Captain Slog

Thanks Slog nice update and video.
 
I really like the look of the Tamiya LP's, its getting great reviews from a lot of modellers  - I think I should start swapping them out - however I note not all XF colours are available in LP.
 
I think with my extra week of AL (sorry not rubbing it in ) I may jump slightly ahead but then work takes me off to the Gold Coast again for 3 weeks.  To get here has taken a lot longer than I expected.
 
My only concern thus far is will the temporary ply base board impeding the build - I like to lay models on their side when working on hull and my board is 290 wide and probably heavier than your board - Ill have to devise some sort of soft rest. Maybe I will swap out to an MDF and not go as wide as did with my ply?
 
 

Thanks for all the likes and comments.
 
Part 5 is now done.
 
For mounting the hull I used M5 nuts and bolts, which will allow me to use Pontos pedestals as shown in Richmond’s log if I choose to when it comes time to mount the ship permanently.
 

 
 
I made a temporary baseboard with 12mm MDF, a couple of wood strip glued to the 2 long sides and some 18mm wood dowel. This allows me to work on the ship without worrying about knocking bits off when manhandling it.
 

 
 
To allow me to mount the ship in a semi-permanent state I wanted to paint the lower hull.  After final wet sanding I wiped the hull down with IPA and then followed this with an automotive painters tack cloth.  The grey 1500 primer showed up some rough areas at the stern and bow.  This was cleaned up with a wet sand using 2000 grit wet & Dry.
 
 

 
 
I started airbrushing on Tamiya Lacquer paint dull red but it was becoming tedious so blasted the hull with Tamiya aerosol TS-33 dull red and achieved satisfactory results to me.
 

 
 
Then it was on to the 6” guns.  I used Richmond’s tip of dispensing the CA glue onto a candle which greatly extends it’s working time.
 

 
 
The pink Mr Surfacer 1500 was used to prime the guns, this was done before the decision to swap to the grey 1500 used for the hull.  The grey sprays the same as the black 1500 so was happy for the switch.
 

 
 
The guns were top coated with Tamiya’s lacquer LP-14, one of the 4 IJN arsenal paints.  This is the colour I will use throughout. Tamiya’s LP lacquer range is a joy to use.
 

 
 
Like Richmond I sprayed up the lower gun deck in case you can see past the 6” gun ports but more so for airbrush practice and to test the 2 linoleum colours for preference down the track, XF-79 & LP-17.
 
Rather than force the hull tops apart to get the lower deck in, I scored and snapped it down the middle and installed in 2 halves.  I gave a quick varnish to the temporary baseboard using an aerosol can just to make wiping down easier. It's a temp base so wasn't fussy on finish.
 

 
 
The YouTube Video
 
 
 
Well, my Christmas holidays are over after today so progress will become more sporadic again.
 
Cheers
Slog

Hi Jeff, your Mikasa is looking fantastic.  That's a really great idea for the rigging turnbuckles!
 
Cheers
Slog

Hi Jeff, your Mikasa is looking fantastic.  That's a really great idea for the rigging turnbuckles!
 
Cheers
Slog

Thanks for all the likes and comments.
 
Part 5 is now done.
 
For mounting the hull I used M5 nuts and bolts, which will allow me to use Pontos pedestals as shown in Richmond’s log if I choose to when it comes time to mount the ship permanently.
 

 
 
I made a temporary baseboard with 12mm MDF, a couple of wood strip glued to the 2 long sides and some 18mm wood dowel. This allows me to work on the ship without worrying about knocking bits off when manhandling it.
 

 
 
To allow me to mount the ship in a semi-permanent state I wanted to paint the lower hull.  After final wet sanding I wiped the hull down with IPA and then followed this with an automotive painters tack cloth.  The grey 1500 primer showed up some rough areas at the stern and bow.  This was cleaned up with a wet sand using 2000 grit wet & Dry.
 
 

 
 
I started airbrushing on Tamiya Lacquer paint dull red but it was becoming tedious so blasted the hull with Tamiya aerosol TS-33 dull red and achieved satisfactory results to me.
 

 
 
Then it was on to the 6” guns.  I used Richmond’s tip of dispensing the CA glue onto a candle which greatly extends it’s working time.
 

 
 
The pink Mr Surfacer 1500 was used to prime the guns, this was done before the decision to swap to the grey 1500 used for the hull.  The grey sprays the same as the black 1500 so was happy for the switch.
 

 
 
The guns were top coated with Tamiya’s lacquer LP-14, one of the 4 IJN arsenal paints.  This is the colour I will use throughout. Tamiya’s LP lacquer range is a joy to use.
 

 
 
Like Richmond I sprayed up the lower gun deck in case you can see past the 6” gun ports but more so for airbrush practice and to test the 2 linoleum colours for preference down the track, XF-79 & LP-17.
 
Rather than force the hull tops apart to get the lower deck in, I scored and snapped it down the middle and installed in 2 halves.  I gave a quick varnish to the temporary baseboard using an aerosol can just to make wiping down easier. It's a temp base so wasn't fussy on finish.
 

 
 
The YouTube Video
 
 
 
Well, my Christmas holidays are over after today so progress will become more sporadic again.
 
Cheers
Slog

Thanks for all the likes and comments.
 
Part 5 is now done.
 
For mounting the hull I used M5 nuts and bolts, which will allow me to use Pontos pedestals as shown in Richmond’s log if I choose to when it comes time to mount the ship permanently.
 

 
 
I made a temporary baseboard with 12mm MDF, a couple of wood strip glued to the 2 long sides and some 18mm wood dowel. This allows me to work on the ship without worrying about knocking bits off when manhandling it.
 

 
 
To allow me to mount the ship in a semi-permanent state I wanted to paint the lower hull.  After final wet sanding I wiped the hull down with IPA and then followed this with an automotive painters tack cloth.  The grey 1500 primer showed up some rough areas at the stern and bow.  This was cleaned up with a wet sand using 2000 grit wet & Dry.
 
 

 
 
I started airbrushing on Tamiya Lacquer paint dull red but it was becoming tedious so blasted the hull with Tamiya aerosol TS-33 dull red and achieved satisfactory results to me.
 

 
 
Then it was on to the 6” guns.  I used Richmond’s tip of dispensing the CA glue onto a candle which greatly extends it’s working time.
 

 
 
The pink Mr Surfacer 1500 was used to prime the guns, this was done before the decision to swap to the grey 1500 used for the hull.  The grey sprays the same as the black 1500 so was happy for the switch.
 

 
 
The guns were top coated with Tamiya’s lacquer LP-14, one of the 4 IJN arsenal paints.  This is the colour I will use throughout. Tamiya’s LP lacquer range is a joy to use.
 

 
 
Like Richmond I sprayed up the lower gun deck in case you can see past the 6” gun ports but more so for airbrush practice and to test the 2 linoleum colours for preference down the track, XF-79 & LP-17.
 
Rather than force the hull tops apart to get the lower deck in, I scored and snapped it down the middle and installed in 2 halves.  I gave a quick varnish to the temporary baseboard using an aerosol can just to make wiping down easier. It's a temp base so wasn't fussy on finish.
 

 
 
The YouTube Video
 
 
 
Well, my Christmas holidays are over after today so progress will become more sporadic again.
 
Cheers
Slog

Put some photos up with rigging on the Pontos masts, definitely better building separately from ship, painting and rigging as much as poss, not a five minute job so that means it took me weeks 😂 Had to make a lot of alterations for my model to install forward jib to this mast and alter the height and length of mast spars, again all this I did by looking at old period photos and making my best guesses, quite happy though, looks reasonable close me thinks.  Put some photos up now.

One thing that worked for me was using my extra etch to get bits for rigging and attaching Lycra to the parts, worked quite well I thought. Maybe similar etch parts can be purchased from parts for First World War aircraft?  I cut pieces from the rigging etch to try this. Shall put some photos up to show sequence.

Once cutting this part from the part for my upper rigging like so, I then split the bottom eyelet so I could attach this to deck fixing. The other end on the Lycra shall attach  another piece of etch with open hook  once you sort out what length you want the Lycra to be, ie leaving it shorter to stretch it onto attachment point, it works surprisingly well. 👍

You then ease this part onto the deck attachment and lightly glue with thin supper glue, then stretch The Lycra and hook up other end. 👍

Now I’ve used a dark yellow wash to tone down the deck. Grubby but I like it better than the bright tan  

Guns and ladders added today. Next will be railings I think. 

Okay here is my Part 4. 
 
I would say based on Richmond’s latest update I have done more or less the same work although I would be trailing behind him overall.  Although I do have additional progress/footage that will get carried over to the next part.
 
Again no stills, just screen grabs from the video.
 
With the hull now glued together the seams were filled with ‘sprue goo’ and left for a few days.
 

 
 
Whilst waiting for the filler to go off I marked up a number of areas on the hull needing attention such as sink marks, mould lines and some rough areas; the bow had some very faint ripples also.
 

 
 
Once the seams were cleaned up with scraping, sanding and buffing, like Richmond, I wet sanded the entire lower hull, in this case with 600 followed by 1200.  The Tamiya tape was to protect the upper hull details from inadvertent slips.
 

 
 
Priming the seams to highlight any gaps, pin holes etc with Pink Mr Surfacer 1500.
 
The black version is my go to primer and sprays beautifully and is mostly fool proof but I only have dregs left and sold out locally but had the choice of Grey and Pink.  I discounted the grey as grey plastic, grey primer and grey top coat didn’t appeal due to visually seeing coverage.
 
I choose the pink...and hate it as the spraying characteristics are so different from the black version and I’m struggling to get decent results.  I will pick up grey 1500 tomorrow!
 

 
 
Bilge keels taped in place and glued with Tamiya Extra Thin.  There were half a dozen or so pin holes on the hull halves seams, which needed filling and small dabs of Mr Surfacer 500 took care of them.
 

 
 
As Richmond noted the bilge keels aren’t a great fit and need filling on both sides.  To minimise clean up I tried applying Mr Surfacer 500 with a syringe and it worked great.  Mostly 2 applications was sufficient to fill (one area required 3 passes) and was quickly cleaned up with cotton buds moistened with Mr Hobby Levelling Thinners.
 

 
 
Installing the prop shafts/housings and checking for consistency.
 

 
 
Good place to stop for Part 4, with the hull glued up, seams taken care of, the prop shafts and bilge keels installed, filled and cleaned up.
 

 
And of course the YouTube video link
 
 
Cheers
Slog

Thanks for the comments and likes.
 
After twisting Richmond’s arm, the starting gun has been fired and we are off at a sprint.  Part 3 deals with removing extraneous mouldings and making holes, all in preparation for the Pontos details.
 
Just a note about the pictures.  I don’t intend to take any still photos, relying instead on taking screen grabs from the video’s so apologise in advance for having my grubby little fingers in every shot.
 
First up is to go through the Pontos and MK1 instructions and highlight everything to be removed.  I used black marker for the Pontos stuff and red for the MK1 items.
 

 
 
Removing the steps by scrapping with a round blade.  From watching many YouTube videos this seems a fairly standard method.
 

 
 
However it is pretty slow going so decided to try the home made chisels from old No.11 blades I make to remove parts from paper models.  This sped things up immensely and a step could be removed with one or two passes.  I still needed to do a final scrape with the round blade to avoid damaging the surrounding hull.
 

 
 
Next up is drilling all the holes for the PE hull steps.  Pontos provide photo etch templates for this work although it’s disappointing that Pontos don’t replace all hull steps (ladders?).  I will use the MK1 steps to cover the missing Pontos ones.  Unfortunately, the MK1 set doesn’t provide templates for their steps but I will utilise a Pontos template so that the spacing is consistent.  Pontos require a 0.4mm drill and a quick test on scrap styrene confirms the MK1 steps use this size as well.
 

 
 
Then on to the portholes. I centre marked the porthole with an old airbrush needle by eyeballing it.  Tried passing different size drills through the PE porthole until found one which just goes through. Turns out 1.5mm is the size. 1.6mm is just a fraction too tight.
 

 
 
With the porthole drilled out it was required to relieve the backside due to the thickness of the hull plastic being 2mm to 3mm. This equates to a real thickness of 400mm to 600mm!  The thick plastic spoils the look of the porthole.  I tried removing this with just a drill but hard work and decided to use a carbide burr in the Proxxon rotary drill to remove the bulk of it….with the obvious dangers!
 

 
 
By finishing slightly back with the carbide burr, a smaller drill could be used to remove the last fraction. Once the drill point touches my finger, it’s twist/check/twist/check etc until happy.
 

 
 
With the porthole…hole? drilled I thought I would show a comparison of both sets PE portholes.  Pontos on the left and MK1 on the right.  The Pontos one is so much more refined and delicate and these are what I will use.  The MK1 is quite chunky and bland in comparison.
 
I am aware that the PE portholes are incorrectly represented by sitting on the hull surface like this and in reality would barely be visible sitting behind the hull plates but they are provided and to be honest I like the effect so going to use them, which doesn’t require debating.
 

 
 
The YouTube link to the video in case anyone wants to listen to my dulcet tones.  
 
 
 
Cheers
Slog

Welcome to the start of my Mikasa log, which is a group build with @Richmond
 
Here is a link to Richmond’s log which explains it.
 
 
I got this back in 2016 which was the first release of the 1/200 Mikasa by Merit International (Trumpeter).  I also got the KA-Models MK1 Design detail set around the same time due to difficulty in finding the Pontos set.  Fast forward to earlier this year and after catching up with Richmond we decided to build the Mikasa together as a group build.  For this I purchased the Pontos set which will be the primary set used and utilising some bits and pieces from the MK1 Design set.
 
To get going here is a comparative photo of Mikasa alongside its Battle of Tsushima adversary, Borodino.  Don’t worry Richmond, just a test dry fit 😊
 

 
 
I am also documenting the build on YouTube and have linked Parts 1 & 2 below reviewing the kit and detail sets respectively.
 
 
 
 
Really excited and itching to get going with this.
 
Cheers
Slog

Okay here is my Part 4. 
 
I would say based on Richmond’s latest update I have done more or less the same work although I would be trailing behind him overall.  Although I do have additional progress/footage that will get carried over to the next part.
 
Again no stills, just screen grabs from the video.
 
With the hull now glued together the seams were filled with ‘sprue goo’ and left for a few days.
 

 
 
Whilst waiting for the filler to go off I marked up a number of areas on the hull needing attention such as sink marks, mould lines and some rough areas; the bow had some very faint ripples also.
 

 
 
Once the seams were cleaned up with scraping, sanding and buffing, like Richmond, I wet sanded the entire lower hull, in this case with 600 followed by 1200.  The Tamiya tape was to protect the upper hull details from inadvertent slips.
 

 
 
Priming the seams to highlight any gaps, pin holes etc with Pink Mr Surfacer 1500.
 
The black version is my go to primer and sprays beautifully and is mostly fool proof but I only have dregs left and sold out locally but had the choice of Grey and Pink.  I discounted the grey as grey plastic, grey primer and grey top coat didn’t appeal due to visually seeing coverage.
 
I choose the pink...and hate it as the spraying characteristics are so different from the black version and I’m struggling to get decent results.  I will pick up grey 1500 tomorrow!
 

 
 
Bilge keels taped in place and glued with Tamiya Extra Thin.  There were half a dozen or so pin holes on the hull halves seams, which needed filling and small dabs of Mr Surfacer 500 took care of them.
 

 
 
As Richmond noted the bilge keels aren’t a great fit and need filling on both sides.  To minimise clean up I tried applying Mr Surfacer 500 with a syringe and it worked great.  Mostly 2 applications was sufficient to fill (one area required 3 passes) and was quickly cleaned up with cotton buds moistened with Mr Hobby Levelling Thinners.
 

 
 
Installing the prop shafts/housings and checking for consistency.
 

 
 
Good place to stop for Part 4, with the hull glued up, seams taken care of, the prop shafts and bilge keels installed, filled and cleaned up.
 

 
And of course the YouTube video link
 
 
Cheers
Slog

Thanks for the comments and likes.
 
After twisting Richmond’s arm, the starting gun has been fired and we are off at a sprint.  Part 3 deals with removing extraneous mouldings and making holes, all in preparation for the Pontos details.
 
Just a note about the pictures.  I don’t intend to take any still photos, relying instead on taking screen grabs from the video’s so apologise in advance for having my grubby little fingers in every shot.
 
First up is to go through the Pontos and MK1 instructions and highlight everything to be removed.  I used black marker for the Pontos stuff and red for the MK1 items.
 

 
 
Removing the steps by scrapping with a round blade.  From watching many YouTube videos this seems a fairly standard method.
 

 
 
However it is pretty slow going so decided to try the home made chisels from old No.11 blades I make to remove parts from paper models.  This sped things up immensely and a step could be removed with one or two passes.  I still needed to do a final scrape with the round blade to avoid damaging the surrounding hull.
 

 
 
Next up is drilling all the holes for the PE hull steps.  Pontos provide photo etch templates for this work although it’s disappointing that Pontos don’t replace all hull steps (ladders?).  I will use the MK1 steps to cover the missing Pontos ones.  Unfortunately, the MK1 set doesn’t provide templates for their steps but I will utilise a Pontos template so that the spacing is consistent.  Pontos require a 0.4mm drill and a quick test on scrap styrene confirms the MK1 steps use this size as well.
 

 
 
Then on to the portholes. I centre marked the porthole with an old airbrush needle by eyeballing it.  Tried passing different size drills through the PE porthole until found one which just goes through. Turns out 1.5mm is the size. 1.6mm is just a fraction too tight.
 

 
 
With the porthole drilled out it was required to relieve the backside due to the thickness of the hull plastic being 2mm to 3mm. This equates to a real thickness of 400mm to 600mm!  The thick plastic spoils the look of the porthole.  I tried removing this with just a drill but hard work and decided to use a carbide burr in the Proxxon rotary drill to remove the bulk of it….with the obvious dangers!
 

 
 
By finishing slightly back with the carbide burr, a smaller drill could be used to remove the last fraction. Once the drill point touches my finger, it’s twist/check/twist/check etc until happy.
 

 
 
With the porthole…hole? drilled I thought I would show a comparison of both sets PE portholes.  Pontos on the left and MK1 on the right.  The Pontos one is so much more refined and delicate and these are what I will use.  The MK1 is quite chunky and bland in comparison.
 
I am aware that the PE portholes are incorrectly represented by sitting on the hull surface like this and in reality would barely be visible sitting behind the hull plates but they are provided and to be honest I like the effect so going to use them, which doesn’t require debating.
 

 
 
The YouTube link to the video in case anyone wants to listen to my dulcet tones.  
 
 
 
Cheers
Slog

Ratlines are done!
I think that these were just about the worst set of ratlines I’ve ever done.
 

They are spaced out between 1/16” to 3/32” apart.
 
That is insanely close and they were very difficult to keep spaced out properly.
 
You are looking at about 60 hours worth of work for just the ratlines, lol.
 
I think that I am close to 300 hours into this one.
 
Loved every minute of it for the most part, though.
 
These card models are fun.
 
They lend themselves to model ships very well.
 
I will say that the next one that I do is getting enlarged to either 1/96 or 1/72 scale, depending on the size of the ship.
 
1/200 scale is not the greatest for anything smaller than 6-700 feet.
 
Another quick note is that card kits would make great templates for wood models too.  
 
The bulkheads and decks are already there.

All you would have to do is allow for the thickness of the wood and the planking.
 
With most plans, whether they be shipyard or for models, you have to allow for planking thickness anyway.
 
All the fittings are pre-mapped out.
 
You can just glue the pieces down to wood and cut.
 
I have been doing that with my Mercury.
 
For rolled pieces, just measure each end and divide by pi to get diameter.
 
That’s how I made my masts and some other rolled parts out of wood for this model.
 
Either way, these models are a lot of fun, however you build them.
 
Come join the Card Side!

Okay here is my Part 4. 
 
I would say based on Richmond’s latest update I have done more or less the same work although I would be trailing behind him overall.  Although I do have additional progress/footage that will get carried over to the next part.
 
Again no stills, just screen grabs from the video.
 
With the hull now glued together the seams were filled with ‘sprue goo’ and left for a few days.
 

 
 
Whilst waiting for the filler to go off I marked up a number of areas on the hull needing attention such as sink marks, mould lines and some rough areas; the bow had some very faint ripples also.
 

 
 
Once the seams were cleaned up with scraping, sanding and buffing, like Richmond, I wet sanded the entire lower hull, in this case with 600 followed by 1200.  The Tamiya tape was to protect the upper hull details from inadvertent slips.
 

 
 
Priming the seams to highlight any gaps, pin holes etc with Pink Mr Surfacer 1500.
 
The black version is my go to primer and sprays beautifully and is mostly fool proof but I only have dregs left and sold out locally but had the choice of Grey and Pink.  I discounted the grey as grey plastic, grey primer and grey top coat didn’t appeal due to visually seeing coverage.
 
I choose the pink...and hate it as the spraying characteristics are so different from the black version and I’m struggling to get decent results.  I will pick up grey 1500 tomorrow!
 

 
 
Bilge keels taped in place and glued with Tamiya Extra Thin.  There were half a dozen or so pin holes on the hull halves seams, which needed filling and small dabs of Mr Surfacer 500 took care of them.
 

 
 
As Richmond noted the bilge keels aren’t a great fit and need filling on both sides.  To minimise clean up I tried applying Mr Surfacer 500 with a syringe and it worked great.  Mostly 2 applications was sufficient to fill (one area required 3 passes) and was quickly cleaned up with cotton buds moistened with Mr Hobby Levelling Thinners.
 

 
 
Installing the prop shafts/housings and checking for consistency.
 

 
 
Good place to stop for Part 4, with the hull glued up, seams taken care of, the prop shafts and bilge keels installed, filled and cleaned up.
 

 
And of course the YouTube video link
 
 
Cheers
Slog

Hi Richmond, you are progressing well,  probably a bit a head of where I'm at.
 
I found the bilge keels fiddly to attach also and needed to watch them as I bumped them twice and each time heard a creak but luckily no damage.  My hull seams weren't to bad also but the stern needed plenty of filling as couldn't get it tightly together.  Agree with the prop shafts such bad seams to fill, although your primed ones turned out well.
 
Agree with the lower deck but I'm also going to paint even if just for some airbrush practice as I seem to be out of practice.  Just a note on your styrene strip, I think the lower deck walls provides support to the main deck so you might have to trim the styrene down flush with wall.
 
Good to see you took my advice on the mounting nuts for the pedestals as I secured mine to the hull yesterday and when attached to temporary pedestals/baseboard the hull was rock solid.  I really like the Pontos pedestals in your picture and may have to get them when time to permanently mount.
 
I experimented with masking and Mr Surfacer 500 for reinstating the hull plating lines but wasn't happy with the results so will use stretched sprue like you.  The black card in the folders as a nice touch, makes it clearer what fret you are looking at.
 
Your portholes look really neat, I haven't done any yet so may have to use your method. What's the pen like thing on the right with the blue tip...is that like a pick up pencil? 
 
I'll post part 4 of my progress later today some time.
 
Cheers
Slog

Okay here is my Part 4. 
 
I would say based on Richmond’s latest update I have done more or less the same work although I would be trailing behind him overall.  Although I do have additional progress/footage that will get carried over to the next part.
 
Again no stills, just screen grabs from the video.
 
With the hull now glued together the seams were filled with ‘sprue goo’ and left for a few days.
 

 
 
Whilst waiting for the filler to go off I marked up a number of areas on the hull needing attention such as sink marks, mould lines and some rough areas; the bow had some very faint ripples also.
 

 
 
Once the seams were cleaned up with scraping, sanding and buffing, like Richmond, I wet sanded the entire lower hull, in this case with 600 followed by 1200.  The Tamiya tape was to protect the upper hull details from inadvertent slips.
 

 
 
Priming the seams to highlight any gaps, pin holes etc with Pink Mr Surfacer 1500.
 
The black version is my go to primer and sprays beautifully and is mostly fool proof but I only have dregs left and sold out locally but had the choice of Grey and Pink.  I discounted the grey as grey plastic, grey primer and grey top coat didn’t appeal due to visually seeing coverage.
 
I choose the pink...and hate it as the spraying characteristics are so different from the black version and I’m struggling to get decent results.  I will pick up grey 1500 tomorrow!
 

 
 
Bilge keels taped in place and glued with Tamiya Extra Thin.  There were half a dozen or so pin holes on the hull halves seams, which needed filling and small dabs of Mr Surfacer 500 took care of them.
 

 
 
As Richmond noted the bilge keels aren’t a great fit and need filling on both sides.  To minimise clean up I tried applying Mr Surfacer 500 with a syringe and it worked great.  Mostly 2 applications was sufficient to fill (one area required 3 passes) and was quickly cleaned up with cotton buds moistened with Mr Hobby Levelling Thinners.
 

 
 
Installing the prop shafts/housings and checking for consistency.
 

 
 
Good place to stop for Part 4, with the hull glued up, seams taken care of, the prop shafts and bilge keels installed, filled and cleaned up.
 

 
And of course the YouTube video link
 
 
Cheers
Slog

Main top ratlines are done:
Next up, foretop ratlines!
 
The mizzen top ratlines will be last!

Okay here is my Part 4. 
 
I would say based on Richmond’s latest update I have done more or less the same work although I would be trailing behind him overall.  Although I do have additional progress/footage that will get carried over to the next part.
 
Again no stills, just screen grabs from the video.
 
With the hull now glued together the seams were filled with ‘sprue goo’ and left for a few days.
 

 
 
Whilst waiting for the filler to go off I marked up a number of areas on the hull needing attention such as sink marks, mould lines and some rough areas; the bow had some very faint ripples also.
 

 
 
Once the seams were cleaned up with scraping, sanding and buffing, like Richmond, I wet sanded the entire lower hull, in this case with 600 followed by 1200.  The Tamiya tape was to protect the upper hull details from inadvertent slips.
 

 
 
Priming the seams to highlight any gaps, pin holes etc with Pink Mr Surfacer 1500.
 
The black version is my go to primer and sprays beautifully and is mostly fool proof but I only have dregs left and sold out locally but had the choice of Grey and Pink.  I discounted the grey as grey plastic, grey primer and grey top coat didn’t appeal due to visually seeing coverage.
 
I choose the pink...and hate it as the spraying characteristics are so different from the black version and I’m struggling to get decent results.  I will pick up grey 1500 tomorrow!
 

 
 
Bilge keels taped in place and glued with Tamiya Extra Thin.  There were half a dozen or so pin holes on the hull halves seams, which needed filling and small dabs of Mr Surfacer 500 took care of them.
 

 
 
As Richmond noted the bilge keels aren’t a great fit and need filling on both sides.  To minimise clean up I tried applying Mr Surfacer 500 with a syringe and it worked great.  Mostly 2 applications was sufficient to fill (one area required 3 passes) and was quickly cleaned up with cotton buds moistened with Mr Hobby Levelling Thinners.
 

 
 
Installing the prop shafts/housings and checking for consistency.
 

 
 
Good place to stop for Part 4, with the hull glued up, seams taken care of, the prop shafts and bilge keels installed, filled and cleaned up.
 

 
And of course the YouTube video link
 
 
Cheers
Slog

Okay here is my Part 4. 
 
I would say based on Richmond’s latest update I have done more or less the same work although I would be trailing behind him overall.  Although I do have additional progress/footage that will get carried over to the next part.
 
Again no stills, just screen grabs from the video.
 
With the hull now glued together the seams were filled with ‘sprue goo’ and left for a few days.
 

 
 
Whilst waiting for the filler to go off I marked up a number of areas on the hull needing attention such as sink marks, mould lines and some rough areas; the bow had some very faint ripples also.
 

 
 
Once the seams were cleaned up with scraping, sanding and buffing, like Richmond, I wet sanded the entire lower hull, in this case with 600 followed by 1200.  The Tamiya tape was to protect the upper hull details from inadvertent slips.
 

 
 
Priming the seams to highlight any gaps, pin holes etc with Pink Mr Surfacer 1500.
 
The black version is my go to primer and sprays beautifully and is mostly fool proof but I only have dregs left and sold out locally but had the choice of Grey and Pink.  I discounted the grey as grey plastic, grey primer and grey top coat didn’t appeal due to visually seeing coverage.
 
I choose the pink...and hate it as the spraying characteristics are so different from the black version and I’m struggling to get decent results.  I will pick up grey 1500 tomorrow!
 

 
 
Bilge keels taped in place and glued with Tamiya Extra Thin.  There were half a dozen or so pin holes on the hull halves seams, which needed filling and small dabs of Mr Surfacer 500 took care of them.
 

 
 
As Richmond noted the bilge keels aren’t a great fit and need filling on both sides.  To minimise clean up I tried applying Mr Surfacer 500 with a syringe and it worked great.  Mostly 2 applications was sufficient to fill (one area required 3 passes) and was quickly cleaned up with cotton buds moistened with Mr Hobby Levelling Thinners.
 

 
 
Installing the prop shafts/housings and checking for consistency.
 

 
 
Good place to stop for Part 4, with the hull glued up, seams taken care of, the prop shafts and bilge keels installed, filled and cleaned up.
 

 
And of course the YouTube video link
 
 
Cheers
Slog

Starboard main top ratlines: