1:250 jsc z32

[thealphaoverseer]

ha ha very funny.
I'm just making it for fun, and it's frustrating that things don't go as expected. The main problem is I don't have a technique for gluing. I use PVA glue, which takes about 5 minutes to dry, and a day to set. I don't have the patience to hold it together for 5 minutes, and I sometimes put too much glue. Sometimes I hold it too hard and squish it. What's your approach to gluing?

[wireandpaper]

Try cyanoacrylate (Super Glue, Krazy Glue, or the Ozzy equivalent), but be careful with your fingers!
There are formulas to use with wood, or in gel, and some not as fast as the common Super Glue that set in seconds)
The issue with this is that you can't correct. But if your parts are perfectly aligned, not a problem.
Experiment, and if need to make another copy, so be it!

[PAPER FAN]

Don't kill yourself, I remember my first couple builds, horrible by my current standards but this hobby for most of us takes lots of practice. Mostly in the early builds we simply use way too much glue. I used to get twisted hulls then suddenly I don't. Will say, less glue the less likely for twist.

Also, there are many ways to flatten your decks, including lamination using CA glue over white glue. It takes more care in alignment because you'll only get one chance, but there is no warping. White glue first expands the paper then shrinks it when dry causing all kings of warping. It is however great for butt joints, tubes, cones etc. I use it for framing as well but small dabs. Once framed the skins will provide the stiffness.

[thealphaoverseer]

Hi Everyone!
The superstructure is a lot more fun to build! Here's a pic. However, everything I build seems wonky...

[thealphaoverseer]

Thanks for the suggestions! The deck is warped not because of glue, but because I squished it when trying to glue, also because I didn't cut the vertical supports patiently. And yes, I've used super glue before - it smells terrible but luckily I haven't got it on my fingers before. I have so little of it (it comes in tiny tubes) so I reserve it for the strongest bonds. Now that I'm moving onto things like cupboards and storage boxes, the template doesn't come with flaps - am I supposed to create my own, or just stick it down as is?

[Lex]

Getting a JSC hull to be straight and level is... surprisingly hard. Keep up the good work there

[wireandpaper]

Glue the basis at some points to something very straight like glass but to be easily removed with a sharp knife/blade

[herky]

Originally Posted by thealphaoverseer

Hi everyone,
Thanks for all your support. I think I found the main problems:
- The keel was not laid straight, and it wasn't safe to bend it at that stage.
- The vertical supports did not fit since I cut them maybe a millimetre off.
- The deck is wavy because I did not shape it before gluing, so I had to squeeze it very hard to get it to stick, squashing some vertical supports.

Now, I've glued all the sides except for the stern, and the lopsideness is reducing, but I've got squashed vertical supports and a wavy deck, which will make it very hard to glue the superstructure on. Unfortunately, I can't just tear the deck off, because it would tear the supports as well.

I started with the keel, then vertical supports, then deck and now sides, as per the (not so great English translation) and the numbering system.

Here are some picture, do you think it is still possible to glue the superstructure on?

i always tack glue the keel down on glass tip table before i start that way you should get no warping problems, sadly most dont notice till you put hull sides on

[thealphaoverseer]

Hi,
Thanks for the tips! I'll definitely try the table alignment method next time. What I did this time, was I crushed the middle section of the keel (ouch!) so I could bend the keel to the right position, and used the sides as braces. Unfortunately, I had to eyeball it, so it still isn't perfect. Now problem is the deck. I can't do anything about it now, but can I have some advice for next time? When I glued it down, I pressed too hard, so there are dips between the supports. Is there a special technique for gluing down decks so that it remains flat? For some reason, the vertical supports are curved at the top. Is this supposed to be realistic, or just a feature that I don't fully understand?

[thealphaoverseer]

Hey everyone! Progress is slow and tedious. I keep squishing small parts, losing small parts and dropping small parts because my fingers are too big for them. I've already given up on some small parts because they are too small. Here's a pic of what I managed to do. Any tips for small parts? They take more time and are less rewarding than they big parts.