by JIM BAUMANN » Sat Sep 29, 2007 8:39 am
as posted in main forum
same answer below
I have a beltsander--but only use it on resin ships--the speed of the sander would melt the plastic.
Do any of the above....
or...
...mark on hull the waterline (inc boot-top showing!!) and mask off with masking tape exactly--use narrow Tamiya or similar.( above the underwater! )
THEN cover over that with 3 plus layers of wider masking tape...--the relevance of this will be clear in a moment!
Ideally using a motortool drill a series of closely spaced small holes about 1mm below your masking tape line. (chaindrill) Use a very sharp long bladed hobby knife and connect the dots and smooth off using the knife as a paring tool..
The reason for the extra layers of masking tape are twofold:
1) If when you are drilling you 'pop' thru too quickly it will prevent the surface of the plastic being scored by the chuck of the drill hitting the plastic
2) Any slips with the aforementioned sharp knife will be prevented.
ALTERNATIVELY...this is what I usually do...
build the model -deck on-this will make the hull rigid - hull painted--including the boot-top and any visible antifouling (if applicable--when doing rough seas/high speed seascapes that is), but no fine detail applied yet.
Take the motortool as above, using a circular saw blade attachment and starting amidships use the flatness of the blade to keep you level with the chosen waterlevel and work towards bow and stern respectively. and the lower hull will simply.. drop off!!
Set ship in wate made of acrylic gel, auto body filler or similar-using this method rougher seas will be better -- so as to lose the rougher edges of the cut.
Good luck
JIM BAUMANN
as posted in main forum
same answer below
I have a beltsander--but only use it on resin ships--the speed of the sander would melt the plastic.
Do any of the above....
or...
...mark on hull the waterline (inc boot-top showing!!) and mask off with masking tape exactly--use narrow Tamiya or similar.( above the underwater! )
THEN cover over that with 3 plus layers of wider masking tape...--the relevance of this will be clear in a moment!
Ideally using a motortool drill a series of closely spaced small holes about 1mm below your masking tape line. (chaindrill) Use a very sharp long bladed hobby knife and connect the dots and smooth off using the knife as a paring tool..
The reason for the extra layers of masking tape are twofold:
1) If when you are drilling you 'pop' thru too quickly it will prevent the surface of the plastic being scored by the chuck of the drill hitting the plastic
2) Any slips with the aforementioned sharp knife will be prevented.
ALTERNATIVELY...this is what I usually do...
build the model -deck on-this will make the hull rigid - hull painted--including the boot-top and any visible antifouling (if applicable--when doing rough seas/high speed seascapes that is), but no fine detail applied yet.
Take the motortool as above, using a circular saw blade attachment and starting amidships use the flatness of the blade to keep you level with the chosen waterlevel and work towards bow and stern respectively. and the lower hull will simply.. drop off!!
Set ship in wate made of acrylic gel, auto body filler or similar-using this method rougher seas will be better -- so as to lose the rougher edges of the cut.
Good luck
JIM BAUMANN