Feb 4, 2015

Pre-dreadnought test build


I knew I had to face a few problems building this beast. While less complicated than a sailing ship, there still are a few details that need a careful approach. 
Working with balsa wood is easy, the problem is when I cut against the grain of the wood, so a lot of careful sanding is required.
I don't have any fine grit sandpaper or stick, so this prototype is still relatively crude, something that will be credited to age/battle damage when the model is complete. For any further models I'm going to need a very fine sanding device.
The rest went well - I was smart enough to leave excess everywhere which then I could sand into shape. The various objects on deck - vents, smokestacks, boats - were done earlier and you can see them in the containers above. I had some hard plastic toy crossbow bolts that had the right diameter for the smokestacks, pine wood for carving out the boats and figure sprues for the vents which I bent and cut to shape.


The next thing is to add holes for the casemate guns and then comes the painting. The rest of the ships will be coated with PVA after assembly then sanded again.

7 comments:

  1. You obviously are a shipbuilder at heart. Nice thought out building steps in the erection of this battle piece. And nice progress, sir.

    Have you yet tried drizzling super glue on to the really rough areas of the modeling balsa and then immediately sprinkling on some baking power. With some experimentation with this method of filling grain and the subsequent sanding step, you might get a uniform surface for the hull.

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    1. Thank you - that sounds like a good method and if I can't find the proper equipment I will try it.

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  2. Terrific modeling work on this piece. I look forward to following your progress.

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  3. This is looking pretty good already. Cutting across the balsa grain requires a really, really sharp blade. I'd recommend a scalpel blade if you can get hold of some.

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    1. Thank you, I've got a pair but I may have to switch to an unused blade.

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  4. great scratchbuild!
    waiting to see more.
    bye

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