Now I'm happy with the way the decks will work, it's time to start on the superstructure.
Since the decks and sides are different colours, I am planning in building up a series of sub-assemblies for painting. Step 1 is the attachment of the properllers and rudders to the hull, but I will leave that until later, or they are liable to get in the way. So, I will start by looking at step 2.
Step 2 starts the top of the main superstructure, but I think this needs to be painted before assembling, so will move to step 3, which is the next lower part of the superstructure. This is made up of two sides and two parts for the bridge.
They glue together alright. The part on the left is the base of the top superstructure. This gets some directors and the front funnel top. This will be fitted out later.
It sits on top of the bridge deck.
The next section down forms three decks, and the rear forms the funnel trunking. There are two upper decks, a flat section and a lower deck. I glued this as two assemblies. The upper two decks and the lower deck. I joined the two lower sides first, and strengthened them with some styrene stock at the rear. The two upper sides glue together. I left the top deck off, so it can be painted separately.
While those parts were setting, I moved onto the central superstructure.
It goes together nicely. The next stage is to attach masts, but I won't do that until later to prevent damage. As with most of the vertical joints, a small amount of filler is needed between two of the lower parts. I've used styrene filler for this.
Between the two lower decks, there are two sections of superstructure, each made with two parts.
The bond are for these parts is non-existent, they join at points, so I've added some styrene to form the join. Although they probably won't be seen, I used some styrene filler on the joins, and sanded them smooth.
Now back to the upper superstructure. The sides and cylindrical section have massive gaps. The sides are correct, as they meet at positioning guides on the flat section. I closed the gaps with some styrene strip, strengthened with some plastic rod on the inside. I forgot to take a photo for this update, but I'll try to remember for the next.
The lower section sits on the lower deck. I've added some plastic rod to strengthen the rear section.
Dry fitting the superstructure. It looks to go together alright. The central section is raised up on pieces which I'll fit later.
The next job is to ensure all the joints are nice, and then move on to the rest of the superstructure and weaponry.