Bending plastic ship hull

What about putting t in boiling water until it softens?

That sounds like a good idea, but what would that do to the glue? Would the hull fall apart?

OK, So, I've looked at what pictures I can of the Titanic sitting on the ocean floor. You're not just going to be dealing with bent steel plates but also warped and ruptured plates. Both the bow and aft decks have to be bent downward and the hull under each has to be bent along with it and the hull has to be ripped open with jagged edges where it ruptured under the stress of the bending. You have really taken on a task. Congratulations. It should be fun. I suggest that you cut the bow section off with a hack saw and position it according to the pictures and then glue it together in that position and use filler to hide the seam. You'll need to fabricate what looks like ruptured steel plates at the bend in the bow and glue those on and use filler to hide those seams, too. You are going to need to make the aft hull jagged as well where it ripped apart. Notching with a hack saw might do the job. Should look awesome when you are done, two years from now! Best wishes, Barrett

Here's some crazier thinking.

1. Use a chemical that will soften the plastic where you want the bend to occur and brush it all the way around the ship and bend the model as soon as the plastic gets soft enough. Then you have to figure out how to neutralize the chemical. Testors liquid cement will soften plastic, but I have no idea if you could apply enough to do that job or what mess you would have when the glue set up. Also, the fumes might be pretty TOXIC. Also methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) or Acetone should dissolve plastic. If you applied it to the inside, you might not destroy the exterior details in the plastic. They sell furnture stripper in a pretty thick consistency so it will stick to the varnish and dissolve it. I think that's acetone based and it should stay where you brush it. I dont know if it would melt the plastic, though.

2. Wrap the model in bare copper wire and run a controlled current through it until it gets hot enough to soften the plastic and then bend it. I have no idea how much current that would require or what contraption you would use to control the current or whether or not you could control it well enough to stop it from melting the plastic or STARTING A FIRE!

Just thinking outside the box for you. :-)

Barrett

I think you're probably going to be doing a lot of cutting and repositioning, maybe even replacing parts with similar parts that have been bent before installing (maybe even making duplicates out of aluminum foil or cola cans for added effect).  I don't think boiling water is going to be getting things soft enough to bend them enough to get to the desired position. 

I think chemicals will make the surface sticky and slimy, making the physical manipulation of the parts a mess.  Heating with wire will result in hot spots and cause unintended warpage and shrinkage of the plastic parts.  Try putting part of a sprue tree on a pan and in an oven, and you'll see what I mean. 

I believe someone has already done an example of the Titanic on the ocean floor, and they did an amazing job of it.  You may want to do a search to verify.  I also think someone has done a similar diorama of the Yamato on the seafloor, and did another amazing job.  Search will be your friend here. 

Sounds like an interesting project, but I'd probably start with a cheap kit you don't worry about totally-trashing.

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

CrashTest is right. I was curious to see those models myself. Turns out pics of one were posted right here at finescale modeler by Chris Hoffert in 2011. Here are links:

This is the link for the bow build

http://titanic-model.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=123&topic_id=805&mode=full

This is the link for the stern build

http://titanic-model.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=123&topic_id=1047&mode=full

Incredible work!!!! Here's the link to the post:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/t/137530.aspx#1425294

You really do want to see what he did. Interestingly, he says in his post it took him 2 years to do, just what I surmised it would take. Maybe now that someone else has done this, you can experience it vicariously and save your sanity?

Barrett

BarrettDuke! Thank you. This article really helps me out. My model is 1:570, so it's not very big, but this article gives me great ideas and challenges. I was so worried about softening the plastic I didn't think about cutting it, which would be easier in the long run.

I once did some experimenting with a heat gun. The heat gun that I have has an attachment that can be used to direct where the heat is focused. So, you can target the areas that you want to work on. You would want to apply the heat in short bursts by directing the heat on the area, and then quickly direct the gun away. Keep testing the plastic so see if it is maluable yet. When the plastic becomes a little workable, STOP! It is tempting to keep applying heat to make it more pliable, and that is where you can get into big trouble. The plastic holds heat, and the plastic does not always respond instantly after the removal of heat. It can take a few seconds before the plastic fully softens. Therein lies the danger. It may seem like its not heated enough, but it is. So if you do this, go slow, and gradually build up the heat until you get what you want. For you, and in this case, if it does melt some, it may not even be a problem. You might get some nice dramatic bends.

Good luck!

Thank you Crash! I never thoght about cutting it. I think in the long run that will help me out better.

Hot water works for warming styrene (or resin, too) till you can get it to bend.  Do not let the piece touch the pan.  I was taking the warp out of the starboard half of the ancient Pyro Musashi, using the hot water technique, and it was working, till I accidentally let the piece slip and touch the pan.  That was enough contact to transmit sufficient heat to melt the plastic a bit.