The Ship Model Forum

Im going to start my first scratchbuilt hull fairly soon and was wondering what to use to cover the frames? What material and what thickness?This project will be a 1/96th scale predreadnought BB. I thought Id use 1/4" hardwood for the frames or maybe even 1/2 inch.I figure with the 1/2" I wouln'nt have to use as much ballast.Also,this ship has casements,how do you do those.I was thinking that when you cut out the frames you would leave a cutout for those??Advice is welcome.Ive only worked with fiberglass hulls in the past....this is a new adventure.Oh,I thought of something else.what kind of glue do you use to attach the wood to the frames?And finally,do you epoxy the hull and then bondo and then paint?? Thanks folks

I use balsa strips 1/8 x 3/8 glued with water proof white glue, you can use lime wood of thin ply wood,






The casements come later in the build , cut out section were they are going and let the deck run over the top of them.




I hope this helps . ARH

i use .040" sheet styrene on my hulls in plates

I went back and read almost alll the posts on your Iron Duke build.I also look at some posts on the Marlborogh.These build threads will be what I go by when I start construction.Im waiting for several sets of plans from Loyallhanna,then I will begin.

Good luck with your build Tim, when you start on it. The methods used by Ron and myself on the Marlborough are quite strong once the hull has been treated with fibre glass resin and coated with body filler. You also end up with a very light hull, providing you make all the internal frames hollow.
I used 1/8" ply for the frames and planked with 1/8" balsa strips before applying the glass tissue and resin.