wefalck wrote:
It's a bit late, indeed, but making the stem-keel-stern-piece from brass could be nice for a display model on pedestals, as early iron-clads sometimes did have bronze stem and stern-posts so as not to be subject electrolytic corrosion from the copper-plating.
Some 40 years ago I made a (larger) model of an iron steamship of that period with a brass backbone and brass bulkheads, the spaces infilled with hard foamboard.
hypno7 wrote:
I missed the beginning of this thread. It is a coming along very good!
The lower hull looks great! I know its late in the construction and the hull is already done, but what helps with deformation and the epoxy separating from the polystyrene frames (it happened to me a lot in my experiments) is to make holes on the polystyrene frames, so epoxy will cure together between sections. Also for the bow and stern, a thin brass sheet will keep it sharp and more difficult to deform when sanding. Also the "keel" can be done with something more robust, like a thicker plastic beam or even steel (i haven't tried that).
I did something similar here:
http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=171299I have your unused lower hull actually, I think you sent that to me a while ago. I tried to use it but it reacted with the actual kit of Chen Yuen, MELTING it. haha. So this is attempt 2.
I learned a lot doing this lower hull myself, you learn a lot when you screw up. I have plans to do few more of these, so fingers crossed this is a trial that ends well.
When I realized I was seeing a warped keel and so on, I have at least did a major surger on the bow and fixed with a thicker plastic card that was sharpened along the edge. I for sure looks better. Not perfect, but not bad.