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[nacalaman]

Hi I am John. Before I lived in Nacala in Mozambique I was a director of the New Medway Steam Packet Co. which was the Company we acquired from P & O  and we rescued the Medway Queen which was originally owned by NMSPC  from the breakers. She is now undergoing a rebuild in Acorn Shipyard at Bristol due to the efforts of a lot of people more dedicated than I. If you go to the Medway Queen website you can get a set of plans of her. I had thought of building a model using frames,  stringers and a papier Mache hull Does anyone have any experience of this type of build?

[greateastern]

Welcome aboard.  I seem to remember seeing an article on papier mache models but  it seems that you would have a sag problem before the mache dries.  Is this a display model? You might just as well use gauze and plaster of paris or aircraft model tissue and dope it.  you would need pretty closely spaced frames for any material that might droop. There has been a few posts about wwII minesweeping paddlers so the drawings might be of interest but I couldn't find them. Nice website though.  A link would be helpful.

[mjt60a]

I've built hulls using paper strips glued over a balsa frame but mine are not what I'd call 'accurate'.
I put strips from one side, across the whole framework, to the other to form a skin. Then diagonally in one direction, then in the other and finally lengthways.
main disadvantage I found was that as each layer dries, it shrinks causing a concave shape to the hull sides - except where the balsa frmes are supporting it.
I also tried using thin card instead, in just one layer but then it only really bends in one direction, maybe strips of card applied like planks would work but I haven't tried that yet.
either way I cover it with glass mat and resin for strength and waterproofing, result is not too bad....

[mjt60a]

I've seen a similar method at the model engineer exhibition six years ago. I believe the builder made a 'plug' first and builds the paper hull over it (which keeps it in shape until it hardens) then fits a ply framework into it. The hull is on the left(ish) with some of the framing in place and is on top of the plug. A completed ship is on the right of the picture....