The Ship Model Forum

My Modification of the new Merit 1-350 USS Yorktown Hull

I have started my Merit CV-5 Yorktown. I have watched very closely the discussion about the raised hull detail. I just started the process of �toning down� the raised detail on mine. I have found that I like the original detail but it is just WAY too pronounced.

Let me show you what I have done and then as for your thoughts on this. I used 600 grit wet and dry sandpaper with a foam block, and then polished with progressively finer grit sanding clothes to 12000 grit.

At least I'm trying and I think I like it better....but I may need to cut it down some more.

Thoughts or comments.

Regards
Steve

Steve,

Can you hit it with primer to normalize the finish? We might be able to see your work a bit better.

Steve,

Since you asked ... and like you said, you're trying ... It appears that you have actually made it look worse. Not only is the detail still too prominent, now the raised detail is slightly rounded over. It looks like you went after it with just a piece of unblocked sandpaper, sanding sponge, or scuff pad. Actually what you've done is demonstrated why I've said that this is no easy task like some have suggested. Very frustrating why a kit manufacturer would go out of their way to do this. My 2p ... for what it's worth.

Paul

I'm not sure that I'd call it worse Paul. The details are rounded, true, but if the goal is to knock back the "power" of the detail a bit that is one way to do it. I agree that some primer would help make a true determination.

it's not what I chose to do, but I completely understand why one would not want to completely sand everything down and start over. In the context of that, I think it looks better than just leaving it alone. It's all subjective, though, and my opinions might change on the time of day and how the light is catching parts!

I thank you for the comments guys.

I'll hit it with a shot of primer this morning and repost that.

"Rounded"? Yes, you are right there.....it really shows with the polishing effort. I will say that it does look "better" without the magnification. I always try to take higher resolution photos WITH flash just so it brings out ALL the "uglies".

I will say that I like it ALOT more than the original state.

Regards
Steve

As promised....here is the my CV-5 hull "tone down" with a thin coat of Tamiya Fine primer.

You might notice one vertical piece of detail in that large bow "sink hole" that did not get toned down as much as the others. I am trying to work up a plan for that sink hole, or to just leave it be.

Comments are welcome as you won't hurt my feelings. I personally like the toned down detail much better than the original. Do I "love it"? No, but I think I can work with it. In my eye, it looks more like a ship and less like a toy now.

Regards
Steve

Steve, Thanks for following up. Your work is a valuable example.

Tracy, I agree about the subjectivity, every element of trying to create in miniature is subjective. I guess the bigger question would be ... why work at preserving an overstated phantom pattern? I see how you could make a case if the plating pattern was correct and complete down to the keel.

Another point to note for modelers that shows up nicely in Steve's latest photo, is that if you are going to remove the plating, you have the opportunity to remove that round blunt area of the bow. Give her back her knife edge. With some elbow grease, you could really make that hull shine.

Paul

Steve,

I don't think going beyond about 1000- grit is really effort worth spent unless you're aiming for an unnaturally smooth finish; I use 400-600 for removal and 1000 to make that final tweak and take out the scratches.

When I am trying to tone down a step, I run tape (usually masking tape of some type) along the edge on the lower surface side and cover it with black marker. This way I can sand <relatively> rigorously until the black starts to scuff off at which point I take it more carefully. This allows me to set a step depth of however many thicknesses of tape I want and also makes it easier to get a more consistent step.

Yeah, it's a lot of tape sometimes....

I was finally able to get back on the CV5 project this weekend and managed to get the first stage of the hull sanding done. I started with 80/100 grit and ended with 400 grit for this stage. Looking back on the process thus far, it really didn't take that long to get the plates sanded off. The most time consuming element to me was trying to watch out for the shaft openings, hawsepipe, and hangar deck catapult extension supports.

At this point I have hit the hull with a coat of primer to determine what areas will need the most attention on the final stage of sanding. Overall, I'm very pleased on how the hull is looking, but in my mind, I still have some work to do.

TOMLABEL

.1

.2

Looks fantastic! Well done!

Looking good!

What type of sanding medium did you go with? Sanding blocks, sticks, or paper? I picked up some sanding foam blocks from the hardware store and will use those for the initial passes.

Great discussion and photos!

It's good to be able to see different techniques. Much to consider here. And it is clear from the photos that the Merit hull has good "bones" from which much can be done.

Thanks guys!

Devin, I used all that you mentioned. Started out with the foam sanding blocks, then used paper and sanding sticks on areas around details that I didn't want to accidentally destroy.

JTninja wrote:Looks fantastic! Well done!

Thanks - and I am watching your build with great anticipation!!!!!

Here is the most current pic of my Merit CV5 hull. Right now, I can only work in spurts with weeks or a month in between - very aggravating. At this point I've added the amoured belts using Paul Budzik's filler primer method for the first time. I was very pleased by with the outcome. Still doing some finer sanding here and there while researching the layout and size of CV5's deguassing cables.

TOMLABEL

More to come soon hopefully.

That looks awesome, Tom! Great work. Look forward to seeing more photos.

Nice work on smoothing the hull.