Simon's Big Bird ***DNF*** :(

[SJPONeill]

This has been sitting in my stash for a couple of years and it's time has come although I don't quite have the confidence to work off the original so will be reprinting the parts just in case I make a booboo or ten...

[SJPONeill]

A minor glitch in the plan is that while I have an A3 printer, I don't have an A3 scanner so copying the original sheets onto A3 to account for whoopsies has become a little challenging...I have been able to copy off the left and right of each A3 sheet onto A4 but there is a strip down the middle that is not showing up and the design of the scanner platen on the printer makes it difficult to get the A3 sheets on it...

Have placed the originals away but left out the two instruction sheets to refer to during the build (but only if I need to!!)

Trimmed all the parts so that they can fit onto the 1mm card as efficiently as possible...

[iggie]

I really don't think I'd have the patience for a card kit...
How do you fill and sand them?

[SJPONeill]

You'll never really know til you try one...in some ways they are easier than a plastic kit especially if you are not gifted when it comes to painting and finishing...the main thing you need to be able to do is cut accurately...

[SJPONeill]

PS I guess that a good compromise would be to use the paper model as a template for plastic parts, especially of models that are not available in molded plastic...did someone say 1/32 Defiant or Whirlwind..?

[splash]

I should imagine the plain simple shape of the TSR2 would make it a good candidate for card as opposed to the complex curves of a harrier.

I look forward to seeing you work your magic on this one.

Regards Splash

[iggie]

To be honest, I've never (knowingly) seen a paper kit.....I may have to investigate!

[SJPONeill]

To be honest, I've never (knowingly) seen a paper kit.....I may have to investigate!

http://myhobbycraft.blogspot.co.nz/2010 ... 2-172.html

Here's the link to the Paper Hobby one...I may have referred to it in error on the GB chat as being from the Paper-Replika stable but it is actually not...investigate away...

[SJPONeill]

Apologies for my absence the last couple of days...was struck down by my first migraine in years on Wednesday and have thus been taking it a bit more sedately since...

All the former templates glued to an A3 sheet of 1mm card - good stuff not the cheap variety that I was going to use...

Here you can see a 3D shape slowly start to form from the 2D parts as they are cut out...

A bit (OK, OK, a LOT) blurry...finishing off cutting out the formers will be tonight's task in front of our weekly two hour fix of Coro...
This card is quite dense - somewhat like yours truly, some might say - and takes some cutting...even though I use a number of light passes to cut through it, I still managed to snap my first scalpel blade last night and had to venture out into this for some spares...

The scalpel blades are quite flexible and it is difficult to maintain a consistent 90 degree angle around the edge of each part. With these thinker parts I am thinking of maybe mounting the templates on plastic of wood of the require thickness, and getting a small scroll saw to cut around them...

[K5083]

Great to see a card model entered in this GB. That looks like a complex one!

For cutting, I'd suggest a #16 blade. Stouter than a scalpel and the point really helps judge where the cut ends. #11 works too, until the tip breaks off.

August

[iggie]

Crikey, you have to cut them all out entirely? They don't come pre-cut and just attached by a little bit of paper to a frame?

I think I'll stick with plastic thanks!
Seriously though, I admire your patience and I'm dying to see the outcome

[SJPONeill]

Crikey, you have to cut them all out entirely? They don't come pre-cut and just attached by a little bit of paper to a frame?

But you do make up time and the filling painting end of the progress and, to be honest, the part preparation is probably not much more than the clean-up that some plastic kits need...

[SJPONeill]

Right then, that's all the major structural parts cut out, although some do need a tidy up and reinforcing around the edges...we'll hook into that tonight...

I've left the aerofoil formers untouched at the moment as, tempting is it is to make up the wingplan, it will be quite delicate until skinned and so I will leave it in the safest place for now: surrounded by other card...

[SJPONeill]

It doesn't looK like too much but it was more work than I expected last night to cut out these finger holes in the main former parts...."Finger holes" you ask? Yes..took me ages to figure out but they are there as fingerholds when manipulating the former when you are forming the skin over/around it I.e. you stick your finger in the holes to pull the former back if it has slipped too far inside the formed skin.

The main gear set up in the model is quite clever with holes on the horizontal corners through which the main gear leg passes for strength...nice but while I can rend the larger holes in the corners, with card this thick and holes only about 1/4" it is just not doable to cut these holes (neatly) with a knife. So a large proportion of the last 24 hours has been occupied with searching high and low for my set of hole punches. No joy so far and I am loath to depart from the instructions yet as they rather leave a bit to the imagination and I do not want to launch off ad hoc and then find that I may have painted myself into the proverbial corner...

In my search I have though managed to find a number of other lost items and hopefully one or more of these will be a clue/lead to the location of my punch set

[lancfan]

It doesn't look like too much but it was more work than I expected last night to cut out these finger holes in the main former parts-

Simon it looks to be exactly what it is- a lot of careful, accurate cutting work. These card models have a lot in common with Balsawood flying models and scratchbuilds/vac forms- you have to make your kit of parts before you can build the model, good work.


David.