RMS Servia 1/196 Scratchbuild

[theskits62]

I’ve been a long time “lurker” on this site and thought that it was about time I shared some of my own efforts.

 

I started modelling when I was about 9 or 10 years old, I still remember buying an old Airfix Saab Draken from a jumble sale, rushing home to make and paint it (all done in an afternoon) and being delighted with the result. From there I worked through a large part of Airfix’s other offerings most of which ended up gathering dust hanging from my bedroom ceiling. AFVs followed although by then I was trying more for quality rather than quantity. Then it was back to aircraft, mainly US Navy stuff and I even managed a “highly commended” at a small model expo, being awarded the trophy by Miss Sutton Coldfield herself !!

 

Anyway life then started getting a bit real and the whole hobby took a back seat although I still read magazines and bought kits but they just ended up languishing in my attic. Now 30+ years down the line, back in the UK and with more time on my hands I’ve been able to dust down the toolbox and get started again.

 

I started looking at an old Airfix Mauretania but then found a load of old ship plans on Ebay, the Servia amongst them, and decided to try to scatchbuild something. Having not built anything for 30 years or so, never having scratchbuilt anything and having never built anything without wings or tracks I expected this to be more of an experiment that would ultimately end up on the shelf or in the bin.

 

Although its been a bumpy road with every 2 steps forward usually followed by at least 1 back it does seem to be going a lot better than I expected and whilst I doubt I’ll be meeting Miss Sutton Coldfield again anytime soon thought it was about time to add the work to date to the site to both share my experience and hopefully get some pointers from the seasoned experts out there.

 

My starting point was the Underhill plans that I picked up from Ebay, because of the age of the ship (1881) there are very few photos around and the only really decent one I could find was on Wiki and this seems to show the ship after a refit which dramatically altered the upper decks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RMS_Servia_Underway,_Detroit_Publishing_Company.jpg

 

There is a 1/48 builders model apparently but this lives in Canada I think so no chance of seeing that close up. I therefore took the view that I’d follow the plans and use a best guess where they couldn’t help.

https://www.diomedia.com/stock-photo-ss-servia-1881-image5522819.html

 

Unfortunately because I’m playing catch-up there are not that many pictures from the early stages as I didn’t expect my approach to work but I will post what I have and fill in the gaps as best I can. I also tend to work in bursts so progress is slow, I’ve probably spent about 400 hours on her so far but this has been spread over 18 months or so. I’d also like to apologise in advance for my patchy knowledge of nautical terminology.

 

Anyway enough blathering - on to the build itself…..

 

The starting point was to use the plan to cut out the various cross sectional bulkheads from 2mm plasticard. A piece of mdf was then used to act as a base and the spine and placement of the various cross sectional pieces was carefully marked out. I used small fillets of wood to create clamps to hold these pieces in place at the correct position along the spine and perpendicular to it. One thing that I learnt quickly is that at this stage you need to be as precise as possible as misalignments will come back to haunt you later. I also used the plans to make plasticard spacers so that the cross sections could be positioned at the correct height from the base board to make laying the decks easier later and to give them the correct camber.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 6, 2020 by theskits62

[bootneck]

Interesting, what vessel will that be?

Mike

[theskits62]

Sorry you caught me trying to figure out how to get pictures to work. I've done it now and changed the title and started the wip properly. I'll be adding progress to date over the weekend......

[theskits62]

Big mistake #1 – I should have also put a plan view of the ship on the board to make sure that the cross sections where correct longitudinally and to highlight any asymmetries. I didn’t do this and some very small differences led to a lot of extra work later on.

 

Once these cross sections and the spine were glued together I used a lot of plastic fillets to strengthen the structure and provide some rigidity. Planking of the hull using 0.5mm plasticard was started with the skeleton still attached to the base board as I thought this would avoid any torsion creating slight curvature down the length of the hull.

 

Since the hull at the stern is very curved I used balsa fillets between the cross sections that would ultimately be blended into the planking on the rest of the hull.

 

Once the planking was mostly done the hull was removed from the board which is when #1 above came and bit me. Very slight differences in the widths/positioning of the cross sections gave the hull edge at deck level a noticeable “wobble” along the length. Not difficult to fix but it required a lot of car filler and sanding.

 

With hindsight I should probably have used 2 layers of planking or thicker plasticard but my approach at the time was to then line the inside of the hull with Polyfilla to give the planking the rigidity it would need to be sanded smooth. A rough sand was then followed by a layer of filler.

 

 

There then followed what felt like weeks of sanding priming/filling/cycles. I founds that in places I had completely sanded through the planking and was cutting into the underlying filler inside the hull. This was probably the low point of the whole build (so far anyway), I felt that I couldn’t get the smoothness I needed and sanding in one area seemed to create cracks elsewhere. Eventually I realised that this was caused by air pockets in the filler inside the hull so I literally went around the hull locating these pockets, cutting away the planking and filling them properly. Eventually it seemed to be smooth enough and I could put the sanding blocks away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[theskits62]

The prow had a very lumpy look to it so this was the area I tackled next. I mixed Kemdent dental filler (they make dentures from it so its tough) with super glue to form a runny paste and flooded the inside of the hull at the prow to create a very solid base. I then sanded away the plastic planking into this hard base until I had a sharper edge. Finally a used a razor saw to cut into the prow to a depth of a few mm and then inserted a fillet of brass to give an almost razor edge to it that sits slightly proud of the hull plating.

 

Again with hindsight it would probably have been easier to incorporate the brass when building the skeleton rather than forcing it in later.

 

Big mistake #2 - Decks were added using plasticard that was too thin, and again issues with slight irregularities caused problems. What I should have done was use 2mm plasticard for the deck and made allowances for the thickness when cutting out the hull cross sections. As it was the deck looked uneven and again car filler had to come to the rescue.

 

Anyway finally the hull looked right but I probably spent more time fixing mistakes than on anything else. A lesson learned is that you can never refer back to the plans enough, measure everything twice at least and never move on until you are sure that things are right.

 

Next I added hull plating using strips of printer paper, drilled out the several hundred portholes, added the trimming strips around the bow and stern and applied some paint.

 

Time to move to the decks. Firstly I drew a centre line and then marked out the positions for the main super structure components. Plasticard boxes were made for these structures – this time using graph paper to make sure everything was absolutely square and symmetrical. Once the walls were done these were placed on the decks and brackets glued to the decks inside the super structure so that they could just be slotted into position later. I also added bases for the funnels, I tried making angled funnels but quickly realised it was easier to make them vertical and to put them on angled bases.

 

 

The decking was made using 0.5mm maple veneer. I made a jig using a flat plate with a raised straight edge along the back then glued 1mm spacers to each side of the edge. I could then slide the veneer into position and butt a steel ruler against the spacers to cut 1mm planks – a lot of them. These were then glued to the deck using evo-stick starting at the centre and working outwards.

 

 

 

Once the planks were down and excess glue removed (simply run your finger back and forth over it before it is dry and it will come away in little rubbery balls) I covered the deck with interior Polyfilla with a few drops of buff paint added. The whole thing was then sanded down until smooth. I really liked the end result so didn’t apply any additional colour or varnish.

 

 

 

 

 

[Courageous]

A very interesting build. I have my scratch build hopefully starting in 2021, so I'll be taking notes.

 

Stuart

[bismarck builder]

WOW WOW WOW 

[theskits62]

Funnels were next, I hunted around for piping with the right diameter without success so resorted to plasticard again in the end. I used a balsa dowel that was smaller than the required diameter but not far off, I then rolled printer paper around it until it was built up to the correct diameter. I then rolled very thin plasticard around this a couple of times and glued it, then filled and sanded it to remove the seam. A mitre box was then used to cut sections off for each funnel and the dowel removed. The seams between the sections were harder to do but in the end worked out quite well. I simply used a circle cutter on a piece of 0.5mm plasticard which was then slid over the funnel and glued into position. Once these are on a piece of cardboard is rolled around the funnel between the sections and taped into place to act as clamps so I could then cut/file the excess away. This leaves neat rings around the funnel that can then be tidied up with a bit of filler etc. Apologies for the blurry photo, but here is the end result after an initial coat of paint...

 

 

This is the ship with the various super structures and funnels (before painting) loose fitted:

 

 

The next step was to paint the structures and start adding some detail including planking the upper decks.

 

[theskits62]

The wheelhouse, skylights and various other fittings were made from plasticard and, once primed, given a base coat of Vallejo sand yellow (916).

 

 

I then used a thinned mixture of burnt and raw sienna oil paint to overpaint this and give a warm wood colour to this. Unfortunately this looks a bit too orange in the pictures because of the light but in reality is much browner.

 

 

 

 

 

I then spent quite a time making the various other bits and pieces that cover the decks, anchors, davits, vents etc etc. I was hoping to be able to buy the vents pre-made but couldn’t find anything the right size or shape so in the end I used a dapping set I bought on ebay for about a tenner to form semi spheres from softened plasticard. These were then glued to an upright piece of plastic rod and the join filled and sanded. There are only about 35 of them so it took a while !

 

 

The davits were made from brass rod bent around a master template made from 2mm plasticard. In this photo you can also see some of the deck plating that I added earlier.

 

 

Putting it all together (the davits are loose fitted so wonky) we now have something that is starting to look like a ship !

 

 

The triple layer bridge around the wheelhouse was something I was dreading but in the end careful measuring and rebuilding the wheelhouse saved the day.

 

The next step was to add more deck detail around the wheelhouse, ladders, railings and the supports for the triple layer bridge. On the plans these appear as cables but on the wiki picture they are solid supports so I followed that despite the photo being from much later in the ship’s life. Railings and ladders were from Tom’s Modelworks 1/200 merchant set so thankfully I didn’t have to make these.

 

So this is progress to date:

 

 

The next step which, thanks to another lockdown, should be happening fairly soon is making the lifeboats. I’ve already knocked together a vacforming box for this and am currenty waiting for some silicone and plaster of paris to be delivered (thats the dapping set sitting on top of the box)

 

[Bandsaw Steve]

Great subject! Beautifully handled so far!

[Courageous]

She's looking great, love it. Good work.

 

Stuart

[Dancona]

Love it,  it's becoming a very attractive model, and a decent size too, I suspect that you will be meeting Miss Sutton Coldfield again !!

I must confess I am not looking forward to planking my effort, but yours gives me heart that it will be alright in the end.

Thank you for posting this, a very unusual subject that is turning out beautifully 👏

 

Cheers

 

David

[TonyW]

That's a very impressive looking model. The hull plating looks perfect in the second to last posted picture, the light falls on it to maximum effect.

[theskits62]

45 minutes ago, Dancona said:

Love it,  it's becoming a very attractive model, and a decent size too, I suspect that you will be meeting Miss Sutton Coldfield again !!

I must confess I am not looking forward to planking my effort, but yours gives me heart that it will be alright in the end.

Thank you for posting this, a very unusual subject that is turning out beautifully 👏

 

Cheers

 

David

Thanks for the comments. I was very apprehensive about the planking too but it was actually quite straightforward in the end. It took a while but i'd just do an hour or 2 then have a break for a bit then go back to it. The whole thing took about 20 hours to cut/lay/fill and sand in the end and the model is almost 90cm long so there is quite a bit of planking to do. Definitely practice before you start in earnest as much as anything to get a feel for the final colour that you'll get. The thing i'm really dreading now is making the rat lines !

[theskits62]

30 minutes ago, TonyW said:

That's a very impressive looking model. The hull plating looks perfect in the second to last posted picture, the light falls on it to maximum effect.

Thankyou. I was a bit wary about the approach for the planking but had seen someone else use it on here so thought it was worth a go. Its not really visible in the picture but i also used a rivetter on the ends of each strip which adds a bit more interest to the finiish. 

[theskits62]

The lifeboats are now just about done apart from a bit of touching up. So far probably the hardest job which i wasn't expecting. The vac forming box worked ok but the first batch lacked definition around the prow and stern so I cut the plaster of paris masters in half and then vac-formed the boats as separate halves. These were then cut out and glued to a plasti-card spine to provide sharper lines. 

 

Anyway they're certainly not perfect but i don't think i can face doing them all over again !

 

The upper parts were base coated in a sand yellow and then i used oils to create a wood effect. The photos below show them loose fitted.

 

 

 

The next job will be the funnel stay lines and more railings before the boats can be fitted.

 

[Bandsaw Steve]

Great work! Great to see this project still going ahead!👍

[Steve D]

This is coming together very nicely, love scratchbuilding...  👍  Looks simple, very hard to pull off, excellent

 

Steve

[robgizlu]

Great WIP and hugely impressive

Rob

[longshanks]

Magnificent scratch building Sir!

 

Kev

[theskits62]

I've now completed the basic masts

 

 

The main sections were made from wooden dowel tapered slightly with a lot of sanding. The upper sections were made from sanded bamboo knitting needles  - these were a bit of a revelation, they come in many different thicknesses and the sand really well. Being bamboo it is also very strong along its axis (they are also quite cheap). The details were made from plastic card, brass wire and tape. Brush painted with Vallejo 837 (sand light), which has a subtle pink hue so hopefully not too far off the "salmon buff" standard referred to on the plans. There is still a little cleaning up to do and some details to paint but once that is done it will be time for some rat lines which i'm dreading !

[Steve D]

17 hours ago, theskits62 said:

sanded bamboo knitting needles

Great idea, now I have to try that....

Thanks

Steve

[Bandsaw Steve]

On several occasions on this very site have I sund the praises of knitting needles as a modelling resource, but I don’t believe I’ve even heard of bamboo knitting needles.

 

They look great! I’ll have to hunt some down. 👍

[theskits62]

A slight detour to make the case now that a lot of the smaller details are being added....

 

 

So far i've been dusting the decks with a soft brush but that would be tricky once the rigging etc start going on.

 

Cornwall models supply the framing wood which has 3mm grooves on 2 adjacent faces and i ordered the polycarbonate sheets from acrylicsheetscuttosize.co.uk ! Anyway now i can get on with the ship again.....

 

Forgot to that mention that Cornwall Models also supply the brass corners, their site says that each pack contains a pair of these but i actually contains a pair of the brass sheets each of which contains 2 corners so 1 pack will get you 4 corners (i now have 4 spare so maybe i will have to do that Aquitania next after all !)

Edited September 7, 2021 by theskits62

[Adm Lord De Univers]

That case is quite gorgeous and thank you for that link.

 

David