Paul's Schreiber-Bogen 1/24 Frankfurt Fire Dept Mercedes 170V

[Tim Marlow]

Looking fine now Paul. As Jim says, you’ve got this nailed.

[Neil Merryweather]

It's a shame they printed the black outline on the compound curves,it would reduce the impact. I suppose it's too strong to cover up with watercolour? I used felt tip pens on a model railway card building I made - less moisture to cockle the card

[PaulinKendal]

Thanks everyone. Yes Neil Merryweather , I think the blacklining is just something you have to put up with. You could cut to the inside of the black line and remove it that way, but the cut edge itself would still show up clearly. And lots of the edges have a dotted score line for the glue tabs which also stands out - I know some folks cut the tabs off and make their own backing pieces to reduce this.

But for me, I don't mind these things - card modelling is a big compromise anyway, and these marks are part of that, you can never eliminate them entirely.

For cut edges, just colouring them with lead pencil works pretty well, without any colour-matching at all. I like watercolour because it does soak into the card just a fraction, colouring it properly, and gets drawn in to the card along score lines nicely. Never had an issue with cockling - it's only a tiny amount of relatively thick pigment.

[PaulinKendal]

This model has developed (meaning: I have built into it) a bit of a twist.

I was hoping adding the floorpan would pull it out - it hasn't. I did think of using packing pieces to straighten it, but that way lies madness, as the model dissolves into a glue-soaked mess of fraying edges, soggy card and lots of curse-words.

I'm leaving it, and not photographing the model head-on henceforth! I might be able to finesse it a bit with the addition of wheels and bumper (fat chance!)

The challenge is that, unlike plastic models, you can't dry-fit pieces to check and adjust before gluing. The gluing process actually creates the pieces as you go - until the glue goes on, all you have are pieces of flappy fragile paper. (Bigger models than this have more pieces and more scope for treatment as the build progresses. Smaller ones can be even worse than this).

The terrible truth is that the whole model is out of kilter - only the grille and front wings are straight. It should be pictured like this.

[Tim Marlow]

Looks like she’s going into a heavy left handed curve at speed…..still impressive though….

[spanner570]

That's a tough break Paul. What you have found out is these type of models have to be checked and checked again. Sometimes after checking for squareness, all seems good. Go back to it and it's developed a twist. I usually sit with the thing and keep an eye on it and alter it until the glue sets. Even that sometimes doesn't work....

Ah, the joys of making a model from card. :upside:

All is not lost though. I've had this problem myself. Tyr Gently steaming the model and twist it at the same time. This will soften the glue enough to hopefully make it workable.

Neat and tidy work none the less.

Step back, have a minute and then return, with a new determination to beat the b****r into submission!

[PaulinKendal]

:smiling5: There is NO WAY I'm taking steam-heat to this thing! I doubt I could correct the twist by, just, well, twisting it. And if I did, I'm sure horrible white gaps and holes would appear in all the wrong places anyway.

No, all modelling is about approximation, and this model shows just how approximate it can get!

[outrunner]

Bad news there Paul after all your good work, perhaps Ron's suggestion may be worth a try.

Andy.

[scottie3158]

Paul,
That's a shame but it doesn't detract from the skill in building it in the first place.

[Jim R]

Shame about the twist.

.. but it doesn't detract from the skill in building it in the first place.

Very true

[minitnkr]

I thought the results were amazing. It brought back memory of my abortive efforts at card models way back in my early model RR days.

[spanner570]

Gentle steam and twist worked for me Paul.

Might well be worth a punt, at least......

But as others have written, good skills, no matter what.

[PaulinKendal]

The plan at the moment is to build it, then try the steam trick. If it works, great, if not, it's no great loss.

However, building has slowed to a crawl.



I've just started on the wheels - the card modeller's version of tank tracks.

[Allen Dewire]

I've just started on the wheels - the card modeller's version of tank tracks.

Wow Paul, give me indy link tank tracks over those wheels any day...Great patience though, Sir!!!...

[spanner570]

Now the 'Fun' really starts - The fiddly bits!

Looking good Paul. :thumb2: