Paper or silkspan?

[Guest]

So I am starting my first model ship and I have the plastic vacuumed sails that I would like to set aside and do paper or silk span. It is a small 7inch 1:170 so they don't have to be very large. Does anyone have any techniques on how I would start or a website explaining a couple different techniques? Thanks everybody!

Best!

[wefalck]

There is another thread here on the forum, where exactly the same question was discussed. My comment then:

There are several Web-sites that describes using paper of various types to make sails. In my building log on the Zuiderzee-Botter (viewtopic.php?f=59&t=152611&hilit=botter&start=20) here in this forum I am describing making sails from individual panels.

The type of paper to use depends on the scale of the model and the type of sail. In general, however, the thinner the better. Just imagine the scale thickness of a cloth that may a few milimetres thick at most. For this reason, real fabric is unsuitable except for really large scales, say 1/24 or above, though it is used widely in the shipmodelling community, if you want to achieve a realistic effect. This also goes for the stitching, hand or machine, that is usually used to simulate the seams of the individual cloths.

Attaching the bolt-rope is always a bit of an issue. It depends on the scale and the situation. Before writing an essay about it, it would be better to know more about the planned model and how it is planned to depict it.

BTW, another issue with the vacuum-formed plastic sails is that they often have features, such as reefing lines, formed on, that have nothing to do with the sail itself. Otherwise, it may be possible to tweak them into something acceptable.