I have not reported any progress on this one for a while, I have been plodding away at it slowly as ideas come into my head.
First off were the hatch covers, I had no materials big enough to cover these, then I started using coffee stirrers on/in my Sea Rover build and decided they might be the right stuff to use on the hatches. Still want to add some detailing in places on them.
Next to be done was the addition of over 100 matches along the inner face of the sides, above the deck. I added these for looks mainly, to break up the long bare areas. The top rails overhang these slightly and glue to them as well as the sides.
I made a start on bridge windows, 1/32 balsa frames glued to main structure and windows cut out afterwards, I tacked the frames only at the joins so that the windows in the balsa underneath could be trimmed out more easily, then superglued the edges to bond it all together. Still got some filing to do to finish the windows off.
I am quite happy with the way the bridge looks so far, I was originally just going to paint the windows on but I think this will look much better.
I am thinking about an anchor winch and maybe a crane for some detail, the deck looks pretty bare. I have been looking at Ruston Bucyrus cranes for inspiration. I like the lines of them. This would be a mini project, fitted in when time allows. I will get the drawings traced off my old laptop and that will let me see what I can come up with. It would be good to have the crane working, even if it only turns, there is plenty of space inside the ship for doing this. I will see as I get further into the build.
I am still not sure what paint scheme I am going to go for, it might be a while before I get to that stage. I have a few other projects to work on. My Sea Rover is coming along nicely, if a bit slowly. There is still a lot of varnishing and painting to do on it, so I will have time for other projects as it is drying.