Ship Modeler's Handbook

WELCOME ABOARD! You now hold the Ship Modeler’s Handbook! Devised via partnership between FineScale Modeler and the Nautical Research Guild, inside you’ll find advice and step-by-step how-to articles on everything from choosing the proper tools to do a particular job to strategies for building model ships from wood, plastic, and even paper. Over the years, a mythology has risen up around building scale model ships. You can chalk this up to ships dating back to the first glimmerings of human history and beyond. The vast, eclectic, and often mystifying vocabulary also lends to ship modeling’s otherworldliness. And do not discount the very arcana of shipbuilding itself — the whys and wherefores of naval architecture, from stem to deadwood, and the daunting web of rope that completes a fully rigged ship.…

Sometimes we are faced with having to do work in places that are too tight for normal tools. That may be because we forgot to do something along the way or what we need to do is just in close quarters. Here are three, shop-made tools that could help in these kinds of situations. Squaring blocks I have sometimes found that, when I need to square one element on a model, none of the typical squares I have around (combination or machinist squares, V-blocks, etc.) will not fit the space. It’s easy to make a squaring block out of materials around the shop that will fit your application. I made this one from scrap 3⁄8-inch acrylic, but a piece of hardwood will work, too. Mine measures about an inch along…

When you’re building ship models (or any models, really), you’ll often have an awkwardly shaped small part to hold while drilling, cutting, or filing. A bench vise simply will not do for holding it, and your fingers can often be the victims of a slip of a tool. Ouch! But there are tools you can employ that will save your fingers — and maybe other parts of your hands — injury and improve both your modeling experience and results. Universal work holder Alternately called a peg, jeweler’s, or engraver’s clamp, a universal work holder consists of two flat-topped, semicircular jaws drilled to accept metal pegs, 1. You can arrange the pegs to hold irregularly shaped parts. It can be very useful if you’re working on metal or hard plastic components,…

Oops! You just noticed the glue joint you made last night was done incorrectly, and the piece will not fit as planned. Time to remake the pieces you joined with superglue or Titebond because they do not come apart once the glue has cured. What a waste of time! You can stop cussing now because most glue joints can be undone, and in many cases, the parts glued together can be saved and reused. All it takes is the right solvent and some time to let the solvent work, and you might even have what you need in already in your workshop. Glues and their solvents The solvent for white PVA glues, think Elmer’s, is water or isopropyl alcohol. Water works fine, but I prefer to use 91% isopropyl alcohol…

Sandpaper tends to clog with wood or styrene during use, making the sandpaper less and less effective as more and more wood or plastic dust accumulates in the grit. Many modelers replace the sandpaper when this happens, going through a lot of sandpaper. As it turns out, this is unnecessary because you can remove much of the debris. Sandpaper can be cleaned using rubber. Hardware and woodworking stores sell sticks of abrasive rubber for this purpose. Most are 1.5 inches square and 6-8 inches long and usually cost less than $10. A single stick should give the average modeler many years of service, 1. The rubber stick can be used on sheets of sandpaper, sanding sticks, sanding blocks, sandpaper discs on a disc sander, and belts on belt sanders. To…

Sometimes we are faced with making odd pieces of hardware. Models containing exposed plumbing or fuel lines sometimes need elbows or other fittings where the pipes change direction. Occasionally these things may be available commercially (Plastruct has a series of plastic pipes), but those may be the wrong size or shape. However, it’s not too hard to make your own. To bend brass to make your own elbows, goosenecks and the like without kinking the material, first cut a length of appropriate-diameter brass tubing or rod with a rotary tool and cutting disc. Hold one end of the tube with pliers and heat the rest of the tube with the flame of a butane torch to anneal the brass. You’ll know it’s at the right temperature when the brass glows…