Usually it's best to consider what kind of stand before starting to build, rather than near the end. For instance, it may be difficult or impossible to mount the ship on brass pedestal type stands (too invasive!). You could still safely measure the contours of the hull with a contour gauge and construct a cradle type stand that will snugly hold the model. The most secure type of stand usually requires drilling holes in the bottom of the hull to pin or bolt the model down, but toward the end of the build it might be just too dangerous to do this.