writes:
The model progressed with secondary guns (three in total, two on outriggers behind, and a third on the roof of the main bridge) and the two geared-engine pods.
The guns take some time, and can be a bit of a chore. I taper some plastic rod and attach to small plastic strips, float some liquid plastic glue over the top, and allow to dry on a sheet of glass. Once dry - and this can take some time and should not be rushed - the guns can be removed with a sharp blade, and cut and sanded to shape. I also add additional detail and then, using liquid plastic glue, attach the finished guns to the plastic mounts already attached to the deck. I then reinforce the join with superglue and accelerator (it is better to be slightly over-scale here, rather than have the guns, which are quite fragile, removed every time you play a scenario - trust me, I know from experience!).
The engine pods are one section of half-round rod stuck to laminated plasticard, and then sanded to profile before cutting to size and mounting on more plasticard mounting plates. Once again, I took this opportunity to add small detail: running lights on each engine, more rivet detail, and hatch hinges (all of which will be picked out once painted). The propeller shafts are plastic rod mounted in pre-drilled holes, and detailed with some plastic tube which came from a propelling pencil!
The final deck details are the two ventilators and, as with the guns, these can take some time. I use two thicknesses of plastic rod - the thicker one has one end domed, and then cut to a shape that resembles a 'half pea' or lentil. The thinner rod is then cut at an angle, and butt-joined to the lentil. I then flood the piece with liquid plastic glue, and allow to set. If the joint needs any additional flair or smoothing-in, I use superglue and accelerator, and sand with sanding sticks or fine nail-or-manicure sanding sticks. In the case of the Meade, I drilled holes and fitted the ventilators into them with superglue. With earlier models, I have just used liquid plastic glue and attached them to the deck.
I would estimate that construction has taken about 6 hours over four days, with many breaks. I did try counting up the number of individual parts used in the construction of this model, and gave up when this climbed to above 105 separate pieces! The model is 115mm long, 42mm wide, and 49mm tall.