I've been pleasantly surprised at the way that the kit is coming together. Given my ham-fisted skills I expected to encounter a lot of problems, but that really hasn't been the case. I had a few problems lining up the shaft, but have resolved them, and it's all gone fairly smoothly since.
I have learned a great deal; I found the best way to trim the hull was to scrape it with the edge of a Stanley knife; it proved to be a quick and accurate method to bring it to the correct profile. I found my hobby knives pretty useless, and have used a Stanley knife for all the cutting, with a plentiful supply of fresh blades from the local pound shop.
I've finished the hull and deck, and the lower part of the superstructure. I'm going to invest in a proper hobby drill - a chap who manufactures 1200 scale models told me years back that the sort which use collets aren't up to the job, and he was right - I need one with a proper adjustable chuck.
Any recommendations in that respect would be most welcome.
I've also sprayed the deck with red oxide; I found it was the best way to highlight impurities and take them off with some wet and dry.
It really is a really impressive kit, and I'm getting a lot of fun from it. It's hard work cutting out the parts from plastic card, but it does fit together well with little effort.
I won't post any pics of the build - there are plenty of them around posted by others - but I'll post some on completion. I'm already planning to follow the puffer with the same company's trawler. By that time I should hopefully have accumulated enough expertise to tackle the TID tug in the attic.
Ricald's visit - and subsequent help, gave me the confidence to get the project off the ground - thanks to him and to the other members whose post provided help and encouragement.
Apart from keeping me busy for hours on end, the ship has also cured my wife's chronic insomnia. As soon as I mention the word 'puffer' she falls instantly into a deep sleep....