Academy HMS Warspite 1:350

Just to remind you here is the deck that Pontos supply. Since the first part I have looked at it in more detail.

1. It is adhesive backed, and a very strong adhesive it is.
2. All the “gaps” that are left for the parts remaining on deck have to be removed before installation. This is not difficult as they are all laser cut and, with a sharp knife as shown, come away easily

There are three parts to the decking. The bow end is the biggest and most tricky as it is fragile once all the holes are exposed and as result flexes and stretches. I half removed the backing film (which could be a bit thinner for ease of use) fixed the bow end as accurately as possible and then peeled the backing film off fixing as I went. A very slight discrepancy started to emerge as I went along the deck but as all the first holes were lined up correctly I had to continue. In the end it was acceptable with some small overlaps still to be flushed down next. The other two sections went on quite easily except that I caught some of the backing paper on another part of the deck and it stuck solid. In removing it I ripped a small section of the decking Luckily this will be out of sight on the finished product!

So here it is…

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Finally some bits…

Work started on the mainmast, no real problems here and the instructions are clear.

Started to paint the ships boats – a bit more work to be done to finesse them. I can’t fool myself there is a lot more to do!!!

A bit of a delay since I last wrote the summer is getting busy! I have, however, been at it off and on and progress is being made.

In my last update I had put together the deck parts that I had ready, onto the Pontos wooden deck. The deck looked too light for a ship of some considerable service. I thought of dusting the surface over with dark pastels, but I did a test and it did not really work. The only alternative was a wash of oils. This could all go wrong ending with the deck warping, so a test was necessary. Fortunately there is a lot of deck left over so I could test on that. Three applications of wash had no effect at all.

The first photo shows my first partial application to the virgin deck. Just to the port side 

Already the difference is obvious so I felt relaxed about applying two or three coats eventually. 

This shows the deck after two applications.

Main mast…