My brother asked me to build one for him. I just got through the hull, that was a bear. What tips and lessons learned can y’all give me on the rest of the construction? I had planned on going mostly OOB with the exception of Tom’s Modelworks PE set.
i would check on wood decking, it changes everything. ive always built 1/700 scale and am now gathering parts for my firdt 1/350. i tried PE on my small ships…it was a disaster! i had PE stuck to my fingers, lost in the carpet, you name it! just to small for me. BUT i think i can handle 1/350, good luck to you, and check out the wood decks.
How does that wood decking work? Does it replace the plastic deck pieces or does it just go on top?
Also, the instructions that come with the Tom’s Modelworks PE are atrocious. I swear to God, half of the placement direction is, “check references for location”
Personally ;
The North Carolina by Trumpeter was my first of their kits .
Rather than argue the accuracy of the kit with someone who didn’t have one , I went to the source . Yes , the Ship Museum itself . They stated the following . "If it wasn’t accurate as the ship floats RIGHT NOW , we would NOT carry it in the gift shop ! ".
Now , I will admit , being a shipmodeler from Noah’s time saved my butt ! Partway through the early part of the build they have you put on part of the upperworks plus the deck . Then turn it over and install the completed ship bottom of your choice . Kinda backwards that was !
The kit gave no more confusing instruction that I could find , Eduard P.E. and Done . She has a place of honor in a friend’s home !
Wood decking fits over the deck. It comes in two different forms. One has a sticky side that adheres to the deck; the other has to be glued in place.
One problem that I have experienced with this decking is that the decks can “bubble” in any kind of humidity. For that reason, I strongly recommend that you glue the deck in place, being sure to spread the glue evenly and thoroughly, and make sure to apply pressure until the glue dries.
Bill Morrison
That’s good information. Normally, I build planes and tanks, this is my first ship. I’m trying to compartmentalize the build into functional areas, like I do on airplanes and tanks and figure out what can be painted separately. I figured I could build most of the first deck/lower hull, minus the fine details, paint all of that, then add the rest of the super structure. I already mated the upper hull to the lower hull, so I’ve already kinda deviated from their instructions.
Would you say the Eduard PE set is vastly superior to the Tom’s Modelworks PE set? Like I said, the instructions that came with the latter leave much to be desired.
Ok, so, basically, I’d sand off the current decking detail to put down the aftermarket wood decking. Seems like kind of a waste if I’m going to paint it all deck blue anyway.
I’m not a very good model builder but I enjoy the process (when I’m not cursing, taking God’s name in vain, on my hands and knees trying to rend a PE part from the carpet monster, etc.). That having been said, I didn’t sand off the plastic deck detail on my HMS Dreadnought or USS San Francisco when I put on wood decks. Fortunately the decks didn’t compromise the builds by raising the deck height too much. As least I don’t remember their having done so.
If you believe that the thickness of the aftermarket wood deck will make the build more difficult by adding its thickness, then by all means sand away. I just didn’t find that to be a problem in my “hack” builds where I’ve used wood decks.
Forgive the photos of the Dreadnought. Just found them in an external HD - thought they were lost after the Photobucket debacle. I’m sure you will see many mistakes but I didn’t think the placement of the wood deck over the existing detail made any negative difference. 
That’s gorgeous Mike, I hope to be at least half as good. I can’t even tell that the deck is not part of the original kit.
laskdjn,
Thanks for the kind words.
I should also say that if you’re going to paint the horizontal surfaces deck blue you might have less reason to add a wood deck. I did add a wood deck on my USS San Francisco and had painted it deck blue before attaching it. I don’t have any close up images I can find at the moment but I must say, try as I did, it didn’t turn out as I had hoped. That is probably because I wasn’t sure how much deck wear might be revealed during its active duty and my idea of showing a little bit of wood under the paint just didn’t work out as I’d hoped. Also, I’m not sure how much wear actually would have shown at any point in her active service … probably not much if any.
Again, forgive the images but I thought you might like to see a botched, painted wood deck [:D].
I can’t tell where you botched it.
If you click to enlarge the second to last image you’ll see how I left some of the deck with the wood color showing through. I’m not convinced that is at all realistic.
Mike,
Both your HMS Dreadnought amd USS San Fransisco look great to me. Can you tell me what brand of wood deck you purchased for these kits?
EDIT: Sorry, laskdjn, I did not mean to threadjack!
It’s all good. Still looking for tips on building this behemoth, or building ships in general. This is my first.
mike , you are way too hard on yourself , those are beautiful build’s . I am going to have a go at one of these next , when I finish my victory . will look to you for guidence my friend ,
PS:- could you tell what thread you used for the rigging mate , please .
steve5
Bruce & Steve5,
Used Artwox wood decks for both models. Used EZline for the rigging on both.
My apologies to the OP for taking up so much space on this thread.
Looking forward to the WIP.
For PE, I would recommend Eduard or Gold Medal PE over Tom’s. I like Eduard’s instructions and the weight/strength of Gold Medal. Tom’s is fine but not as forgiving as the other two when it comes to multiple attempts at glueing. Each set also has both details and railing In one package.
I would also recommend getting a wood deck for this model as there are three sections to the main deck and the seams can be difficult to hide. Personally, I prefer Pontos decks over ArtWok because the Pontos is a bit thinner and they come with decals for depth markers, etc. and Pontos has a Blue deck for this model.
The downsize with the wooden decks, can be as Bill says, bubbling with humidity, scale effect and the loss of or lessening height of deck details. Bollards, hatches, etc lose their look by jot standing as proud as they should. On the other hand, the edge of the wooden deck makes it easier when you are attaching the railingby giving you an edge to butt the railing up to.
That being said, it is easier now hiding seams with Perfect Plastic Putty since you can clean up excess putty with a wet q-tip, toothpick or a finger.
Mike Ashey has a building manual on the this model which would be a great thing to have on this build. It’s available on evilBay here:
Hope this helps a bit.
Steve
Mike,
You don’t give yourself enough credit bud. These are beautifu! I do have to a question though. Is this Dreadnought a Trumpeter or Zvezda?
Steve
Steve,
It’s the Trumpeter 1915.
BTW, Artwox also had a deck blue available if my memory serves me. I can’t remember why I chose the regular wood deck… maybe my error in ordering? Don’t recall. Anyway the thickness does matter so perhaps Pontos’s deck would be a better bet.
Anyway thanks for the kind words.
So, how is building a model ship different than building a plane or tank, besides the size difference?