Billings smit rotterdam flimsy wood help

[Riotvan88]

Hello 

Picked up a billings smit rotterdam kit. Its the old kit. The wood is very grainy and flimsy. Anyone who has built this old kit will probably know what I'm talking about. 

 

My question is how do you cut out the windows from the superstructure pannels without them crumbling? When a row of windows are placed I find it just falls apart especially when cutting accross the grain. I'm thinking of trying miniture chisels. How did othwrs do it? 

[mtaylor]

4 hours ago, Riotvan88 said:

My question is how do you cut out the windows from the superstructure pannels without them crumbling? When a row of windows are placed I find it just falls apart especially when cutting accross the grain. I'm thinking of trying miniture chisels. How did othwrs do it? 

Not sure if this will help but I've used diluted white clue brushed on the parts (50/50 glue to water).   Do one side, flip it over, and do the other.  It doesn't always work though.

[amateur]

Glue a sheet of printing paper behind these windows, using pva.

Even with the paper behind it it was peoblematic. 

What worked for me was drilling the corners of the windows with a rather small sized drill (.8 or 1 millimiter), and using a sharp x-acto knife, starting from the drill-hole (and a steel ruler to get the top and bottom about level  ). Not trying to get through in one go, but several cuts. Using a small file to finish the sills. (Which was a bit tricky with all those cross-grain small parts.

 

What was equally problematic was finishing the outside, to have it look like steel: literally tons of putty, and quite a number of paintcoats. In the end it was 'acceptable'.....

(Over thirty years ago, bringing back memories. I liked the kit, and the result was a rather goodlooking tug, since than covered in some dust and grime....:) )

 

Jan

Edited June 11, 2021 by amateur

[Riotvan88]

On 6/11/2021 at 9:37 PM, amateur said:

Glue a sheet of printing paper behind these windows, using pva.

Even with the paper behind it it was peoblematic. 

What worked for me was drilling the corners of the windows with a rather small sized drill (.8 or 1 millimiter), and using a sharp x-acto knife, starting from the drill-hole (and a steel ruler to get the top and bottom about level  ). Not trying to get through in one go, but several cuts. Using a small file to finish the sills. (Which was a bit tricky with all those cross-grain small parts.

 

What was equally problematic was finishing the outside, to have it look like steel: literally tons of putty, and quite a number of paintcoats. In the end it was 'acceptable'.....

(Over thirty years ago, bringing back memories. I liked the kit, and the result was a rather goodlooking tug, since than covered in some dust and grime....:) )

 

Jan

Thanks when you say printing paper do you simply mean a4 paper for a desk top printer or some specialist paper? I think I'll give this a go along with the miniture chisels I've ordered. 

[amateur]

No, just the plain simple A4 80 gramms printing paper.

 

Jan

[petervisser]

Hallo Riat. You would be better off getting some thin plywood or sheet stock and starting from scratch. I am building an old Cutty Sark that Billing produced and had the same issue. Starting with fresh lumber is the way to go, I think.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[lmagna]

On 6/16/2021 at 3:10 PM, petervisser said:

Starting with fresh lumber is the way to go, I think.

I would say the same thing, but depending on your budget would also recommend sheet plastic if you can get it. Trace the wood sheet onto the plastic and cut out and assemble. Saves a lot on sanding as well later. If the original wood has lost all of it's structure that it just crumbles then it may not be the best stuff for the final build anyway. My favorite plastic for this type of modeling is Expanded PVC or "Sintra". It is light and easy to work with. Cuts and glues well and is relatively light. Can be bought in a number of thicknesses to suit your needs. I built my first superstructure from this material over 30 years ago and it is still as strong as it was when built. The material is normally used in signs and things like that as well so can sometimes be found in art supply places and has a surface texture that is not completely smooth and takes paint well.

 

If not and you need to use the original wood then Mark's and Jan's method is a very good method. If I remember correctly aren't the plans drawn 1:1? in that case you could also copy the parts you need and use them to glue onto the wood. I think I would use a small drill at each corner and then remove the center with a Dremel or something rather than trying to cut them out. 

Edited June 18, 2021 by lmagna