writes:Deck Structures
The front or wheelhouse structure was once again cut and sanded from the hard foam. I found it easier to sand the frontal slope first, the two sides, and then the two angle panels. Even so, it took quite a bit of time to firstly sand the sides to a regular profile, and secondly, to ensure that all three were of roughly the same dimensions!
The engine room at the rear was a little easier to produce, but once again, it was very difficult to maintain the same profile for all three. Any gaps were filled with thick PVA glue and smoothed out with my finger.
At this stage, I should mention that the reason I decided to produce three models of this class of boat in one go was to increase my German fleet, which has always been a bit light in number. It also gives me opportunity to hone my modeling skills - and it is much easier to maintain uniformity rather than starting, modeling and finishing each model in turn. Finally, I felt it would also be a good opportunity for members to see the progression of the models.
The next thing I modeled was the sloping side walls, which for two of the models follow the initial squirmydad profile, and for the third revert to a higher profile as seen in the original Sky Galleons of Mars version of the Hamburg. The sections were cut from 10thou plastic card and stuck with superglue.
This particular gunship is featured in a number of photographs of Sky Galleons of Mars models - and with the squirmydad paper models, all show predominant 'liftwood' sections on the lower hull. I modeled these with plastic card, and will add detail with paint rather than trying to model it.
