The Ship Model Forum

That was the plan - I'm doing the New Jersey and everything above the main deck is being treat as a sub assembly so I'd complete the PE and painting at deck level then add the deck and then work my way up so it looks like I may get away with it...

John

One last question. Any chance of some Gato decks for the 1/72nd Revell Gato, or even the 1/144th Trumpeter Gato? The kit decks are really all wrong. The Revell Gato is for a postwar boat, and the full length and partial length wooden deck variants aren't even covered. Some photos of partial decks (bow and midships wood but plated metal stern) have come out, so there's plenty of variety to choose from; single and double small boat locker, etc.

Thanks!

Robert

Hey john, I got my USS Iowa deck today. It's great, too. The only difference here is that I am in a future time zone than you, so I am actually sending this from the future!

But seriously, I can't wait to see your Iowa deck in person.

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I'm extremely curious how close either one of the two Iowa decks are to completion, particularly the NJ one (because I have that kit unbuilt). I'm currently without any build project going on and I want to dive into the NJ, but not without a wood deck (I really hate the seam lines that I'd have to fill.

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As of right now, we're in the "Final Fitment" phase. At this point the decks are basically done, but we are doing minute adjustments to make sure there are no gaps, no tears, no warps, etc. The only way to do that is to review a fit, make adjustments, and retest. But sometimes when you move some fittings it shifts the deck overall and so you get some warps or other misalignments.

We don't know going in if it is going to take 2 rounds of adjustments or 10. So it's hard to predict an exact due date. What I can say is that we are really close, as we are now in final fitment phase. We're talking just a matter of a couple of weeks from this stage of development.

-- John D. --

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Excellent news

John

No plans of a 1/200 Yamato deck?

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viewtopic.php?f=59&t=152105

Let me say, "No plans for 2011." I have a 1/250 Yamato, and I think we'll do a 1/200 Yamato someday just to be complete with our offerings - bit it would certainly be a limited market kit...

We have so many other projects to tackle first!

-- John D. --

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Hello, I see you’re doing a 1/350 Missouri ‘surrender day’ deck, which is my summer project. Not sure if I want to spend extra on the nice Lionroar detail set now that it’s out, as I have the GMM sets and about all the aftermarket pieces I could find. There would be a lot of duplication for the price and I already spent a small fortune. But I might be tempted to get this item, I think it would add a lot to the detail. Is it still scheduled for release this month? Can’t wait to see a picture of it.

Anyway, I have two questions on your deck for her.

1) How are the 40mm gun tubs treated, do they have that raised pattern like the Lionroar PE inserts have, or are they just the deck pattern?

2) And secondly, how do you attach your decks to the kits? Do you have to sand off any of the existing decking or do they simply lie on top? And what adhesives do you use?

Thanks!

Actually, I think that's a lot more than TWO questions!

Yes, it is still scheduled for release this month. We will provide decking for the tubs that were planked, but the majority were not. We figure that most modelers will paint them - either in the raw plastic form or with the PE glued in to give texture.

In terms of attachment, you can scrape off the plank lines if you want, but that is not necessary. We DO recommend that you paint the plastic deck a uniform color as an undercoat; particularly for the lighter woods, they are so thin they are translucent. So, if you were to paint around the breakwater, for example, and slop onto the deck with a lot of paint, then if that paint was a different color than the underlying plastic you would see those different tones showing through the wood. You don't have to be super-precise, but you will want to have a consistent color under the deck. (Note that you can use this to your advantage, to paint white underneath to lighten the wood or black underneath to darken it!)

Once you have a uniform color underneath, you can use a variety of glues. I have found Gator Grip glue to work really nicely as it allows you to easily slide things around. You can buy a syringe from the Gator Grip folks, and that's recommended for working the edges. I have also had good luck with regular tube-type plastic cement - it is thicker, but very tacky. Liquid cement can tend to dry too quickly, but it can be good for small areas.

We always ship our decks in a sheet, giving you lots of spare material to experiment with. We recommend that you take some of the framing stock and experiment with glueing it large, flat areas - and the UNDERSIDE of the main deck makes a great experimentation zone since you're just going to bury it inside the hull anyway... Cut some scraps, experiment with different undercoat colors and different cements. Once you have a combination that you like, go for it! It really all comes down to personal preferred techniques.

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are you going to be comming out with a 1/350 scale USS Airzona deck?? And how thick would these be?? will it hide all the detail work.

I saw that the 1/350th North Carolina deck is scheduled for an April release. Is that still on track for April?

Thanks,

Robert

Being a car guy more than ship guy, I have wondered why there isn't a greater use of decals for decks. Not for the wood deck but all the decks on the upper levels. One could paint haze gray for example then solvaset some precut darker gray decals on the decks. Slide the decal onto the deck, push up against the bulkheads and have a perfect line around every color change. Since the kits are being designed by Cad, it should be "easy" to print accurate deck shapes.
Some companies make precut carbon fiber decals that completly cover a chassis on a modern F1 car. Seems to be pausible.

Hey, gang! It's been a while since I've been on here as I have just been slammed with work and life and volunteer work and all that sort of stuff. PLUS, we are redoing some of our technology (again!) which I will show you in some new posts to follow - namely on the Yamato/Musashi, High Detail Fit Decks and new woods and printing techniques. But to answer the most recent questions...


Yes, this is definitely in the plans. It's several weeks away, but we do expect it this spring. It will be as thick as all of our other decks, in the range of .008 to .010 inches (thinner than other manufacturers) and backed with fleece to give the wood strength. It will NOT hide the detail work, as there will be cutouts for all of the kit detail.


We've had some delays working some things out as we are still new at this and we don't release anything until it is ready. I've updated the schedule at scaledecks.com. It's still targeted for "spring" but that is more likely to mean May or June than April at this point.


Way ahead of you on this one, my friend. After doing the linoleum decks on the Borodino, I swore I'd have to come up with a better way. And we are now working with photographic paper, and using a photo printer to lay down colors on the paper prior to laser cutting. This allows us to do planking, painted deck, linoleum, etc. I have on my "to do" list the tiny little project of making rust colored laser cutouts for all of the Borodino decks that were covered in linoleum as a test. Unfortunatley, it has remained on my list below "Yamato/Musashi, Iowas, 1/200 Arizona, Wood Refinement, Printing Refinement, Engineering Refinement", etc.

Once we get to the Iowas, expect to see WWII decks for the Missouri in photographic paper in appropriate paint schemes, with many more to follow!

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Since many are throwing their favorites out there, I'll throw in mine. The 1/72 Revell Sunseeker Predator 108 yacht. Not alot of detail but what a difference it would make.

Interesting technique for lino decks used seen on a high end card model of a Pre-dreadnought French ship...

May be of interest--certainly printing can be so much sharper than painting....


JIM B

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Hmm, interesting idea!

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hi john
your samples came today, they were well worth waiting for they are great glad you included a bit of scharnhorst decking in the package that helps after we have moved at the end of the month i will place my order thank you well done and i look forward to seeing more decks in the future
cheers
gary r

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All -

The Sunseeker looks like it would be a great project. I think we'll have to do that one at some point.

Jim, I love the look of the linoleum. I want to do that for the Borodino, and pair that up with the wood decks. I was waiting to get that done before sending you some samples so that you can compare all of our materials. I have had GREAT success with tinting Black Gum wood; I'll post some pictures of that next week.

My son (aka, our engineer) has recently moved, and so he's been packing and unpacking and all that other fun stuff which has brought engineering to a standstill for a bit. We expect to get things rolling again next week.

-- John D. --

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Hi John, just wanted to say I received the konig deck Saturday. Very speedy delivery!
When I opened the package my first impression was OMG! look at the intricate detail, the planking is awesome,...fit is top-notch! So very thin, yet not overly delicate. A craftsmanship product that may take first place in the market for wooden decks offerings., And a very reasonable price to boot.

Can hardly wait for Missouri ww2 and 1/350 Arizona.

And again, thank you John!