Ship Cradle

[bigcreekdad]

Does anyone use that foam cradle from Micromark? Or, if you have any suggestions foe one, please let me know.

Thanks/John

[John Allen]

John

 

The one I made was a 2x4 and 4 to six nails and foam padding.

 

The 2x4 was 24 inches long, used 3 inch nails with a large head, 2 holes were drilled every 6 inches at an angle, to cradle the hull I used thin foam doubled padding.  you can actually rotate the hull in the cradle quite a bit to change the angle depending on where you are working.

 

Man it is ugly but works well if you have shallow pockets.

[rtropp]

I have used them and found them useful.  the material its squared off sides worked well to quick store stick pins and to keep parts handy, and were especially useful while rigging. I used the large piece of the ship, the smaller part for longboats and smaller ships and the smallest part to brace other pieces while waiting for them to dry.  

Was it essential? No. Was it useful? Yes.  Could I have made my own? Probably.  

Richard  

[Moab]

I use them and find them excellent. They give you a great deal of flexibility moving the ship around easily...Moab

[Bob Cleek]

I save the foam when anything comes boxed with foam that looks like it might be useful, then cut to fit as needed. Beyond that, I have found that the split foam tubing sold at the hardware store to insulate pipes is great for making cradles. Just cut sections to the length you need and then stack them up lengthwise to make a "cradle" and run some masking tape around each end to hold them together. Keels fit between the two tubes at the top of the pile and you're good to go.

[aitch]

Take 2 lengths of plastic overflow pipe at 300mm long and 2 lengths at 200mm long. You now need a length of circular foam insulation, the type plumbers use on 15mm copper tubing. Cut 2 lengths to suit the 300mm pipe. Slide the foam onto the pipe with a squirt of PVA glue. Cut 2 lengths of foam at about 100mm. Push the 200mm length of pipe through the foam already fixed, squirt PVA onto it and slide the short length of foam on. Push the free end through the other fixed length of foam. Repeat at the other end.

Result is a soft, maleable foam base for cradling your ship.

Cheap, cheerful and effective.

Aitch

 

[Landlubber Mike]

I bought them when they were on sale - haven't used them yet, but I think when I get copper plates on my models, I'll be more inclined to use the foam cradles rather than the kit ones.

[MM2CVS9]

I use them. The smaller foam one  (#80784) is rounded, works very well with 1/700 scale ships. the bigger one (#15819) one is better for 1/350 and larger scale ships. I sure protects the paint on the hull when I'm working on topside details and rigging.

 

EJ