The Ship Model Forum

Update 85
I haven�t worked on the model any for the last couple of days but I did build the frame today. It took me a little over 3 hours to build. I decided, upon advice from the guys in the shop, to move the plug to the back so that it wasn't in the joint. I like this better and the way the frame turned out, but there are a couple of issues. In the photo below you can see that the top switch hole is larger than the other three. I didn�t have the hardware with me and when I got home and tested them to see if they fit, they didn�t. Bummer! I used a file on the top one to get one of the switches to fit, but I think I will just go back to the shop and drill it larger. Lesson: TAKE YOUR HARDARE WITH YOU!

A more difficult problem to fix is on the backside. In the picture below, you can see the 4 large holes for the switches and some of the 8 holes to accommodate the wiring. They don�t go all the way through. The problem is that I didn�t drill them quite deep enough, which I guess, is better than drilling them too far. Below is a clip of a picture I found on-line of the switch. I have the 2 important dimensions labeled A and B. Essentially, I missed them both. The A dimension (diameter) is easy to fix. The B dimension (depth) might not be. If I would have had the switch with me and tested it before I put the frame together it would be an easy fix. It will be more difficult now, because I can�t use a drill press, and even a hand drill will be difficult because I won�t be able to get it straight. My best bet may be carving it out of there by hand.

Lesson: TAKE YOUR HARDARE WITH YOU!

I also took some pictures with the unfinished model in it, using an old iPhone box to put the ship at about the correct height. The plan was to stain it dark, but I kind of like it the color it is, so maybe I�ll just use a clear stain, or maybe a couple of coats of polyurethane. Another reason to leave it the color it is, is that the black letters on the text would probably show up better than on a darker color. Any comments on light or dark? I don't see many light colored model frames, is there a reason for that that I am unaware of?

I think I will give a text decal a test. And tomorrow it�s back to the shop.

Update 86
I had an over sized �KEEP CLEAR OF PROPELLERS� clear decal I had made earlier when I was experimenting with making decals. So, I decided to put it on the frame to see what it looked like and the result was encouraging. Application of the decal was piss poor, but it shows up very well and this text is smaller than the text I will be using. Plus, when the wood is finished, I think the decal outlines will be less visible, especially with a gloss coat over everything at the end. I think that may have settled it for leaving it light.

CHEERS!!!

Update 87
Last night, before going to bed, I prepared the decal sheets for the frame. In the process, I changed some text and added a References section. I also got artistic with the Bennington logo, giving it a bit more color and making it larger.

There are a total of 4 sheets, 2 on white decal paper and 2 on clear decal paper. The photographs and graphics are printed on white. The clear sheets consist entirely of text with the exception of the Bennington logos. I put them on both the clear and the white, because I am not sure exactly how I want to do them yet. The white labels I printed directly to my new printer. The clear labels I printed to a PDF file. I will have to take the files and the decal paper to a copy shop that prints on laser machines to have them printed. I will probably print the photos and graphics on photo paper as well, because I think it might give better results, even though I am happy with the way they look now.

CHEERS!!!

Update 88
I didn�t get to spend much time on the model today, but I did get by the shop for my repairs, and I was right on both counts. Drilling the hole out larger was a snap. Fixing the depth was not. Hunter (the shop manager) took one look at it and said that it would be easiest to take it apart. I said, �Screw that. What if I just drill them out and make a brass plate?� He said that would work, so we used a jigsaw to cut out around all of the holes. Hunter also had a piece of brass he said I could use and cut it to size for me. I then drilled the holes in it, rounded the corners a tad, and sanded it. I then took it home and did a test fit. The plug jack, cannot be inserted from the inside, so the switches and their wires had to be thread through the rectangular plug hole. Unfortunately, putting it together didn�t go as smoothly as I had hoped, as there was still material impeding the wire connections, preventing the switches from seating. After perhaps an hour of working on them, and having to solder 2 of the wires back on their switches, I thought I had it. But, when I took these pictures, I couldn�t get the 2nd one to go in all the way, so it still needs a little bit of work, but not much, and I think it looks pretty good. I like the brass plate, so I�m kind of glad I messed up.

CHEERS!!!

Update 89
Good news! Bad news!
The good news is that I got all of the switches so that they go in all of the way. Unfortunately, they aren�t true, so I still have a little more work to do. The bad news is I burned out my main switch and will have to order another one.

Update 90
D�j� vu. I got the replacement DC-3 today. It will soon be another AC-47. The main body is built and painted, so it�s on its way. I should be able to finish it tomorrow night.

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. 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!

It "appears" that the flight deck bent at the foremost transverse support beam.

I suspect (I don't know for sure) that there is some locater molding on the bottom of the plastic flight deck. I would consider scribing the plastic at the forward edge of the locater, so as to weaken and/or thin the flight deck on the underside. Also do this where the dog ears should be. Then support the plastic transversely with a wood block, maybe a millimeter or less aft of bend point.

Measure the distance that the center of the leading edge of the deck must come down and set some supporting device at that distance below the plastic, so that when the deck bends, the forward edge will stop at that point. temporarily fix a lead fishing weight to the forward end of the flight deck. one or two oz weight should be sufficient

Using the flat nozzle attachment to the hair dryer heat the plastic at the bend point. The heat would be kept as close as possible to the bend line. When the forward edge of the flight deck hits the center support, stop and let cool. Now do the dog ears.

That's the way I would try it. I would not use a heat gun. Too hot

Another approach would support the flight deck from both ends. place the plastic deck on the supports but upside down. Place a stop support of the correct height under the deck below the bend point. place the weight to the aft side of the bend line. Heat the thinned/scribed line. The dog ears could be dine the same way with correctly sized support blocks. I fact, I'd consider doing them first.

Hey, Thanks Russ!

It definitely sounds like you think I should bend it before I put it on, which I must say, the more I think about it the more I think that's the only way to go. I had thought about weights, using washers, same diff, but I hadn't thought about scribing. That sounds like a good idea. Unfortunately, there isn't any locator molding but I put the deck on, turned it over and marked where the bends should be. I think I have a cunning plan, that is a variation of what you suggest. I think you are right about doing the dog ears first. It would be hard to line up right with the dog ears already bent.

How do you think the paint will hold up?

The more I think about it, the more I like the upside down method. Less chance of distortion of the deck planking.

I have no idea what the paint will do. but the upside down approach minimizes the danger

Update 92 � 9/28/2012
I just took the plunge and put Benny through her typhoon. After receiving excellent advice from Russ and thinking about it for a bit, I came up with what I thought would be a good way to do it. (Sorry Russ, I missed the last post until I was already on a roll.) I started in the shop where I found some scraps and made some blocks of wood cut to the right size to aid in the process. The 2 blocks on the right were just supports for the flight deck during the storm. The one on the left served both as a support and the spacer/stop block to set where the deck had to go down to, but not past. When my duties for the day were completed, I scribed a line where I wanted the deck to bend (Russ� advice) and cut notches in the side of the deck to allow it to bend. I haven�t done much scribing so I probably didn�t go as deep as I could of, electing to err on the side of caution. I then taped the blocks to their places on the underside of the deck, as seen below. The key was the block on the right, show in more detail below, where the spacing represents the distance from the bottom of the deck to the top of the quad tub. This can be seen more clearly in the next photo, which also shows the way I rigged weights using wire to support them, as I knew that the heat wouldn�t affect the wire. It was a sloooooowwwww process, but after a while, there was noticeable progress. A little more work and I was almost there. After performing this test fit and taking these pictures, I started to finish it off and our hair dryer wouldn�t turn on. I killed it. Needless to say my wife isn�t too thrilled and I have to go buy another one, and I may have a hard time getting to use it again, though I am sooo close.

I should add that instead of weights I would suggest something comfortable to grab and pull on, because the weights didn�t cut it. Basically I just pulled down on the weights with one hand and killed the blow dryer with the other.

I�m thrilled with the way it looks so far. The method worked great and there was no noticeable impact to the paint. When I get back from the store (where I�m going in a few minutes) I�m going to finish it off. I will need to cut the side slots a little bigger to get the travel I need first, but that is a cinch!

Update 93
Well, I just got a new blow dryer and you got to love other people protecting us from ourselves. The old one I had since at least 1983 and it got HOT! The new one, not so much. I didn�t by el cheapo but I didn�t go extravagant either. I worked on it for about an hour and I don�t think you can even tell the difference from last time, I think because the *&^%&#$^$ hair dryer doesn�t get hot enough. Even without a �concentrator� my old one was way hotter. So, I guess I have 2 options. Live with it the way it is, or go very carefully try a heat gun. I like the way it looks, it portrays the idea, but it�s not quite right. The trouble is that I think I�m walking on thin ice here. It would be pretty easy to really screw it up at this point, but if I could just soften the plastic a little, it�s not that far off from what it needs to be. Whatever I do it will have to wait until tomorrow.

CHEERS!!!

Yeah, you gotta love those people dedicated to saving us.

I think you are going to have to go to a heat gun, maybe with a baffle to protect the balance of the flight deck.

Hi rdutnell

good method for a result close to the true
for the MK-54 ,I obtain that

are those of my richelieu
cheers
Nicolas
particular mention for your "HI-TECH socle "

HI Rutdnell

it should read "High Tech frame"
cheers
Nicolas

Have you thought of re-scribing the cut line and then running liquid plastic cement in the groove to soften the plastic and possibly glueing it to shape at the same time? Just an idea.

LE BOSCO wrote:HI Rutdnell

it should read "High Tech frame"
cheers
Nicolas

Aha! I thought you were probably talking about the AutuCad drawings, but wasn't sure. Thanks for clarifying and thanks for the nice comment!

Jon C Ryckert wrote:Have you thought of re-scribing the cut line and then running liquid plastic cement in the groove to soften the plastic and possibly glueing it to shape at the same time? Just an idea.

Hmmmm. I have not, but the thought of melting my $100 model with a blow dryer was rather intimidating. With my lack of experience, the thought of chemically melting it scares the out of me, but then so does the thought of using a heat gun.
At this point, I mostly need to go down with the dog ears, which doesn't really have a break line, it's just a curvved surface. The center is probably down far enough. The real one was smashed on and in fact wrapped around the quad tub, but I'm afraid of messing up the fit of the flight deck on the frame, if I go down that far.

Anyway, I'm still not sure how I'm going to do it yet and it's always good to have multiple options, so I appreciate the advice. If I don't use it here, it's good info to know.

Update 94
O.K., the shop is closed today, so I will have to wait until tomorrow to finish bending the deck. Rats!

I did make some adjustments to the spacer/blocker and since I will be using a heat gun, I�m going to set it up differently to reduce the heat to the rest of the flight deck. On the other hand, it doesn�t have to move far, so maybe I should just do it with the flight deck on the ship and set it up like shown below. I�ve got a day to think about it. Any thoughts?

Now it�s time for a bike ride.

Been out shopping to the commisary.

I wouldn't get the heat gun anywhere near the hull. If it is hot enough to melt the flight deck, it is hot enough to warp the hull.