I thought I could gain no more by keeping the deck and hull halves separate, so I assembled them. Hair bands and rubber are always useful for keeping pressure at the right places.
First I drilled holes in the original upper bulwarks for the 3" portholes with my dremel, but these came out at a very wrong position relative to the deck. So I just removed the entire bulwark and replaced it with a pre-measured and cut 0.5mm plasticard sheet. Franken-ship is alive!
Sealing off the upper stern section with these short plates. A pair of 6" guns will be placed behind.
On the 1917 version this deck house would be covered by a rotund AA platform, not in this case. On the original plans it had radio wires around so I assume the deck house to be related to that purpose. I think I'll construct the wires from 0.3mm steel rod and/or spare PE railing.
Moving on to the prow. This oval chain retaining contraption can still be seen in a different form on the ship today, but based on the plans it was originally there so that the anchor chain would be winched back through it. It was completely missing from the model, so I made it from MAXX Putty on both sides.
I also sanded off the five-pointed star and added the Romanov imperial crest to the bow.
Filling and sanding the bottom of the hull, slowly getting it into shape. I removed the prop shaft tunnels and cleared the residue they left.
A final touch of wood filler on the sides before some more sanding and adding acrylic medium for the smallest gaps.
I was searching for aftermarket 3" gun mounts, but could not find anything that resembled the original ones, so I scratch built a test piece. It's made from a toothpick (obviously), a piece of paperclip and a plastic broom bristle represents the hydraulic tube on top. I painted it black brown and then glued on the brass barrel. I plan to use the same colour scheme on all the deck-mounted guns and would also leave the lower casemate gun barrels bare. Shinies!
Sanding and shaping the flying bridge. These were stepped on the model and had a third tier, while the plans show the two spans right on top of each other, and the commander's station is the topmost - this can be climed via a ladder but there is no third bridge tier. Some alignment issues are to be solved, especially because the main mast goes right through both parts.
The lower bridge section has steel breastworks but the upper one has only railings, so I sanded off the plastic parts.
Fast forward in time, and attaching the aftermarket anchors to the hull. These are 3D printed IJN destroyer anchors in 1/350 scale, they fit a lot better than the original ugly anchors, if not perfectly.
We are at a stage now when I can shortly start priming the hull. The upper deck gun ports are finished and a pair of photoetch ladders were added to both sides.
Aligning, filling and sanding the prop shaft tunnels. I also bought a 0.5 and 0.5mm micro drill, mainly to attach the brass barrel pegs to the gun breeches, but this time I used them to drill holes into the shaft. I'll attach the props to pieces of steel wire, paint them separately then glue the end of the wire in the holes.
The first lick of paint on the hull! The lower bridge tier incl. the conning tower was primed white, painted with VMC Yellow Ochre, and then a light stain with Army Painter Soft Tone was added.
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