Papa

I finished the skeleton, except for the decks. The instructions say that the deck pieces are to be glued to 1 mm card but the schematics don not indicate this. (a "**" is attached to the part number if it is to be glued to a card; the deck pieces don't have this indication.) I decided to follow the written instructions and have glued them to a card. Hope it works out OK.

They say necessity is the mother of invention.  I realized the other day that the drawers in my work bench make shelves of different heights just right for rigging the ratlines on my Granado.

If you do not happen to like Ferrero Rocher chocolates you can send them to me after unwrapping.

If you do not happen to like Ferrero Rocher chocolates you can send them to me after unwrapping.

I think I am finally understanding how the hull is supposed to go together.

They say necessity is the mother of invention.  I realized the other day that the drawers in my work bench make shelves of different heights just right for rigging the ratlines on my Granado.

Super job on the ratlines.  I can't even come close to that level of perfection.

They say necessity is the mother of invention.  I realized the other day that the drawers in my work bench make shelves of different heights just right for rigging the ratlines on my Granado.

They say necessity is the mother of invention.  I realized the other day that the drawers in my work bench make shelves of different heights just right for rigging the ratlines on my Granado.

They say necessity is the mother of invention.  I realized the other day that the drawers in my work bench make shelves of different heights just right for rigging the ratlines on my Granado.

They say necessity is the mother of invention.  I realized the other day that the drawers in my work bench make shelves of different heights just right for rigging the ratlines on my Granado.

They say necessity is the mother of invention.  I realized the other day that the drawers in my work bench make shelves of different heights just right for rigging the ratlines on my Granado.

They say necessity is the mother of invention.  I realized the other day that the drawers in my work bench make shelves of different heights just right for rigging the ratlines on my Granado.

I think I am finally understanding how the hull is supposed to go together.

I think I am finally understanding how the hull is supposed to go together.

I think I am finally understanding how the hull is supposed to go together.

They say necessity is the mother of invention.  I realized the other day that the drawers in my work bench make shelves of different heights just right for rigging the ratlines on my Granado.

They say necessity is the mother of invention.  I realized the other day that the drawers in my work bench make shelves of different heights just right for rigging the ratlines on my Granado.

They say necessity is the mother of invention.  I realized the other day that the drawers in my work bench make shelves of different heights just right for rigging the ratlines on my Granado.

Amazing detail.

Amazing detail.

Amazing detail.

Because the edges of the deck are so narrow, kit and aftermarket expects you to drop in PE railings. 
 
With the wooden stick on deck, there is even less room. You has see from these colourised postacards of a Fuso class, the edge is quite substantial and have individual stanchions. 
 
As such I've placed some plastic strip around the edges where the wooden deck will drop in. The idea is to fill the gaps with putty, then pre drill all the stanchion holes. Well, that's the idea. 
 
You can see there is also two brass strips amidships which may or may not drill requiring a PE railing. 

Thanks John. Just to blow your mind a bit more :
 

 
I had to cut the aft funnel back off the superstructure. When I went to fit the AA gun platform to it I realized I'd made an error in the construction of the funnel base - it was the thickness of the base too high . No harm done, just a waste of an hour .
 
A few posts ago I mentioned that the large pipe on the forward end of the aft funnel shouldn't have been fitted until this stage. You can see why below.
 
I've fitted the PE railing around the AA gun platform. It was a little tricky to get all the bends right, and as with the railing I'd fitted previously to the Bridge the stanchions are too widely spaced and don't line up with the marked positions. This makes it look a little odd, as the stanchions are in different positions around the bends. I can live with it though :
 



 
The railings after straightening and painting :
 

 
After fitting and painting I noticed that there are two rigging wires that terminate in eyebolts on either side of the platform . I was wondering about the two extra marked holes earlier. I should have checked the rigging plans before fitting the platform to the funnel base, as it made drilling the holes a bit harder. I made the eyebolts from 0.2mm wire in the shape of split pins, drilled 0.45mm holes for them, and CA glued them in :
 

 
  Danny

Your detailed pictures will help me a lot in building the SMS Helgoland.  The instructions are rather terse and I have been wondering about exactly how things are supposed to go together and if I should add some wooden reinforcements. I see that you have done so.  Thanks for taking so many great pictures.