Veneers

hmm.. whilst awaiting the courage to start the deck planking...... ( I need to decide what planking method I intend to use )... either the "robbe way" which follows the curves of the hull or the more common "straight" method.

So while I try to decide, I thought I'd skip ahead a little, and make a start on the ships dinghy. This meant having a more indepth look inside #1133 the Atlantis wood pack.

An aquaintance, Colin H, who is also building an Atlantis, did mention to me about the "brittle" nature of the veneers...... Upon closer inspection, I now see what he means........

One of the main diecut pieces, containing parts 26.2 - 27.17 seems to be very poor quality, certainly some of the poorest parts I have ever encountered from Robbe !

As can be seen, the veneer has "bubbled" separating from the ply backing.... this is straight out of the box... I decided, there and then to identify and separate the remaining parts from this sheet............

The results are as above...... I am not impressed, not only is the veneer separating, but the ply is also separating !

? Perhaps the adhesive bond between layers is failing ?

This has necessitated in some "remedial" work to glue these parts back together and apply pressure in a vice. On a kit of this price, I do not expect to have to repair items out of the box !

I may well be just unlucky with this problem..... but my guess is, it IS a common problem and I think occurs as the wood parts /glue, dry out in storage..... , as stated, these photos are of the die-cut veneers straight out of the box.

I intend to raise the issue with Robbe, and see what they say.......