The Ship Model Forum

hi all,
as some of you may know after i've finished my current projects id like to have a go at scratchbuilding a model,
now.. one thing i cant get my head around is how do you trasfer the drawing on to the wood/styrene etc? i spose u could cut each componant out but this would knacker the drawing?
probably a simple solution i just cant see it so had to ask

leigh

You photo copy that section of the drawings, if you need 15 ribs you copy it 15 times, and then cut out each one.

Photocopy the drawing (always keep an original!), then glue the paper with the drawing on it to the material with which you are working.

"Timmy C"]Photocopy the drawing (always keep an original!),
Agreed
However a second way is to either blue tack the drawing (or the copy) to a window so that the light coming through the drawing gives you a chance to pop on another peice of paper to trace the detail onto, no photocopier distortion!
Or if you have a glass topped coffee table or dining table, ( an improvised lightbox) use that just pop a lamp under the table to provide light, trace as before.
X-ray viewers are good for this as well, always let staff know that you will remove their hands & or arms if they touch your drawings
Also good for enlarging a tracing
I prefer windows as then you can place the drawing at a convienent working height.
Tony

For fabricating in styrene sheet. I start by studying the drawings and sketching out the parts needed for a structure. I then manually draw out the parts onto the styrene sheet on a drawing board(Actually an old plastic coated MDF kitchen cupboard door). This away the thickness of the plastic can be taken into account.

If several parts have the same height or width I draw these together in a strip to ensure they are all the same size in the common dimension.

If the stucture is a complex shape or has several subassemblies assign numbers or letters to each part and write this on each part. I also mark top and bottom.

Hi,that,s a good question. What I do is this. I find good drawings of the vessel I have to have.(It,s have to have,because there is a lot of work ahead.)I then fasten the plastic to my workbench with a few tiny screws.Then take carbon paper(black) and using drafting tape stretch it out tight covering the plastic completely.Run the factory edge of the carbon on a factory edge of plastic.Now put your paper on top of the carbon again ataying along a factory line.Stretch it out and mount it with drafting tape .Do not use a pencil!! Use the smallest burnishing tool you can that won,t tear the paper!! Draw all the parts on the first sheet.REMOVE the top paper(your patterns) and the carbon paper. NOW,spray the plastic sheet with all the lines on it with clear flat CRAFT fixitive.(You can correct anything if you use the flat clear.)You shouldn,t have any mistakes if you didn,t peek! Do this with each sheet and VIOLA!! you have ALL your plans copied and fixed(NO SMUDGES) on the plastic sheet you are going to use.Yes,this is time consuming,but you can then change anything to fit the year your ship is in.I do this on plexi with a scribing tool by putting the plans UNDER the plexi.I only do this on my R.C. models though. I hope this helps. commodore4

trigrodge wrote:hi all,
now.. one thing i cant get my head around is how do you trasfer the drawing on to the wood/styrene etc?
leigh

I'll deal with the wood side.
Photocopy on a normal office copier the part of the plan that you want ie ribs, then when you get home pop the wood onto a flat surface.
Place the photocopied paper onto the wood printed side down!
pin it or somehow stop it from moving about.
Obtain the wifes iron for clothes ( or am I the only household with one these days?) turn off the steam & set for linen.
When iron is hot press onto the paper & transfer some of the black stuff onto the wood!
A little experimentation will give you the best results for your iron/wood.
I never tried styrene, but I think it should be possible providing the iron is not left on too long