Here is the other side. I just put on a skim coat to cover some of the gaps inbetween the balsa panals, plus over the patchs. Sanding, painting tomorrow. If dry in time, perhaps a new run to see if there are any leaks.
Here is the back. Found my paint for the deck. I am surprised how quickly this is coming together. I also, to Curt's idea, found some silicone for the back hatch. Once everything is done and in place, and I am happy with all the repairs/refit, I will silicone the step down deck.
There is the clean up and repairs to the deck around the pump outlet. That reminds me... gonna need to install that as well before I set sail... LOL. That's all the latest from the shipyards, more tomorrow I suppose. I also have a three day weekend coming up (back to back... got to love my job!) so since I am not leaving town, we might see Graf with some teeth before to long!
Nope not at all Nick. The red stuff is not hard if applied correctly and thinly. It's the stuff that turns white that is rock hard. Don' t want to use that on penetrable balsa. Hard sections of the hull no problem just keep it off the penetrable areas of the balsa.
Hey Curt, thanks for the clear up on the bondo. Thanks for the question Nick. Curt would know the answer to this for sure, as he was the one who showed me how to use the bondo correctly. It fills gaps (tiny ones where the balsa is attached and is good to fill to the deck that sort of thing. As a thin coat, once it dries you sand the majority of if it back and it gives everything a nice smooth look. I have had many a BB go through the balsa on my ships no problem, and when I used to fight Curt it was the same. Both of us had numerous sinks, and never failed a penetration test that I recall. I wish I had known you had asked that earlier. i would have taken some pictures after sanding. There is very little bondo left and as you can see from the pics, some paint and it looks great. As you can see in the pics, it does make an awful mess though. There is a red tinge everywhere.
How thick is your deck? I noticed that it seems to be cut out at an angle so it can be easily placed. would you suggest this method for future builds? I am looking for a good way to make my decks
Clean your edges, get them nice and even, add wood strips, like tough bass wood, or airplane plywood, and fill in voids with epoxy or your bondo stuff, sand it, finish it, and cut out a new deck piece. I saw you have a dremel there. Use that to smoothe your edges. Then rebuild a nice sharp edge. Maybee add a bit of very thin weather stripping material to keep it water tight. That should help if you screw it down.
Excellent plans gentlemen. I shall show you the outcome soon. Jon? I actually purchased this ship secondhand. The majority of ships that were constructed in Halifax, Nova Scotia for about a two year period were using large sheets of Polystyrene as decks. The stuff is easy to handle, fairly cheap, and cuts like butter (I have personally been in on a build session where five decks were cut out in under an hour (with three captains doing the job). With a little shaving here and there, you can get the deck to fit easily into any hull. Then fiberglass and resin for securing. Some also use fine screws to set the deck in place (on larger ships) Then you can simply score out the hatches as you need. My problem here is... I went at the deck with my dremel, thinking I would eventually change the deck out and replace it with another sheet. The nearest place for me to buy a new sheet, is, oh, 440 kms away... LOL. Not in my original calculations. So now I go into repair mode. Thanks for the suggestions guys!
Eww...Polystyrene? In that case, rip off the deck completely and start over, IMO. I rather spend 10 hours on a project that will last many years, than 1 hour on something I have to change 10 times. By the way, have you tried using primer (white or grey) before you paint your ships? Then you will have nice smoothe coloring. Also, go visit your local home repair store...you can find paints there for dirt cheap, like $5 a gallon, when people missmatch paints or dont pick them up. Obviously, no latex paints, just acrylics. Or have them mix up the paint you want for a few bucks more.
The stuff people were using locally for decks (around 2007-2009) is called Cintra and was sold in 4' x 8' sheets by GE Polymer in Dartmouth NS (now renamed Concept Plastics. I bought a sheet thinking it was expanded polystyrene for use in building wargame terrain for FoW and 40K but soon discovered it isn't polystyrene because polystyrene cement and general purpose plastic cements had no effect on it. I went back to the store and was told it's the same material as plexiglass and needs a specialized liquid or gel cement, which was not cheap! I don't think this material is the best option for decks because polyester resins (i.e. fiberglass) will not permanently bond to it. I've seen hull/deck separations occur with the deck being held on mainly by the small screws most people wisely added through the hull into the deck's edge. I stick to the molded fiberglass deck system I've used for all of my models since 1995. Its a lot of extra work to make a 'one off'' fiberglass deck but the end product is extremely strong and maintenance free. I think marine quality plywood decks are superior to Cintra if well sealed against moisture to prevent warping. Fiberglass readily adhers to wood. Cintra has potential for big slabs of superstructure because it's light, tough and easy to cut. I'll use it for parts of HMS Vnguard's superstructure. I'm still building wargame terrain with it using multiple layers and filing and sanding to shape. Though it's easy to cut it 's surprisingly resistant to filing and sanding. Bob I had to go to
I no longer use it for decks but it has made decent servo trays and mounts and other small parts of superstructure. I actually used it for waterchannelling in Roma which worked out very well to date. .
Boy do I know all the tricks of making terrain for WFB and 40K...been there done that. yes, I've used Sentra before as well. When you heat it, you can bend it into all sorts of shapes. But the bubbles inside crush easily. I'm thinking of using PVC or something like that for a deck. Not sure yet. Still have a little time before I have to worry about that aspect.
