Nemesis Proceeds

     Frustrated by the whole funnel situation I decided to do the job with the highest level of tedium: rivets For me this is a Zen thing, I lose myself in the process and can clear my mind. I had covered the model in card last night so she was ready for rivets. Mind you, I am no hero like Col O"Truth, who hand-cuts his rivets from plastic rod. I cheat and use T-Shirt paint, applying tiny dots of it to the model in lieu of gluing individual rivets down. Someday I hope to grow up and join the ranks of Truly Manly Men who are capable of such feats, but for now T-Shirt paint it is.

there she sits, ready for rivets

the sponsons are just half circles of foam with a card cover

I added "steel" plates to reinforce the deck where the guns will be mounted, 

but mostly to hide the joint between the sponson and the hull

to warm up I built the armored conning tower and riveted it

just for fun I added a door to the back, 

probably never see it as the flying bridge and funnels will hide it pretty well

the supports for the flying bridge were added 

using the high-tech "jam it throught the deck" technique

the flying bridge was made to cover the forward beam guns,

 I traced the same cap I used for the sponsons and then glued the template to a bit of balsa

after that dried I cut a 7/8" x 14" strip of poster board for the railing

and glued it around the wooden base 

she is starting to look like a warship at last

the port-hole cutter was use to sink the pivot holes for the main guns

with the guns in place she is starting look dangerous

but the REAL purpose of this ship is to sink the enemy's big stuff with torpedoes

the previously built tubes were mounted on my ":universal base" 

which were then equipped with a pin to attach it to the deck

that will send shivers up the spine of the armored cruiser's Captain

one last look before the hard work of rivets

I ruled out a sheet of index card in 1/4" strips and then cut them out

these will form the basis of the joining plates on the hull

they were added to break up large blank surfaces,

 and cover the joints between sheets of card

the source of my rivets, T-Shirt paint, 

I got mine at Michael's Arts & Crafts store

always warm up a bit first

then off to the rivets!

more rivets, no real science to where I put them, 

I just try to add them where I think they would be holding things together 

then it was back to the "Funnel Issue"

two really big ones?

two not-so-really-big ones?

one freaking huge one?

     So here I sit typing instead of building because I have the modeler's equivalent of Writer's Block! I might just toss the answers in a hat and let chance decide!