Looking good!

Thanks Colin.

How did you end up attaching the roof to the rest of the bridge? I am thinking Araldite will do the trick. Bit hard to solder to plastic..

Not sure what you mean by the roof? I think I glued the bridge to the lower cabin with expoxy resin before gluing the complete assembly to the deck. Hence I used locating wire for the 3 front posts going into the deck. Plus I tired using masking tape to help line up the lower cabin with markings on the deck.

That is how I thought to do it.

I must not fall into the 'hurry it along' trap. This is the longest build I have ever done by a long way.

I used epoxy resin for some large deck fittings such as the funnel assembly as well. I found the epoxy seals the join line nicely. Although it can be difficult getting a sharp 90 degree between the assembly and the deck. I would wipe excess epoxy away, but over time a little would seep under the join. My deck under the funnel area was not completely flat (owing to deck PE's not lining up perfectly) so again the resin would fill in any potential gaps.

Nice work on the front of the Bridge mate,

That is some lump of etch.

Si

I fully agree with Si,
very nice work on your bridge Lots of brass and lots of soldering - haven't done that in an eternity, I wonder how my soldering would look like. Well, I don't really want to see...

Great work, looking forward to see your bridge in place!

Cheers,
Jan

I will overcome any problems with brute force if necessary..

Thanks mate.

No where near as big as the forward deck piece Si... luckily!

Cheers
Warren

I am sure it would be fine Jan.

Will get it in place asap.

Cheers
Warren

He's baaaa-aaacck..

Not heaps of progress but a little bit of bending etc.

First up the floor of the bridge keeps getting parts added..

The strip of brass you see under the planking had to be curved and attached



Sorry but the piccy I took of the strip alone didn't turn out too well, but you can see it in this overall shot,



Then the 'wooden' planking bit gets attached to the top of the strip. Then this little box has to be bent up and attached..



I soldered the edges together. Easy to do with such a small item. Then it gets attached to the raised wooden centre bit..



Like so. Then one of the plastic kit parts gets attached to the middle of the box. Havrn't seen it yet but it very unusual not to have a cast piece for the spot.

And that is it for this update. Lots more to do over the weekend hopefully. Have to go and have a look at some photos to see the colours in the area as there is some painting to do before I attach that raised deck area.

Cheers for now
Warren

Nice small progress Warren.

Would I be right in assuming the compass binnacle sits on that brass box.

Cheers.

Si

That is a very large possibility my friend...

Cheers
Warren

And thus it came to pass that another day of modelling (well a few hours anyway) came to an end just before 6pm and dinner.. Mushroom, Onion and Cheese Scrambled Eggs.

I concentrated on the upper bridge deck (as I did yesterday) and got quite a bit done.

First up were the speaking tubes dotting the open bridge..



Please also notice that the rest of the things have been attached to the bridge bulkhead, The door on the right leads into a tiny room which the window lets light into. The locker on the right needs a bit of a touch up by the look of it. Notice also that the compass stand has been painted.

Then I bent and soldered the two search light decks at the rear of the bridge deck.



And yes, that is supposed to be green anti-slip, aka Semtex (I thought that was an explosive).

Then we have two brass coloured thingies.. parts of the compass system if I am not mistaken. Not finished yet as I am sure the squat one needs more detail painting not called out anywhere.



Anyone know where I can find a colour piccy of one?

Unfortunately one of the delicate pipe rail thingies didn't survive the journey. Hopefully its untimely demise will be covered by the extra set of these items I bought.



And then we have a complete one being painted..



Lots of rust opportunities with these which I won't be taking with this model as it is to be a museum model. I have another in the cupboard for the weathered one..

Then I started making the searchlights for the searchlight decks. You take all these parts..



Glue the shutters on the lights..



Then attach the brackets to the smaller lights..



.. using my bending blade to support the brackets while they dry..

And sometime tomorrow I will glue the light to the top of its stand.

And that's it for today. The cast parts normally take a bit of clean hence why the speed of the build is slow. I suppose all the details don't help.

One thing that is missing is any detail in the wheelhouse.. I have no idea what goes in there, size wise, and I don't think I have the skill to build a 1/72 ships wheel... so hopefully it won't be too noticeable when it is finished..

Cheers all
Warren

I didn't think it was necessary to worry about the wheelhouse interior as it wouldn't be open to view.
Looking good as usual!

Warren,

Really incredible work. Its a real joy to watch as you progress through this build. I have never really worked with white metal parts as they scare me but you make it look easy

Thanks for sharing.

Dave

Looking good Warren,

The magnetic compass binnacle, the one with the ball on each side, the bit below the dome was usually wooden, so could be wood, or painted grey, the dome would be brass, the "arms" the balls sit on could be brass or grey, the balls which are steel, to help counteract the ships magnetic field, were red on the port, and green for starboard.

The gyro repeater would normally be grey, might have a brass dome.

Hope that helps

Si

I thought the gyro repeater was a pelorus. I sliced the top in half to leave a flat surface.

Hi Colin,

Good call, could be a pelorus, but I from memory, I don't have my AOTS on the flower class to hand, they did have a Gyro repeater on the bridge.

The only possible difference from the painting point of view, the cover on a pelorus would be grey.

Nice idea, flattening the top and showing the compass card. Love that sort of detail, adds real depth.

Cheers.

Si

Thanks Colin.

Only way to learn how to work with something is to work with it..

Jump right in Dave, you will be fine. Diecast metal is soft and easy to work with.

Regards
Warren

I think I will just use the kit bits and detail them with paint..

Thanks though
Warren

It's looking superb Warren. An amazing effort with that level of detail.

cheers

Michael

Thanks Michael.

And now for a very quick update..



The smaller of the two sets of search lights on their supports, and..



Yes, I have installed my first pipe rails! One word of warning with these.. they are pretty delicate so make sure you buy enough to cover any breakages.

That's it!

Bye for now
Warren

Ahoy Warren

Nice work indeed thus far.

FYI I have a 1/72 ships wheel going spare you are welcome to have.

Its spare from my E-Boat its fairly generic looking and you are welcome to use it.

I am more than happy to contribute it to this epic build.

Just let me know.


Cheers


Sean