Modelmaking Misadventures: The Ascenscion Island Chronicles.

[Andy in Germany]

Why yes.  Just the other night, I had to take my XActo knife to [carefully] cut my fingers apart... again.

This is the trouble with Superglue: it was originally for sealing wounds on battlefields, so it works very well on skin. I did use it once for a nasty cut with a craft knife; it worked very well, too.

I find hot soapy water help, and washing your hair seems to clean your fingers too; I guess it's the movement, heat and water combine to remove it.

Unfortunately I've yet to find a way to get it off clothes, also, I don't have much hair...

Hull looking really good.  Would some sort of foam been an easier base to work with?  Styro, insulating, or even soft (furniture stuffing) foam?  Might be a pain to shape but will hold together over the longer term. 

Thank you. Foam would probably work well, I just don't like the feel of, so I avoid it if I can. Besides, Polystyrene has gone from being everywhere to being a common as pixie dust in Germany.

I think with the soaking in Shellac, the card will hold pretty well long term: I had to make holes in a couple of places and it's like cutting wood.

[Andy in Germany]

That is looking brilliant.  Shear madness to build but brilliant. 

I see what you did there...

[anevilgiraffe]

that's really good... interesting shellac tip

[Andy in Germany]

I may have got a little carried away buying details for this project:



I really like the carefully superglued compartments in the box.

[Andy in Germany]

After the last burst of progress, I decided I wanted a few changes on the ship. The Poop deck, at the back of the ship, (& apparently the origin is exactly what you were thinking) was a bit too small, so I extended it by making the “cargo hatch” a bit smaller. This will allow me to extend the cabin a small amount, giving my characters more space for the purpose of engaging in fisticuffs or similar.



Of course, the deck now had a dirty great join right across it and I’d also forgotten to score in the planking, which is why it now sports this rather fetching green addition with cosmetic planks duly applied. The “snooker table” look is because, like a lot of my materials, the card was “strategically acquired” so it comes in all colours. At least this time it isn't covered in stars. Or unicorns.



To my surprise, fitting the decks wasn’t the endless trial and multitude of errors I’d expected, but it made up for that with the battle to cut straight slits in the bow and the stern for the mooring lines. It turns out that 2 1/2 mm of shellac-soaked card is pretty solid, and making consistent holes is difficult without a straight edge to cut against. Fortunately I was able to tidy the holes up to my usual standard of “I can hide it with weathering”, and I’m sure you won’t tell anyone about it, will you?

[voltan]

At least this time it isn't covered in stars. Or unicorns.

That would make for an awesome looking ship though.

[YPU]

Oh! Somehow missed this whole build until now, lovely stuff to read along!

I may have got a little carried away buying details for this project:



I really like the carefully superglued compartments in the box.

There is something so gratifying about well done custom packaging.

[Andy in Germany]

I said I’d probably go wandering off from my prototype at some point in the project, and here we are already. The ship I used as a starting point was built with an open bridge, but I’d read that at some time during her service life it had been enclosed. I imagine this was a relief for all concerned, so I decided to include this luxury feature.



Then I realised that as I’d designed the model, the steps up to the bridge would be too close to the top of the hull, meaning that anyone climbing them would be in danger of falling overboard. Given the choice of redesigning the hull and moving the steps back, I of course chose the more difficult option which after some swearing resulted in some rather complicated and almost identical steps, recessed into the hull.



Moving the steps back meant that the bridge now changed shape, making it more complex, not least because I wanted the front to be curved and because the roof had to be removable in case a future story involves stealing something from the bridge, or indeed stealing the ship.



I got there in the end after emptying another bottle of superglue, but proper model makers of a sensitive nature probably shouldn’t look closely at some of the construction details or mention things like “right angles”.

I’ll just add clutter and weathering; it’ll be fine.

[Gunbird]

Great attention to detail, gorgeous build

[Spinal Tap]

Stunning build. I'm so glad you didn't enter the Build Something Competition .

[anevilgiraffe]

that is galloping along...

[Doug ex-em4]

You’re a talented bloke

Doug

[Wirelizard]

Right angles are vastly overrated!

That looks great, nice proportions and the whole thing looks proper.

[Andy in Germany]

You’re a talented bloke

Doug

that is galloping along...

Many thanks.

Stunning build. I'm so glad you didn't enter the Build Something Competition .

I didn't know there was one, to be honest. Fortunately I'm not usually a competition type of person.

[Andy in Germany]

Great attention to detail, gorgeous build

Missed that. Many thanks.

Right angles are vastly overrated!

That looks great, nice proportions and the whole thing looks proper.

Thanks. Of course, it's an interesting question if a wooden wheelhouse would be very square after a few months on the sea in different weather and humidity extremes.

The proportions looked right to me, but it's good to have it confirmed.