Laker- Great Lakes bulk carrier (ore boat)

Modeling Subjects Paper Models
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Starting a paper Laker. This will be my first serious paper build.

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I’ve only found out about paper modeling just recently. Really big in Eastern Europe with a lot being printed in Poland. Looks cool as the entire model is only as thick as printed paper.
Post pictures because I’d like to know how it goes.
Supposedly if you make a mistake, you can just print a new page! Perfect for me!

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I love watching the big lakers when I have the opportunity.

I hope you share a few pics of your build. I’ve never done a paper model.

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Something different. I look forward to it. :grin:

That reminds me. I wonder what happened to Tanker-Builder?

Gary

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Good Luck with your first paper models build. I hope that someday some manufacturers will produce some Great Lakes ore ships like the Edmund Fitzgerald.

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Hello!
What kit are you working with? Maybe you could post some drawings from it?
I’ve built a lot of paper models, maybe I can help you if you run into any problems.
Most paper ships have a keel and bulkheads that have to be reinforced, usually with 1mm stock - finding good material for that is well worth the extra effort. Many times the keel is printed in two or three parts, because it is too long to fit on one sheet. It’s good to take those sections and glue them on a large piece of reinforcement material to form one part - this way the model is stronger and straighter. With a long hull like that you have to watch for straightness all the time - warps and bends can be corrected before the glue sets for good.
Hope this helps - good luck with your build and have a nice day
PaweƂ

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This is the kit.

IMG_6154
IMG_61541920×1079 89.5 KB

It is not a download. But the postage was very reasonable. I believe the whole thing was less than ten bucks.BTW, the buff areas are printed at two high saturation. I intend to try copying the pages and editing those areas to a lower saturation and lightness.

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Hello!
Thanks a lot! JSC is a good company. If you edit the parts it would be important to find good quality material for printing.
For thos who would like to take a closer look on what’s in the kit, here’s a link:

I will be watching this build, like I wrote, if I can help you in any way, please just let me know.

Good luck with your build and have a nice day

PaweƂ

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missileman, good luck with that build of the Fitzgerald. Every November 10th, I’d play Gordon Lightfoot’s song to my class and explain to them about the wreck which would lead to a discussion of Great Lakes shipping and mining.

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Lost the main deck. I scanned all the sheets, and now cannot find that page!

That is starting point :unamused_face:

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Hello Don!
I have the scans - if you don’t find that deck, I’d be glad to mail them to you. Please PM me if I can help you.

Good luck with your build and have a nice day

PaweƂ

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There are a few kits, but there is only one good kit. from a hobby shop in Duluth. Try googling Duluth Hobby Shop and see if the4re is more than one. ,

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If you’d like to see some working lakers, including some now “old fashioned” two-island steamers, check out the Duluth Harbor Cam on YouTube.
Caution, “ship spotting” can get addictive.

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In my opinion ships are the ideal models for paper/card construction, since to a large degree they lack the complex compound curves which make up the main shapes on aircraft and many vehicles. Being an especial fan of “pre-Dreadnought” era ships, that’s a category traditionally largely ignored by plastic manufacturers - but well-served by paper model publishers, going back to the days when those ships were ‘modern.’ :grinning_face:
Paper is also a great medium for modeling buildings, castles and landmarks of various sorts, another category where there are literally too many out there to build in a lifetime!

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It still amazes me how detailed these things are. Looking forward to seeing the ship built.

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Thanks to Powel who scanned a lost page for me, i am now ready to restart. Will post pix as I continue.

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Big delay! We are having a garage sale! My wife and I both have card tables in family room for craft uses. Those were removed for use in garage. Sale supposed to be this week, but history says my wife always ends up running sale two weeks. No more work on Fitz for at least two more weeks :sleepy_face:

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:laughing:As we know model building is a Hobby, Garage sales are a " Monumental Life Event" and as time goes by I’ve learnd that priorities are, in her eyess easly changeable
So I just stand wayyy back and help carry stuff to or from the event . :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

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First week of sale was so so. We’ll have a week with no sale- my wife is traveling for 4th. So I can build for a week.

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Weeeeell, real ships have LOTS of ladders and stairs and railings and round things sticking out at all angles, and if you build military there’s even more. But that’s no reason not to build them!
I myself am on my second paper model, a robot made up of boxes. My first was a single box as a olde-timey television set. Eventually I have a ship to tackle, an RN Island class OPV. Fortunately if I screw up, I can simply reprint the parts!