CDW

Guys...keep in mind I use a tube of glue with 33 ml (35 grams) in it.

I work on my build several hours each day for 5 weeks now...and that one tube of glue is still not empty.

 

That's less than 0,7 grams of glue used per day!

It's not like I'm throwing buckets of high explosives around in a careless fashion. 

 

I doubt that I, my build and my house are in grave danger, because of the use of this type of glue.

 

Robin 

Lol, Robin. You know, there is always a first time for just about anything. But after all these many years/decades without any negative or harmful incidents, I am going to use whatever glue works best for me regardless of ingredients and what California thinks of it. 

I believe much of the outcry about the ingredients of various products are due to the idiots who abuse them. Keep in mind there are mental midgets who put these types of glues in a paper bag then huff the fumes to get high. No doubt, some of those people have died or got sick. Maybe even exploded.   

Try this my friend.

 

http://pontosmodel.com/html/35006f1.html  

 

 

OC.

Wow, that's a great find. Had no idea those were there. Being able to zoom in helps tremendously and is just what I needed.

Thanks!

These Pontos engineers do their products pretty well. The photo etch fits together very well, much better than some other brands I have used. I do wish their instruction sheets were printed just a little larger. The photos of the finished work are helpful, but very hard to see due to the small size of the printed photos. 

That's some mighty fine brush work there, OC. 

Beautiful!

They make 1/2 & 3/4 oz cloth?? Never seen it, but then we are always building things that have to take abuse.

 

Grant, maybe I missed it as I was catching up, why glass anyway? Why not just the resin?

 

Sam

Sam

I buy 3/4 oz cloth here: http://www.sigmfg.com/cgi-bin/dpsmart.exe/IndexMiscellaneousF.html?E+Sig

They also sell a .56 oz cloth that I call 1/2 oz (close enough for me).

I primarily use it when I build balsa cowls for my R/C aircraft models. I use the light cloth to fiberglass the outside of my cowlings. tt makes them much stronger, dent resistant, and fuel proof. Or, in the case of a model boat, water proof. 

But as you mentioned, just finishing resin without any glass at all would probably work just fine. The glass will give an added level of protection and resistance to cracks of dents if the model is to be powered and used in the water. For a shelf display, it probably doesn't matter.

These photo etch pieces from the Pontos detail set are used to detail the side elevator on the Essex model. Just to be clear, there are many such details to be completed for the model to be finished. These took one evening to complete.

If you don't mind me saying so, 2 oz fiberglass cloth is not what I would call "light". 1/2 oz or 3/4 oz cloth is light.

In my humble opinion, 2 oz cloth may be too heavy for a model like this. To be on the safe side, try a piece on some scrap, first. Just to get a feel for how it lays down and what it looks like after it's down.

I am basing this on my own personal experience with laying fiberglass. The lighter the glass, the more transparent it will be in the end (a good thing) and the easier it will be to prevent any wrinkles and/or bubbles. 

As amazing as it might sound, my Admiral rarely ever complains about anything I buy related to model building. She rather seems to expect it after more than 40 years of experience. 

Those Hobbyzone items look great, good quality. Particularly looking at the plank bender station.

Well that is interesting. Cellulose nitrate is also an ingredient found in fuel proof model airplane dope as used for covering and finishing. It shrinks as time goes on which makes it useful as covering because it keeps the fabric tight. 

The Essex hull with a splash of preshading before any finish paint goes on the model. I ordered photo etch portholes from Northstar and will wait until those arrive and install them before painting the hull. The the meantime, will do some detail work and painting in the hangar deck area as well as begin begin building the photo etch assemblies from Pontos. A ton of those to do.

Captain Slog

For the card stock models, I'll bet those scalpel blades are going to be great. I don't like using them too much on my wooden models because the blades are thinner as you noted. I still use both the standard No. 11 model blades and I also use the scalpels for lighter work. It just seems to me they will be ideal for a card stock model.

By the way, your model is looking fabulous. I have a few card stock models and am trying to soak in the ins and outs before I attempt to build one.

Farbror

Are you using a brush or an airbrush to paint your model? Looks great.

That is interesting. I have never used Uhu Hart glue. Is it a PVA, or something else? 

A friend and I have built a lot of micro scale R/C aircraft where keeping weight to a bare minimum is critical. My friend swears he has tested it and that CA glue is much heavier than PVA glue. I am not a gram-counter when it comes to building and flying my micro size aircraft, but maybe I should be? I have never checked to verify his assertion about CA being heavier. But the truth is, when building model aircraft, I prefer PVA glue in spite of what it might weigh. Reason being, if I make a mistake, I can un-do it with a drop of water on the glue joint whereas CA is pretty much set once it is used. 

Thanks Jorgen. I have used that technique in the past to fill seams as well as create them and sometimes the old tried and true techniques are the best.

On the net, I found a beautiful build article with photos of an Essex class carrier. The author meticulously taped off each individual panel and used modeling putty to fashion the panels. Talk about a painful, patience testing exercise, that is one for the books. But it came out beautiful, stunning. I do not think my skills are up to that task right now.

One thing I have noted in general... I will use masking tape to control the limits of where modeling putty is being applied so as not to create additional sanding work and possibly lose molded in surface detail. If the tape is not quickly removed after the putty is applied, glue residue from the tape will be left stuck to the model to the extent some type of glue remover (like Goo Gone) will have to be used to deal with it. I guess the volatiles in the putty attack and go through the tape.

Those faux panel lines didn't work to my satisfaction at all. Just too pronounced, even after sanding them down quite a bit. Ended up sanding them completely off. Next, will use pre shaded panel markings underneath my paint job to simulate the panels instead. I could engrave them, but I am afraid I won't like that either.

I got my 1.3 mm diameter LED lights, and a 9 volt battery connection with a micro on-off switch, in the mail today. Really quick turn around from a train-hobby shop here in the USA. Never used them before, just took a chance and they were great. Low prices and very reasonable/fast postage.

So, I hope this experiment will turn out satisfactory. 

I have added an armor belt along the water line then began to fashion what will become raised detail to simulate welds on the hull. Of course, at the moment, nothing is sanded down nor shaped in a way that will give the effect of welds. But you can probably get the idea of what I'm trying to achieve.

I used .020 Plastruct styrene rod. Would have preferred to have use .010 instead, but my local hobby shop had none in stock. Hopefully once I get her sanded down, the effect will look subtle and not too gaudy. Nothing a little sandpaper and elbow grease can't cure, but I don't like to waste time. 

Still quite a bit to do, just took some photos along the way for posterity.

She is a beauty.

Fantastic work, Greg. Beautiful.

I have some very nice 1:700 scale ship models with full detail sets sitting in my closet. Looking them over, each time I think I might build one, I get scared away by the extreme small scale. One of these days I am going to get started on one even if I screw it up.

Totally agree about the deck and its color. it looks superb!

Excellent website/source (Northstar) for ship details. Thanks!

The hull and hangar decks are fairly simple arrangements. The hull consists of lower and upper halves, while the hangar decks are divided into three parts.

Where it starts to get a little dicey is after the upper and lower hulls are joined. Here, we are left with a fairly significant step where the halves join.

The good news is, my research shows there is an armor belt that extends over most of the entire length of the hull, so I can cover up that step for the most part and be left with a much smaller area to fill and sand.

Also note the hull is devoid of detail and has no plating panel lines whatsoever, so I will need to either add some raised weld seams or scribe in some lines to provide a proper visual effect.

On the net, I have been able to locate some pretty good photos of the Essex hangar deck and details. Also, found that White Ensign made some hangar deck equipment/air wing photo etch. Will likely order a set of that photo etch.

Tonight I ordered some (6ea.) 1.3mm diameter LED lights that will run off a 9 volt battery. That should be enough lighting if strategically placed. Believe it or not, even with all the photo etch I have, none is for the hangar deck. There doesn't seem to be any aftermarket items for the hangar deck that I can find. So, scratch build it will have to be and maybe some equipment from other kits.

I was thinking of you, Greg, when I began looking through the Pontos detail set. With the "instructions" being no more than some photo illustrations, I am wondering how modelers such as yourself get all these pieces sorted out. It looks a bit intimidating to say the least. Keeping in mind what you said about eating an elephant, I will just tackle one thing at a time and see where things lead.

I guess one of the first things I need to do is to decide whether I want to open up any of the hangar decks and add some detail and maybe some lighting to see it. Will do some research first then decide. Right now, just am not sure whether I should or shouldn't. At 1:350 scale, it may be too small to see much of it once its all done, I don't know.