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Topic review - Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scratch
Author Message
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scratch  Reply with quote
Curious as to how your progress has been and if you can post any update on this ? I am thinking about rebuilding from scratch a hull for the 1/350 scale Trumpeter kit as it appears attempting to correct the manufacturer error would be futile.

Thanks,

Bob
Post Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2020 11:20 am
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scratch  Reply with quote
Hi David,

Thank you for the advice! I have had a lot of time to regret my decision to use plastic strips. But the real cardinal mistake I made in the beginning when I decided to glue the first layer of strips between the shears instead on top of them. However, this is the first time I have built a hull of this size out of plastic. I thought that using long strips or larger pieces of plastic could end up with the plastic warping between the shears. When I realized the error in my thinking it was too late. So I still have a few strips to glue.

Regards,

Jari
Post Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 3:22 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scratch  Reply with quote
Very cool... reshaping 1/200 Trumpy hulls has been a favorite pastime of mine for a few years now so I feel your pain. :tongue:

Respect to those who put in the effort and succeed... it's much harder to pull off successfully in reality than in concept! Your Hornet looks to be on the winning path. :cool_1:
Post Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 1:10 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scratch  Reply with quote
Some small progress with the bow. Unfortunately the Merit hull was so much off that neither the bow nor the stern section could be used from the kit. Started scratch building the basic bow structure from 2x2 mm strips.


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File comment: This shows how much the Merit hull is off compared to the plan that I have.
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Post Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 5:51 am
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scratch  Reply with quote
That is some work you have done to fix the problem. Braver than I would be.....Cheers mark
Post Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 5:12 am
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scratch  Reply with quote
After a very long break some progress with my Hornet. Did not dare to remove the hull from the "dock" (a piece of thick plywood) for a long time as I was not sure that it would keep its shape. Well, now the hull is pretty much sanded into shape. I plan to cut the last section both to stern and bow from the Trumpeter kit and see if can make them fit. If not then I'll build them out of scratch too.

It seems that the plan to replace the hull with a scratch built one and use the kit parts from the hangar deck up is a viable one. Apart of the last 10 cm at the front, the deck is pretty close to the shape of the scratch built hull. Still need to cover the hull with 1 mm thick strips, raise the hull sides to the same level as the hangar deck and do the plating.


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File comment: The Trumpeter main deck is about 10 mm too wide at the front compared to the drawings I have. Need to trim 5 mm off from both sides.
IMG_1331.jpg
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Post Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 3:51 am
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scratch  Reply with quote
Had a short break from modeling due to a trip to Beijing. Otherwise a nice city but air quality leaves a lot to desire.

First layer of planking is almost ready now and I have started sanding the hull. It will take a while to sand the surface but it seems that the hull has retained its shape and that the structure is pretty robust.

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File comment: 1:350 BB Texas hull resting on top of the Hornet hull. Need something to test some painting ideas. Still some strips missing from this side of the Hornet.
Hornet43.jpg
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File comment: Sanding tool made out of round metal and plastic tubes. Works pretty nicely when one needs to sand curved surfaces.
Hornet44.jpg
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File comment: Still a bit uneven surface but I'll get there...
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Post Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 8:04 am
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scratch  Reply with quote
These photos hopefully show why I bothered to start building the hull from scratch. Merit hull has straight sides and even at the bow where there is seemingly a lot of curvature, the hull is actually more or less V-shaped not outward sloping as it should be.

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File comment: Even if the hull seems to have some curvature at the bow it is actually V- shaped.
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[attachment=6]Hornet40.jpg


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File comment: There should be almost an inch between the straight line and the side of the hull at the deepest point.
Hornet40.jpg
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Post Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 6:07 am
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scratch  Reply with quote
Some progress but I guess that this stage is about as interesting as looking at grass grow. I intend to leave the upmost 10 mm of the hull sides uncovered until I can fix the hangar deck in place. This allows some possibility to adjust the hull so that the Merit kit parts from hangar deck up fit into the model.
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File comment: This photo shows how much sanding will be needed before the next layer can be glued on.
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Post Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2015 4:19 am
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scratch  Reply with quote
Shape of the bow on the hangar deck level cut into cardboard, futtock positions and numbers marked. Numbers 4 and 5 have now been corrected on both sides. The gap between the cardboard shape and the model is explained by the fact that height of the hull is 3 mm less than the final hull height in order to accommodate for the Merit hangar deck that is 3 mm thick. When the Merit deck is added, 3 mm is added to the hull side height and the layer of 1 mm strips are glued to the hull we should have a perfect match to the card board shape. Just to make sure, I think I'll leave two last strips unglued on both sides for the full length of the hull so that I have some room for trimming when I start fitting the hangar deck in place.

Please note that the cardboard is slightly angled in the photo and thus the futtock positions marked into the cardboard and the ones in the ship hull do not seem to match.

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Hornet29.jpg
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Post Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 4:40 am
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scratch  Reply with quote
Copies of the blueprints arrived yesterday. There were several details that were a bit unclear to me so I decided to get these documents to complement the drawings I already had. Regarding the hull the most important open issues were the shape of the hull under the rudder and the exact position of the armor belt. Answers to both questions are pretty well covered in the blueprints :smallsmile:

Noticed also that I had trimmed the futtocks a bit too much in the middle of the bow on the main deck level. Have to correct the shape using bits of plastic strip that I shall glue on the futtocks.
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File comment: Shape of the hull under the rudder and the angle of the propeller shafts.
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File comment: A slight problem with the shape. Trimmed a bit too much off from the futtocks in the middle of the bow. The edge of the main (hangar) deck should be a bit curved approximately along the black line in the photo.
Hornet28.jpg
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Post Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 5:56 am
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scratch  Reply with quote
Hi Nicolas,

Shipyard indeed, glad that you can't see what's in the vitrine behind the ship :smallsmile:

Got the bright idea of getting myself a motorized adjustable height table a while back. It has really been worth it's price with this project. Sometimes companies selling office furniture sell second hand tables at a very reasonable price, especially when they have won a tender for a large delivery and large amounts of old furniture has fallen into their hands.

A bit of progress during the weekend but not as much as I would have liked. Lot's of other things that had to be done came on the way.

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Post Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2015 4:06 am
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scratch  Reply with quote
HI Jaril

realy impressive shipyard :thumbs_up_1: :thumbs_up_1:
cheers
nicolas
Post Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2015 2:02 pm
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scratch  Reply with quote
Some progress with the bow. At least it looks pretty straight now. Have to make sure that the curvature of the hull is the same on both sides after I trimmed 2 mm off from the futtocks.
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File comment: Red circle shows the weak point of the structure. The weakness shall be remedied when the second layer of strips is glued on top of the first layer.
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Post Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2015 9:41 am
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scratch  Reply with quote
Hopefully not too ambitious :smallsmile: Just noticed yesterday evening that at some point I had somehow damaged the forward part of the hull so that it was not straight any more. Luckily the structure was still flexible enough to allow me to fix the problem but a few strips more glued in place and I would have needed to do a lot of work to correct the problem -not to speak of noticing it first when the hull was ready of course.
Post Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2015 2:06 am
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scratch  Reply with quote
You are definitely more ambitious than I am! I cannot wait to see what this build looks like at the end!
Post Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 6:05 am
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scratch  Reply with quote
Cutting plastic strips with the circular saw gives pretty rough cutting surface and leads to a lot of filing and sanding. Decided to give a try with a paper cutter. Surprisingly the tool works well up to 2 mm thick plastic card. The curved shape of the blade causes long strips to curve quite a lot but short, about 10 cm in length, stay straight.

Continued to glue strips on the hull. Shape of the stern starts to show. Bow requires long strips but I think I'll manage to cut them with the paper cutter.



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File comment: Paper cutter for cutting plastic strips
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File comment: First strip to the bow section. Note the curvature and longitudal twist
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File comment: Stern being covered
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Post Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 4:29 am
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scracth  Reply with quote
Brilliant! Very much enjoying this build.
Post Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2015 9:14 am
  Post subject:  Re: Merit Hornet 1:200, hull from scracth  Reply with quote
Cut 2 mm off the futtocks (is this correct term?) at stern. This makes it easier to retain the correct form as the plastic strips can now be curved without discontinuity points. Have to do the same to the bow.

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Hornet17.jpg
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Post Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2015 6:59 am
  Post subject:  Bilge keels  Reply with quote
Filling the hull with foam may be a good idea, thanks for the tip! I had been thinking of pouring some resin into the most strategic parts like the pedestal supports.

Fitted the bilge keels in place during the weekend. About 1/3 of the hull is now covered. Ran out of plastic sticks so time to start the circular saw.
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File comment: Support structure for bilge keel in place.
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File comment: Slot for the bilge keel. Hope I get the contours nicely sanded around it.
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File comment: Bilge keels in place. They have to be cut into shape but I'll do that first when the hull is ready.
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Post Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 4:36 am

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