Number of Parts-Count Them!

You  are making me very glad I purchased the 1/72 scale Shipyard kit of HMS Alert! You have to make those parts for the 1/96 version!

Yeah But;

   Just think of all the aggravating fun you'll miss-LOL.LOL. Now I am doing rolling sheaves for all the cranes on the Doria and the Stockholm!

All of that aggravation is very good for Guiness!

Oh That?

 That's how I reward myself after a good day of modeling. A pint of Fosters or Guiness to relax away the post model building jitters.

Shipyard 1/72 HMS Alert arrived today, from Ages of Sail. The kit is complete except for the glue. Kit #ZL:001

Need glues, I have some Carpenter's Glue and some Gorilla glue, some CA. 

Also need blades, probably #11 and # 12.

This will be my first paper model ship.

To-RICK Sr.

   NOTE ! ! Take your time. Follow the instructions carefully. If it is any help, make sure to cut any Paper parts ON the LINE. Always. Use more than one blade if you must. Read and Re-Read each step more than once.

 I am not familiar with their product, but from the photos It looks like it's made of the same material as the Doria"s Lasercut Frame set. More like wood than actually paper. Let me know Please?

    On the first paragraph I said to Read and Re-Read the instructions. I do mean this. In a positive way. If there's photos, study them from every angle before proceeding. Good Luck!

I have the huill together and the false deck attached. The hull is of heavy card stock, almost like a thin ply, it looks to be 3mm thick.

You do have to be careful handling this card stock, I bent three pieces, being a little heavy handed, but straightening it out then applying fast CA hardened it right back up.

The kit is very well done, laser cutting is excellent and very easy to cut through, and is very accurate.

The instructions are in "Polish English" and you are right, go through them several times. The pictures in the directions are a big help, especially when deciphering the Polish English.

These go together almost like a wooden model, but are much easier to work with..All I need to do now is figure out how to post pics here.

The Aleene's Tack Glue is great on the card stock, we'll see how it is with the paper stock.

The deck glues flat on the frames, so I added a little material to the middle of the deck to give it the middle rise for water run off. So far that is the only modification. I will basically do an out of box build to see how these models work.

Update

The main deck is on with a very light wash of "sandgalb" by Model Master. That is a British color, and I used it for the gun stripe on my Constitution. The second wash called for is brown, but I am going to put on a wash of "Ghost Grey", from Model Master, since most decks were of a grayish yellowish color on warships. You have to tread lightly with the washes or the ink on deck will run.

RickSr.

       Hi.You seem to have gotten the drift. Now point of education here. Aleen's Bronze( Copper? ) bottle, works well. Just keep the application of it on the Regular paper as minimal as possible. I have tried the clear and the jury's still out on that!

 Sounds like the planking is similar to the Material used in the Andrea Doria (Extra Framing) Kit. What I liked about that is in the areas where the hull had curves. A light application of C.A with( "Zip-Kicker") when set, on the edges, let me sand those frames to the proper angle for a good connection with the skin, With-Out the normal wrinkling associated with paper only!

    By the way after fifteen Polish paper models under the old belt I am now quite familiar with Ponglish. Forgive me Pawel! But some of the Translaters do need some more schooling. The Doria and Stockholm cover history was inexplicably cut off mid story. If the "ShipYard" would come out with some Modern vessels I might, Given their prices, A try. Like say a Lobster Boat, or something like that!

    Oh, one last point. I noticed in my old catalogue that they had rolling sheave and block sets for these ships. Even some Ratlines. Do They? and How do they look? Or did you NOT order them. The ship is a straight Up good looking model given the media.

There are deadeyes, in 4mm and 5 mm, single blocks in 3mm and 5mm and double blocks in 4mm. Wooden mast, yard arms and bow sprit are included and must be shaped, sanding should be fine.

Riggin rope is .1mm, .5mm, .8mm and 1.0 mm. It looks to be cotton and needs to be  waxed. Syrene is better.

The sails are a cloth linen, fine weave and good for this scale.

You must make your own ratlines.

TB - you knew I'm going to read this, didncha?How can you make fun of people designing such nice models? But yeah, like they say, the language of the united Europe is bad english. And Poland belongs to the united Europe since 2004, so we're still learning bad english... For decades the only foreign language taught in schools as a standard was russian... And people treated learning this bad as acts of disobedience...

Anyhow - those Shipyard kits are very nice and extremely detailed. I talked to their crew on several ocasions and those people love their subject to the point of studying newest sea archeology finds. Like I asked them: On the old Polish vessel, why do the deck boards run across the deck and not lenghtwise? And they tell me: That's exacly how the archeologists dug it up from the Baltic sea bottom last year... Talk about research.

But I never ordered any. I figured if I wanted to do a sailing ship one day (and I wanted) I'm going to tackle a wood model (and I did). The finished models the Shipyard boys have do look splendid, never the less.

So Rick - good luck with your build and if you want I can translate the instructions from Polish for you (maybe not al of them, but the trouble spots, you know) and maybe I'll do a better job.

Thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Thanks, this is the first paper model for me and it is a learning experiece. Working with paper is definitely a horse of a different color.

The hull seems to me to be somewhat rough. The skins didn't line up exactly and I had to add some material to thicken hull frames on three or four spots, some on the top and some on the bottom,  to attach the skin to the frames, this mostly due to beginners' goofs. The skin seems a mite rough, just hoping the planking covers that.

Working with the Aleene's Tack Glue is taking some getting used to to. It sticks to everything, including fingers and once set it's not moving at all. The same is true of Acrylic paint.

Hello Rick!

I forgot to write that - models as complicated as your ship are usually not recommended for a first paper model.. Then again, I always say there's nothing there that an experienced modeller couldn't handle.

While I don't know your kit, the trick here would be to make sure the hull has the right shape before planking it up. You might even consider puttying it up a little and sanding to shape. While you can't take away much material (sanding off an unwanted bulge wouldn't work), you can get rid of any unwanted holes or dents.

Again - if you need any help I'd gladly try to help and good luck. Maybe it would be worth it to post a WIP thread of it? Have a nice day

Paweł

Rick Sr.

      Hello there and hope the ship is coming along. I know my friend Pawel is reading this so here goes. Pawel and Rick-I have found that you can sand both paper and heavy card if you do this little trick first! If primarily paper then do this.Take a paint brush you don't need anymore. a general 1/2" wide fan or line type is perfect. Now take the spots you have had trouble with. Paint Super-Glue on both sided of the hull area if you can get to both sides. If Not, do the outside twice.  Clean the brush in straight lacquer thinner!

     Now on card, the heavier the better, but working with what you may have, do this. Again Brush Super-Glue on the parts. The Zip-Kick the daylights out of them. This will create a wood like surface. This surface is then hardened, can then be sanded and even filled to correct the flow of a line or to smooth the hull without destroying the material. You Must Not get to carried away with grit. This will be your downfall!

     I have successfully sanded with a Sanding board( From a Beauty supply store) that is Wet/Dry and close to 320 and on down to 1,500 in grit. Do this slow and make sure to watch the pressure you use. Very light pressure and immediately removing the dust will give you a spot that is somewhat porous. Paint with the C.A and let set without Kicking it! You will then be seeing results. Then use Acrylicc or Enamel to your heart's content. You can then even lightly sand the paint to smooth the surface even more.

TB - been there, done that! It can be done this way. For smaller spots I wouldn't waste a brush - just "rake" the CA with a toothpick or sometihng.

Using lacquer is another alternative here - it's easier to control, and after drying it hardens the paper, too.

Paper and cardboard can also be sanded without any treating - it just gets a little fuzzy then. This isn't necesserily a bad thing - especially if you want to gllue another layer over the "fuzzy" spots.

Thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

See!

 I knew you would approve!

Haven't been modelling lately, took a tumble and fractured a vertbrae in my back.

Hey!

 Youse aint sposed ta do dat! Thas fer old Ladies and B ball players to do. I do hope you are recovering okay. My landlady has Pins in her back from the same thing so Please TAKE IT EASY ?