Looking for sewing machine brand and model for making sails

[AllanKP69]

Just had a conversation with another member regarding the frames for silk span. For anyone wanting to give this a try, the framing needs to be relatively heavy. 12mm (1/2") plywood works great. Stretchers for canvas that painters use come in all type of sizes and can be used as well. For the plug it should be a close match to the thickness of the frame itself.
Allan

 

[Ismaele]

Thanks. Funny, but I own this exactly machine. I tried it and find it not suitable for my modelling needs because stitches are about 3 mm long (which is way out of any sails scale) and length of stitch can not be controlled. I bought it a while ago just to occasionally trim the trousers and so forth. Currently I am into a silkspan (paper) sails design and no longer look for a sewing machine. I will not find a sewing machine with a needle, thread and stitch size suitable for 1:96 scale sails as it does not exist.

You're right, but on larger scales the effect in my opinion is not unpleasant. I have a lot of fun making models and I am admired by those who seek perfection down to the smallest detail, but the stitching produced with this machine is not much larger than what you find already done on the sails supplied with the assembly boxes.
For example, the stitches already made on the sails supplied with the Victory I am building are 2 mm

 

[Y.T.]

I made a frame out of 1/4” plywood. Cutout insert 18 x 10. Just for trial I used some paper from the shoebox. It looks like silkspan, but probably not as resilient. I didn’t want to spoil a piece of expensive silkspan.
The paper is applied, wet on the frame. Most difficult it is to get the wet paper out of the bucket and not to have it torn as it all get stuck to itself. I had to throw away a few pieces because they got torn.
Ultimately, I was able to apply a good piece, secured it with masking tape and let it dry. First time I tried saving a masking tape and it got separated when paper contracted. Ultimately I had a success. The piece got very nicely tightened on the frame. See below.

 

[Y.T.]

Painting the paper. I took regular cheapest pure white acrylic paint and added a few drops of yellow ochre. Pained over the trial piece. I am satisfied with the results. What do you think? Paint however did not penetrate well on other side of paper. I either must dilute it more with water or paint the other side as well which I would like to avoid as much as I can.

 

[Roger Pellett]

YT’s post above: Tape the Silkspan onto the frame before you wet it. Then spray it with water. An air brush is ideal if you have one. Otherwise a cheap plastic spray bottle. When dry, the Silkspan will be drum tight on the frame.

Once dry, put the plug into the frame and paint it. One of those little foam paint rollers works fine and will work the paint into the Silkspan without tearing it, provided that the plug is thick enough to support it against the roller. Since acrylic paints are thinned with water the wet Silkspan will loosen somewhat but will shrink while the paint dries.

Note: if you have an airbrush, use it instead of the paint roller.

Once coated with cured acrylic paint the Silkspan is stable and can be cut from the frame to be made into sails.

This stuff was developed for the old balsa/tissue model airplanes so it’s supposed to shrink when wet. I remember as a kid splaying Silkspan covered models with water from a Fly Sprayer. Remember those?

Roger

 

[Y.T.]

YT’s post above: Tape the Silkspan onto the frame before you wet it.

Thanks, Roger. I am now confused. I went exactly according to brochure I was recommended. This is one I bought for $5. They have it opposite of what you said: wet silkspan before taping, remove the plug before painting.

For reference, the booklet is " The Fully Framed Model, HMN Swan Class Sloops 1767 - 1780 Volume IV - Sail Making Supplement by David Antscherl.

I am now more inclined to try doing this your way. I still am not sure how to avoid painting the other side.

 

[Roger Pellett]

I didn’t buy the book! My normal shop practice is to bumble around until I stumble on to a process that works and what I explained above worked for me.

I seem to have ten thumbs attached to two left hands so I can’t imagine trying to tape wet Silkspan onto frame. I’d wind up with a soggy mess. Ideally, if you have a way to spray paint, you don’t need the plug. I would remove the plug before the paint dries.

Another way that worked. If you have an impregnable surface like glass, simply tape the dry Silkspan to it and roll on your paint. The water in the drying paint will shrink the Silkspan and you will wind up with a stable material for making your sails. I used a sample piece of Quartz counter top material.

Roger

 

[Steef66]

Still looks like a difficult method to me, maybe I should asked 10 bucks for my tutorial. Where I'm using a roller to ad the paint. I tilted the glass plate to see if the paint went thru the paper. But I keep following to see if this is the way.

 

[Roger Pellett]

Another shop trick. Ordinary Waxed Paler is handy to have on hand as most adhesives and coatings do not stick to it. A sheet of waxed paper atop the plug can be peeled off the Silkspan when the acrylic paint has dried.

Roger

 

[Steef66]

David makes a milky substance from the paint and ad a few layers. Let it fully dry between every layer. He paints the silkspan without something in the back. The cutout insert is only used the first time when you attach the silkspan to the frame!

 

[AllanKP69]

Like many things in our hobby there are more ways than one to get things done with great results. My own method is a combination of the methods David gives as well as from the video by Tom Lauria and variations of my own. If you find something that works better for you I, for one, look forward to learning about it.

 

[Y.T.]

Is the Silkspan stronger than shoebox paper? Above pic of a painted sample piece is a shoebox paper and it is still same easy to tear as it was before painting.

 

[Steef66]

What I know is that silkspan is Japanese paper. Same thing. But in the video, he is taking 2 sheets of silkspan, and that's why it is strong in my opinion. At least in my way it's strong with 2 layers and paint.
I used Kashmir Japanese paper and 2 layers with paint are 0,06 mm. thick