The Shannon has a very large section fender running almost all round the deck. My normal course of action would be to have the correct section moulded by COH Baines but the fendering on the shannon is not a constant section.
It starts at one section at the bow then changes over a few feet to a larger section so a rubber extrusion is impossible.
Moulding the fendering on to the hull is quite feasible but part of the fendering would have to be moulded on to the deck or added in some way.
If you have been on board a Shannon, you cannot help but be impressed with the fit and finish of everything and the inner edge of the fendering looks as neatly moulded into the deck as the wheelhouse does.
Also, the floor of the wheelhouse is all below deck level so if you want a scale interior, an upstand in the traditional way would make that tricky.
Also I didn't want a joint between the bottom of the hull and the deck, on the real thing the wheelhouse is moulded with the deck, So we are moulding the wheelhouse and the deck and the fendering as a single moulding.
It fits over the hull like a chocolate box lid and you cannot see any joints anywhere. A simple seal keeps the water out and holds the lot together nicely.
This way of course demands that the hull has some built in supports to maintain it's shape so we are including all the bulkheads the real thing has (and we will be laser cutting the hatchways so that should you wish to, you can build a full interior, jet space, engine room, tank space, survivor space and fore store.
We are considering making all this later so a sectioned one can be displayed but you could do one yourself if you wish.
(One of the reasons for designing our own jet drives was because of the scale space available being too small).
There is a lot of thinking goes into a kit. To make the best, its a real challenge and always takes longer than you think.
I hope to have some photos of the back end of the wheelhouse to show you tomorrow just to give you an idea of the quality you can expect from this kit.
Tea time!