Trumpeter USS North Carolina 1/350

Bruce & Steve5,

Used Artwox wood decks for both models. Used EZline for the rigging on both.

My apologies to the OP for taking up so much space on this thread.

Looking forward to the WIP.

mike , you are way too hard on yourself , those are beautiful build's . I am going to have a go at one of these next , when I finish my victory . will look to you for guidence my friend , 

PS:- could you tell what thread you used for the rigging mate , please .

steve5

It's all good. Still looking for tips on building this behemoth, or building ships in general.  This is my first.

Mike,

Both your HMS Dreadnought amd USS San Fransisco look great to me. Can you tell me what brand of wood deck you purchased for these kits?

EDIT: Sorry, laskdjn,  I did not mean to threadjack!

If you click to enlarge the second to last image you'll see how I left some of the deck with the wood color showing through. I'm not convinced that is at all realistic.

I can't tell where you botched it.

laskdjn,

Thanks for the kind words.

I should also say that if you're going to paint the horizontal surfaces deck blue you might have less reason to add a wood deck. I did add a wood deck on my USS San Francisco and had painted it deck blue before attaching it. I don't have any close up images I can find at the moment but I must say, try as I did, it didn't turn out as I had hoped. That is probably because I wasn't sure how much deck wear might be revealed during its active duty and my idea of showing a little bit of wood under the paint just didn't work out as I'd hoped. Also, I'm not sure how much wear actually would have shown at any point in her active service ... probably not much if any.

Again, forgive the images but I thought you might like to see a botched, painted wood deck .

That's gorgeous Mike, I hope to be at least half as good.  I can't even tell that the deck is not part of the original kit.

I'm not a very good model builder but I enjoy the process (when I'm not cursing, taking God's name in vain, on my hands and knees trying to rend a PE part from the carpet monster, etc.). That having been said, I didn't sand off the plastic deck detail on my HMS Dreadnought or USS San Francisco when I put on wood decks. Fortunately the decks didn't compromise the builds by raising the deck height too much. As least I don't remember their having done so.

If you believe that the thickness of the aftermarket wood deck will make the build more difficult by adding its thickness, then by all means sand away. I just didn't find that to be a problem in my "hack" builds where I've used wood decks.

Forgive the photos of the Dreadnought. Just found them in an external HD - thought they were lost after the Photobucket debacle. I'm sure you will see many mistakes but I didn't think the placement of the wood deck over the existing detail made any negative difference.

warshipguy

Wood decking fits over the deck. It comes in two different forms. One has a sticky side that adheres to the deck; the other has to be glued in place.

One problem that I have experienced with this decking is that the decks can "bubble" in any kind of humidity.  For that reason, I strongly recommend that you glue the deck in place, being sure to spread the glue evenly and thoroughly, and make sure to apply pressure until the glue dries.

Bill Morrison

 

Ok, so, basically, I'd sand off the current decking detail to put down the aftermarket wood decking.  Seems like kind of a waste if I'm going to paint it all deck blue anyway.

Tanker - Builder

Personally ;

   The North Carolina by Trumpeter was my first of their kits .

  Rather than argue the accuracy of the kit with someone who didn't have one , I went to the source . Yes , the Ship Museum itself . They stated the following . "If it wasn't accurate as the ship floats RIGHT NOW , we would NOT carry it in the gift shop ! ".

 Now , I will admit , being a shipmodeler from Noah's time saved my butt ! Partway through the early part of the build they have you put on part of the upperworks plus the deck . Then turn it over and install the completed ship bottom of your choice . Kinda backwards that was  ! 

 The kit gave no more confusing instruction that I could find , Eduard P.E. and Done . She has a place of honor in a friend's home ! 

 

That's good information.  Normally, I build planes and tanks, this is my first ship.  I'm trying to compartmentalize the build into functional areas, like I do on airplanes and tanks and figure out what can be painted separately.  I figured I could build most of the first deck/lower hull, minus the fine details, paint all of that, then add the rest of the super structure.  I already mated the upper hull to the lower hull, so I've already kinda deviated from their instructions.

Would you say the Eduard PE set is vastly superior to the Tom's Modelworks PE set?  Like I said, the instructions that came with the latter leave much to be desired.

Wood decking fits over the deck. It comes in two different forms. One has a sticky side that adheres to the deck; the other has to be glued in place.

One problem that I have experienced with this decking is that the decks can "bubble" in any kind of humidity.  For that reason, I strongly recommend that you glue the deck in place, being sure to spread the glue evenly and thoroughly, and make sure to apply pressure until the glue dries.

Bill Morrison

Personally ;

   The North Carolina by Trumpeter was my first of their kits .

  Rather than argue the accuracy of the kit with someone who didn't have one , I went to the source . Yes , the Ship Museum itself . They stated the following . "If it wasn't accurate as the ship floats RIGHT NOW , we would NOT carry it in the gift shop ! ".

 Now , I will admit , being a shipmodeler from Noah's time saved my butt ! Partway through the early part of the build they have you put on part of the upperworks plus the deck . Then turn it over and install the completed ship bottom of your choice . Kinda backwards that was  ! 

 The kit gave no more confusing instruction that I could find , Eduard P.E. and Done . She has a place of honor in a friend's home ! 

madhatter

i would check on wood decking, it changes everything. ive always built 1/700 scale and am now gathering parts for my firdt 1/350. i tried PE on my small ships...it was a disaster! i had PE stuck to my fingers, lost in the carpet, you name it! just to small for me. BUT i think i can handle 1/350, good luck to you, and check out the wood decks.

 

How does that wood decking work?  Does it replace the plastic deck pieces or does it just go on top? 

Also, the instructions that come with the Tom's Modelworks PE are atrocious. I swear to God, half of the placement direction is, "check references for location"

i would check on wood decking, it changes everything. ive always built 1/700 scale and am now gathering parts for my firdt 1/350. i tried PE on my small ships...it was a disaster! i had PE stuck to my fingers, lost in the carpet, you name it! just to small for me. BUT i think i can handle 1/350, good luck to you, and check out the wood decks.