Card Scale MOdel of Grey Swan 16 Ft Gaff

I bought my boat plans and they came!! Yeah. I am going to build the Selway Fisher Grey Swan 16 FT Gaff. I have never built a boat, it's stitch and glue, and it recommends to build a card scale model of it first. What size of paper or cardboard do I use? Has anyone built a card scale model and might have some suggestions?

I'm sure it doesn't have to be an exact duplicate by weight, or am I wrong? And the scale model building materials are certainly not going to be marine board like the plans ask for, but does anyone have any advice on scale building on materials?

Thanks for all the help so far.

 

I often test my design ideas by making a model out of poster-board. It's cheap, obtainable at Wal-Mart, dollar stores, or craft stores, and easy to work with. If you're using imperial measurements (inches and feet), then I'd suggest making it a 1/12 scale (1 inch=1 foot) model.
When I build mine, I just glue them together with whatever glue I have handy, and spray-paint the outside to waterproof it. Then, to get it to sit at DWL, divide the expected all-up weight of the finished boat by 1728 (12^3 = 1728 for 3-D 1/12 scale) and spread the weight around the model either to find how it floats closest to how I want it to, or how I expect it to be in the finished boat.
I'm not sure of the applicability of this method to your design, but it's the best help I can offer...good luck

 

Also, a thought that just came to me, they might actually mean to use playing cards in place of plywood sheets on your model...if you used 3"x5" cards you could cut them down to 2"x4" and make a 1/24 scale model with the cards accurately representing the sheets of ply...so you could get a better feel for how the plywood sheets will go together (and how many you'll need). I just measured a playing card, and it's 2.5"x3.5", so I doubt they would work very well. ... hey, it was a thought.

 

The plans refer to a cardboard model and any good stiff weight paper will do (called cover stock). As mentioned Wal-Mart or craft stores carry stiff card stock. It'll run through most printers if cut down to a manageable size, so you can print stations and developed shapes (planking) onto them.

The idea is to get you familiar with how it fits together. This is especially true of taped seam (stitch and glue) builds, where you literally fold the boat into shape, just like the cardboard model.

It doesn't have to float, nor be water proof, just an assembly to get you used to the idea of arranging panels and attaching them along the edges.

 

Thanks for the expert opinion (well, actually, I guess "statement of fact" is a better term) Par. Looks like my second stab in the dark came close, at least.

 

File folders work wonderful also, especially the heavier oiled type.

 

Thanks for the help. So if I use pieces of stiff paper/light cardboard, cut them and scotch taped them in place like the fiber used for stitch and glue, it would do fine, and if I want it to float, spray it with some polyurethane? Or glue wax paper over it imitating the canvas and epoxy on top of the boats.

If that's all I need, I'll start it to make sure I know how to piece it together. The first piece to assemble is the center board housing. Thanks for the help.

 

Sounds like you got the point of our (my) ramblings perfectly.

Good luck with your build!

 

You could take it one step further and use balsa and modeling plywood. Using a suitable scale, you can glue it together with wood glue and even seal it up with tissue and epoxy. You can learn a great deal about how things fit together and have a nice miniature version of your project to keep you motivated.

 

That sounds nice too. I haven't started it yet. I'm going through the directions first finding each of the pieces to be built by the instructions. There are modifications with the keel, so going through to make sure I have the right plans for the right keel is a must. I want the shallow drop keel. It has a nice bow spirit and a catboat mast with a spirit rig. It's a cute boat. The closest I could get to a crab claw sail.

The directions are confusing. There is mostly pictures, no book, so the model scale first was a great invention. I just wonder how to space the ties connecting the wood pieces, so to stitch and glue. If I do the model right, it should be easy to get the boat right.

I'll start buying my wood now, but won't start the boat until about April. I want to build it outside under a tarp/awning/whatever a few poles and a tarp covering both sides can offer. It's a small boat, and I hope it won't take long too build. I'm all excited about it however small it maybe. The next boat will be the 30 footer Dragonfly if I can find a nice convenient place to keep t. Let's see first if I can build the small one.