The Ship Model Forum

Hi Everyone,
I've just recently joined the forum because of the amazing builds, and the encouragement and helpfulness of the members is inspiring.
I completed a bulk carrier made entirely of ice-cream sticks (or popsicle sticks) 2 years ago and have posted it to the forum today. Bulk Carrier made of Popsicle Sticks 60cm
I know it’s not up to the usual standard as I’m still learning. I have also started a new build several months ago, although I still consider myself a newbie, as I really need to hone my skills.

My second scratch build ship, is an Anzac class Frigate, from the MEKO 200 design. Australia has 8 of these Anzac class frigates and New Zealand has 2.
I have almost completed the hull without deciding which ship she will be, but since I'm posting this today, I've finally decided the ship will be the HMAS Anzac. She is the lead ship of this class of frigate and the first to be built, so I thought that was apt. Ideally I'd like it to include the post ASMD upgrade configuration which the HMAS Anzac had completed in 2015.
HMAS Anzac arriving at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, prior to participating in RIMPAC 2008 (Pre-ASMD upgrade)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzac-class_frigate

I also started with the plan to make this ship entirely out of ice-cream sticks, like the bulk carrier I have completed. However I have currently stalled after nearly completing the hull. The detail required for things like the propeller shaft, superstructure and equipment configuration is quite daunting. I doubt I can do it justice with only using popsicle sticks given my skills with my first scratch build, and so I’m not sure how to proceed.
Anyway, I’ll try and make a few posts to document my progress up to where I'm at, to date.
I’m guessing popsicle sticks or ice-cream sticks are fairly standard worldwide, although may have many different names… Popsicle sticks are about 115mm (4.5”) long, 9mm (.35”) wide and 2mm (0.08”) thick. Unfortunately there are always some bent or warped or poor quality sticks in every packet.
I was able to get some plans for the ANZAC FFH which unfortunately are before the ASMD upgrade.
I enlarged them enough to what I thought would be easy for working with popsicle sticks. So the ship will be 86.7cm (34”) long and if my maths is right it will be a 1/136 scale model. I discovered the plans are not very symmetrical, probably due to scaling. I’ve had to redraw some hull cross-sections to ensure the ribs will be symmetrical.



I started with the keel and main deck first, as I thought they would be easier than the rib sections.



The plans show the main deck has a slight pitch, so I’ve tried to replicate this, but I have since thought that it was probably unnecessary... There is no pitch in the forecastle deck, however it does slope up towards the bow.
The keel and main deck complete:

Next are the rib sections. The plans have 11 hull cross section views. I’ve had to correct the unsymmetrical ones and make two more. I needed an extra one in the middle where the gap was much larger than the length of a popsicle stick and the stern needed its own rib section because the cross section view and the angle of the stern meant it had a greater height then the view showed. (Hope that makes sense)




More to come...
Cheers,
Phil

_________________
Completed
Bulk Carrier made of Popsicle Sticks 60cm

Drawing Board
AWD Hobart Class Destroyer (Help - looking for plans)

On the Slipways
1/136 HMAS Anzac (2015 ASMD Upgrade)

Rib Sections: Next I needed to ‘wrap’ the sticks along the edges of the ribs so that I have the surface area to glue the cladding on later. This was going to be a new challenge for me as I would have to curve the popsicle stick onto the ribs. After some google searching I discovered that people were wetting the sticks in hot water and bending them to make bracelets, so I thought I had a good chance of bending mine. But sometimes the sticks broke and I’d have to start again. I found using nails on a board a great way to hold the pieces together until both the PVA and sticks dried. I left it there for two days.


I’ve joined the ribs, keel and main deck together. I wanted to make sure the keel did not bend or warp during the job as it is only 4mm (0.16”) thick, so I clamped it to the bench and added the ribs to it. I also included a centre radial beam for support.

I haven’t attached the bow yet, I had to give up on a couple of ideas to include it with the keel and tried adding the bow later.

Stern:

_________________
Completed
Bulk Carrier made of Popsicle Sticks 60cm

Drawing Board
AWD Hobart Class Destroyer (Help - looking for plans)

On the Slipways
1/136 HMAS Anzac (2015 ASMD Upgrade)

I started cladding the hull. Some sections had pronounced curves which meant I needed to soak the sticks in hot water. I discovered later that the wet popsicle sticks can swell up so much that when they have dried, I had gaps between the sticks. You can notice this particularly near the bow where I often used pins to hold each stick in place. Using pins meant I could place many sticks at a time. Near the stern, the pressure of bending the sticks was too strong to hold with pins, so I used clamps. This meant I could only do one stick per section, although this took longer they dried and shrunk back to normal size before I added the next stick and so no big gaps!




The original plans had ‘windows’ at the stern below the main deck. I even included a deck for it. Because of the way I made the rib pieces I wasn’t able to make the proper windows. The fact that this wasn’t accurate bothered me and so I thought I’d fix it later and cut out the proper sized openings. However, now that I’m planning to use the upgraded ASMD configuration, these windows will be closed up.


The bow was quite tricky and was my second attempt. I’m surprised how it turned out.



The cladding is finished, time for putty and sanding...

_________________
Completed
Bulk Carrier made of Popsicle Sticks 60cm

Drawing Board
AWD Hobart Class Destroyer (Help - looking for plans)

On the Slipways
1/136 HMAS Anzac (2015 ASMD Upgrade)

I used a rapid spak-filler on the hull to give it a smooth finish. Big mistake!!


After painting then sanding, then filling again and sanding and painting again, I’ve either made a mistake using spak-filler, or I’m not proficient enough with it. I can still see cracks along the stick joins and pock marks from bubbles in the spak-filler and it’s too soft. Also, I was surprised to see beads of paint stick to the 400 grit sand paper, which seemed to make more scratches. It’s hard to see what I mean from these photos but the hull needs more work.





So this is where I’ve stalled... When I look at my first ship, the bulk carrier, and then at the amount of detail required in the Anzac frigate’s superstructure and equipment, I'm not sure I can do it justice. I am not a wood carver, although I’d love to learn how to do it.
I'm not sure if its possible for me to make things like the missile tubes, the RHIB, radar, fencing, and deck gun out of popsicle sticks, to name a few.
But I'm going to try, I won't know until I give it a go!

I don’t have the plans for the ASMD array (or mast/tower, I’m not sure what it’s called – I’m a newbie! LOL) but I’ll search the internet for it.
Here’s the HMAS Warramunga FFH 152 (before upgrade) alongside the HMAS Perth FFH 157 (after upgrade), you can see the new ASMD CEAMOUNT mast midships and the new Mk 45 Mod 2 gun on the HMAS Perth.

And here is the HMAS Parramatta with the stern windows enclosed near completion ASMD upgrade.

_________________
Completed
Bulk Carrier made of Popsicle Sticks 60cm

Drawing Board
AWD Hobart Class Destroyer (Help - looking for plans)

On the Slipways
1/136 HMAS Anzac (2015 ASMD Upgrade)

..

You have done a very good job on the hull! I think popsicle sticks work really well! I will be watching for more updates!



Aop

_________________
On the way:
--1/350 Tamiya DKM Tirpitz Nov 1944

--1/350 scratch-build HMS Lion never built battleship (1938)

And our artworks!

Hi Bob,
Thanks for the advice and encouragement, much appreciated. I think I'll give your suggestion for auto body filler a go, I'll certainly look into it. Thanks for all the tips!
Regards,
Phil

_________________
Completed
Bulk Carrier made of Popsicle Sticks 60cm

Drawing Board
AWD Hobart Class Destroyer (Help - looking for plans)

On the Slipways
1/136 HMAS Anzac (2015 ASMD Upgrade)

Hi Aop,

Thank you for your comments! I'm hoping to do as much as I can with popsicle sticks but if I can't complete something I may have to choose a different wood.
Good luck with your builds too!
Regards,
Phil

_________________
Completed
Bulk Carrier made of Popsicle Sticks 60cm

Drawing Board
AWD Hobart Class Destroyer (Help - looking for plans)

On the Slipways
1/136 HMAS Anzac (2015 ASMD Upgrade)

A very cool project.

Hi Dan K,
Thank you, much appreciated -it's definitely cool but I think its becoming an obsession... LOL
Cheers,
Phil

_________________
Completed
Bulk Carrier made of Popsicle Sticks 60cm

Drawing Board
AWD Hobart Class Destroyer (Help - looking for plans)

On the Slipways
1/136 HMAS Anzac (2015 ASMD Upgrade)

Hi All,

I've re-worked the hull with wood filler and lots of sanding, than fill again and sanding, what a workout, I've got sore arms!
Hi Bob Carr, I looked into the auto body filler but was reluctant to use it because I was unsure of adding hardener to it, instead I found a wood filler which turned out to be quite hard as well, you can see by the sanding that I exposed a lot of high spots. These were where the ribs are, which means next time I should probably make more ribs to avoid any sagging between the ribs. It seems odd that the popsicle sticks had lower points between the ribs... Also next time I'll have to try the auto filler to see how it works. One thing with the wood filler though, I could add water to it and make it as thick or runny as I liked. For little touch ups, I just thinned it out (to like glue) and painted it on over little scratches, and it worked well.

I also closed in the stern windows, as per the ASMD upgrade.




Re-painted the hull:


Regards,
Phil

_________________
Completed
Bulk Carrier made of Popsicle Sticks 60cm

Drawing Board
AWD Hobart Class Destroyer (Help - looking for plans)

On the Slipways
1/136 HMAS Anzac (2015 ASMD Upgrade)

Hi,
First, a big thank you to Song Jung Gun !
I was stuck with what to do with my ship, I thought I was at the limit of what I could do with my wood working skills. But after seeing Song's incredible work and with his advice, I've tried making a propeller shaft from popsicle sticks. I'm still surprised at how it turned out!
If you haven't seen Song's mastepieces have a look at his latest build:
http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=161977

I glued the sticks together for the propeller shaft:

Then I sanded off the square edges and used a hand drill with sandpaper to round out the sticks (Thanks Song)
Oops I broke one! but the technique is working...


I also made the stabilizers, anti-submarine sonar, rudder and propeller blades:


That was quite enjoyable, I'm surprised, I didn't think I could do that... It's a great learning experience.
Next I'll add them all to the hull...

Regards,
Phil

_________________
Completed
Bulk Carrier made of Popsicle Sticks 60cm

Drawing Board
AWD Hobart Class Destroyer (Help - looking for plans)

On the Slipways
1/136 HMAS Anzac (2015 ASMD Upgrade)

Your hull is very, very nice! And you say this is your second scratch-build ship! I hope mine will turn out this good!
Keep up the nice work!

Aop

_________________
On the way:
--1/350 Tamiya DKM Tirpitz Nov 1944

--1/350 scratch-build HMS Lion never built battleship (1938)

And our artworks!

Hi Aop,
Thank you very much. I've got to admit, my first scratch build was a real steep learning curve, I learned a lot of ways how not to do things... and also that I could actually do things I wouldn't have thought possible before.
And this forum is great, the members are very helpful and we can learn alot from their experience too. Seeing Song's wood working skills, and the other scratch builders, they are just amazing.
You and your brother are doing a great job and just like me, we are learning as we go, we are the apprentices to the Jedi Masters on this forum haha!
Good luck with your model, I'm following your progress too!
Regards,
Phil

_________________
Completed
Bulk Carrier made of Popsicle Sticks 60cm

Drawing Board
AWD Hobart Class Destroyer (Help - looking for plans)

On the Slipways
1/136 HMAS Anzac (2015 ASMD Upgrade)

Hi Phil!
You work very well. Wood modelling is very interesting .
I'll see your work . You do well making rounded rod used by drill too.
Regards,
Song.

_________________
Life is short model-warships is too many to make!!

Hi Song,

Thank you, very much appreciated. I am enjoying working with the popsicle sticks its also challenging.
Cheers,
Phil

_________________
Completed
Bulk Carrier made of Popsicle Sticks 60cm

Drawing Board
AWD Hobart Class Destroyer (Help - looking for plans)

On the Slipways
1/136 HMAS Anzac (2015 ASMD Upgrade)

Hi All,

I've finished the propeller shafts and attached them to the hull. I've also added the anchors, ASW sonar, rudder and stabilizers:
HMAS Anzac's anchor bays are different to the other 7 Anzac class frigates for some reason...



I painted the propeller shafts because I wasn't sure how easy it would be to paint them once attached.




Regards,
Phil

_________________
Completed
Bulk Carrier made of Popsicle Sticks 60cm

Drawing Board
AWD Hobart Class Destroyer (Help - looking for plans)

On the Slipways
1/136 HMAS Anzac (2015 ASMD Upgrade)

Hi Everyone,

I've started on the frames for the superstructure.


Just checking how they look... I haven't glued them on yet because I want to make sure everything is nice and square


That's my next job... once I can work out how to do the bridge and the ASMD mast. I don't have plans for the mast yet as I can't find them on the internet.


Regards,
Phil

_________________
Completed
Bulk Carrier made of Popsicle Sticks 60cm

Drawing Board
AWD Hobart Class Destroyer (Help - looking for plans)

On the Slipways
1/136 HMAS Anzac (2015 ASMD Upgrade)

You are doing too good for a second build!! An inspiration for me, seriously! Keep it up!

Aop

_________________
On the way:
--1/350 Tamiya DKM Tirpitz Nov 1944

--1/350 scratch-build HMS Lion never built battleship (1938)

And our artworks!

For the plans, you might want to look into some Australian national archives? I don't know if they will have these modern ships, though.

Aop

_________________
On the way:
--1/350 Tamiya DKM Tirpitz Nov 1944

--1/350 scratch-build HMS Lion never built battleship (1938)

And our artworks!