Puigcerda by ccoyle - FINISHED - Paper Shipwright - CARD

[ccoyle]

The Spanish monitor Puigcerda (named for the city in Catalan and the only monitor ever to serve in the Spanish navy) was commissioned in 1875.  She displaced 553 tons and carried three bronze muzzle-loaders, one of 12 cm and two of 10 cm.  After brief service during the Third Carlist War, she was laid up until the Spanish-American War in 1898.  Re-armed with two 16 cm guns and two 12 cm guns, she patrolled the Vigo River during that conflict.  She was sold out of the service in 1900 and converted to a civilian steamer.

 

Puigcerda is another of the excellent offerings from Paper Shipwright.  Designer David Hathaway's models are well regarded for their fit and detail.  Despite their small size and relatively low parts count, builders should have some experience working with card due to the number of very small parts.

 

My kit was a laser reprint sold by Paper Models International; their website is still up, but hasn't been updated in ages.  The kit includes several pages of parts, instructions, diagrams, and railing jigs.

 

 

[Jim Lad]

Another very interesting looking build, Chris!

 

John

[augie]

Well heck, I found out about card from Paul Salomone so I'm looking forward to following this.

 

Thanks for sharing Chris!

[ccoyle]

One of the hardest parts of building these small monitors is getting the hull right.  Everything after that is gravy.  The difficulty is due primarily to the very low freeboard and the necessity of preventing warpage.  I tack the hull base plate to a small sheet of glass to hold everything flat during construction.  The kit includes optional dressing belts, which I included; these are fairly difficult to install because of their extreme length and narrow width.

 

Once the basic hull is complete, the addition of the superstructure and turrets goes rather quickly.

[ccoyle]

And before you know it, it's done!  Actually, I didn't take many pictures during construction because I was in some haste to get this model finished in time for a convention.  So, here it is.  The railings are made from thread using the supplied jig and the technique mentioned in my log for Folke.

 

 

Thanks for looking!

[amateur]

I only discovered this 'log' because of the pics you uploaded in the gallery.

What kind of thread did you use? I tried the thread method, but before  gluing it, it is too thick, and once covered in glue, it ends up a bit blotchy, uneven, and the individual strands of the thread very pronounced.

 

Jan

[Landlubber Mike]

Same here - amazing work Chris!!!  I can't believe this is card!

Edited March 11, 2021 by Landlubber Mike

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, amateur said:

What kind of thread did you use?

 

Hi, Jan. The main disadvantage of any thread is its fuzziness -- the more fuzz the thread has, the more uneven its final appearance will be once glued and painted. So the secret is to start with the least-fuzzy thread possible. I have found quilting thread ideal in this regard.

[amateur]

I have been looking at quiliting-thread. Looks more even than gutermann-thread.

The amount of variety in thread thicknesses however is rather large.

Which size/weight do you use? Can't go to my local shop to get a feel for it , because quiliting is not much of a business on this side of the pond, so you have to buy online, even pre-corona.

 

Jan

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, amateur said:

Which size/weight do you use?

 

That is a good question, which sadly I cannot answer. I use Guetterman quilting thread, but there is no indication on the spool regarding weight or diameter.

[amateur]

That's a pity. Is there a number on the spool. indicating colour/type? 

At least, the nubers on the sewing-spools more or less identify the type of thread (together with the length on the spool)

 

I can only find the 200 meters hand-quilting, and 300 meters machine-quilting spools. (which sounds like a lot of meters, but with a four-rail railing, that will wear out pretty quickly I guess  )

 

Jan