A kit of many parts.
So as mentioned. The kit has a lot of parts. Most of which I found a bit lacking or poorly implemented.
Thank God for 3d printing.
To be fair, I am editing this kit a lot, so many parts would be getting changed anyway.
Thank God for 3d printing.
To be fair, I am editing this kit a lot, so many parts would be getting changed anyway.
Main hull and superstructure
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The hull seemed fine and thankfully not warped. pretty unclear from the instructions on what and where to trim it.
I found it best to just wait and see how assembly developed. Rather than chop bits off to regret it later. Some panels just did not fit. I found it better to either 3d print or cut new parts from sheets of ABS plastic. Cutting out all the oval holes around the deck edge (Bulwark?) was the most tedious event of my life. You basically had to file VERY carefully for hours on end. Certain parts of the kit were missing. I just made my own and improved the design. |
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The biggest change was EVERYTHING has to be removable.
The original kit shows all the decking glued down with just access hatches for the motors and rudder.
My requirements were than all the deck needed to be removable. Just because of all the tech below decks.
I made all the of the Bulwark supports thicker and only glued to the deck. This meant they would 'clip' under the Gunwale trim.
All of the deck screws down with stainless screws.
There is still a separate hatch for the engine room and a hatch for the crane/towing winches.
The entire superstructure removes to access the Radio room PCB and the 2x 18v Dewalt batteries.
The original kit shows all the decking glued down with just access hatches for the motors and rudder.
My requirements were than all the deck needed to be removable. Just because of all the tech below decks.
I made all the of the Bulwark supports thicker and only glued to the deck. This meant they would 'clip' under the Gunwale trim.
All of the deck screws down with stainless screws.
There is still a separate hatch for the engine room and a hatch for the crane/towing winches.
The entire superstructure removes to access the Radio room PCB and the 2x 18v Dewalt batteries.
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The smoke stacks remove easily as they are now magnetic.
I 3d printed an entirely new, curved Aft section. The original was a terrible fit and it also help make the aft deck removable. It now lifts off with the deck, rather than be glued to the hull. All the windows got 3d printed frames. This looks FAR better than a filed hole in the ABS. I made various extra tool boxes and cabinets and placed them in various places on the ship. I already mentioned that the masts are almost all entirely rebuild from scratch. |
The bridge
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So I went online to try and find some scale figures for this ship HOW MUCH? Yea, I am not paying that. Thingyverse came to the rescue with some correct scale construction workers. I threw them into Tinkercad (Playschool CAD as I call it) and edited them around as I needed. Added lifejackets, tools etc. The bridge itself has no detail in the kit. I made some consoles, shelving etc. The consoles have working screens (see the tech pages). Made some overhead monitors etc and put vinyl graphics on them. The people need painting, and I will get around to that. There is also more detail to go in the bridge, but that is one of the last jobs. I have not fitted any windows etc yet, as we are still a while away from painting. I do intend to weather the ship, so I will be going full airbrush mode at some point to bring this up a few notches in detail. |
