hull plates and rivets

[Alasdair AllanParticipant @alasdairallan37423]

Hi – would be interested to hear people’s views on how best to represent hull plates and rivets.  My 1:32 Caldercraft puffer hull has a bit of detail on it, but much of it around the bows looks like it will need re-doing to meet my pedantic tastes. Don’t think the rubbing strakes, etc, are in the right places. I have heard copper tape mentioned, and pounce wheels (not sure if the two are combineable) as a means of representing plates and rivets, but have never tried any of this stuff, so am open to all ideas!

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Have a look through this thread on the second page, hull plating was discussed there only recently:

Puffer Thread

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Hi Alasdair,

Ive used thin card for my plating and a pounce wheel to represent the rivetting. Whether this would suit your prpose Im not sure but test pieces would be worth a try. I`d never done it before either and had a lot of of advice from others on the forum before I tried.

I also used Tulips Metallics dimentional fabric paint for rivets, applied very sparingly with the tip of a cocktail stick. It`s a cream which dries hard after a few hours.

Best of luck with your search.

Jim.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Alasdair.  As you have a fibreglass hull, I would imagine the only was to rivet it up would be as Jim suggests with glue/paint.</p>
I would have thought that sticking strips of riveted material would show?

Ashley

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Looking at the Caldercraft, advert it rather depends on how much detail is already shown. If you don’t like the detail (including rubbing strakes) then you have the option of sanding the hull smooth and then applying your own plating and rubbing strips, perhaps using card or 0.4mm ply and adding rivets using a hypodermic syringe and PVA glue. Quite a fiddly job.

You have to ask yourself what is the best compromise between realism and practicality. The model as it comes has a degree of representational detail which might not be strictly correct but looks the part and would be accepted by most viewers,albeit not by yourself. So you could spend a great deal of effort in making corrections that nobody else but yourself will notice, especially at the distance that the model is viewed on the water.

Moreover, the kit itself will have other compromises over a strictly scale depiction for commercial reasons as is pretty much normal.

If you want a model which is a true to scale as is possible then building from scratch is probably the best option rather than trying to modify a commercial kit which inevitably incorporates compromises for sound commercial reasons.

In reality the differences in some cases my be not all that great, especially as viewed by the average onlooker.

As always, horses for courses and you only need to satisfy yourself.

Colin

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Just another thought on this one.  I would suggest that you create for yourself a number of samples to play with.  Preferably of the same material as the hull is made of but this might not always be possible.  You might need to consider a base coat of a primer to ensure consistency between your test pieces and your model.

I would then play around with as many different techniques as you can to see what you are happy with as a balance between the work involved and the scale effect produced.  I even once experimented with drilling holes and inserting dressmaking pins to create a line of rivets.  Lovely effect but a ridiculous amount of effort.  I won’t be doing it again!

I haven’t tried them yet but I know the plastic kit boys use rivets printed on decal backing.  I really want to have a play with these one day to see how they work out.  They have to be easier than most of the blobs of glue ideas but I don’t know how large they go.

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Further to what Richard has said, most rivet detail on a hull would only really be seen when the boat is out of the water and can be looked at closely by anyone who has an interest.

I think our modelling interest takes us to the level of including whatever we can whilst accepting that once on the pond it’ll disappear. When starting my current build,I hadn’t given a thought to the rivetted plating on the hull till a suggestion was made that it would improve the look, but I’m certainly glad I made the effort.

Jim.

 

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

The other side of that coin Jim is that the model might spend an hour or two a week on the water, but the rest of the time on the shelf where we can see it in its full glory for 99.9% of the time!

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Have to agree with that Richard, your completion of Ben Ain proving the point prefectly.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

The degree of detail you need to reproduce is directly geared to the scale you are building to and the building quality you want to represent. The larger the scale then the more detail is needed for a full scale representation. The 1:150 scale liner I am building will have a lot of ‘detail’ but the individual items such as cargo winches at 25mm square will actually be very simple on close inspection but still give the correct impression. ( if I can build enough of them….)

1:48 scale is a popular option as it is a good compromise between detail needed for a scale model and the effort needed to achieve it!

It is always a compromise!

Colin

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Oddly enough I am in need of fake plating detail on the next build. I am using the subterfuge of random paper squares representing the plates which when painted black, should give a fair impression of plating.  Looks reasonable in its grey primer!

Ashley

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Paper works well for simulated plating.  I use a heavy paper, what I would have called Cartridge Paper.  This has had flush rivet detailing added as well:

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Didn’t bother with rivets. At 1/80 the rivets would be very small…

Yes I think the paper I used was cartridge paper…fairly thick and with a slight texture. Ashley

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