Gents (Ladies?),

I am new to ship modeling, but am afflicted with AMS (Advanced Modeling Syndrome). I am going to try my hand at a 1/350 kit, and have started looking at all the after market stuff made for these kits. Something I've noticed is that the wooden replacement decks seem to cause a 'step-up' look on the kits I've seen.

IN THE GENERAL OPINION OF THE BOARD: are these wooden replacement decks worth the money and trouble? Are some companies better than others? Or is it best just to go with a good paint scheme to represent the wood decks?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and time.

Joe

Hi Joe! Best of luck in your ship building ventures! With that said...the deck question is a personal call. I like both the looks of the wooden deck replacements...even with the "step-up" as well as painting a deck to look realistic. Some of the decks don't look as thick as the others and things like careful painting and railings help to hide the edges somewhat. Not to mention, depending on the kit, the plastic decks sit slightly low enough to make the transition smoother. I have used Artwox decking and they are easy to use and look pretty good...Pontos has a number of sets depending on your subject, as does Hasagawa. What kit are you thinking of doing? Maybe one of the folks here may have used a variant of decking/paining to hep you along!

Hi Todd,

Thanks for the help. I am looking at trying my hand at the Trumpeter Roma. While I work on her, I will look for the 1944 Takao (unless the Roma turns me off of ships).

Fine choice Joe! A big ship with an interesting and complex paint job to her! We do have an Italian naval fanatic floating around here. He might be able to shed some more light about the Roma kit than I, but the first thing that jumps out is the deck is painted ....and unpainted. I think the deck scribing, if I judge from Trumpeter's other offerings, look pretty decent. Might be a good opportunity to try the painting of wood versus deck replacement...just a thought. I think you get lucky with the Takao as well...decks might be steel and linoleum saving you from the wooden decks. I wish you well in whatever you choose to have a go at. Be sure to share some of the build with us.

Again, thanks, Todd.

I know the Roma only had a wooden rear deck, but I was not aware the Takao had a steel/linoleum deck, but I can see that you are correct: I have picked decent start kits to tackle -- at least deck-wise.

As for the complicated paint schemes: to be honest, that is what attracts me to ships. I love complicated and colorful schemes like the ones on the Roma and late-war Takao. I also like that I do not HAVE to weather a ship build. I can just use different techniques to make the paint interesting and help the detail stand out, but I do not have to worry about paint chipping, stain streaks and rust unless i WANT to. I can build clean and it will still be accepted. This is not so much the case in my usual genre, armor.

Plus, I do not know nor do I care to research ships. I can just buy the kit, a detail set and build. I can no longer do that with armor. Every time I try to build a tank now, I end up working on a new master for that kit. It sort of destroyed my love of modeling and I am trying to get it back. I am excited about ships and can't wait to give them a try.

Cheers :-)

Ship building is unbelievably rewarding. It can be as frustrating as other genre, but then end results make up for all that. Whether its' armor, ships or anything else for that matter, I do enjoy a little research. If for nothing else, knowing the background of what I am working on. I have always been a firm believer f build what you want and how you want. While I can appreciate scratch modifications and aftermarket, I still have strong appreciation of OOB building as well. This is a hobby and it is suppose to be fun. Enjoy hitting the docs...looking forward to seeing some of your work along he way hopefully!

Joe,

Using a after market deck for only the rear of your Roma should be a easy install. The deck kits designed to cover the whole main deck and secondary decks can be quite a challenge to install correctly. My first ship I used an after-market deck and on my second ship I painted the deck. I like the painted deck. So now I paint the deck on all of my ships, even if it does take several days to do. I don't mind.

Make sure the deck is clean before installing the after-market deck or it may not stay down and you will have to re-glue it.

Take your time and enjoy the build. She will look great when you finish.

Thanks, Mark. I'll be sure to follow your advice. And, if I do not think I can or want to use the deck, I have no problem leaving it off. I know how to paint, so painting the deck won't bother me at all. In fact, just building and painting is a LARGE part of the appeal for me here. There will be no desire to try and make some resin product for these kits like there is when I am building armor (or trying to build...)

O:-)

Hi Joe,

For what it's worth, I agree with both Todd and Mark; painted decks and wood veneer can both look good. I usually paint the planks on my wood decked ships, and they look fine:


The wood veneers can look even better, even though they are unavoidably over scale.

One challenge with the veneer decks is the step-up from the molded deck which can be visible on the edge. It isn't all that noticeable really, but if it bothers you it can be camouflaged with .010 X.020 inch styrene strips applied to the hull edges to raise them slightly so that the veneer deck is at a lower level behind them. That's what I did on my Revell Olympia:


It can be a bit tedious applying these strips along all the deck edges, but in the end nothing looks as much like wood... as wood!

Either way, do what pleases you - the whole point is to have fun, right?!

Hello Joe - I purchased a wood deck from Scaledecks.com for my 1:96 Revell USS Constitution. It also helped cover up the 3-part deck seams and gave the ship a beautiful look. It was costly at my scale, but I got a discount on it from Ebay. If your ship is 1:350 scale, they have two styles for your ship for around $15.00. For my 1:350 scale Liberty ship by Trumpeter, I painted and weathered my hull but did use PE parts to help detail that ship. Good luck on your project and look forward to seeing your pics!

Here's a pic of my USS Constitution wood deck from scaledecks.com

Tim,

Sorry for the slow response, but the demands of a one-man resin business demanded my time. Anyway, I wanted to thank you for your comments and pictures -- especially the idea about adding a thin strip to the edge of the deck. That is an easy fix and I think, if I use the wooden decks, I'll go that way to hide the raised edge of the wood.

Cheers,

Joe

Robert,

Thanks. As a matter of fact, I built this kit twice when I was a kid. Now that they make a 1-piece wooden deck for her, I am thinking about building it again, only, this time, I have YEARS of experience behind me. Should make for a much more satisfying build.

Joe