The Aurora has four pairs of boats according to my plans, including two steam launches. These are the boats that came with my kit. As you can see there's only seven of them. I washed them and scraped off the sticky glue residue, also trimming away some of the injection mould marks.
First things first: the smallest rowboats' tops were beyond redemption, so I decided to put a canvas cover on them, made from MAXX Putty.
It's time to clone the steam launch to account for the missing piece. After a thorough cleaning and sanding, I make The Coffin™ from 2mm plasticard. This will make nice even sides for the blue stuff press mould.
Off the blue stuff goes to be soaked in hot water, and then a copy to be made. To reduce flash and the chance of a miscast, it is important to goad the blue stuff by pressing around the master a bit with the butt of a paintbrush. Also it is advised to use lubrication between the mould halves, lest the heat activates the one made the first time and they stick together.
The two halves completed, they are released from The Coffin™. A blob of MAXX Putty is placed within (the required volume measured mostly by eyesight) and a piece of balsa wood and a hair band are applied for constant, but not very strong, pressure for a snug fit.
It is alive! After a rough cleaning, the results are in, and they are not bad.
The launches are rather featureless, so I decided to add a retractable smokestack at least.
Painting all the boats a uniform colour, brown and white tops and white grey sides.
In the meantime, I added a dark brown oil wash to the bottom of the hull, and placed it under a display case so it wouldn't get full of cat hair. I daren't do the wash on the upper works though until the bottom dries completely, and even then I might just add another layer of satin varnish to fix it and wait some more.
Also re-done the railings on the aft searchlight platform and added a matt varnish, this sub-assembly is officially complete.
Fiddling with the upper main bridge, I think I've achieved a pretty good freehand on the mahogany structure and windows. (VMC Mahogany Brown basecoat followed by an AP Strong wash, and the highlights are VMC Saddle Brown. The windows are plain metallic silver.)
Adding a compass, a pair of searchlights and railings.
In the end I decided to complete the aft compass house as well (see the previous post in the series), this is the beginning of that piece, a simple plasticard box. The sides are thick so I can scribe windows on them with my rotary tool and not punch through.
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