Paper Models-Need Support!

Hello TB!

I was in the primary school and I wanted to build models a lot - and there were no kits available - plastic nor paper - so my grandma figured she will put me in a modelling club, and there were plenty of them in the then socialist Poland. So I actually attended two of them: Cars and Ships. At Cars the instructor was a "get-it-done" type - and we mostly built simple plywood models. At Ships the man taught perfectionism parallel to ships - I remember when we were building ship models building every part started with a through search of the junk drawers, where small scraps of different leftover materials were stored. I had to supply a proof, that no suitable scrap leftover is present to make a part from in order to get acess to virgin raw material! And sometimes I found a scrap that I thought was just right, and sometimes our instructor would tell me: "No, this one is too pretty, it would be a waste to just use a half of it up - search again and try something more suitable!".

But the man really knew the job of building models out of wood, paper, fiberglass and metal and taught me a lot about carving, cutting with a jigsaw or building paper models.

And he had to save, because getting anything in Poland then was really very hard.

It's always very helpful to have a nice matching colour at hand - lets you correct almost every error you might make, or just paint up those nasty white edges of parts - and a paper model looks so much better withoput them!

Thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Aha!

    In re-reading this I realized something. Pawel, You said "your instructor", correct? Was this in an Architectural vein? or and Engineering class? You see ,I was given four small Wilhelmshaven kits and told ," You think you're a good Modeler.?" "Fine, show me, Build these" The Challenge came from a Hi-Line Worker for one of the Electrical repair crew guys that go to work by Helicopter.

 Well I used the instructions and built them. They were a challenge. BUT, a perfectly new source of unending fun. The things that can be made in any size from paper still amaze me! Now that said I am going to try to settle out things with photo stuff and post a pic or two. NO guarantees though! I am at mast Level and topside details now. I have left the Doria's and Stockholm's lifeboats for last.

      I have been experimenting again. I took the Large and Small boats and made copies and tried some things. I now have some experimental lifeboats that are shaped like the real things. Took four copies, But they look pretty fair. This technique is going to be used on the kit boats for both ships. The cross-section of these boats now look like the wide end of an egg instead of triangles!

      New Tip;

 I have found that "Tamiya Brand Acrylic" paint works great on untreated paper as well as clear sprayed paper. And it doesn't wrinkle it either! Plus, many of the shades I picked up, match the inks used on the models!

I use 1/16" basswood to back the parts.Really keeps the parts straight.

Hi Pawel;

   First off, I am going to try to get some pics uploaded to Flikr and then here. She's coming along nicely despite the mistake. Oh, Most of my ships of course, Back when I started with were the old Wilhelmsahaven kits. Nice profile plate and keel Plate. The base at the shape of the ship at waterline made it easy.

      I am now using heavier paper and in some cases, .020 and .030 Cardstock. Yes, Support sure helps. And I am having quite a bit of fun on the Doria adjustments. I showed her to four folks and they couldn't see where I had made the changes. So She's good.

     The " Stockholm" is being Built right out of the envelope. All paper and all good. Her building arrangement so far has only required the addition of a heavier keel piece. Except for that, she's just going together as printed.

     Oh, the comment about tracks, I did that in fun as I just finished another set of Fruil-Model tracks for a " King" Tiger( Porsche Turret) from a gift group. The other thing is the M-48-A-1 from Monogram Kit someone found for me. I was glad the tracks from a later model fit! Only took me ten hours!

   I learned about Lamination with thin plastic pieces for Scratch-Builds and just transfered the knowledge over. You can make some nice parts that way. BUT, you have to do four very important things. Be very careful when you are cutting. Be patient and Use the sharpest new blade you got and lastly Take Your time. It doesn't matter if a crane piece takes ten minutes to cut out. If you've done it using these tips, it will come out beautiful. Oh, another thing, You  already know about, You cannot build a paper or card model as fast. You have to let the glue have time to dry!

       Oh, one more thing. The tires on the few cars I have built have been done the laminated " Donut" style. Make a circle with the hole for the wheel in the middle. Then Make a strip wide enough for the tread base. Glue together. Then add strips crosswise or lengthwise that create the tread, Add two to three tapered layers to the side wall and  then Spray heavily with Crafters Clear Dull Spray. Wait a day or two and sand the sharp edges off Gently. Then paint and mount the wheels in them. I learned this from a Plastic Model Car Nut!

Hello TB!

I wonder you didn't have this problem in your earlier models.

Now the way my instructor taught me to build paper model ships you have the keel and your bulkheads that you put on 1mm cardboard, plus you do the same with that long reinforcement thar runs horizontally in the waterline plane AND with all the decks. Most Polish paper models state that in the instructions and have that additional 1mm calculated in the height of the hull sides. The keels and the decks are printed in segments to fit the paper sheet, but for additional strength you glue all the parts of the keel and all the parts ofe one deck on one large piece of cardboard and cut them out as one piece.

Now for the Sdkfz 251 - I've built one in 1:25 (Polish GPM company) - and if you want I'd have a not quite legal download for you. Now paper models of vehicles are cool but when it comes to tires with elaborate treads and esecially the tracks - that's when it gets a bit scary. When you get to building 32 road wheels for a Tiger - each one having 10 parts or so - now this needs some inner discipline... And when the designer comes up with a track consisting of 100+ individual links - now this needs a really motivated modeller to pull it off.

Good luck with your Andrea Doria and have a nice day

Paweł