John's Plastic Ships

Hull and Deck Painting and Assembly Pt. 2

For reinforcing the seam a batch of 5 minute epoxy was mixed up and applied to the inside seam after the cement had dried. Gaps and imperfections in the outside seam were filled with Squadron Green filler putty and wet sanded with 400 and then 600 sandpaper.

Hull and Deck Painting and Assembly Pt.1

When I was satisfied with the fit of the hull halves and deck, I washed them with luke warm water and dish washing detergent to remove sanding residue, hand oils and residual mold release compound. I painted the inside of the bulwarks with Testors Flat Insignia White. Since the plastic is brown, two coats were needed for good coverage. The waterway along the deck edge was painted Testors Model Master Flat Dark Tan to match the deck color. After the paint dried, the hull halves were clamped together and cemented with liquid cement applied with an eye dropper. Lots of assorted clamps were used to get a good tight fit along the seam.

Hull and Deck Ftting Pt.2

Like the hull halves, the deck was removed from the spru and the nubs trimmed away. With the hull halves temporally clamped together, I inserted the deck to check the fit. I use a white prismacolor pencil to mark the places along the deck that need to be sanded for a good fit. This takes a little patience since it is a trial and error method of sanding, reinstalling, checking and sanding some more until it's right.

Hull and deck fitting Pt.1

After removing the hull halves from the spru trees, I trimmed the nubs from the spru and test fit the halves together. The biggest obstacles to a perfect fit were the ejector pin marks along the inside of the keel and interference between two deck supports near the bow. The ejector pin marks don't look like much but they prevent the hull halves from coming together if not removed. They were removed with some wet 320 sandpaper. The corners of the interfering deck supports were trimmed off, problem solved.