Filling the seams on old Revell ship kits

If you are referencing the 1/96 scale kits...they do pose a problem.

What I have done is to CA glue them together, reinforce the bottom with strips of styrene and fill the gap with thick CA glue.  let fully set and then try to scribe the plank seams to make them join and blend together.

One trick is to disguise the seam with deck furniture, rope coils and cargo is possible.

Rob

“Old box scale Revell ships”...   I think the OP meant old kits like the 1/426 USS Arizona, etc., which had horizontal seams through the bulkheads (“walls” to non-sailors).  Molding the parts that way  allowed Revell to mold portholes, but filling those seams is a real pain!  

I like the fine white filler (Vallejo) that comes in a tube with a fine nozzle applicator. It lets me apply a minimum of putty in just the right spot. I then smooth it as best I can with a thin piece of scrap sheet styrene, used as a putty knife.

In some cases, I found it easier to just cover the whole bulkhead with a thin (.005 in.) sheet of styrene, then drill out the portholes.

-Bill

Oh yes do that. And the portholes can be paint dots or decals.

Otherwise the bulkhead has a sort of in/ out to it.

Hi " G " 

    Yeah,Like you said, Or Like I do it. I glue them parts toggedda and use lots of glue .When the plastic oozes out then I let it dry Then I fill the valley with putty , Using a toothpick to open the port-holes .Let dry, and using a file that just fits in the groove ,file it flat .

     I started doing that with the First "Hawaiian Pilot" I built . My foster dad was a tool and die maker and got me a file I still use today .It fits most kits like this . He liked me building models .He said that way he and my Foster Mom knew I was safe and out of trouble .

   Those two had as much of a good impact on my modeling as my Real Dad . I miss them All .Even today .

I have two sets of files, a regular needle file set and a miniature set, about half the size of the first set.  I bought them at Harbor Frieght.  Cheap, but I do have to replace them more often than other sets I have owned.  Even the best sets do need to be replaced, however.  The fine teeth cannot be carded out as well as with full-sized files.

I consider needle files an essential modeling tool.  They are great for seams.  Unlike sandpaper they treat styrene the same as hardened CA.

I also sometimes scrape the seams with an exacto knife (scraping is where you hold the blade almost vertical to the surface.  I use my used blades in the scraper handle, as a way to recycle blades, since scraping dulls them faster than normal cutting.

When I need to clean out the crud that won't wipe off of my needle files, I use the blade of my hobby knife to clean the hard part out. I also have found that my 10" single cut fine flat b_st_rd file to be indespensible when it comes to smoothing out long edges.

Check out how Force9 did it on his Constitution.  Very well detailed with lots of pictures.  He does excellent work.

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/t/146977.aspx?page=3

Good Luck!

Bob

Thanks everyone for the replies they have been very helpful!!
I tried filling the seam on using putty to fill the tried sanding the seam with a small file.
I also tried covering the bulkhead with strip styrene 
I just couldn't get either to look right.
I heard about a new kind of putty it's called  Deluxe Materials Perfect Plastic Putty It's easily smoothed with a Qtip or a wet cloth.
 I just ordered a tube from Amazon.
Have any of you tried this putty?
It seems like it will really fit the bill for filling the bulkheads. I was thinking using CA on the inside of the seam and running a bead of the putty on the outside of it put the decks together then just use a wet Qtip to smooth the seam and voila no sanding or strip plastic.(could it be that easy?)
 Please tell me what you think
Again Thank you all very much for the help!!

Hi;

 The ideas of using plastic strips over the bulkheads ain't a bad idea . Match the portholes and then You're good to go .I have done that with Paper years ago and it worked okay .

 Today I do something more drastic .I cut the upper and lower parts off with a Super thin P.E.saw and then glue them together .Using them as a pattern I make new ones from .040 sheet or strip .

 This also allows me to do changes to the decks equipment where needed without the dang upper or lower bulkhead moldings in the way .

 Make for a much better looking model too.  T.B.

There's no good reason to assume that the ports included in the kit have little relationship to the real thing.

By nature of the way the molds are designed, they are set at the halfway point between deck and overhead. That's almost certainly incorrect. Add to that the accuracy of the horizontal spacing, their diameter, the absence of watertight doors, there's not much arguing against overlays.

They certainly don't need to be holes, either. Dots with a paint pen, decals, glued on covers, or a combination will work just fine.

Oh !

 You are so correct ! The Ports should actually be a little higher on the bulkheads .Where they are is not the way it's done . W/T Doors now are another thing .The " Ocala Victory " actually didn't have many above the main deck . I sailed on her for Olympic Steamship out of Seattle .

 Even on that deck Closets and storage areas had them .Every other door was wood with a small port in it in areas that didn't get hit by water or waves .They still had Knee knockers behind them though ! By the way She had just been brought out of Moth-balls . She was like new everywhere !

     Green rubber stuff like linoleum in the cabins and public spaces .  Interiors of cabins were a very light Military " Mint Green " type color . our ports were heavy gless with polished brass rims , cover and dogs .The inside Cover was painted white on one side and Grey to match the outside

   All areas where gaskets made contact were brightly polished brass .The Wheelhouse doors were Wood with six inch brassbound ports in them . The Wheelhouse Ports were polished brass with 3/4 inch glass and steel foul weather covers . They had , from wartime, little vision slots in them too .

 The Revell Model of the " Hawaiian Pilot " Is for the most part correct .The ports are too low and there are no doors, true .The deck hardware is in the wrong places too .It is all to close together .