USS MAINE Paper model --Finished--

Tanker-Builder

Guess what? They rotated the davits till the stern came out first, then the bow and lined them up square out the sides and secured the Davits in place.

I've seen videos of just that sort of operation. To me it looks like juggling and trying to play the violin simultaneously.

But I guess you learn to do what you gotta do.

Hi Gregbale. 

   Gotta tell you. I thought the same when I reported aboard my first ship It was a Gearing and the Motor Whaleboate were tucked behind some stays. Guess what? They rotated the davits till the stern came out first, then the bow and lined them up square out the sides and secured the Davits in place.

 The Bos'ns made it look like Childs play. Geez I am glad I was in Engineering Division.( Damage Control)

Real G

That’s some amazing stuff!  The use of PE makes sense, as well as your other mods and upgrades!  Well done paper models just melt my brain, and keeps me firmly on the other side of the fence!

Thanks, G!

I freely confess that my own plastic to paper ratio over my modeling history has been about 100:1...but it is nice to 'flex' one's skills a bit now and then with something not-so-familiar, and which calls for different approaches to problem-solving.

Though I've got the usual backlog of plastic projects piling up...I figured that as long as the 'paper madness' was upon me, I'd go ahead and take a crack at scratchbuilding the 63' steam torpedo launch that was slated to be deployed on the Maine and a sister ship of the era. The prototype was a dismal failure -- never came close to its projected top speed, due to some serious weight and balance issues -- but it's such an elegant, Jules-Verne-looking design, I just couldn't resist:

I'm doing her up in a manageable 1/72 scale, about 10.5 inches long:

I'll post it when and if it turns into something post-worthy.

Cheers

That’s some amazing stuff!  The use of PE makes sense, as well as your other mods and upgrades!  Well done paper models just melt my brain, and keeps me firmly on the other side of the fence!

That is really cool. Nice work!

Excellent work!  She's a credit to papercraft. 

Gary

Thanks again, guys, for taking time to reply, and for the kind words.

Paper models are indeed a cool 'niche' more people should at least be aware of. There are so-o-o-o many models available...in a wide range of subjects, often including those 'dream' subjects that we modelers long for (but which plastic model companies have determined they could never make a buck on). The really good kits are shockingly inexpensive...but there are so many really neat kits available worldwide for absolutely free, that you could easily spend a modeling career happily doing nothing but, for little more than the cost of your inkjet printer cartridges, some good 60 and 100 pound paper, and the occasional bottle of Tacky-Glue.

Plus. there's the fact that if something goes awry in the modeling process -- and when does that ever happen? -- you don't have to wait three weeks to order replacement parts from Iowa or Europe or Japan...you just print them out, and have another go.

[Climbing down off soap-box, before I get a nosebleed....]

Greg

BTW, as if it's not cool enough to begin with, the rigging truly sent it over the top.

Thanks, Greg. As to the rigging...

First off, the photo-etch shrouds/ratlines make all the difference. I've scratch-built 'em over the years in many different ways...but the P-E is so much easier to work with. Just always...always...be prepared to 'fiddle' them a bit, to adjust heights, angles and such. (I had to 'extend' mine, to fit the kit for which they were supposedly purpose-made. It happens.) And -- silly as it sounds -- remember the obvious: never attach your delicate spider-web P-E shrouds until all your other rigging is on and tensioned (and preferably allowed to sit for a day or two, just in case.) Masts and yards can 'wander' in frustrating ways. The rule for P-E shrouds is 'super-glue at the bottom, if you must...but only water-based (i.e., removable) glue at the top...just in case.'

The really frustrating thing about the rigging was that every single available photo of the Maine...and there were a surprising number, over a relatively short career...seems to show different rigging. Even things like the funnel stays seem to come and go (or move), so it was hard to 'pin down' some reasonable fit, even with the merely-representational 'rigging lite' version that I was doing. I finally just settled on what seemed obvious and reasonably workable.

But the one thing that still puzzles me for ships of this era in general..and this one in particular...is the matter of ships' standing rigging around cranes. Some photos seem to clearly show lines and stays smack-dab in the middle of where cranes would be expected to deploy. Maybe some of those lines were removable. Or maybe those 'old salts' of the day just had the hand/eye coordination of brain surgeons, to 'float' their whaleboats and pinnaces through that forest of rigging to reach the briny over the side. Either way, it's a wonder.

This is the first paper ship I recall seeing. Imagine me with a stupid look of amazement, becuase I have one.

That is really quite a model. Thanks so much for sharing the process and sorry I missed this whilst in the works. I finally understand TB's posts over the years speaking of expanding ones horizons and trying a paper model.

BTW, as if it's not cool enough to begin with, the rigging truly sent it over the top.

Beautifully done indeed. Paper in the right hands can be as good or better than any other medium. It's also cheaper with more subjects than any other form of modelling.

TheMongoose

Now that you're done do you coat it in varnish or something to keep the board from getting damp or dried out over time?

No, other than the Vallejo clear matt (which was essentially to hide shiny glue residue and 'blend' everything together), I leave them pretty much untouched.

I live in a relatively low-humidity environment...and because I do most of my rigging these days with elastic materials, I don't have to worry much about 'sagging' from humidity changes, like in the old days. The acrylic clears I've used for the last decade or so seem stable and pretty resistent to darkening, browning or other color changes, so I'm content with that.

I have learned over the years to keep paper/card models especially away from direct sunlight as much as possible, to avoid bleaching and fading...but the same goes for plastic models. I do quite a few home-made decals, and every once in a while I've had odd color-changes on older projects, sometimes on single decals out of a whole set, that seemed linked to sunlight.

Cheers

Now that you're done do you coat it in varnish or something to keep the board from getting damp or dried out over time?

Great job!  I'm with everyone else and can't believe that it is a paper kit.   Years ago, I bought a download of a paper model of a WWII US subchaser.  My idea was to use it as a pattern to make parts out of sheet plastic, but maybe it is time to give the paper world a try.

Dave

Thanks TB and Pawel.

Tanker-Builder

The " Mellum" is on my Beench and I'll start her in a couple of days.The detail set is outrageous!

Good luck on 'er!

And remember...we want pictures.

Harrumph!

 Geez, ya dint get no ripples in the hull. Are you truthing here? Is she really paper? Nah, You did a great job. It shows what can be done in material other then Plastic. The " Mellum" is on my Beench and I'll start her in a couple of days.The detail set is outrageous!

Oh yeah!

That's a very nice job - and the ship is pretty unusual, for me at least - I'm more accustomed to WWII designs. All that rigging and details add a lot to the visual interest of the model.

Thanks for sharing and have a nice day!

Paweł

Killer job on this beauty! Glad you posted over in ships so we'd find it. Would not have wanted to miss it.

This morning I installed the last of the rigging...mounted the flagstaffs at the bow and stern...gave 'er a quick all-over shot of Vallejo Matt...and finally hoisted the colors at the mizzen. Resisting the ever-present urge to 'fiddle' endlessly, I'm calling her done and ready for sea. (As soon as the crew can manage to get the port-side accommodation ladder raised and secured....)

Not the slickest build I've ever done, but she was great fun nearly across the boards. (Only the seemingly-endless parade of ship's whaleboats, gigs, launches and steam pinnaces -- with their tiny and largely-uncooperative parts to be folded every-which-way -- was the cause of some minor 'nearing the finish-line' frustration.)

The etch set was most convenient, perfect for things like railings, shrouds and catwalks...but less-so for items like anchors and davits that needed some real thickness; for those I used the 'paper' parts, or a combination of the two. Smaller-caliber guns were made up from wire and styrene rod, using the more-delicate etched mounts.

To give a little more rigidity, masts and yards were made with styrene rod -- reinforced with wire, where necessary, to stand up to the pull of the rigging. The rigging itself was mostly easy-to-tension -- and forgiving if accidentally 'knocked' -- elastic EZ-Line...with a little stretched sprue here and there where called for.

Enjoy the shots!

All in all, a fun and very satisfying return to the 'paper' side of the hobby. And...as always...new ideas for potential projects are stacking up like cordwood.

As a for-instance...

In addition to the small squadron of the Maine's various ship's boats, the kit provides two 63' steam torpedo launches, to be mounted on the flying bridge between the central and aft superstructures. Though I built and mounted one...it turns out this is something of a WHIF. This torpedo boat design was conceived to give both the Maine and her distaff 'sister' ship, the pre-dreadnought battleship Texas, an extra tactical 'punch' in action, each ship mounting a pair of the smaller craft, each of those fitted with a single bow-tube to fire the new 18" Whitehead torpedo. A single prototype was in fact built...and found to have a disappointing top speed of only 12 knots instead of the 18 knots expected. As a result the whole project was cancelled...and neither the Maine or the Texas ever mounted their 'stinging mosquitos.' The unloved prototype apparently lived out its days serving in a training and utility role at the Navy's Newport Torpedo Station.

However, researching that 'would-be' torpedo boat -- of which, incidentally, the HMV versions are pretty mediocre renditions -- has given me the fire for what may yet be my next scratch-build project [though in paper, or more conventional materials, is yet to be determined]. At either 1/96 or 1/72 scale, it would be an entirely manageable size and project...and chock-full of the neat 'old timey' details of the steam-powered pre-dreadought era. I was able to find some excellent drawings...and a few photos of other builders' models...so we shall see how things develop.

Tanker-Builder

Hmmmm;

 I feel so sorry for you. All that work and she's BEAUTIFUL! ! Gottya! didn't I 

Thanks, TB!

Hmmmm;

 I feel so sorry for you. All that work and she's BEAUTIFUL! ! Gottya! didn't I 

Starting to add 'non-paper' details: plastic bits for gun barrels and ventilators, and the manufacturer's (supposedly) made-to-measure photo-etch sheet for delicate details like the catwalks over the main turrets and the railings.

The photo-etch is as 'typically' HMV as their kits are: i.e., a little 'eccentric' here and there. Some places where two parts are required only one is provided...many of the parts-specific railings don't actually match the parts...and most structural parts like the main catwalks themselves (and all the ladders) are about 1/16 inch too short to fit where they're supposed to. [Understand, the length of the photo-etch parts matches their paper counterparts perfectly; it's those paper parts that are seemingly mis-measured. I'd be perfectly willing to chalk some of it up to my own poor workmanship...but since, say, the distance between the aft deckhouse and the center 'island' are clearly laid out on the one-piece deck section, a corresponding catwalk that misses connecting the two is a design flaw; even I couldn't screw that up....] It's easy enough to 'tweak' things a little...adding platform extensions and such...but one has come to expect a little more precision from good ol' Teutonic engineering.

All silliness aside, I'm enjoying the build quite a bit. Here are some assorted details, so far:

Starting to look semi-recognizable: main turrets on and able to rotate (no guns yet), secondary turrets installed on center 'island,' funnels up and straight, and starting to add a few deck details like skylights and vents.









Rather than simply 'rolling' the funnels, I like to use cardboard to make a little sturdier structure.



I ran into an odd situation with the kit's main gun turret positions. The two circular turrets are mounted over half-sponsons which project from the hull sides -- with one sponson a little larger, so the respective parts are easy to tell apart. But both the sponsons provided on the sheets turned out to be too large and the wrong diameter to match the turret positions marked on the main deck. Trimming those parts was easy enough to do...but since the sponsons have an angled bottom plate, making the sponsons themselves smaller moved the join-line between that angled plate and the hull side farther up on the hull.

The fix probably isn't precisely plans-accurate, but was close enough for my purposes. I just made another bottom plate and fixed it back at the correct level with a spacer. Then I used spare paper stock to 'skin' the revised sponson contours. Here's the before and after.





Much of the center 'island' structure will end up obscured under some fairly-extensive racks for the ship's boats. Having only a limited patience for constructing such fiddly bits from paper, I opted for the manufacturer's matching photo-etch set for the boat racks, stairs and railings, and assorted fine details...so there should be some PE in the next set of photos I manage to post.

Ah; Pawel:

        Remember her era. Many Ironclad or Dreadnaught designs had weird gun placement designs. Like the British one with two main turrets offset from each other slightly and located Mid-Ships! The Maine and her sisters were also a compromise on that kind of thinking.

Hello!

Funny thing, looks like the replies to your posts are locked - might be a reason for less comments than there should be...

From the photos it's clear you know what you're doing! I like the additional details a lot.

Once I was building the "Halny" - a Polish rescue/fire/tug from "Maly Modelarz", a very cool model by the way. It had white hull top and superstructure, but the paper it was printed on got yellow with age and that left me with no choice as to repaint the whole model. Was a lot of work, but paid off, the model turned out nice - got to snap some photos of it for you. Anyhow I remember recreating printed on detail that would otherwise get painted over - like the electric lines on the bridge.

I also think the concept of the Maine is mighty funny - those offset turrets are kinda unnatural...

Thanks for sharing and good luck with your build, have a nice day

Paweł

More later.

A little progress to report.

What I at first assumed (due to the somewhat imprecise rendering in the instructional drawings) to be 'boxes' meant to be mounted through the fore and aft decks, turned out to be some nifty companionway areas recessed below their surface.

Fore and aft deckhouses attached and squared up, and the fiddly casemate structures for bow and stern guns laid in. (I didn't have the guts to open the hatches and show the gun compartments...maybe next time.)

Following Pawel's advice, I made the decision to cut all the troublesome gluing tabs from the hull sides, since the cardboard-reinforced main deck and baseplate should provide ample surfaces for gluing. As Tankerbuilder suggested, I spent some time methodically sanding the hull side formers to even out bumps and get clean straight contours for attaching the hull sides.

Starting to 'skin' the hull. I backed the relatively thin-paper kit hull parts with 65 lb. card stock: still thin, but stiff enough to resist buckling and bubbling. I'm still using a PVA adhesive, but by gluing only the deck and waterline edges...and leaving the formers just for 'structure,' without any glue...the first bit seems to have gone on nice and smooth. Here's hope that trend continues.

Hi Gregbale!

     Listen, Pawel has good advice and He's helped me a lot. Now here's a tip I found by accident. When you go to the Burger joint you like best, look at their straws. Then go to Wally World( Wal-Mart) and get the different sized packs for papermodeling. A quarter straw makes a great rounded corner and the tiny thin ones can be used for masts.

      I took three sizes and slid them together to make a stepped gun barrel too. There"s probably many more ideas out there. For instance you can take the medium paper straws and flatten them and then open them back up and then flatten them again to make square tubing for a project.

      As far as sanding the build. I always put doubler strips on the edges of frames in the "Eggcrate" This goes for larger ships especially. Then sanding gently with a long board that I made, I get the sides close to perfectly square. I also double under the edge where another structure goes on top. This gives a nice level surface instead of waves in the deck.

Pawel:

    You get him started on Maly Modelarz and he will be hooked!

Pawel

OK, it's a bit hard to explain without pics, but suppose you need something to join two edges to make a rectangular pipe. Instead of bending a glue tab you could cut off that glue tab and use an L-shaped piece of paper to join the edges - gives a much cleaner looking and stronger joint, try it!

Not hard to follow at all! I've used Evergreen angle often enough while assembling styrene sheet corners, it's the same notion for paper.

Again, I appreciate the input. And I'll keep an eye out for the Maly Modelarz offerings once I make some headway on this old beast.

Hello Greg!

You should try one of the Maly Modelarz ships, or maybe some of the newer Polish kits, then you'd see what I mean. Those glue tabs on the HMV kits are plain annoying and unnecessary most of the time. And if you'd like another tip - should you really need a glue tab, then it should be a separate part. OK, it's a bit hard to explain without pics, but suppose you need something to join two edges to make a rectangular pipe. Instead of bending a glue tab you could cut off that glue tab and use an L-shaped piece of paper to join the edges - gives a much cleaner looking and stronger joint, try it!

Once again - good luck and have a nice day

Paweł