HMCS Snowberry 1/72 Waterline Conversion

[Earl Greybeard]

Greetings one and all.

I have acquired a copy of the old Revell 1/72 Flower Class corvette. As you may know, this is a full-hull model, but I need to build it as a waterline in order to fit and be visible in the space I have for it. Has anyone tried this?

In the old days, I would just hack off the hull bottom roughly, and then rub the assembled hull against sandpaper taped to a workbench. But this is a large model that may need additional reinforcement around the waterline to withstand such treatment. Any suggestions gratefully received.

Many thanks, Ray in Nottingham UK

[Killerbeans]

I just did this to a 1/144 Fletcher. I checked my refs, and applied tamiya tape (1/4" approx) to the top of the bootstripe, let the botton run wild. I then checked, and pressed it down firmly. I scribed to that bottom edge, lightly to start, (4-5 passes) then deeper. I then used my xacto saw to cut, going slowly. 3/4 of each side, then tied the ends together. Patience counts here. I intend to JB weld some plastruct I beam at two points to screw the hull to my base. Those will line up to the holes under turrets, or house, whichever works best.
HTH,
KB

[Earl Greybeard]

Many thanks KB.

So, you went for an accurate cut up front rather than a rough cut and sand. I am afraid some of the technical terms were lost on me, but do I gather that you did reinforce the structure in some way at the newly-open waterline base. (with Plastruct I beam). I will look into that product, which I have never heard of before

Best wishes, Ray

[Killerbeans]

Any thick stock can be used, I have some on hand. Have you decided how to fix the hull to the base?

[Earl Greybeard]

I have in mind to site it on a shelf in my office, with no base at all.

So, ever impulsive, I made up a quick jig to hold a marker pen at a fixed height above the workbench. I temporarily fitted the hull sides together in the supplied display stand, and marked a waterline all the way around with the jig and pen. Having taken the sides apart again, I used a bandsaw to cut off the hull bottom. The waterline hull is now re-assembled as I add extra cross supports as you suggested. When that is completed, I will level the final structure using sandpaper taped to the bench. That's the theory anyway.

Many thanks again for your advice.

[FFG-7]

do you know anybody that has either a portable or stationary belt sander as I use my stationary belt sander to sand the bottoms of my 1/429 scale Arizona's flat for my OBB build?

[Killerbeans]

Are gou wanting to sand the entire hull down to the bootstripe, or thereabouts?
Sounds like good result greybeard. One cheap way would be to use cut sprue for stiffeners

[Earl Greybeard]

Sounds like good result greybeard. One cheap way would be to use cut sprue for stiffeners

I did use sprue to reinforce the (very thin) supplied crossbeams by gluing the sprue to the side of each beam. But in general I thought the sprue had too small a cross-section for a hull of this size. I ended up using balsa and MDF to get something wider, stiffer and with a bigger area to glue to the hull each side. Bit heavier than plastic, but I do need some ballast down there anyway.

So, hull is now pretty level and down to where I want it without anything's falling apart. Result!

[Killerbeans]

Sounds good. What did you use to bond it all together?

[Earl Greybeard]

Oooops. Sorry for the delay. I need to find out how to get this forum to notify me when there is a post.

Mostly I used Tamiya extra fine + some drops of Gorilla super gel. Where I needed extra strength, or I was bonding non-like materials together, I used Araldite Rapid epoxy. It is all still intact with no signs of weakness. I did tape up the bow and stern whilst I was sanding down the waterline to re-enforce them against lateral stress.

I am now half way through airbrushing the hull after some sanding and filling. I though it best to paint each section before adding it to the assembly to avoid accidents with areas already painted.