TCC wrote:
John, what are you doing for the pattern of edge planking that border around the barbettes and/or any hatches that pierce the deck and around the deck edge itself?
I suppose it is enough that the waste 'surround' of timber that comes with? each 'inner' deck can be cut for strips by the modeller himself and that those can be used for these edging planks... and with each new edging plank being custom cut-to-fit, they will be a closer fit than the lazer cut hole. [no gaps! Hope that's not a back-handed compilment?
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A lot of people get a lot of satisfaction working with wood... it's like brass in this regard... it's pleasing to the eye! And although it is personal preference, a I think the wood decks looks great... far better than paint... even if the grain is out of scale.
Right now we're not doing anything with edge planking. Per my prior posts, the resolution of our planks are overscale anyway, and I'm concerned about putting all that detail in - it might just look too clunky. I want the decks to be a harmonious part of an overall great model - not draw too much attention to themselves and steal the show! Hasagewa does edge details on their Nagato, which you can view in photos in a prior post. If you as a hobbyist want to make them - wow! That's a lot of work - but certainly a very impressive commitment to detail.
Now on the 1/200 Arizona, that's a whole different matter. We are now approaching a size where we can start to think about putting in true deck detail - and indeed we are. I am looking at lateral expansion lines, and there is a peculiar shaped area back around the 3rd main battery turret that sits under the boat stowage that we are looking real carefully at. If we can do what I want to do there, I think you'll all be stunned.
Right now we're trying to overcome issues of aliignment between the laser printing and laser cutting. Just to keep you all fully in the loop (and maybe get some free advice!) I have no problem sharing where we are at. The printing on the wood is fine, but the laser printer wasn't meant to print wood. So sometimes the sheets go in a little crooked - like a fraction of a degree, but just not perfectly parallel to the edges. And, in fact, the wood that I work with is machine cut but not exactly a consistent size - and sometimes the edges are a little jagged. (It's not like a perfect 11x17 sheet of paper by any means.) And, sometimes the wood binds up a little bit, making a "bend" appear in some of the planking when it is fusing. I know this all sounds bad - but don't worry - if it's not printed right, I don't sell it.
But assuming I get a workable pattern on the wood, I now have to cut it. And here it gets tricky again. First, we have to carefully align the material with the pattern in the laser cutter. And again, we can't just "square it up" on the edges, since the edges are inconsistent. We have to set registration targets on the printed wood, and then make sure that the laser lines up with those targets when it cuts. (We have different layers in our plans - print layer, cut layer, alignment layer, border and labeling layer, template layer, etc.) And then we have to lock down a very thin piece of wood to the cutting bed with a system that doesn't get in the way of the cutting. It's a tough project to get clean alignment to start the cut, trust me on that. Then, when we cut, there is a lot of air movement over the cut surface (fans and blowers and such) to clear out the smoke. (The decks actually smell "like Christmas!" somebody once said... They have a nice, wood fire smoky smell to them when first unpacked...) But all of those blowers can make the super-thin wood "flutter" and can also cause some alignment problems.
What all that means is that right now, our placement of the cut layer onto the print layer is "close" but not "perfect." So I have to give us some margin for error in the printed planking because I don't know exactly where the cuts are going to come down in that area. As a result, tricky patterns like radial spokes around gun mounts (like on the I-400) or doing edge planks and barbette surrounds becomes a real challenge, and is just not within grasp of our technology at this point - at least not with the equipment and registration system we are using. HOWEVER, this is a HUGE issue for us, and we're spending a whole lot of time working to lock it down. We're experimenting with new techniques and equipment continuously, with the goal of being able to drop cuts EXACTLY where we want them in relation to the printed layer. And I am confident that we will get there. Absolutely. So then we will be able to even cut barbette rings perfectly centered in our barbette surround plank pattern. We're just not quite there today, so we're sticking with a straight plank pattern (for the most part) that doesn't have to be precisely aligned.
Let me point out in closing that if we just burned in the plank pattern with the laser then we'd have no problems... A blank sheet of wood would go into the machine, and the machine would do it all in one step so there would be no alignment problem between competing technologies. But THEN we'd have issues of brown plank lines that were too thick and inconsistent widths for linear and butt cuts... I don't want to go down that path, I want to strive for something better. We'll get there. It's just a matter of time until we perfect a system and lock down the solution.
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FAQ
I have two versions of teak, one with heavy cut lines the other with light, which are both superb. The wife likes the darker Teak, said it looked more like a real deck, I like both but will more than likely do the darker Teak to make her happy and help me order another kit later 
) The second coat, stayed wet a bit longer thanks to the sealer coat preventing the wood from soaking up so much of the glue.
Hi John . I recieved my Varyag decks today . Wow . Its thin .Actually i wasnt prepared for it to be so thin . This is my first wooden deck so Ill take your advice about doing some test pieces with different glues . Are you happy with the gator glue? Is it an instant grab or can it be moved about ,because i was thinking that plastic cement wouldn't allow any degree of error in the positioning.?
