ccoyle

Great work Chris,
 
I am really enjoying following this log.
 
Cheers
Slog

So, how do our thread railings look on the model?  Judge for yourself:

 
Adding the railings consists of measuring off the right length of railing to add, adding any extra stanchions that might be needed due to cutting to length, and gluing the railings to the model.  I use PVA for straight sections and CA where necessary to tack down any sharp curves.  I brush the PVA onto the deck where the railing goes, not to the railing itself - these springy railings are a great way to spread unwanted glue on your model.
 
Here's the finished forecastle railings:


 
The forward flagstaff is a short length of wire.
 
Anywhere there are angled bends in the railings, I prefer to cut the railing at the joint and glue down two separate panels.  Unlike photo-etched metal or card, thread does not like to make nice, crisp bends.

Believe it or not, there's just a few things left to do on the basic structure.
 
Something we didn't add way back during the hull construction are the propeller guard struts.  Same as we did with the bridge supports, start by carefully punching holes in the hull above the guards (there are locator marks).  Cut small pieces of wire slightly longer than needed for the finished strut.  Insert one end through the hull and pull the opposite end down onto the propeller guard.  Secure it with CA.  When the glue dries, the loose wire ends at the hull will allow you to move the guards up or down to get them level with the waterline.

 
The galley stack (61) is one of the last parts for good reason -- it is easily knocked off the model if it is mounted earlier.  A long, cylindrical part like this can be made from paper alone, but I prefer to give it some more substance by rolling the 20# bond version of the part around an inner core, in this case styrene rod.  Start by tacking the glue tab side of 61 to the rod.

 
When that's dry, simply roll up the remainder of 61 onto the rod and add the cap.  Notice in the previous picture that I left a small stub of styrene at the end of 61 - this will be a locator peg for mounting the stack on the model after drilling out the locator mark on the roof of the galley.

(You may notice in this photo that two of the photo-etch rungs have come off the forward stack.  They disappeared into the ether and have not been seen since.  I had to cannibalize two replacement rungs from the PE fret.   )
 
The anchor crane (51) will require some very careful cutting.
 
 
Start by removing all the interior white bits, using the push-cut technique we learned earlier.  Before removing the crane from the parts sheet, stiffen the part by applying some CA to the back side.  Parts 56c are a pulley; adding it to the crane requires making a tiny cut into the end of the boom and then inserting the pulley.  Probably no one will notice if that's too much surgical detail for your liking and you omit the pulley.  After cutting the crane out, folding up the back corners, and adding the base and pulley, I gave the whole thing a coat of gray spray paint before mounting it to the deck.  You can try adding a cable if you so desire.

 
Next we'll make the anchors (56), but we won't mount them to the model until after the railings are added.

 
The anchors are another assembly I prefer to paint after constructing them.  Punch the holes for the stocks before cutting the anchors (56a) from the parts sheet.   Cut out and glue the flukes (56b) to the anchor arms.  While those dry, you can use the template (56c) to cut two small pieces of wire to length for the stocks and add the bend.  The knobbed end of the stock is easily made by dipping the wire into some PVA glue.  The surface tension of the glue will pull it into the desired round shape.  The glue shrinks as it dries, so you might need a second dunk.

 
Add the finished stocks to the anchors and give both assemblies a coat of black paint.

 
Next I'll show you how to make something that will really add a sharp touch to your model: thread railings.

Ship's boat (48) is next.

 
A paper ship's boat is mainly all about forming, forming, and more forming.  I don't color the edges before hand, because whenever possible I like to paint the boats after making them.  I use my scribing tool and the round end of a paintbrush to get the shape of the boat (48c) as close to the finished product as I can before I glue any of the seams.

 
Next I seal the seam at the stem and add the transom (42d).

 
I glue the middle seams last.  The boat now has its basic shape.  It might need some additional forming to get it to match the outline of the caprail.

 
After the boat is painted, add the thwarts and caprail (42a and 42b).

 
The kit doesn't include any boat chocks, but I can't imagine the ship wouldn't have had them.  They're easily scratch-built from scrap card.

 
Mount the boat on the chocks (or to the deck if you opt for not adding the chocks).

Hi Chris,
 
Superbly done!
 
Reg

Ahoy All!
 
This is my first build here on MSW. Most of my recent work has been in the model railroad world of structures kits and details, but I thought I would share this prototype build of an upcoming kit that I am designing.
 
The Arrow Lakes Lumber Company commissioned the construction of the CR Lamb in 1907 for $23,000. She was built by G.B. Ward, a boat builder from the Maritimes, working in Kamloops. Constructed with a wooden hull, she was 91 feet long and twenty feet wide, with a draught of four feet. The vessel had two 34 horsepower engines made by the Schaake Machine Works in New Westminster for a gross weight of 192 tons. She spent more than two and a half decades serving the logging company and residents fo the Shuswap Lake before being bought by Captain William Louie. He ran the boat well into the 1930’s providing cargo carriage, passenger services and even moonlight cruises and dances on-board. C.R. Lamb was decommisioned in 1936, her hull filled with gravel and now rests underwater in the Thompson River at the end of 8th Avenue in Kamloops BC.
 

 
As an interesting aside to the CR Lamb story, Captain Louie who had captained the CR LAMB for 15 years and then bought the CR LAMB and continued service into the 1930's with the boat, was of Chinese decent, but born in Canada. He took a lot of flack from government and press when he forced the Waterways commission to keep the opening span bridge working on the Thompson River long after the government had deemed it not necessary for shipping traffic. He was somewhat of a unspoken legend in these parts, keeping the steamboat working well past its prime of the early teens of the century. He even converted the upper deck of the ship to a dance floor and had bands and parties under the stars on the lake. Wow, that must have been a great time!!
 

 
I did do up a 1:160 version of the model which is a bit less detailed compared to how this build of the 1:87 version is going.

 

At the stern is a small hand winch.

 
The two sides (46a) get doubled.  After these parts are dry, cut out, and colored, glue the gear (46d) to the inside of one side panel, then use a small pin to make holes for the crank.  There's a template on the parts sheet for forming the crank (46e), which should be made from very fine wire - which I happened to not have on hand anywhere, so I used some less-than-ideal larger gauge wire.  Assemble the drum (46b and 46c); when that's done, attach the drum to one side of the winch.  Don't attach the second side until after the crank is inserted.

 
Thread the crank through one side, then the other, then glue the second side to the drum to complete the winch.

 
Glue the completed winch to the locator marks aft of the gun mount.  The side with the extra gear goes to starboard.

At the stern is a small hand winch.

 
The two sides (46a) get doubled.  After these parts are dry, cut out, and colored, glue the gear (46d) to the inside of one side panel, then use a small pin to make holes for the crank.  There's a template on the parts sheet for forming the crank (46e), which should be made from very fine wire - which I happened to not have on hand anywhere, so I used some less-than-ideal larger gauge wire.  Assemble the drum (46b and 46c); when that's done, attach the drum to one side of the winch.  Don't attach the second side until after the crank is inserted.

 
Thread the crank through one side, then the other, then glue the second side to the drum to complete the winch.

 
Glue the completed winch to the locator marks aft of the gun mount.  The side with the extra gear goes to starboard.

Building the guns is straightforward, albeit another exercise in handling tiny parts.  Start with the mount base plates (57a).

 
The stand (57b) is another conic section.  Glue the finished cones to the base plates.  Set these aside for now.

 
The carriage consists of three parts, the carriage slide (57d), a wheel (57e) (Traverse? Elevation?  Your guess is as good as mine.), and a mounting bracket (57c).

 
Fold up the carriage slides carefully, then attach the barrels, wheels, and brackets.

 
Glue the guns to the mounts...

 
...and the mounts to the aft deck and forecastle.


 
Now you're done with the armament!
 
Go to Part VIII: Building V108 - Miscellaneous Bits

I'm not familiar with the proverbial "s***-house rat," but I gather that's a compliment.    Actually, I have the eyes of the proverbial cheap headband magnifier, without which this work would be impossible for me.

Chris,
 
Excellent stuff - thanks. You must have the eyes of the proverbial s*** house rat to be able to work on those tubes.

On to the tubes!
 
The torpedo tubes (52a) need to be rolled into tubes.  They also need to be colored on the reverse side.  On narrow tubes, it helps to roll the tube around a series of forming tools of increasingly smaller diameters.  It also helps on this particular part to remove about half the joiner tab.  Sometimes, in spite of one's efforts not to squish the tube, it gets a little squished anyways.  My scribing tool works well in such instances for rounding the deformed tube end.

 
A tiny former (52b) gets inserted into the breech end of the tube.  Cut inside the line to ensure the former will fit. 

 
Next comes the conical breech door (52c).  The joiner tab on this part is actually more trouble than it's worth, so remove it.  Form the door until the edges will meet, then seal the seam with a bead of CA.  Add the door to the breech end of the tube.

 
A series of four reinforcing bands (52h) are then added.  Don't try to make these into rings first - there's a much easier way.  Remove the joiner tabs from the rings.  Tack one end of the band to the launcher tube at the tube's seam.

 
When that's dry, brush a small amount of glue to the remaining band, then roll the band onto the tube.  Add part 52j between the second and third rings.  The finished tube looks like this:

 
Gluing the finished tube to the pedestal is easier if the tube is pinned.  Drill a small hole in the pedestal and tube; glue a short piece of wire into the tube.  While that dries, you can work on the track support brackets (52k).  Carefully remove the tiny panels from within the brackets, then color the insides and reverse sides of the brackets.  Next, cut out the brackets and color the edges. 
 
You'll need to decide which direction you want your tubes aimed prior to gluing down the support brackets; the forward tube cannot point directly forward because the forecastle support column is in the way.  I mounted the aft launcher fore-and-aft, and the forward launcher is aimed slightly to starboard.  The finished launchers look so:


 
V108 now has some teeth!
 

One of the most difficult parts of a card model ship to build convincingly, if you can believe it, is ventilators.  Designers use different techniques for constructing them, and they are all equally a pain.  I still consider myself a novice at building ventilators.
 
Parts 44a-44c make up the boiler room ventilator.  This particular ventilator is made by gluing up a series of rings and then putting them together to make the curved tube.

 
Part 44c should have been one of the parts laminated onto 1 mm card stock, but I somehow overlooked it.  No problem - I simply backed the part with two layers of plain card, and as I said much earlier, this type of built-up part is actually easier to cut out.
 
Parts 44a and 44b need to be cut out, colored, rolled into rings, and glued closed using the small glue tabs.  I cannot stress enough how important it is to cut these parts as precisely as possible - the fit between adjacent rings totally depends on how accurately the parts are cut, and even very small errors will result in unsightly gaps in the seams.  Same goes for gluing the rings shut - make sure the overlapping end of each ring hits the edge of the glue tab dead-on, or you'll wind up with rings of different diameters.

 
44a wraps around the base, 44c.  An easy way to do this, once you have the 44a ring closed, is to lightly coat the inside of the ring with glue, set it flat on your cutting mat, and then press the base former down into the ring while holding the ring down with your fingers.  The flat mat will ensure that the ring and base match up flush.
 
Step one of getting the ring segments mated is to make sure they are as truly round as possible; lopsided rings are much harder to mate properly.  To join the rings, apply a thin bead of PVA to the edge of one ring, then seat the second ring on the first.  The seams and centerline marks of both rings should line up.  The rings also have printed rivets on one edge.  I'm not sure whether these should go up or down, but whichever you choose, make it the same for each segment.  After the two segments are joined, you can use your fingers to gently mold the seam as tightly sealed as you can , being careful not to smoosh the tube in the process (easily done if you get carried away!).
 
The inside of the ventilator needs to be colored.  I chose to paint the inside gray.  Don't wait until the entire ventilator is finished, or you'll have trouble getting your brush down inside the curved tube.  I built the ventilator up into two halves and painted the insides of the halves before joining them together.
 
The finished ventilator is mounted to the numbered circle between the stacks.  Use the centerline marks and seams to line it up properly.


 
It should be pointed out here that flash photography is particularly unflattering for card models.  For example, in the first photo of the finished ventilator, you can plainly see some glue buildup along one of the seams.  In reality, that interior part of the ventilator is deeply shadowed in normal light.  Same is true for many of the little errors such as differences in color shades, slight gaps in seams, or small glue smudges - all of these are things that tend to get highlighted in close-up flash photos and most are inconspicuous when viewed under ambient light at normal viewing distances.  So don't sweat the small stuff!
 
On to Part VII: Building V108 - Armament

Hi all.
After the construction of the model of Armed Cruiser Averof and a time of laziness, I decided to start a new model. This time it’s the Battle Ship “Kilkis”, another warship of  the Greek Navy.
Kilkis (Greek: Κιλκίς) was a 13,000 ton Mississippi-class battleship originally built by the US Navy in 1904–1908. As “Mississippi bb-23” she was purchased by the Greek Navy in 1914, along with her sister “Idaho bb-24” and they both renamed as “Kilkis”, and “Lemnos”.
Kilkis was named for the Battle of Kilkis-Lahanas, (an aria nearby the town of “Kilkis” at northern Greece) a crucial engagement of the Second Balkan War.
She was armed with a main battery of four 12 in (305 mm) guns, Kilkis and it was the most powerful vessel in the Greek fleet. (along with her sister “Lemnos”)
The ship saw limited action during World War I. as it was decided to be operated solely as a harbor defense ship.
In the immediately ensuing Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, “Kilkis” supported the Greek landing in Asia Minor and participated in the final Greek sea-borne withdrawal in 1922.
She remained in service into the early 1930s, when she was used for a training ship. During the German invasion of Greece in 1941, she and her sister were sunk in Salamis by German Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers. The two ships were ultimately raised in the 1950s and broken up for scrap.
More of its history http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_battleship_Kilkis
Below I post some photos of her Greek carrier. 
Thanks
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No we'll add some aft superstructure parts.  As a rule of thumb, we'll work from forward aft, and we'll avoid adding tall, spindly structures, such as the galley stack (61), until later.
 
First we'll add the two galley skylights aft of the radio room, parts 35. 

 
These consist of two frames and two skylights.  Score, cut, color, and fold the frames; CA is a good choice for tacking the frame edges where they close together.  Add the skylights and glue the finished assemblies down on the locator-numbered squares.  The skylights slope down towards their outboard edges.



 
Next we come to the two stacks, the forward stack (27) and the aft stack (28). 

 
The two stacks are almost identical, so I'll describe the construction of the forward stack, and the construction of the aft stack is basically a repeat.
 
Cut out the parts for the forward stack, parts 27a-27d.  There's a misnumbered part in the sequence -- the long, white strip should be 27e.  Color the edge of 27a, being careful not to color the portion alongside the white stripe.  Next, roll the stack.  Remember to lightly moisten the back of the part.  Part 27b is a joiner strip; use the 20# bond version of this part.  Apply glue to one-half of 27b and glue that half inside one or the other side of 27a.

 
Apply glue to the other half of 27b and close the stack cylinder.  Use tweezers to reach inside the cylinder and pinch the seam tightly shut.  The two edges of the seam really need to butt tightly together, or fit problems with 27d may result. 
 
Somewhere in your stash of leftover parts you should have parts 27c and 28c.  These are formers for inside the stack cylinders.  The diagrams say nothing about where inside the cylinder these should go, so I guessed at it.  You can't seat them too low, or the stacks won't fit over the hull profile formers, and you don't want them too high up, otherwise your stack will look like it has a flat cap.  I seated my formers about 1/4" down the stack cylinders.  Once you get 27c seated, you'll need to paint the inside of the stack black.
 
Part 27d is a flange that goes around the lower stack.  Cut, color, and roll the flange.  This is another conical part, and rolling it with a conical object against a soft surface works well.

 
On this particular tiny ring, using the glue tab is helpful, and the overlap at the tab won't be terribly conspicuous.  When the ring is glued closed, carefully work the ring over the lower stack until it is lined up on the dashed locator line, then apply a small amount of glue to the underside of the flange where it meets the stack.  Make sure to line the seam of the flange on the seam of the stack, because both the flange and stack have centerline marks to help line up the stacks on the superstructure.  When the flange is done, the forward stack gets a doubled stripe (27e).

 
The stacks have locator marks for optional rungs.  Again, I used some from a photo-etch fret.  There are also locator marks for optional guy wires, which I will not be adding (partly because there are no locator marks for the wires on the deck).
 
The finished stacks fit snugly over the hull profile former.  Apply a small amount of glue to the edges of the profile former, then slide the stacks into place, using the centerline marks to get the front and rear edges lined up properly.  The ladder rungs should be just off to the starboard side of center.

Chris,
 
Fabulous work. I have to keep reminding myself how small the scale is!

The title of this thread has been edited.  Please read the first post here on title etiquette.
 
With regards to the subject, fictitious kit subject histories, I think this is something of little concern to the manufacturers.  Bottom line: as long as the kit sells, what motivation do they have to make sure it's historically accurate?  Sad, but true.

Time to add the bridge wing details.  These include the navigation light, parts 25d and 25e, and several gratings, parts 29 and 30.

 
The navigation light housings present a minor decision - there are two ways to fold them, and either way you have to color the reverse side.  So, I will use these to introduce yet another new technique.  So far, all the fold scoring we have done is for parts that fold down, but what do you do if you have a part that needs to fold up?  After all, there are no fold lines printed on the reverse of the part.  It seems like the direction of the fold shouldn't matter, but it does - scored lines definitely want to fold one way more so than the other.  When you fold up from a scored line, a tiny pucker is created along the folded seam; 99% of the time this pucker might not make a difference, but for really tiny parts, that pucker might result in not being able to place another part correctly.
 
So, here's how to score the reverse of a part, using a navigation light housing (25dL) as an example.  Make a small cut right at the end of and exactly in line with each of the printed fold lines, like so:

 
Flip the part over - now the cuts act as two points to define a line.  Connect the points with your scoring tool (I used the cutting technique on these because of their size) and you're ready to proceed.

 
Now, if you use this technique, 25dL actually becomes 25dR and vice versa -- doesn't really matter which one is which as long as you get the orientation of the housing correct on the bridge wing, along with the proper color of light.  Finishing the navigation lights requires folding up and gluing the two sides of the housing, coloring the reverse side, and adding the light lens (25e).  Use the 20# bond version of the lenses, if you have them, or delaminate the card versions for easier forming.  Here's a finished light:

 
Next we need a few gratings, parts 29 and 30.  These are pretty straightforward - score, cut, color, fold, done.  Part 30 goes abaft the wheel, while parts 29 and the navigation lights go on the bridge wings - there are locator marks for all of these.  Make sure the port light is red and the starboard is green.  If you're doing the modified railings, make sure you don't glue these parts right on the edges of the bridge wings - you need a little room to install the railings.

I thought about using PVA glue, but I wasn't sure if it would dry hard enough.  I applied the top coat from the inside mainly because a) the applicator brush was too large to keep everything entirely within the frames, and b )  I didn't want to see what would happen if I tried to wipe off any excess on the printed side of the part.  As with any medium, there's usually more than one way to do these various tasks with card, so thanks for sharing alternative methods.
 
With regards to very small parts, especially these detail parts that are many times smaller than a fingertip, it pays to handle them as much as possible with tools, such as tweezers, instead of fingers.  I even use my knife tip for picking up small parts from my cutting mat - a light stab to pick up the part doesn't leave a visible mark on the printed surface.
 
Cheers!

Chris,
 
Great stuff. I am impressed by the way you handle the small parts. Whenever I have made card models I always seemed to get the detail parts stuck to my fingers or tools rather than the model.
 
I have used Crystal Clear successfully. With practice I found you can apply it from the outside of the widow frame without affecting the surrounding area. Useful for repairing damaged windows on nearly or completed models.
 
This came from the model aircraft guys who I believe originally used nothing more exciting than diluted PVA glue for glazing small windows.  

Next up is the engine room telegraph, consisting of the base (31a), mounting bracket (31b), telegraph (31c), and telegraph handle (31d).
 
The base, 31a, presents a new challenge, since it is a tiny cone, not a tiny cylinder.  Rolling a cone is much easier if you have something conical to form it with.  The tip of my scribing tool is perfect for this job.

 
In all other respects, rolling a cone is the same as rolling a cylinder.  The mounting bracket has fold lines; on such a small part, the usual scoring and folding process doesn't work very well.  I recommend using your knife tip to cut through the top layer of paper fibers only, then complete the bends.  The two parts 31c go back-to-back to make the telegraph; when this is done, glue the telegraph into its bracket.  The handle, 31d, also has fold lines, but don't bother with them.  Glue one side of the handle to one side of the telegraph, then bend the handle over to the other side of the telegraph and attach it.  Dab a little glue to the inside of the handle and then crimp it closed with tweezers.  Personally, I think the handle should be wood, so I painted it brown.  Glue the finished telegraph to its base and glue the base to the proper spot on the bridge.


 
Last up is the ship's wheel.  Cut, roll, and glue the stand (32a) in the same manner as for the compass stand.  The wheel housing (32b) is a tiny box; give its fold lines the knife-tip treatment, then fold up and glue the sides.  Attach the housing to the stand.  The wheel spokes (32c) and ring (32d) require some careful cutting.  Remember to cut away from the wheel hub.  Cut the inside of 32d first, then cut the ring from the parts sheet; glue the ring to the spokes, then glue the completed wheel to the housing.  Don't worry about edge coloring parts 32 b-d before gluing - the finished wheel and housing can be painted brown once everything is glued together.  Glue the finished wheel assembly to the bridge deck.


 
Now we can add the bridge roof (26a and 26b) and radio room (26c).

 
The radio room has printed windows, but there are no parts for detailing the radio room interior, so we're going to let the windows be.  There's a spot on the radio room wall to add a hatch (part 55 - hinges to the left).  Use contact cement to glue the roof (26a) and roof interior (26b) together.  Score, cut, and fold the radio room (26c) and attach it to the roof one wall at a time. There will be a gap in the aft wall where it meets the foremast.

 
The roof/radio room assembly can then be mated to the bridge assembly.  Afterwards, you can add the two pices of entryway fascia port and starboard (these were originally part of 25c if you did the modified construction; they'll still be attached if you've used the unmodified 25c).  Not-quite-finished bridge should so far look like this:

 
Now, sit back and admire your work for a bit.     Next we'll add the bridge wing details.

At this point, if you set the bridge assembly atop the conning tower, you'll notice that the radio room floor partially covers the locator for the foremast (the red spot).


 
We'll need to fix this before going further.  Either carefully cut or drill out the foremast step on the conning tower roof, along with the corresponding bit of the radio room floor (the aft end of the bridge deck).

 
We'll also take a few moments to apply the edging to the bridge deck wings.  This edging is the bottom part of the portions of part 25c we removed earlier (if you're not modifying 25c, you'll just be attaching the entire part 25c to the bridge deck; however, take note that the red portions of 25c - where the navigation lights will be placed - should be removed before gluing 25c to the bridge deck).  Remove this bottom edge of the part 25c wings and glue these, one section at a time, to the bridge wings.


 
We're going to do some things out of sequence again.  Following the parts numbers sequence would require us to add the radio room and bridge roof at this point, followed by the stacks, but that would make it difficult to get at the bridge interior, so we're going to add the interior details first.  These will be some very tiny assemblies, but fear not!  Tiny card assemblies require some care, some special techniques, and some tools, but they're not especially harder than larger assemblies.  The interior parts are parts 31-33.

 
We'll start at the bridge wall and work aft (makes sense, doesn't it?), so the first assembly will be the compass, parts 33a (stand) and 33b (compass rose - albeit sans printed rose!).  Part 33a needs to be rolled into a very small diameter tube.  This presents a number of difficulties.  First, very narrow tubes are almost impossible to roll from regular card stock, so in this case it will be easier to roll the part printed on 20# bond (remember waaaay back when I suggested you print the parts on both card and regular paper?).  The second difficulty is the joiner tab; it will create an overlapping seam and isn't really necessary.  You can remove the tab and close the tube by running a narrow bead of CA along the seam and squeezing the tube closed.
 
OK, so here's another stupid warts story.    In this next picture, I'm rolling the 20# bond version of 33a around some styrene rod.  What you can't see is that I moistened part 33a with my tongue - but the part stuck to my tongue and got too wet.    It subsequently got all smooshed during the rolling process. 

 
I destroyed the part!  What do I do!?  Fortunately, this little disaster presents the perfect opportunity to introduce a second way of dealing with part 33a!  You see, card stock is made of multiple layers of paper fibers, and it is possible to separate the layers.  I used the tip of my #11 blade and gently teased apart the paper layers at one corner of the card stock version of part 33a.

 
Once I have enough of the exposed layers to grab onto, I can then gently peel the two layers apart, and voila!  I now have the equivalent of a 20# bond part.  Now, it so happens that this particular tube I'm rolling has the same inside diameter as the styrene rod I'm rolling it with.  So, for this tube, I'm going to actually wrap and glue the printed part to the styrene rod, then trim the rod to match the length of the tube.  This makes a much sturdier base for the compass.  Finishing the compass is a simple matter of cutting out and edge coloring the compass rose, gluing it to the stand, and gluing the finished compass to its spot on the bridge floor.

OK, now it's on to the bridge!  This will be an interesting part of the build, because it has numerous tiny parts and also presents a number of options for improving the model.
 
We start with parts 25a (top of bridge deck) and 25b (bottom of bridge deck).  Glue these together with some contact cement.

 
Notice that on the bottom of the bridge deck, there are three very small white spots; these are locator marks for the bridge deck supports to be added later.  To make these marks more functional, we need to drill them out a bit.  I use a small finger drill I made by gluing a #73 wire-sized drill bit into a short section of bamboo skewer.  Drill carefully so as not to drill all the way through the card - we want just a shallow socket (drilling 25b before gluing the two parts together would avoid this difficulty).


 
Next we'll add the bridge wall, part 25c.  The back of this part needs to be colored, so before removing it from the sheet, I gave the reverse side a coat of gray primer (you can see the scored fold lines through the paint).

 
At this point, you need to decide if you want to use the basic part as-is, or make some modifications.  These are completely optional, so don't feel any pressure to add them - it's supposed to be fun after all.  The first option I will show you is glazing the bridge windows.  First you'll need to very carefully remove the printed windows.  Remember to cut away from the corners!  Also, note that there is some subtle, printed shading on the windows - there's the obvious, light-gray portion of the frame, but there's also a far less obvious, dark gray portion of the frame that is almost identical in color to the 'glass' portion of the window.  Take care to remove only the glass areas, or the frames will be unnecessarily thin and delicate (they'll be delicate enough already!).  The insides of the frames need to be colored.  The space is too cramped for a marker, so I colored these with acrylic paint - the bottle says "Japanese Navy Gray", but I've modified the color at least once in the past, so I don't know what shade it is now.

 
The next option to decide on is whether to use the printed bridge railings or not.  If you study the part carefully, you'll see that the railings are actually meant to portray railings covered by storm canvas.  You can either go with the printed railing, or you can choose to replace them with either bare railings or more realistic storm canvas railings.  I'll be adding scratch-built storm canvas railings; that being the case, the next step is to remove the railings portion of 25c (but don't discard them - we'll need part of them later).  Skip this step if you use the printed railings.  I'm also removing the side entrance fascias at this point, since it will be easier to add them later as separate pieces.

 
The bridge wall needs to be formed before glazing the windows, else we'll damage the glazing.  Here I'm rolling the bridge wall over the handle of my hobby knife.

 
Now, what to use for glazing?  There are numerous materials that can be used for glazing.  In the past, I have used microscope slide slip covers (great material, but stiff and therefore ill-suited for curved surfaces), clear report covers (flexible, but don't glue well), window envelope panels (crinkle easily), and clear acetate overhead projector sheets (flexible, but don't like to hold a curve).  Microscale makes a glue called Crystal Clear that dries clear and can be used for glazing small windows like these, but I don't have any.  I'm a big advocate of the card modeling philosophy of "use whatever you can find around the house", and in this case what I found was my teenage daughter's top coat nail polish.

 
This I worked into each window until a film filled the entire window space.  The top coat dries fairly quickly.  It doesn't dry perfectly clear, but it does dry clear enough to suggest real windows are there, and that's the effect we want.  Here's the finished windows:

 
Notice there's top coat residue around the windows - this is why the clear coat is applied only from the inside of the bridge wall.  Once it dries, the area around the windows can be touched-up with paint.  The finished bridge wall is glued to the bridge deck with contact cement, although I had to tack the outermost corners with a spot of CA to get them to stick tightly.
 
Next: adding interior bridge details.

OK, now it's on to the bridge!  This will be an interesting part of the build, because it has numerous tiny parts and also presents a number of options for improving the model.
 
We start with parts 25a (top of bridge deck) and 25b (bottom of bridge deck).  Glue these together with some contact cement.

 
Notice that on the bottom of the bridge deck, there are three very small white spots; these are locator marks for the bridge deck supports to be added later.  To make these marks more functional, we need to drill them out a bit.  I use a small finger drill I made by gluing a #73 wire-sized drill bit into a short section of bamboo skewer.  Drill carefully so as not to drill all the way through the card - we want just a shallow socket (drilling 25b before gluing the two parts together would avoid this difficulty).


 
Next we'll add the bridge wall, part 25c.  The back of this part needs to be colored, so before removing it from the sheet, I gave the reverse side a coat of gray primer (you can see the scored fold lines through the paint).

 
At this point, you need to decide if you want to use the basic part as-is, or make some modifications.  These are completely optional, so don't feel any pressure to add them - it's supposed to be fun after all.  The first option I will show you is glazing the bridge windows.  First you'll need to very carefully remove the printed windows.  Remember to cut away from the corners!  Also, note that there is some subtle, printed shading on the windows - there's the obvious, light-gray portion of the frame, but there's also a far less obvious, dark gray portion of the frame that is almost identical in color to the 'glass' portion of the window.  Take care to remove only the glass areas, or the frames will be unnecessarily thin and delicate (they'll be delicate enough already!).  The insides of the frames need to be colored.  The space is too cramped for a marker, so I colored these with acrylic paint - the bottle says "Japanese Navy Gray", but I've modified the color at least once in the past, so I don't know what shade it is now.

 
The next option to decide on is whether to use the printed bridge railings or not.  If you study the part carefully, you'll see that the railings are actually meant to portray railings covered by storm canvas.  You can either go with the printed railing, or you can choose to replace them with either bare railings or more realistic storm canvas railings.  I'll be adding scratch-built storm canvas railings; that being the case, the next step is to remove the railings portion of 25c (but don't discard them - we'll need part of them later).  Skip this step if you use the printed railings.  I'm also removing the side entrance fascias at this point, since it will be easier to add them later as separate pieces.

 
The bridge wall needs to be formed before glazing the windows, else we'll damage the glazing.  Here I'm rolling the bridge wall over the handle of my hobby knife.

 
Now, what to use for glazing?  There are numerous materials that can be used for glazing.  In the past, I have used microscope slide slip covers (great material, but stiff and therefore ill-suited for curved surfaces), clear report covers (flexible, but don't glue well), window envelope panels (crinkle easily), and clear acetate overhead projector sheets (flexible, but don't like to hold a curve).  Microscale makes a glue called Crystal Clear that dries clear and can be used for glazing small windows like these, but I don't have any.  I'm a big advocate of the card modeling philosophy of "use whatever you can find around the house", and in this case what I found was my teenage daughter's top coat nail polish.

 
This I worked into each window until a film filled the entire window space.  The top coat dries fairly quickly.  It doesn't dry perfectly clear, but it does dry clear enough to suggest real windows are there, and that's the effect we want.  Here's the finished windows:

 
Notice there's top coat residue around the windows - this is why the clear coat is applied only from the inside of the bridge wall.  Once it dries, the area around the windows can be touched-up with paint.  The finished bridge wall is glued to the bridge deck with contact cement, although I had to tack the outermost corners with a spot of CA to get them to stick tightly.
 
Next: adding interior bridge details.

At this point, if you set the bridge assembly atop the conning tower, you'll notice that the radio room floor partially covers the locator for the foremast (the red spot).


 
We'll need to fix this before going further.  Either carefully cut or drill out the foremast step on the conning tower roof, along with the corresponding bit of the radio room floor (the aft end of the bridge deck).

 
We'll also take a few moments to apply the edging to the bridge deck wings.  This edging is the bottom part of the portions of part 25c we removed earlier (if you're not modifying 25c, you'll just be attaching the entire part 25c to the bridge deck; however, take note that the red portions of 25c - where the navigation lights will be placed - should be removed before gluing 25c to the bridge deck).  Remove this bottom edge of the part 25c wings and glue these, one section at a time, to the bridge wings.


 
We're going to do some things out of sequence again.  Following the parts numbers sequence would require us to add the radio room and bridge roof at this point, followed by the stacks, but that would make it difficult to get at the bridge interior, so we're going to add the interior details first.  These will be some very tiny assemblies, but fear not!  Tiny card assemblies require some care, some special techniques, and some tools, but they're not especially harder than larger assemblies.  The interior parts are parts 31-33.

 
We'll start at the bridge wall and work aft (makes sense, doesn't it?), so the first assembly will be the compass, parts 33a (stand) and 33b (compass rose - albeit sans printed rose!).  Part 33a needs to be rolled into a very small diameter tube.  This presents a number of difficulties.  First, very narrow tubes are almost impossible to roll from regular card stock, so in this case it will be easier to roll the part printed on 20# bond (remember waaaay back when I suggested you print the parts on both card and regular paper?).  The second difficulty is the joiner tab; it will create an overlapping seam and isn't really necessary.  You can remove the tab and close the tube by running a narrow bead of CA along the seam and squeezing the tube closed.
 
OK, so here's another stupid warts story.    In this next picture, I'm rolling the 20# bond version of 33a around some styrene rod.  What you can't see is that I moistened part 33a with my tongue - but the part stuck to my tongue and got too wet.    It subsequently got all smooshed during the rolling process. 

 
I destroyed the part!  What do I do!?  Fortunately, this little disaster presents the perfect opportunity to introduce a second way of dealing with part 33a!  You see, card stock is made of multiple layers of paper fibers, and it is possible to separate the layers.  I used the tip of my #11 blade and gently teased apart the paper layers at one corner of the card stock version of part 33a.

 
Once I have enough of the exposed layers to grab onto, I can then gently peel the two layers apart, and voila!  I now have the equivalent of a 20# bond part.  Now, it so happens that this particular tube I'm rolling has the same inside diameter as the styrene rod I'm rolling it with.  So, for this tube, I'm going to actually wrap and glue the printed part to the styrene rod, then trim the rod to match the length of the tube.  This makes a much sturdier base for the compass.  Finishing the compass is a simple matter of cutting out and edge coloring the compass rose, gluing it to the stand, and gluing the finished compass to its spot on the bridge floor.