Got a little bored with my Gato and Enterprise build so side lined them for the moment.
Moving home didn't help, but now got a little more space to work in.
I started the build on the corvette about the same time as the Enterprise, but found that with my dodgy eyesight and fat fingers, the corvette was a better option at the moment.
The postings will be a little out of sync as I haven't built it following the instruction sequence.
As most already know the kit has many faults such as over scale hull plates, porthole eyebrows, embossed deck planking etc.
The first job I tackled was the flange that joins the hull sections together, this isn't obvious on the real ship.
Then all the moulded deck planking needed removing where it wasn't evident on the real thing. Copious use of wet/dry paper was used to remove this (plus finger prints)
The hull comes in four separate pieces that are joined both vertically and horizontally. I attached the fore and aft sections first using the moulded in recesses but drilling through the joint and inserting plastic rod in the holes.
After these joints had set I joined the two halves together using clamps, and reinforced the kit cross braces that I considered too weak for a model that is going to be in constant use.