Bismarck by Captain Slog – GPM No.182 - 1:200 - CARD - Abandoned

[Captain Slog]

Looks pretty good from here Slog!

Hi Grant, I knew someone would say that but it really did have issues. LOL

 

Is part if the glue drying too fast because the paper is absorbing moisture? Is it possible to roll/brush a thin coat of pva as a primer let it dry and then re-glue and install?

Just thinking out loud here.

Sam

Hi Sam, I think you may be correct.  I will have to see what I can do in the future.

 

I hope you have a place to display this huge model when it's finished.

Hi Brian, I will have by the time I finish it.

 

 

Okay it’s been awhile since my last post as time has been tight and when I did have time just didn’t want to touch it.

 

Firstly a couple of realisations; I really liked the lower hull colour and feel of the paper skins.  They had a richness about them (as can be seen in the post above) so disappointed that I will have to paint them.  I mentioned previously how I didn’t like the double thickness of the overlapping skins.  Actually once they were edge coloured and on I didn’t mind them at all.

 

In an ideal world I would have been very happy to skin up the hull as the kit required, oh well hopefully next one turns out better.

 

I decided to use some plasterboard tape joint compound instead of auto-body filler.  Reasoning being it is made for gripping to the paper surface of plasterboard and can be sanded to a nice feathered edge.  I was worried auto-body filler would dry to a hard tough finish which would be difficult to sand down without going through the surrounding paper.

 

One problem with the tape jointing compound is it must have a high moisture content which doesn’t matter on rigid plaster board but did make some of the skins not supported underneath buckle up a bit but seemed to dry out okay.  I believe there is a very fine body filler for scratches called stopping or butter so will try that in future.

 

Once it was all dried and sanded, I went over and brushed on a coat of Caldercrafts Admiralty Flat Matt Varnish to seal the paper surface for spraying.

 

Photos below show the extent of filling. Even after a second skim coat there was still a few little bits could be improved on but will get some paint on it first to see how it looks and will fill again if really needed.

 

 

The centre prop housing gave me heaps of problems as it wasn’t clear (to me anyway) how it was supposed to be folded and glued so needed a fair bit of filler to build up the shape.

 

 

I have already bought a couple of spray cans of Tamiya’s TS33 Dull Red that I have seen used on another web site so once I finish the prop supports will give that a go.

 

Cheers

Slog

[src]

Slog, great to see an update, looks good! I know what you mean about "not wanting to touch it" when you have time; I have been in that mode myself a bit. But, thats why its a hobby and not a job. 

 

Looks like the joint compound did the trick; maybe next time a bit of shellac to seal the paper, that might lessen the buckling? The compound should still stick.

 

Regarding sanding auto body filler, you can start sanding before its dry. It takes a little bit of timing but just as it starts to kick, IE as soon as its too stiff to spread but still soft, hit it with a coarse-ish sandpaper or even a hobby rasp and you can shape it pretty easily. we start with 36 grit at work but thats a bit heavy for modeling. Your paper will clog up fast and you'll go through quite a lot. If you use a rasp soak it in acetone and the filler will come right off with a bristle brush. Another trick with auto filler is to take some masking tape, paper or cardboard and stretch it between with both hands and use that as your spreader. With a bit of practice you can drag it down the length of your hull - or other curved surface - and have a very smooth easy to finish shape. Works with joint compound also.

A micro plane works well also. http://www.crateandbarrel.com/microplane-grater-zester/s360417

 

EDIT - There is a filler for scratches and pin holes. Here is the States we call it spot putty. I believe its just a very thick sandable primer in a tube. at work we will take our regular sandable primer and add a bulking agent sometimes and make it as we need it. I would think if you bought a small bottle of primer for models that is sandable you should be able to add some powdered calcium carbonate to it and make your own if you cant find something suitable at an auto paint store.

Just some thoughts.

Sam

Edited November 1, 2014 by src

[Captain Slog]

Thanks to everyone for the likes and Sam and Brian for the input and advice. Will try the ‘spot putty’ next time I need it.

Yeah should definitely seal the paper first, although my concern was the jointing compound wouldn’t stick to the varnished paper well but this was unfounded.

 

 

Working on the outer propeller shafts.  There are a couple of cones to form for each end of the prop housing.  When these are formed the smaller holes are 4mm for the prop shafts.  Rather than try and roll the paper shafts (long yellow strips in the photo, part S3) I used some 4mm dowel from the Endeavour kit.  The cones slipped over the dowel pretty good.

 

 

The support struts were a bit of a head scratch as the diagrams only show an isometric drawing with no other advice about orientation.  The parts themselves have slightly different ends and are 2 sizes, an outer and inner which I used google translator to determine which is which.

 

A look at the AOTS shows the struts lean forward and the outer strut is vertical looking from the rear so that is what I went with.  There are lines on the hull for placement of the struts but nothing on the cone housing so tried to line them up for a best fit as per the AOTS.  I wouldn’t say they were a mirror image but hopefully won’t be noticeable right way up and close to the base board.

 

 

Okay all masked up and ready to spray

 

 

The Tamiya spray cans are pretty small at 100ml and quickly went through 1 and half cans giving lots of light coats.  The white patches of filler took a lot to disappear compared to the red paper as expected.  The photos below were taken right after spraying as the light was going and doesn’t look to bad as still wet.

 

 

Thoughts?  Well to be honest as it dies out it is still pretty rough in areas and once its fully dried and matted out it will only be rougher.  I am going to just live with it and move on.  I could keep going on and on with it but truth be told getting sick to death of working on the hull.  I really need to get on to some other parts of it to keep my interest going and do some modelling again instead of body shop work.

 

I think a paper hull looks a millions time better if done well and left alone instead of painting and a bit of care away back would have been more acceptable even if a bit bent and buckled.  But at the end of the day its my first paper ship hull and ready for more.

 

Cheers

Slog

[gjdale]

Looks pretty good from this side of the country Slog! Don't be too hard on yourself.

[CaptainSteve]

... and lookin' good from this side of the City !!

[src]

Slog,

I think she looks great,even from this side of the world! Most people will be looking at the deck details, the flaws you have convinced yourself are there will just be overlooked.

 

She is a BIG girl! How will you aver fit her in your bath tub?

Sam

[dgbot]

Slog, your log has taught me many things about card models.  Your Bismark is fantastic and I have learned many things rom your build. Bravo.

David B

[Captain Slog]

Thanks to everyone for the likes, comments and support, it really helps to get over the tough bits.

 

... from this side of the country

 

...from this side of the City 

 

...from this side of the world! 

Now if  it would only look good from this side of the room 

 

Joking, I am moving on with it now or I would never get anything done or finished.

 

Okay major milestone for me.  Deck is finally on.  As usual a few lessons learned for next time. 

 

One thing which stands out is the printed colours are all slightly different across the 3 different parts of the deck.  I can’t do anything about that so moving on without further ado.

 

 

Cheers

Slog

Edited November 10, 2014 by Captain Slog

[WackoWolf]

 A Little at a time will get you there, but DAM she is big. Keep the updates and pictures coming, and Thank you for sharing with us.

[gjdale]

Hey Slog,

 

Any action on the Bismarck lately? It's been a while since the last update.

[Captain Slog]

Hi Grant, thanks for asking.

 

Haven't done any more since the photos above.  Spent a bit of time working on the card vehicle and then all modelling stuff was packed away March/April for selling our current place.

 

Got to do practical completion inspection next week of our new place and then move in first week of October.  Will have one of the  spare rooms to set up in permanently so should be full steam ahead again so to speak not long after.

 

Can't wait to get stuck in again with some modelling, its been so long now!

 

Cheers

Slog

[gjdale]

Thanks for the update Slog. Good luck with the house move - I know just how traumatic they can be at times! I look forward to "resumption of play" once you're settled in.

[WackoWolf]

I will be waiting also for when you got the move in finished and back to work. 

[WackoWolf]

Did you ever finished this Beautiful ship?

[Captain Slog]

Hi Joe,

 

No, I didn't progress any further than what is in this log and ended up giving it away to a local Perth forum member.

 

Cheers

Slog

[Dan Vadas]

On 17/07/2016 at 9:45 PM, Captain Slog said:

No, I didn't progress any further than what is in this log and ended up giving it away to a local Perth forum member.

May I ask WHY? I've been considering a Card model for my next project - is the GPM Bismark worth having a go at?

 

  Danny

[Captain Slog]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for dropping by, didn’t notice that this log had been posted to.  As for the reason in giving up on the Bismarck here is what I posted in the Traders section when giving it away;

Due to my card modelling interests changing over time the Bismarck doesn’t fit in with my interests anymore.  I want to concentrate on WWII Japanese ships (I have the Fuso already and there are 2 others I want) and Imperial Russia pre-dreadnoughts as well as several card vehicles. 

If the Bismarck was further progressed than just 70% of the hull then I would have continued with it but as it is these ships are labour intensive and any time spent on it would detract from time spent modelling things I really want to do.

 

If you want to do a card Bismarck then I have seen a few very nice GPM examples.  Going by the kit I.D. number it appears to be quite old now and it does show in some areas not being very detailed such as a lot of printed only detail on the superstructure.  The parts fit for the little I had done was very good and I don’t think I came across any issues by others on its construction. It also doesn’t give any advice on the foot rails, step irons and other ‘iron’ work as these are all printed on.

A couple of other options are a Halinski Bismarck but this has been out of print for quite a time so you would need to track one down second hand.  The ultimate would probably be HMV’s Bismarck which is 1:250 scale and is very detailed I believe.  The underpinnings are more papery than the GPM card formers so probably a lot more difficult.  The HMV would be a massive undertaking.  I don’t know much more about it as it is not in ‘my scale’ so tend to ignore anything other than 1:200.

 

If your interest is in any other ships you would have to go on a case by case basis although I will say there are several publishers I don’t look as the ships I am interested in appear quite basic in details.

 

Good luck with whatever you decide on and look forward to following along.

 

Cheers

Slog

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks for that Slog. I'm leaning toward the GPM model as there seems to be quite a lot of photo-etch available to make a lot more detail.

 

First though I'm going to do a small model of HMVS Cereberus to see how I go with Card modelling .

 

  Danny