Bulbous Bows

[Andy O’ConnorParticipant @andyoconnor56029]

hello everyone,

   I’m about to begin building a bulk carrier to my own plans, but have come a little bit unstuck when it comes to the bulbous bow…

What would be the best material for this, and how should I go about forming it? I had intended to use plasticard for the hull, but that will hardly be flexible enough to bend around the tight compound curves of a bulbous bow. Could wood strip be bent around such tight corners? And if wood is the best way of doing things, could it be blended seamlessly with a styrene hull?

 many thanks

Andy OC 

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hi Andy

You could use a block of balsa and form it to the correct shape which could then be sealed and fitted to the bows after that you could use small amounts of car body filler to create the seamless join to the hull.

If balsa is not your thing then perhaps you might consider using builders filler foam, this is a polyurethane mix that comes in a can and is used to fill gaps in buildings, you could squirt out a lump, let it expand and set and then shape it to the required design. It would then need sealing and painting.

Or you could cast the required shape from re workable plastic but for this you would have to make a mold.

Hope this helps and good luck with the build.

Paul

[Andy O’ConnorParticipant @andyoconnor56029]

thanks Paul,

     I quite like the idea of carving balsa to shape… I will probbably do this also for the propellor shaft and rudder spigots at the back. Thanks

 While im here, i have a couple of other little queries that have me wondering;

The first one is presenting a bit of an embarrasing hurdle – I’ve knocked up my scale plans on Sketchup and have them saved as bmp files….. It was my intention to print them off and use them as 1:1 templates. But is there any way to scale things precisley when it comes to printing off, other than trial and error? 

 Secondly, and you’ll have to forgive my ignorence here, could anyone direct me to a company that does aftermarket parts such as liferaft canisters, portholes, doors and such forth? Having done virtually all of my previous modelling with static aircraft, i’m a bit new to shipbuilding and it’s suppliers!

 thanks again,

Andy OC 

[DuckyParticipant @ducky]

Hi Andy

Have a look at the website of http://www.macsmouldings.co.uk he does all the items you mentioned although they are mainly in big scale sizes !!! which is what you may need anyway as you did’nt state your scale !

Ducky

[TelstarParticipant @telstar]

Hi Andy

As they say variety is the spice of life you could also look at these sites

http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/
http://www.redbankmodels.co.uk/

cheer Tom

[Andy O’ConnorParticipant @andyoconnor56029]

How?

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