request for some ideas

I have a large sheet of plexiglass that I will be using for the water in the harbor scene. It is durable and flat-- it will be painted and textured for wave action. I also have several boats and ships- some waterline- others full hull. I would like to cut holes into the plexiglass to recieve the full hulls- but am sortta stumped at getting the correct shape THE FIRST TIME CUT.
It's easy for the maximum beam, but as the hull narrows towards the bow and stern is my problem. I thought of using a pencil and running it along the waterline in a holder that would keep the same distance from hull- and deduct distance from paper drawing- but the lenghts at bow and stern would be incorrect. If I deductected the distance from hull to pencil point from the lenght- both fore and aft, would that make it right Once I get the right pattern, I can carry on from there. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Signed,
Stumped
Putting the combined brains and talent of ZCS to work.

Hi Fred
I would try useing a very thin peice of cardboard like off the back of a pad of paper and use it to make a stecile. Cut you hole in the cardboard first, start small and very carefully keep cutting till you get the ship or boat to fit just right. Once done, you can transfer the hole shape directly to the plexiglass. Hope this helped!

Steve aka "Slugger"

Thanks for the comeback Steve I certaily will use your advice.
Fred

Are they underway or dead in water..could cheat with some ..use something to fill the gaps between the boat and the plexiglass that looks like waves.

Good point Kelly- I guess I could fill any gaps with wave build up- or a smaller boat alongside. These ships/boats range from 40" down to 1"- the smaller they are the more waterline models they are.
Fred

Hello Fred,

just as Steve wrote, use a piece of stiff paper or even cardboard to make a template. If your template material has the same thickness as the plexi then you can also determine the angle or the cut since those hulls probably won't go at an right angle into the "water".

I use those cardboard templates for everything that I can't measure out directly. And not only in Z-scale.

Sounds like a neat project Fred.

Using Steve's suggestion, you might try tracing the ships footprint on contact paper. After cutting out the ships footprint, peel the backing off the contact paper and you can place the new template on the acrylic for extra guidance as you cut.

For boo boos use clear silicone sealant per Kelley's suggestion.

Look forward to seeing the results!

In addition to using clear silicone, try to keep some plexi sawdust/shavings. If you use "Weld-On" (in reality, it's dichloromethane), you can make filler that is almost indistiguishable from the rest of the plastic.

My $0.02

Doc

You could also cut the full hull models down to waterline. Or put them in plasticine as far as you would like them to sit in the water and then from the hole left make a template.