Cardboard

[gunfighter]

I´ve finally started my first build, and as I am not very skilled on modelling, I request your kind advice on this subject. The matter is building a pair of vertical surfaces out of cardboard, as I haven´t found suitable parts in my stash to resemble what I need. The question is: which kind of cardboard is best suited for this? How can I get a similar finish to that of plastic surfaces, I mean, once painted?
Thanks in advance
Cheers

[sotoolslinger]

PM the great Rafael he is the master o cardboard and a heck of a nice dude
BTW what shape and scale of verticals are you looking for. Maybe someone else here has some spares

[Hobbes]

You can also get sheets of styrene. A bit more expensive, but you get the option to sand the edges to a realistic contour, and you won't hav problems with all the paint getting soaked up by the cardboard.

[sequoiaranger]

Cardstock is a highly absorptive medium, and will absorb moisture readily and deform the shape and/or fray the edges.  Sometimes even an approaching storm and humid weather will allow the cardboard to bend. The key to making it look and act like plastic is to "plasticize" it.  Playing cards (Poker, Blackjack, etc) that are/were cardboard have a plastic coating--why not your cardboard models? The best reason to "plasticize" it is to keep the shape, and allow subsequent color coatings that will take on the same look as the rest of the model.

In America, there is an acrylic clear spray called Krylon that works for me (generally available at hardware stores or paint departments). I made a boardgame that needed some 200 "tiles" of cardboard for playing pieces, plus the homemade mapboard ( http://www.combinedfleet.com/furashita/vtsbrd_f.htm ). I couldn't afford to have spilled beer ruin the pieces or mapboard, so I coated everything with Krylon and it worked fine as a preservative and stiffener. I had to make sure that ALL edges and sides were thus coated--moisture has a way of FINDING a way to ruin paper products if it's at all possible.

Once you have the coating on, use of other paints or coatings will have the same sheen and hue to blend in with the plastic parts of your model.

If your "vertical surfaces" include tailfins, try the "swap shop" section here and ask for what you want--e.g. "Sea Fury vertical tail". I, for one, have hundreds (literally) of spare parts from all my whifs, so may have what you want or can use.

[gunfighter]

Thanks for your replyes! you confirm to me that it is quite difficult to get a decent job mixing cardboard and plastic (unless you are the one we know...). So, I have digged in my small stash and found a very cheap turkish F100 that will bestow his wings to my project.
We´ll meet at the current and finished projects forum! 

[Rafael]

Hola, Gunfighter!!!!

(approaches the lectern, puts eyeglasses on, and talks in solemn voice) Ahem!,  After the accolade my friends here have given me, my advise is practice, practice and more practice. Sequoiaranger's points are very valid and right on the money. Cardboard, as the cellulose product it is, is very prone to drinking all the moisture it can have from the air, so follow his advise with all confidence. The secret is to make the cardboard drink something other than water and at the same time, get it to harden to your modeling specs. For that, I use white glue.















The above samples ALL have their wings/vertical surfaces made from several layers of toilette/tissue paper sandwiched inside the external cardboard shapes. Use white glue (the one good for woodworking) freely, you'll end up damping the tissue paper in it and will get a wobbly shape.....until it dries and hardens.

The big delta wings you see in the photos are like that, and didn't need a solid internal reinforcement (which you can use if you like). The EDI wings and fuselage strakes are like that, too. And the Mustang's wings went that way too (you can even model/sculpt your airfoil section that way). Remember, lay a good layer of white glue on your cardboard, then, tissue paper (folded works better), then glue, if you need more, then more paper until you reach your desired thickness/shape, then put your final cardboard layer on top. Messy, but gives good results.

And remember Sequoiaranger's advise.

I used manila folder cardboard in all my builds.

Saludos,
Rafa

[gunfighter]

Muchas Gracias Rafa! (I´m spanish)
I´ll do some experiments based on your advice.
Un abrazo.

[gunfighter]

Oh, if you want a little teaser of my project, here it is:
The base kit is an Italeri 1/72 Tu-22 Blinder, that will turn into an Imperial Japan´56 bomber/ naval strike aircraft.
Modifications?  Let´s say get rid of the tail surfaces, bring them to the nose (canard??), put some huge vertical surfaces on the wing tips (inspired on the Sanka mod B, or the shinden anyway), some underwing missiles (or guided bombs), and the camo... is still secret...
I first thought about a luft´56 bird, but as I have two backfires on the stash, these will be the next on the line. Well, one will become luft´66 north sea bomber, and the other a red spain´86...
Cheers!!!

[Rafael]

Con mucho gusto!!!

Great idea with the Blinder
If the surfaces you're going to fashion from cardboard have any load-bearing of importance, then you should consider putting some reinforcement inside, and if the geometries permit, some anchor points to the plastic.

For this type of build, it could be very useful to play dry-fitting repeatedly with simple cardboard blanks

Saludos,

Rafa

[Jeff Clark]

 
Amazing what you can do with a toilet roll!

Jeff