A little progress over the weekend.
Getting ready to drill out the holes for the etched iron ladder steps & boom fittings.
The template was held in place with masking tape for the drilling process.
Job done.
The larger holes are the boom furniture (0.5mm) the smaller holes are for steps (0.3mm)
The bilge keels fitted.
It appears to me they are numbered the wrong way round on the instructions, at least mine fitted better (very well) that way, no filling required.
The shaft fairings fitted, not bad at all, just a little filler.
The A frames and shafts in place, no issues at all.
The "Prop off", I have, between the kit and the aftermarket, three sets of props, the kit props on the sprue, the white metal props from the Trumpeter upgrade, and shiny brass coloured sprues are from the Pontos set.
Which ones to use?
As the Pontos items are slightly smaller, from my references the real things were 4.7m in diameter. measuring the options, the Pontos parts came in at 21mm, both the metal & plastic Trumpeter items at 23.5mm, much better. the blades on the metal parts look slightly better in shape, if they take paint ok I will be using those.
The rudders in place, these are handed the pivots are angled do the rudders hang correctly.
Lots of small pieces of etch next.
Cheers
Si
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Associate Editor
