Adding Bulkheads

[acaron41120]

Many of the articles and tutorials I have read talk about kits not having enough bulkheads. Indeed, many of my kits certainly could have used a few more. Which leads me to my question. How does one make additional bulkheads? For instance, if I am adding a bulkhead between No. 3 and 4, how do I know the shape of the added bulkhead? It seems that it would be wider than 3 but less wide than 4. What would someone use to get that width or is it just a shot in the dark and hope for the best. Any thoughts from you more experienced modelers is greatly appreciated.

[allanyed]

Hi Allen

I know there are no contemporary drawings of Mayflower (if that is the project you are working on) with the body plan,  but if there are drawings of the bulkheads in the kit you can take a picture and insert a jpg into a drawing program then draw the missing bulkheads.  It would likely not be dead center between the two, but they would be  close, especially if you cut it a little oversized so room to sand it down.    

 

If you do not have a drawing program, you can still make copies and paper dolls of the existing bulkheads to get something close.  I am sure there is more scientific way, but this is simple and has worked for me in the past.

 

Allan

[glbarlow]

Likely the simpler solution is just adding balsa fillers between the bulkheads you have, assuming the reason is to aid in planking. Since you should fair the bulkheads the size of an additional one would take care of itself in the fairing process. 

[Pete Jaquith]

Here is how I solved the problem in my 14 Gun Brig Fair American kit.  The fillers were either bass wood or sugar pine.

[mtaylor]

Fillers are indeed the easiest way to go on this.  Plus it gives a very wide base for gluing the planking.

[Dr PR]

I have made additional bulkheads by tracing the two bulkheads on either side of the gap, one on top of the other, and then just sketching in lines for a new bulkhead between the to trace lines.

 

This is just an approximation so I allow a little extra width that will be sanded away during fairing. Or you could just copy the wider bulkhead and remove the excess material during fairing.

 

Use the technique of holding (I use rubber bands)  a wood strip (like a hull plank) along the length of the hull and noting places that it is "proud" (sticks up too high). Sand these high places until the wood strip curves over the new bulkhead without a high spot - a smooth curve along the hull.

[Paul Le Wol]

Hey Everyone, there’s been some planking questions come up lately so I thought I’d add this suggestion to this thread. Lots of people probably do this but it’s good to renew tips every once in a while. Instead of adding filler blocks or extra bulkheads I’ve been gluing small pieces of scrap wood to the previous plank in difficult areas like the bow or stern to keep the planks on the same plane. The next plank can be glued and clamped at this point effectively giving you an extra bulkhead. Also not a bad idea to add them in straight areas where the bulkheads may be over 2” apart. Should add though that the planks will still need to be tapered and bent first.