mikegr

13 minutes ago, Jaager said:

I wrongly assumed that the Balsa was for a filler for POB.  I never dreamed that you intend to use it for something important.

For a deck or anything that shows  the only species that rates as "quality" is Birch.   Lime is better than its American brother Basswood but it is only sort of OK,   average kit sort of stuff.

North American Black Walnut is "quality" but not for our uses - it is open pore and does not scale.  Anything else called Walnut is there because it has a color that is sort of close.  All are also open pore, often coarse grain and or brittle.  None of it is scale appropriate.  aircraft plywood is suited for use as a sub flooring if a deck is then planked wth a scale appropriate veneer that is too thin to be a single layer.

 

If you can only find one supplier that is domestic to you, I would guess that you are not in either North America or Europe. Without you should tell us where you are, none of us can help you find a helpful source, or suggest species in your region that would be appropriate.

I am based in Greece. Best access to wood is from North Europe, mostly Germany.  Shipping  though can be prohibited  because of their size and the recently increased rates.

Note that i work on modern ships so "quality wood" appearance is not an issue for me. In contrast, i have to convert all wood texture to a totally smooth surface before paint.  I also avoid to use styrene for large surface parts, i prefer wood.

From my theoritical research one way to  reinforce big and thin surfaces is by adding cloth and polyester at the back side of them,  of course i need to experiment as i haven't use resin/liquid polyester before

indeed. The detail level would compare to a lower scale lets say 1/100

I am looking for thin but durable wood sheets to make some parts like longer main decks etc.  I found only one supplier selling quality wood like lime, walnut, birch Air plywood from 0.4mm thick. But he's somewhat far. So at the moment only balsa is quite available around. While its easy to work with it is sometimes too fragile especially if less than 1.5 mm thick.

What is the best way to harden wood? Let's say balsa 1-1.5 mm. CA glue? Epoxy? Polyester?

very nice work and very clean pics

I made a 3/4 fiberglass case

The taller caser in Yamashiro reflects the higher bridge and masts.

Yamashiro vs PoW. A possible scenario than never happened

8 hours ago, RN77 said:

Hi mikegr

Yes I have some sheets of balsa that I am cutting into strips, this should give a smoother hull once sanded

than if I used mdf. (Out to the shed at the weekend to start gluing)

When sanding mdf I think the fibres separate leaving a “fluffy” surface. 
 

As for this particular model being suitable for a beginner, I am building in stages so if I make a pigs ear of it I can try that section again as I have copied the templates. 

I most certainly could not build this model out of card using the original parts, as I would only get one shot at getting it right. My lack of skills, patience and heavy handedness would soon see it in the waste paper basket.

Thanks for looking

I am building my first project from a card model to wood and there are some things to be considered for a successful make. 

Spare plans is a must. I already ruined a complete hull(for other reason) so i restart now.

One key factor is to adjust thickness of wood accordingly. For example if you use a 3 mm wood for deck you need to calculate this to the total hull height (as paper deck has almost 0 thickness). Otherwise you need to use thin woods. There are quite thin and strong woods to work with starting at just 0.4 mm. However they are not available in many countries and the cost is considerable. Balsa below 1.5mm thick is very fragile unless you harden it with chemicals, like resin or other.

this is a fantastic built. Did you cut the 1.5mm wide wood pieces by yourself or have them cut at the shop?

Japanese WW2 ships are unbeatable in details if you can handle them.

Competition in 1/700 has lead the companies to offer products almost identical to 1/350 scale. This is very welcomed for us.  Of course this has lead to some overscale like rivets and porthole frames. But at the end,  its up to the builder. It is a hobby for personal recreation and he is the one who needs to feel comfortable with the outcome.

nice clean work. Hull looks not easy for a beginner. I suggest you work with balsa than MDF for plating the hull as the latter has some issues with humidity and need some special treatment. Balsa is the no1 alternative for us that our modelling wood market is restricted.

I was thinking to cover the hull with thin aluminum 0.20 mm stripes then use automotive filler. This would reduce the sanding and shaping hull time.

As i started the process i decide either to enlarge the metal pieces to reduce work load or skip it at all and go straight to smooth the hull using car body filler, sanding and repeat the process unit I get the desired effect. Which I did. It would be proved a disastrous decision.

Even hull didn't have any great imperfections, it took around half kilo of filler to cover it all. Then after a few minutes the hull area between frames collapsed. I have seen this happen on another project while using rubber adhesive glue. Probably catalyst heated polystyrene and forced it to shrink. I added locally some acrylic putty to fill the gaps. Even it was easy to work with, body filler on the other hand is not. So working with hard and soft ingredient at the same time is not an option. Another layer of car body filler will do the job although this would require lots of extra sanding effort plus will increase even more the weight of the hull.

On 9/3/2021 at 10:10 PM, reklein said:

Work continues with side skins and bow planking. Since the hull will be glassed over I'm not following traditional hull planking pattern.

Great build.

is this  a resin kit collection on the background?

Done. POW training her turrets during heavy swell.

Not the thick rigging from rear mast top to stern. I put it here temporary to correct the mast top forward inclination cause by elastic rigging. Lessons learned:

1. Always control its tension when use elastic rigging with fragile masts.

2. Best CA glue simply can't compete with soldering in strength if you want to make brass mast.

I think the lower rope on the first pic is a bit more realistic.

8 hours ago, king derelict said:

Mike

It looks great. The details are beautiful. 

I like the 1 inch thick extruded foam. Extruded foam is a bit .more rigid than expanded foam and doesn't disintegrate into beads when you attempt to cut it. It cuts nicely with a hot foam cutter or a sharp knife (including kitchen knives - don't ask me how I know). You can buy it in one foot squares at Home Depot at a $1 each. Currently it seems to be light green.

Alan

in fact the thinner the blade, the easier the foam cut.

I covered the sides with painted balsa and did some test fittings before adding final details

5 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

They hold the part which just enough adhesion and let the part go when it comes in contact with the surface.

 

Sounds like a dream to me😁

Bismarck delirium in this site.

Love it.

A set back on my scratchbuilt consumed most of my free time so I left behind on this.

I used expanded polystyrene on this so I can dig in easily. Give it 3-4 layers of primer and paint. Added a heavy coat of gel and waiting for it to dry at  for 24-48 hours.

Looks like Bismarck in big scales is a very popular model.

how does this react to plexiglass? Does it keep it clear or make it whitish?

Professionals are using a chloroform based glue which keeps the plastic 100% transparent. But this is extremely hard to be found and usually comes to 1 kg bottle sold for 60-80 euros.

 

 

 

 

On 10/18/2021 at 2:56 AM, CDW said:

1:700 scale is getting exponentially better. I guess most everyone needs more display space. I know I do, so 1:700 is so much more practical for me.

Nowadays kits in 1:700 are so advanced that can be almost comparable in details to their biggest cousins.

I remember this kit at 90's

There was a toy store on my way to school had it along with Matchbox Seasprite as well as few other kits. Price was approx 10$. 

Finally I built it in 1/600. I have to say those double hangars made the ship look too tall. Definitely not the most handsome model, at least in my eyes. Maybe in waterline version looks better.

I done with weathering. These ships on photos seems to have issues with their paint so I did a lot of chipping. Unfortunately after some corrections sea bed proved a bit small unless model will be displayed anchored. I will make a new one with a different method.

what glue did you use for the case?