Working With Cardboard

[Varianor Abroad]

I've made 1.5 cardboard game dioramas so far. It works out well, as those who attended the Boston GameDay last seemed to think. For my next trick, I want to make a boat.

Has anyone worked with hot glue and cardboard?

Do you have any suggestions? I want a curved hull. I'm going to make flat decks so I won't have a keel. (Which is fine for sitting on the table. Better anyway.) I'm trying to figure out how to curve the cardboard around the hull line while keeping it angled. If such is possible. Anyone done anything like this? My best thought is to cut the deck flat, but out of a thick piece. Then maybe create some popsicle stick ribs and glue the cardboard to that?

Please, no speculation. If you haven't done it, you haven't done it.

The prior diorama is pictured slightly differently from the form it took at the Gameday here in my LJ. Just scroll down to the pictures.

 

[Meloncov]

I have some expierence with working with cardboard and hot glue from my various architectue classes, but have never attempted to make a shape similar to a ships hull; when a shape such as that is needed, my teachers recomended using another material. I've used cloth over wire to reasonably good effect.

 

[D'karr]

I've made 1.5 cardboard game dioramas so far. It works out well, as those who attended the Boston GameDay last seemed to think. For my next trick, I want to make a boat.

Has anyone worked with hot glue and cardboard?

Do you have any suggestions? I want a curved hull. I'm going to make flat decks so I won't have a keel. (Which is fine for sitting on the table. Better anyway.) I'm trying to figure out how to curve the cardboard around the hull line while keeping it angled. If such is possible. Anyone done anything like this? My best thought is to cut the deck flat, but out of a thick piece. Then maybe create some popsicle stick ribs and glue the cardboard to that?

Please, no speculation. If you haven't done it, you haven't done it.

The prior diorama is pictured slightly differently from the form it took at the Gameday here in my LJ. Just scroll down to the pictures.

I've worked with a hot glue gun and cardboard. Results are a mixed bag. The hot glue is perfect for the bond but cures too rapidly for adjustment. It also burns your skin quite well when your fingers touch it. Not enough to cause any real harm but uncomfortable none the less. Another disadvantage of the glue is the "strings" that tend to form when you withdraw the gun.

For the type of build you have made already I'd recommend "Elmer's White Glueall" applied sparingly. You could also use glue sticks but for cardboard your results might vary.

I saw your 3D build and it looks good. Pretty inventive. I've always had a soft spot for 3D terrain that has elevation, cover, etc. Pretty cool.

For your ship may I recommend what I've used with great success - The Maiden

It is totally impressive and yes it does look as good as the pictures show there. Total build time for that one was 32 hours from start to finish, without taking printing time into account.

BTW, check out their other sets. I'm sure that DungeonWorks would look pretty good if you used it to texture your existing 3D build.

Good luck with your build.

 

[Conaill]

For your ship may I recommend what I've used with great success - The Maiden

It is totally impressive and yes it does look as good as the pictures show there. Total build time for that one was 32 hours from start to finish, without taking printing time into account.

I strongly second WorlWorks Games' work as well! Their work is absolutely amazing, the sets are incredibly cheap compared to any other kind of 3D models (just try buying a resin model of a 28" ship - eek! ), and since it's all on pdf's that you print out yourself, you can build as much as you want of a given model, and kitbashing is real easy.

Here's a sample of the "Maiden of the High Seas", for those of you too lazy to follow the link above - you know who you are . (Do check out the link though - they have a kickass Flash movie of the model as well.)

Now, the Maiden model only goes down to the waterline - which is perfect for gaming (right height for boarding actions, launching a sloop, rescuing someone from the water, etc.) but perhaps not the best for display.

However... you may want to check out the Maiden's Bottoms! thread I started, which is dedicated to giving the Maiden a nice, curvy bottom hull. Heck, you may want to check out that thread anyway, even if you plan to build your own from scratch - lots of good reference pictures there!

 

[Varianor Abroad]

This is good stuff! Thanks for the link. I'll definitely consider it. I'm actually building an airship, but I may be able to kitbash that a lot. It's very Age of Sail, but the belowdecks part looks quite good. It's certainly easier than doing it on my own!

One question on printing the Maiden. I have an inkjet. What kind of printer and stock did you use, if you don't mind saying?

I do also like the idea of cloth over wire. Perhaps paper mache over cloth or wire to build a shape would be a different approach. That's a little more experimental, but could work. Might try that in the longer term. (I need this by October.)

Thanks for checking out my original diorama too! That fit my goal of being very modular. Any time I want, I just add on a piece and it's different. I may modify some of the "ground" level pieces with plaster or something and some paint. It's cheaper than Dwarven Forge, even though I lust after the stuff.

Has anyone else tried anything of interest?

 

[GentleGiant]

First of, I haven't done a ship model as such, but I've done lots of other dioramas/models/buildings (think your "normal" Warhammer Fantasy Battle and 40K buildings/models).

Okay, some more info would be useful.
What level of detail do you want?
Do you want a fully explorable ship (e.g. do you want to be able to take off the deck and put miniatures in the hold?)?
Are you open to working with other materials than just cardboard and a hot glue gun?

A couple suggestions on how I might want to tackle it:

Make the entire hull out of foam (insulation foam plates, old foam crates etc.). Simply glue* enough plates together to get the height of the hull and then use a sharp knife** to shape the hull. Presto, one piece of finished hull you can then add cardboard on to to represent the deck, railing etc.

Use foam board/foamcore (two pieces of thin cardboard with foam inbetween) to make up the skeleton of the hull and then add cardboard to the curved sides. This way you could also make the hull accessible, but it would require more work. I'm sure you might be able to find some schematics of old ships to use as a template.

And the expensive version: Balsa wood. It's light weight and can be steamed into bendy shapes so you could get an "authentic" ship feel. But it can be fairly expensive.

All of the above solutions are still very lightweight and shouldn't present a problem concerning transporting the models around. The sturdiest solution is clearly the solid foam

Foam board/foamcore, a sharp knife and PVA glue are your new best friends when doing models.


* With ordinary woodglue - or any other "white" PVA glue - sorry, don't know all the types available in the US
** But beware that cutting the foam might dull the blade - so use one of those expandable blade cutters - an alternative is using a hot wire cutter (do a google search)

 

[Bobitron]

I have somehow managed to completely miss out on the WorldWorks models! Thanks for bringing them to my attention!

 

[tetsujin28]

Are the Worldworks things only available as PDFs? That's just too much colour ink to use up.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Are the Worldworks things only available as PDFs? That's just too much colour ink to use up.

There is a special going on at Dor or Dice. Preprinted dungeon terrain - it is sized for click bases, but if you are using a grid that does not matter, and makes reaching in to the rooms much easier. (I do not use grids, and gave this one a pass, but it does look great!)

The Auld Grump

 

[Conaill]

One question on printing the Maiden. I have an inkjet. What kind of printer and stock did you use, if you don't mind saying?

I have a cheapo Lexmark inkjet printer. Print quality is fine, but it does suck up ink like crazy. I've heard the HP inkjet printers actually wind up being more economical if you take the ink usage into account. Typical cardstock is 110lb - that's about business card consistency, and very easy to find in your average office supply store. Many models are fully detail on the inside and outside, so they essentially use two layers of this material, making them quite strong. For extra strength, some parts (like ground tiles, or the ship's decks) also use foamcore as a base.

Check out the WWG website, as well as their forums for tons of good advice, not to mention a very active and supportive community!

Materials Guide (there is also a Video Tutorial)
Printing Tips
Model Building Tips, Tricks and Questions
Printer Settings Knowledge Base
The Definitive Glue Thread