Update 91
Since I�ve decided to model Bennington on June 8, 1945, at some point I am going to have to bend the flight deck down to show the typhoon damage she suffered on June 5. I�ve been thinking that I would completely build her, and then tweak the deck.
Way back when I first started this adventure, before I started posting my progress, I posted a question about this and Tracy had a couple of good suggestions. He recommended using a hair dryer and being patient. He also recommended testing it on some styrene �board and batten�. At the time I didn�t have any styrene, much less board and batten, and I couldn�t see myself buying some just to destroy it. Well, as it turns out I bought some board and batten to do the elevator shaft, so I decided to test it.
I cut a piece of the B&B on to the hull of a 1/700 scale Essex hull (my dad and I are building it waterline). I then used the hair dryer as Tracy suggested and took my time. The results are encouraging.
Below are three pictures of Bennington�s damaged deck, each followed by a picture of my test from a similar angle.
- 1-typhoon damage to deck1.jpg (52.57 KiB) Viewed 792 times
As I said, this is encouraging. Of course there are some significant differences between this and the real thing; the Scale � 1/700 vs. 1/350, the Material � the B&B is thinner than the flight deck, and the Paint � the flight deck is painted, my test B&B wasn�t. Also, there was no support structure on the test like there will be on Benny. Still, the test did not take very long, and despite the fact that I wasn't diligent about how I did it, I just heated it and pushed down on it, the results are remarkably similar to the real thing. And, I learned a lot from it.
First, if you look at the pictures, the main failure plane was perpendicular to the center line of the ship (25 feet back according to the Action Report). Secondary failures, if you want to call them that, occurred when the collapsed front part of the deck hit the bow of the ship and the ends kept going. So, to simulate it correctly I think I would need to first fold it cross-wise, and then do the �dog ears�.
Second, the scale and extra thickness of the flight deck could make this a lot more difficult. At 1/700 scale, I could focus the heat right where I wanted to bend it and leave it pointed there for a while and the relatively thin styrene softened right up. I�m not sure that I can get enough heat over a large enough area to heat the thicker plastic of the flight deck. I may have to go to the shop and use a heat gun. Does anybody have a thought on that?
Third, I�m concerned how the heat will affect the paint that�s already on the flight deck. Will it flake? Does anyone know?
Last, I�m having second thoughts about waiting to the end to tweak her. To bend the styrene, it has to get pretty darn hot and I don�t know how that would affect items nearby, especially if heat damages the paint job. And for the thicker flight deck, I may want to be able to heat both sides. That wouldn�t really be possible if I waited until it was built. Another factor is that if I wait until the end, after I have put so much time into it, it may be hard to make myself do something that I really don�t know what the result will be. But, if I do it early, do I run the risk of tweaking the flight deck so that I wouldn�t be able to get it to fit properly? And how would I assure that I bent it down the correct amount, not too much, not too little. It has to be smashing the quad mount. With it attached, I think I could heat it right along the first support, and bend it along that support until the front of it is on the quad, then heat the sides to bend down the �dog ears�.
If anybody has any advice or comments, I would love to hear them!
out of me, but then so does the thought of using a heat gun.