Building HMS Wolf – Shipyard’s 1/72 Scale Laser-Cut Card Kit – Part 9

I know it’s been a while since I posted anything new on my laser-cut card model kit of the snow-rigged brig HMS Wolf, but I am working on the model. I’ve been distracted with a couple plastic kit projects and my Woody Joe kit of the Charles royal yacht, but I find time here and there to work on Wolf.

The biggest update on this 1/72-scale Shipyard kit, is that I’ve been making some of the deck details and rigging the cannons. In the photo below, you can see I got the guns rigged with their breech ropes. I’m trying to decide if I can manage to rig the train tackles. I need very tiny blocks, and I haven’t decided if I will continue with the kit’s laser-cut card blocks or if I’m going with some wooden ones. Also, I need to make up my mind on the use of rigging material.

The kit comes with rigging line that I think is linen line, though someone who probably knows better told me is more likely cotton. I should check with Shipyard to get a definitive answer. But, in any case, the finest of the provided line is very strong, but the larger sizes aren’t as well defined as the stuff that I can get from places like Syren Ship Model Company or Ropes of Scale.

Building HMS Wolf – Shipyard’s 1/72 Scale Laser-Cut Card Kit – Part 8

After taking something of a pause on this project while deciding on the color scheme on deck, I did manage to do a bit of work on some various sub-assemblies. But, as far as the color scheme goes, I’ve decided on red gun carriages and wheels, as well as red hatch coamings. The kit instructions call for just about everything else on deck to be painted red, including the ship’s wheel, but I’ll make a final decision on that and on the binnacle when I get to their construction.

Riding bitts and hatches temporarily fit into place, but showing my final paint scheme.

Building HMS Wolf – Shipyard’s 1/72 Scale Laser-Cut Card Kit – Part 7

As I mentioned before, apparent progress on the HMS Wolf model has slowed significantly, due to the fact that everything I’m doing now is essentially off the model. I’m now working on various sub-assemblies, and some of these I’m starting to do out of order.

The next parts that actually need to go on the ship are the sweep port covers and the four deck hatches. I painted and then assembled the sweep port cover, which simply requires adding some very thin black paper parts for the hinges. This was rather slow going, as the hinges are very tiny and very delicate. One has to be extremely careful not to lose parts, as there are no spares provided in the kit. I apply Aleene’s Tacky Glue to the sweep port cover with a thin brush, then use the tip of the brush to grab the hinge and to set it in place on the  it on the port cover.

Building HMS Wolf – Shipyard’s 1/72 Scale Laser-Cut Card Kit – Part 6

Shipyard’s HMS Wolf laser-cut card kit is moving along, but progress seems slower. The details take time to add and they’re not as obvious from photo to photo. However, I’ve completed the rudder and just need to add it to the model. Also, if you look closely at the photo here, you can see the most obvious addition are all the timberheads at the forecastle rail as well as the posts for the swivel guns. Lastly, did you spot the channels at the sides of the hulls?

Building HMS Wolf – Shipyard’s 1/72 Scale Laser-Cut Card Kit – Part 5

The Shipyard 1/72-scale laser-cut card HMS Wolf build continues with details and lots and lots of little parts and a couple issues trying to follow instructions. Apparent progress has slowed somewhat, since hull construction is complete and I entered a phase of hull detailing. Still things are really flying along in comparison to wooden model ship building, and I managed to add the stern gallery with it’s decorative columns and windows.

Building HMS Wolf – Shipyard’s 1/72 Scale Laser-Cut Card Kit – Part 4

This HMS Wolf kit is moving along so quickly that I’ve hardly had a chance to stop and get caught up with the build log. I’m so far beyond what you’re seeing here, so I’m going to minimize my writing and try to close the gap between build log and current model a bit.

The third layer of the hull is pretty much actual, individual hull planks. There are two sheets of thin, laser-cut card stock, one for each side of the hull.

Wowed by Shipyard’s Laser-Cut Card Models

At this point in my build of Shipyard’s 1/72-scale laser-cut card model of the 10-gun snow-rigged sloop of war HMS Wolf, I’m behind on keeping my build log up to date. But, I can’t let that get in the way here. Here’s the thing, I am so in awe of how incredible this kit is, that I have to state, categorically, that I’m absolutely building not only the Papegojan kit I have, but the HMS Alert kit, and the Le Coureur kit, and that I’m absolutely going to find the money to buy and build the HMS Mercury kit.

Shipyard’s 1/72-scale HMS Mercury, laser-cut kit.

Building HMS Wolf – Shipyard’s 1/72 Scale Laser-Cut Card Kit – Part 3

In addition to my work on the paper Armed Virginia Sloop model from Seahorse. The build of Shipyard’s 1/72 HMS Wolf kit continues with the adding of the second hull layer. As a reminder, this kit is almost 100% laser-cut parts. There are some dowels to shape for the masts and yard later on, plus rigging. Also, cannon barrels and belaying pins are turned brass, and there are some other non-paper parts, such as the figurehead, which is cast resin. But, there are no paper parts that aren’t already pre-cut by laser, except for a small sheet of color printed decorative friezes and flags.

In my previous post, I had the hull skeleton covered by the first layer. This primarily stiffens the bulkheads and provides some support to the outer hull layers. This covering is done the same way on all ship model kits from Shipyard, whether they are printed paper models or laser-cut cardboard kits like this one.

Building HMS Wolf – Shipyard’s 1/72 Scale Laser-Cut Card Kit – Part 2

Building the hull of this Shipyard kit is really a lot like building the hull of any of their kits in that the skeletal structure of the model is very well engineered. As with just about all Shipyard ship model kits, there is a main keel piece and a series of bulkheads, much like with any wooden ship model kit. But, Shipyard kits often then have a longitudinal piece that crossed the frames, horizontally, and often another piece that crosses most of the frames vertically as well. This kit is no different.

Building HMS Wolf – Shipyard’s 1/72 Scale Laser-Cut Card Kit – Part 1

While I don’t need to start any new projects, as I’ve got a enough irons in the fire, as it were, I started feeling that I need to generate some personal ship modeling momentum. I have had Shipyard’s laser-cut Papegojan kit that I was given about a year ago, but another model in one of my ship model clubs is currently building one, and I don’t want to complete with his.

What I’ve really been interested in trying out is Shipyard’s laser-cut HMS Wolf kit, a 1/72-scale model of an 18th century snow-rigged brig of war. But there are really 3 different kits that I’d like to kind of “test out”. But, one of these is a bit involved to merely test out, and that’s Shipyard’s 1/72 scale HMS Wolf kit.

Marketing photo of HMS Wolf from Shipyard’s website.