However, the delicate operation was to assembly the hull sides and the gun deck at the same time. Remember, earlier I glued all three pieces of the gun deck together, in order to allow better alignment of the surfaces. To make matters even more complicated, the rudder needed to be assembled, too, at the same time.
I made countless trials first, to make sure the deck and the hull sides fit together and to find out how to assemble and secure them quickly, before the glue dries. For this I needed a second pair of hands for help, but eventually I did it. Unfortunately, to take pictures during the assembly process I needed a third pair of hands which was... unavailable. So I can show only the final result: the hull (and the gun deck below), sticked together with plenty of glue and a lot of pliers.
Special attention to the bow and stern, where the contact surfaces are larger, and the gluing could be more effective.
As mentioned earlier, the rudder needed to be assembled, too. According to the instructions, two ropes are tied on the tiller, then put through some gun deck holes. For the moment, the ropes should be packed. Later, they will be assembled on the steering wheel.
I know that the instructions tell to assembly each gun deck part separately, and not to glue them. Unfortunately, in case of this kit, it would be a mistake, because the pieces will not align properly.
And the final look on hull with gun deck in place:
What I am missing, again, is the set of pictures made while assembling the stern cabin, so unfortunately I have to skip that part.
Nice work!
ReplyDeleteYou are of course absolutely correct that the deck pieces would not line up if you follow the instructions. I was able to get them to mostly line up after the fact by gluing them together just along the line (it was too late to add a hidden support like you did).
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