Scratch building ship hulls (Hey Pete Nolan have you seen this?)

[S Class]

Thought you gents might be interested in this method of hull building from the British site.
http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/83100-the-hairy-viking/

Obviously it's OO/HO and not as detailed as your efforts, but I'd like your thoughts for those of us without your level of patience or looking to do something in the background not needing the detail.

I was thinking for N-scale maybe the possibility of laminating sheets of artists foam board together.

[pnolan48]

There are lots of ways to build a hull. I've used extruded foam board, foam core, paper, wood, styrene--just about anything. Just about anything can be shaped or carved, and will be suitable. The secret is in the cladding. If you use foam board, for example, make sure your cladding won't allow anything through that will dissolve the foam. These are not structural models, nor museum models expected to last 400 years.

As for superstructure and Legos, great idea. As they say, whatever floats your boat!

[pnolan48]

I've even used joint compound for filler--not recommended!

[peteski]

I've even used joint compound for filler--not recommended!

People come up with the strangest tricks...

[pnolan48]

Well, joint compound is easy to work with, inexpensive, easy to sand and smooth. However, it's soft and doesn't stick to styrene or well painted surfaces. I used it all over my layout for scenery. I tried impregnating it with glue to harden it up--nah!

[Iain]

I use Bondo, the two part stuff that doesn't shrink much.

[pnolan48]

Don't try bondo on foam board. My preferred filler.smoother is bondo, only I like the convenience of the one part stuff. Applied thinly on small gaps, I have no shrinkage problems.

[peteski]

Well, joint compound is easy to work with, inexpensive, easy to sand and smooth. However, it's soft and doesn't stick to styrene or well painted surfaces. I used it all over my layout for scenery. I tried impregnating it with glue to harden it up--nah!

That is my point exactly: why use something that was designed for patching walls on a plastic model (for the reasons you mentioned). I roll my eyes when people come up with really off the wall and illogical solutions.  While there might be useful applications for which some substances weren't designed for, some of such applications are totally silly.

Another such application is using baking soda with CA glue.  It is a really bad idea (but the problem might not surface until some time has passed).  Few years ago that technique was all the rage. I'm glad that it seems to have faded away.

[pnolan48]

Good one, Pete!

I tried it--what a disaster! Have a small coffee cup filled with baking soda, into which I plunge knives to hold them upright. I tell horrified visitors that it's actually my stash of coke. (Umm, a stash of coke that size would be worth a zillion bucks, wouldn't it?)

I started back in 1972. There was plaster and perhaps a new type of plaster called hydrocal. There was 3/4"plywood and L-girders from Lynn Wescott. I was working in N scale. 1/4" plywood seemed fine for the way I built things. ETC. Why not try methods and materials that hadn't been mentioned? Like fiberglass--uh, not recommended! I think we had a little discussion about trial and error a while back when it came to bridges. I think the same may apply to N scale engineering way back when.

[pnolan48]

I've been following the thread for this method of building, and think it's very nice, but I do wonder when the lego approach actually becomes more labor intensive and difficult than just cutting the parts out of styrene with a hobby knife.

[John]

People come up with the strangest tricks...

Especially in model railroading .. there are some things that should always be done the conventional way

[pnolan48]

Especially in model railroading .. there are some things that should always be done the conventional way

And some things where a new way might be best. I'm building hulls on formers pretty much the way it's been done for many years. But I am using a digital cutter to cut the formers. I using a scanner and paper to get the rough outline of the skins, refining them on the computer, then cutting them. Well, sometimes I can draw the skins directly with geometry; but sometimes the tracing method is just quicker. So, traditional method implemented with semi-new technology with semi-new materials. Works for me. It might be better using 3-D modeling--with a long learning curve, my 2-D method is best suited for the way I work, and my anticipated lifespan!

[jimmo]

I would definitely get a digital cutter if I was doing the scope of work you're doing on ship construction, Pete. My last couple of ship projects were done with hand cut styrene formers and styrene sheet for metal hulls and styrene strips for wooden hulls. Those were tiny projects compared to some of yours.

[pnolan48]

Even for onesy modeling, I would spring for one of the $200 cutters. It just makes cutting specific size pieces and strips so much easier, even for one time use. Draw the piece of the computer, load the cutter, and cut. Nearly perfect every time, even if you have to do a little bend and snap--which I did for nearly two years. But I also scratchbuild nearly everything--ships, bridges, buildings, portals, and more. I buy styrene in 4 x 8 sheets (20 or so at a time). I should add that cutting styrene on these cutters is extremely finicky. If a setting is off just a little, the cutting blade will snap. If the cutting mat isn't tacky enough, a chad will lodge itself between the cutting head and the material, ruining all future cuts until the chad is removed. Etc., etc., and there really isn't a source for answers in cutting styrene, nor a trusted source for cutter reviews, as the purported "Digital Cutter Review" (or some such) is controlled by the folks who import one cutter (and that is not BlackCat!), so their cutter is obviously far more fantastic than any other.

[jimmo]

Pete, what brand of digital cutter do you use? Is there another model you would recommend or is the one you have sufficient?