3D printed 1/350 scale wooden deck

[modeller_masa]

Hello, I have a plan to build scratch build 1/350 scale WW II ship in near future.

 

By the way, I didn't want to pay $25 for 1.00mm width wooden deck sheet, and have fairly high resolution SLA resin 3D printer. I paid some time for boring work to save money and future time.  

 

 

This is my first rendering based on online and real wooden deck. The size is about 12 feet x 1 feet x 0.3 feet, and has some wooden bolts.

 

As you expected, In 1/350 scale, it is almost impossible to distinguish each wooden batterns and bolt marks. I would like to oversized them in modelling expression.  In addition, the 1 feet width in 1/350 scale is 0.87mm which is tough condition for my 3D printer.

 

As I expected, my 3D printer couldn't handle wood bolts, and calk lines are too shallow.

 

 

After one airbrush, most of calk lines are filled...

 

 

I've polished 3D model, and printed it several times to get proper result. Trial and error is one of the most boring process when I develope micro scale 3D parts. 😭

 

The final 3D model looks weird, but in real condition, the huge holes and gaps between batterns will be filled.

 

 

 

I applies Tan color lacquer and Vallejo brown washing. The panel lines and holes are still too shallow that only 2~3 airbrushing is acceptable. It may be a good idea to use wood color resin.  

 

 

The thickness is about 0.40mm. I think I can reduce it down to 0.20mm. Moreover, I may be able to stick the pattern when I print scratch build WW II ship.  

This is not comfortable and consumes lots of time. However, I got a fairly good wooden deck pattern that I may be able to use in the future. 

[wefalck]

Well, you should actually be happy that the caulked seams are shallow and that the wooden plugs are barely visible:

 

On the real thing, the caulked seams may be a couple of millimeters deep in dry weather and may protrude a couple of millimeters, when the planks are really wet. On average the seams are flush with the deck and that's how people wanted it.

 

The bolts or nails with which the planks are fastened to the beams are sunk in and the holes are plugged with wooden discs cut from the same wood as used for the planks and cut perpendicular to the grain - the objetive was to make them as little visible as possible. They are also inserted with the grain in the same direction as the planks, so that they expand and shrink in unison with the planks.

 

So, less is more

 

On modern ships, the planks would be caulked with 'oakum' and the seams filled up to deck level with molten bitumen, which then would be scraped clean to the deck. So you would have a black seam of about 1 cm width, which translates to 0.03 mm in 1/350 scale ...

 

My painting technique is to spray-paint say in Vallejo 'wood', perhaps run a sharp engraver's chisel along the seams once the paint is dry, remove the fuzz lightly with very fine steel-wool, and then run a 0.1 mm permanent felt-tip pen along the seams, wiping off the excess immediately. In the next round, random planks are picked out with a brush-washing of the base colour to which a tiny amount of white has been added. The procedure is repeated with another set of random planks, adding a tad more white. Depending on your patience, you can do this several times, varying the base-colour just by a tiny shade.

[modeller_masa]

2 hours ago, wefalck said:

So, less is more

 

When I see real pictures of wooden deck, they are usually composed by several colored batterns. After I got your advice about realistic caulk lines in 1/350 scale, I found that I should focus on battern colors rather than explicit caulk lines. 

 

I saw some commercial product that has 3~4 layers of wooden deck stencil. The stencil templates has 4 butt patterned long square holes for airbrush which are engraved by laser cutter. With slightly different brown paints, the painting guide makes 'motley' wooden deck easily. It would be better to combine current result with my own laser cut painting stencil.

 

In addition, I received 'wood' color resin for 3D printer. I'll print wood colored wooden deck and apply brown washing for faster process. Finding a way to make stencils will be a bit time consuming. I think it is time to buy Silhouette Cameo paper cutter.  

[modeller_masa]

 

I bought a Silhouette Curio. This machine can cut, emboss, and etch paper, brass, and stainless panel up to 6mm unlike brother paper cutting only models. 

 

 

There are broader options for Curio. Center and right bits are embossing bit for paper such as christmas card, and left bit can make scratch or holes on paper or brass panel. I'll use it to make copper shield. The resolution is up to 1200 DPI.

 

 

Here is sample plain paper cut test. This machine uses rotatable small blade, so it is good at line cutting. However, it can't handle drastic curves such as the small fonts. 

 

The flatbed is post-it like sticky panel.

 

 

Another sample. With the stencil font, I can get better result with airbrush than decals.

 

 

However, the physical blade can be easily dull. 2 or 3 passes improve result.

 

 

As I planned, I made cutting plan with Silhouette Studio program. It doesn't support layers, but manageable.

 

I made 5 stencil plans for spraying different colors.

 

 

As I said, Silhuette Curio is not bad for straight line cutting. Each block's size is 10.45 x 0.87mm.

 

 

Here we go.  

 

 

I realized that I needed only 4 papers and 4 colors. I bought 'Beige' = Tan color 3D printer resin. I don't need to replace the base color...

 

Anyway, I printed new 3D printer samples, and washed them with brown and black Vallejo acrylic paints. The thickness is about 0.15~0.20mm. Half transparent.

 

 

I failed. 

 

I tried to fit the slits with the decks, but they didn't match well. I found that Silhouette Curio didn't cut slits as I planned. The original size is 10.45mm ...

 

I had to check the wysiwyg editor makes same physical result before I start project...

 

It can be fixed by adding modifier such as 10.45mm x 104% when I design plans... but I'm exhausted... Polishing slits takes so much time... 😭

 

I also bought laser paper cutting machine. I'll try again with the new machine. 

Edited January 11, 2022 by modeller_masa

[mtaylor]

There's reason that many use the term "bleeding edge" on advanced tech... stress testing, the stress, the disappointment all contribute.   I hope you can find a solution.

[modeller_masa]

I found that the newest version of the Silhouette Studio 4.4.920 doesn't support well the old Curio machine. I tried an integrated calibration function, but it didn't work due to a software bug.

 

I deleted the newest version, and installed the latest version of 3.x Silhouette Studio. Finally everything works smoothly. 😎 I ran calibration successfully, and even I didn't need to run calibration because the 3.x software corrected distance errors well. 🤪 Although the old version isn't convenience, 3.x version is only stable option for Curio for now... 

 

 

Here is a test copper sheathing just for fun. The size is 18.2 x 6.2mm.

 

 

I used 0.005" = 0.128mm brass sheet.

 

 

That's all. I go back to workbench. See you again soon. 😀

[catopower]

Hello Modeller_Masa, thanks for your posts.

 

I have a Cameo 3 myself, which I've used to resolve certain masking and template problems, as well as providing a means to create flat decorations to models.

 

Your posts are giving me some interest in taking another look at trying some creative solutions to work with copper foil with it.

[modeller_masa]

The AL introduced an one-stop riveting tool for copper sheathing. My Silhouette Curio seems to be outdated, but it is only one consumer CNC machine that can produce customized copper sheathing plates. I added some tests from the Curio. 

 

If I use the AL's riveting tool with copper tape, the negative rivet marks are clear and look good for scale models. Can I make positive rivet marks with the tool? I proved it using reversed copper tape and my Curio.

The result shows dull positive rivet marks. From the result, I guess the AL's riveting tool is also able to produce the positive rivet marks, although the copper tape's back side makes the rivet mark dull.

 

The copper tape's thickness is fairly slim compared to the former copper sheathing plates that some kit companies provide. The tape can be easily bent, but it is also easy to leave scratch mark and not best for long term storage. I guess the thickness of the copper tape is about 0.03mm or 0.001", although the spec thickness is 0.07mm, including acrylic adhesive layer. If I use thicker copper plate, the result will be more durable and stiff. Also, my Curio has an adjustable needle that can stipple the same hole size at every result. I tested the maximum thickness of copper sheet that the Curio can stipple hole marks. 

 

 

 I purchased various copper sheets with various thicknesses and tested them. 

- 0.10mm

- 0.08mm

- 0.07mm

- 0.06mm

= Not possible.

 

- 0.05mm

= It works at the maximum power setting. (33/0~33)

 

- 0.04mm

= I didn't test it.

 

- 0.03mm 

= Equivalent thickness of the copper tape

 

According to the study, the Silhouette Curio can handle thicknesses of up to 0.05mm = 0.002" in copper sheet or 0.03mm = 0.001" in brass sheet. 

 

 

If you are interested in traditional methods, the Syren's guide will be greatly helpful.

 

https://modelexpo-online.com/assets/images/documents/MS2260-SYREN-Addendum-CopperJig.pdf

https://modelexpo-online.com/assets/images/documents/MS2260-Syren-Instructions-Chapter-08.pdf

 

By the way, the copper plate is easily polluted by hand oil or oxidation. It is recommended to wear nitrile globes and apply metal varnish ASAP, such as dewaxed shellac.

[wefalck]

I don't have one of those CNC-embossing machines, but thought it might be useful for exactly that purpose.

 

Many years ago, I built an early iron tug-boat and simulated the plating in the traditional way, using a taylor's copying wheel. Then I wanted sharp positive rivet heads and did the embossing on a piece of linoleum. This surface is quite tough, but flexible. The embossing tool pulled up cone-shaped depressions, but I put the copper sheet on a harder surface and then rubbed it lightly on the back with a piece of round wooden dowel, which pushed the cones back in, leaving clean rivet heads on the other side.

 

Want I wanted to say with that is, that it may be worthwhile experimenting with materials of different hardness/toughness under the copper being embossed in order to control or modulate the shape of the embossed marks.