Paper Ship: Bismarck, HMV, 1:250

[dr_gn]

rolster said:

Great to see some progress, these paper parts will be much lighter than those Vulcan kit parts, therfore easier on that injury of yours.

Yes, I’ll be glad when the hull is done.

The paper structure is light enough, but the shelf I’m building it on certainly isn’t

That reminds me - I need to make a wood base for it soon. Trouble is, the oak floorboards I’ve got warp like crazy. I’m thinking of buying a custom made laser-cut ply railway base (obviously much smaller than a railway board), and then skinning it with wood. Hopefully that should give a nice finish, and the ply “milk crate” structure will stop warping. Unless anyone else has any bright ideas for non-warping long wooden bases?

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Smoggy XJR said:

Reclaimed scaffold board?

They don't warp? I assumed if solid Oak warped when it dried out, pretty much any wood would do the same?

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Rolster, Yertis,

I've no idea whether a couple of layers of 18mm MDF glued and screwed could then be veneered to make a non-warping base.

Or whether Rolster's idea would be quicker (and effective) in the end?

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RedRob67 said:

How about one of the Ikea floating shelves? Lightweight and won't warp.

Yeah that's what I'm using at the moment, and it slots onto two brackets on the wall in the office when I'm not working on it.



Trouble is, it's just too bulky. I want something a few cm shorter and narrower, and significnatly less deep. Eventually it will sit within the base of a perspex display case, as I've done with the other paper ships.

It's the high aspect ratio and shallow depth that make me think that normal wood will warp at those dimensions. for scale the base will be about 1000mm long, 200mm wide, and 25mm deep.

I've just found a supplier who will cut veneered MDF to size, and edge it. They will also mill out the core. OK, there couldn't be any edge chamfers with that method (short of inlaying solid squares around the upper edge and chamfering them), and I guess it would have to be 18mm, but it would be a quick and fairly cheap option at about £50.

[dr_gn]

So perhaps ply, edged with veneer?

That’s how I made my Meccano cabinet; looks good, but it’s not a structure that’s prone to warping.

How about as a previous suggestion - hollowed out veneered MDF filled with resin? Sounds legit, but I need something that’s proven not to warp.

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edusa said:

How about a slab of green veined marble,it looks like the sea.

Problem with trying to replicate water is that it usually looks wrong. I'd rather stick with plain woodgrain I think.

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I made some small fillets for the ends of the belts:



The kit parts are rectangular, but I thought these would fit better.

One place I opted to deviate from the 100% paper build was the packing strips for the hull armour. In the kit these are multiple strips of paper lapped and laminated together. I think this may have formed steps and wrinkles, so I thought thin balsa would be better. I began by templating them against the hull with paper:



Then transferring to the wood:



In order to secure the packing piece to the hull, I made a temporary balsa base, and used a thin balsa strip, pinned against the paper sides (with the balsa packing behind) to get a smooth curve, and to give even pressure for bonding:





I used UHU for this. I also fitted the stern piece:



The next job is to finally fit the long paper armour outer skins to the balsa, again using the pinned strip method to get a smooth result.

Edited by dr_gn on Thursday 6th January 22:03

[dr_gn]

So with the armour balsa set to the paper lower hull, made a start on finally attaching the sides. Front section first:



Then pinned in place with a profile strip:



Then the rear section. I left it long so I could mark it to get a perfect fit to the front:





Then glued that in place onto the balsa:



And pinned the whole length while it sets to get a continuous smooth curve:



When that’s set, I’ll work on the return at the top of the armour, move the strip up and wick PVA all along it, hopefully to form a smooth, rigid, gap free finish.

Edited by dr_gn on Sunday 9th January 14:39

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Regbuser said:

Great work :thumb:

Thanks!

On to the port side. I’ve had to re-position the cranked section at the stern. Luckily I’ve got a spare hull piece, so made a good one from two:





Also joined the multiple hull armour sides:



And scored the returns. Also visible is one of the datums, which is a piece of tape with a line drawn on it. There’s another on the deck. Trying to adjust fit by trial end error without them is a frustrating exercise…and even with them, there are inevitably some small errors.



I then needed to think about bracing the almost complete stbd. side, to clamp the balsa and hull sides against, but without damage. I opted to pin a balsa strip to the waterline profile:



Then I could spin the board around and glue and clamp the balsa packing along the belt:



Followed by dry-fitting the sides as a check, and to hopefully give them a bit of a set overnight ready for the next stages. These are the tapered infill pieces at each end of the armour return, and then finally fitting the hull sides:



Now back on it’s temporary shelf:

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Continued with preparation for finally glueing the port sides on. Started by cutting and attaching the armour end returns, and backing-up with paper:





Put to one side to dry:



Also random things like blocking the balsa in black, behind where the armour joint will be:



Looks a mess, but will be covered up. Simple things like this, planned in advance, will massively reduce the visual effect of any slight mis-match between the final joint (which can’t be done with any accuracy before attaching the two ends).

[dr_gn]

First stage of port bow glueing - PVA along the top, UHU along the mid-height stiffener tabs:



Tomorrow I’ll do the waterline edge in PVA, and glue the armour belt to the balsa with UHU, then clamp with a profile strip over night.

[dr_gn]

I know - it might seem like this is the same post over and over again, but this thing has so many parts that all need setting just right so that they act as datums for the adjoining parts.

So the port front side fixed:



and profile clamped:



Then once set, on to the port side stern piece:



After all that, I’d missed scoring the return fillet, so got creative with some plasticard while propping the hull on its side with some rather nice velvet-esque covered boxes I’ve got lying around:



Then made a tape bracket to stretch the side, and mark to cut the excess to match the front chevron:



Then used an oblique cut to hopefully get an invisible join again:



Glue, stretch, tape, clamp:





Tomorrow, attention turns to getting the bow and stern joints vertical and as invisible as possible.

Edited by dr_gn on Tuesday 18th January 21:41

[dr_gn]

Regbuser said:

Sterling work!

Would you estimate that once the hull is done, the rest is, erm, plain sailing?

Thanks. I’m hoping so, although some of the sub-structures are a similar size to a couple of my other complete ships. The upcoming structures are mainly straight sided or faceted, so shouldn’t pose much of a problem. I’d estimate another year of work though.

[dr_gn]

Port stern piece upper join done this evening:





The bow and stern joints can wait. Hopefully get them
Sorted tomorrow, along with the hull armour returns.

[dr_gn]

Hull armour returns fixed by holding in position with a thin balsa strip, and painting diluted PVA along the join. I find PVA used like this is also a good filler medium for gaps - it just takes the contrast out of the imperfection, without being too obvious:

[dr_gn]

Murph7355 said:

Incredible stuff.

Is the glue permanent? I'd be frightened to death of it degrading.

It does cross my mind a lot! Then again it’s just water soluble PVA. The first paper ship I used it on was 2014, and that’s still fine, so I can’t see it being an issue. Same with model aircraft canopies over many years - it’s pretty strong stuff.

If the models were to get damp, then it would dissolve, but with a paper ship, getting that degree of damp would be disastrous anyway. There’s also a coat of varnish over everything, which I guess helps to seal against moisture a bit.

[dr_gn]

Murph7355 said:

dr_gn said:

It does cross my mind a lot! Then again it’s just water soluble PVA. The first paper ship I used it on was 2014, and that’s still fine, so I can’t see it being an issue. Same with model aircraft canopies over many years - it’s pretty strong stuff.

If the models were to get damp, then it would dissolve, but with a paper ship, getting that degree of damp would be disastrous anyway. There’s also a coat of varnish over everything, which I guess helps to seal against moisture a bit.

I remember building roman dioramas at school out of paper and thinking it was a bugger to get lines straight, paper not to wrinkle and glue to set.

The skill and patience on display here is off the scale.

Do you think you'll ever sell them - your models are better than museum quality IMO.

Thanks!

I found wrinkling is only an issue on large, un-supported parts (that's why I scrapped the first attempt). I now use UHU on parts like that - it's not water based, so doesn't soak in as easily. PVA is fine for any smaller parts, or assemblies that are stiff enough not to deform too much.

I don't know what will happen to my models - I guess they will end up either in a box in one of my kids' lofts, or in the bin like I guess the majority do. By that time I will be past caring I suppose. Either way I will have had a lot of pleasure in building them and going to shows with my son.

[dr_gn]

Finally glued the armour returns today:





Also made a start on wicking some colour along the belt armour cut lines:



I’m in danger of finishing this instruction step next week (it’s only taken 2 years).

[dr_gn]

Moved on to the bows, and the anchor recesses. These are made up of two curved and faceted parts:



Took a lot of figuring out that 79b and 79c are marked wrongly on the instructions:



After cutting out, scoring, and painting the edges, I followed usual procedure and taped and glued the recess in place:



Followed by the stiffener (should form a radiussed edge, but I guess one of the approximations required for design in paper):



Then the hawser pipe, which rolls to oblique ends:



It’s going to take some fiddling and luck not to loose it forever on installation:



Still a lot of doubled-up parts to get right, around the recesses:



Other side should go quicker now I’ve figured out how it goes together.

[dr_gn]

AlfaCool said:

Im just here to say i always love your builds. Your patience and exactness of components is top notch Doc.
This paper modelling malarkey is such a test for the sanity and something i know i could not do well enough for me to be happy with.
But crack on Sir we are watching.

Appreciate your comments, thanks.

Some kits I end up hating and just want to be over as soon as possible, others I find very therapeutic - like this one, at least now that the hull’s nearly done!

I’ve already bought this one to build next:









It’s a bit smaller than than this Bismarck, but just as complex. The hull seems far simpler though. I saw the ship in dock in Hamburg a few years back - pretty impressive.