Grief's late war VIIC build

[Pat]

I'm still getting caught up on all the old topics, and felt there was something I could contribute to this one.

First, my condolences on the damage from that nephew.  When I was a teen and building models, my parents had a cleaning lady who every single week would go into my room and break one of my models.  Didn't matter if I said she could leave that room alone or not.

I eventually suspected that it was intentional because she was Dutch and the only models she ever broke were ones of German equipment, never allied.

After I graduated from univ. and lived on my own, I spent about a year building a model of USS Alabama, a Civil War commerce raider (same funtion os KG Graff Spee or Seeadler in WWI) and the week after I finished it, my cat decided that the yardarms looked tasty.

That's probably why I sell most of my models even before I finish them.

Anyway, I feel for you.

So how did the repairs turn out?

Secondly, I noticed near the beginning of this build, how there was a fingerjoint between two pieces of deck and you were talking about using putty and letting it dry overnight before going on.

The method I've used for making seams in wood dissappear is to first, file both sides at 45 degree agles so that the one side overlaps the other.  This makes the joint even from the start almost invisible because they match up at a very fine scarfe joint that's only molecules thick.

If the joint still shows too much, I put a small thread of carpenter's glue on it and wipe off any excess glue that goes on top of the wood.  Then sand it immediately with the finest sandpaper I can.  The reason for the immediate sanding is that I want the sawdust to impregnate the glue.  The glue takes on the colour of the sawdust/wood and will even take stains the same as the original wood.

Using this technique, I've made joints in wood that I can't even find myself after a few months and Altzheimer's catches up with me.

[Rokket]

nice decking joint info Pat

[Greif]

Hi Pat,  I managed to repair the damage pretty well, had to rebuild most of the Torpedo Loading Tray.  Unless you look very close you would never know it occured.  Of course, looking very close is the job of judges at contests, so this build is never going to be entered into one.  It now sets on my brother-in-law's mantel.  There is another thread that shows the completed model on here, I think it is titled "U228 is commissioned".

Great tip on joining wooden decking.  I will have to try that out on my next uboat build.  Mine came out pretty well.  The joint pretty much disappeared after some sanding.

Thanks for the interest,
Ernest

I'm still getting caught up on all the old topics, and felt there was something I could contribute to this one.

First, my condolences on the damage from that nephew.  When I was a teen and building models, my parents had a cleaning lady who every single week would go into my room and break one of my models.  Didn't matter if I said she could leave that room alone or not.

I eventually suspected that it was intentional because she was Dutch and the only models she ever broke were ones of German equipment, never allied.

After I graduated from univ. and lived on my own, I spent about a year building a model of USS Alabama, a Civil War commerce raider (same funtion os KG Graff Spee or Seeadler in WWI) and the week after I finished it, my cat decided that the yardarms looked tasty.

That's probably why I sell most of my models even before I finish them.

Anyway, I feel for you.

So how did the repairs turn out?

Secondly, I noticed near the beginning of this build, how there was a fingerjoint between two pieces of deck and you were talking about using putty and letting it dry overnight before going on.

The method I've used for making seams in wood dissappear is to first, file both sides at 45 degree agles so that the one side overlaps the other.  This makes the joint even from the start almost invisible because they match up at a very fine scarfe joint that's only molecules thick.

If the joint still shows too much, I put a small thread of carpenter's glue on it and wipe off any excess glue that goes on top of the wood.  Then sand it immediately with the finest sandpaper I can.  The reason for the immediate sanding is that I want the sawdust to impregnate the glue.  The glue takes on the colour of the sawdust/wood and will even take stains the same as the original wood.

Using this technique, I've made joints in wood that I can't even find myself after a few months and Altzheimer's catches up with me.

[Siara]

I agree with Pat on white glue mixed with saw dust- thats how i made my joint on U-552.
However i can not agree with sanding the decks edge 45 degree.
It would work if you make the deck yourself, and can allow for such joint. But if the deck commes in set size, if you sand the joint 45 deg on both sides of the joint, with the deck about 1 mm thick, you are going to end up with the deck, that is about 1mm too short for you hull.

[Pat]

You're correct about is reducing the overall length of the deck slightly Siara.  the total reduction depends on how thick the deck is, and how much of the joint is overlapped like that.  For a thick deck, the reduction can be made less if you keep most of the joint vertical and just make a tiny overlap at the very top, but it's finicky and difficult to do.

Keep in mind that I'm in the habit of scratchbuilding my decks.  I got so used to doing it with all the sailing ship models that I build that all the extra work of cutting each individual plank to me is almost second nature now.  Some of the tall ships take up thousands of planks (a 3 decker that I started 20 years ago but have never finished, has every deckplanked and each hatch framed, etc.)

My own build keeps having "leprosy".  I have many parts just sitting on it dry-fitted and have lost a few due to my clumsiness.  Emailed Revell on Monday and again today.  Now to settle in for the wait.