Vintage Card Ships

This time of year is pretty busy for me and I don't have a lot of time to spend in the hobby room like I do in the winter months. But I still try to spend at least an hour or two on some fun project each evening for relaxation.

Over this last week I have been playing around with some vintage card ships that I found on Pinterest with a generic "paper card model" search.

These are just a few that I downloaded

I downloaded several models. I then imported the JPG files into Microsoft Word, then resized each one to what I wanted. Once printed and cut out, I have to calculate the shape and size of the waterline footprint. I trace that footprint onto balsawood as a base to glue the hull halves and deck to. These models have multiple elevated decks so I cut more balsa shapes to support the various decks. I've only finished four so far, each one taking about four hours of time, including rigging and banners.

Two sizes of the Mayflower on the right. On the left an unidentified galleon made from the print below the model.

This one is the Ark Royal

These are fun for me. They involve almost no painting and no cyanoacrylate glue. Since it is all paper, wood, and thread, PVA does a great job.