Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length.

[BORIS]

Have you ever had to take apart a boat you have just worked on for perhaps a few months because of a mistake.....i am building a coaster [kit] and have not been able to fit the superstructure floor over the back of the hull...i tried clamping the glassfibrehull thinking it was stretched, then realised it was not the hull but the Deck..[which is now strongly glued down] ....so im having to take the deck off by drilling through the "P38" filler..[which i should never have had to use if i had put the deck on right in the first place]..and drill through the styrene deck supports underneath [they wont break off]...when this is done i will have to figure the best way of me putting it back together as the deck supports [whats left of them] are glued firmly to the underside of the deck..will try just gluing the deck and support as one piece to the hull sides.hoppefully this will work ..i dont want to have to spend £240 to buy this kit again :'(

[Shipmate60]

What materials are the deck and the stringers and deck supports?

Bob

[RipSlider]

Welcome to the club sir!

I had to ... err... re-set my model a couple of weeks ago - it got to the point where I realised that I was taking longer fighting errors that I had built in rather than I just started again.

dremel's with the big sanding drums seem to make excellent "helpers" in the quest to sort this out - and you can always replace your deck supports for wood ( not balsa though ).

Worst comes to the worst, most of the kit manufactuers will send you out spare components for the cost of the initial part. Barry at westbourne Models should be able to help point you in the right direction.

Steve

[BORIS]

What materials are the deck and the stringers and deck supports?.....hi, they are plastic....its the "Model slipway" coaster ...This is how the superstructure should be..]....this is now the other side] ..note the gap between wall of hull and superstucture
this is the deck that i am having to drill through the plastic deck supports in order to break it free.......]in the first place i should have clamped the hull to the sides of the deck ..i think 2 "CROSS" supports under the deck were slightly too wide therefore pushing the hull sides out too far.

[Shipmate60]

To get the deck out it is fairly easy to use a fine bladed pad saw and follow the line of the hull.

Bob

[GaryM]

Hi Boris
I'm in the err.. same boat as you

I'm new to modeling.  My Marie Felling was coming along nicely until I measured the Port / Starboard dimension.  Somehow it is 3/4" too small. 
Like you I had epoxied and P38'ed.  I'm not going to saw it out, I'm hoping that everything will fit and I will use this as a learning curve.

regards
Gary :)

[sheerline]

The man who never made a mistake....never made anything! (My Dads old saying)

[Colin Bishop]

One of the problems with GRP kit hulls is that they tend to distort when removed from the mould, often "opening out" a bit. It's usually fairly easy to correct this by temporaraily fixing the deck in place and "fixing" the hull with a hair dryer. Unfortunately, it's not always obvious that you need to do this and the instructions don't mention it.

[BORIS]

Now its a write off 'tried to take the deck off so that i could clamp in the rear of the hull  ..result..the deck snapped in half ,i have shattered pieces of plastic everywhere...dont know what i can do now..its a shame really because i have all the electronics in the hull..motor/sound system and everything in order..now its basicly scrap  . if you look closely you can see gaps between the hull and the deck where the decking has broke [me trying to take it off]..so the whole of the deck is never going to be as strong even if i managed to glue it all back together.

[DickyD]

Calm down Boris all is not lost. Its plastic, you can buy plastic sheeting and plastic section. Make new and glue it on, its not rocket science, even morons like me can do it.

[BORIS]

Calm down Boris all is not lost. Its plastic, you can buy plastic sheeting and plastic section. Make new and glue it on, its not rocket science, even morons like me can do it. ...yes you are right, its just heartbreaking when after you have put so much work in it thinking everything is looking great then suddenly you realise somrthings wrong and you have to undo everything thats taken a month or more to put together...i could perhaps buy the sheets  [3 in total] from Model slipway..?  save me having to draw and measure everything...?  ps every model ship i have ever made i have made mistakes i always end up having to re - order new fittings or parts.

[FullLeatherJacket]

I'm sure that Model Slipway will be happy to supply duplicates of the sheets. I've included below an extract from the Instructions for you:

"Fitting the main deck

Check that the main deck fits snugly between the hull sides.  If you find that the hull moulding appears too wide or too narrow for the deck, do not under any circumstances add or cut any material to/from the deck; the deck part controls the width of the finished hull. A moulding of this size may well distort slightly due to it being unsupported before being built – this is quite normal. If the moulding is too narrow, pry it open to fit the deck. If the moulding is too wide then apply masking tape to pull the sides together across the gunwales. Slight trimming of the deck will be necessary to achieve a good fit, and you may also need to apply a touch of filler between the edge of the deck and the hull in places where the thickness of the hull moulding is uneven".

If the edge of the hull moulding is very "wavy" then you can use a hot-air gun to warm and soften it and then clamp two straight lengths of wood along each side of the top edge while it cools and hardens off.

If you have another look at Fig 3 you'll see that the main deck (i.e. rearwards of the front bulkhead) is made as one piece before fitting it to the hull; that way you stand the best chance of getting things square and even. I never need much more than some lengths of masking tape to hold the hull sides in and the deck down onto the support strips while the glue sets. BTW I find that 30 minute epoxy works best for fitting the strips, while good old-fashioned polystyrene cement out of a tube is the stuff to glue the deck down onto the support strips; you can get a good bead laid down before it starts to go off.

Hope this helps - worked for me.

FLJ

[Shipmate60]

Boris,
As DickyD has said, it isn't such a big problem.
At some time or other most of us have done something like it.
Either just get a piece of plasticard and make a new part or get one from Model Slipway as FLJ has said.
With this type of problem take your time, if necessary cut out the whole deck or cut out part of it.
The operative word is CUT.
But you know that now.
You do have my sympathy but it is all a learning curve, you are just on a steep bit right now.
It will get easier and better, don't lose heart just yet. Getting over these LITTLE problems is all part of it.
And believe me it is only a little problem.

Bob

[BORIS]

Well good old "Model Slipway". i have contacted them today and they will send me the  3 cnc sheets + strips that i need Free of charge!! and all i have to pay for is postage... thinks are looking up, i want to bulid this coaster because when finished it looks such a good model. 

[Shipmate60]

And that is one reason for dealing with a company that has a very good reputation for customer service!!

Bob

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Hi Boris

I've only just seen your letter and my heart goes out to you.  Don't worry as we are all here, feeling for you.

Just imagine when you have repaired her, how you will feel. It's great to build these models, but as the guys say, 'it's a steep learning curve'.

Let us know how you get on and don't forget to post some pictures.

All the best

Ken

[kiteman1]

Don't worry, Boris, I've made loads of mistakes over the years.  The best one was having completed a 5t hull and fibreglassed it I decided it needed a thicker gel coat.  I painted it all over but the stuff didn't go off for two days...in a too-cold garage.  Looked like Hammerite.  Three weeks and several files later I got it back to something decent again.  Didn't have a grinder in those days!!

I don't think I'll make that mistake again but there's plenty of others to have a go at!...

[BORIS]

Good News......Model slipway sent me the CNC sheets that i needed so i worked on it all weekend ..2 full days solid  and i have now got the Coaster as it should be..so everything is just fine..

[hoverboy]

Hi Boris,

We all make mistakes. Admitting them is not easy but when we do there are always helpful people on the forum to put us put things right.

When the chips are down thank goodness these people are there. Look forward to seeing a picture of the end product.

Pete

[MCAT]

Boris  nice to see you have overcome this problem. you were brave admitting your error on here all mine are covered with filler and paint. and sailed far away from the bank.  looking forward to seeing pictures soon and when finished.

and well done done to Model Slipway, came to this guy in he's hour of need Human kindness lives on .