U boat weld lines

[hampboats]

I am looking for some suggestions for making the weld lines on the hull of my 1:20 scale Vesikko Type 2 Finnish boat. Please send me your suggestions. I have some ideas but I would really like to hear what everyone else has done. I know that the majority of the hull is riveted on but I have decided not to spend the next two years drilling and inserting pins for rivets. So lets pretend that the hull is just welded.

[JWLaRue]

hi Dave,

The best application of

hi Dave,

The best application of weld lines that I've seen was done by Gene Berger for his 1/32nd scale fleetboat. Gene uses mono-filament fishing line. Each end is tacked into place and then a bead of cyano glue is applied along the line.

An alternative method would be to lay down parallel rows of blue masking tape.....three for four layers thick....with the gap between them the widht of the desired weld line and then lay into the gap autobody compound. Once the compound cures, sand the surface down to the surface of the tape and then remove the tape.

-Jeff

[mylo]

Dave,

I'm quite happy with

Dave,

I'm quite happy with the results I got, but I don't suggest you do it the way I did. Way....WAYYYYYY too labour intensive.

I used 1/16 mask in 3 layers for the weld lines. Then I sprayed the entire plug with garage floor urethane paint (thick and very tough stuff) using my paint sprayer (the kind you would use for buildings / fences etc.). THEN....after letting the paint dry for 3 days, sanded the entire plug down again paying special attention to the raised areas of the 1/16 mask (weld lines). The paint built up nicely around the mask giving a realistic weld look. Again, the results look convincing, but it took me......a long time. My next build I will be doing it differently. I'd be very interested in learning a better way.




Mylo

[hampboats]

Dave,

I'm quite happy with

Dave,

I'm quite happy with the results I got, but I don't suggest you do it the way I did. Way....WAYYYYYY too labour intensive.

I used 1/16 mask in 3 layers for the weld lines. Then I sprayed the entire plug with garage floor urethane paint (thick and very tough stuff) using my paint sprayer (the kind you would use for buildings / fences etc.). THEN....after letting the paint dry for 3 days, sanded the entire plug down again paying special attention to the raised areas of the 1/16 mask (weld lines). The paint built up nicely around the mask giving a realistic weld look. Again, the results look convincing, but it took me......a long time. My next build I will be doing it differently. I'd be very interested in learning a better way.




Mylo

It looks really good - great job. I agree - could be alot of work.

[mylo]

Dave,

It seems to me

Dave,

It seems to me it took me a solid 12 hours of sanding my plug down, by hand, using teeny weeny circles, and lots of sand paper (the paint plugged the paper up quickly) again after spraying that heavy paint on. I literally got tendonitis in BOTH elbows. I was using some choice words, but at that point, was committed.

Like I said, when the time comes to do another one, I'll be doing it differently.

Mylo

[steve jensen]

weld lines

Dave,

There was an article in Fine Scale Modeler, a while back, for doing just this thing; producing weld lines on small scale models.

It involved using some sort of 'heavy' glue and then, as it cured. making an impression in it with a pre-formed tool.

I once did 'weld lines' to a larger scale model using Milliput and tooling it as it dried...my results were 'passable'.

Steve Jensen