Progress has been made with the Brede lifeboat project. I've got a deadline and this model is taking longer than I expected.
The hull is clad in sheets of plastic over the formers. These have been reduced in height and a deck fitted. Checking with a ruler shows that everything is as accurate as eyeballing along the sides makes it appear. I am much relieved by this as I really didn't want to make another hull.
Above the deck line, a superstructure is appearing. It might look a bit rough but I think I know what I'm doing. Those window holes will be tidyed up with overlays for the frames. The bottom edge is hidden behind another strip which the prototype handily has.
I'm very proud of the fact that everything you see has been scratchbuilt. It was all sheet plastic a few weeks ago and now looks a lot like the boat it is intended to represent. There is something incredibly satisfying about the process even if it is frustrating at times. Maybe it's overcoming the problems that provides the pleasure, or maybe it's just that I've created a reasonable size model and it's looking OK. Maybe a man in China with an injection moulding machine could do better but I'm pretty sure he isn't interested so I'll have to live without him.
This is brilliant. Building the hull from styrene sheet to be so accurate and look so believable must have been a real a challenge.
ReplyDeleteThats looking very very good :) You're putting me to shame with this fast progress. Do you know a good way of cutting windows out with rounded corners? I'm finding it difficult to cut them out neatly on my tsekoa model
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliments. Keeps me going sometimes!
ReplyDeleteWindows - Still working on that one. For the inside corners I might drill through the plastic. Outside, careful work with a knife. Possibly.