USS MAINE Paper model --Finished--

I’m glad to see somebody is making progress on their hobby stuff. I had to visit the laundromat today...welcome to 2020, risking your life to wash clothes. I finished a few game miniatures, but haven’t started anything else the last few days. The Maine is a great subject, and I hope the build proceeds well. You’ve probably seen it, but the Navsource website has a pretty extensive collection of photos, including the salvaging of the wreck. 

http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/maine1.htm

Pawel

So, good luck with your build - I'll be watching! Thanks for sharing and have a nice day Paweł

Thanks as always, Pawel, for your input and words of encouragement. It occurs to me that HMV are the only paper models I've actually built...so I'm not sure how other manufacturers handle the 'tabs'...but realizing I could basically lop most of them off to start should make things a bit easier and cleaaner.

And thanks for the sanding suggestion. Getting a nice smooth hull is always the challenge on these larger-scale models!

Tanker-Builder

Last thing. What type of glue do you use? I use Aleen's Copper bottle and it works well. Also for the edges , ( if I have to do it ) I use a artist's set of Prismacolor pencils. The set is about 20 years old as I use them for weathering on my regular stuff.

Currently using the purple-label Tacky-Glue seen in the photos...since it was what I had on hand. Seems to be working just fine. (I also use 3M spray adhesive for bonding the paper parts to cardboard sheets.

I've got a few Prismacolor pencils...light brown, gray and silver...that I use for most edges, plus a variety of regular colored pencils, pastels and such, plus a new AK weathering set, if needed.

Good luck with your Ebay challenge!

Hello Greg!

It's nice to see you building a paper ship! You're doing a great job, too! I like your tip with using coloured card as backing for some parts.

gregbale

I also like your idea with the "stops". Many models designed by other companies have a dedicated part for that, glued parallel to the deck.

I have to say when I look at the Hamburger models, they are a little annoying to me - like those glue tabs on parts that have to be reinforced. Those tabs should never be there in the first place and your best bet would be to cut them off right away. There's a trick to use - if you sand the "eggcrate" lightly on the edges, you get nice, smooth surfaces you can glue the outer skin to.

Many years ago I was regularly going to a modelling club where the instructor insisted that the parts that come in more than one piece, like the deck or the keel be glued to a single piece of cardboard before being cut out - this also helps with the construction a lot, making the hull stronger and straighter - of course the challenge is to find a piece of cardboard big enough to fit the parts. But if you can find them it pays off. Once I discovered an unexpected source - the decorative bricks we used to build my father's house came packed with spacers just the right size for a 1:300 ships deck. One pallet of bricks got me enough material for several ships, I haven't been able to use it up since then.

So, good luck with your build - I'll be watching! Thanks for sharing and have a nice day

Paweł

Hi GregBale:

    I just got an interesting lesson about Paper( Card ) models! I bought Hamburger Modelbaubogen Verlag's version of the " Mellum". It's a version of the Kustwatch Oil Spill response vessel. Well, on the company's website they offer a detailing set that is all Lazer Cut material so you can do the Bridge/Wheelhouse and Crane control-house in full interior detail, plus all the usual stuff that on a plastic model would be P.E..

 The place I purchased it on Line promoted that feature. Well, when I got it, needless to say the Detail set was NOT included, even though the ad made you think so. I contacted the publisher( the above named company) and let them know their product was being mis-represented.  We'll see what that does. I told them the merchant's name and number on the sale site. Yes, it was on the " Evil - Bay" I usually don't have problems with they're vendors and have been about 99% satisfied with the product.

     Anyway, I am going to order the detailing set from the Publisher so I can finish her out right. That detail set is another ten pages too! I do a lot of what you are recommending on this build. I usually double or triple the frames and the so called keel and bottom plate to keep everything flat and straight. The suggestion of doublers in certain areas is an excellent one. In 1/250 I will use coffee stirrers ( the straw type) for the final part of the guns ( Main) with the Main base being paper wrapped around the straw to give that stepped apearance.

     Last thing. What type of glue do you use? I use Aleen's Copper bottle and it works well. Also for the edges , ( if I have to do it ) I use a artist's set of Prismacolor pencils. The set is about 20 years old as I use them for weathering on my regular stuff.

Tanker-Builder

Anyway. I use the Card kits for patterns mostly. Occassionally, I will build the kit, enhancing with P.E. where useable. I find these kits a big advantage for modelers to at least try one. Why? well, think about it. Even if you choose to cheat and use other materials for masts and stuff it teaches the modeler about the Basic way at arriving at a shape and how to work with folding and laminating. Both those skills are needed for P.E. right?

Couldn't agree more, TB.

A little progress so far: main deck parts on and more-or-less aligned correctly.

After laminating the paper parts to cardboard backing, my practice is usually to press them between two cutting mats to keep everything weighted and flat. Naturally, I messed up and forgot to check that the top mat's underside was clean...and got a little 'schmutz' on the first deck part. Ah, re-learning old lessons....

To fit on the A4 pages (I think) that the printer used, the two main deck sections were printed as 'L's' that fit together 'heel to toe,' so to speak. Managed to get the tiny visible deck-joins nearly lined up....

More re-learning of old 'tips and tricks'; if you back 'raised relief' parts like hatches and portholes with pre-colored card stock, you can save much of the trouble of going back over cut edges with Prismacolor or colored pencils.

And cutting thin 'trim strips' from left-over or 'edge' printed color sections helps disguise messy joints or not-quite- straight edges on parts...in addition to generally giving a more 3-dimensional and 'finished' look.

Probably the most useful tip to beginners is that thin paper parts backed with a thickness of cardboard lets you cut away many of the 'tabs' supplied as gluing surfaces. In addition to a sturdier build, that will give you much straighter lines and cleaner edges for most mating parts.
To assure correct positioning, scrap cardboard 'stops' or tabs can be glued on internal surfaces, just as with the older styrene or vac-form construction.

And the result: test-fitting the stern deckhouse structure. (The 'dotted line' effect underneath should disappear when the part is glued and clamped down firmly.)

It's always fun when it actually starts to look like something.

More later. Hope everybody's staying 'social distanced' and healthy!

Hi, Gregbale: Did you see the separate post to you yesterday?

    I truly don't know what happened there. Your post had no reply box. Anyway. I use the Card kits for patterns mostly. Occassionally, I will build the kit, enhancing with P.E. where useable. I find these kits a big advantage for modelers to at least try one.

     Why? well, think about it. Even if you choose to cheat and use other materials for masts and stuff it teaches the modeler about the Basic way at arriving at a shape and how to work with folding and laminating. 

   Both those skills are needed for P.E. right?

I haven't had the opportunity to start another kit yet with a variety of bad personal and world events underway, but did manage to get some of this glue to try - https://deluxematerials.co.uk/products/roket-card-glue 

These are the same guys that make Perfect Plastic Putty among many other hobby products. They're from the UK, but not impossible to find in the US. When I get a chance to use some, I'll report on it. 

MJames70

Good luck with your build. I have a few fancier card kits, but have only dabbled so far, and stayed away from any that were really complex or had poor directions for now. Unfortunately, weak to non-existent directions are pretty common with these models. Overall, I can see the appeal, especially to those on a budget - you can get a large, and pretty detailed, model fairly cheaply if you're willing to do the work involved. And frequently subjects that are impractical for plastic kits can be more readily had, as well. 

Many thanks.

Aside from the 'budget' angle...which is always a consideration...my first introduction to card models some three decades ago was the fact that there is such a dizzying variety of subjects available. For ship modelers, especially, there are hundreds of reasonable-quality offerings of all kinds of 'niche' subjects that would never be kitted by plastic manufacturers. Though pre-WW2 subjects are seeing more coverage these days with plastic companies like Zvezda and ICM, when I started out with paper models, they were virtually the only ones doing dreadnought- and pre-dreadnought vessels...as well as the scads of interesting civilian ships of all sorts available. Back in those days, plastic-builders would often use the paper kits as templates for scratchbuilds. Whatever works, eh?

Cheers

Good luck with your build. I have a few fancier card kits, but have only dabbled so far, and stayed away from any that were really complex or had poor directions for now. Unfortunately, weak to non-existent directions are pretty common with these models. Overall, I can see the appeal, especially to those on a budget - you can get a large, and pretty detailed, model fairly cheaply if you're willing to do the work involved. And frequently subjects that are impractical for plastic kits can be more readily had, as well.