Hi everyone,
I'm having some problem with the scarf joints on the wales of my HMS Alert from Trident. The stock is 3/32" cherry and the pattern of the scarf is slightly complex. I scraped off the char and filed until I got a snug, mostly "no daylight" fit. On my first shot of affixing to the hull, I bent the wood with water but ended up with these awful, malformed, splayed joints. I tried to finesse it, but they just looked terrible. That first scarf joint sits at a spot with a respectable turn radius and even a little curvature from the top to bottom.
I had to laser cut a few more pieces (I don't trust myself to get things right the first time with kits, so I always scan parts first). I got a tight fit again off model. This time I put up one segment of the wale at a time and let constant tension slowly bend the scarf flat to the hull after a long soak, banding up, and drying overnight. I did the same for the next segment with the first segment in place. They both look like they took the form properly, but the joint, overall, looks splayed outward.
Here's my question. Do I file along the scarf joints at an angle through the thickness to get a match? Or did the train leave the station when I fitted the two pieces off model and I need to start again and fit once bent? I know there are plenty of modellers that make fantastic scarf joints and anchor joints in their wales, I could use some pro tips.
A word about bending the wood. I found wetting the 3/32" stock with water, adding newly heated water every 5 minutes for a total of 20min gives you something bendable but you have to let the tension do the work on the scarf joint overnight to flatten it completely while it is drying. I was hoping to get more pliability and ammonia was recommended, but that seems to discolor/bleach the wood and the dried form is a bit brittle. If you think the bending step is the problem, I could use some proven techniques to get it right. Everything but a soldering iron. The curves are too complex for a 1D heat curve (the hull at the joint sites are curved both along it's length and width).
Thanks for any help you can offer.
I'm having some problem with the scarf joints on the wales of my HMS Alert from Trident. The stock is 3/32" cherry and the pattern of the scarf is slightly complex. I scraped off the char and filed until I got a snug, mostly "no daylight" fit. On my first shot of affixing to the hull, I bent the wood with water but ended up with these awful, malformed, splayed joints. I tried to finesse it, but they just looked terrible. That first scarf joint sits at a spot with a respectable turn radius and even a little curvature from the top to bottom.
I had to laser cut a few more pieces (I don't trust myself to get things right the first time with kits, so I always scan parts first). I got a tight fit again off model. This time I put up one segment of the wale at a time and let constant tension slowly bend the scarf flat to the hull after a long soak, banding up, and drying overnight. I did the same for the next segment with the first segment in place. They both look like they took the form properly, but the joint, overall, looks splayed outward.
Here's my question. Do I file along the scarf joints at an angle through the thickness to get a match? Or did the train leave the station when I fitted the two pieces off model and I need to start again and fit once bent? I know there are plenty of modellers that make fantastic scarf joints and anchor joints in their wales, I could use some pro tips.
A word about bending the wood. I found wetting the 3/32" stock with water, adding newly heated water every 5 minutes for a total of 20min gives you something bendable but you have to let the tension do the work on the scarf joint overnight to flatten it completely while it is drying. I was hoping to get more pliability and ammonia was recommended, but that seems to discolor/bleach the wood and the dried form is a bit brittle. If you think the bending step is the problem, I could use some proven techniques to get it right. Everything but a soldering iron. The curves are too complex for a 1D heat curve (the hull at the joint sites are curved both along it's length and width).
Thanks for any help you can offer.