>I'm interested in techniques for actually carving a prop and making it look
>right. Any ideas?
I use wood laminations, it's IMO easier overall and gives a better result.
What you need are veneers, which run about 1/28" and with a little sanding
work dandy for 1/48. Dunno about 1/72, that's just too freakin small for my
tastes;-) Paper might indeed be a good bet for that scale.
You should have some custom furniture shops local to you. Call and ask if they
do veneer work, and if they do, whether you can have some cutoffs. That
shouldn't
be a problem, as any veneering job leaves enough cutoffs to keep a WWI modeller
in stock for years. Get maple and walnut, they're the best color match.
Maple has a nice tight grain, walnut is open grained but usually works fine.
Glue a stack with yellow glue, clamp em with C-clamps, and leave it for a
couple hours. Saw out blanks, and carve away. Pictures are mandatory,
but grabbing a RC prop from the hobby store will get you started.