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Old 01-30-2023, 12:42 PM
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Location: Manchester, UK
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Generally, I agree that joiner strips create seams that are smoother and cleaner, but….

My only real experience with a bulkhead-to-bulkhead assembly has been Ken West’s X-15A-2; I’ve built three, in 1/32nd and 1/48th. I quickly found the key was to get the bulkhead sized PERFECTLY and to make sure the adjoining bulkheads are EXACTLY the same size and shape.

The process usually involves cutting, fitting, trimming, fitting, sanding, etc. If the bulkhead is even slightly oversized (even fractions of a millimeter) it’ll “flare” the end of the model piece. Once that happens, you’re in trouble because you can’t shrink the opening back to its proper size.

Once I got Ken’s bulkhead’s to fit perfectly and glued them in, I then sanded the ends on fine-grit sandpaper to get them perfectly flat. When that was done, they fit together smoothly.
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