I decided to go ahead and build Angraf's 1/200 Zuiho despite warnings otherwise. I chose to take it slow as the warning about the frames did not go unheeded.
I don't have the laser cut frames so I laminated the keel and bulkheads on 1/16 balsa and the rest on 3/64 balsa (that's 3mm and 2mm respectively for my non American friends). I laminated paper on both sides of the balsa, it eliminates the grain issues and makes the part somewhat pliable for flattening after the fact relatively easy.
I fitted all pieces after cutting them out and it was clear there are several issues. None of them too serious in my opinion. The keel seems to be too short as seen in some of the pictures. I wasn't sure so I made the flight deck, 1/32 balsa with upper and lower coverings on each side. The deck confirmed the problem seems to be with the keel and not the horizontal water line frame. I flipped the frame over and it lined up with the flight deck, leaving with gaps in the keel.
Several of the lower hull pieces, specifically 8-9-10 are all narrow. I fixed this problem later by gluing strips of paper to bring edges out to the horizontal w/l deck. Some for the frames need to be slotted even though they are not marked accordingly, this obvious which ones during the dry fit.
I glued the upper hull first. For the 1st time ever I worked the bulkhead frames gluing them one at a time. I didn't glue the keel until after all the bulkheads were installed. To my amazement the frame ended up extremely flat and straight.
I installed the internal hanger before placing the upper deck base in place. I added the upper deck lower frames, the bow and stern decks. The hull held true and square.
With the ship held flat, I position and super glued in balsa blocks the tie up the keel frame. I cut the gaps in my keels wider than the bulkheads to prevent necessary bowing of the keel by squeezing the frames into narrow slots. I allowed the glue to set with the keel square to the assembly mat.
Next, I installed the lower keel and bulk heads in place, using the same procedure as above, not forcing parts to fit. After drying I added paper to bring the majority of the under sized parts up to the adjacent edges. Then sanded the frame with 150 grit paper.
Finally I installed the lower plates 10-14. I added gluing tabs to the frames ahead of each plate. Starting from the center and working back.
I don't have the laser cut frames so I laminated the keel and bulkheads on 1/16 balsa and the rest on 3/64 balsa (that's 3mm and 2mm respectively for my non American friends). I laminated paper on both sides of the balsa, it eliminates the grain issues and makes the part somewhat pliable for flattening after the fact relatively easy.
I fitted all pieces after cutting them out and it was clear there are several issues. None of them too serious in my opinion. The keel seems to be too short as seen in some of the pictures. I wasn't sure so I made the flight deck, 1/32 balsa with upper and lower coverings on each side. The deck confirmed the problem seems to be with the keel and not the horizontal water line frame. I flipped the frame over and it lined up with the flight deck, leaving with gaps in the keel.
Several of the lower hull pieces, specifically 8-9-10 are all narrow. I fixed this problem later by gluing strips of paper to bring edges out to the horizontal w/l deck. Some for the frames need to be slotted even though they are not marked accordingly, this obvious which ones during the dry fit.
I glued the upper hull first. For the 1st time ever I worked the bulkhead frames gluing them one at a time. I didn't glue the keel until after all the bulkheads were installed. To my amazement the frame ended up extremely flat and straight.
I installed the internal hanger before placing the upper deck base in place. I added the upper deck lower frames, the bow and stern decks. The hull held true and square.
With the ship held flat, I position and super glued in balsa blocks the tie up the keel frame. I cut the gaps in my keels wider than the bulkheads to prevent necessary bowing of the keel by squeezing the frames into narrow slots. I allowed the glue to set with the keel square to the assembly mat.
Next, I installed the lower keel and bulk heads in place, using the same procedure as above, not forcing parts to fit. After drying I added paper to bring the majority of the under sized parts up to the adjacent edges. Then sanded the frame with 150 grit paper.
Finally I installed the lower plates 10-14. I added gluing tabs to the frames ahead of each plate. Starting from the center and working back.
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