hull halves: how to fit?

[Chap H]

Hello: I have the Academy 1/350 Admiral Graf Spee...can't seem to get the hull halves to fit properly....is this a warping problem? Any advice?

Thanks!
Chap

[Timhan]

hi chap
Have built the Premium edition, and to be frank, the two hull parts fitted perfectly. Not sure what the problem could be that you are experiencing.
Maybe your example has a warping problem, but, to my knowledge, this has not been a problem with other builders.
Sorry could not be of more help.
Tim.

[Guest]

Thanks Tim! I read the reviews...and they all said the same, great fit....the ends of the halves go together perfectly...it's bringing the center together, and keeping it held together, where the problem is. I'm new to shipbuilding...long experience in 1/35 armor building...so it could be I'm unschooled in this type of construction challenge...

[robertmelvin]

I'm not familiar with the kit in question, so let me ask a few questions. Is the hull a waterline hull, split with top and bottom halves, or is it a full hull kit, with both sides separate and to be glued together side by side? The answer could allow me to fine tune my answer just a bit.

If the hull is made to allow for a water line option, a lot of the Trumpeter 1/350 kits have a fit problem here. I have solved this by cutting the spacing bars in the upper hull section and thereby allowing a bit better fit, since Trumpy's hulls on these ships seem to have a chronic problem of the upper hull being slightly too wide, especially in the midships area.

If the hull is a full hull version where you glue both halves together, and the problem seems to be warpage, try soaking the warped section in hot (not boiling) water until it becomes pliable. You should be able to then get the two parts to fit while the warped section is still a bit pliable.

Finally, I often use epoxy to attach hull halves, even if the fit isn't problematic. This is a fundamentally critical join in the build and I find that using epoxy (I use the 5 Min. version) allows for a good, solid join that won't cause you problems later.

Hope this helps, but if it doesn't, feel free to bring us up to date on your efforts to cure the problem, how it failed, and I can promise you that the good folks here will try their best to find a solution to your problems.

Bob

[Timmy C]

It's a full-hull kit: http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/sh ... eview.html

[robertmelvin]

Chap, can you describe the fit problem a bit more specifically? My first guess would be that somehow one or both of the hull halves are warped, but there could be other explanations. The more info you can give us, the more likely we are to move toward the right answer from a WAG.

Bob

[Guest]

Hi Bob: here's more details on the fit problem (haven't worked on the hot water idea just yet--got to work!): fore and aft locator pins go together just fine. moving toward the bottom center of the hull from the fore portion (about two inches away from the end), a gap opens--this gap at its widest point is about .25 inches, and continues nearly to the point at which the locator pins at the aft end meet. What do you think?

[robertmelvin]

Chap, sounds like you might have a little warpage problem. There are a couple of ways I would consider to solve this. First, try soaking the hull halves in hot (not boiling, just short of that point) for a short time, just enough to impart some flexibility. Once you have the flexibility you need, mate up the two halves and tape them together fitted properly. Let them cool and then remove the tape to see how the fit is.
I'd also suggest that you might consider, either as an alternative to soaking in hot water, or as an adjunct to it, cutting some stock pieces, either fairly thick (say 1mm thick) strips of flat stock, or some bar stock of styrene and glue them at intervals down one side of the hull with epoxy. Once that has set up (I'd use 5 minute epoxy, so the set up time will be pretty short - I'd give it an hour to fully cure out), then mate up the two halves and start from one end start fitting the halves and when you have them fitted as you want, use epoxy to attach the stock to the other side. Hold it until it sets us, maybe 10 minutes. Then move on to the next, working you way up or down the hull. Once you are done, then run a bead of epoxy down the mating seam. That should give you a good, solid bond with a good fit.

While I don't always use epoxy in gluing my hulls, especially in smaller ships like DDs, I do use this technique pretty frequently on larger ships like cruisers, BBs and carriers. Makes a good solid bond that you don't have to worry about giving way on you as you handle the hull during the building process.

Let me know how this works if you try it. Good luck and I hope I've been able to help you with your problem.
Please don't hesitate to let me know if these suggestions don't work for you and if you want, feel free to private message me. I'm always up for trying to help a fellow ship modeler since so many of the good folks here have helped me tremendously since I came back to the hobby a few years ago.

Bob

[Guest]

Bob: this is excellent advice. Will tackle this problem Saturday morning and report back! Again, warm thanks for helping on this...as I said earlier, I'm new to shipbuilding...I would sure like to lay down some successes, looks like a great new field of endeavor!

[robertmelvin]

Chap, hang in there and persevere. I think you are on the right track. Just remember, there is usually more than one way to skin the cat. I think you will enjoy ship building. I've branched out into other fields from time to time, mostly warbirds, but keep coming back to ships. Nothing else seems to give me the sense of satisfaction that putting together a ship kit and having it come out reasonably presentable does. Of course, I'm a fiend for U.S. Navy history, especially the World War 2 ear and I suspect that has a lot to do with it.

If you would like some suggestions on some other good kind of "intro" kits, I'd be glad to make some suggestions.

Bob

[Guest]

Bob: warm thanks again for the advice...update...the hot water helped greatly...I repeated the process. Then, went with epoxy glue. The hull halves now go together...but there remains a small gap through the center...nothing serious, and the nice thing about epoxy, is that it acts like a gap filler. So...am waiting for the epoxy to cure...once that's done, I may try to fill the remaining sliver of a gap with Mr. Surfacer, perhaps putty. No matter what--this is a heckuva lot better than that huge quarter inch gap!