Building a Sudan Gunboat (1 Viewer)

[Russell]

Hi Louis, I hope others post too because I can also use some help. The boat I'm building is my first. I haven't posted in the last week because there isn't enough progress yet to catch the eye.

In the first photo on the left we have a porthole miniature I found in a hooby shop for people building small boats like ours. In the same photo on the right we see a grommet. These are used as metal eyelets for sails and cheaper ones are found in fabric/curtain shops and are used for hanging curtains.

The second photo shows the grommet from the side.

 

[Russell]

For the sides, i.e. the hull, I used very thin balsa wood.
In the 1st photo you see a strip of balsa wood and a product called NO NAILS (more on no nails later).
In the 2nd photo you see the strip of balsa wood close up.
In the 3rd photo you see the same strip of balsa wood being easily bent, I did snap a few.
The balsa wood is thin and delicate and so I reenforced it with cheap sticks much like popcycle sticks but thinner and so more bendable. I found them in a dollar store. I cut these sticks with an exacto knife. You can see these reenforcement sticks in the final photo. By the way, while the glue dried, I held the popcycle sticks and the balsa wood together with clothes pegs.

Okay, the no nails is white, is a slow binding glue and its texture is like caulking. I use it to hold pieces together and to fill in cracks in my work which I then clean up with paper towel. I put a bit on a sheet of paper and apply it with the popcycle sticks. I first started to use this product to install baseboards and to give the boards a perfect finish against the wall - i.e. no gaps.

For the railings Michael (maddadicus) suggested chicken wire. I plan to get some tomorrow and to give it a try. I'll let you know how it goes.

For the running lights etc. I have no ideas at this point. Maybe another forum member will help us both.

For the masts I have some dowels which I also bought at a dollar store. These ones are about 10 inches long.

If others have different/better ideas, I'd love to hear about them.

 

[maddadicus]

For the sides, I used very thin basswood which is usually next to the balsa wood in most craft store racks. It is more durable than balsa. I would built up layers of the strips for those bendable hull areas till I match up to the thickness of a basswood straight piece in the center area of the hull..This is from my instructions at the beginning of this thread. [COLOR="Lime"]Also for portholes, I was using the flat half of grommets, but found in the craft jewelry aisle, gold eyelets and rectangle bracelet parts that were good matches for portholes and windows.For a searchlight, I made mine from a wood bucket part, a grommet glued to the open bucket head, inside of bucket painted yellow and a dowel for the base...First you need to cut out the pointed bow and a rounded stern from your 24'" plank. I then bought very thin basswood sheets that I cut in plates and bent and glued around the plank edge. I chose to cut in about 2.5" high strips. I bought basswood strips to glue inside the walls above deck as well as added small strips as a top edging...Because I could not get the thicker inner strips to bend much, I used the thin basswood to form up and shape the inside of the bow section..I took me about 6 such strips to thicken the bow insides. I then bought small rhinesones and glued them to thin strips of basswood. I trimmed to fit as rivet sections to the hull. I believe that this allows for more detail and makes the ship look like metal.[/COLOR]...Michael

 

[Louis A. Cortez]

Guys,
Thanks for the great ideas. I will go to Hobby Lobby this weekend and look for some of your ideas. I will let you know how things go but please keep giving details on how you make things. It really helps us novices attempting something new. I will post pictures once I figure how to do it. Thanks.
Lou

 

[kilted vampire]

This is so inspiring. I am so building a sub when I get back from Hawaii.

 

[steveemmo]

the k&c ship "san pablo" on sale at the london toy soldier show was built by a friend of mine..he used cardboard for the sides of the ships hull, he produces his own cast rivets in sections and glues them on.
steve