filling seams on ship's superstructures

Depending on the size of the gap, I go one of several ways:

1) if it's a small gap I try to fill it with white glue and chalk powder (regular school chalk). Ground the chalk to a powder and mix it with the white glue to creat a paste and fill the gap.

Option 2) If the crack is small or tight I will fill with white glue. This usuall takes several apps because white glue will shrink as it dries. 

Option 3) Use regular bondo or gap filling super glue (usually don't have much success in this area)

Option 4) depending on the size of the gap , usually bigger the a slim crack. I use plastic strips to fill the gap and then sand with fine grit sand paper when the glue has dried followed by one of the above methods.

The general idea is to experiment to find what works for you! 

 

Try filling smaller gaps with super glue. The thick gap filling. I usally use and accelerator to harding it. You needed to sand quickly don't let it stand to long it willget tohard to sand.When you are putting your seem together use liquid cement.Let flow between the pieces than pull the pars apart slowly than squezze together tight it wil its self an only to be sanded off.

Rod

sgtmac wrote:

I like 1/350th scale warships and would like to make my ships look better. The small gaps at the corners of decks and superstructures look horrible on my models but I haven't discovered a way to make them disappear. Some article I read many years ago suggest diluted white glue to fill the seams but all my experiments produces gaps and bulges wherever I applied the glue. I've tried sanding the parts as smooth as I can but still I see small gaps. Also, hand brushing extra paint at the joints sometimes works but then there is the paint mismatch. So, what works for you? I've been searching the forum and found lots of information on airplane filling but nothing on ships. Thank you.

Hmm. The challenge on ships as opposed to a/c is that these usually can't be filed or sanded. Dry fit and glue last, I'd say. And, warships always have big seams. I remember looking at how the turrets were put together on a destroyer, and you really need to think in terms of BIG welds.

We old frats remeber the otherwise superior Revell ships, where the superstructures were stacked, with horizontal seams throught the middle of the (maybe accurate) ports. No way to fix that.

Plenty of ways to fix that! I cut plastic sheet to the right height and glued it over the  sandwiched parts... no gap. Just re-drill the portholes and you're good to go.

With the right tools you can putty and sand those gaps; I use jeweler's files and some sanding sticks depending. I've never tried white glue, but I'm worried about long-term stability. Instead, I use Mr Surfacer and then wipe it down with a Q-tip wetted with Mr. Color Thinner. This works for some seams well.

 

White glue works great.  After you apply it, moisten a q-tip in your mouth and run it over the seam to smooth out the glue.  It will also remove the excess.

Jesse

I have been experimenting with using Tenax in my current 350 build (dragon USS Kidd). leaves less of a gap if you do it properly (which I dont do as often as I would like). I then fill out the many many small gaps/imperfections with Mr Surfacer 500 using a small brush (0), just dab a tad a time and fill inthe gaps. Tedious, but as bondoman said, its pretty hard to sand the suprestructure subassemblies, specially if they have lots of built-in details.

Instead of white glue, another solution would be to use Green Stuff, cut with lacquer thinner, applied with a paint brush.  You can then clean your paint brush with lacquer thinner.  (Use an older fine point brush)

 This will dry pretty quickly (though not as quickly as gap-filling CA plus Zip Kicker, but I seem to have a serious skin sensitivity to Zip Kicker, so I don't swing that way) and then the thinned Green Stuff can be hit with a jeweler's file and/or FlexiGrit on any overflow.

    Pro:  Green Stuff won't shrink as much as the white glue.

    Con: White glue can be wiped off while it is wet.

Rick

For small gaps, I use typewriter correction fluid. widely available (despite the fact that people don't use typewriters any more), cheap, and can be smoothed off with a cotton bud dipped in isopropanol, so no need to sand, and risk damaging adjacent detail. I've used it with success, for example, to fill gaps on the surfaces of aircraft models with corrugated skins, and am currently using it to fill seams on a Tamiya 1/72 Perkasa fast patrol boat.

Repeated applications can, in fact, fill quite large gaps. You just have to make sure that the previous application is fully dry first.

Cheers,

Chris.

I use all of the above methods, depending on gap size and shape.  You should probably check out the two Kalmbach books about ship modeling for pictures and other suggestions.

Bill Morrison

I try to make sure there isn't a gap between the hull and deck in the first place!  Clamps, lots of clamps, strong tape, whatever it takes............. Of course, this is not so easy on superstructure pieces though.....

All great ideas. I'd like to suggest, as a way to visualize the techniques, that any pictures of before and after shots would be most beneficial. As a matter of record, I have tried white glue, diluted Squadron putty, autobody pinhole putty, ceramic tile putty, superglue, clamps, and have the Basic Ship Building book by Mike Ashey and I am just not happy with my techniques as compared to the great boats I see in magazines.

I appreciate the help. Mike Ashey's book has many great ideas and I would like to see more articles in FSM on ship building in any scale(I have most of the Scale Ship Modeler collection). Construction articles are great for me as I am also attempting a 1/96 BISMARCK and a 1/100 HOOD as I learn more. Are there any other big scale modelers out there?

The St. Louis Admirals are having their annual show at the Union Station this coming weekend, real nice working boat and ships, for those in the area.

Thanks!