Hi Ya'll!
Hey, all you ship builders out there. Are you tired of joints being out of whack on multi piece deck! Here's some ideas to help you out. These methods come from years of messing with large models with those danged multipart decks, like the 1/350 or 1/200 ships out there.
Surprisingly, I can't remember a Multi Piece deck with the Lindberg U.S.S. Melvin destroyer(The "Blue Devil") or some other mfgrs. ships. Anyway here's those tips.First and formost,on Tamiya ships they have a ledge you glue them to. Make sure the Deck pieces line up on the top surface(at the plank surface). If not that means one piece is thicker or thinner than the molded edge.
How to fix that?
If it's the piece going on the ledge you can do this.See how thick.Can you slide a business card between the deck at the ledge? Or a piece of paper? To check part thickness you can use calipers or if you don't have any, use the old sense of feel when you hold the parts together off to the side. There are two fixes. Make a filler strip to go between the ledge and the other piece bottom. Or, Cut the ledge off.
Then, "Butt" Glue the two pieces together using clamps that hold them tight. If the plastic is to thick sand notches in the edge to accomodate the clamps at the right level. Or, Take the ledge off and sand the backside off the thicker part until both parts match and then "Butt" join them dry. Then take a strip of sheet plastic cut off a strip wide enough to cover the joint between the clamp noses. Glue the parts together using longer clamps of tape to hold the strip down. Let dry thoroughly and then lightly sand the top of the joint. The strip MUST be the same thicknes as the deck! Otherwise it may sag at the joint when you handle it!
"When" the sanding starts, you can put a wee bit of slower drying plastic cement in the joint on the plank surface. As you sand(Yes, this will clog up your sanding stick) It will fill the remaining crack, No matter how small, with the plastic hiding the joint permanently! Then use the Artwok or other brand of wood deck you can buy,Or, if you just paint, use Tamiya Deck Tan XF-55 Acrylic. Do Not Spray! try using a flat 1/8" o r1/4" fine hair brush with a square edges.The paint MUST have been treated with Two large Drops of Retarder and It will when mixed, apply as smooth as silk and dry fast enough to allow handling in an hour!
In case you are interested I posted recently that I found out the TAMIYA XF-55 is a direct match for the OLD "Humbrol" Deck Bleached Teak. This was deleted from the lineup when it Became Monogram Humbrol!