I received my copy of
The Littorio Class: Italy's Last and Largest Battleships 1937-1948 by Erminio Bagnasco and Augusto de Toro. Thanks again for the recommendation Luciano, it's been a great read so far and is packed with tons of useful reference material.
This project is starting to take on a life of its own. Overall, I'm happy with the model, but there have been a few shortcomings with my particular kit. There is a small hole and a linear scratch on one of the deck pieces near the funnels which needs to be addressed. Some of the damage will be covered, but the rest will be visible.
I was putting together one of the forward gun directors and the fit was atrocious. One half of the director seems to be slightly warped or bent and an ugly 1mm gap appeared when the top piece was added. I ended up having to cut a portion off of one of the sides to eliminate the gap. I have not attempted to build the second one yet to see if I'll have the same fit issues. Right now a little putty and sanding should finish up the first one.
Barring a few some kit imperfections I have been making progress. I've drilled out the port side scuttles and added small 0.10 thick styrene disks created from a punch set to show them in an opened state. I'm in the process of drilling out the starboard side scuttles. I'll be drilling out all the bow port holes as well and will added thin wire eyebrows.
The stern is another matter. Reference photos show two different port hole layouts for either side. The kit has each side with the same arrangement. The kit also has molded half the port holes on the stern at a slightly higher elevation than the other half. Reference material doesn't indicate a change in elevation. There is also a rectangular section molded along either side of the stern which appears thick and over scale. I'm not sure what it is, but I will sand off the existing detail and add a new styrene strip more in line with references. The kit also has a boom attachment it shows attached over a section of stern port holes, but reference material shows this boom attached above the port holes. I have decided to fill the stern portholes with epoxy putty and realign them more in line with references. This is a lot more work than I had anticipated, but I have to admit I don't like the look of the stern as molded, when it's rather out of whack with the real ship.
I've also decided to get the KA-models Mk.1 Roma Deluxe set. I think it fills a number of omissions that neither the kit, nor the flyhawk detail set cover. This set has the 22 missing hatches on the boat deck and all the ammo locker doors for starters. I also like having a back up set to cover any mistakes I may make.
I have not provided pictures yet, as I'd like to show a comprehensive update showing before and after. I will document what I'm doing so you all can see. Like a friend of mine says, "pictures, or it didn't happen!"
A note on the build. I'm loving it! It's quickly turning into a labour of love. I've spent a little more money than anticipated, but I really want to showcase this beautiful ship. I'm testing my modelling skills and enjoying every minute. One thing I've learned about myself, if there's a hole that could be drilled, I will drill it.
Pictures will be forthcoming and I'll be on two weeks vacation soon where I can devote some serious model time to the project. The decision to improve the look of the stern is a major undertaking for me and has delayed the joining of the hull halves, but I think the results will be worth it.
A brief note on my model room. My spray booth arrived last week and I've set it up. It's exactly what I'd hoped for, but it requires two venting ducts and I'm not going to be able to add a 'Y' connector to my single 4" ceiling duct without creating back flow. I'm going to seal one vent and see if that works ok. The manufacturer says the fans are exhausting into a central chamber before leaving via the two exhaust ports so that shouldn't cause much issue with air flow. Fingers crossed!
Sorry for the lack of photos. I'll get to them when I can, but right now I just want to finish up the work so I can join the hull halves.
Thanks for following...
Joseph
