Many thanks Rui, Nicolas and Alain!
After an inactive summer, I finally picked up this project again.
With Evergreen V-groove plastic sheet, I made the lower gun deck and firmly glued it in place. I extended the hull below the waterline a bit with plastic sheet and magic sculp to provide some extra room for water transparency and waves.
Since the decks widen at the stern, and they need an ‘outside wall’ to the quarter galleries at each level, I decided to make them separately at the stern from the rest of the decks. The stern part of the middle deck was made this way, and also firmly glued in position. I filled the space below with magic sculp for strength, and to fill the hole in the lower stern I accidentally drilled earlier.
Now it was just a matter of adding each deck. From this point on, all decks are kept detachable for painting, installing guns and crew, etc.
The rest of the middle gun deck needed to be added in two parts, because of the ship’s tumblehome. Here, the port section was added. The supports below it are glued to this deck section.
And the starboard section in )place. The supports for the upper gun deck above it were glued to this section.
The starboard upper deck section at the stern was now fitted (positioned a bit crooked in this photo).
And the port section. On the lower face of these stern sections, the continuation of the hull (the wall between the stern galleries and the cabins) is attached.
The port upper deck section.
And the starboard section. Openings for hatches, gratings and masts will be cut in this later (as will holes for the masts in the decks below).
The port quarterdeck section at the stern.
And the starboard section.
The rest of the quarterdeck, gangways and forecastle could be fashioned as one piece, since the tumblehome doesn’t interfere anymore at this point.
And finally: the poop deck.
Slowly, it is starting to look like a ship…
Most of the weather decks are provided in the kit in white metal and are not bad. But redoing these in plastic makes it easier for me to add camber (missing from the kit pieces), and gluing finer details to them later. It also keeps the weight down!
A better view on the deck sections at the stern. They are four detacheable pieces: two decks split in the centre. The ‘outer walls’ are glued to their lower face, as are the central supports.
As you can see, ‘below decks’ everything is not super precise, and I didn’t even attempt to add the correct interior structures, because this will not remain visible. These decks will only serve to support the guns and crew, and simply give the feeling that there is something in there.
Now it’s time to cut some holes and add some details to the upper decks!
Cheers,
Marijn