I made some shrouds for 1/450 Victory.

[modeller_masa]

 

Hello.

 It was super long rainy season on Jul and Aug. I couldn't do any modeling work for two months, and it almost killed my interests  in hobby. To heat up my hobby engine, I restarted from relatively easy kits such as plastic models I purchased long ago.

 

(From left to right) The first one is a genuine part from HMS Victory 1/450 (Revell). The part is the lower shroud of the first mast of the ship. Remeber the length of ship is not longer than your palm. The detailed are removed hefty, and it annoyed my creativity engine.

 

 

At first, I approached from traditional way - I used brass wires and lycra rigging threads. The result slopes, but I like the human errors. 

 

 

The second one is from my new CNC laser engraver. I made 4 papers and combined them to get enough width. The result is much clearer, but the laser is too thick. I would say that the most slim width of laser is 0.50mm which means thicker than fine modelling razor saw. I would say that my laser CNC is not good for too detailed parts.

 

 

The last one is from my new SLA LCD 3D printer from CREALITY. (The model name is LD-002R.) It shows much finer result than usual FDM 3D printer, but it is still not enough for 1/450 HMS Victory...  However, I believe that I will get better result without changing it when I get more know-hows.

 

 

I'm waiting for $200 metal 3D printer. My SLA resin 3D printer shows much better result than my hand, but the resin is not durable. I would say that metal-material SLA 3D printer which costs $100,000 now will be a game changer.

 

I hope you enjoyed to watch my trial and errors.  

[wefalck]

If you have access to pre-tinned copper wire, you could use this to good effect as Bob Wilson does. Check out his Blog, where he also various downloads and ebooks for sale: http://miniatureships.blogspot.com/

 

BTW, why does the rainy season prevent you from modelling ? Over here in Europe it would be just the opposite - or is it the high humidity plus high temperatures ?

[shipman]

Nice to see a favourable reference to Bob Wilson considering he's banned from this site.

[wefalck]

I was not aware of this and always had a good contact with him ...

[modeller_masa]

wefalck // Thank you for the advice. I'll check what is 'tinned cooper wire'. It should be stronger than metal primer with lacquer spray, and easy. Also, Robert A Wilson's books seem pretty useful.

 

In Seoul, South Korea, rainy season is usually shorter than a month. Two months of rainy season like tropical region embarrassed many people in Seoul. I had to run air conditioner all day. 😂 Most wood workers stop to work during the season, so I followed their reference. I think I should buy dehumidifier to keep working condition against gobal cimate change.

 

shipman // It is the first time I know his name and he is banned from here. I couldn't find the reason of the ban. Could you give us an article link why he was banned?

[allanyed]

Masa 

Lloyd McCaffery describes in some detail the making shrouds on pages 111-114 of Ships in Miniature.  He builds on a loom and for "large" scales such as 1:192 he uses brass wire for  shrouds and and smaller diameter wire for the ratlines, and for small scales such as yours he recommends nickel cadmium wire.   He uses a flexible glue to coat the entire set while it is still on the loom so the set up is not too brittle.   

 

Allan  

[wefalck]

Sorry, Allan, to make a slight correction: the wire he uses is NiCr, i.e. nickel-chromium, also know as Constantan (a brand name). This wire, in principle, is available in diameters down to 0.04 mm or so, but is rather expensive. Its main use is for temperature-constant resistors and in electrical heaters, toasters etc. May be not so easy to find in the consumer market. If you live in an university city, there may be a supplier for lab-equipment that might have it. Otherwise, one can try repair-shops for electrical household goods. Or, of course, the Internet.

[allanyed]

Hi Wefalck,  Great catch, my error for sure.  Thanks!

Allan

[modeller_masa]

Allan and Wefalck // Thank you for great guidances. I found and ordered NiCr wires and other cutting wires down to 0.035mm at Aliexpress. Also, flexible glue aka shoes glue as metal primer is very interesting.

 

https://www.jrusselljinishiangallery.com/pages/mccaffrey-pages/mccafferythumbs.htm

Looks like Lloyd McCaffery did amazing works. I ordered the book at UK Amazon. It is amazing that he managed such a small scale like big scale model ships. That's really impressive, charming, and thrilling.

[wefalck]

His book has been a bible for me in many respects since it came out in the mid-1980s. It's a pity that he kind of deviated from small-scale shipmodels into carving miniature sculptures, even though the sculptures are superbly executed.

 

Cutting wires (for separating damaged glass covers from the LCD-screens of mobile telephones) are usually molybdenum and extremely hard and tough. They easily damage cutting pliers and are difficult to cut. I score them with a scalpel blade and then bend them until they break. The advantage is that they have a goldy sheen, are springy, and are available down to 0.02 mm easily on ebay etc. I have a whole selection of diameters in stock for simulating brass rails and the likes in small scales.

 

As has been discussed recently at various places here in the forum: shellac solution and the lacquer used to coat silver and brass ware to prevent it from tarnishing, zapon-lacquer, make a very good glue and metal primer. I also use it to secure rigging etc. It is a material that has been used for virtually centuries by clockmakters and silversmiths for various purposes.

[modeller_masa]

2 hours ago, wefalck said:

shellac solution and the lacquer used to coat silver and brass

That's 100% correct. How did you know that?! I applied shellac as metal primer and black lacquer can spray which costs $3 to the second part. It is exciting to hear that my unintended solution from accidental experience is already proved centuries ago.

 

2 hours ago, wefalck said:

Cutting wires (for separating damaged glass covers from the LCD-screens of mobile telephones)

That's what I ordered. How did you know that?! You should have installed spy ware on my PC... 😱😁 I couldn't imagine people use such various materials for model. In addition, I started to think about 1/200 scale professional grade miniature ships because someone already made it. Thanks for expanding my insight, Wefalck.