SUPERSTRUCTURE BUILD FOR THE TUG CERVIAA little pause for thought first; at this stage, we have several options open to us and the options are purely a personal choice. Where do we take our build from here – some modellers prefer to build a model as near as perfect as one can get; some modellers like myself on certain plans like to build the model as depicted on the plan, and, some modellers like to build a ‘stand off’ version.
We will look at the choices on merit; let then take the first one:
• We want to build a model as close as we can to the ‘prototype vessel’ as possible. In this case we have to put our Sherlock Holmes’ cap on – we have to do a lot of investigation and research on the vessel’s history, design, alterations throughout its life, because a vessel is not known as a ‘she’ for nothing. Like a typical woman; she changes her clothes and appearance on a regular basis.
We have to decide at what period of time we are going to represent our model; and, having picked a particular time, we have to amass as much information about that vessel with regard to its fittings, structural alterations and so forth – this enables us to build a good representation of that particular vessel. This can not only be very time consuming, but also very costly. The plans we are using for the tug Cervia, no doubt, fairly accurate – I have noticed one or two discrepancies when looking at photographs of her. To give you an example – on the back end of the engine room top deck casing – on the photographs I have – show a rear door access point to the engine room. Now then, on the plans this is not shown. On the plan it shows radar – now the time she had radar fitted the doors were fitted to the engine room casing. This could have been an oversight by the draughtsman; however, it just highlights one small problem we have to overcome when trying to build a replica of a particular vessel.
Although building a model to exact scale can be very rewarding, in more ways than one. It can be also be very stressful. The last point really is if we had decided to build an exact replica, we would have decided this at the very beginning of the build so we would not then come across problems:
• To build straight from a plan - I prefer this option at times. To build like this can give you some leeway when you have not got the correct information for particular parts of the build, e.g. full information on steam windlasses and so forth. You can build off the plan what you see and it should give a reasonable representation of the item or, if you wish, you can purchase a fitting which is near enough what has been drawn on the plan. We also can afford to be a little bit lenient on the quality of our build – this is because every modeller suffers the same – some good days when everything goes right and looks well and some days when everything goes terribly wrong. ::)
• To build a stand-off model – there is nothing wrong with this type of build – IT PLEASES THE BUILDER if he doesn’t like the particular bridge which is on the plan, he can make his own up. If one wants to put something on the tug/vessel that was never there on the original one can.
AT THE END OF THE DAY the real answer to all questions has to be the enjoyment we gain from building the model, and, the enjoyment we gain from sailing it.