I missed 2 aztec ladders on the midships main deck.javascript:PasteSmiley('|:(') I discovered it when placing the wood deck. I have peeled back the small portion of the wood that should go under the pe replacement ladders. What is the consensus on what to do? I know I should be more careful and more thorough with my prefit but should I now cut the suckers out and make the best of it or just leave it. I am not afraid to do the surgery but there is of course risk. I'm leaning toward cutting them out. How exactly would you veterans do it?

Thanks in advance for your help.

John

If you can take them off without too much trouble I say do it.

What would you use, a flat modeling knife, a chisel?

HI Johm, I would use the smallest chisel blade I could find to make easier to tanke it back to the original deck level so you can fit an offcut of the wood deck into the gap.

si

Hey John,

I say cut them out. In the past I've occasionally let oversights like that go so I could just get on with the build... and every time after the model was finished I regretted it. We are our own severest critics; every time I look at these models my eye goes right to the irritating flaw!

I'd go after them carefully with the point of a new No. 11 X-acto. Any little slips will be camouflaged by the new photoetch ladders on the bulkheads and hidden by wood deck below. Best of all, once you've done it you can enjoy your build and never give those #$&%#@! stairs another thought!

I had a similar problem with an Aoshima Gorch Focke with moulded in plastic stairs. I used a combo of Dremel, knife, chisel, file, and sandpaper. Then filling and sanding inevitable nicks and scars. Then rescribing deck planking. Fortunately the patient survived the surgery! But will look a lot better now with PE stairs.

Thanks for the advise guys. I did the surgery. The first one I did a bit to hastily and had to sand a bit more. The second one I took a bit more time and it went very smoothly. Thanks again.

John