Fish-hooker by Ab Hoving - FINISHED - CARD - after af Chapman - how to scratch-build from paper

[Ab Hoving]

You’re welcome Phil,

You did a great job on coppering your Victory. Do you plan to give it a weathering with green paint?

Ab

[GrandpaPhil]

Thank you! 

 

It’s starting to patina on its own, even under the sealant.  I’m just going to let it age on its own.

[wefalck]

Paper is a very versatile building material - when you get away from the classical cut-out paper modelling. Your model is quite a tour de force, showing what can be done ! We had seen this already in your article in our journal LOGBUCH 👍

[Ab Hoving]

And it is so incredibly easy...

[wefalck]

I tried to use paper - because it so easy to work with and doesn't make a lot of dust - for a steel-ship, but even when soaking it in woodprimer, I found that the crisp edges needed were not possible with this material. However, I think for 'old-time' wooden ships it is a very suitable material, if one does not work in too small scales.

Edited December 9, 2018 by wefalck

[Ab Hoving]

Certainly, there are limitations, like for every material. Still, if you visit papermodelers.com I am sure you find examples of people who build steel ships. Men-of-war, pleasure vessels, merchants and even oil platforms. See for yourself. The modern types are not my trade, but a lot of things are possible with paper.

Edited December 9, 2018 by Ab Hoving

[tkay11]

Ab, I have followed your log with great interest, and while I am recuperating from surgery have been drawing up the plans just to make the hull of this fish-hooker in card before I can get back to my chaloupe model. I have started this by tracing the lines in CAD. Unfortunately, perhaps because of my failure to understand the plans, I cannot seem to reconcile what I take to be the line of the deck on the sheer plan with that on the half breadth plan.

 

You will see in the following tracing the lines for the fore bulkheads K and M together with the general outline for all the fore bulkheads. On the right there is the sheer plan on which I have drawn the station lines for the bulkheads. I the uppermost three lower lines on the half-breadth plan do seem to  signify roughly the tops of the bulkheads and the lines of the deck, but the lowest two horizontal lines from what I take to be the line of the deck on the half-breadth plan do not seem to match the line of the deck on the sheer plan for station lines K and M (they are out by about 2mm each at a scale of roughly 1:70).

 

I am pretty convinced that either I have not understood the plans correctly or that the original lines were not drawn with the level of accuracy necessary to a CAD drawing, so I would be very grateful if you could let me know whether I am being far too picky or just plain wrong in my interpretation of the plans.

 

On the drawing I have erased all the mast drawings for the sake of clarity.

 

Thanks,

 

Tony

[amateur]

Hi Tony,

 

What you indicate in red, is -as far as I understand these drawings - the deck height on the centerline of the ship, not the deckline in the side of the ship. Thus, the difference between the red and blue lines is an indication for the curvature of the deck beams. (But perhaps my  interpretation is incorrect..) 

 

Jan

Edited March 20, 2019 by amateur

[Ab Hoving]

Hello Tony,

 

Good to hear people get inspired to work on this draught. I know of no better compliment.

Sorry to hear that you are a bit out of shape due to your surgery. I know exactly how you feel having had two operations in last six months myself.

 

Your problem lies in the interpretation of Chapmans wonderful drawing. What you apparently identified as the run of the deck is in my humble opinion the run of the wale. That is how I saw the drawing, but maybe if you are really going into it deeper you find proof of something completely different. I admire the thoroughness you tackle this job with, but I must confess I am of a much more amateuristic kind of model builder. I simply took the lines of the frames, cut them out, placed them into the central spine, which has the run of the deck as its top already and the whole proces took place more or less without me.

But even if the line indicates the run of the deck, has it occurred to you that the camber of the deck might be the cause of the difference? Of course there is a correlation between the line of the wale and the deck. 

Not much chance you mess up here...

 

All the best with you recovery and I hope my remarks helped you a bit.

Ab

 

ps. I answered this post less than two hours ago, but was not aware that I was not logged in, so my answer did not come through. Jan took the honor, for which I am grateful. 🙂

 

By the way, I don't think it is the deck line really. In that case the raised upper deck would have been noticeable in the body plan. It's the wale as far as I am concerned.

Edited March 20, 2019 by Ab Hoving

[tkay11]

Thank you very much for your advice, Ab. I took the run of the deck from what I take to be the beams supporting the deck, above which runs a dotted line. I see the outline of the wale as quite separate from the dotted lines running on top of the beams. I outlined the beams as brown squares in the drawing, but I quite see that this could represent the central spine and that I had not taken into account the camber.

 

I agree with your analysis: the point is just to get on with it and not be too picky about a couple of millimetres (equivalent to 14cm at full scale), when the plans are themselves photos or scans of original work, and were possibly drawn up just to give the idea of the ship.

 

I also agree that the safest thing is to work from the half-breadth plan to make the bulwarks for the model as correlation with the sheer plan might be too difficult.

 

Thanks again for the help!

 

Tony

 

 

[GrandpaPhil]

Ab,

  I’ve been using your tutorial for my Prince de Neufchatel build.  I’m nearly done with the hull.  I have a quick question, can you use card to make mast tops and other load bearing parts in the masting?

 Thank you,

Phil

[Ab Hoving]

Hi Phil,

 

I always make my channels and my tops from card. You can put them under considerable stress, provided you add your chainplates first... The direction of the stress allows you to pull hard. Don't forget to leave the laniards loose for a considerable time, so you can adjust the tightness after the rope has stretched.

 

Good luck,

Ab

[GrandpaPhil]

Okay, thank you!

[tkay11]

Ab, I've been wondering about the type of putty you use as filler. Could you make some suggestions?

 

Thanks

 

Tony

[Tony Hunt]

Ab, thanks so much for this. You've opened up a window onto a whole genre of modelling I knew nothing about. A fascinating and informative tutorial, and the end result is a wonderful model. Thank you!

[Ab Hoving]

Hello Tony and Tony...

 

Funny how a thread from a year ago suddenly appears to be alive.:-)

 

The question about the right kind of filler is a very good one. It does make a difference which type is used. That is because some kinds are quick drying, but only at the surface and they shrink when at last the lower layers have dried too. I am afraid you have to test some brands yourself, because I wonder if the type I use is available in your country too. The stuff I like most, because it does not shrink, even if a layer of 2 mm is applied is: Houtplamuur (wood filler) Universal by Alabastine. It does not dry as quick as for instance the fillers that are used in car repair, does not smell at all and can be sanded after an hour, provided you did not smear too much and too thick. Use thin layers of filler and allow to dry as long as you can. You can get information at: info@alabastine.nl

 

Hope this helps.

Ab

[Tony Hunt]

A good thread never dies.  And I wasn't here a year ago. 😁

[tkay11]

Thanks, Ab. It looks as though this is a water-based wood filler which can be used immediately (i.e. not mixed from two components, like a resin) and which can also be bought as a powder for mixing with water. Perhaps cellulose-based. Would that be a fair analysis? If so we have plenty of similar products in the UK which would fit the purpose, such as Polycell.

 

Tony

[Ab Hoving]

Yes, it's definitely water based, probably some methyl alcohol as well. At least it does not smell as sharply as the car fillers.

Don't think you can use other fillers though. I tried a lot and this one works the best, but the others weren't too bad either.

I read on the tube: mixture of 5 chloor-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-on [EC no 247-500-7] and 2-methyl-2H-isothyasol-3-on [EC no 220-239-6](3:1).

Now, if that is clear to you I would be surprised, it does not ring a bell for me.

But it's great stuff! :-))

 

 

 

[tkay11]

Thanks, Ab. I'll get the internet to do my bell ringing.

 

Tony

[Meriadoc Brandybuck]

Hello Ab,

I was wondering, how do you make your pinrails?  Pins seem like a challenge to make at smaller scales. Wire and glue?

 

Meriadoc 

[Ab Hoving]

Hi Meriadoc,

Making pins is something you can do in detail, but you can also think it enough to cut pieces of wire and glue them in a strip of card. Once the rope is belayed on the pin, any detail is hidden, so why bothering making detailed pins? Except of course if you like making these details. In my experience the eye forgives a lot of shortcuts, as long as the overall look and the lines of the model are OK.

If using card for the pinrail, the best to do is soak it with CA glue once all the pins are in. They can be filed or cut at even lengths after glueing. A support strip, invisbly glued underneath the rail will prevent the whole thing to be ripped off if the tense of all the lines becomes too much. I never experienced that actually, but better safe than sorry.

Edited November 27, 2021 by Ab Hoving

[Heredia Bill]

I really appreciate this thread. I'm starting my first wooden kit, but have realized that their probably won't be a second because of the cost and the dust, which sets off my wife's allergies. I've been looking for how to create my own models from scratch, and until now, could never get past people saying you need CAD and a laser printer. There are free versions of CAD, but a laser printer is simply out of the question.

 

For now, the most useful part was how to take the ship drawings and turn them into frame parts. Thank you for your generosity.

[Ab Hoving]

No, thank you Heredia Bill. Your reaction is exactly why I wrote this tutorial.

Have fun.

Ab

[Meriadoc Brandybuck]

Hey Ab,

I wanted to wish you a happy birthday! 
Hope you’re staying cool. Finding any projects to work on?

 

-Meriadoc

[Ab Hoving]

Hello Meriadoc,

How thoughtful of you! Thank you very much, most appreciated.

New projects? As a matter of fact my son and I are just about to finish a new book: making ship models out of paper.

So stay tuned.

Best,

Ab

[the learner]

Can't wait to see it, sounds like  something i might want to do. Plus your subjects are are always interesting and educational!

[Meriadoc Brandybuck]

On 8/2/2023 at 2:36 AM, Ab Hoving said:

new book

Can’t wait to see it!

 

Meriadoc
 

[druxey]

Now this is interesting news, Ab!

[Ab Hoving]

Ssssst! It's a secret.

For the time being I am trying to reach Mike Ellison, but my mails all seem to end up in his spam box.

Perhaps this is the way to reach him?

Ab