SMS Viribus Unitis WIP #5

Quite a big progress report today - you can see something resembling an actual dreadnought at the end of the post. I'm also being hit with some spam comments. 

I've made myself a list with sticky notes what to do exactly, and came up with the following:

• detail the turrets and paint them
• shape & detail the funnels - find a way to create the funnel housing (the solution was that the funnels had to be countersunk 2mm into the housing)
• add deck detail
• superstructure & boat bay assembly
• mast assembly - where the problem arose if the foremast should be integrated to the bridge section or added later - I finally chose to drill through the upper unarmored bridge and the bottom part for increased strength, and placed the bottom part of the mast there.

Anyway, the turret details are assembled on the picture above - the turrets were put on the turret rings, then I drilled holes for the gun barrels and glued them to place. I was in a tough spot trying to find a suitable piece for the barrels, but I finally found some 28mm Perry WoTR lances that just had the right kind of tapering shape.

The funnels are sanded to shape and the wood filler is applied.

This is where we are at now - I'm adding the plating on the prow for the anchor chains.

Some small details to the deck are added. I need to complete the turrets first and I can position the rest of the stuff in relation to those.

Here are the funnels after two sessions of sanding, some thread added for texture. The top rim is made from bakeable plastic clay.

Starting to paint the turrets - this shade is a bit too dark, so they get a lot of highlighting.

This is the bridge section in rough shape, which was then glued to a toothpick, then sanded and coated three times in wood filler and paint and PVA mixture.

Here the turrets are ready in their bright grey state. I've also added the two pairs of small caliber guns.

And here's the thing with the turrets, deck details, bridge and funnels. What remains is the boat bay and masts. I can already tell you there are many boats on this ship. And after all of that is done, we can get painting.

(Well I can actually get painting before making the boats, as they will be done separately then glued to place.)