Stephen Allen

I have found beading wire problematic because of its reluctance to bend without kinking, and because it needs a fair bit of tension to straighten out, putting a lot of strain on the mounting points and masts. I build in 1/48 and 1/72 mostly. If you don’t want to use beading wire, then YLI make a range of silk threads in metallic colours ranging from a bright silver to a dull gunmetal. These can be twisted up on a rope walk like any other thread, although I have found that the ends usually need a little glue to prevent unravelling. The thread is naturally not fuzzy. The metallic look is easily dulled by a coat of matt varnish if you wish, but it isn’t objectionable - its not sparkly or anything. Gutermann also make a range of upholstery threads which come in a dark grayish colour that works well too. 1/48 with Gutermann upholstery thread on the left. Various YLI-based three strand standing rigging lines in 1/72 on the right ( its a work in progress shot so please excuse the stray ends). I use this in a single strand to replicate wire rope safety lines as well. Both can be tightly wound through blocks, pulleys etc, knotted, or secured with small crimps or bottlescrews, and don’t need a lot of tension. Steve.

Richard Sorry for coming to the rivet discussion late, and I may have missed an earlier post, but have you looked at the Meng range of surface details? They have round head rivets in various sizes in one of their sets, SPS-009. They are standard model styrene, injection moulded onto flat strips. You slice them off with a razor blade or similar, then glue them to the surface, liquid cement to styrene, superglue to other surfaces. Range from 0.8mm up to 1.4mm or so. Lots of other profiles as well, nuts, bolts etc of various sizes and shapes. Consistent size and shape unlike many of the resin equivalents. A bit expensive but good. Most online hobby stores stocking accessories for AFV modellers have them. I have used the Archer decals also. They are a bit trickier to use, lower profile and a little less consistent in shape, have to be carefully applied then avoid using high tack masking tape over them as they can rip off. Advantage is they come in standard spacings and multiple rows. Steve

No need to answer, finally found it - 1008mm

Hi Bear Looks interesting! How long is the Dry Dock? Have looked online but can’t find a Length measurement thanks Steve

This is an amazing build Richard, and what a presence she will have on the water. I have just, nearly(!) almost finished building an RN WW2 Frigate to 1/72 scale, much tinier. The order and time of painting is something I though long and hard about, as painting major bits too early can lead to a lot of rework and cleaning as you continue the other dirty bits of the build. Your build has interior detail painting so some of that will inevitably need to be painted early, then protected for the duration of the build, but the method I chose was to leave finish painting of the hull and superstructure to the absolute last possible stage, so that the model could be thoroughly cleaned, prepared, then not dirtied/ dusted up again. To do this you need to be able to plan subsequent fitting of details in a way that allows you to avoid marring finished surfaces again. In your chosen gigantic scale, many of your fittings could be made to remain detachable using rare earth magnets, which eases both painting/masking and any subsequent repair, and makes it easier to set up for sailing without knocking things off. Some could simply be mounted on spigots and gravity will keep them in place. In my scale I also built different stands to allow me to do things like invert the hull, support the superstructure etc, in a way that allowed me to paint structures without handling them. These also need to be planned and built in advance then tested to ensure they won’t damage anything in use. Quite how you do that with a ship the size of a small car I don’t know! Best wishes with your build! Steve