Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Successful scratchbuilding just takes good bodging

Wheelhouse Trim


Making models from scratch is a concept that terrifies people, but it shouldn't

The photo illustrates some bodgery that has helped my boat look good. When I fitted the wheelhouse, I knew that the front edge would need to be cut away to compensate for the rising deck at the front of the boat. I should have allowed for this as I assembled the panels, but I didn't bother.

Cutting away the bottom of each was a bit trial and error as the rise isn't consistent thanks to the less than perfect hull. No matter, I just kept trimming until the wheelhouse sat upright.

Along the bottom, the cuts were less than perfect but some strips of plastic added a little decorate trim and made it look perfect. Each was cut over-long and cut or filed back, the front piece awaits this. Of course if you look inside you can see the errors but since no-one can, it doesn't matter.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You'd be amazed how much carpentry, especially things like fitting kitchens and cupboards, is exactly that, in fact the bodging is oten built into the way the piece of furniture is constructed.