Waterlining tutorial recommendations?

[James Holloway]

Hi guys,

I am about to embark on my first 28mm ship project. It's mainly for my D&D game, so it doesn't have to be too historically accurate. I want to cut this model, which is a Pirates of the Caribbean toy, down. 28mm figure on the deck for scale.



But to be honest with you, I don't know where to start! Can anyone recommend some good tutorials? Or do you have advice of your own? Thanks in advance.

[OSHIROmodels]

Firstly, you will need to make sure that the ship sits securely on the table top, if not, then a jig will need to be made to allow for this.

Once the ship is secure, you will need to get a block with either a pencil or a scalpel attached to it at the chosen height that the water will be at.

Very carefully, draw round the hull with the pencil/scalpel to get the desired waterline.

Then go crazy with a saw 

A doddle 

cheers

James

[James Holloway]

Firstly, you will need to make sure that the ship sits securely on the table top, if not, then a jig will need to be made to allow for this.

Once the ship is secure, you will need to get a block with either a pencil or a scalpel attached to it at the chosen height that the water will be at.

Very carefully, draw round the hull with the pencil/scalpel to get the desired waterline.

Then go crazy with a saw 

A doddle 

cheers

James

My "plan" is to use one of the strakes as the waterline, so there'll be a little bit of a guide in place already.

[OSHIROmodels]

If its level all the way round then that's a definate bonus 

Taking it easy would be the biggest bit of advice. Rushing something line this could lead to mistake and injury.

cheers

James

[War In 15MM]

I modified two of those Disney ships for my 28mm pirates.  Select one of the horizontal plank line (strakes?) and follow it when you cut.  That is what I did and it gave me a perfectly level waterline.  You can see my ships in pics 46, 48, 50, 51, 52 (Walrus), 73, and 75 (Calliope) in my Pirate Gallery at www.warin15mm.com/Pirates.html

[Ahistorian]

If you jiggle by a mil or so here and there, you could always base the ship to make sure it has a nice wake around it & hide the sawmarks.

[War In 15MM]

If you want the look of water around the bottom of your ship's hull, one way to do it is to set the ship on a base made with Milliput (I suggest the Regular or yellow gray).  This can be smoothed using your finger dipped in water.  That type of base will also hide an cutting errors.  I didn't do that with my ships because the hulls cut very evenly to waterline so it wasn't needed.  I did use a Milliput base around my longboats in order to protect the oars from bending.  You can see what the Milliput base looks like in my Pirate Gallery in pics 34, 36, 41, and 74 at www.warin15mm.com/Pirates.html

[James Holloway]

Thanks, guys. War in 15MM, your great toy conversions are very inspiring.

I'll let you know how it goes! I also have a Revell 1/50 Viking ship that I want to waterline, and honestly this one (which cost about £2) is sort of a test run.

[Ahistorian]

£2!! Where from?

Please do post pics when you're done.