Author Topic: Second Paper Card model: Short 184  (Read 8816 times)

Offline smperry

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Second Paper Card model: Short 184
« on: July 20, 2020, 02:49:56 PM »
I will be doing a regular build log on this paper card model. It will be a slow build so don't expect too frequent updates. I really like the lines of the Short 184, although the rigging may suggest the British were experimenting with LSD decades before the Germans. (Anyone have any psychedelic spiders I could borrow when it comes time to rig it?)

I also chose this model because I printed the parts sheets on 3 different thicknesses of paper, typing paper. photo paper and 65 lb card stock. One of the issues I had with the Link Trainer was that I managed to splash some water on it ruining the printed ink. I mixed watercolors and fixed it. Doesn't look so bad in person, but the camera picks up everywhere the color is half a tone off. Dan told me he sprays his parts sheets with Krylon clear and has no water/ink issues. I just happen to have a big can of the stuff.

I sprayed identical parts sheets from each type of paper. I pretty much overdid the typing paper and nearly over did the heavy card stock, but I believe I got the photo paper just right and I will use that, saving the typing paper for small detail parts and the heavy card for stiffeners.



Speaking of small details. I am not a purist. I will scratch details, carve struts and add rod or wire reinforcements where needed on my plastic or resin kits and I see no reason not to do it with paper card models. There are some masters out there that can make mind blowing details out of flat bits of paper. My ability to manipulate bits of paper below a certain size is not so impressive, I will try the paper first, but failing that, I will not hesitate to scratch and get glad.

My next step after I spray the rest of the parts sheets will be a thorough cover to cover reading of the datafile. I want the version in CDL that had no rear Lewis gun, but is armed with a torpedo. Lots of checking to do as I am sure there are loads of details I'd wish I'd have known about if I didn't read the DF carefully.

sp
There is something fundamentally amiss with a society which forces it's modelers to work for a living.

Offline rhallinger

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Re: Second Paper Card model: Short 184
« Reply #1 on: July 20, 2020, 10:50:21 PM »
Great start sp!  I agree with your approach, and use whatever works best, be it spare plastic props or wheels, or styrene or wire strip or rod stock.  We're multi-media modelers! ;)

What scale is your 184, and where did you get it?  I like floatplanes, and particularly the Short.

I will follow with interest and enjoy your progress.

Best regards,

Bob

Offline smperry

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Re: Second Paper Card model: Short 184
« Reply #2 on: July 20, 2020, 11:12:54 PM »
Bob
The Short is in 1/72 and it was a freebie download. I forget where, but will search.

I found out the reason for the funky rigging. It was done this way in order for the horizontal tailplane and elevator to protrude through the outer wing bays when the wings were folded back along side of the fuselage for shipboard storage.

I am being good and keeping blade away from paper until I have read the full Datafile. These aircraft served from 1915 through to the Armistice and on into at least 1920, although many individual airframes lasted only a few weeks or months.

sp
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Offline smperry

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Re: Second Paper Card model: Short 184
« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2020, 11:26:45 PM »
Bob
I got this model from the Landships web site.

http://www.landships.info/landships/models.html#

Look under Wayne McCullough. He has a lot of armor and vehicles, but there a few airplanes at the bottom of the list. You get a choice of CDL or PC12. I also got a nice looking Halberstadt.

HTH
sp
There is something fundamentally amiss with a society which forces it's modelers to work for a living.

Online RAGIII

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Re: Second Paper Card model: Short 184
« Reply #4 on: July 20, 2020, 11:46:21 PM »
Wow SP, you don't go halfway when choosing a subject  8) This one should be a blast to watch and even more so to build and rig!
RAGIII
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Offline smperry

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Re: Second Paper Card model: Short 184
« Reply #5 on: July 21, 2020, 12:29:36 AM »
Quote: "This one should be a blast to watch and even more so to build and rig!"  RAGIII

So sez the guy with 3 Spads to rig " :-)

I will likely resort to heat stretched sprue on this one. (assuming I get that far)
sp
There is something fundamentally amiss with a society which forces it's modelers to work for a living.

Offline NinetythirdLiberator

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Re: Second Paper Card model: Short 184
« Reply #6 on: July 21, 2020, 06:54:04 AM »
SM!

I built that Short and it turns out well.  I also made Wayne's Hannover and Breguet all in 1/72nd.  All are fun and just enough challenge.    I predict good things.  Good plan to take your time and I like the paper experimentation.  Nice idea...

Popcorn at the ready...Dan


Offline smperry

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Re: Second Paper Card model: Short 184
« Reply #7 on: July 21, 2020, 08:28:03 AM »
Dan
Have an extra hand full or two of popcorn for me. I'm typing one handed while I hold a folded up seat as the glue dries. Tiny little beggars.

I have the Breguet and the Halberstadt in my paper models folder as well as printed out on typing paper. I also got one of his German tanks. That one looks easy since it is basically a box.

sp
There is something fundamentally amiss with a society which forces it's modelers to work for a living.

Offline smperry

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Re: Second Paper Card model: Short 184
« Reply #8 on: July 21, 2020, 10:52:13 AM »
The CDL version of the Short 184 is of 842 which served in the Gallipoli campaign and was noted as the first airplane to launch a torpedo in combat.

The model starts off in a familiar way by having you build the cockpits. Basically a cockpit floor, three fuselage formers, some seat supports, seats and a steering wheel for a total of 14 parts.



And here are the parts as they come printed on a sheet.



They were cut from the photo paper with the exception of the steering wheel and it's column, which was cut from the typing paper. You don't simply cut the parts out. Each one needs to have the edges smoothed with a flat tool. A cheap butter knife is ideal. The blade messes up the paper and leaves a somewhat ragged edge. Smoothing the part realigns the surface of the part with the edge of the part and makes for a much better fit and join along that edge.

It is important to paint the edges of pieces as early in the construction as possible as it is easier to paint a flat edge or doubled over score mark  before the piece is glued to other pieces. Not always possible , but definitely preferable. As for paints, I got a 12 tube set of watercolor paint at Walmart for 5 bucks. I use a plastic lid as a palate. The neat thing about mixing watercolors is you simply let the paint you mixed dry. A wet brush instantly reconstitutes it. Very handy.







Assembly was straightforward with the formers glued to the floor and the seat supports bracing the middle and rear formers. The steering wheel gets a tiny column protruding from a hole in the front former.





There is something fundamentally amiss with a society which forces it's modelers to work for a living.

Offline Alexis

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Re: Second Paper Card model: Short 184
« Reply #9 on: July 21, 2020, 10:59:01 AM »
Interest subject , following along !


Terri
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Offline NinetythirdLiberator

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Re: Second Paper Card model: Short 184
« Reply #10 on: July 21, 2020, 11:01:11 AM »
This is really fun to watch.  I remember building this one with some fondness as I'd never seen a Short in any form. 

Not to hijack but here's mine with a tad of hanger rash... ::)

Dan

Offline smperry

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Re: Second Paper Card model: Short 184
« Reply #11 on: July 21, 2020, 12:03:07 PM »
Thanks for posting the photo of your Short. I don't doubt that at some point I will need convincing that it can be done :-)
sp
There is something fundamentally amiss with a society which forces it's modelers to work for a living.

Offline smperry

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Re: Second Paper Card model: Short 184
« Reply #12 on: July 24, 2020, 07:33:03 AM »
I was in a bit of a quandary as to how I should go about skinning the cockpit section just completed. Since I had parts printed on 3 different thicknesses of paper, I wasn't sure if the inner skin with the ink on the inside would cause issues if I used the part printed on photo paper, so after some friendly advice from a chap over on the PaperModes forum I went with the typing paper part for the inner skin and the photo paper part for the outer skin.

This little assembly is very critical since the model grows from each end of it and any errors will grow along with it. When covering bulkheads, (formers), dang I'm starting to talk like a paper card modeler, locating the dead center of the skin and bulkhead is a must. A tiny drop of glue at the center of each bulkhead is all that is needed. Tiny because if it dries a hair off center you can apply a tiny bit of moisture with a toothpick and loosen the glue, (I am using Elmer's white glue for just this reason). You apply the skin taking extreme care to line up the center of the bulkhead with the center of the skin.



If you have done the requisite rolling, folding and dry fitting you pretty much have it down pat and have trained the fingers where to hold. Untrained fingers and glue do not mix. Oh, and like they say with flying models, "Be sure to make a left and a right stabilizer". In this case it is, "Make sure you have the ink on the inside".



Now the important part. Walk away. Go bother the dog, (safer than bothering Momma). Work on another kit, do anything you can imagine other than touching the just glued and aligned assembly until it is good and dry. You will need to pull and tug on the skin a bit as you glue and hold the skin until the glue sets a bit.

Now the easy part. With the ink on the inside of the inner skin, that centered and tack glued, Just smear a little Elmers along the edge of the front and rear bulkheads and floor board skin and pull the skin down and hold it a few minutes. Don't get in a hurry, let that side dry up a bit and then do the other.



The outer skin goes on much easier, however care is needed to ensure it is centered in all aspects.



I demonstrated watercolors as a means of dealing with the white lines that are the bane of paper models. Here is another way. Watercolor pencils. Much faster and more precise if you have a pencil the right color. You can scrape a little of the watercolor off some pencils and mix it in a small puddle of water to get a match if you don't have a set of the watercolor tubes. I like the pencils because it is easier to control the moisture you transfer to the white paper you are coloring and the hard pencil allows you to smooth and mold a bit.



I have no clue what comes next, Oh yeah, go back and color the pilot's cockpit combing not that the photo has been taken.
sp

sp
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Offline NinetythirdLiberator

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Re: Second Paper Card model: Short 184
« Reply #13 on: July 24, 2020, 11:44:10 AM »
That looks great, SP.  The photo paper really makes the "wood" pop.  I think Marco suggested using this too. 

Waiting for more...Dan 8)

Offline smperry

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Re: Second Paper Card model: Short 184
« Reply #14 on: July 24, 2020, 12:37:53 PM »
Dan
Thanks. I am fiddling with getting the bottom piece on the cockpit assembly. There is a tiny warp which I am working out, another good reason to heed the instructions and use just enough glue to stick the part and no more.

I am finding out that paper modeling is all very small steps, each one needs your full and direct attention all the way until the glue is dry and needs to be fully completed before starting the next step. Excellent habits to build and and carry over to plastic or any other modeling media. Paper seems more intolerant of being in a hurry than most other modeling media.

I really like photo paper as you get a choice of finish. Scoring it takes caution since to score you need to cut through the coating but not the paper underneath and the coating is harder. Multiple light strokes are needed to make the score without turning it into a cut. Still it works well on this 1/72 kit. Have to see how it works on a larger scale. Anything smaller than 1/72 is too small for me. 

I have solved my quest for various thicknesses of cardboard. I took my digital micrometer and stared measuring cardboard food packaging. Momma wanted to know why all the crackers and cereal were in zip lock bags and where the double hockey sticks are the boxes. She just shrugged and grunted when I told her. I guess keeping me occupied and out of her hair is worth a few boxes. I need 0.5 mm and 1.0 mm stock from which I can laminate ant thickness called out on plans.
sp
There is something fundamentally amiss with a society which forces it's modelers to work for a living.