details. But, it's getting there.
 
Clare

Thanks Cog.
 
I made a bit more progress this past week, though it doesn't really look like it.
 
I finished rigging the lines dealing with the main sail, and added the staysail, halliard and downhaul, added brace pendants to the topsail yard, and then some. 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
Plenty more to do still. I have a lot of bowsprit rigging to deal with, plus the jib and squaresail to add. Also have a little bit of hull details to add and a few small deck details. But, it's getting there.
 
Clare

Thanks Cog.
 
I made a bit more progress this past week, though it doesn't really look like it.
 
I finished rigging the lines dealing with the main sail, and added the staysail, halliard and downhaul, added brace pendants to the topsail yard, and then some. 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
Plenty more to do still. I have a lot of bowsprit rigging to deal with, plus the jib and squaresail to add. Also have a little bit of hull details to add and a few small deck details. But, it's getting there.
 
Clare

In my last post, I didn't have any photos to illustrate the differences in the rigging line that I was referring to. So, I took a few shots to post here.
 

Above is a coil of Morope on the left and Syren line on the right. They both have good definition and look very nice. I don't recall the difference in pricing, but I don't remember it being a very great difference.
 
 

Here is a closeup of the Morope line.
 
 

And a closeup of the Syren line.
 
The above are roughly equivalent sizes. And, of course, for my model in 1/8" scale, I'm only using very small sizes. So, the larger sizes will look a little different in comparison. What's shown is roughly 0.4 mm diameter line.
 
 

When the Morope is glued so that it doesn't unravel, it doesn't look too different from the Syren line. Except of course, the Syren line looks like this freshly cut, without any special treatment.
 
 
 

While this doesn't usually happen to me since I make sure to glue the line before cutting it, here is the Morope and the Syren line both freshly cut with no special treatment of the line. As you can see, the Morope wildly unwinds. It will continue to do so if it's not tied off or treated with glue. It's not necessarily a problem if it's handled properly. But, it's a shame it's like this as the Morope does have very good visual definition, and is available in left and right hand twists. 
 
I haven't run into any serious problems with the stuff as far as I can tell, but it is a concern as I work. Also, the Morope does seem stretchier and doesn't hold it's shape as well as the Syren line. For instance, if I make a coil of line, the Syren line is easier to work with, and holds the shape better. 
 
I'm not trying to push one or the other. I'm just pointing out the difference and a possible related issue I'm having with the forward most shrouds, which are served Morope line.
 
Clare

So, I managed to sneak in a little more time on this build. I'm taking it to a couple ship model meetings this weekend, so it's nice to be able to show some progress in it. 
 
Added the rungs on the side of the ship as well as channels and bolsters at the bow.
 

 
Also spent some time thicknessing some of the parts for the deck furniture, but not much to show there.
 
In order to show some accomplishment, I decided to work on the mast. I had purchased the masting kit from Shipyard. It was only something like $8. Now, it's even cheaper given the rise of the dollar. But, I wasn't thrilled about the wood quality, so I just used some birch dowels I have on hand and did the usual cutting, tapering, etc. It's nice to be in familiar ship modeling territory!
 

 
I decided to make the masts based on the kit plans and not the Goodwin book. The kit has the topmast forward of the lower mast like one of the models show in Goodwin, not like in his drawings. I'm not out to redesign this kit. Just trying to learn how to build a model from paper.
 

 
I was working on the bowsprit and got it shaped based on the kit. But then realized that the kit has a round cross-section for the full length of the bowsprit. Well, I have to draw the line somewhere, so I'm going to redo it using square stock wood. I might use basswood, but I actually have a birch board on-hand and may just cut some down for the task.
 
For the color of the masts, I used a mixture of TransTint alcohol-based wood dye. By the way, the trestletrees and the mast cap are paper.
 
Clare

So, I was at the NRG Conference last week, and as an NRG member, I really wanted to bring a model, but couldn't see how to safely transport one to the conference. At the last minute, I decided to bring my little HMS Alert model-in-progress so people could get a better idea of what a card model looks like, even if it's not complete.
 
Boy, did it get a lot of attention... I don't think a single person passed by the vendor table (I went to represent Ages of Sail) without stopping to look closely at the model. I can't tell you how many times I answered "no, it's all paper" and heard the comment "I never thought a paper model would feel this sturdy". Interesting to learn how many people really like the idea of paper models. Sold two of the HMS Alert 1/96 scale kits and a 1/72 Laser Cardboard version. I suspect more people will be building one shortly.
 
I didn't intend to be an advocate of card models, but I just kind of ended up as one. I was even teased about turning the NRG's wooden ship modelers into card modelers. 
 
Anyway, I've been working on HMS Alert a bit. First off, it got handled a lot at the conference, so I gave it another coat of paint on the hull. 
 
At this point, with the hull basically complete, I've moved to the task of making the detail parts. 
 
 
Below are the taffrails at left, the parts for the anchors in the middle, and the parts for the windlass bits on the right.
 

 
 
 
The transom planking didn't cover the transom completely, so I printed some parallel lines at 3/32" intervals off my laser printer and painted the paper and cut it to the proper shape. They're not perfect, but they're on the model now.
 

 
 
 
In addition, I made the catheads and mounted them. They need to be cleaned up a little, but they're on the model.
 

 
 
Finally, the side view showing the placement of the hatch coamings and mast coat. I went ahead and started shaping the mast. I initially used the dowel that came in the masting kit, but I was lazy and found a dowel I had on-hand that didn't need as much sanding down, so I'm using that instead. 
 

 
 
 
I'm now getting to the point where I'm going to have to start thinking about how I'm going to mount and display the model. My initial thought is to just use brass posts like I did with my Mary Taylor model and English Longboat. This model is small enough to where that should work very well. I have a lot of Cherry wood on-hand and it's easy to obtain, so I'll probably make the base out of that.
 
Clare

Hi captgino, thanks for the kind words.
 
I have been working on this for just about 2 months now, just kind of on the side though. So, I guess it has moved along pretty quickly. I'm finishing up the hull details and started on the deck furniture, so it's visually a little slower now, but still moving along faster than my wooden ship projects.
 
You asked if the mats are included. If you meant masts, they are not included in this kit, but dowels can be obtained easily enough. There is actually a separate masting set available, as well as a sail kit and a blocks and deadeyes set, but all the needed parts are printed in the kit anyway. 
 
I went ahead and ordered the masting and the sails sets to check them out. The sails actually look pretty good, but I may just make my own using the kit plans as a guide. A good set of drawings of the sails is included – much better, I might add, than the sail plans in most wood ship kits I've seen. However, after making many parts now, and with plenty left to go, I decided to go ahead and order the blocks and deadeyes set. One could easily use wooden ones, like those sold by Chuck Passaro, but it's kind of cool keeping as much in paper as I can. The blocks set still saves me from all the cutting and much of the laminating. You just have to glue up the parts and paint them.
 
The masting set and the sail set. Some boxes of paints I ordered from ShipYard are on the right.

 
Close up detail of the sails set.

 
Close up detail of laser cut parts in the masting set.

 
 
Ordering direct from ShipYard, the cost for each set is pretty low. It is after all a 1/96-scale cutter, so not a lot to these. The prices are listed in Polish currency, but in dollars works out roughly as follows:
 
HMS Alert Masting set     $6.50
HMS Alert Sails set     $6.50
HMS Alert Blocks and Deadeyes set     $20.00
Shipping, of course, is extra, and adds a lot if you order things separately. But shipping small packages from ShipYard takes about 10-14 days to get and doesn't cost too much unless you start ordering multiple ship model kits or the boxed kits.
 
Of course, if you get the larger 1/72-scale boxed edition, you get all this stuff included, plus brass cannons, paints, glue, and all the parts are laser cut. But you can get this 1/96-scale paper model kit, which includes laser cut frames, for less than $30, so it's very easy to get started.
 
FYI, Ages of Sail, whom I've been helping out a bit, recently got in a big shipment of ShipYard kits. They don't carry the add-on sets, but have just about all the ship and lighthouse kits including all the boxed kits.
 
Clare
 
 
 

So, here's the model as it looks, planked, but no keel, stem or sternpost. The inner bulwarks is only test fit and not glued into place yet.
 

 
I've just installed the shear molding under the gunports, laminated many of the parts to give them thickness. I also made the mast coat, hawse pipes, prepped some of the mast top hardware, began shaping the wooden dowel mast, and glued up the anchor stocks, but haven't been added yet.
 
Parts are in the process of construction, so still look rough, particularly the round ones.

 
Some deck hatches. The only thing I'm not super happy with is the gratings since they're only printed. I know I could just make scratch gratings from wood, but it would be nice to see how the final ship looks as built from the kit.

 
View of the quarterdeck. I had a bit of a white gap at the bottom of the bulwarks and tried to even out the look with paint, but I got a little on the printed deck. After cleaning, I had to give the deck a wash of paint to even out the look.

 
 
A view of the bow showing the friezes, wales, stem and bow planking. Note the horseshoe. The one on the other side tore when I cut it and it doesn't look as sharp.

 
 
Close up of the bow planking.

 
 
Everyone who’s seen this model is amazed at how sturdy a card hull can be, including me. The lapstraked planking really makes this model solid. I also get a lot of people asking me what kind of wood was used for the deck planking, right before they say “this is paper?”
 
 
This being my first card model, I’ve learned to cut carefully and to soak parts with CA to make them stiffer and to make it easier to shape them and so that the edges don’t “fuzz up”. Plus, it makes it easier to cut very delicate pieces without them tearing up. I’ve also learned to cut out the hollow portions of parts before cutting the parts from the sheet.
    Clare

Well, I’ve done it. I started messing around with a card model from Shipyard because I was really curious about them. I didn’t mean to turn this into a real project, but I can’t help it, this thing is so frikkin’ cool!
 
I’ve already described the kit in detail in the topic I started: here, so no point in rehashing that. I’ll just say that I’ve been distracted by this model more and more and now I might as well just get it over with and make a regular project out of it. Luckily, this card model seems to be progressing a lot faster than my wooden model projects. I think it’s because all the parts are already defined. I don’t have to figure out anything, I just have to build.
 
So, I started tinkering with this kit back in August and picked it up every now and again to add some more to it. Now, I’m at the point where I’m spending multiple evenings in a row on it. At this rate, I don’t think it’s going to take all that long. I'd better really get working on this or I'll never get back to my other projects!
 
 
Here’s where it all started...

 
 
Framing was easy using the laser cut parts included in the kit. Note that not all of the shipyard paper models include laser cut framing. Instead, they give you the parts printed on standard paper and you are required to laminate that paper onto layers of card stock or plain paper in order to build the part up to the proper thickness.

 
On a model this size, the frame density and the stiffeners seem to make the hull enough to work with

 
 

 
The first layer of the hull covering is made up of thin pieces that fit nicely across the bulkheads. It's hard to avoid a little overlap, but I found it important to try, otherwise it creates a wavy surface for the planking.

 
With the layer of stiffners in place, the first layer of hull planking is laid. There are two layers of planking, so I guess you can consider this a double-planked hull.

 
The first layer consist of belts of planks. It's nice that these are printed with properly shaped planks. This makes this model more accurate than 90% of the wooden ship models kits out there, at least in terms of hull planking.

 
The first problem I ran into was the in determining the proper positioning of the bulwarks piece. But, that looks like it will work itself out okay. The second problem is shown here with the laying down of the planking belts. This is a 2-D object laying down on a 3-D surface. The belts are relatively narrow, but not narrow enough to avoid creating a wavy surface along the edges. Fortunately, there is another layer of planking to go over this, so maybe I was worrying about it too much. But, what I found was that after the glue set, I could wick a tiny amount of CA into the edge and then push down on the bumps to flatten them out a bit.

 
That has it's own hazzards as you can see here the glue fingerprints that I haven't seen since my early days of plastic model building. This is the point where I decided to try painting the surface of the hull using paints sold by ShipYard.

 
 
Clare

Yes there is. Embarrased that I can't link you to the log here at MSW, but I added these pics to my how-to folders. If anyone can lead bigcreekdad to the log that would be great. 
 
I also attempted to do a mouse in my build log, before seeing the photos below. I will try this new better method for the mainmast.
 
 
http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/329-wasa-by-md1400cs-corel-175/page-59 scroll to bottom of page
 
hope that these help
 

 
 

Thanks for the comment and advice Carl, all.
 
Well, I think I'm able to declare success!
 
Had the quarterly meeting of shipmodelers at our gathering place at the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum yesterday morning. After nearly 3 hours ship model shop talk about lunch with a fellow shipmodeler afterterwards, I managed to have a marathon session of rattling down the shrouds. All worked out pretty well and I didn't notice the stretching issue as much.
 
So, this morning, I tried spraying the completed work with the fixative. The matte varnish had a bit of sheen, so I used the matte fixative, which dried much faster, so I could use a heavier coat. It didn't really do much to lock the clove hitches in place, so I just brushed on some acrylic matte varnish. I know it works and it's quick to apply.
 
I trimmed off the excess line from the ratlines and the shouds looked okay.
 
 

 
 
But, then... I went ahead and took a thick piece of black rigging line, threaded it under the shrouds and then pulled the line tight. As I did, I could feel it slip tight against the mast head and I could actually see the shrouds tightening up.
 
I know it's cheating, but you will never be able to see this extra piece of line at this scale. And, after all, much of model making is about the art of illusion. Below, you can see the excess line sticking out.
 
 

 
 
So, now, after I secure that piece of line and cut the excess, I can comfortably start rigging the standing rigging on the bowsprit.
 
 
Clare

Hi grsjax,  Ages of Sail carries their kits as well as kits they make for other companies like the Nordic Class Boats line.
 
I thought they looked similar in production style and quality to Dusek kits. The Panderma that Thanasis posted a link to (a build) seems pretty popular. The Mariefred (a Nordic Class Boats kit) won some kind of best product award in Germany last year. 
 
They do have some unusual subjects, which is really nice.
 
Clare

Respected Ladies and Gentlemen,

now, I would like to show you

The MARISSTELLA program for beginners ...

The whole program is designed for the to total beginners, with no any experience… The program train the future modelers for the work on frames-bulkheads ... The program includes four models now. Sequentialy, according to the complexity of building and the degree of training of modelers, the models are arranged as follows:

'Boat from the river Neretva'
'Monotype Optimist'
'Batelina' the coastal Croatian boat
and
'Santa Maria'

… The first two models have no keel, they have only a few frames, therefore are ideal to start of this modeling school ... The third model has a keel, and it is a real beginning of the more serious work ... And at the end of this course, there is a real small sailing ship 'Santa Maria' , the ship of the famous explorer and sailor Christopher Columbus ... This model is simplified and easy to build ... Overall, after proper building of this four models, the modeler beginner is capable for making the more complex models ...

The recommendation to anyone who intends to deal seriously with this hobby and work is:
' Please, do not skip any of these models, because, what you learn on them, it will follow you through the whole further work…'

I will start from the beginning now. I will present these models to you one by one, I will use materials drawn from the building instructions and I will explain each step to you …

So, let's get started :

Hi grsjax,  Ages of Sail carries their kits as well as kits they make for other companies like the Nordic Class Boats line.
 
I thought they looked similar in production style and quality to Dusek kits. The Panderma that Thanasis posted a link to (a build) seems pretty popular. The Mariefred (a Nordic Class Boats kit) won some kind of best product award in Germany last year. 
 
They do have some unusual subjects, which is really nice.
 
Clare

Update April 21 2015.
 
Wow! Hard to believe that on April 13 was the First Anniversary of my Royal Louis build start!!!
 
So at this date, I finally placed thew main wales on both sides. I discarded the walnut from the kit and used Boxwood from Crown Timberyard instead.
You will see a couple of ugly fillers there. Had to place them when I realized there was a gap between the wales and the first planking. Since this is not going to be seen and eventually will be covered, I paid not much attention to it... so you do the same     
 
I painted the black with Rub n' Buff. 
 
 
 

Hi grsjax,  Ages of Sail carries their kits as well as kits they make for other companies like the Nordic Class Boats line.
 
I thought they looked similar in production style and quality to Dusek kits. The Panderma that Thanasis posted a link to (a build) seems pretty popular. The Mariefred (a Nordic Class Boats kit) won some kind of best product award in Germany last year. 
 
They do have some unusual subjects, which is really nice.
 
Clare

Hello all -
This will be my first posting to the forum.  I started the 'America' several years ago and got the first planking on and  the deck layed down, and put her away.  Around Christmas I pulled her out and started in again.  I got the second planking on and coppered the hull.
 
I used 1" wide self-adheasive copper tape (electronic cable sheilding tape).  I marked the individual plates from the front with a dull Xacto knife, and used a pounce wheel from the back for the rivets.
I did not like the look of the shiney raw copper so I used a patina fluid (Pax I think).  It went further than I wanted.  I was looking for more of a brown penney color.
 
Most of the deck furnature is on.  Deadeyes for the mast shrowds are next.
 
I've updated this first post (2016-07-07) to show coppering of hull before patina was applied
 


 

 

 

 

 




 
I'll get some more picks as I progress.
 
- Tim

Thanks for the comment and advice Carl, all.
 
Well, I think I'm able to declare success!
 
Had the quarterly meeting of shipmodelers at our gathering place at the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum yesterday morning. After nearly 3 hours ship model shop talk about lunch with a fellow shipmodeler afterterwards, I managed to have a marathon session of rattling down the shrouds. All worked out pretty well and I didn't notice the stretching issue as much.
 
So, this morning, I tried spraying the completed work with the fixative. The matte varnish had a bit of sheen, so I used the matte fixative, which dried much faster, so I could use a heavier coat. It didn't really do much to lock the clove hitches in place, so I just brushed on some acrylic matte varnish. I know it works and it's quick to apply.
 
I trimmed off the excess line from the ratlines and the shouds looked okay.
 
 

 
 
But, then... I went ahead and took a thick piece of black rigging line, threaded it under the shrouds and then pulled the line tight. As I did, I could feel it slip tight against the mast head and I could actually see the shrouds tightening up.
 
I know it's cheating, but you will never be able to see this extra piece of line at this scale. And, after all, much of model making is about the art of illusion. Below, you can see the excess line sticking out.
 
 

 
 
So, now, after I secure that piece of line and cut the excess, I can comfortably start rigging the standing rigging on the bowsprit.
 
 
Clare

Thanks for the comment and advice Carl, all.
 
Well, I think I'm able to declare success!
 
Had the quarterly meeting of shipmodelers at our gathering place at the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum yesterday morning. After nearly 3 hours ship model shop talk about lunch with a fellow shipmodeler afterterwards, I managed to have a marathon session of rattling down the shrouds. All worked out pretty well and I didn't notice the stretching issue as much.
 
So, this morning, I tried spraying the completed work with the fixative. The matte varnish had a bit of sheen, so I used the matte fixative, which dried much faster, so I could use a heavier coat. It didn't really do much to lock the clove hitches in place, so I just brushed on some acrylic matte varnish. I know it works and it's quick to apply.
 
I trimmed off the excess line from the ratlines and the shouds looked okay.
 
 

 
 
But, then... I went ahead and took a thick piece of black rigging line, threaded it under the shrouds and then pulled the line tight. As I did, I could feel it slip tight against the mast head and I could actually see the shrouds tightening up.
 
I know it's cheating, but you will never be able to see this extra piece of line at this scale. And, after all, much of model making is about the art of illusion. Below, you can see the excess line sticking out.
 
 

 
 
So, now, after I secure that piece of line and cut the excess, I can comfortably start rigging the standing rigging on the bowsprit.
 
 
Clare

Hi Mark,
 
The need for pre-stretching might be the issue here. Too late for the work done so far. But, it hasn't affected the backstays or the forestays, just the shrouds.
 
The other thing that I started to consider is the perhaps there IS a paper model issue here. I'm wondering if anyone with paper sailing ship model experience has noticed some settling of the mast down into the hull, even a miniscule amount. Just in case, in the future, I thing I would put some reinforcing at the mast step.
 
Thinking on it now, I can't imagine the card stock NOT crushing just a little under the strain of the rigging. But, I could just be imaging excuses for my own shortcomings here.
 
I finished the ratlines on one side, but haven't trimmed or glued the knots in place yet.
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
Still thinking about how to procede. I might have to step away from it for a bit and look at it with a fresh perspective. Tomorrow, there's a ship modeler's gathering I organize at the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum near Mare Island. I'll probably take it there and see what people think.
 
Again, I may rattle down (?) the starboard side shrouds and then see what I can do to tighten it all up together. 
 
Clare
 
 

Before putting the main stays in place, I needed to get the shrouds and backstays secured. The problem is that they get in the way of dealing with the mainsail. So, I worked on rigging the mainsail first. 
 
The sails came as a set from Shipyard. I originally ordered these direct from Shipyard, but it appears that's no longer possible. I think the company may have blocked U.S. IP addresses, so as to support U.S. dealers, namely Ages of Sail, which sells the Shipyard kits. The problem is that Ages of Sail doesn't currently sell the various accessories. For the moment, if you want those, you can order them from http://www.gpm.pl.
 

 

 

 
Next, I'll be rigging the backstays and then the mainstay. When I want to something a bit repetitive, I will get started on the ratlines. But, that shouldn't take too long, given that there is only the one mast with only lower shrouds.
 

 
 
Clare

Thanks a lot, Niklas and Clare, although I must admit to some embarrassment when I compare what I have done with so many other builds. I score myself about 8 out of 10 for perseverance, learning, explanation and experimentation, but probably 2 out of 10 for finish.
 
Comments such as yours reinforce the wonderful ethos of this forum where people critique and support one another for our mutual benefit and learning -- all in the understanding that we all are our own severest critics and all go through these same initial learning steps. It goes to keeping us all motivated and striving to do our best.
 
As for learning how to build a ship model the right way, Clare -- that really made me smile after I have been following the probing intelligence you have been using on the Alert and your exquisite builds of Japanese boats.
 
Thanks again
 
Tony

Tony,
 
What a fantastic job you are doing on this build. The only negative comment I can make on this blog is that there is only a LIKE button, when there should be a LOVE button!
 
A masterfully built model. I hadn't looked in on it before, but now I'm going to have to go back to the beginning of your blog and start learning how to build a ship model the right way.
 
Clare