Any advoce on jsc assembly?

[garyj36]

With their non typical frame style. My first go wound up too wet installing the outer deck. So I tried it again laminating it first , but now Im warped lengthwise.. Obviously theres a trick. I wish they just used normal formers. Any tips?

[barry]

Try sticking the waterline plate (if there is one ) to a flat board until the hull structure drys.

barry

[garyj36]

No waterline plate. The have a wierd method of lateral supports that attach to the bottom of the main deck , no length rib and hull sides attach to tabs on the side of the deck. Then top deck on top of that.

[barry]

Turn the hull over while it's still wet pack up the decks if they have a step in them , lay a flat surface on top of the ribs and put books on it.

barry

[cmdrted]

I've built about 4 of these, Some come with a bottom baseplate which makes it easy glue it to a flat boad like a eggcrate method, for the ones that have an open bottom, Most of the older ones, I suggest lay out a bottom piece a bit larger than the anticipated hull size. you can use card, manilla etc. temporarily assemble the basic shell, these are usually the white non colored parts the way they suggest, use low tack tape, etc. Then lay the transverse bulkheads on the base plate, a bit tricky but mark them on the baseplate. Un assememble these pieces from the temp frame and then glue them to the new base plate. This converts the kit to a more familiar framing setup we are more used to, assemble the hull parts as they suggest but to your secured to a flat base hull bottom. You can cut out the hull bottom when it is assembled, depending on the thickness of your new baseplate you can marker/paint this a a boottop for the water line. Laminating the colored parts is a bit tricky to the shells , I used Elmer's spray on adhesive and this cuts down on warping. See The JSC thread in the ship build section, the only warpage was from the acrylic gel I used for water

[Jim Krauzlis]

I have to admit the JSC construction method gave me a bit of a fit when I first came across it, mostly because there is no explanation in the kit except in Polish on how it all goes together...not even a little diagram, at least on the ones I have seen, which would have helped a lot.

I sort of stumbled into the construction sequence on the Mexico Victory, with a bit of help from Barry, who has built these little fellows, but I've noticed they alter the construction a bit over the range of kits they offer, like cmdrted mentions. I have also enjoyed Kami Kasen's site where he has photo essays on a few JSC kits he has built, and got a better appreciation on the construction used on a few of the kits I have contemplated starting. Take a look:
http://www.geocities.jp/kami_kansen/

One thing to keep in mind is to limit the amount of glue you use to the absolute minimum to avoid the warping problem. I haven't tried the non-water based glues yet, but I imagine that would help alot...maybe Barry or Rob (or anyone else who has built the JSC line) can comment on whether the non-water based glue helped avoid warpage.

I see Barry's comments and suggestions about building these hulls and it is good advice coming from a great deal of hard earned experience...just take a look at some of his JSC builds in the album and you'll see what I mean...the same is true of cmdrted's work...only wish more folks would photo some of the mid construction stages, particularly the internal structures, so we could all see more clearly what type of construction that particular kit uses.

In building my Mexico Victory, I built the hull three times before I had one that I was happy with as to alignment of the boxes that made up the interior construction. No base plate, but I did end up gluing her to a forecore base along the lower edges of the boxes that she used, although I turned that foamcore later one into a sea scape. In my humble opinion a lot if not all of the confusion could be answered with a few simple diagrams and the addition of a base plate for all of these kits, which would allow you to get a better foundation more easily mounted to a base board, at least for the first part of the build. I note cmdrted comments that some of the models in this line do this at some point, but I wonder how many of their designs do.

I have to try cmdrted's suggestion on making up a baseplate and combine it with Barry's suggestion of putting the box frame under some weight while the glue dries because, even when I glued it to the forecore, I noticed the hull on the earlier Mexico Victory had a tendancy to take on a little banana shape...pretty annoying! I ended up using a series of rubber bands with some scrap cardboard pieces to spread the pressure of the bands across the beam of the hull and to hold it all down to the forecore building base, but as Rob and Barry mentioned at the time, that was a dangerous gamble, lest one of the bands breaks or the board slipped out in the process. I imagine a nice, firm weight from some books that cover her from stem to stern might be a better idea.

Anyone currently building a JSC that might want to share their experience with us gluttons for punishment?

Cheers!

Jim

[Swinger]

This is my old Bismarck.

As you can see, the waterline fits to the surface and the deck is flat - there are no warps etc. The solution is easy - no water, no cry. Try non-water based glues, because the water based ones cause a lot of problems when applied on larger surfaces.

[garyj36]

For american modelers , I started over and used testors wood glue in the green tube aand Im having good luck with it so far. Seems to be curing my problems.

[Jim Krauzlis]

Good idea, Gary!

The one thing that bothers me about that non-water based glue is the way it always seems to make that stringy stuff...it always goes where you don't want it to. When I used that stuff decades ago in making balsa and tissue planes, it wasn't a big concern, but I'd hate to see some of the printed card get smudged and ruined by the stringy stuff. What did you find to be the best way to apply it in your build? I have seen folks use a syringe and I imagine you could apply it over a larger area, like when gluing down a deck plate, using a piece of card to spread it out, but I just wonder what worked best for you. And how do you remove/clean off the excess glue, how do you clean the syringe, what do you use? It's been a while since I used that stuff, but if my old memory is not failing me this glue dried shiney and had a pretty strong odor. I imagine they have dealt with the fume issue by now, but what about the shine?

I'm always looking for better ways to do things, so I'm really glad you mentioned this glue as an alternative. I hope you can share some of your experience in using it.

Cheers!

Jim

[garyj36]

No strings , 72 hrs now and has dried strong and clear

[Jim Krauzlis]

Of course, it could just be that I'm so sloppy, but no strings? That's good news. I have some imported glue from a dear friend that I've yet to try out, maybe on the next build. I was wondering how you applied the glue...toothpick, syringe, scrap piece of card? And what is used to clean this stuff up, for instance, in using a syringe, if you or anyone knows?

Jim

[Jimi]

oh yeah gary, if u have a pic of your glue is it ok if you post it? I'd try to look for it at the mall. so far, the glue that i use is that white Elmer's kiddie glue and "Stikwell" wood parquet glue for the structure. good at small amounts but makes the paper soggy in sizable amounts ..

[garyj36]

Four days now and its still clear and dosnt seem loose

[garyj36]

Oh , btw application was just squeeze out of the tube and sspread with scrap as needed. The tip on the tube is very small.

[Jimi]

Thanks! i'd try to look for that stuff when i go to Southmall later.