Managed to get a little bit more done over the past week... and learned a few more lessons along the way !
The hull was masked off and the main deck was given 2 coats of Halford's "Ford Meadow Green" then left to harden off for 24hrs and looks pretty close to the deck colour as I remember it.
Now, in my enthusiasm when masking up, I failed to notice the bare masking tape was covering the name plate letters on the stbd side - when the tape was removed the first 2 letters came off with it - Aaaaaargh !
it took me ages to put them bl**dy things on straight in the first place.
So it was back to affixing the replacements on - won't make that mistake again
Now it was time to tackle the overhanging "weatherstrip" from the bridge roof. I was just in the process of gluing down the roof when I realised - it has to remain unglued until the window glazing goes on
A quick pull got the roof off before the glue had time to set -phew !
I've used 0.5mm plasticard for the weatherstrip and used SWMBO's hairdrier again to achieve the desired curves.
Bridge roof.jpg
Next came the portholes along the main superstructure sides - marked off the locations and drilled pilot holes then opened them up with 3mm drill bit, finished off with filing the holes smooth and clearing out the swarf.
For the watertight doors I made up a plastic template and used this to cut & file to shape the 8 that I needed for this part of the build - these were glued in place with superglue.
Next part to tackle was the bridge wings. Initially, I made the floor of the Stbd wing, cut to final shape and was in the process of making the weather bulkhead when I realised that, if I just glued this to the main superstructure it would be prone to breakage - abandoned that idea - went with this instead:-
used a standard hacksaw and cut right across and through the superstructure to the aftermost point of where the bridge wings need to be fitted.
This gave me a nice gap into which I slid a 1mm piece of plasticard, did the necessary marking off then slid the resultant cut piece into place. I had cut it slightly oversize and then filed down to final shape and "welded" into place.
This gives a stronger, stable superstructure to work with.
The bridge wing doors were next and these were made (using the same template as used to make the w/t doors) glued in place and holes drilled to take the portholes.
Note: These 2 doors also needed the "dogging" handles fitted before the wing bulkheads go in place due to inaccessibility once the wings are completed.
Snapped the only 0.5mm drill bit I had left - was going to drill the holes for the "dog handles" - and of course the shops are all shut now -
Still, there's always something to be getting on with - in this instance it's the signal deck bulkheads. These were glued/welded in place using small set squares to keep them vertical.
Next came the for'd mast.
This was made up using 1mm plasticard skins with 3mm x 6mm plastic strip for support/strength and brought together in right angled halves. When I measured up to make the mast I added on an extra 35mm so that it could be slotted through the signal deck and seated on 01 deck.
However, because the base of the mast is broader and tapers up, when it came to cutting the aperture, it had to be to accommodate the broadest part so when the mast was slotted home I was left with a few mils gap. This was filled with strip all round.
What I should have done was either make the extra length square instead of tapered or, with a bit of forward planning, I could have left the bridge/signal deck unglued, cut the mast aperture and then slotted the mast home from underneath.
That's yet another note to go into my "how to / how not to" notebook
Mast from for'd.jpg
Mast from aft.jpg
Away to the shops again tomorrow for mini drillbits stock-up...
Regards,
Ray.
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Topic: 1st Scratchbuild - HMS Ariadne (Read 31012 times)