Hello all; I have been working on the 1/350 Franklin and its coming right along. But what is the best method to fill the seams where the hangerbay sides and the lower hull meet ? I have small gaps, can you get putty in there ? Perhaps a thin strip of plastic ? And what color was the hangerbay deck in WW2, I know now its dark nonskid. I was also thinking of doing PE railings , do I do that after she's built ?


Thanks guys SG61 ..............

Hi Mitch!

OK, first off...filling the seams....there are many methods of filling up those nasty seams, my friend, the choice really, is up to the size of the seam, and (as is in your case) accessability...putty, is the standard, and if you have the room to effectively work with this media, then that's what I would do...for small seams, I like to use super glue, the thin stuff, and rely on capilary action to carry the glue down the seam...a little at a time works best, building in layers as you go...it can be sanded smooth also, if you use a superfine grit paper. Mr. Surfacer is another choice for seams, that works well if available to you. Follow this link to learn more about it;
Mr. Surfacer

As far as your question #2, gimme a little time to find a reference, mate, I'm at the office and my library's at home!

Question #3, my friend, PE...I personally add PE as the final touch, (unless an addition of a certain PE part is holding up the build) and such as guardrails, I put them up raw (unpainted) and then paint in place...

I'll see what I can find on the net about the hangerbay colors, mate, but someone else may help you before I find something for you...
~Gunny

Hey Mitch,

Here's a photo of the hanger bay color. You can see it clearly just below the flight deck.



The dark you may be refereing to would come from wear of servicing the aircraft. It's my understanding from color photos that the entire bay was painted this color.

Kenny

The hangar deck was painted #20 Standard Deck Gray, the USN's prewar deck color. Hangar bay bulkheads and overheads were painted 5-U White. We have #20 Standard Deck Gray accurately matched and available in our Colourcoats enamels, item US 02. No minimum order on paint, and we ship worldwide.

See, I told you someone else would lend us a hand, Mitch!
~Gunny

This site is awesome...someone needs help and the "cavalry" is there in a flash.

You sure said a mouthful, Bro!...and really, a site such as we have here, and a forum, per se, is only as good as the members that are participating...and do we have a membership! There is sooo much talent and knowledge that floats in the waters around MSW, and at any given time, ask and ye shall receive, mates!
~Gunny

Mitch,

Depending upon how accessible that area is to a sanding stick, you can go a number of ways on this. One if it's not so accessible, I would fill the gap with styrene shims. This way at the very least you shave down the edges with a knife. Sometimes, I use shims and putty. I back fill with shims and then cover those with putty. The shims will also provide a more stable structure in my opinion.

Best of luck and best wishes
Steve

I learned a new technique (can't remember exactly where I found it) that worked really well for filling seams.

You can stretch sprue, or if you're lazy like I am, I have several packages of styrene rods in various diameters from .010 and up.

Using an old paint brush, "paint" the seam first with Microscale Decal's "Micro Weld Liquid Glue". Then place the appropriate length and diameter strip of your styre rod in the seam and brush more of the Micro Weld on.

It's very fluid, so it will flow and fill in very nicely, and it does soften the plastic so if you need to, you can "work it" with another tool to flatten it if you need to.

I was very surprised to find that unlike the regular glue you use for plastic, this stuff doesn't seem to ruin all the plastic around it so overflows of the liquid didn't seem to cause a problem.

It's a whole lot easier than working with putty and then trying to sand it all down.

Tom

I like Mr surfacer as it is a brush on super fine substance. Tom's method is great if the gap is larger. As to colors of the hanger deck, went with Model masters colors medium gray for the deck and an off white for the bulkheads. Those Essex class open up fairly well. I stuffed mine with aircraft. It's tough to see the hanger deck floor so as long as its a good grey color you'll be OK. When I did the flight deck, I glued it using tube glue so gaps would fill in, turned it upside down and put some books for weight on it. Made double sure all 3 pieces butted up against each other . When it set a couple of days, I flipped it over and fixed up the inevitable seams with just a light coat of Mr Surfacer. I try to avoid sanding as all the wood deck detail that would be lost. I then placed aircraft over some of the joining lines at the end. I also got the Tom's PE set for it. I loved all the under detail of the elevator and under flight deck as well as the usual cranes, ladders, railings, and Radar type things