So having glued some pieces together lets have a look at what is required after that. Hopefully all the smaller detail pieces have been glued without requiring any further attention but the bigger pieces such as hulls and wings will have to be cleaned up after gluing.
I have to admit to many years of not doing very well with the dressing up of joints and to even avoiding models that incorporated such joints. This proved to be a bit of a pity as one of the most common was hull joints in ships, something I have come to enjoy very much more as time has gone on.
As with so many basic things the success of any such task depends on the preparation work done before hand. When you are gluing large components that are going to have a joint in them ensure that the pieces either side of the joint are held in the correct attitude as the glue sets.
Imagine for instance the classic situation with gluing the two halves of a ships hull. The vast majority of hulls are flat in the middle for probably about a third of the total hull length but the temptation is always to hold the two halves of the hull together with elastic, clamps, sticky tape etc and keep the halves under pressure until the glue sets. This invariably causes the hull to compress slightly and the flat bottom ends up with a slight rise either side of the keel.
This is something that requires thought into the preparation of how you are going to hold the pieces until the glue is set to ensure that the bottom is correctly flat. This then makes the cleaning up of the hull after the glue has set so much easier to deal with.
To clean up the joint the best I have found over the years that automotive “Wet and Dry” paper is the most effective. The joint may require some scraping to remove glue that has squeezed out of the faces, which can be done gently by dragging a knife blade over the area. Then, using the “Wet and Dry” in a bowl of soapy water to keep the paper clean and lubricated, wrap it round a square block of any material. Using a square block always ensures that the action remains square and doesn’t follow undulations in the surface which will invariable happen if you simply use the paper in your hand.
Start with a course grit paper of approximately 200, depending upon the size of the surface being rubbed down and gently rub until the entire length of the joint is an even matt finish with no sign of any depressions or raised areas. When the joint has been successfully dressed up in this way go to a finishing paper, of say 600 grit, and rub over the area again by hand.
Once this has been completed and the component has dried out completely a light thin coat of primer should be applied by either spray or painting over the area of the joint only. The primer will show up any imperfections in the joint and show you any point that may require a bit of further work.
Once you have mastered the technique of cleaning up joints in this way it really will surprise you just how easily a perfect joint can be achieved which, when the top coat of paint is applied, will be completely invisible. |