Making Sails for Ship Models from Silkspan, Parts 1 & 2
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ค. 2024
- Make sure to read the whole description. There's some useful stuff further down!
Here's my method for creating sails for ship models using silkspan. Parts 1 & 2 deal with preparing and making the sail. Part 3 addresses its installation on the model.
Also, check out Kevin Kenny's approach to using silkspan. He has more detail on a couple of parts of the process which are definetly worth a look. He's at: vimeo.com/297508363
You can buy silkspan from Bluejacket Shipcrafters at www.bluejacketinc.com/fittings... They call their material Modelspan. - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
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Awesome work. Very authentic!
One of the most useful videos I've seen, many thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
@@shipmodelguy You're welcome. I haven't started on the sails yet - I'm actually building a paddle steamer - but at least I know where to go for the right information.
Thank you for the video(s).Your technique worked very good for my viking sail. Boy you're right about the about of paint used!! Of course I painted 560 square feet of sail red haha. I didn't have a travel iron so I improvised. I heated water and put a tablespoon in it to heat the spoon up. It became nice and warm and I used the back of the spoon to 'burnish' the reinforcements around the parameter of the sail. Worked perfect! Thanks again.
Clever solution. I like it.
@@shipmodelguy Thanks Tom! I put the spoon back in the hot water while I applied the glue and put the strip down. All hot again.
Brilliant tutorial. Thanks so much.
Just finished my Bounty Launch and going to use your method again for the two sails. I'm going to furl them to the spars. I have a travel iron now. I used it to bend the cherry frames on the jig.
Glad you found this helpful. My travel iron died-from being overworked, I think. Now I just use a full sized iron. It's got steam also, which comes in handy when making sails out of actual fabric.
Thank you SO MUCH for taking tine and sharing this video... Very important Tips here... you deserved more subscribers... thank you
Outstanding video and presentation.
Thank you.
Nice work!.
Really good tutorial. Thanks!
Glad it was helpful.
Tom, thanks for getting back to me. I found your information very helpful. Right now I am putting stripes on a viking boat sail, using painted strips of the silkspan. So far, so good. I just wish I could send you a photo. I plan to share your name and the title of your TH-cam video with a few of my model groups (on line), to give you credit for the help, as I post photos of my progress on those sites. I assume you will not mind?
I don't mind at all. It's why I started doing the videos---to be shared. Glad you found the info helpful. Tom
Thank you for sharing, makes life much easier. Can you show (video or photos)how one can furl a main sail Square rig please
I once tried to do just what you suggest and the video was unusable because all you could see were my hands and not what I was doing with them.
I will tell you this, if you're furling a square sail, there are a couple of things to keep in mind: 1. If you can get a copy of Steele's Elements of Mastmaking, Sailmaking and Rigging, there is a lot of useful info there about how the sails are furled (i.e., furled up to quarters or furled up to extremities). I think another book, The Young Officer's Sheet Anchor is another good one, and of course, Underhill's Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship and Ocean Carrier.
2. When Making the sail, DO NOT make it full size in all dimensions. Keep the length correct so that it will sit on the yard properly. Make the width, or height, about 20%-30% shorter. It will reduce the bulk you have to furl up. That will have a twofold effect. It will render a more realistic look if there's less bulk up on the yard. And the second benefit is that it so much easier to do.
Pero un trabajo excelente!
I didn't make a big deal of this in the video, but it is VERY IMPORTANT that you use DRY WAXED PAPER and not the stuff commonly found in the kitchen drawer. Regular waxed paper will, as soon as you apply heat, bond to your sail, ruining the whole effort. If you have trouble finding the dry waxed paper, you can substitute tracing paper. Just be aware that you may have to cut back a bit on the glue to prevent sticking.
I promise the next installment is on the way. Stay tuned to this station for more!!!
Where would I look to buy the proper "Dry waxed paper".
The dry waxed paper is usually available in most super markets or restaurant supply stores. I get my at BJ's wholesale club. Don't know if you have one of those near you, though. Sorry I took so long to respond.
@@shipmodelguy this may have already been addressed elsewhere in the comments but I wonder if parchment paper would fit the bill for this?
@@piezoman79 Parchment paper, at least the stuff I've seen, has a bit too much body to be useful for furled sails. It might be interesting to try it for unfurled sails, though. In that situation, the stiffness might be an asset for holding a shape. I'd say give a try. You have nothing to lose. The main advantage silkspan has in this application is its pliability when wet. I has the ability to almost collapse on itself while still holding together. And that quality is essential when trying to furl a tiny sail.
@@shipmodelguy good point, I hadn’t considered the weight aspect as it impacts furling.
I have yet to attempt sails of any material, even when they’re supplied in the kit, but your methods make it look so easy and realistic I’ll need to give them a shot sooner than later
I cant source Silkspan in UK, will try an old shirt or thin cloth for practice, my first build
I don't know if they will ship internationally, but Bluejacket Shipcrafters in Searsport, Maine does carry silkspan. You'll find it on their website. Here's a link: www.bluejacketinc.com/nylon-thread-parrel-beads-glass-sailcloth-silkspan-soft-brass-wire-stanchion-wire-steel-wire-twisted-metal-wire/
Write or call them. They're usually pretty helpful and easy to deal with.
Very well done video but I have a couple of questions. You said to cut strips from scrap silkspan. (The scrap strips would be added to the edges of the sail). Q. Is this scrap silkspan the painted or the unpainted stuff? Q. Is this for functional reinforcement or aesthetics? Later in the video you said that you only added the reinforcing strips along the outside edge, to one side of the sail. Q. Should these strips be added to both sides? I am not a model ship guy so the material, techniques and terms are all new to me. Thanks in advance. I might have more questions as I fumble through the process.
Basically, you've got it right. The strips can be cut from the excess painted silkspan. That keeps the color consistent. As for applying the strips to both sides, it depends on if you are going to furl the sail or have it set. If you are showing the sail set, then apply the strips to both sides. If you're going to furl the sail, the silkspan will behave a little better if you only apply the strips to one side. Hope that helps. The one exception is the luff. Since, in most cases, there will be sail hoops attached here, it is better to have the strip on both side to give that area a bit of "beef" to stand up to sewing on the mast hoops. Hope that helps.
Marvellous technique, Tom. Do I understand correctly that you represent the stitching of individual cloths of the sail with just parallel pencil lines? I may have missed a detail here, because they do appear actually sewn in your finished sail.
You're right, Brian. The seam lines are just indicated by pencil lines. I use a 5H pencil to draw them in very lightly. Thanks for watching.
Hi Tom, after weeks of blood sweat and tears trying to sew sails for my 1/30 model of Jolie Brise, a 1913 pilot cutter, nothing worked to my satisfaction. I was knocked out to see your video on silkspan sails and I am just about to order some. (In France it's called 'papier japon,' not papier japonaise which is somthing completely different). I have a question though.... What becomes of the boltropes that in older sails were sewn to the outside edge of the tablings? Do we assume that because of their small section that they aren't visible or do you have a trick up your sleeve? Thanks a lot for your tutos, they really help...
Hi Julian,
Glad the video was a help.
As for the bolt ropes, if you're going to have the sails set, then I would include the bolt ropes. They can be a real pain in the ass, but the attention to detail is worth it and will certainly be appreciated by those who will look at the model and know what you've done. When it's time to install the boltropes, make sure you trim the edges of the tabling so that you have a straight, consistent, flat edge all around the sail. Then, you can use CA glue to glue the ropes in place on the edges. Something to consider: I'm guessing the boltropes for these sails would probably be, at most 5/8" in diameter, and maybe even a good deal less. At your scale, that would be about twenty thousandths, or under. I would definitely go undersize with them (maybe about 12 or 13 thou, at most). Otherwise you could wind up making a feature of them instead of a detail. You certainly could go through the bother of stitching them in place after the glue sets, but here again, watch out for making it too much of a feature. When you consider the "scale distance" you'll be viewing the model at, the stitching would not be visible-even on the real vessel, for that matter.
All of this is for set sails. If you're going to furl the sails, boltropes would be a hinderance to convincingly flaking down the sails, so they can be omitted.
Hope this helps, Tom.
Where would you buy silkspan in New york?
I don't know where in NY you would get it, but you can order it on line from Bluejacket Shipcrafters in Searsport, ME. Here's a link to the web page with their "Modelspan". www.bluejacketinc.com/fittings/fittings11.htm. I looked up hobby shops in NYC and came across Jan's. It looks pretty interesting. Might be worth a phone call. Here's their info: (212) 987-4765. Also found a video of the place on TH-cam (imagine that) th-cam.com/video/L2Es9SEOMis/w-d-xo.html Hope this helps
I built a small wooden fisherman boat from a kit. I am now in the process of building a 3 master for my 2nd made from cardboard and popsicle sticks at the moment. I am doing the roll up sail look. The ship is in port. It's going well so far. Check my channel for the result. The details make the ship so nu rush.
Thanks for the heads up, Captain. I'll look you up. Tom
Hello Tom -- Hope you will have a happy holiday season. I am building a .75" = 1' scale catboat. I am now getting ready to reckon on construction the sails. I am using a very lightweight Egyptian muslin. In your instructional video, your silkspan sail had the hem (tabling) applied to both sides of the sail. The research that I've found shows the tabling folded to the port side of the sail -- is this correct or is it unique to certain sails?
Hi Ariel,
The short answer to your question is I don't know. However, when have I ever given a short answer? The main reason I apply tabling to both sides of the sail is to give it a bit of bulk at those places where the sail will come under stress, as when it is stitched to a spar or seized to a mast hoop. In the case of a Beetle Cat, the sail is glued directly onto the boom and gaff, so that extra strip of tabling adds just enough bulk to make the job a bit easier.
In actual practice, your description of making the tabling by folding the material back on itself makes sense. There would be little gained by sandwiching the sail between two narrow strips of fabric. There are usually bolt ropes sewn into the tabling to reinforce the sails parameters. I would double check my answer with a source more knowledgeable than me, though for your model, it is a detail that will not be a deal breaker. Good luck and keep me posted. Tom
@@shipmodelguy thanks, Tom -- My gaff rigged sails are fastened to the mast via hoops per your size suggestion previously. The lower edge is lashed to the boom with an out haul cleat at the clew not glued to the boom. I'll hem the sail on the port side -- if it doesn't look right I'll adapt and overcome. By the way I had asked about a down haul on the boom of the catboat. I've since understood that a downhaul (boom vang) isn't required because there is a gooseneck connection between the boom and the mast.
I think that you'll be interested in knowing that your site now has ads here in Israel in Hebrew.
Be well stay safe and healthy
@@arielabrahamson1895 Thanks, Ariel. You be well, too. Tom
Ariel,
It occurs to me I probably misunderstood your question about the downhaul. It wasn't until you referred to it as a vang that I got what you were asking about. I took it to mean a downhaul for a sail, as in the opposite of a halyard (a rigging component strictly for handling the sail). You meant as a means of controlling the boom closer in to the mast. And you wound up answering your own question. Catboats don't have vangs. Sorry for the confusion.
@@shipmodelguy Thanks Tom -- Lesson learned -- Stay Safe
Es una pena que no se visualiza bien el trabajo que se está haciendo, ya que hay contraste de color
wow
Thanks
Класс!
Could you do this with fabric?
I am making the assumption you are working at a fairly large scale, perhaps somewhere around 3/4"=1' or larger. I'm not sure I would want to use cloth sails on anything smaller than that. There are fabric glues you could use, but I have no personal experience with them. I don't know if they have an effective life (i.e. will they start to peel apart after a certain time?, etc.), or how they react to other materials they may come in contact with. If you were to use Elmer's, I'm not sure you would get the pliability in the sail cloth you may need for your application. Hope this helps. If not, email me from my website: tjlauria.com
I knew Les, Les Ismore and his wife, before they were married. Her maiden name was Amanda B. Reconedwit.
This way you can assemble a real ship. It's easier to paint the plastic.