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Author Topic: Caulking with electrical tape  (Read 3279 times)

dreadnought72

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Caulking with electrical tape
« on: September 03, 2012, 10:32:10 pm »

Hello all!

I had some fine, dense pine board, thickness 11mm. I ripped thin strips off this to a thickness of around 2.5mm - perfect for the floppy 3.5" deckplanks of Racundra, overlaid on the subdeck.

I've taken the "electrical tape = caulking" route and the result is almost lovely.  O0

The thing is some planks are a bit thicker (or thinner) than the nominal 2.5mm - nothing too bad - but it will need a sand to equalise the height of the surface and smooth everything off. The tape is of course plastic and flexible - even more so now it's only 2.5mm wide.

Here's my question three questions!!

1. Can I sand the entire surface without it pulling the tape out of the caulking joints/snagging it, and thereby totally destroying the effect?

2. What sort of grit number will work for this?

3. Would I be better using a razor-sharp knife edge along the length of the high planks until they're within a gnat's doodahs of the correct height, before a light sanding with a very fine paper?


I do not want to mess this up!  <*<

All comments, mad ideas, and good advice (especially!) welcome.

Andy
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gingyer

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Re: Caulking with electrical tape
« Reply #1 on: September 04, 2012, 07:38:48 am »

on the warship forums look for HMS Wren
he has done his deck as you have and I am sure he sanded it down :-))
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Tug-Kenny RIP

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Re: Caulking with electrical tape
« Reply #2 on: September 04, 2012, 09:40:07 am »


I can see you're worried about pulling at the tape edges and maybe yanking out strips of it.

Might be a good idea to try a section with various methods of sanding.  My first thought was to use a circular  (rotating)  sanding machine as the speed would make a clean cut, but there is the risk of actually melting the tape if you hover too long.!

If using a manual approach, it might be best to sand across the vertical run as this would lessen the drag on the tape.

Best of luck, and proceed with caution.

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boatmadman

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Re: Caulking with electrical tape
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2012, 10:05:00 am »

Use a new scalpel blade, on its side and trim off excess tape. Then, starting from the centre of a plank, use the blade to scrape along the join. Starting at the middle minimises the risk of the tape pulling. Then repeat in the other direction.

Finish with some fine git paper - gently.

Ian
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Martin [Admin]

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Re: Caulking with electrical tape
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2012, 10:22:32 am »

on the warship forums look for HMS Wren
he has done his deck as you have and I am sure he sanded it down :-))

this one? http://modelwarshipsuk.informe.com/forum/post21654.html?hilit=wren%20deck#p21654
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gingyer

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Re: Caulking with electrical tape
« Reply #5 on: September 04, 2012, 10:35:35 am »

that looks about right  :-))
my work computer doesnt let me access those forums %)
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dreadnought72

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Re: Caulking with electrical tape
« Reply #6 on: September 04, 2012, 10:35:59 pm »

this one? http://modelwarshipsuk.informe.com/forum/post21654.html?hilit=wren%20deck#p21654

Oh no.  <:(

Logs into modelwarshipuk, forgets password, has to reset password, can't read kaptcha thingmy, tries again, it works, has to log in to personal email and recover reset password, logs back into modelwarshipuk with that and goes to user profile and resets password to something more memorable, goes to page and ... can't see photos>>:-(

Life, huh?

I'm off to email the builder for info.

Andy
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