I have just started my build of Dragon's 1/350 U.S.S. Laffey DD-459. In examining and test fitting the upper/lower hulls and main decks, it seems to me that the easiest way to connect these parts would be to cut out the interior panels between the bulkheads (leaving the bulkheads and a small amount of the interior panels). This would permit me to use Plasticweld, my preferred cement for these applications, on the inside seams of either the upper/lower hull joint, or, maybe even better, the main deck/upper hull joint.

Has anybody tried this on Laffey or a comparable build? If so, did you encounter any problems? Any thoughts or suggestions on this question will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Bob

Tracy White tried something similar on his Scharnhorst work in progress, and ended up with what he called "un-intended consequence" of doing that. You might want to read what he says before you start cutting. The post in question is on Page 2 of the thread, and was posted on 10/7/10.

Martin, I've been watching Tracy's thread on that build with interest. It was, in part, what gave me the idea. The difference in what I'm contemplating and what Tracy did is this: Tracy, it looks like, completely removed the bracing. What I'm thinking of doing is leaving the bracing but removing the material between the braces to allow me to access the upper hull/deck seam with a syringe to apply the PlasticWeld which I prefer for such seams. I can't logic out a down side to that, but a little voice keeps telling me they put that material there for a reason, don't mess with it! Still not sure how I'm going to attack the problem. If you have any other thoughts, please feel free to shout it out!
Thanks,

Bob