PIRATE SHIP questions, modifications and discussion

[Heisler]

Has anyone tried to disassemble the pre-assembled parts? Specifically separating the main deck from the sides of the gun deck? Or even what kind of glue works best for the soft plastic parts of the ship?

[bojesphob]

On 11/5/2021 at 7:37 AM, Heisler said:

Has anyone tried to disassemble the pre-assembled parts? Specifically separating the main deck from the sides of the gun deck? Or even what kind of glue works best for the soft plastic parts of the ship?

 

I haven't really tried separating, I would imagine you could do so using a dremel, but I'm not sure what that would do to the structural integrity. As for glue, I just use regular super glue. Only piece I've had any issues with staying in place is the rope for the anchor on the ghost ship, but I don't think I ensured it was in place well when I glued it.

[Heisler]

40 minutes ago, bojesphob said:

 

I haven't really tried separating, I would imagine you could do so using a dremel, but I'm not sure what that would do to the structural integrity. As for glue, I just use regular super glue. Only piece I've had any issues with staying in place is the rope for the anchor on the ghost ship, but I don't think I ensured it was in place well when I glued it.

 I think it would be tough to try and use a dremel on it. Even at a low speed it might melt the plastic and I would much prefer to just separate into the original component pieces. I do agree though, super glue is really the only thing that's going to be particularly effective on this. It needs at least one more anchor (and in theory could use as many as four) just to balance things out. I was looking at builds of the Queen Anne's Revenge (Blackbeard's flagship) which is about the same size, and perhaps provided a little inspiration, and it has four anchors. It also needs at least two ship's boats, so a little scratch building is likely in order unless I can find some that are about the right size.

[bojesphob]

18 hours ago, Heisler said:

 I think it would be tough to try and use a dremel on it. Even at a low speed it might melt the plastic and I would much prefer to just separate into the original component pieces. I do agree though, super glue is really the only thing that's going to be particularly effective on this. It needs at least one more anchor (and in theory could use as many as four) just to balance things out. I was looking at builds of the Queen Anne's Revenge (Blackbeard's flagship) which is about the same size, and perhaps provided a little inspiration, and it has four anchors. It also needs at least two ship's boats, so a little scratch building is likely in order unless I can find some that are about the right size.

Not just that, but I also want sails billowing! I've been searching for STLs for billowing sails to see if I can find any I like. Also found some glow in the dark FDM printer filament so I can do some for the ghost ship too! If I can't find any, I might just try 3D sculpting some myself, but I've had some issues being able to do what I want with those applications, so that might take a long time if I have to go that way LOL

[ttuckerman]

For billowing sails I want to try plastic wrap.  Have a fan on at the back and while they billow from that wind spray with a clear spray sealer.  That will probably make the plastic wrap stiff.

[Corsair]

For the sails I was thinking actual cloth stiffened to shape with paint.

[bojesphob]

I thought about doing cloth, but if I can find STLs for some that look fairly authentic, they would look far better than anything I could hodgepodge together. That plastic wrap idea sounds interesting though! If you end up trying that definitely let us all know how it goes!

[Heisler]

The best place for information on making cloth sails is on the the sailing ship modeling forums, I know of two.

shipsofscale.com

modelshipworld.com

One method for billowing sails is to coat the cloth in matte medium and then set a fan behind it to fill it with “wind” until the matte medium sets. That requires at least some of the running rigging to be in place to hold the sail properly. There are also discussions about stl files there but they are not common, it’s a fairly hard core hobby in regard to rigging and sails. 
 

I’m planning to leave the mainsails as is (with some additional rigging) and add three lateen sails. This should leave the deck relatively accessible.

 

[ttuckerman]

8 hours ago, bojesphob said:

I thought about doing cloth, but if I can find STLs for some that look fairly authentic, they would look far better than anything I could hodgepodge together. That plastic wrap idea sounds interesting though! If you end up trying that definitely let us all know how it goes!

Note that this is for the GITD ship.  That is why the plastic wrap.  To make them look like ghost sails.

[Corsair]

Hmmm... maybe thick clear mylar? Make a form, lay the mylar sheet over it and spray a bunch of clear paint over it. The mylar is translucent and would be easy to cut to shape. Or just use it as is with it waving with every breeze.

[TheAuldGrump]

13 hours ago, bojesphob said:

I thought about doing cloth, but if I can find STLs for some that look fairly authentic, they would look far better than anything I could hodgepodge together. That plastic wrap idea sounds interesting though! If you end up trying that definitely let us all know how it goes!

Try soaking cloth in diluted white glue.

 

Drape over a form that will give the sails the shape that you want. I used one of those inflated plastic pillow things that are used as packing material.

 

The Auld Grump

[bojesphob]

I actually think I found an STL I'm going to try! Epic Miniatures had a Viking ship one month with a sail, and I was able to scale it to line up with the mast for the pirate ship (I think). I'll try printing it out and seeing what it looks like, if it works, I might be set :)

[Heisler]

I started a thread for disassembling Sophie's Revenge (disassembly is now complete). https://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/97431-building-the-pirate-ship-sophies-revenge/

 

I will now be prepping it for re-assembly and, hopefully, adding a lot more detail to it.