CGS CANADA 1904 by ccoyle - Paper Shipwright - 1/250 - CARD - abandoned

[ccoyle]

I've got some issues with the other kit I'm working on at the moment, and I'm also going to need some work done on the AC at my new house before I can work in my new "man cave" in comfort. While I'm waiting on these matters, I decided I'd dig out one of the card models in my stash and poke around with it. This one is CGS Canada, a Canadian fisheries protection ship built in 1904 that did service in the Great War and later, after being sold off to private interests, sank off the coast of Florida in 235 feet (70 m) of water. You can read more about her history here.

 

The kit is designed by David Hathaway of Paper Shipwright in the UK. I have enjoyed building several other Paper Shipwright kits, including SMS Rhein, the Swedish monitor Folke, and the Spanish monitor Puigcerda; all of these are in the gallery. Like many Paper Shipwright kits, this is a comparatively simple model consisting of three sheets of parts, two pages of diagrams, two pages of English instructions, and a cover sheet. At £6.50, it's a sweet little deal. I chose this particular kit because I like the look of it, but also because it has a minimum of railings that will need to be built. David includes a template in each of his kits that allows the railings to be made from thread. It's a nifty method, but not my favorite task, so the less the better.

 

Another reason why I chose this kit is because one of the main challenges for me with card ships is getting a nice-looking hull without arriving at the "starving cow" look that card hulls sometimes get. David's kits use the "egg crate" style of hull construction, as do for example kits from HMV (Hamburger Modellbaubogen Verlag). I will be trying out some new methods to try and get the "perfect hull". We'll see how that goes. The finished hull will be about 10 inches long.

 

Here's some photos of the kit elements. Since it's a card kit, all of the elements are on (surprise!) paper or card stock. Ciao!

[druxey]

Looks like nice quick project, Chris. We'll see how this unfolds - I mean, folds!

[Captain Slog]

Looking forward to following this build of an interesting subject.

 

Cheers

Slog

[ccoyle]

Slow progress. Was held up a few days by the need to get some more spray adhesive. I wasn't paying attention and got the wrong kind too, 3M 90 instead of 77 (90 is the heavy-duty spray and is not dispensed in anything like the fine pattern from a can of 77). Whoops! Made do with it anyway. As I hinted earlier, I'm still trying for that elusive "perfect hull." These kits have a longitudinal profile former spine that glues down to the base by means of a series of folded tabs. I don't care much for that method, since the folded paper fibers store some elastic energy, resulting in the tabs tending to push upward on the spine. What I did instead was remove the tabs and add two card strips on either side of the spine, creating a slot for the spine to fit into. Next up are the transverse formers. As you can see in the accompanying photo, the horizontal lines on the formers do not match up correctly with the corresponding line along the spine; if all is glued in place like this, the deck will not have a perfectly flat surface to lie on. The transverse formers will need to be shimmed to fix the alignment, and the amount of shim needed is slightly different at each station (due simply to the tiny variations in the cutting out of each part), so that will be the next task.

 

EDIT: Forgot to mention that I also laminated the formers onto a second sheet of card, which substantially stiffens them. This simulates the practice found in most Eastern European kit designs, but is not standard practice for Paper Shipwright or HMV designs.

 

 

Cheers!

[ccoyle]

Still making slow progress; will post a photo or two when I get the hull skins on. Right now I am adding teeny, tiny bulwark stanchions, 72 in total (they are optional parts, but I'm adding them anyway). I can only stand to do about ten at a sitting before I get bored. Forwards!

[amateur]

Nice little ship.

I downloaded some of the free ships, but still hesitating, as there are so many alomost invisible parts...

Although there is a nice Dutch monitor. Perhaps I will do that one.

 

Jan

[ccoyle]

Well, thanks for the interest everyone, but tragedy has struck. While trying to trim a bit of excess card at the top of one hull skin, my steel rule decided to act on its own accord and wander away from the edge being trimmed, with the end result that there is now a long diagonal gash in the hull skin. 🤬 On top of that, I wasn't terribly happy with the way the hull was turning out in the first place. So, I'm setting this one aside for now and going back to the MK Kanonen Jolle, now that I have the corrected rigging table for it.

 

Oh, well ... c'est la vie!

[amateur]

On the bright side: as you have a pdf, you can repeat this one until you're happy

That is - I think - one of the lessons you tried to teach us in your own card-tutorial.

 

Jan

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, amateur said:

On the bright side: as you have a pdf, you can repeat this one until you're happy

Actually, no, because this was a pre-printed kit.

[amateur]

In that case I understand why it is on indefinite hold.

I didn't realize David sells preprinted kits, I only knew the free pdf-downloads.

 

Jan

Edited April 20, 2020 by amateur

[EricWilliamMarshall]

18 hours ago, ccoyle said:

Oh, well ... c'est la vie!

I'm sorry to hear tragedy has struck. Yours was not the first great ship to be lost...
I applaud your ability to bounce back; c'est la vie indeed!