Dupuy de Lome didi it! Part IV Upperworks

 

I had decided that there would be a combined bridge/gun platform over the from turrets 

and a round gun platform at the rear of the superstructure

 

but I had forgotten one of the key rules of working with paper; always ensure adequate gluing surfaces, so I had to retrace the  platforms and add an extra 1/4" or so

 

the rear gun tub with the extra gluing surface,

how does that work you say?

 

you carefully cut a "fringe"  around the edge, 

making sure not to cross the line of the shape you really want

 

once you have gone all the way around you fold the fringe to a 90 degree angle

 

now you have a gluing surface that is part of the item being glued, 

believe me this is REALLY important

 

next you prepared the railing

 

pulling the paper over the edge of a corner will cause it to curl,

 this is very helpful when trying to glue the strip around a circle

 

I tend to use a lot of glue, my standard wood glue works great for this

 

start at one end and keep the circle on a smooth surface to avoid warping

 

while the glue was drying I started to make the support beams for underneath the overhang

 

sturdy enough looking

 

the fold gives a good cluing surface and a lot of stiffness 

but I probably should have made a few tracings before I folded it!

 

the deckhouse with the forward and aft gun tubs fitted

 

I then glued the supports in place

 

on the bottom of the frward platform I added more paper girders

 to increase the rigidity of the platform

 

looking at it this way made me think of VSF hovercraft........

 

and that is how it looks on the hull

 

another view

trying out different arrangements for the towers and funnels

perhaps one huge funnel

or only one tower

rather than make tiny round boxes I found these at Hobby Lobby

I made some paper tubes by rolling strips around a convenient sized plastic cylinder

then I added a 1/2" strip to the bottom and a 1/4" strip to the top

 for added strength and looks

a little dab of glue and some careful winding

the hard part is keeping the narrow strip from climbing of falling 

you want a tight straight wrap completely overlapping the previous layer

it probably doesn't help that I paint it with glue as I go

in the end I have two sturdy-looking posts to mount my tower tops on

trying them out with the small wooden boxes

and then trying the entire ensemble out on the model 

the funnels were made the same way as the tower posts, just taller

another look

I think I am getting it

fitting the fighting tops so there was a series of view-ports was simple enough

I cut three 1/4" x 1 1/2" strips for each one and glued equidistantly around the interior of the box

a 1/8" strip of paper joined the tops to keep everything tidy

     Input welcomed and appreciated!