Dupuy De Lome Part V; Let The Rivets Begin!

Having completed the upper-works I was faced with the task of adding the rivets. Experience has taught me (the hard way, that is how I learn ALL my lessons) that it is much easier to apply the rivets to sub-assemblies rather than the completed model. So I got out my trusty bottle of T-Shirt puff-paint and started on the tedious task of riveting the daylights out of the thing. Behold my efforts below:

 

well, I wasn't quite done with the upperworks, I still needed ventilators, 

some very nice ones are available from outfits like TVAG and Reviresco,

 but being the stubborn type I made my own, a small wooden bowl and a peg are the starting place

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

Dupuy de Lome did it! Part Trois

Well, cladding the compound curves of the ram bow and stern took WAY longer than I figured but it is done at last and I am now ready to move ob to the funnels and other topside structures and fittings.

 

I have to say she looks much cleaner once my scribblings have been "plated" over

 

a slightly closer view, there will be wings on the superstructure carrying light guns

 

the bow turned out looking very VSF

 

the stern almost found me throwing the entire project into the trash-can,

 it was a nightmare to fit and trim

     Comments, criticism, helpful pointers are all welcome.

Dupuy de Lome did it; Part Deux

Heeding the remarks at TMP and wanting to make this model as "French" looking as possible I decided to add a pronounced ram bow. In checking online for pictures of the real Dupuy de Lome I have found that she didn't have a normal tumblehome, where the sides of the vessel slant inward from the waterline to the edge of the deck. Essentially she had a normal hull but the upperstructure  was very narrow one deck above the waterline producing a flat space along the middle of the hull. See the drawing below. The hull section in the upper right clearly displays this "step"  Considering the need to have deck space for figured I am unwilling to carve away more superstructure and will have to settle for a model vaguely inspired by the Dupuy de Lome

Dupuy de Lome did it!

Inspired to go whole-hog on the French theme I took a look at the most iconic o French ship of the Pre-Dreadnought period ; the Dupuy de Lome Severe tumble-home, odd turret arrangement, too many funnels; she has it all!

This is what the test model looks like so far.

 

I traced the hull onto some blueboard 

but stretched the template another three inches to give the model a leaner look

Too Far Down The Rabbit Hole

After considering the input over at TMP I decided that this one was too far in one direction to be "fixed" to look French. Thus I decided to finish it as the ship of an "interested neutral" the particular nation to be determined later. So here is the battleship in its final form, if not its final configuration (she still needs life boats and ventilators).  In the background you can see my next effort, hopefully this will turn out more "French"!

Ship Happens, now in color! With alternate turrets

My lovely wife bought me the Proxxon hot wire cutter that I wanted for Christmas and it is everything that I had hoped it would be! I have been playing around practicing cutting blue board and whipped this bit up by accident.I ended up going with a French-inspired look with this one.

I will do a step-by-step when I build the next one, 

I just got all excited and built this one so quickly I had no time for photos